HatefulGravey

I just got an xBox from a thrift store. The man working there said he didn't know what it was doing but it wasn't doing what a normal one does. He said "its says something about arcade on it". So I gave him $20 and took it and few controllers and a few games with me. I hook it up in the thrift store before I leave and its modded of coarse, and thats what I was thinking it was. So the questions begin. Is there a way to unmod the xbox and go back to original? I have a modded box, and this one is in a little better shape (the disk door wont open on my other system and this one does) so I'm thinking if I can I might return this one to normal. This is a soft mod, I can't remember the name of it but it the same one I have on the other system too. If I can't or decide not to unmod it, is there a way to put in a bigger HD now? I did this before with my other system many moons ago, and that was put in during the mod, not after.... I'm sure this thing hasn't had the HD replaced with a bigger one, and I'm going to want to put MAME on this system if I keep it so I can play on my bigger tv with no trouble, but the 8Gb HD that came with these things isn't going to cut it. So, can it be put back to normal?

Looking like a consolized MVS is going to be the way for me for now. Just going to have to find the parts and such. I've been talking to folks about it already. Does anyone know where to find a few Neo Geo CD controllers, those seem to be what I like the most and they are Neo Geo after all.

We are posting too close together, this may end up being a double post on my part. Sorry. Is there any reason I would HAVE to change anything? Most of the games I've seen for the system would be playable even if I can't read whats going on. Fighting games and platformers are pretty straight forward deals. It might be cool to have it in Japanese. It would stand out when friends were over for sure. I guess this really comes down to region coding then doesn't it? I would hate to have to play all Japanese copies because I didn't mod my AES.

They're around $200, and are easy enough to find online. There are a few different versions, older units have limitations as far as playing newer games, but I haven't seen one of those in a while. As for importing, there's no real reason not to. Most of my MVS games came from a guy in canada, but it's not uncommon for me to import from asia too. Only a few games (mahjong, horse racing and the like) don't switch to english in american systems. If you get a system from asia, may want to swap out the bios so it plays games in english. Unibios is pretty inexpensive. Now the bios thing is what an MVSer would have to do, and it certainly works on AES, but there *may* be a easier way to switch region on the aes. I know the NGCD uses a clearly labeled jumper block, so modding it is the easiest thing in the world. I looked online there are some ok prices for the system imported. Shipping can be high but I guess thats to be expected. Do you know how fast the express expedited shipping from Japan is? Talking about having the mod my system isn't a good thing for me. I don't have much in the way of modding skill and don't like to ruin hardware trying. I'll figure that out when I get the system it would seem. Are AES games or MVS games region coded? It seems likely I'll be spending my gaming moneys on Neo Geo stuff for the next few months. Save my budget for a while, buy the system, save the budget for a while, buy the converter....

For some reason there is a real lack of gaming stuff in my area of the country. I'm near Savannah Ga if anyone knows that area at all. One of the oldest cities in the country, many historical things you really should see if you ever get the chance. It is a shock to me that there isn't more around here, but there isn't. So finding a MVS close enough to be able to get it isn't easy for me. I'm looking all the time though, believe me. The converter is high on the list of must haves for me when I get an AES though. Having AES carts would be cool, and I'll get a few examples or good deal games, but I'll buy mostly MVS because to me they are cooler anyway. They are real arcade games meant for the arcade, and that carries a bit of cool for me. I can't just buy one now. Well I could but the wife would surely be a bit upset with that sudden loss of cash and I would have to worry about my mental state if I just dropped that cash. The thing is do I import one? That almost seems like the only way to get one without dropping a pile of cash. When I see them listed in country that are always with a pile of stuff so they go high, or they are selling high because they don't have to be imported and that is a nice thing to know. Not knowing about the importing process is something of a problem when dealing with eBay. Anyone know where I could buy one in this country? And the more important question, what is reasonable for this system? I guess I would like 2 controllers and I'll be looking for a converter. Are the converters hard to find or crazy pricey?

