WTB: IPod 3G

[WTB: IPod 3G]

Try the iPodlounge forums - tons of people selling iPods of various gens now that the lineup has been (slightly) updated...

[The super nintendo and the sega genesis]

Both are good systems but I'm still partial to the Genesis, as I was at the time. The Genesis is unfairly tagged these days as a system for sports gamers - it is no more that than the PS2 is a system for sports gamers. Around 800 games were made for the Genesis and the majority of those were not sports titles, and a lot of those games are true classics.

 

Of course, the SNES has classics of its own. If I'd started out with an SNES I'd probably be partial to it now instead. I've just always been happy with the Genesis and so have never really dived into the SNES library. Plus, as time goes on I appreciate Sega's plastic clamshell game cases more and more - it really does wonders for preserving condition, and makes the system all that much more fun to collect for now. With SNES, you're dealing with bare carts most of the time; with the Genesis, you can still find pristine, boxed games in perfect shape pretty easily.

[which is superior Dreamcast or PSX?]

Talk to a RPG nut, and he'd/she would laugh at the DC. .

In all fairness, Skies of Arcadia had quite a fanclub for awhile. Probably some others I can't think of now.

 

Grandia II was also good, as was Phantasy Star Online (and PSO was free to play at that time, and every DC was networked)... but there are others I can't remember now either.

 

RPG's were one of the systems failings, though. But honestly, I think the RPG argument is overdone. The PSX was not successful because of RPG's, and neither is the PS2 or Xbox. Neither was the Genesis, NES or even the Super NES before (despite having some great RPG's itself). The PSX was helped by Final Fantasy VII but it was a successful console both before and well after that. The Xbox still doesn't have a half-decent RPG, IMO, and it's sold like 20 million systems worldwide. The PS2 only has a few.

 

The PSX has the distinction of being one of the best RPG systems ever made, if you're into that sort of thing. But I personally think it's a bit of a myth that that really had any bearing on its success. Lots of consoles have been successes without that, and the DC failed despite having at least three AAA, top-notch, high-profile RPG's. So I don't see how you can really make the RPG argument.

[The Importance of the Apple II]

Now, the Apple II is not the only machine that had a reliable keyboard and lots of RAM.  It popularized the disk drive, without which we would have been shackled to loading off tapes for the next decade.  

 

Er, I dunno about that. The Apple II was my first computer so it's not like I'm anti-Apple II or anything, but there were plenty of computers out around the same time with disk drives, including the IBM PC, which I would argue did more for popularizing the disk drive than the Apple II did (corporations needed disk storage a lot more than home users did). But the TRS-80, C64, and Atari XL line all used disk drives in the home arena too.

 

I wanted an Apple II at the time in part because it had the most games available, but it was not really the best gaming computer. The C64 and Atari line had better graphics and sound, and eventually the C64's game library was about equal to the Apple II's. The C64's popularity for gaming made it, I think, about as important to computer gaming as the Apple II was.

[Gran Turismo 4]

Can you lock your brakes up or spin your tires if you accelerate too hard? Or is it still the same arcade physics we're used to?

 

Uh, you could always do those things, in every GT. I remember when I got my last car up to 1,000hp in GT3, it was all I could do to even get the stupid thing off the line. The wheels would just spin and spin and spin. And that was with a fully-customizable limited slip installed.

 

Were you only playing in arcade mode or something? Or with all the driving assists turned on?

[Gran Turismo 4]

Quick clarification - I sort of contradicted myself about the structure of GT4... what I meant was the actual race events are pretty much the same in GT4 as GT3 (so far), but there's no real way of knowing where you're supposed to go next or even what's available to you.

[Gran Turismo 4]

I'm surprised there isn't a thread about Gran Turismo 4 yet.  I just picked up a copy from Best Buy not too long ago, but haven't had a chance to play it very much yet.  Certainly it looks very nice, and it has a huge assortment of tracks and cars.  I look forward to testing out the LAN feature as well.  Has anyone else had a chance to try this yet?  What are your impressions of it, especially compared to GT3?  Has anyone picked up the new Logitech steering wheel for it?

