fiddlepaddle

All politicians abuse the economic system, but the democrats sabotage it. What I want to know is, will Obama regulate the price of video games at Goodwill, or not?

E.T.'s bad reputation is one of relative merit. It was promoted so heavily, and the movie was good enough, that expectations were shattered. I also say that the fact that it is not intuitive significantly devalues the game, and I feel the same way about modern games that require an outside explanation, just like a movie that doesn't make sense on it's own. Although not the worst game, I don't like it.

I got one a couple of weeks ago for $2 at Salvation Army, but my 64 is going to be packed away for awhile, so I haven't tested it out yet... I have a few other steering wheels for the 64 that don't really work that well and this one seemed very solidly designed and built. Also, I didn't get any power adapter with it...do you know what the power specs are? I found some info about calibrating it here: http://www.amazon.com/InterAct-Concept-4-R...l/dp/B00001W0KD but it sounds like I'm going to need to read the instruction book to make it work well...

I remember back when the NES came out there was a big thing in the news about some people having an adverse reaction to certain kinds of high intensity strobe-like flashing that was in some video games, and also was put into some television shows ("Captain Video" or something like that). It seemed to correlate with certain forms of epilepsy. That's when they started putting those warnings in video game instruction books about the potential for seizures. You may want to ask your doctor...

Atari5200 has it exactly right... more government (more regulation) only slows the economy, and taking money from the wealthier (who have been, by definition, more productive) and putting it in the hands of the poorer (who have been, by definition, less productive) will only slow the economy. We need to be happy when companies (and the people who invest in them) make lots of profits. Envy aside, it's good for everyone. Who will want to invest their energy developing fun, creative games if all their royalty profits are taxed away? Atari created great wealth, and inspired much more. Rich people are good for you. By the way, the food, oil, commodities price increases we've seen recently in the US are directly related to our government pumping money into the economy to alleviate the banking liquidity crisis, which was itself created by government incentives to increase homeownership along with many borrowers who did not read or understand what they were signing ("your payment will increase").

Back at the end of 1981, I was just about to graduate from college and got an interview with a company in Woodland Hills, CA (near LA). The company paid for several applicants to fly in from various parts of the country and put us up in a hotel for a couple of nights for the interview (computer science degrees were in very high demand at the time). My interview was on a Monday and my flight back left on Tuesday, so Monday night two of us went out looking for a place to have some beers. We walked into this little dive with a couple of dart boards and a coffee-table Space Invaders. There was only one guy in the place (other than the bartender), and he was playing the Space Invaders. He had a roll of quarters sitting on it, so I had to wait. I laid down a couple of quarters to indicate we wanted to play next and went and got our beers. The guy got up after a few minutes and went over and sat by the dart boards. We played our game, drank our beers and talked a bit. Then this really cute chick walks in, "Where's Eddie?". I mean, she was REALLY cute...and kind of familiar looking. The bartender pointed to the guy by the dart board. It was then that I realized why I noticed her... "That's Valerie Bertinelli!" I whispered, much too loudly. "That must be Eddie Van Halen!" my co-interviewee said. I'm sure they heard us as they kind of hung out around the corner, quietly whispering and all lovey-dovey. We just left them alone. So far, that's my only real-life brush with celebrities.

I bought a Vectrex at Toys R Us when they were new (1982), along with a couple of cartridges. Shortly after, I saw the 3D goggles which I thought were really cool, but I couldn't justify paying (I think, maybe) $129 for them. Every couple of weeks when I went back to see what new games were available, I looked longingly at the 3D goggles... "Nope! Too much...", I said. Over and over. I only saw one or two games that could use them anyway. Eventually, once the Vectrex was discontinued, and all the system consoles sold out, those goggles continued to sit in the display case for maybe six months. I was waiting for TRU to put them on sale. Then one day, I went in and they were gone. I never saw them on sale. A hundred bucks to play a couple of games just didn't seem worth it. Twenty five years later... I decide to check out Ebay and see if I can find a set of those 3D goggles now that I've had several years to accumulate a few of the 3D games at garage sale prices. I watch an auction. How much do they go for? $124. Nope. Too much...

I'm floored by this idea! I guess I didn't realize web technology had progressed this far... I tried "TAT" and it works fine (thanks G DG) I tried atarimania though, and it doesn't work on my computer (pressing F1 through F8 perform firefox functions) I'm using firefox on ubuntu...

