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I only need two more games to finish off the SNK collection for the NES. This evening I submitted a best offer on Mechanized Attack and the seller accepted it. Woohoo! All that's left is Touchdown Fever and Little League baseball. I guess good things come to those who wait.
My phone, which I use for most of my blogging needs took a major dump tonight. In addition to hundreds of video game related photos that I lost I also lost hundreds of photos of my son. Unique photos that I've not had the opportunity to share.
It also deleted Qik which I use for the occasional streaming video and the Iris browser. Technically they were wiped of the micro sd card and not the phone. But I don't care, the photos are lost forever.
One more piece of gaming news concerns my http://www.videogamepriceguides.com/ site. It has gotten too time consuming to maintain it's blog (and this one and the three others I work on) so I've decided to fold them together. More details coming soon...
I mentioned earlier that PedroGames.Com delivers and he sure does. He is certainly my favorite ebay seller. One of the games I got recently was Renegade. This isn't a rare game by any stretch of the imagination but it would have become an necessary purchase eventually if my ultimate goal is to collect every licensed Nintendo game.
This game translated sorta well from the arcade version. About as well as Double Dragon translated to the NES. But I have this facinating obsession with videogame box art and Renegade for Nintendo is an interesting gem. In the actual game you look like a greaser taking on other greasers- sorta like a a deleted scene from the movie Grease. But this box art depicts a calamity that the game just doesn't deliver.
For starters it says something like "the subway is no place to be at 2:00am", well duh, why state the obvious? And I'm assuming the punk in white is supposed to be you, the hero. This guy is clearly a loser. At least the other thugs have weapons. They could have at least have penciled in a knife or a gun! What kind of badass picks fights in a subway at 2am but carries no weapon?
Also the title makes no sense. Isn't a renegade like a rebel? Someone who fights "the establishment"? Is he rebelling against a street gang? Or is he rebelling against society by disturbing the peace?
One last thing that disturbs me is that huge drop off to where the subway tracks are. Someone should post a "watch your step" sign... or something.
There was an old TV show called Renegade with Lorenzo Llamas (which someone compares Billy Mitchell to in the documentary Chasing Ghosts) but this clown on the cover is certainly no Lorenzo.
I know I know... you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but in the case of Renegade for Nintendo, it's too damn fun!
I received my latest round of Pedro! Games today. I've mentioned it a million times but you can read my review at http://www.videogamepriceguides.com/ This go-round I received Robocop, Lode Runner, Platoon and Alpha Mission. All in great shape but Lode Runner did have a gash.
And I'm still waiting on that "Mike" guy to send the 8 games. After three emails he claims he had a family emergency. I suspect its another BS eBay excuse. I've spoken about that type of crap in earlier posts. eBay must be directly responsible for a 3rd of the world's family disasters.
It's arrived! And it's a new record. Pedro! Games is fast. Real fast! This is my 3rd transaction with them. You can read my original review about Pedro! at http://www.videogamepriceguides.com/. But get this... I won and paid for this auction late in the evening on June 30th. The next day on July 1st I received an email from Pedro! saying the game shipped. Here we are on July 3rd and it was in my P.O. Box but here is the amazing part... this Nintendo game came from North Carolina, and I am in Las Vegas! Unbelievable! Anyways this game rocks. I've read elsewhere that Sunsoft originally had the license to publish a Terminator game, but things fell apart so they changed it to this. It's truly an incredible game, perfectly programmed with a decent story beautiful music and awesome box art. Typically movie games are garbage but I'm confident this would have turned out beautifully. It's a shame we will never know. One last thing, this was a BuyItNow for $2 and its in out of the box condition!
Well Athena and Urban Champion arrived today. In perfect condition, which is exactly what I expected from Pedro! Read my complete review of previous experiences with Pedro! at http://www.videogamepriceguides.com/. Not only were both in great condition, the Urban Champion looked liked it had never been used.