 

(Pull up a chair, this turned out longer than I meant it to be.)

 

I tried out the "old" Logitech wheel that they made for GT3 and was not impressed at all by it. I don't know if the new one is really all that improved, but I honestly have not had much luck using steering wheels on console games. I usually do worse with them than I do with a regular controller. The older Logitech one had a weird, "gritty" feel to the resistance, and it always seemed like it was about a half second behind whatever you were doing... so if you yanked the wheel to the right, you'd have NO resistance for a second, then all of a sudden it would kick back and try to knock your hands the other way. It was really odd and definitely did not help the feel of driving.

 

I'm sure the new one's improved somewhat but my experience with the first one did not make me want to try it out. AFAIK it's still using the crappy kind of force feedback.. I can't remember what they call it, but there's cable resistance and then there's the other kind. Cable is the good kind but it's expensive and can wear out, but it's the kind that gives you smooth, realistic resistance. The resistance in most newer force feedback controllers (including the Logitech wheels) is this electronic kind that works in "steps", so it's not smooth. It feels like "digital" resistance, vs. the "analog" of cable resistance.

 

As for GT4, I just picked it up yesterday and was playing it for a few hours last night. So far I'm ambivalent, but I haven't played it long enough to give a real review. A few things I like about it so far:

 

* A lot of cars. A LOT.

 

* The "photo" mode is actually kind of fun. I spent some time last night just posing my cars and taking pictures, then transferring them to a flash drive and putting them on my PC. Yeah, I'm a geek. But I can see myself doing this more with cars I'm really proud of - I just wish you could customize the look of cars as much in GT4 as you can in other driving games.

 

* Great graphics, obviously.

 

* Great physics, obviously.

 

* Great sound effects - GT3's were already good, but GT4's are noticeably better. I love the sound of the road under your tires at higher speeds, and the sound of the wind rushing by, and the turbo whine, and the way the sound of your engine really changes depending on your upgrades. I also love how different a rotary sounds from a V-8, for example.

 

Some things I don't like:

 

* The whole thing basically feels like GT3 on steroids. I guess I shouldn't have expected any more than that but it's starting to get kind of stale after 4 games. In fact, GT4 really feels a lot like GT2, now that it has so many cars again - but the structure and features are pretty much the same.

 

* Still no damage model, which feels pretty ridiculous these days, when everybody else (even those with licensed cars) seem to be able to put damage in their games without issues. This does not encourage good driving.

 

* Freakin' license tests are back, and they're harder than ever. I managed to skip the A and B tests with my GT3 game save, but I tried out the first IB test and I was only able to get bronze after my third try. I am NOT looking forward to this...

 

* Still no cockpit view.

 

* I have seen no mention of this anywhere else, but on my system the game switches into low-res mode quite often, especially at the beginning of a race when all the other cars are visible on-screen. Has anyone else noticed this? It happened in GT3 too, but not this much, and I've often wondered if it's because I have a launch system since I never see it talked about anywhere else.

 

* Opponent AI is as dumb as ever. They have no idea you're there, still.

 

* There seems to be no real structure to the game. GT3 gave you a pretty clear progression; GT4 just presents you with a bunch of options and it's up to you to go find open races. Some will be available to you, some won't, but you have no way of knowing which it is until you actually click through and look.

 

* Not enough American cars. Most of the additions over GT3 seem to be from other countries. I like foreign cars as much as anybody, but I love old muscle cars, I love American sports cars and even some American "sporty" cars and I wish they'd included more.

 

All in all I'd say I'm mildly disappointed so far, but that could change. It doesn't seem like they've fixed any of the (significant) problems with GT3, they've just slightly enhanced the graphics, added a few new courses and a bunch of new cars. As a car guy, that's good, but as a gamer, that's bad. There are a lot of racing games that offer better racing than GT4 these days.

