Video Game Collecting

Please take notice of the ad for Ikari Warriors – the arcade game. Notice that it says Greatest Two Player Game Ever! But guess what? SNK Playmore finally ported the game to the PSN but it’s crap. You know why? Its one player only. But I suppose I shouldn’t feel too bad right? They screwed up the XBOX version as well: http://digitalchumps.com/video-game-reviews/35-ps3/7908-ikari-warriors-ps-mini.html

If you haven’t checked it out yet, and you’re interested in a Neo Geo Price Guide, go visit Video Game Price Guides because I just uploaded one. They are some amazingly expensive games, but probably worth every penny.

I decided to try and repair some of the damage that occurred to a Nintendo Game Boy box. Below I present to you Double Dragon. I received this beat up gem complete from eBay about 5 or 6 years ago. I had some theories to try and restore some of the more obvious damage. I tried them but I’m not 100% convinced by the results. Decide for yourself. I’ve highlighted in red areas I thought were of particular interest.

Unless it was published by Tengen, I have never been very keen on collecting unlicensed 3rd party games for any system.  Granted, I have a copy of Firehawk for NES which is a very good helicopter game, but for anyone who has actually played unlicensed games knows that they are mostly hit or miss (mostly miss!).  But today I obtained a copy of Spiritual Warfare for SEGA Genesis.  While NES unlicensed games can be found pretty easily, I have never seen an unlicensed SEGA Genesis game out in the wild.

So anyways I obtained this copy of Spiritual Warfare for SEGA Genesis for free!  “Free?” You ask?  YES.  FREE.  The details of how I obtained it will have to remain secret for now, but I assure you I did not pay a dime for it, and neither did anyone else.

Last year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda and the year before that Super Mario Bros.  But this year belongs to California Games for Atari 2600 and several other platforms.

California Games on the 2600 is significant for several reasons.  This game pushed the 2600 to the limit.  It is basically four minigames: hackysack, halfpipe, BMX, and surfing.  Each game could have been a blockbuster for the Atari had it been released several years earlier because each game had wonderful colors, fantastic animations, intuitive controls, and a huge replay factor.

Although your character is a bit stiff, the hackysack event really dances on the screen.  Several tricks and unpredictable elements make you believe the event can be mastered but I have yet to see someone play the entire event and not make a single mistake.  Small details like the drifting clouds and pinetrees are an excellent touch though palmtrees would have made more sense.

The half pipe has several tricks as well but they are the most difficult in the game to pull off.  There is also an element of speed to the skateboard which if you’re not careful you’ll smash your skull into the sky and come falling down to your presumed death.

BMX is my favorite because its the fastest of the four events.  Basically you roll down hill doing tricks and dodging rocks, stumps, cattle skulls, and mud.  Flags are check points and gives you more time to complete an event.  Although the track never changes, it’s long and difficult to master.

Surfing is very similar to the half pipe except the timing is a bit more liberal.  There are several tricks in this event as well.

Again, California Games for the Atari 2600 is an amazing piece of work and 25 years later still impresses the hell out of me.

This might sound familiar: these are what I consider to be my top ten video game posts of 2011. Some of these posts were not necessesarily popular to my visitors, but they were popular to me. Enjoy!

#10: Pedro Games VS Lukie Games VS NES_Head_Quarters – What’s not to like about this post – here I pit three of my favorite game sellers to a competition to the death!  Which one reigned supreme?

#9: 30 Days Of Gaming Challenge - Rather than writing for 30 days, I summed up all 30 days in one post.  This has been one of my more popular posts of the year.

#8: Super Mario Bottle Cap – Found in the backyard of a house I’ve owned for only two years, the Super Mario Bottle Cap brought back memories from my youth when Nintendo and Pepsi teamed up for the greatest promotion known to mankind.

#7: Macho Man Randy Savage In Video Games - I couldn’t help but pay homage to the Macho King Randy Savage.  The world lost one of the greatest men ever.  I will forever be inspired by him.

#6: Photo Of Osama Bin Laden’s Body - The moment it was announced that Osama Bin Laden was dead I took advantage of posting a picture from Prince of Persia on NES and labeling it as Osama Bin Laden’s death photo.  It brought the highest amount of traffic to the blog then ever before since I was apparently the first person to post an erroneous photo.  I consider the experiment a success.

#5: Suicide By Tetris - Never had I inspired so much angst or anger than I did with the announcement that I was going to try and kill myself by playing Tetris non-stop for 24 hours.  Although 90% of my friends support the decision and event I later learned that 0% of my family support the decision.  Regardless the event didn’t happen.

#4: 30 Days Of Atari 2600 Reviews - Actually 30 posts, the 30 Days of Atari 2600 Reviews demonstrated 30 of my favorite Atari 2600 games.  Sadly my 30 days of SEGA Genesis Reviews didn’t even make it to day 10.

#3: Weird And Recognizable Nintendo Patents - I research patents pretty often, mostly for inspriration and for “exploded” drawings of devices.  In this post I show off some of Nintendo’s most famous patents, and a few you’ve never seen.