So I got to Urban Champion today for the very first time and I must say that the game is overtly simple, but not terrible. It would definately make a great drinking game. I finally got to see the cop car drive around and the two bum fighters look around like they were innocent. This game is in desperate need for a remake.
Anyways Arkanoid is the last title I still have outstanding. I have an opportunity to get a mint Operation Wolf for $4.00, but I'm torn if I really want it for that price
With winning Arkanoid I am now at 70 Nintendo Games. I also have a counter offer for Operation Wolf for $3.75 with free shipping, and waiting to hear back a counteroffer for Touch Down Fever where I promised the seller I'd feature him on www.videogamepriceguides.com
Arkanoid should mark the last of the Taito games with the "Astro Pop" label. Too bad I didn't go for an auction with the Arkanoid controller too.
I've also decided to add current consoles to the VideoGamePriceGuides.Com site. I debated this for awhile because its believed that used game sales hurt current console software sales, but after much research I've come to realize that not too many of the current software sales that are being sold as used are recent. Many in most cases have been in stores for months already and what ever purchases that full MSRP have already taken place.
I just purchased Urban Champion from the Video Game Price Guide. Up until now I never thought much of the game, and don't ever recall playing it. However a friend pointed out that it looks like two bums fighting. Could it be that this game was the inspiration for InDecline's Bum Fight movies?
An excerpt from the manual sums it up:
Don't let the bully of the block push you around. Fight for your right to walk the street. Him 'em high or hit'em low, but don't forget to dodge or block his punches. Avoid being taken away by the Police or bonked on the head by a flower pot in your fight to hold your head up high.
Just look at this chaos:
In the first scene blue bum takes on the green bum. It's not surprising that they are fighting infront of a bar (even though its a snack bar.) I can only assume at this point they are fighting for a sandwich. Anyways, blue bum punches green bum so hard he rolls away to the next scene which is the book store. This is significant because bums usually get their bedding from old newspapers.
Finally they end up at the barbershop. This too is significant because bums eat hair. Or so I'm led to believe by this highly accurate portrayal of "bum life." If there was a Bum Life or Bum Time magazine I'm sure this game would have been featured in it.
Oh well, this is just another black label Nintendo Game towards completing my NES Collection.
I also learned today that GameRepair where I showed you the Super Mario Bros. 2 mural, has Yobo's in stock. I may have to check them out.
I've been sick all morning, but now that I feel a little better I thought I'd share some thoughts on my next Nintendo Collecting plans.
I think it's time that I finished off a publisher. I'm closest to finishing the SNK collection. Athena, Mechanized Attack, Fighting Golf, Alpha Mission, Touchdown Fever will finish it off.
I still have a few black labels outstanding. I don't quite understand why Balloon Fight and Clu Clu land has to be so expensive.
I've been leaving the www.videogamepriceguides.com url in the feedback comments section of items I have won. My hope is that it will generate some traffic.
Whew! Its been a while since I had an update, but here it is:
This week I won Legend of Kage, Elevator Action, and Donkey Kong Jr. from using my Video Game Price Guide at http://www.videogamepriceguides.com/ . Both Legend of Kage and Elevator Action arrived today. Legend of Kage was a steal at $1.25. I also used the guide to win Iron Tank for a penny, and Toki for $5.50 (includes shipping!).
Is there any coincidence that 3 of these are Taito games? Yes. Yes it is. See, as a kid in the arcade Taito made what I feel were some of the greatest arcade games ever. You might even recall my Rastan World Record Event was indeed a Taito game. Although there was never a version of Rastan for NES there was a version for the Sega Master System which appears to be kinda goofy. Anways, the Taito games that were released on the NES were pretty good versions from their arcade counterparts. And its always seemed to me that the original programmers for Taito really enjoyed their craft and it shows in their originality. Having been the original inventor of Space Invaders I suppose it should be expected.
