HoshiChiri

You know- having it spelled out like that, it seems so damn obvious I'm now amazed & annoyed they've not tried this route yet. The stores with more floor space (or access to loaner space) could hold tourneys & such- go to Gamestop for FNM. Drop early & stuck waiting for friends? Play a demo on the Switch kiosk! I want this to be a thing now.

So, now I just want someone to make a Call of Duty/Burgertime game- first-person Peter Pepper firing spice bullets into giant foodstuffs while navigating a hellscape of a kitchen to turn on burners, gather ingredients, and feed rescued hostages before helicoptering out in a sea of explosions Broforce-style.

Purchased a homemade vectrex light pen doohickey from Masschamber. As usual, a great deal & fast shipping- and for once, not beat up by the post office! Already planning out some cosmetic additions to make the lil' box look like a crayon, just for fun. Thanks for the deal!

Mischief Makers was a huge part of why I even got a N64 in the first place. It's a bit of an odd bird for the era- a 2D puzzle platformer developed by Treasure. So, if that sounds at all appealing, definitely pick it up- it's one of the system's 'hidden gems'.

I dunno, man- if you've got a Gamecube, you'll need those for proper Crystal Chronicles play. 😋

And chance of getting button pictures? My button 2 no longer works- it feels like the spring is broken/gone. I'd love to have an idea of what's needed to fix it.

I would be VERY much interested in that! 😁

REALLY? Oh, that changes everything- I have research to do!

So, I recently picked up a Vectrex lot, having wanted one for years. Amongst the games was a cart-only copy of Art Master, but no light pen. I've no use for it, as I have no plans to get the light pen anytime soon & they almost always come with Art Master anyway... but that would also mean no one needs to buy one standalone either, right? The point of this thread is just to see if anyone would want to buy this cart & what they'd be willing to pay/trade, so I can decide if I should sell it, donate it, or just keep it (I'd hate to have to re-buy it if I get a pen someday & it doesn't come with it.) So- anyone even care?

I figured out the problem- it was ME! I just got a copy of web wars, and it was having similar, but less severe issues- you couldn't see bullets or the creatures on the trophy screen. Playable, but annoying. Having 2 carts with graphics issues got me thinking the system was the problem, but why did some work & these two didn't? Then I died in Web Wars. And noticed the word 'end' was kind of dim. Yeah- I needed to turn up the contrast. Everything's doing fine now. So, unless needing to do that reflects an issue in itself, I'm just gonna go sit in the corner and feel dumb for a bit.🤪

I would say I'm a wannabe aficionado- my Japanese is not up to snuff for most of the Wonderswan's library, so what I've played is limited. The obvious recommendation for me (and the main reason I bought mine) is Klonoa Moonlight Museum. A bit heavier on the puzzle side of the puzzle-platformer mechanic, but still a wonderful lil' game. Most of the rest of what I own are Kelsey's recommendations from MJR's video- but, if you like Rhythm games, try & find Wuz↑b? Produce: Street Dancer- although the arrow & the slang make it a b*tch to search, especially since one of best ways to find most Wonderswan stuff is on Amazon Japan. I eventually found it just searching 'Street Dancer Wonderswan'.

Based on what I've watched, the prices are a lil' wibbly- there's a big spike right at the get-go from the die-hards who didn't get in on the actual sale from LRG & hit up eBay to 'keep their collection complete'. Sometimes this is followed by a brief dip when the die-hards are done and the resellers mark things down to get rid of excess inventory. After that, standard market forces take over. I would say, after that initial spike of activity, you can take your time on most LRG games, as long as you don't take TOO long. With the PS5/Scarlett on the horizon, the PS4 releases could see a drop as the console enters the 'dark era' of its lifecycle. Switch releases are probably going to be stable for awhile, but stock will dwindle over time so keep an eye on it. Vita games, buy sooner rather than later- that system's firmly into its twilight & has such a loyal fanbase I don't suspect many collections will get liquidated, so once the supply's gone, prices will go up.

I'm not interested, but if you're on the fence, take the man up on this- Enslaved is an underrated lil' gem of a game, I highly recommend it!

Ah yes, the eternal 'what counts as retro' debate, aka 'that can't be retro, then I'd be OLD!' I say anything that isn't current or last-gen is, arguably, retro- basically, can you walk into any GameStop & find titles? If 'no', then it could be retro. The rest is largely just semantics. We can argue about tech, but there's always outliers- there's early CD machines (TurboCD, Sega CD), there's late cartridge machines (N64, Jaguar). We can try to pair around other consoles, but that causes issues- is the Wii retro becuase of the Wii U, or does the Wii U's early death mean it doesn't count? This is why I tend to shy away from media choice & focus on other factors, like developer & retail support, or standard-use equipment (like what kind of controller or video cable the system came bundled with.) There's a lot of little things that go into a gaming era's 'aesthetic', if you will, and I find those to be more useful for era-defining. Mostly agreed here- multiple eras break things up better. Although I personally add an extra era in from 1977-1983/1985 (depending on how American you wanna break it down). The arrival of the NES had a notable effect on the gaming landscape, plus it's also the beginning of composite input & D-pad controllers being standard on basically everything. I guess you'd call it the neo-classic era? I typically call the 70's stuff vintage, and the 83/85 on is classic/neo-classic/modern. I usually start Modern closer to 2005 too- it lines up better with the online storefront, which is when online play really took off.

