Rhindle The Red

The phrase I used was "more accurate". And while Berzerk is pretty darn close and all are fun, they aren't nearly as "accurate" as the ColecoVision conversions. Anyway, the point is that in a round-robin style tournament, there are plenty of places where the 2600 *could* lose, as compared to a straight-up popularity vote, where it will pretty much mop up the floor with everything.

Last year's cut-off for characters was the crash, so Peach didn't qualify. No, Poor Ol' Pete lost out to....The Bartender from Tapper. Yes, even worse, I know.

Assuming people don't lie, the Round-Robin style could mean the 2600 would not win a System Shodown. If the 2600 has to square off against the ColecoVision for "Who has the better graphics" or "Who has the more accurate Arcade translations", I think the 2600 would lose that face-off. There are plenty of categories that the 2600 *could* and probably *would* win, but also a lot of places where it could easily lose.

I'm gearing up for the big Summer Tournament, so let's decide what we want to do. If we go with characters again, I will use a double elimination formula, as we did single last time. The previous winner (Pitfall Harry) will be ineligible. For Game titles, we'll open it up to more systems and can do a single or double elimination. If we do Publishers or Systems, there would be fewer entries, so a round-robin style would be used, with each round covering a different aspect of gaming (who or which has the better Arcade games, action games, graphics, etc.). I'm also open to any additional suggestions, so if you've got a tournament style in mind, feel free to speak up.

So when you are buying a new title for your "modern" console or handheld (currently Wii/Xbox360/PS3/DS/PSP), do you generally buy new (even if discounted) or used? I tend to buy used, even if the savings isn't that much (think Smash Bros.), but can't wait for titles like Zelda or Mario. Usually, I won't buy a title new unless it's on sale or discounted heavily. Most of the "modern" stuff I get is used. (But nice. I'm still a collector, after all.)

Over the last couple of years, I have these bursts of energy where I will go whole hog into editing Wiki articles. Of course, most of the time, it's the Wikipedia, but sometimes its the Wookieepedia (Star Wars) or Memory Alpha (Star Trek). I also have been contributing to ELotH:TES. Do you Wiki?

So I've got three nephews (10, 5 & 2) and two nieces (7 & 5). The two older boys play games a lot, with the younger of the two playing since he was, like, 2. The girls are less interested, but still play on occasion. Now, I don't have any kids of my own, but I was thinking what are the playing habits of people's kids out there?

It's there. Look under "I".

So I've been playing this Pirates of the Caribbean game, since it's free to play (but you can't do everything). Pretty impressive for a game tied to a media property and obviously aimed at less experienced players. Certainly worth a free whirl, but I can't see paying for it. But it got me thinking about online gaming and the different kinds that I engage in. In addition to POTC, I am a longtime player of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX - portfolio at H$367,633,238.44 and climbing), I used to play those free game show games like Wheel of Fortune and, of course, I play online on my DS and my Wii (though not much). For a couple of years (long ago), I played Ultima Online, but I just couldn't see paying what was then $120 a year for it. So, how's about you?

Just wanted everyone to know that I've added the whole list at this time. Feel free to add me if you'd like.

So I've been re-organizing things and I noticed how many freaking videos I own (and by that I mean VHS, DVD, laserdisc, selectavision disc, UMD, you name it) and I wondered how it compared to the number of games I own. Now, I own over 3,000 games at last count (which was a while ago, I suspect it's closer to 4,000 nowadays) and I really had no idea where the number of movies would land. So I did a bit of a rough count: 80 laserdiscs 30 SelectaVision videodiscs 1000+ DVDs 20 VCDs 13 UMDs 8 GBA carts 600+ VHS 15 VideoNow and probably another 20 or so "other" (Beta, Hi-8, MovieCD, Super8, etc...) Which puts it somewhere north of 1800, but a long way from my video games. How's about you?