There was also another reason why I bought The Legend of Kage and Elevator Action around the same time. Have you ever looked at the box art? Those two games and Arknoid have a smiliar color style that reminds me of Astro Pops. This is probably just the nerd inside me talking but I do believe that video games do have an effect on brain function in both good and bad ways. I can't quite prove this theory yet but if art is proven to invoke emotions why not video game box art? Too bad Astro Pops are not as fun to eat as it is to play these games. Quite frankly, Astro Pops suck.
Finding cheap Nintendo games has gotten a little bit easier. Thanks to a recommendation from a reader the Nintendo Price Guide has been updated to show if the lowest price is an Auction or a BuyItNow scenario.
Say for example you want a cheap copy of a Nintendo game, for instances Super Mario Bros. 2, the Nintendo Price Guide will show you the current average price for that particular game plus the cost of the lowest available on eBay with shipping! If its BuyItNow you can be pretty certain to get it for that price.
The Nintendo Price Guide isn't perfect however. Occasionally a random Nintendo Instruction Booklet will be captured when searching the auctions for games thus skewing the results. We are currently working on making these false positives as infrequent as possible.
If you have any recommended features for the Nintendo Price Guide or want to comment on Nintendo Collecting please let us know! To view the price guide visit www.salzmafia.com/ebay
If your are collecting Nintendo carts then you won't want to overlook Jackal by Konami. The premise is that infrared satellites have identified missing P.O.Ws in "'Nam" and the President has order the "Jeep Squad" to infiltrate and rescue these forgotten soldiers.
Sounds badass but I always thought that Vietnam had thick jungles so the effectiveness of a Jeep being a combat vehicle seems a wee bit far fetched. I was also surprised how the Vietnamese army had advanced technology wise in a mere 15 years. The Jeep Squad will have to face infantry, bombers, choppers, and other modern warfare vehicles.
That's ok though because the Jeep Squad only recruits professionals. Such as a former Indy Car racer as the driver of the Jeep. Don't believe me? Look at this excerpt from the manual (courtesy of http://www.nintendoage.com/):
The four wild jackals:
Lt. Bob (Gunner)The finest sharp shooter in the history of the Green Berets.
Sgt. Quint (Driver)Indy car racer turned mercenary.
Col. Deckar (Gunner)The commander of this operation and Medal of Honor recipient in Vietnam.
Cpl. Grey (Driver)Winner of six European Grand Prix races, and considered the greatest stuntdriver since Evil Bo Weivel.
The manual also reveals that the Jeep is named "Trigger".
Aside from the crazy plot this is actually a pretty reasonable war game.
In addition to waiting for Mario Bros. which should arrive tomorrow, and Felix the Cat which is heading to my new P.O. box, I picked up a few more games this evening. First I decided to check out some Pawn Shops. I missed the turn to the one I wanted to go to so ended up wandering into another one a few blocks further down the road. They had a crap selection. 1 game. John Elway's Quarterback. They wanted $10.00.
I then went across the street to a thrift store where they had Jackal, Cobra Triangle, and R.C. Pro-Am. But... they also had an original Nintendo, in the box, in MINT condition, with power cord, RFU adaptor, Zapper, 1 controller, and 1 Nes MAX controller. So how much did these finds cost me? $30. Thats it.
It's a little known fact that the Reagan Administration persuaded Konami to rebrand their arcade game "Green Beret" into Rush 'N Attack. Konami will deny this as well as any former Reagan cabinet member. It's one of many video game conspiracies. But this game is pure 1980's Cold War propoganda. There were so many reasons back then to hate the Russians: the movies Red Dawn, Rocky IV, The Day After, Rambo 2, and Rambo 3 taught me and millions of others that the USSR must be stopped at all costs. And at 25cents a pop any kid in an arcade could start stabbing pinkos and assure their families that their awesome knife and bazooka skills will protect them. It must of worked because the USSR fell apart and their only retort to this awesome piece of software was "Tetris".