I've used a product available at auto supply stores "CRC QD Electronic Cleaner" quick drying formula to clean many electronic items. You just spray it on and let it drain and evaporate (only takes a couple of minutes). It's claim: leaves no residue. There are two types and be sure to get the one that says it will not harm plastics. Don't know about cigarette smoke, though. "Awesome Orange", available at dollar stores takes smoke tar off easily, but you want to rinse it good after cleaning. It is water based, so do what you can to get it to dry quickly and completely before hooking it up again.

Garage sales are hard work for buyers, because one must usually drive from house to house, and only a few of those are likely to have video games. Garage sales are also hard work for the sellers as well, even though it looks like all they do is sit around...try it sometime. Not only that, but a seller will often lower prices on certain kinds of things as the day progresses, especially if the item is big and heavy or otherwise difficult to get rid of (I'll often find a big ol' exercise machine with a free sign on it sitting at the edge of the driveway on Saturday afternoons). Combine these things with the fact that most garage sale buyers expect a true bargain and usually won't pay very much, and most aren't looking for video games either. Sellers who wanted too much for their "classic Atari" at 8AM may practically give it away at 5PM. After all, if it doesn't sell, it's just more stuff to cart off to Salvation Army tomorrow.

I go through this everytime I move, and I move a lot. It's kind of fun, actually... get to look at everything again and reorganize. The downside: constantly want to go play something I haven't played in a while. By the way, you better make sure your sump pump is working...

Hey SEgamer! I saw your suggestion about "Abadox: The Deadly Inner War". I've had it for a couple of years but hadn't gotten around to trying it. If I'd known it was a shooter, I'd have tried it out long ago... I love it...

Millipede, Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, Star Force Star Soldier Super Mario Bros 1,2,3 (yea, I know everybody's got 'em, but they're fun) Gradius Legendary Wings (see a pattern?)

I like Sidearms, a side-scrolling shooter, but I'm partial to side-scrolling shooters.

For some people, buying used stuff and selling it online may be the easiest way to make money. For most, it's probably not the only way; they choose this method. To successfully research, post, and sell over a period of time requires significant skills that could also be put to use in other work. We all have expenses, and we all pay 4 bucks a gallon for gas today. A "bad economy" never justifies doing something one would find unethical in a "good economy". Is buying all the games at goodwill on half price day at 9am unethical? I don't think it is, but apparently some do. When friendly competition turns to dog-eat-dog, that's where it turns ugly. And it's not always easy to recognize when that is happening. Ebay is capitalism in one of it's purest forms. Thrift stores generally accept donations in order to have money to perform various kinds of community services that aren't generally provided by the market, a very different business model. There could be an inherent incompatibility here that ebay sellers alleviate... Of course, this is compounded by the fact that video games have finally reached that historical point where a new generation (or even the third generation) has taken an interest in the past.

It seems this issue of buying games (and other items in high demand) from a thrift store and reselling them on ebay has polarized us into those who approve and those who don't. I don't think the problem is someone making money by selling, but more about the excesses of that activity. As a collector, I really enjoy the hunt... the process of looking for something not in my collection. Personally, I only buy a game if I don't have that title (sometimes I want an extra for various reasons). It does not really matter to me how much it's "worth", as I just want to play the games. I don't make a business out of arbitrage, which is what ebay sellers are doing. It is legal. It is capitalism. It certainly can make some money for the ebay seller. It may add some small value to the economy in terms of convenience to the ultimate buyer. But to buy multiple copies of the same title at a thrift store immediately upon availability just for the purpose of reselling is not really fair to other collectors. It is basically using professional tools to out maneuver the little guy. This activity started a few years ago and seems to be accelerating, and I don't think there is really anything that can be done to stop it. It's too bad, because thrift stores have lost some of their allure due to the lack of quality stuff available to those of us who only have time to go once a week.

This is, in fact, the essence of what is different today. So much money is focused on one game that developers cannot afford to take risks, just like major movies. I spent 2 hours playing tetris on my gameboy yesterday. It's a relatively simple game to program, but it's very fun. We just don't see those kinds of things produced much anymore, and when we do, it's not something creatively new, just smoother, more colorful, more technically polished. I also think big-budget movies and music tend to suffer the same lack of creativity (although some are still very good). Creativity and inventiveness is hard to mass produce, I guess.

I like the NEX, which works fine except there are a few games that don't work in it though. I also like the wireless controllers, plus, it accepts Famicom games.