[Is a heavy sixer worth it?]

Looks good, I like the looks of the Sears systems better anyway.

Seller has good feedback and states it's in good working order.

Shipping is Very Low! (under 10 to me) and it's ups so it's insured.

 

You'd better bid before I do  

 

I don't need it, but thought someone else might be interested

 

I do like the Sears storage case that it comes with, though.

 

If anyone's interested, there's also an Atari model up there too, for $5 right now with under a day left:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8171960829&rd=1

 

Looks like no sticks but what do you want for $5??

 

(I saw another one last night for $19.99, but can't find it again now.)

[Is a heavy sixer worth it?]

btw this inspired me to check Ebay again, and lo and behold, first auction I click on:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WDVW

 

$9.99 right now, 2 days left. No mention of it being a heavy sixer, but it is...

[Is a heavy sixer worth it?]

As for a price, you really can get them cheap on ebay.

I got mine for under $20 as well.  The trick is to look at all the atari

system auctions.  Ones that have no description other than Atari 2600 system.  

 

Yeah, mine is a Sears model, but it's boxed, has ALL the original parts (well, no hex discs, but both orig. joysticks, orig. paddles, orig. grey power supply), and cost me under $20 too using the same trick you did. Mine was just listed as a "Sears Atari 2600" I think, with a couple really blurry pics. I wasn't even sure it was a heavy sixer but it looked like it was, and it was.

 

Ebay has its equivalent of back alleys just like any town or city... you just have to poke your head in everywhere, and stay off the beaten path. Not everybody knows what they're selling, even today.

[Things which have perplexed me about this community]

Argh, that would be HomeR Simpson, of course.

[Things which have perplexed me about this community]

To those who say "I don't listen to Internet Radio".. first of all.. it's not really radio if you think about it. It's a friggin mp3 file. You can listen to it in your car or ipod. Wherever. Whenever.  

 

Do you readily say "I don't listen to audio files"? Sound quality is a non-issue. It's all talk.

 

Which is the main problem. At least two of us didn't just say "I don't listen to the radio", we said "I don't listen to people talking on the radio." Whether they're talking actually on the radio or in a file on my PC or iPod makes no difference; they're still just a couple guys talking.

 

My point being you're assuming we said we don't listen to the radio because we're afraid of this spooky magical box with voices coming out of it... no, it has nothing to do with the technology or the medium, we don't listen to the radio because of the content. Put the same sort of content on my PC and it's still just as boring. (No, I don't listen to other Podcasts either - that's what friggin' blogs are for! At least those I can read at work )

 

I hate people. There's very few people on the face of the Earth that I can tolerate

 

To quote Home Simpson, your ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Unlicensed NES games.]

 

Still I'd say this was the ultimate slap in the face to Nintendo, nevermind the licensing screw-over.

 

I love all my Nintendo systems but Nintendo deserved whatever happened to them, with their crazy license fees and bullying game makers and retailers.

 

You mean they deserved having the #1 system two generations in a row, and two of the top selling systems of all time?

[Things which have perplexed me about this community]

1) Retro Gaming Radio

 

I don't listen to the radio, online or off. I certainly would never listen to any sort of talk radio. If I want to hear people talk, I'll read a newspaper. (I'm being serious. If I'm listening to people talk it just goes in one ear and out the other; reading it lets me think about it and digest it.)

 

2) PC gaming

 

Well, this does get into the psychology of the collector. I think the main issue with classic PC gaming is that the PC itself is a process, not a product. There is no "classic PC" that has, say, 800 games available for it that were produced between 1977 and 1988. Instead, the idea of classic PC gaming is nebulous, and the PC itself is just a continuously upgraded device and so invokes less nostalgia.