I thought for a long time that owning anything Neo Geo was really just a dream. The Neo Geo Pocket Color (which I just ordered from Ax) is something you can own in The States, but finding an AES is something else entirely. Never the less I find myself wanting one. Does anyone have one? (I don't want to buy yours, I want first hand information, unless you want to sell it ) Where can I get one? Did anyone have one imported? What should I be sure I get with it? Anything I should look out for? What should I look to pay for this thing? I don't know much about the Neo Geo CD at all. Is it worth getting? Is it as hard to get? What is it going to run me if I get one? I know thats a lot of questions, but Neo Geo gets little to no conversation around here, so I thought I would see what people have to say on their systems.

PM sent. Don't bother other people, its mine! Love it!

Where does one get box protectors. (Insert 'rape axe' joke here)

I should say so. Holy crap I thought I was bad with the speed collecting. That is quite the speed record there.

Now that you mention it the racing games that have the CPU drivers stuck to the best line like they are on rails. Or the driving game where all the CPU cars are racing to make sure the PC doesn't win the race. Not racing for themselves, but racing to beat the player. Even better, the racing game where the CPU cars seem to weigh a freaking ton. Smashing you out of the way and unmovable is you slam into them.

I see a lot more Genesis stuff CIB then most things. The plastic nature of their "cases" lends to being easier to keep and harder to completely destroy. Same goes for the Master System. I don't see many NES games CIB, I see a lot of Master System games that way.

I too played the first and for no reason I can remember skiped the last release. I enjoyed it for sure. I thought they could have done more, and they probably did in part 2, but atleast it wasn't a dating sim, and that counts for something.

Kaboom! What a great time. Sadly I didn't own it until recently but man I do love that game. It has taken much of my Donkey Kong time away from me. To be honest though I needed a break from Donkey Kong. I do love my MAME machine, but setting there too much makes people think I'm crazy. I miss high scores that matter something fierce. Anymore people spend more time finding ways to point press and "cheat" then trying to get better at a game if they can find a game with a highscore mode at all. I have to work on getting a world record. That would just be the coolest thing ever to me. A world record on (insert random music game here) isn't near as impressive to me as a good high score on a classic game. Classic games provide challenge that progresses, music games are about memorizing the song and playing it. Sadly, music games are about the only thing with high scores anymore.

Just damn. Trying to collect out any where but the US must suck. I'm sure they're are some ups, but I see alot of downs talked about on this forum. Of coarse if I lived in Japan I would aready have my AES, so I guess I understand the pain a little.

I started by getting a box here and there as an example of what they looked like and how they were marketed. That didn't work for long as I got hooked on them. I just counted what I have coming in the mail this week. If I win the 2 auctions I'm bidding in right now, plus what I have coming from members here I'll get 19 CIB atari 2600 games in the mail this week. A few of those are actually NIB. This is getting out of hand I think. Hell I don't have a place to put them when I get here, I better start working on that now. I never had the chance to keep boxes as a child. I still have a few Sega CD boxes as they were needed to keep the game in good shape. My parents thought they boxes were trash after the first few days or owning them. If I still had those NES games CIB I could be making some money now. I had tons and CIB NES games are 100% crazy in price from the little I have seen. I have been lucky enough to get most of my CIB games for not much more then the loose price though. A good deal is hard to pass up on something like this for me. The market here has made a dent in my spending money for sure.

I would say turn based RPG isn't a machanic, its a games style. I happen to like it, but I also repect your opinion. I agree the button mashing to open a box or open a door thing is crap. Having to unlock a character or two in a fighting game isn't bad, but having to unlock ten is way too much. Paying real money to unlock characters is even worse. The thing I hate most is encounters that level with the PC. This means a character that is max level in an RPG doesn't get to feel like a bad ass, just a character with more stuff.

Look at the first time posters coming in for this game. See, good homebrews are good for the community. I see I'm not the only person freaking crazy excited about this. Also, buying 2 is just crazy, lets make sure everyone that is interested can get 1 first maybe?

Being Batman, being Batman could be much more fun. I have the game and can't really play it. The name was enough to turn me off for some reason. Just never really cared for the game at all.

