Jump to content
Have You Played Atari Today?
2600|5200|7800|Lynx|Jaguar|Forums|Store  

HoshiChiri

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    1,887

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by HoshiChiri

  2. Posted · Edited by HoshiChiri

    So far, the worst casualites of my newer stuff are the rechargeable batteries in the Xbox controllers, which don't really hold a charge anymore. It's something I am paranoid about, though- I mean, my Xbox's never red-ringed even. Sooner or later something's gonna die!

     

    My PS2 succumbed to laser death, but luckily did so during the court-ordered free repair period, so I could get it fixed. It's been good since.

     

    Otherwise, I'd had an NES and a Sega CD both die on me. The NES didn't deserve it- the previous owner had covered it in black acrylic paint and used a mismatched AC with too high voltage. It never had a chance.

  5. Posted

    I've spent most of the last several years lumping PS1 and PS2 in my head as the 'high school' systems. I realized a few weeks ago that simply isn't true- I bought my PS2 with my graduation money, meaning 'high school' was almost exclusively PS1 gaming. It was an odd thing to realize. Anyway- most of my PS1 gaming was RPGs. Sooo many RPGs... wish I had that kind of time/patience again...

     

    Lunar:Sliver Star Complete and Eternal Blue Complete- these are so different from their Sega CD counterparts as to be completely different games. Some of my favorite stories ever in these two.

     

    Final Fantasy 8- I know it's got kind of a bad rap, but my enjoyment of a Final Fantasy stems so much from the characters, and I just really liked the cast of this one. Even mopey ol' Squall.

     

    Rayman- Damn near platform perfection!

     

    Rising Zan: Samurai Gunman- To be honest, I haven't actually played it... but that ridiculous old western opening song is so very worth seeing.

     

    Sheep- try to force a bunch of suicidal herd animals to safety. Surprisingly fun.

  6. Posted · Edited by HoshiChiri

    Kinda like the Genesis selection at my local GameXChange: crap, crap, sports, sports, crap, sports, sports, crap, sports, sports, sports, sports, sports, crap, crap, sports, Sonic 2, sports, crap... :P

     

    Sometimes I wonder if, someday, sports games will be hard to get as we constantly throw them aside or strip them down for homebrews. Then I see how many Atari Footballs are still around. :P

     

    (I got lucky with my double copy of Sonic 2 no one wanted... my Sonic-obsessed friend managed to lose hers in a move. I literally shoved it into her hands before she could inisist that she'd find her old copy.)

  7. Posted

    I'm pretty sure this doesn't count as classic gaming, but I went to a retro gaming store with the intention of getting an original Xbox and they didn't didn't test it, so they didn't sell it to me. It still bothers me to this day.

     

     

    I'm luck enough to have a working original XBox in my collection, I've had it since new and now have an XBox, XBox360 and XBox One at the same time :-D

     

    One regret is getting rid of an XEGS I had, and never replaced. A NES is probably next on the cards for me if I'm honest.

     

    I understand being miffed about the UntestedBox, but it's probably for the best. I've bought/had the chance to buy 2 original Xboxes cheap recently. One was modded and wouldn't eject the disc tray, one kept closing the tray without prompting & wouldn't read discs anyway. Based on that, and things I've read online, it seems there's a lot of pretty f'ed up OGBoxes out there. Honestly, the main reason I'm not rushing about to get one 'before it's too late' is knowing my fiancé has one squirreled away I can run off with when he's not looking. :twisted:

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    So, anyone know a good place to get cheap PS2 games? The nearest GameStop sent all theirs to corporate. :/

     

    You should find out where your nearest DumpStop is... every GameStop district has a store in it where all the going-out and excess product gets dumped. It's usually one of the better stores to shop in, especially if you're bargain-hunting. It's probably not going to help you with the PS2 games though- my DumpStops are both down to disc only sports and rythmn titles.

     

    I'd say start hitting up pawn shops. The PS2 is still in its 'dark phase' where there's not a lot of demand for it, so places like that should still have some games they want to push out cheap. Game stores are gonna have a better selection, despite the higher pricing- if you've got a good one around you can at least avoid the shipping costs of Ebay. Given the time of year, you might try some yard sales too- just beware of heat damaged discs. I have a copy of Kessen 2 I beat half a dozen times without seeing the ending because that's where the game freezes. :(

  9. Posted

    Elite Beat Agents is a definite favorite for me- I bought import copies of the two Ouendan games that inspired it, beat all 3 on all difficulties. :)

     

    If you like (or at least can stand) Vocaloid music, the Project Diva games are surpisingly challenging for as simple as the gameplay is.