 

There is obviously talk of Atari's 8 bit computers here; it is AtariAge, after all. There is less talk about other older systems like the C64, Apple II, etc. but they do come up now and then.

 

As for modern PC gaming, there is just so little that's good out there, unless you're way into FPS's or RTS's. Much of the rest is adapted from console games. Still, you do see people talk about the big new games here; or at least, I've seen it.

 

3) A stronger online gaming group of members.  

 

Eh... online gaming is overrated. I'd rather just play games with my wife

[Why some game systems have...]

You're talking about two different companies.  Nintendo's relationship with Atari Games fell apart.  However, the 7800 and XE were from Atari Corp.  These were entirely seperate companies.

 

Yes, that's true - I had muddled my dates together in my memory. But the basic point is the same, which is that NES had no working relationship with Atari (either Corp or Games) from the mid-80's onward. There would be no reason whatsoever for them to allow their games on a competing console anymore than there would be a reason for them to allow, say, Metroid Prime on Xbox or PS2 today.

 

Atari Games completely screwed them over, but Atari Corp just had a competing console on the market. In both cases, Nintendo had no impetus to work with either Atari at that point.

[Why some game systems have...]

I was thinking that Mario came out for 2600, 5200 and 7800 and again XE as was Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr but was not made for the 5200 ?

 

I think you must mean DK, not Mario (Mario Bros came out for the 5200 - DK didn't). It had something to do with it being the pack-in for the Coleco Vision. My memory's fuzzy but I believe there was an exclusivity deal between Nintendo and Coleco for DK at this time. The 2600 version of DK was made by Coleco. They obviously did not want to produce a version for the 5200 as that system was in direct competition.

 

Also why didn't Atari have the 3rd Donkey Kong or Wrecking Crew (that had mario too) ?

 

Not sure of the exact dates of these games but it was probably either the CV deal or the NES.

 

Was it a licence thing with Nintendo and Atari ?

 

Nintendo's relationship with Atari completely fell apart during the NES days, when Atari refused to play along with Nintendo's Seal of Quality program. I don't really even know how they managed DK and DK Jr. on the 7800 and XE - I don't know what the story is with that. Atari may have bought some part of the Coleco deal back during or just after the crash, before Nintendo started marketing the NES.

[Genesis plastic cases]

Oh btw did the 2600 have cardboard boxes as well?

 

http://www.atariage.com/system_items.html?...&ItemTypeID=BOX

 

As for the Genesis boxes, I see more of them than any other system. Some people did throw them out but a lot of people kept them. Of my 35 or so Genesis games, only 2 of them don't have the box.

 

I've actually been looking for a source of replacement Genesis cases... a few of mine are really beat up. I remember you used to be able to buy them like ten for a buck at Toys R Us, but I never see them listed for sale anywhere recently, not even Ebay.

[Heavy Sixer Question????]

By the way this is all Brand New. How can I make sure that these are the original controllers for the system. Someone once told me something about the tennis rackets on the paddles but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. How can you tell the joysticks apart from original to later year joysticks.... The only thing wrong with the system itself is the plastic guard around the controller ports were broken off. Such a shame you can't just pop on new ones...

 

The pics you posted in another thread ID this as a light sixer, not a heavy sixer, so I'm sure you got the right joysticks. It's probably worth about what you're selling it for, though... but it is not a heavy sixer.

 

This is what a heavy sixer looks like:

http://www.gamerzuniverse.net/atari/images...es/atarihs2.jpg

 

This is what a light sixer looks like:

http://www.vidgame.net/ATARI/Atari/2600/at...ri_2600_six.jpg

 

The easy way to tell the difference is the thickness of the plastic around the outer edges, and the fact that the heavy has a slightly rounded bottom base with a curved edge, whereas the light model has a totally flat bottom base with hard angled edges.

[Atari 2800 - pictures posted - need components]

I just have in my hands this unusual an rare console, the japanese 2800 console, I was told it is also known as "The Sears Telegames II".