At flea markets, the same sellers go there week after week (especially the indoors kind) and they may have a pile of games which they pull out each week. That pile gets picked over several times and of course all the good games are sold. For some reason, not as much new stuff comes out in late spring/early summer. There seems to be a couple of times in the year when lots of new stuff finds its way to flea markets and thrift stores: February/March and again around September. Probably related to people doing their spring cleaning and back to school stuff. Also, a lot of that used stuff gets back into circulation when storage units are auctioned off because of rent not being paid. That seems to occur in big batches for some reason. When one guy gets a bunch of "new" stuff to sell, everyone else seems to have a bunch of "new" stuff. Another thing about Goodwill: within the last year or two (in some places in the country, at least), Goodwills have started separating out certain kinds of stuff and shipping it to their local "boutique" store, and even selling it online if it has obvious collectible value. They also sometimes stockpile certain kinds of things for a day or two in a back room and offer it to certain special customers first.

I'm anxious to find out how they will put together a new video game that ties in with the movie: "Atari - The Video Game" Maybe it would be Nolan running around putting up Pong machines in lots of bars and collecting as many quarters as possible before running out of the money needed to build new machines and being forced to sell the company. or maybe SimCity style: create a video game factory: hire bodies, get sales channels going, buy beer and pizza at least twice a week, hire Steve Jobs, etc...

Regarding graphics and fun value, intricate and complex graphics do make a game more attractive in the same way that a TV in the doctors office sucks the attention of people sitting there away from each other, no matter what garbage is on. Human beings have a natural affinity for motion and visual stimulation. However, this does not translate to fun. I have 163 PS2 games, most of which are pretty and "involving", but after a short time, all the driving games seem the same, all the walk-around-and-find-things games seem the same, etc. Plus, I have to wait so dag-gone long just to start playing. On the other hand, I can plug in Astrosmash or Kaboom! and get my heart racing in less than 30 seconds...

So many complaints about his review... Why don't some of you guys go rate his review on epinions? Your points are all valid...

I guess they're drying up. However, yesterday, I got 5 PS1, 3 Genesis, and 1 SNES games at Game Crazy in Columbus OH, and four weeks ago I got a ton of PS1 games and about ten Genesis with box and instructions in Wichita Kansas (which isn't too far from Oklahoma City). Today I went to a bunch of garage sales and got some PS1 and PS2 games for a dollar each at several places and an Atari 2600 with six games including Laser Gates (which I didn't have) for $6.50. By the way, two months ago I got a CDX complete with one game (Ecco) for $29.95 at Game Crazy in Medford Oregon. So although you may not be able to go get whatever you want off the shelf for a dollar, games are still readily available. Maybe it's time to start collecting Xbox stuff, which is starting to show up in the deep discount bins. Try asking your local Game Crazy what other (GC) store still has the classic stuff...they might tell you where there are still some left since Ok. City is a pretty big town.

I've recently visited several used game stores across the US as I drove cross country. I noticed an extremely wide variation in prices. It reminds me of the Hot Wheels bubble in the mid 90's when people would go to toys R us and buy a bunch of cars for $.99 and then sell them at the flea market for $3. It could be that there has been a huge increase in the number of collectors in the last year or so, and if so, that may change in a couple of years. Or, it could just be the same guys hoarding everything hoping to sell in a few years. I think it's been long enough that rarity is fairly well established, so the rare games (and systems) will not likely come down much in price from average ebay prices. However, common games will probably lose demand in a couple of years, and those store owners who are trying to sell at high prices will eventually give up and blow them out when they move on to those "rare" gamecube titles. Also, three or four years ago, Goodwill was generally selling Atari, Genesis, NES games for $.25 or $.50 each; now it's typically $3.99 or $4.99, sometimes $6.99... Salvation Army marks them a little lower. Also watch out for stores where an employee stockpiles all the games someplace out of view, saving them for "their favorite customer" who bribes them in one way or another. I've seen this behavior time and again at Goodwill and now only donate stuff to Salvation Army because of it. (I don't donate any games, though) Thrift stores used to be the best place to get used games a couple of years ago, but now I have better luck at classic game stores, although some of the employees are kind of afraid to make any decision when it comes to negotiating. I make a point to talk directly with the owner if I can and usually get a reasonable price per game since I usually get quite a few at a time. They usually want the extra space on their shelves for games that sell faster. These days, you can still find some NES, Genesis, SNES, and PS1 games at Game Crazy at a dollar each or so, since Hollywood Video is not doing so well. They tend to consolidate their stock into one location, so check several stores or ask the employees where they sent all their old stuff to.

What color finger nail polish do you use? I just put "Sunrise Red" on the contacts of my 7800 Xenophobe which was fussy, carefully let it dry, and now it doesn't work at ALL... or do you put finger nail polish on the sand paper first?