     

    I'd really like to get a Samba De Amigo set for my dreamcast. The Wii version is ok, but the motion controls don't seem to be responsive enough for higher difficulty levels. Well, either that or I really suck at it.

     

    Taiko Drum Master is great fun too- I should look into getting a second controller. I wonder how they've held up over years of getting beat on...

  10. Posted

     

    Had to be a fluke and not end of famine. I was going rather far out of way for stuff when I stopped at Goodwill in Bad Axe and they had a dozen 2600 games for sale under lock and key. Common games, I took Big Bird Egg Catch and 7800 Food Fight. The rest were like Combat, Baseball, etc. Winter Games were there as well. All the 2600 games were 2.99 and the one lone 7800 game was 1.99. No console at all and they didn't know anything of it. Either they never got it, sold it already, or was separated to sell online or something.

     

    I doubt they ever had the system. Unless things have changed in recent years, items that get donated to goodwill are only partially sorted at the store level (to weeds out the pure garbage and the items they aren't allowed to sell. Like the box of porn and ammo that came into my sister's store.) After that, they go to a main center to be priced and re-distributed to the local stores/online based on whatever sales metrics that store has. If the system was donated, it probably went to a different store.

    • Like 2

  12. Posted

    I don't use codes or game genie-type devices, but I'll happily grab a walkthrough for anything. I have better things to do these days than run around a game mindlessly in the hopes of finding where I'm supposed to go. I'll do it myself when I get there, but I like a map sometimes. :)

  13. Posted

    Emulating the console isn't the same at all than just playing ROMs.For CD especially, they are just a bounch of data : of added chips for sounds, no extra RAM, etc. The only difference you might have might be in data transfert speed, but even this part can be simulated so the loading times are identical.

    With the console you're still limited to the hardware shortcomings but also benefit from playing conditions that are, well, the real conditions.

     

    I know, but I'm the weirdo who genuinely loves the authentic game. I will sit around looking at box/label/disc art. Seriously, I will stare at a disc, wiggling it around in the light to catch the edges of the screen printing & noting the different 'depths' each color is at. If I can't do that, then it loses a good chunk of the charm for me. Just a quirk of mine, I guess. (And for the record- yes, it's very hard for me to accept when a modern game I want is download only. I've skipped a lot of stuff I wanted with no physical copy.)

    • Like 3

  14. Posted

    You do know that with a modchip and a region free BIOS you can get by ..... or for many games (but not all) just PseudoSaturn installed on an AR/MemCardPlus

    [it bypasses both region and original checks .... but a few games have issues, still you may get a sense of what you're getting into before plunging in head first and shell the dough for originals like PDS :) ].

     

    I'm not big into ROMs- if I didn't care about originals, I'd setup for emulation and skip having the consoles entirely.

     

    Interestingly enough, I had a co-worker years ago who was moving and selling off their game collection, including Panzer Dragoon Saga. Unfortunately, it was right before PAX and my savings was tied up in hotel costs. I simply couldn't make anything close to a reasonable offer. Which is fine, PDS isn't high on my list... but Magic Knight Rayearth, Dragonforce, Guardian Heroes... yeah. :(

  15. Posted

    The ones I expect to actually own in the fairly near future:

     

    A Neo-geo pocket color (this one just got on my radar, and the surprisingly reasonable prices put it early on the pickup list)

    An original Xbox (no rush, more of a 'when it happens' kind of thing)

    A Yurkie-modded Colecovision (my next big save-up purchase, and collecting goal for the year)

     

    The ones I desperately want, but don't expect to own anytime soon:

     

    A Vectrex (like everyone else, I adore the vector graphics, but I simply don't have the space for one- YET :) )

    A Goddamn Sega Saturn (this has been on the want list since I was about 12... but by the time I was making my own money, the games had jumped in price to outside my range. I still want it, I just doubt I'll ever be able to afford to build a library for it)

    • Like 2

  16. Posted

    I've been having a hard time trying to figure out the right way to say my thoughts on resellers/flippers, so I'm just gonna spout words and hope it comes out right.

