Video Game Collecting

#10 Sega Genesis Collecting And Arms Dealing: See what happens when my son and I trade an air pistol for a SEGA Genesis.  This was a favorite post because I caught it on tape, and that I did it with my son.

#9 Burgertime: I have alot of blog posts about Burgertime, but this post is significant because it was the first post that explained that I’m attempting to collect all of the licensed Nintendo games.  What spurred me to to this was that the previous November I had finished my 60-in-1 arcade game.  On it is Burgertime, but the machine was left at my in-laws house and I was craving Burgertime.  Mmm delicious memories.

#8 Salzmafia Nintendo Price Chart: This post was all about creating the Nintendo Price Chart which eventually became http://www.videogamepriceguides.com/

#7 Nintendo Golf New Label: Remember Hussy Golf?  This was my experiment in creating new labels for Nintendo cartridges where the original label was ruined.  This inspired some additional ones, though I have not yet created them due to lack of time.

#6 Burgertime New Personal Best: Ever look back at old yearbook photos and ask yourself “What was I thinking?”  Thats kinda what I think of now when I look at this post.  What kind of loser score is 44,500 points on Burgertime?  Breaking 100,000 on the first level is expected!

#5 How To Clean Your Nintendo Games: I love this post!  So many people make cleaning a Nintendo game a chore, and it doesn’t have to be.  Also, many people think brasso and other ridiculous garbage will clean their game.  Boy are they wrong.

#4 Videogame Box Art History: Racing the Beam is a pretty cool book, and the revelation of Activision’s marketing was genius!

#3 Red Or Blue: Take a trip down memory lane and relive the importance of wearing an 80′s bandana makes when you’re a character in a Nintendo Video game.

#2 The Spy Hunter Experience: I preach it all the time: Less is More when it comes to a videogame.  Read a real life example of how Spy Hunter has a greater depth than Metal Gear Solid IV due to the player’s imagination

#1 Burgertime Grouping Performance: Yeah I know, I already have a Burgertime post mentioned in the top-ten, but this has to be my #1 favorite post of 2009.  After struggling for months on Burgertime I was able to find a workable pattern for the first level that yields 100,000 each and every time (which 100k is not depicted in the video).  Hear my excitement as I pull off the massive groupings.

So why is Spy Hunter called Spy Hunter?  Outside of having a vague resemblence of a chase scene from a 1960′s or 1970′s spy movie and a weapons van similiar to Knight Rider, there really isn’t anything about the game that has to do with “spying”.  This is where the imagination is important.  Any kid familiar with the game back in the 80′s could give you a totally different yet compelling story line to the game.  Perhaps you’re a spy who stole some top secret documents or maybe you’ve kidnapped back an important scientist working on a biologic weapon for a terrorist nation.  Who knows?  It doesn’t matter because someone playing the game could convolute any story around the gameplay.  The lack of plot is what gives the game it’s depth.

Let’s look at the very opposite of a game that leaves nothing to the imagination: Metal Gear Solid.  But before I do so let me set the record straight:

I’ve played all four of the MGS games.  I’ve completed 1, 2, and 3, and am currently working on number 4.  It is of my opinion that the MGS games have alot of potential in certain aspects of gameplay and game design, and although I often pick on MGS on this site, it’s purely to point out the shift in gaming over the past three decades and not necessarily to bash the game simply to bash the game.  There are plenty of other games that have similiar elements and as much as involved plot lines as MGS, it’s just that I’m most familiar with MGS and is most easiest for me to draw a (lack of) inspiration from this particular title.

And yes, I realize that Metal Gear Solid and Spy Hunter are two totally different games, but I want to compare the “imagination factor” of both games.  In Metal Gear Solid the game begins with an introductory sequence giving you a brief explaination as to why you are where you are and what you’re about to do.  Once you’re fully deployed (by water in part 1, by bridge in part 2, by plane in part 3, and by truck in part 4) you start working your way through a pre determined story.  The story is driven little by the gameplay but more to the conversations you have over your codec (the radio you use through out the game) the people you rescue and the bosses you kill.  It seems every character in the game has some story or commentary to shove down your throat.

Some of the codec conversations involve explaining how to use a particular weapon or item in the game, or to tell you what to do next.  This wasn’t necessary with Spy Hunter.  If I wanted the car to move I stepped on the gas, and if I needed to haul ass I’d shift to high gear and if there was one of those blue cars or a civilian infront of me God help them if they didn’t have insurance.

And just like the codec, there is also the cut scenes that are apparently a necessary part of the Metal Gear Solid games.  It doesn’t matter who plays MGS, everyone is going to have the same experience.  Where as with Spy Hunter no two stories are going to be the same.

This also leads me to another topic of game design: adrenaline triggers.  When you played a game like Spy Hunter the action was non-stop.  You’d get a brief rest driving into the weapons van, and a brief rest driving down the road to the boat dock and that was it.  Drive further and further into the game and adrenaline starts to kick in.  Metal Gear Solid has a similiar experience.  The boss battles create an excitement as does do the battle scene, particularly in the 4th one when you’re sneaking through the South American stage with the rebels fighting the security force and you’re in between both of them.  The problem is after you clear each area there is a cut scene or a codec conversation which totally kills the adrenaline and you start over.  The only thing that should truly kill the adrenaline rush is a GAME OVER screen with a pocket empty of quarters.  The high you would get from Spy Hunter experience is like battery acid in the blood.

So whether you’re playing Spy Hunter or even Metal Gear Solid, consider whether you want your imagination to determine a plot or if you prefer to drop $60 and have it spoon fed to you.

Recently I streamed and recorded some Spy Hunter footage for the NES.  With Ustream.TV, they generate revenue based on contextual ads.  Contextual you say?  Yes, contextual.  Apparently the ads it shows are based on the the next in the chatroom as I have seen it where if someone for example complains about stomach pains suddenly there will be an ad for stomach medication.

Well, recently I played back the Spy Hunter footage and got a nifty ad for an Accident Lawyer!