FujiSkunk

Interesting story from this weekend at the volunteer thrift. While I was there, a huge box of music CD's came in. Of course I immediately grab the box to see what I need for my collection to see what condition they're in and whether they're okay to sell on the floor. Without getting into too many possibly personal details, I noticed most but not all of the CD's were of one particular genre, or rather, one particular radio format. The remaining CD's were definitely not of that format, but I thought they were a pretty darn good selection of discs just the same. Then my roommate happened to notice the name written on the back of several cases. "Hey, that's so-and-so who worked at such-and-such radio station!" Our curiosity struck, we began to dig into the discs more thoroughly. That's when we noticed several discs which fit the station's format had stickers like "PROMO" or "DEMO" on them. There were even a couple of CD-R's sent from music labels with notes that the tracks were not final masters. We then looked at the station's web site, and sure enough, the person still works there. I decided to drop a line, asking the staff to tell the person that if they were the so-and-so who donated a batch of CD's to this thrift, one particular store volunteer and long-time station listener thinks they have great taste in music! In other news, what the heck is wrong with retro gaming collectors and enthusiasts? What is it that makes us salivate when companies create new systems capable of playing old games but with the finest audio and video modern technology can allow, and then go ape when we find some piece of old hardware still able to deliver that "authentic" experience? Let me rephrase my first question: What the heck is wrong with me? Specifically, why in the world would I want to keep... this? Not the Heavy Sixer, of course. There's no question why anyone would want to keep that. No, I'm talking about the TV. My thrift store, like most thrifts in the area, no longer takes tube TV's. They're bulky, heavy, prone to sit for long periods without selling (that is when they sell at all), and you can't just toss them in the dumpster without the environment police screaming at you (rightly so). Despite that policy, people still try to donate them, including the former owners of this particular TV. After bringing it in and being told the store could not accept it, the jokers decided to leave it on the store sidewalk when no one was looking. That's where I found it, this big, heavy, useless piece of obsolete technology... absolutely beautiful with its fake wooden paneling and vintage control panel. I couldn't just leave it there, not when something so old and yet in such good condition would look just perfect with an Atari or Nintendo connected. So I told the store I would "dispose" of it for them, and then told my roommate it was his mission to talk me out of keeping it, unless of course it didn't work. Well, it works. Not only that, the tube is in great shape for a 28-year-old TV (manufacturing date 1989). The reds and blues bloom just a bit, but not nearly as badly as other TV's I've seen from the same era, and not really noticeable when playing an Atari that tends to smear its colors anyway. The picture controls still do their job, with good contrast and saturation, or lesser contrast and saturation when needed. It isn't a flat screen, but there is very little geometry distortion and only a bit of misalignment among the color guns, noticeable only in the corners. I can even justify keeping it as a prop for the annual Houston Arcade Expo. I think my roommate has a losing battle on his hands. Sigh... I'm going to need a bigger storage unit...

B-N didn't attach any strings about the game being distributed elsewhere, did they? I wouldn't hope that they did, just asking out of curiosity.

Edited bump. Maleficent for Disney Infinity 2.0. Still factory sealed, though the packaging is a little roughed up. Asking $3. Sold! Sadness for Disney Infinity 3.0. Includes original packaging and web code card. Asking $2. 4MB Memory Pak for the Nintendo 64. Asking $15. Sold!

AlanD bought a lot of stuff and helped clear a lot of shelf space. All went very well. Thanks for the sale!

Lastblade bought a couple of games from me recently, and all went very well. Thanks for the sale!

Not a thrift find and not a find worth bragging about, but I'm going to mention it anyway. I bought a Retron 5. Now before anyone gets out a torch or a pitchfork, let me say I'm an open source advocate who thinks Hyperkin did not act ethically or even legally in how they acquired the emulator code for the Retron 5, and so I didn't want to give them my money. But, the local Fry's had them essentially on clearance sale at $80 a pop, so I figured why not? Now that hackers have made the system "truly" open, I don't feel so guilty. If nothing else, this is by far the cheapest cartridge dumper money can buy.

Two Laser Blasts and a Frogger. Although I did have an unlabeled Activision cart turn out to be Decathlon once.

Edited bump. Dot Hack G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth. The disc is in excellent shape with very few light scratches. Asking $15. Sold! Dot Hack G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce. This disc is also in excellent shape. Asking $15. Sold! Drakengard. This one has a few more noticeable scratches, but nothing that looks too serious (remember, I'll test all these before selling them). Asking $7. Sold!

One more game caught this weekend! And now for another potential toughy... Back in the day I played this a lot on my Apple II. I don't yet have an original disk of that version either, but I decided to hunt the Atari version first, since Montezuma's Revenge was first programmed on an Atari.

