HoshiChiri

Oh, I know that feeling: The only other console I'd really like to have is a Vectrex. I don't have anywhere to keep one, but I really enjoy the machine when I can play it at conventions. *later* There's a lot of interesting games on the TurboDuo… it's pricey, but it would be nice to have... *later still* You know, if I sold enough DVDs I could make room for an Odyssey 2... I'm sure someday I'll probably end up with a Jaguar too, despite specifically saying right now I don't want one.

This is where most of my thinking on the whole subject goes... people expect Sonic to go fast, but attempting to put that into 3D creates something that is divisive at best. Having watched Mr. C up there go on about a proper Sandbox game though, it makes me wonder- what if, instead of just pure running speed, we let Sonic do something more akin to parkour? You could keep up the sense of movement without it needing to be in the form of breakneck speed. Couple that with well-designed sandbox world that runs together design elements from Tony Hawk & the new Spiderman game... you could end up with something where you can just merrily send Sonic free running through the world like a blue ping pong ball. Could be fun. Alternately, go full cheese and make a GTA clone starring Shadow. Hijack Eggbots! Blow up buildings! Woodland creatures running for their lives! Make Big the Cat a drunken, slightly psychotic side character! I mean, the absurdity value alone would be worth it.

Who? *stops by Google* OH! Yes, that. They should do that.

So this is where you'd expect a long post about the evolution of Sonic, his highs and lows, and where the series should go- but you'd be wrong! This is where I promote a video by one of my favorite Youtubers, despite his very sporadic postings, Mr. Antony C! Honestly though, the guy has some interesting thoughts in this 35 minute long (?!) rant, so I thought I might share. (You can skip the last 10, it's unrelated content.) Warning for click-happy types: the fellow made his name in the world of Brony. This video barely makes a passing mention of it, but venturing to other links will likely drown you in pastel colored horses.

I gotcha beat- I upgraded from CRT in January 2016 becuase I needed HDMI for my Christmas ps4.

Very nice, but nostalgia dictates I bring up MY preferred Thunder Force title, the sequel: Now I wanna skip work tomorrow & spend the afternoon shooting things. Thanks.

It's that time of year again! What are you hoping to accomplish collection-wise this year? After any specific new systems? Need to clear some out? What kind of games are you hoping to buy or play? (For those interested in seeing how things have played out for them over time, here's the 2018, 2017, and 2016 threads.) I've spent the last couple years acquiring many new systems & games, and trying my best to finish those games... but in the latter half of last year, it started taking on a chore-like quality. I was trying to keep my numbers up by looking through my stuff for games that were easy, as opposed to ones I wanted to play. It was starting to quit being fun- at least until my fiancé got me into Monster Hunter World. I haven't dug into a game like that in ages- it was nice, even it it did mean my backlog grew by leaps & bounds. So, this year I'd like to focus in on a couple of JRPGs & other longer-form titles I've wanted to play, but put off due to the time commitment- starting by continuing my quest to earn a platinum trophy in Monster Hunter World, which would be my first. 5 more crowns to go! Just before the year ran out, I got a very hefty raise at work. While I'm sure by this time next year I'll have adjusted, for now I've got some extra income- so I'd like to put it towards some of the pricier games in my wishlist. I'm also planning to pick up a TurboDuo (or equivalent) at some point this year. I also think it's high time I did another purge from other collections I have that get less attention, to see if I can make room for things I've been wanting for awhile but can't justify due to space & cost concerns. I already got a twin stick dreamcast controller for virtual on, I'd love to find somewhere to put a vectrex & start saving for one. Overall, I'm going for a slower-paced, quality or quantity kind of approach. What about you guys?

I wouldn't say it's 'crazy'- it is the nature of time to, y'know, move forward... but it's defintely a bit overwhelming to realize just how much of it has gone by. My PS2 was bought in June 2001. it was my high school graduation present to myself, a plan I'd had in place for a full year after seeing the kind of money my sister had got for her graduation. I believe Zone of the Enders was my first game? I'm not 100% sure anymore. I know Shadow of Destiny was early-on becuase a good chunk of my remaining grad money disappeared a few days later (my brother was sticky-fingered at the time) and I set out immediately to buy a game, any game, just to prevent the rest from getting taken too. It's the first system I ever bought myself, and the oldest of my systems that I got brand-new. It eventually fell to the laser death of so many PS2s- but luckily, it did so while Sony had to repair lasers for free, so I got it fixed. I actually came across the invoice for that just the other day, I'm not sure where I put it... The next few years in the retro world will be interesting to me, as this was about the time the nostalgia for the cart systems started to climb up. We have seen an increase of love for the PS1, not as much as the NES, but I've long thought the overwhelming popularity of PS2 coupled with its backwards compatibility messed with the PS1's 'retro cycle', so to speak. If I'm right, we should really start seeing the PlayStation market start to overtake the Nintendo one.

In 2 days, I'll be 36. And this is pretty much the only place I visit online where that doesn't make me old.

Let's see: Atari Pong has sharp-edged paddles, a square 'ball', score at the top, electronic beeps for sound effects, a black background, and a vertically oriented playfield. Foot Pong has rounded-edged paddles, a round ball, score along the sides, reproduced 'ball hitting table' sound effects, a woodgrain background, and a horizontal playfield. Not to mention the very different play mechanic. This is not a Pong copy, it's a knockoff- and there's a few decades worth of those to show Atari doesn't have a monopoly on the 'digital table tennis' concept. As long as they aren't actively referring to it by the name Pong, Atari's got no case here. So at best, Atari wastes what little money they have to get Target to run 'floor tennis' or 'store hockey' instead of 'foot pong'.

