Trooper Galactus

I admit, my TG-16/CD collection has cost me a pretty penny, but Neo Geo has an excellent alternative. Go onto Amazon and order the Neo Geo X...$250 and you can get the base system with all of the game expansions as well as a graphics update, and I will attest it is a remarkable facsimile of the actual article. I'm usually not a huge fan of emulators, but that one really won me over.

Please do! Was off the forum for a few days at exactly the wrong time! Guess I'll have to put in a big bid on the one-of-a-kind cartridge!

The N64 isn't too bad unless you're going CIB, then it gets a little more difficult. It's kind of a weird one as a collector, since most of the games were well distributed, particularly the ones that would have higher demand (GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, etc.). It does, however, have a few pretty good gems in there, particularly Conker's Bad Fur Day, Starcraft 64, Super Smash Bros., and Worms: Armageddon. Oddly, some games that had wide distribution still go for pretty obscene amounts (I don't understand why the Mario Party series costs so damn much), but the holy grail of the system is probably Clay Fighter 1/3 - The Sculptor's Cut.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!

I hope so! I only just saw this and sent an email right away!

Surprising bidding went that high. Not a hard one to find, even CIB.

Huh, I got my cartridge about six months ago, I think. Didn't think it was already unavailable, though even ordering direct it's not like it was cheap.

The Dreamcast might be the most underappreciated system of all time. It was every bit as capable as its contemporaries (if not more so) and had an exceptional library of games, some of which are still among the all time greats (DOA 2, Sonic Adventure, RE: Code Veronica, Ikaruga (JP only, sadly), Phantasy Star Online, Shenmue, and of course SoulCalibur. I had a very limited gaming budget at the time, and I was relegated to my used N64 and a handful of games for it, but I did like what I saw and really regret missing out on the system during its heyday. It deserved better than the fate it received, and it's sad its inability to keep up with the competition's sales led Sega to exit the hardware business.

Email sent. Look forward to getting a copy.

Even AVGN has fun with bad games. Take a look at him and his friend/brother (not sure) playing Goat Simulator. Game is crap, and was kind of intentionally made so, and they're having an absolute blast with it.

I was referring to the US 32X library. I think DarXide was Europe only.

32X isn't bad...the entire collection can be had for about $1000-1200, and only two games are really rare/valuable (Spider-Man: Web of Fire and World Series Baseball with Deion Sanders). I got the whole shebang about a year ago. Still working on the TG-16, a system which I like infinitely more and which has some exceptional games, but I've relegated myself to knowing a few of the games are probably out of reach for me barring some miracle (Magical Chase, Legend of Hero Tonma, Soldier Blade, Bonk 3 CD, Super Air Zonk, to name a few).

I think some of the hate comes from the ridiculous level of push given to the franchise in what appeared to be an attempt to make Bubsy the new Sonic, only cross-platform. I actually thought the 16-bit iterations were okay, but the character was never really fleshed out much beyond being a sassy bobcat with an attitude, so his hip mannerisms and punny dialogue just became a little annoying over time due to lack of contextualization. Bubsy 3D was basically the nail in the coffin for a franchise that had already lost a lot of its appeal.

If you're interested in the Neo-Geo experience but don't want to bust out the money for the AES and the cartridges (perfectly understandable), check out the Neo-Geo X on Amazon. I bought it with all of the expansions and, with the software update from the Mega Pack expansion set, it is REALLY smooth and a perfect replication of the system. Also acts as a handheld system if you choose to use it as such. I've had mine for about a year and never regretted buying it.

Bubsy 3D was, from most of what I've seen and read, one of the single worst games ever made. Saying it was merely "dated" is probably the highest praise I've ever seen assigned to it.

I'm actually thankful there's been so much time elapsed between podcasts...needed some time to get over playing Kasumi Ninja.

I'd totally be on board for this. One of the games I lamented never owning for the SNES, though I rented it several times.

I agree that NES is likely to be the only system to maintain some kind of value simply because the brand is such an institution its presence might cross generations as far as interest. I got the entire 32X collection in one fell swoop. For a system that was as non-prolific as it was, I was surprised that there's only two or three games for it that are really worth some scratch (Spider Man: Web of Fire and World Series Baseball starring Deion Sanders). Pretty easy one to complete, though there's pretty much nothing on it I'd deem a must have game.

Hard to say. Depends on how much later generations value vintage games to keep demand up. From what I've seen, the average kid today barely even grasps how to operate an NES or even play first to fourth generation games.

T Even with the few really hard to find games, the Jag collection is the easiest one I've seen to really complete or come close to it. Battlesphere, BS Gold, and the original Air Cars are the only ones that might fetch a significant sum of money, and I think BS Gold probably tops out around $1200-1500. Compare that to the TurboGrafx-16/CD, which has a similar size library, but includes games like Magical Chase ($10-20,000 complete), Soldier Blade (over $2,000 complete), Legend of Hero Tonma (no idea, never even seen one sold), and many others that exceed $500 in a typical sale. Most other libraries are several times larger in addition to having hard-to-get games. Trust me, the Jag is a good system for those with a penchant for retro gaming, especially given the continuing commercial releases.

I have Raiden IV on the 360...pretty good, though not an easy game to master.

I collect partly because I like the look, I like the nostalgia of having shelves full of games, I love history in all forms (and these games are living history at my fingertips), and I guess, yes, there's some bragging rights involved. It's not for everybody, and yes, it's more than a bit wasteful, but I have fun with it. And Gull, whoever your friend is that wants the entire XBox collection, good luck to him. It's probably one of the more attainable collections to get these days, as not many of the games are exorbitantly expensive and the collection is just under 1,000 games total (unless he's trying to collect all the original and platinum editions and all that...then it starts getting silly). The PS2 collection is almost three times the size, and with a lot of pretty pricy games...possibly the worst one to try to complete. In the grand scheme of things, the Jaguar is probably one of the easier collections to complete overall.

An arcade in my area has an Ikaruga cabinet. One of the best shooters I've ever played, period.

I'd confess to being a bit guilty of this. I like having the full CIB for my games, and I aim for it with every system I collect, though I'm hardly a perfectionist when it comes to that. Every Jaguar game I own is CIB, and I have boxes for the system, CD expansion, controller, multi-tap, and Jag-Link, which does look nice on my shelf and in my display case. SNES is the only system I haven't really made too much of an effort to get the boxes for, and that's mostly because the prices are beyond extortion these days. Sad, because that's probably the system I'm most sentimental for. Cartridges only are cheaper, but disc only games are practically a dime a dozen. As for the bubble, nah, I'd say rare games are still going up, though some of the more common/uncommon ones are hitting a bit of a plateau as demand goes down. Boxes are definitely harder to collect, though, as they double or even triple the price of buying the cartridge alone in many cases, and CIB games do seem to continue trickling upwards in price.

Cool game! Got 512 on my first try!