Okay, so we looked at systems, what about series? Are there any that you have completed? For this one, I'm going to leave the definition of "completed" up to you. Some may feel that all titles for all systems are required to be "complete". Others will feel that as long as you have every title for at least one system, your set. Some will discount portable titles. And people will differ on the need for import titles to be included. So, the rule here is: if you consider the series completed, that's good enough for me. One point of order: the "series" needs to be of sufficient length. One or two does not a collectable series make. Three titles at a minimum, please. Me? I've got a few complete series: Doom (all titles, most versions) Legend of Zelda (all domestic, several imports, no "Tingles" so far) Pitfall (all titles, several versions) Resident Evil (all regular series titles, including several ports) Tomb Raider (all titles, most versions) Tron games Ultima (all titles, a few UO expansions) Mario RPGs And a few I'm real close on: Mario platformers (need New Super Mario Bros.) Donkey Kong games (need Donkey Kong Barrel Blast) Metroid (need MP3) Pokemon RPGs (need 'Emerald" and "Diamond") Star Wars console games (need Lego "Complete" and the Japanese Star Wars)

You've got that fershulinger Wheel of Fortune 2???? Been trying to get that (complete) for years. It almost *never* shows up on eBay and when it does, it's usually in a bundle. Harumph!

So, have you ever gotten every single title available for a system? I've completed a couple of domestic sets (Virtual Boy & Pokemon mini), but have never been able to get *everything* released for a single system. How about you? Ever get close?

So, do you pre-order your games? Me, I only do it if it's a big title (like a "Zelda") or they're giving away something *really* good.

Added. And I even own one, but forgot I did!

Okay, so I put this together, so all my systems are on the list. Here we go: 3DO (works, but not well) ADAM Apple ][c *Apple ][gs Aquarius Arcadia 2001 Atari 2600 Sears Video Arcade Sears Video Arcade II Gemini Atari 5200 (2 port and 4 port) Atari 7800 Atari 400 Atari 800 Atari 800XL Atari 600XE Atari XEGS Atari ST (forget which model) Colecovision Commodore 64 (2 different models) Commodore VIC-20 Dreamcast (Japanese) e-Reader Game Boy (1 grey, 1 black) Game Boy pocket (1 silver, 1 clear) Game Boy Color (Pikachu edition) Game Boy Advance (Pokemon edition) game.com (large and small varieties) GameCube Game Gear (black) Game Wave Genesis I & II Intellivision I & II Jaguar Jaguar CD Lynx I & II MacIntosh (3 of the older systems, inlcuding "Mac Classic") Microvision N-Gage QD Neo Geo Pocket Neo Geo Pocket Color Nintendo Entertainment System (top loader) Nintendo 64 (1 red, 1 green, 1 black in a kiosk) Nintendo DS lite Nuon Odyssey 2 (harwired and separate controllers) PC (3 - legacy DOS/Win 3.1, Win 98, Win XP) Pico PlayStation PlayStation Portable Pokemon mini Saturn Sega 32X Sega CD Sega CDX Sega Master System Super Nintendo (later model) Cuttle Cart SuperVision Tandy CoCo TI-99/4a TurboGrafx-16 VideoSmarts Virtual Boy Wii WonderSwan XaviXPORT Xbox I have some additional LCD based cartridge systems, like the R-Zone, the e-Kara Karaoke system, etc.

Oops. Missed that. Added.

Added. 2600 clones count as 2600s. (Gemini, Sears Video Arcade, etc.) The others aren't systems with separate media.

For the CDX (which I also own), I'd vote for both the Genesis and the SegaCD. It's not really a system unto itself, but a hybrid. The Nomad is a poratble Genesis/Mega Drive, so counts towards that. I'll add the GP2X to the GP32. It's not significant enough for its own entry. Will do. Correct. I suppose the Cuttle Cart would count against that one as well.I missed that one, until I read the comments. I always considered the Supercharger an accessory, so I wasn't looking for it as a "system". Well, the fact that it has its own hardware built into it and has its own games (on completely different media, no less), makes it a separate system to me. Like the Sega CD and Jag CD. I don't think either of those focused on games enough to be counted. Yes, I think so. I'll add it in. And, for that matter, I'll add the Super Game Boy to the Game Boy entry.

Really? I'll do something to fix that. Oops. That one used to be there.

Functionally the same as the Game Boy. Not a separate system. Will update. Correct. I suppose the Cuttle Cart would count against that one as well.

Fixed.

Okay, here's the mother of all system polls. I've listed just about every console, handheld and personal computer I can think of that had gaming as a primary function. My only criteria is that the games had to be on separate media. (Digital distribution only, a la cel phones, is out.) Now, I'm sure I missed *something*. (More likely, many somethings.) If you've got a system that isn't listed, either check the "not listed" box or mention it here before you vote and I'll add it in. (I've got a few slots left.) Anyway, let's see what you've got, people! (Listing your systems is welcome as well.)

Oh, I've been busy. Real busy. Fail-to-update-my-blog-more-than-once-or-twice-a-month busy. But we'll be back on track soon.