 

I'm posting pictures, and wonder how much is it worth, since I never saw one of these in e-bay. Also, DP rates this as an 8/10 rarity and $$$ price scale, so.... How much is $$$?

 

Only 8/10?? It's gotta be higher than that.

 

Several hundred dollars is what it's worth. How many several probably depends on the completeness, the condition, etc. Yours might be on the low end but I'd think still at least around $150-$200. That's just my own really rough estimate, though; you're usually lucky to get one of these things for less than $400 if you can find one. (I have honestly never seen one in all my travels, on Ebay, in the wild, in both the US and Japan.)

 

It's a hell of a lot rarer than the promo 2600 you also posted last night. It's the only legitimately rare commercially released Atari console IMO. Only some of the unreleased prototypes of other systems are rarer.

 

Of course, the console its not perfect, thats why I'm also posting this. I need the schematic diagram or part-list of this fine console, because some stupid mind took out 5 chips (see pictures). Can you believe?

 

Pick up a used Sears Video Arcade II on Ebay. They go for around $10. They're the exact same console. Remove the chips from it and replace them on the 2800.

[Atari 2600 Promotional Console - pictures posted]

Damnit !!

Didn't you read the statement....

NOT FOR RESALE!!!???

 

You can't sell it.

 

He probably took the tags off his mattress too. Call the police!

[Apparently this is worth a 'conservative' $1800!!]

One thing though is that I've never seen a boxed 4-switch woodgrain before...

 

You gotta be kidding. I have one (click my sig), and here are a couple more:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8170104236&rd=1

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8171523868&rd=1

 

There are usually 5-10 of these on Ebay at any given time. This was the most common 2600 model so it's not hard to find a boxed one. I paid $15 for mine.

 

I hope this guy doesn't get a single bid for that price, and for his deceptive description - "brand new, but opened and missing a few pieces!" Ha. This guy needs a dictionary.

[Yep, there will be another crash]

the NES was test marketed in 1985, released in 1986,

 

They sold 100,000 of them in 1985. That's a pretty big test market. In those days, 100,000 units in a year was a decent amount - and this was a brand new system that nobody had yet heard of.

 

Nintendo themselves list the launch date of the NES as 1985, not 1986.

 

and really didnt hit its stride until 1987.  the first signs of the crash popped up during xmas of 1982.

 

I'm not even sure what this means. The "first signs of the crash"? What, sales were slower than the year before? This doesn't mean anything. Sales rise and fall year to year - each year is not necessarily always better than the year before. If the crash hadn't actually happened you wouldn't even be mentioning 1982.

 

I could just as easily say the first signs of the 1996 crash happened in 1994. But there was no crash in 1996, so whatever dip in sales happened during Christmas of 1994 (and there was one; it was the end of the 16 bit era) are not even recalled by anybody. A dip in sales is irrelevant.

 

 1983 was the year of the mammoth losses, and 1984 is when everybody closed up shop.  it was hardly a breif blip, there was a period of time when toys r us stopped carrying video games... that is serious

 

Yeah, and that period lasted exactly one year, as I said.

 

When people talk about "mammoth losses" in 1983, I think they should go back and compare the losses incurred by Atari, Coleco and Mattel with the losses incurred by Sony and Microsoft during the present decade. Microsoft has lost a total of nearly $2 billion on Xbox, but they're in no danger of collapsing or leaving the market. Sony has incurred similar losses during some years but has profited during other years. Only Nintendo has been consistently profitable, but their profits have ebbed and flowed.

 

This is business, and it's a cutthroat industry and always has been. The problem was the companies involved in the industry in 1984 did not have balance sheets that could support such losses. They were simply in over their heads. (Even Warner - they were too heavily reliant on Atari for their profits at that time. Atari was something like 42% of the company during its heyday.)