After years of swooning over the machines at conventions, I have finally added a Vectrex to my collection! Amongst the lot was a copy of Star Castle- except, um, it's not well. It loads, but not correctly- I've attached a video. It does this every time, very reliably, so it's not a wonky connection thing (becuase wouldn't it be inconsistent if it was?) I did clean the pins. None of the other games have issues. What the heck's going on here? How fixable is this? Or should I just buy another copy? (And as an aside- how's my unit sound? I know Vectrexes hum, but this seems louder than I've heard at cons- but cons are noisy anyway, so I don't know if it's just me or what.) MVI_0002.MP4

9 loose carts (to be fair, one of those is Art Master so it's useless to me at the moment)- not the screaming deal of the century, but this represents the last of the classic consoles I really wanted to own, so I'm very excited about it.

*cackles like a madwoman* I FINALLY HAVE IT!

I have zero legal expertise on the matter, so if someone knows otherwise they'll correct me... but I would assume you're in the clear. You aren't doing any importing. The company that actually brought the game from Japan would be the ones who had to deal with the tariffs/liscenses/customs. You're selling a secondhand good that simply happens to be Japanese. Only secondhand doctrines apply to you- which in the case of software, I believe just means it's illegal to keep any backup copies once you no longer own the item. I so guess, don't rip the games before you sell & you're good.

Kid: Can I play Fortnite with my friends online? Mom: No, mommy has to use the computer to pay bills. Why don't you play Amico with your sister for now, & you can play Fortnite after dinner? Kid: OK... (Also, you're assuming kid has previously had access to a device to play Fortnite/Roblox, which ignores my point of 'parents who DONT want to give their kids access to an expensive device w/ full internet' entirely.) See, you're coming at this from the wrong angle- you assume the kids in question will already be cooking on the grill of hardcore gaming, and will see such a device as the equivalent of Grandma's shovelware Christmas gift- bought with love, but also an incredible lack of knowledge. This is not for that- this is the marinade before you even bring the grill up to heat. This is for kids like my nieces & nephew who struggled with the controls on Mario Kart. This is for the kids of my co-workers who come to me for advice, becuase lil' Billy is old enough to be asking about games, & they want to oblige, but not spend too much money on something they might not like- or worse, accidentally get them something too mature for their age. You know what I often tell those people? Go find a secondhand Wii. Which, by the way, said nieces & nephew enjoy. Especially bowling. This market really does exist. I don't see it often, but I do see it. The main questions are: Will the games be good enough, and will the marketing reach the right people.

I'm honestly a bit puzzled at the people wringing their hands, bemoaning the lack of mature-rated titles as a sure sign that this system will surely fail. Families just use their smartphones! No one but hardcore gamers buy consoles! One word: Leapfrog. If no one buys kid-friendly tech, why does Leapfrog still sell? Becuase not everyone wants to give their 10 & unders a portable with a 3 digit price tag, hoping they won't a) break or lose it, and b) get past the parental filters & find something overly violent and/or sexual they now have to explain. Thing is, once you get past Leapfrog & its preschool edutainment angle, there's no real serious options out there. There IS a niche to be filled here. Also- who says 'gamers' don't want a family friendly experience? I own God of War & Devil May Cry, I'm not put off by mature content... but you know what I also enjoy? Here's a hint- look at my avatar. Clearly I am an adult who does, in fact, enjoy E-rated, 'childish' games... and if gamers really were bothered by such, Kirby wouldn't be such an icon. Assuming the games are good, Here's how I see this playing out- Little Billy is having his 8th birthday party. He gets an Amico from his tech-savvy dad who secretly wanted access to the old Inty games of his youth. Billy and friends love the games. They draw in their non-gamer parents to try. Some of said parents keep playing when the kids move on to other toys & cake. After the party, Billy's friends ask their parents for an Amico. They agree, impressed by what they saw at the party. Other kids come over to the friend's houses, and in turn fall for the system & ask their parents for one. A few of them talk about it on the playground & other kids overhear. Word of mouth spreads the system around. It does not come close to the numbers of Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. No one cares becuase it's turning a profit for the niche system it is. The system establishes as a 'step up' machine for families who want better than Leapfrog, but aren't ready to commit to a full phone/tablet/console for their kids. Once the kids are in their preteen/early teen years & have proven themselves capable of caring for tech & mature enough to navigate adult content with some supervision, the high-end tech comes out, and the amico is pushed to the back of the entertainment center... but gets pulled back out from time to time for parties, grandparent visits, younger cousins, etc. Maybe it lives in the closet after awhile. Maybe one of those younger cousins gleefully takes it home. Either way, it does what it set out to do- make some people happy. (Speaking of my avatar, I will preorder this thing immediately if you get a new Klonoa on it.)

No- while the Wonderswan allowed for rotating the handheld to a vertical position like the Lynx, its button layout meant it couldn't be properly ambidextrous (and I'm not aware of any games supporting such a feature.) The Lynx's ambidextrous nature was a hardware feature, I'm not aware of anything else that ever did that.

That was the Gasp Game this go-round. I try to get one game every con that solicits an audible gasp when I find it- otherwise it's more like grocery shopping than game shopping, y'know? $80- A bit on the pricey side, bit it's complete and the disc is pristine, so it was worth a little extra. Also, I just googled Super Star Soldier for the PC Engine and you are very correct!

I've only just recently become aware of this system- and unlike literally every other retro throwback that's been/being attempted right now, I consider myself 'cautiously optimistic' about this one. It's not just 'here's a CG mockup of a nostalgia-designed console case and some vague allusions to possible content, now give us money'. You seem to have a clear idea of the niche you want to appeal to, and that focus is taking precedence over pushing the Intellivision name. There's still little nods to the old machines though- it's a rather amicable setup (wait a sec...) I won't be sold until I see some games, running on a proper physical prototype- but it sounds like you're bringing that content fairly soon, so here's hoping I like what's to come!