     

    I don't think resellers & flippers are that bad... in fact, I kind of like them. It's easy to say 'oh, horrible jerks, buying up all the bargains so I can't get any- get a real job!' It doesn't really work like that, though. Think about it- when was the last time you gave a good, valuable game to a thrift store? I know I don't- I'd sell them here. Or give them to friends, or co-workers, or give them away here. Then I'd trade them for credit at my 2 favorite local shops. Only if, after all of that, I still had games would the thrift store come into play. That's never happened. People rarely donate good games. People rarely donate old games (we have them all already!). In order to make a living flipping games, you'd have to hit places every day, as soon as the new stuff came out. If a store puts stuff out multiple times a day, then you have to be there multiple times a day. Then, you have to take good pictures for your online listings, figure out postage, deal with flaky non paying bidders & ebay claims... if you have a brick and mortar store, you have to hope the things you found sell fast enough to pay your bills, your rent, and payroll for the person(s) running your store while you hunt for more stock. That sounds like a proper job to me. Quite frankly, if someone can't handle working a typical 9-to-5 (and some people really can't), I'd rather they run around flipping thrift store tat over taking an unemployment check and buying booze to drink the day away.

     

    When you get right down to it, it does benefit us- if, say, I want a copy of Survival Kids for my Game Boy Color collection. I can spend weeks/months/years hitting all the pawn and thrift stores, bugging people at yard sales, and otherwise dumping a huge amount of time into the hunt... or I can pay someone on Ebay who did the legwork $30 and spend my time playing instead. I've never once seen that game in the wild. Hell, I decided I'd pick up an original Xbox if I found one cheap out there- and I cant even do that! I've seen 2 in the 'wild' in the last year for under $40. One didn't eject, one didn't load discs. If something as common as an original Xbox is hard to find in working condition, what chance does something good have? Even when games were common, it was largely a bunch of madden titles on the shelf.

     

    Basically, yes, it does suck that the hunt is largely over. I wish I could find something good every few weeks again instead of once or twice a year. But unless people both stop paying decent money for decent retro, and start donating everything to their thrift of choice, we aren't going back. We just have to adjust how we find games- stalking ebay for under-the-radar auctions, checking the fair game stores that do turn up, hitting up pawn shops for last-gen goodies before people decide they care about them. All while still, occasionally, hitting up the thrift stores & yard sales for that rare find.

    • Like 2

  17. Posted

    I second the storage boxes- they aren't expensive, you can probably find some stuff on sale/clearance (it's prime turnover season for craft stores). Sterilite has a wonderful modular drawer line I use for controllers, but should convert to most systems quite easily. (The amazon link is only for a 4 pack, but the individual drawers are available at Wal-mart and Target.)

     

    You could also look into shelf risers, like for dishes. That'll give you a 'stack' that doesn't touch. Provided you can find a multi-tier, anyway- normally it's just 1 shelf.

  18. Posted

    Currently 12, with plans for a few more. Nothing pre-crash is in the permanent setup. I have an a/b switcher mounted to the side of my shelving setup, effectively giving me an easy access coaxial port to plug the older stuff into as needed. Only the 'a' port is open for that, the 'b' side has the NES toploader hooked up.

     

    Aside from that, I have one of those 8-in hong kong switchers that are so readily available these days (mine's branded mt-viki, but I don't think there's really a difference). Composite only, so it's kinda crappy picture, but it's what works for my current setup. I also have a Kinivo 5-in HDMI switch for the newer stuff.

     

    The only thing that's given me any sort of grief via ground loop is the PS3, which has a mighty hum- the problem seems to be less my setup and more our ground itself, as moving the system to another tv with just a DVD player plugged in had the same hum. It's plugged into an adapter that eliminates the ground (all my systems are plugged into surge protectors, so it does still have some protection.)

     

    As for the rat's nest nest of wires... a few months ago, I took the entire setup out, dusted, and carefully put everything back while tying off the extra cable length. I chose my shelving based on it's open design, so I ran the cables up and down the support bars. End result? Very little visible cabling, no rat's nest. Although, removing anything would still be a chore, as I'd have to follow the wires, un-doing and re-doing the Velcro bundles along the way, to get any cables back out with ruining the whole thing.

    • Like 1

  21. Posted · Edited by HoshiChiri

    Model 2 Genesis, Model 2 CD, the RF shield is present. No mods or anything, and quite frankly the CD probably needs some work- it does that loud grind for a couple seconds on bootup thing sometimes. Also pictured are two of my obitsu dolls, since I took this for that blog. I never could get a good shot, it's not a well lit shelf.