I do enjoy my handhelds- there's a lot to be said for the part of the system you hold and interact with during play, it's why most controllers are more recognizable than the consoles they connect to. But when the console IS the controller? It makes the whole thing such an intimate, unique experience to that system. When I'm done playing a handheld, I tend to just sit there an hold the powered-down system a minute, just noting & enjoying the things that make that particular unit special. On the flip side, I don't bother with Minis for the most part. To me, there like the plug n' plays of old, but worse- they mimic that system's unique feel but bring nothing of their own to the table. Perfectly fine for a more casual fan or someone just discovering the mimicked machine, but for a longtime collector? Might as well just get an everdrive. Having said that- I'm likely to get the C64 mini, as I have zero experience with the microcomputer era, and no room for a proper setup on that machine anyway. My fiancé's a gamer too, albeit a modern one. He helps keep me from going too crazy on the collection, and I deal with his gear when it ages out of his setup by helping him sell/store it. Or just taking it for my own

19. Christmas Nights (Saturn) Ok, I'm kinda stretching the definition of game here- but my main criteria is 'roll the credits', which I did. And if I'm counting the Oregon Trail handheld, I can count this too! Besides, it's the best time of the year to play this one!

My twin stick actually came early & arrived Christmas Eve! It actually had a vmu stuck in it- literally, I couldn't get it out. Luckily my fiancé was around & had the clever idea to hook a lanyard to it to use the cord as leverage to pop it out. Cleaned up the sticky something on the casing & all's good now. So, on that note- anybody where I can get a white (grey?) vmu cap? It's the only vmu I've got without one so I'd love to get a replacement. In other news, my wonderswan game's tracking updated- to 'attempted delivery abroad.' In other words, they sent it back to Japan.

I also volunteer for Rescue Reindeer duty if the need arises!

But I need to get to Pizza Hut!

I typically go easy on the game acquistions over the holidays to leave options open for friends/relatives to choose from. I've actually done a HUGE amount more picking up this year than in the past, thanks to various sales on games not actually in my wishlists: Qix, Scrapyard Dog, California games, & Klax (CIB) for my Lynx Street Dancer for Wonderswan... maybe... if the post office can find it Xi Little for my Wonderswan, which did come Puzzle Link 2 for NGPC God of War, Detroit: Become Human, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice on PS4 Bendy's Ink Machine on Xbox one Monster Hunter Stories on 3DS Smash & Katamari on Switch My secret santa got me Super Huey for my 7800. I also got myself a worm light/power pack for my NGPC & just yesterday ordered a Dreamcast Twin Stick that's due to arrive the day after Christmas. I've wanted one of those for awhile.

Tie-dye pacman just reminds me of this weirdness... (language warning!) https://youtu.be/v2NFl86LX3Q?t=173

Very true. As a veteran of customer service work- always temper your emotions when dealing with people, even if you think they're being unreasonable. Seeing you get into a fight over pricing, regardless of context, is off-putting to potential buyers who now have to worry about how you'd handle any issue that may arise with a purchase. Within this situation, your very first reply ("This is new not mint or good. I try to price fairly and I am open to offers") was all you needed. Everything else, even the first eBay link, was unnecessary. Just something to keep in mind if you decide to give us another shot, since this kind of thing tends to blow over with time or a desirable listing.

There are a multiude of strange DIY fixes for the N64 joystick floating around the internet. I've seen fixes that use tape, glue, epoxy, ball point pen tubes, RC car washers, and toffifay boxes. Sadly, there is no consensus as to one 'best' way to fix the sticks, as the design itself seems to be flawed- the friction caused by using the stick wears away the parts, thus causing it to become loose. All the repair methods I've seen involve adding more material to replace the worn away parts- but eventually whatever you added will wear away as well. So what does that mean for you? It means do whatever you think sounds best- Frankenstein a good stick from parts of several others. Buy a replacement. Try one of the DIY techniques. Invent your own, even! Honestly, I'd just google it and start watching videos to see if any technique sits better with you than another.

My thoughts exactly- especially given the commitment on our end so far is "hey, if this ends up being viable, post if you want one"- I might be more concerned if anyone had put up money or info already. Plus there's nothing stopping a different person from working on their own Microvision screen, there's no monopoly on designing aftermarket parts. If there were, Mcwill would be over here with a laywer

No, no I can't- the holiday retail stress got the better of me this year. My thoughts: -OK, I hit up Japanese books stores from time to time, how have I never seen one of these art anthologies before? There's some pretty cool stuff in here! -Ahh, I see someone else shops at my favorite dollar* store -CRUN-KY! CRUN-KY! I love that silly name! -An intellivision mug! Now I own 3 mugs!(Sorry, kind of a running gag 'round here that I have basically no mugs) - Oooo, a 7800 game! Despite being in a retro-rich area, 7800 games are pretty hard to come by. I look forward to opening this up on my next day off! A big thank you to my Santa! The Atariage Secret Santa is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the holiday!

18. Katmari Damacy Reroll (Switch) My gaming time is limited in November/December, but I'm not passing up one of my favorite games ever! Na, Na-na-na na na, na na...