HoshiChiri

That is my #2 concern for downloaded titles right there. (#1 being 'how do I restore my games if the system they're on dies after the servers go offline?") I'm going to be paying quite a bit of attention to the 360/PS3 as they fade into 'retro' territory to see how this kind of stuff is handled. Until then, I'm clinging to my physical media like moss on a rock!

Because the two hook up to a TV with the exact same connection- unless they don't have an AC adapter for the Atari, there's no reason for it to not be tested with the Inty's AV cable. It implies the seller is either very shady, or very stupid.

This one's been bugging me lately. It's doubly worse on handhelds. You have an 'untested' original Gameboy? Really? It runs on AA batteries! Either you're lying to get more money for a broken unit, Or you're too lazy to swing by the dollar store for some cheap testings batteries. In which case, why should I believe you'll muster the energy to properly pack and ship my item on time? I've been taking some advice I read somewhere & checking the seller's other auctions when the item's untested. If your 2600 lot is 'untested' but your Intellivison lot is 'works great!', something is very wrong.

Just because I'm genuinely curious now- what's your opinion on Shovel Knight? It seems like it'd be just what you're after, but I'm guessing there's something not doing it for ya. My general rule of thumb for owning a system, new or old- is 3 games. There need to be 3 exclusives (or containing notable exclusive content) that I want, one of which must be a personal 'killer app'. The kind of game where someone says "what do you like on system X?" will be the first thing out of my mouth. Digital-only titles count for 1/2 a game... I don't care for the lack of physical media, so I need more options to seem worthwhile to me. I definitely have my PS4 too soon based on that- I was waiting to see if Last Guardian would hold up after all these years of development hell- but I didn't buy that myself. Also, while they don't count as exclusives, I'm having a lot of fun with Little Big Planet 3 and Tearaway. I generally don't care about what anyone else is getting out of a console/console generation... I care that there's something I'm getting out of it. My pre-crash systems provide me with faux-nostalgia, historic value, and some darn good space shooters. 8 and 16-bit gives me real nostalgia and fun platforming. My PS1 and 2 collections are laden with JRPGs. Last Gen is kind of my odd man out, the games are pretty mixed- but I spent a lot more time playing with other people than I ever have before. This gen seems poised to be the era of the Art Game for me. Stuff like Unravel and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. There's stuff to be had out there- you just have to dig for under a heavy layer of FPS hype.

??? *looks up prices* *turns slowly to look at Genesis cart bin... which has a Crusader of Centy... that I paid 2 or 3 bucks for at a thrift store 5ish years ago* ....huh.

It's demand more than actual print run. Because it was well-loved, anyone who kept their childhood NES usually kept that game. Now factor in broken games, lost games, people getting into retro for the first time wanting the start of a favorite franchise, and more people want the game than are selling the game- so prices go up. Final Fantasy 7 is a great example- it had high enough sales to warrant a greatest Hits printing, so there's plenty of copies out there. Despite that, it still garners a respectable $20-30 used. At point, it was $100. That's all pure demand- because PS2 and PS3 both run PS1 games, it's easy to collect for that system. So, when something triggers a demand spike- say, the release of a movie tied to the game- it can skyrocket prices for awhile. The big difference with NES and PS1 is, NES is old enough that we're losing copies to age now. Unlike FF7, supply isn't likely to meet demand to push prices back down.

I haven't been looking very long, just a few months... the biggest problem is, I don't usually see tested units at all! Which, of course, is a big ol' red flag on a portable- it's not that hard to find 9V batteries, so I assume untested means 'I don't want to tell you it's broken'. My local area is a little thick with used game retailers- which works against me for craigslist because of all the 'come to our shop' listings (plus I have no car, so driving to meet someone doesn't work.) I might put out an ask here, but only after I have some money specifically set aside for one. It's one thing to wait for next payday on an ebay buy-it-now, they'd never know... it's another thing entirely to ask for something, but not be able to pay right away. I don't want to be that guy.

It's the 'trusted seller' part that I'm stuck on. I'm completely fine with having some 9V lying around for testing, but I've never seen one in a local shop (just a bunked-up copy of Phaser Strike). That leaves me with a bunch of Ebay dudes who're selling 'untested' (which I wont buy on this one) or want more than I can pay. It's something I eye around for from time to time, but I've yet to find an option I'm willing to commit to.

Traces are those little lines running all over the board. They move the current around. Since you know the problem is the VRAM, start by finding that and seeing if it's broken. Then look at the traces.

Very nice! I've considered adding a Microvision to my collection, but it seems to be somewhat difficult to find one in proper working condition at a good price. Especially if you don't know what you're doing... and I definitely do not!

I remember cleaning the Playstation of a pair of kids I babysat for awhile, 2 & 6. It had French fries in it. They put French fries... inside... the Playstation. I keep telling myself it was the 2 year old, for the sake of my sanity.

I hate online sellers who don't adequately photograph/describe the game they're selling. You see a good price, you click on it- and it's a stock photo with a vague 'used as-is no returns' description. I just sit there thinking "Box? Manual? Any damage? How's the label? Is there sunfade? ANYTHING?" It's doubly bad when the game is scarce and it's the only guy with an affordable listing. I also hate, hate, HATE that modern games are starting to skip having physical manuals. I've spent far too much time standing in a gamestop, looking up something on my phone to find out if the copy I'm holding is incomplete or just didn't come with anything else in the case. I actually appreciate Square on this one, because they started putting a lil' info box on the case that tells you if there's a paper manual or not. Very nice of them. Most of the stickers/marker/etc don't bother me, I have a box full of cleaning stuff for that. I can get most things cleaned up (I almost want to get one of those Microsoft stickers now, for the challenge!)

