Gabriel

I sometimes ask stupid questions. Sometimes sellers don't list their shipping charges or payment method in the body of the item description. As a customer, I look at the other parts where that information can be found. But when they don't mention it in the body, I e-mail and ask about it. The reason being that I had a bad experience with a seller who listed money order as an acceptable option and then when I won the item he proclaimed that a cashiers check would be the only acceptable mode of payment. This was confirmed in his item body text, but the part up at the top where it listed payment methods said money order as 100% acceptable. Since then, I ask whenever there is the slightest confusion in my mind.

I've played: FF1 FF4 (FF2 american) FF5 FF6 (FF3 american) FF7 FF8 FF9 I have to say that of those, FF6 is the best. Playing it as FF3 on the SNES is the best play experience. There are a few access time issues and minor emulation issues with playing it in the compilation disc for the PS1.

Call me a fuddy duddy, but I liked the early ones with the guy pretending to be an old lady and promoting macaroni art instead of the EVIL game of Sonic the Hedgehog. That commercial did its job. It caused me to eventually buy a Genesis.

For Fishing Derby, just beat the computer player. This unlocks Distortion Mode. For Skiing, the commercial unlocks with a time of 38 seconds or so on game 1. The activision ski team patch unlocks on game 3 with a time of 36 seconds or so. For Ice Hockey, the commercial unlocks when you score 4 points on game 1. The All Star Hockey patch unlocks when you can defeat the computer on game 1. Ice Hockey rocks, BTW. For Spider Fighter I got the patch. This is what I think happens: the last two digits of your score (tens and ones digits) have to match the current minutes on the PS2 clock. My score was 4520, and after letting the game sit on attract mode for a while, I got the patch. I went to look at the PS2 clock after a couple of minutes and it read 2:22. There's my theory on the matter.

Hey! I disagree with the thumbs down rating of Metal Head. I'd give it a It's not that bad. The rest seem to be pretty good assessments. Except I'd give the Star Trek game a

My system collection has been damaged by a period of abject poverty and a move. But it has been recovering since then. Top Loading NES (looks like its been through hell, but still works fine) Genesis Model 1 Sega CD Model 2 (kinda flakey. I need to get a new one) 32X Nomad SNES Panasonic 3DO (the backup save memory is flakey. Otherwise this thing is a tank. It has been through hell, and roaches infested it in storage, but it still works perfectly.) Jaguar Saturn Playstation (2 units, one with the RCA jacks and one requiring an adaptor) N64 Dreamcast (a dead unit that I bought for $20 when they were $200 and cleaned up. It works fine, but you can tell the poor thing has been mistreated because it just gives up sometimes.) Playstation 2 X-Box (I've had it about 2 months. I'll probably be taking it in for service soon. Good thing I got the service plan.) GameCube Game Boy Advance I don't think I have any notable perhipherals. However I do have the big Dual Analog jet-style control sticks for the PS1. I understand that it's kind of unusual to find. It kicks ass for Ace Combat and Battlezone. In the semi-near future, I'm thinking of trying to acquire an Atari 7800 and perhaps a Commodore 64. Way down the road, I intend to get an Atari 5200 to replace the one I had many moons ago.

Tries to think of a really goofy way to unlock something. Do you remember what time it was? Maybe the patch is unlocked based on the PS2 clock. Have you played the crap out of it? Maybe the number of plays also has something to do with it. I dunno though. Maybe its entirely random.

Last night I sat down with Activision Anthology and committed myself to attempting something I hadn't tried since the early 80s, scoring 1,000,000 in Laser Blast. Last time I tried I got to 500,000 or so points and then Michael Jackson's Thriller came on the radio and screwed my rhythm all to hell. The game patch unlocks at 10,000. The 1,000,000 patch unlocks at 100,000. There is a commercial that unlocks as well. For me it unlocked after a particularly horrid game where I only scored 2,700. Anyway, I can now proudly say that I finally beat game variation 4. After a VERY LOOONG game (I never used pause), the score turned all into exclamation points after I killed one more enemy past the 999,990 mark. Dragster just seems to give the patch for free. I have yet to even get off the start line in that game. I've already got the stuff unlocked for Seaquest. Damn, if I had known that game was that much fun I would have definitely tried to get it back in the day. Spider Fighter is being elusive for me too. But I think Spider Fighter kicks ass, so I'll keep trying. Its another game I wish I had gotten way back when. Kaboom has unlocks at 150 or so (commercial) and 300 (patch). This is good because I was never very proficient at the original and the emulated version is basically unplayable. Get your bucket in the corner for a second and then try to move it out, you'll see what I mean. Freeway unlocks a patch if you play difficulty 7 and get 10 points. I don't know how you unlock the commercial. I have several other things unlocked. I can't seem to get anything unlocked for the race type games though.