Recently I got some games in box for the 2600. I found 3 locally and thought they would be cool to look at and fun to show off. Most people haven't I hang out with have never seen a boxed Atari 2600 game, the others haven't seen one since the 2600 was new. Well, looking at them on the shelf and pulling them out to play the game inside and read the manuals got to me, and now I'm hooked on boxes. It increases the space your collection takes up by 200% easy, and you can't just put them in a box in a dry place, you have to be sure to store them much more carefully to keep them right, and you pay more them too. All that said I can't help but want more boxed games. Anyone else getting stuck in this mind set recently? I know there are a few people here that seem to have everything in the box (Ax, I'm looking at you).

There was a time when I agreed with the argument 100%, that time has passed as I'm not into getting hosed. I thought supporting local business was a great thing, and in many cases I still do. Being able to choose between WalMart and Kroger for groceries is a great thing. Being able to choose between WalMart and real locally owned and operated grocery store is even better. But the locally owned and operated grocery store wont hide behind anything with their prices. They also wont go buy all the local fruits so you can't get them from the farmer anymore and drive the price of fruit up everywhere else you can buy it. Classic gaming stores get their inventory in two ways. People bring it to them and they pay bottom dollar for them to get them in the store and make the most money. If they can't get them like that they go out and buy them from other places like flea markets and local thrift stores. So when I go to look for games in those places I have to pay more for them there too. The local thrift owner sees people coming in to buy them all the time and now she raises her prices too. When this happens you make a choice of your own. Is the local ownership and staff worth supporting? Do they understand the collector keeps them in business? Are their prices and practices too far out of the question? If you get the right answer to these questions do business there, if not go elsewhere. I understand the retail store has to sell higher then the eBay site to stay open. But the retail store has to do something eBay can't to justify the price. That thing is provide great customer care, not service but customer care. If the only difference in your store and eBay is I don't have to pay shipping I'm out. I work in sales, I work in a field that could be replaced by the internet and over the phone customer service. I still have a job because I keep up with my customers and do what I can for them. I have to sale at a profit to make money, but I also have to compete with people that don't have as much overhead. How do I compete, customer care. I provide a value my customers can't get anywhere else. Most local game stores aren't doing this very well anymore. At least I haven't seen one that did in a long time. They are happy to make money without regard to the cost. The customer controls the market. The best customer in this kind of store is a collector. People with a casual interest buy a game of two once in a while. A collector might just leave you a list of things to find for them and pay well when you do. You have to keep the "come back customer" happy, or they will stop coming back. One last thing, a happy customer tells 3 people about how happy they are once, a pissed customer tells 10 people how pissed they are every time they get the chance.

Anything Halo after Halo 2 which was still a pretty good game for me. GTA IV flopped IMO. Dead Rising's controls sucked so bad I can't even try the next one, though I should just because they might have fixed it. So I can't understand why people thought so much of it, or why they thought to make another one. Unless it was to fix the problems with controls. And the greatest of games to be overrated in the modern era, Gran Turismo 5! Nothing has really improved over 4 and Forza is making that series look stupid anymore. Forza has it's trouble too, but not near as much as GT does.

This is one of the problems I had with my local store that in time lead to me leaving them in favor of other options. The pricing I hardly every complain too much about as you can take it or leave it. No one is making you buy really so there isn't much you can do. The thing I hate about this is many places, including the place I went to and flea markets in the area, hide behind the "on the internet" line. Well, I stopped at the local place and went to the internet almost completely, and the prices are much better in general. If nothing else you get many more options and I can support collectors in many cases to move unwanted or duplicate games. I can get what I want from them, they call sell the extra and collect something else. The best way to support the community is to come to the community first anyway, so just do that and ditch the local store.

Where does one buy these repro carts cheap? Just have to ask.

I want this! eBay Auction -- Item Number: 250775543517 I'm not going to pay this much for it, but I damn sure want it. Pretty freaking cool man. Is this real? I know games this rare do create the conditions needed for people to create repros and market them like they are real.

Free bump. I got everything I ordered fast and well packaged. Thanks a bunch man.