When one collects something, preservation becomes an inherent point of interest. I have a grandmother with an extensive collection of sand from beaches all around the world. Why not the water? Because it would evaporate- people don't collect things that will 'go bad'. It's also why the most common collectibles are things like statues and décor that exists just to be looked at. When your item of choice is something that is used, like a game/game system, you run into a catch 22: you collect it because of its use, but if you actually use it, it could break. I collect to play, but I don't think it's necessarily that strange to collect for show- it is still, in a way, preserving a part of what we used to understand as gaming. After all, someday none of this stuff is going to work anyway... I wonder if they'll be forums dedicated to combining someone's dead game shells with someone else's roms, creating emulators within the plastic casing of the originals to try and make an authentic experience. I imagine they'd be arguing about people making multicarts because that's not how we did it, and anyone who does/doesn't want to swap carts around "has a mental disorder".

It's become almost a running gag amongst my friends that, when asked if I know X game, the answer is usually "I own it, but I haven't played it yet". Let's see, my most notables are: Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time... I own most of the Zelda titles, but the only ones I've finished are the original and the Game Boy/Game Boy color titles. My copy of Minish Cap is still shrinkwrapped, even- I mentioned that to my local game shop owner, and he inisisted if I ever opt to sell it to see him first! The Donkey Kong Country series: I got a big chunk of my SNES games as gifts from people dumping their systems (that's how I got the system too, actually), so there's a lot of them I just never got to. That's part of that set. Shadow Hearts 3: I loved the first two games in the series. I was ecstatic when I got the third for Christmas. I opted to save for when I could really get into it... and I'm still waiting years later, apparently. Right now I'm keeping my list to games I own, but haven't played. There's lots of series that have been very popular in recent years- Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, etc.- that I haven't played and don't own. I don't much care, either. I don't like FPSes, and I'm not particularly into sandbox titles... and those have basically been the 'in' set for awhile now. Couple that with the fact that the games I do think look interesting are usually download-only indie titles, and you get a situation where my physical media lovin' self just isn't getting a lot of new titles these days.

Bought a few Atari 2600 games- they arrived super quickly and well packed. A grear guy to deal with!

Mr. Kikuta is a pretty quiet guy in person...

Bump for end date on sales: I'll be closing up shop Thursday, February 4th.

This is very similar to my situation, save for the fact that I have a PS4 and Wii U, and do intend to have an Xbox One eventually- honestly though, there are really only two things keeping me going with the current generation- more support for the artsy indie games that I've come to love from modern gaming, and my utter disinterest in computer gaming/steam. Trick is- the things I find unappealing about computer gaming are updates & patches cutting into my game time, internet connectivity & multiplayer being a key facet of the gameplay, too much focus on downloads instead of physical media, and trying to keep track of what games run on what system specs. These things have all creeped into console gaming- quite frankly, it's only the last one keeping me on consoles. If I buy a PS4 game, I know I can stick it into any PS4 and it'll run. If that ever changes, you can expect to see a 'how do I Steam' thread from me fairly shortly after.

Just updating the ol' wish list- I've taken advantage of the holiday rush to sell some old anime sets & gather some funds for adding to my collection. My current focus? Feeding my Saturn. I've got enough set aside to cover a much-desired copy of Magic Knight Rayearth... just in time for the reasonable-ish copies on Ebay to dry up. Anybody got a copy to spare? Looking for CIB & preferably the Fuu disc art (although anything's fine if the price is right! Still interested in the map that came with Vay on the Sega CD & a Hori N64 mini controller- this thing: Let me know if you've got something I'm interested in!

If the Disgaea 2 soundtrack is still available, I would like it!

You might try having a serious sit-down with your mom to try and explain that this is your thing, and making you get rid of it just because is like making her get rid of [insert something of great value to mom here]. Also, definitely go over your storage setup- a couple boxes in a closet are different than a disorganized bookshelf. Also- maybe consider getting a retron 5. You can condense several classic consoles into 1 unit that outputs in hdmi, so it'll get along with your new tv. Then you could sell the extra systems (we do have a sales forum here, by the way )

I'm glad everything made it ok!

Have you tried connecting to a non-HD TV? You could just be seeing edges you're not supposed to due to the larger display (something I noticed on my Atari when I got my HDTV.)

If your Samsung is anything like my Samsung, you change the ratio for each source separately. You may have to start running something through the component/composite port, then go through the adjustment again. Nothing lasts forever, dude. Eventually the NES will die, along with your CRTs, the HDTV, and the Wii. If you enjoy playing it, keep it- Nintendo retro is pricey, you'll be very unhappy if you have to re-buy your games. Now, you say your mom is on your case about 'clutter'- the question is, how "right" is she? I've got a dozen systems squeezed into a 3-foot wide entertainment center, but everything is neatly on its own shelf. Meanwhile, in the past I've had friends with half the setup look far more 'cluttered' because they just kinda haphazardly stacked machines on top of each other. The question is- do you need to organize, or does mom just see no value in the games at all?