I kind of liked Pitfall I. It's a decent game, playable, and somewhat fun. I never owned it. It was just one of those games I never got around to begging for at the time. I did get around to begging for Pitfall II, though. I remember harrassing my aunt for it one fine day in Target. She popped for the $25 cartridge (I think that was how much it was), and I thought I was a happy camper. I have to admit that after the begging got me my prize I never really liked it much. In one aspect, it was ludicrously easy. After all, you never died and the only challenge was memorizing the location of all the treasures. The music grated on my nerves horribly. Plus, I've never been one that really likes the games where you goal is to roam everywhere and explore all the pixels (Adventure being a notable exception). Add to the fact that the level design was a massive gauntlet of slow tedium, and I just didn't find it very fun. About the only challenge to the game was to get through it with a perfect score. I never accomplished that. I'd always screw up somewhere on the way up that long tower toward the cat and get tapped by one of the vulture things. Another problem is that it took a long time to play. In the end, I played it a lot because it was the last video game that I was able to weasel my family into buying me for some time. I figured that I might as well get some enjoyment out of it. And the goal of a perfect score was a goal that I pursued with some regularity because of its maddening elusiveness. I particularly remember long afternoons of playing in anticipation of watching Knight Rider later on.

I own the entire monthly run of the series, plus the one special issue. I think I still have the Star Raiders graphic novel. I wish I owned the ones that came with the cartridges. I know one came with Defender, and another one came with Star Raiders. Weren't there other ones in Galaxian, Phoenix, and Berzerk? I never had those games. There were also the Swordworld series books. (Being a newb here, I have to state the blatantly obvious to all the people here that are much more knowledgeable than I) Can you believe that back in the glory days of Atari I returned Swordquest: Earthworld and traded it in for E.T.? I went from bad to worse! I like those old monthly Atari Force books, though. I remember they were fun to read back then, and they had a visual style that no other comic had back in those days. I still break them out from time to time and read them. Hukka versus THE BOB always brings a smile to my face.

I left 'em with the neighbor lady's kids. Looking back on it, I regret it. But I was in a bit of a hurry at the time. I didn't have much time to get out of that place, and in that last trip a few boxes had to stay behind. Sadly, the Atari 2600 box was one that I decided that I'd do without. Even more sadly, I've since found that I had more than enough room in my new place to keep all those boxes I left behind. They were mostly systems. I had 2 of the really old 6 switch machines, and 4 of the 4 switch models. All of them worked with varying degrees of eccentricity, but I only had 1 RF box and one AC adaptor. I only had one working controller (a Wico stick), and about all I ever played on them were Missile Command and Empire Strikes Back. One day I'll get another 2600. There's a local used game shop that I can get a lot of the common games from. I hope I'll be able to find a RF box.

I haven't played the other versions. I will say that NFS:HP2 is very close in feel to Need for Speed 3 from the PS1 days. It's a pretty game, but a little "foggy". Control is good and sharp. There are lots of goals to accomplish and cars to unlock, and that gives the game tremendous replay value. It's a very arcade style of racer. If that's what you're looking for, then I recommend the game.

MK2 was the best of the arcade offerings. MK2 for the SNES and MK Trilogy for the PS1 are the best of the home conversions. MK Deadly Alliance is OK, but most of the fatalities are really lame. The game has also lost almost all of its "MK feel". Toughest characters in MK2? Mileena certainly ranks up there. For some reason Baraka was tough for me (I know, I know. I'm pathetic). But Jade was definitely the meanest bitch in the game.

Since there is some talk of Shadow Squadron here, does anyone know what the force field for the little fighter was supposed to do? As far as I can tell, it doesn't stop damage. It doesn't speed you up. It doesn't do anything! One day I hope to get hold of Afterburner for my 32X.

I once found a poor Atari 2600 that had been left outside for I don't know how long. It was caked with mud, and the outer casing was broken. On a whim, I decided to see if it could be repaired. I cleaned it up. Scraped some of the rust off of that godawful armor plate/radiation shield, found a new AC adaptor, plugged it in, slapped a combat cart in, turned it on. Worked fine. The power switch was a bit touchy tho. I kept it for a couple of years. My recent move caused me to have to leave my big box of Atari systems behind tho.

Let me also add my voice to the chorus saying that this game rocks hard! The only thing that I can think of that would make this collection better is if it had Riddle of the Sphinx and Star Voyager on it. I hope they are getting the rights to some more Atari 2600 games. I'd definitely buy another compilation of this quality.

I'm a fighting game fan. I initially didn't like them, because Street Fighter II irritated the shit outta me. Fortunately, Mortal Kombat 1 and 2 eased me into the genre and made me love 'em. I've definitely been seduced by the 3D fighters. While I like the 2D games enough, the 3D games are definitely my favorites. Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast is my present all time favorite. I still get a kick out of Mortal Kombat 2. I have an irrational affection for Battle Arena Toshinden 2. I wish there was a PS2 incarnation of that franchise. Tekken 4 and DOA3 with a dash of Bloody Roar 3 eat up my recent fighting game time. I recently added Marvel vs Capcom 2 to my collection, and intend to get Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance in a couple of weeks. JagHammer, I have Way of the Warrior. I'd question the sanity of anyone that liked that game.