 

What happened in 1984 was just a shakeout. It was Darwinian. It was not a crash in the sense that people thought of it at the time - it was not the end of anything. It was just a period of change.

 

Don't forget also that both Nintendo and Sega kept right along happily selling Famicoms and Mark III systems in Japan during 1983 and 1984. The crash was a very American thing, and we have a tendency to forget that we were just one of the major markets at that time, just as we are now. (And the Japanese have a very different view of the history of video games than we do.)

[Yep, there will be another crash]

I still dont remember the first crash.  I just remember being part of a generation that grew up and didnt play videogames anymore.

 

As time passes, "the first crash" (i.e. the only crash) becomes less and less relevant. It was meaningful at the time in that a) for a little while, everybody thought the console market was just dead and gone, and b) even after the market came back, the principal players involved in it had changed completely. And in a very short period of time.

 

But, you know, this was 21 years ago now, and "the crash" only even lasted one year (all current consoles were discontinued in 1984 - the NES was released in 1985). In 21 years, things would have changed anyway - I mean, Sega's not making game consoles anymore, for example, and they're a post-crash manufacturer (in this country, anyway). While it seemed cataclysmic at the time, a single year without game consoles now doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

 

Times were different in 1984; people thought the crash signified the end of console gaming. That's why it was so big, and is still remembered. Today, that just wouldn't happen - the crash is a momentary blip on an otherwise straight line trajectory upwards in the video game business. If there's another blip, it'll be seen as just that - a blip. The sense of perspective within the industry has completely changed in the last 21 years.

 

The "crash" was really more of a "purge" in hindsight. It was just the industry clearing itself of dead weight. It was not a true crash in that the industry itself didn't cease to be; newer, younger, and fresher companies simply moved in and took it over. And yes, it's likely that'll happen again and probably actually is happening as we speak, but we won't call it a crash next time.

[Selling: Clear-blue flip-top PS2!]

So is this able to go online??? and did you buy the blue case for it or what?? I havent seen one of these before.

 

He just bought a blue case and modded it. For the older mod chips, you basically had to have something like this or it would scratch your discs when you did the disc swap (the PS2 would eject them while still spinning at high speed).

 

$140 is not really a bad price, though; it's usually about $10-$15 for the mod chip alone, could be $30-$40 or more to install it (older PS2 chips are not easy to install), then another $20-$30 for the case. That on top of the price for the PS2 itself.

 

I wouldn't mind having a system like this just because it looks cool and is different than the regular one... but it's not like it's gonna be collectible or anything because it's just something you can do yourself. (In fact if you don't care about the mod and just want a system that looks like this, just search around for a PS2 blue case and put one on your own PS2 - it's not that difficult.)

[Used Game Pet Peeves]

Also, the other day I noticed that there really isn't any good place on a Genesis cart to put a price sticker except on the front label.

 

I've got a couple Genesis games with the price sticker on the instruction manual. This drives me even crazier than on the cart label (where you can usually carefully pull it off). If it's on the instructions, it's basically there for good.

 

I've seen a couple stores in the past where they used to actually wrap the instructions around the cart with a rubber band; I guess that's where these came from. The strange thing though is that they also have the case; I guess they stored the case somewhere and put the game and instructions out on the shelf. Weird.

 

All of the used games I've bought from EB/Gamestop have some sort of sticker on the manual as well. Super-annoying. I guess they need some way to inventory things and most people don't care, but it's basically impossible to get these stickers off of paper manuals.

 

btw, like the original poster I too have noticed a huge number of blank game cases in the used section of my local Gamestop. It is not the case at the EB just down the street, though, which also has a lot more used games in general. There's gotta be some sort of different policy at these stores, because it's a major difference that you can see just by walking into the stores. At Gamestop, it's like 75% blank game cases; at EB (at least the one near me), it's maybe 1 out of 100, if that. Maybe Gamestop gives the same price whether you've got the case or not, and EB takes a few bucks off?