#2: GameBoy Screen Repair – Remove Lines - If this wasn’t one of my favorite posts of 2011, it was definately one of my visitors top posts.  Of all of my videos on YouTube, this one gathers the most attention.  In this two part series I demonstrate in specific detail how to remove lines from a GameBoy.

#1: Swap Meet Video Game Finds - By far one of my favorite posts of all times, I show via video a day in the life of the BroadAcres Swapmeet.  Great Times.  Great Music!

My 2012 Video Game Collecting Goals will be different than previous years for a variety of reasons:

1. For most of 2011 I simply did not have the cash like I had previous years to splurge on games, it’s just been a bad year. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it has forced me to become more frugal and creative in my collecting endeavors. It has also given me the opportunity to play, appreciate, and learn more about the games I love.
2. The Classic Gaming Expo didn’t happen this year. It’s supposed to happen in 2012 though, and I’m going to be ready for it. I have a plan that I hope will make 2012 better than 2010. 2010 was exhausting, but it’s going to be Downtown which is less than 12 minutes away from where I live.
3. Before my thrifting/swapmeet ventures were mostly arbitrary. “Maybe I should go to the swapmeet this weekend” or “I’m bored, I think I’ll thrift.” Was usually the only planning I would do. This was great, except I’d go so frequently that I’d either find nothing, or I’d feel rushed and wouldn’t take my time searching or pondering the treasures I’d might acquire.
4. Less common game prices have gone up significantly. There are a couple reasons for this. The first is Stadium Events. Ever since Yahoo ran an article about it a few years back sellers have dug into their back closet thinking that there are riches to be found there. Also, at least two different “storage” shows had the gall to say an original NES was worth a few thousand dollars and likewise for an original Atari 2600 (which in the video wasn’t the original). Of course those clowns on TV were way wrong, but fans of the shows, like the people who think Anticipation and Super Mario Bros. 3 are “rare” because they saw an article on the internet have artificially inflated the prices. Further complicating this is Goodwill (at least here in Las Vegas) have suddenly started pricing game consoles and games in the double digits. What the heck is going on?

So this is what I figured out: I’ll plan my game collecting in 2012 like I plan stuff at my job. First I’ll simply plan out my thifting/swapmeet adventures months in advance. Second I’ll update the code at videogamepriceguides.com to twitter/email me the best deals AS they occur. Third I’ll determine a budget for all game collecting, and forth I’ll find an alternative to revenue generation which will be the gatekeeper for all shopping.

Similiar to what every great adventurer discovers – it’s the quest and not the treasure that matters!

Take a trip down memory lane with these coupons for Atari games.

First up we have an official Atari Jacket. I’ve never heard of Murphy’s Mart, and I’m not sure if it was exclusive to this retail chain or not.

Next we have a $2 off coupon for select Atari games from Kay-Bee toys. Featured are Pole Position, Mario Bros., Enduro, and Pitfall!. The coupon implies that it isn’t just for these games, but it does limit you to six titles only.

Next is a coupon from Big B. This one features $5 off all Atari titles.

And finally we have an exciting full page Atari ad for Kay-Bee toys. This ad shows off the Atari 2600 Jr., the 7800, a bunch of games, and accessories. $27 off of the wireless controllers!

I’ve been so terribly busy lately that I haven’t had much time to continue with my 30 days of SEGA Genesis reviews. Work is rough this time of year but the weather has finally cooled off which means its time to spend some quality time at the Broad Acre’s Swapmeet. Just like the awesome video I took back in February, I expect this one to be great too. Definately something to look forward to. I’m hoping to find NES, Master System, 2600 and ColecoVision games. Until this weekend enjoy my original swap meet collecting video:

It’s easy to get carried away with wanting to post reviews every day, but like and work happens, boooo!  Anyways nothing takes a load off than a quick game of DJ Boy!

Originally an arcade game release by American Sammy (I think) the game is basically Double Dragon on skates.  In the original story your boom box was stolen by a bunch of punks and you’re ready to release holy terror on those punks with your skates.  In this version your girl friend was kidnapped but it never shows the scene.

So as you punch, kick, and do other moves the thugs drops coins which you can use after boss fights to upgrade your character.  Which is great because the game in incredibly tough.  You get one life.  Just one with a measly life bar.  Most boss fights will involve punch and skate punch and skate until you slowly but surely tire them down to the death.

The art is very unique to this game and altered only slightly from the arcade version with the exception of some questionably racist characters.  The game is fast and features great music.  The box art doesn’t represent the game well, but its still unique.  Also missing is the Wolf Man Jack voice overs that the arcade game features.

DJ Boy isn’t Streets of Rage (Though Sammy – the kid with the skates in SoR is a homage to the game I swear) and the game certainly doesn’t meet the standards of beat ‘em ups that came out later on the SEGA Genesis but its still a fun game with a rockin’ sound track and a true arcade feel.  Its inexpensive and I highly recommend it.  Pay no more than $6 complete for it.