    Sega Genesis CD


    • Like 3

  22. Posted

    I really thought about picking up a Wii and some games but I think the resellers have already thought of it. I just imagine some reseller in my area with a basement full of these consoles & games waiting for the prices to rise before unloading them. I can never find any Wii consoles much less Wii games at any of the thrift stores around me.

     

     

    My local GameXChange has wall-to-wall stock of Wiis. I would try a used game shop.

     

    Excactly- while your odds are slightly better of finding stuff for Wii/Gamecube/PS2/Xbox in a thrift store are slightly higher right now, people don't really donate games anymore. Why would you when you can get a couple bucks from a used game shop? I know I have a couple game shops, several friends, and the market here that get games before a thrift store enters the picture. It's like going to a thrift store for a diamond necklace... no one's going to willingly give that away. You may get lucky and find one someone thought was costume jewelry, but it's not likely.

     

    The pickings are definitely getting slimmer, but right now the best deals from a price perspective are Wii games at Gamestop- they have an incentive to clear our slow-moving inventory to make room for new systems (or, more likely, more pop vinyl figures). You can find some decent stuff cheap- I got a complete copy of De Blob for less than a dollar before Christmas. It's kind of a weird mental exercise- you have to look for the thing no one wants, figure out what's good to have there, and then wait 10-15 years to see how you did.

    • Like 2

  23. Posted

    Because a)some of it actually isn't rare, the prices are just inflated, and the scarcity a false one, and b) a few years ago, you actually could, and for decent prices.

     

    This, plus the good ol' "genuinely went under the radar" item. Last summer I went to a goodwill with my sister, and spotted a set of the 3 main D&D rulebooks in the case. I think they wanted $30 or $40 for the set? I texted my fiancé, and he said to pick them up because he could use loaner set for his siblings. I did notice they covers were different than his- black with sliver art- but I didn't think much about it until we got to the car. I opened one to flip through and check the pages, and a letter from WOTC fell out that thanked you for buying the leather-bound special edition books. Turns out they normally sell for between $50-75 each. Needless to say, those aren't the loaner set.

     

    As far as gaming stuff goes, it's really best from a cost standpoint to focus on the lowest interest systems. Right now is a good time for Wii, for example. The hardest part of that is, they are 'low interest'- it can be hard to get excited about the stuff that's cheap. Hype really does mess with your head sometimes.

  25. Posted · Edited by HoshiChiri

    I only actively collected cases/manuals for disc-based games, and handhelds from the DS-era on. This is largely due to the MASSIVE expense of trying to have them for the older games- quite often getting a 'complete' copy means doubling the price. For some systems, like the Genesis and Master system, I have the space & the cases are great, so I get complete when I can. For others, like the Atari 2600, space is a big issue, so I skip it. I do find myself often coming here to check the manuals for new acquisitions I don't know how to play... but it's never something I can't remember going back to it later, so I don't mind.

     

    I bring up cases because the completionist in me likes to keep everything related to a game as together as feasibly possible, so if I have a manual, I usually hunt down a case (and vice-versa.) When I graduated from high school, I got a nice planner that came in a fairly heavy plastic box that just so happens to be the same height/length of a sega CD box. The loose manuals and papers I do have go in there, and stay with the sega CD games. Considering I have a few pack-ins for that whose case design won't allow the manuals to ever be kept with the games, it seems like a good solution.

     

    I LOATHE that so many new games don't come with manuals. From a function standpoint, it kinda-sorta makes sense on the Vita- the interface for that allows very easy access to the on-game manual. But on other systems, like the PS4? It's awful. There's nothing intuitive about accessing an on-disc manual, you're stuck with nothing to interact with while the inevitable 20 minutes to an hour of startup patch downloads happen... not to mention the sheer difficulty of shopping for any version of the game other than shrinkwrapped brand-new. I've only had my PS4 a few months, and I've already spent way too much time standing in a gamestop, a used case in my hand, looking up Ebay listings on my phone to see if there's a manual I should have. I do have to give props to Square Enix... they added 'physical manual' to the info box on the back of their games, so it's far easier to check on that.

AtariAge
Forums
Store
General
Follow AtariAge

Copyright ©1998-2021 AtariAge

×
×
  • Create New...