Today was something of a repeat of my very first day as a thrift store volunteer. One of the workers handed me a CD book and said it was full of PS2 "anime fighting games". Figuring it was going to have a few Dragonball and Naruto discs scattered among some less memorable titles, I thought, "Well at least it won't be all sports games." Then I unzipped it and found... Now I'm wondering where all the cases and manuals went, dang it! Ah well. A few of these discs will be available to buy in the thrift store thread soon. Later I picked up a tangle of assorted Wii cables, along with something I didn't recognize. I thought maybe it was just some other random gadget that got mixed in, but instead it turned out to be... Now I can play Epic Mickey the way it's supposed to be played! Or at least I will once I finally get an Epic Mickey disc. Finally, this one isn't so special, but it was still a lot more than I thought it would be... Yep, it's one of those NoaC clones with a bunch of games of questionable origin built in. However, rather than go for the usual assortment of pirated titles, this is one of those NoaC's that actually tries to be legal, or at least something closer to it. As 7800fan commented on his recent find, "legal" NoaCs usually have freshman programming class rejects for games, and/or a lot of titles that seem awfully close to actual games. This one is no exception, with a few titles that were obviously "inspired" by real games and a few others that were obviously not built as well as they could have been. No one is going to win any awards for naming these games, either: However, despite the typical lack of polish, a few of the games were surprisingly original, decently programmed and, if you can believe it, fun to play! First I was impressed by... Block Out. Yeah, it's another Breakout or Arkanoid clone, but it has some interesting little twists that make it more than just the same old game. Occasionally a brick will release a power-up, just like in Arkanoid, but this time some of them are actually power-downs! If you're not careful, you might end up losing a life after chasing a bad bonus item. To make things even more challenging, the power-ups zig-zag their way down the screen, making the bad power-ups as hard to avoid as the aliens in Arkanoid. This next one is my favorite of the bunch, and I believe this is the game that convinced me to keep this gadget: This plays sort of like a cross between Clowns (aka Circus aka Circus Atari) and the Fire Fighter that the Atari 2600 got. The result is what Atari 2600 Fire Fighter should have been! As you keep your firefighter bouncing through the air, you can focus on rescuing those trapped by the fire, or you can focus on fighting the fire itself. Fighting the fire is more valuable, because you get hefty bonus points for every "guest" still in the building after the fire is put out. On the other hand, quenching the fire is sometimes easier said than done. If you take too long putting out one particular flame, it will roar back to life. Fire Fighter (yep, they called it the same thing as that 2600 game) is maybe a little on the easy side overall, but I still got a good kick out of playing it. Finally, this one took me by surprise: Here it's called Challenge 100, but clearly this is a spin on the same idea behind 2600 homebrew Man Goes Down. Between the two, Challenge 100 is easier, but not by a whole lot. Instead of power-ups, different platforms have different quirks, from springs and treadmills to spikes and platforms that collapse when you land. Also, hitting your head is not instant death (but falling off the screen still is), and you can regain lost health as long as you can keep your footing. For all I know these actually are pirates of obscure Famicom games. If they are, the creators at least get points for choosing games not everyone (including the lawyers) would recognize. But if they aren't, then bigger kudos are in order for making some cheap games actually worth playing.

Edited bump. N64 007 GoldenEye, loose. Asking $12. Sold! The official N64 Memory Expansion Pak. Asking $15. Sold!

M.A.C.H. 3 G-LOC Space Lords The Bishop of Battle (sort of)

Nice stash of records there, Silverfleet! While it's not exactly the likes of Queen and Sabbath, I've been adding a lot more to the record collection lately as well. My store has gotten in some good '60s and '70s titles, and there were even a few good Floyd and Zeppelin albums in the mix. I had all those already, but I called dibs on several others, and now i must have well over 150 albums in my to-listen queue. Sigh. That queue was at zero just a few short weeks ago... Funny story: Before last Saturday I had a lot of albums from my thrift store I had not yet paid for, after having taken them home to compare with my current collection. On Saturday, I brought them all back to pay for them, and then saw a whole lot more I wanted to buy in the process. So at the end of the day I went to the cashier and said, "Okay, I have 71 records in the back I'm going to buy. Do you really want me to bring them up here so you can count them?" She made a face and said, "No! If you do I'll throw a tantrum!" I'm happy they trust me.

Edited bump. A Midnight Blue Nintendo DSi-XL, model UTL-001(USA). This DSi-XL is in great shape great shape on the outside. On the inside, the console is fully functional, with working buttons and bright screens. The screens have obvious scratches and spots, but they do not distract from game play. The touch screen works flawlessly. The battery is in good shape, taking a full charge and still showing a full charge after more than half an hour of continuous use. I do not have access to any compatible wireless access points to test network connectivity, but the parental controls are disabled, so wireless can be configured. Both cameras work. Games play without issue. Stylus and power supply included. Asking $30. Sold!

Edited bump. Auto Modellista, complete for the Game Cube. Asking $15. Sold! Star Wars: Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II, also complete for the Game Cube. Asking $7. Sold!

Ah, fair enough!

It seems pictures attached to posts today (Saturday the 29th) aren't getting thumbnails created, meaning they show up huge in the post just as if they were hot-linked from elsewhere. Testing...

Edited bump. Just Dance 4 for the XBox 360 and Kinect, still in its original factory seal. Asking $5. Sold!

You're right, of course. I didn't mean to imply that people have to be familiar with the PDP-1 game to know about Space War. It actually made its way across several early computer systems, along with the arcade game. I should have said, those familiar with the game's history prior to the 2600 would have known what they were getting... misleading artwork notwithstanding.

Edited bump. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, complete for the DS. Asking $5. Sold!

Space War was a port of one of the first popular computer games, Spacewar! for the PDP-1. If you had kept up with computer games before the Atari 2600, you knew what you were getting. Agreed though, the artwork is a bit misleading otherwise.

Space War was a port of one of the first popular computer games, Spacewar! for the PDP-1. If you had kept up with computer games before the Atari 2600, you knew what you were getting. Agreed though, the artwork is a bit misleading otherwise.