As an NES Collector I'm a little ashamed that this port is not as perfect as it could have been. It retains everything the Arcade version had plus a little more but the play mechanics are a little sluggish. The sound effects are close enough although the digitized cries of a communist being stabbed in the eye would have made this game perfect. It still amazes me that we had to have congressional hearings on violence in video games after the release of Mortal Kombat, yet a game which glorified killing the number one enemy of the United States went unnoticed.
Don't get me wrong- buy this game! Rush 'N Attack is badass and essential to all NES collectors.
Although I felt it took way too long I finally received the Ikari Trilogy in the mail. The games worked perfectly, but there was extensive label defacement. Especially on III. I'm probably going to have to replace the back. There is also a gentle nick on the label near the top which is motivation for me to see how difficult it would be to reproduce a label. But being in the middle of a move I'll have to save that project for later.
I'm still waiting for Mario Bros. and I purchased Felix The Cat last night. Neither of these games are as badass as Ikari, but they are both worth adding to my Nintendo Collection.
My video game price guide (for NES) is almost complete. There are a few bugs and other nuances but the list is proving to be pretty solid.
UPDATE: My Nintendo Price Guide is now complete! To try it out visit www.salzmafia.com/ebay Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.
My Ikari Warriors trilogy is sitting in Bell California. Its taken 7 days to get there from PA. This seems like a ridiculous amount of time to wait but I blame the USPS.
I also won Mario Bros. (Original not Super) over the weekend. The original bid was on a whim and I got a good deal on it.
I also picked up The Lone Ranger, Gyruss, Puzznic and Shadow of the Ninja. That brings me to about 7 percent complete.
Kiwi Kraze arrived yesterday. It's an excellent port of The New Zealand Story. The label was in excellent condition.
Ikari Warriors 1, 2 and 3 seem to be... well... lost. I have a tracking number but it hasn't moved since May 4th. I suppose I'll have to call the USPS tomorrow.
Track N Field arrived today, AND the seller refunded the money. I feel guilty about it. But who cares? I waited long enough.
And finally I'm working on a project that will make buying games simpler. More details coming soon but a hint can be found here: www.salzmafia.com/ebay
Ikari Warriors is a badass game. SNK had a habit of releasing badass games in the arcade and translating them to the NES. I should be receiving the Ikari trilogy either tomorrow or the day after. But I'm so hyped up about it I wanted to mention a few things about them.
Look at these mofos. They are ready to rip you a new one. Don't even dare look at them cock-eyed. 80's videogames were the best. These guys could have been Spike and Hammer:
That's right. NOT BILLY AND JIMMY! Their street names are Spike and Hammer. See the resemblence? Nevermind lets move on.
The Ikari Warriors are not limited to killing humans. They don't even need guns. That guy with the sword is gonna cut one of those aliens sack's off and feed it to them. They should have just changed them to apes and made this a Planet of the Apes game. Get your hands off me you damn dirty APE! Voice and Morse Code? What the...?
By now the Ikari Warriors are so famous that SNK doesn't need to hire a professional artist for the box art. The Ikari Warriors are so tough now that they don't need guns. They'll just toss you around. Why is the dude in blue standing on the girl's leg who's about to give the evil guy a ******? Nevermind. Come up with your own conclusions.
Seriously though, SNK made some really badass games. Despite the weird boxart, you can tell they really cared about their craft. In the coming weeks I'm going to demonstrate exactly what I mean. Gosh, I can't wait for tomorrow or the next day.
My Donkey Kong 3 arrived today. It came in pretty good condition. Maybe a little label wear but that was about it. I cleaned it and it worked perfectly but then when I tried it again it stopped working. I had to clean the Nintendo and adjusted the 72 pin connector. I figured that while I was at it I'd try to remove the NES lockout chip. I followed the instructions I found on the internet and it worked fine. I'm still waiting for Ikari Warriors 1 2 and 3 and Kiwi Kraze. They should both arrive no later than Friday.
Anyone who has ever tried buying a product from eBay knows that there all sorts of schysters. In this example, this guy sells a 50,000 code CD with a copy of the Nintendo game Crystalis. He had a "Best Offer" option, but he turned it down. Perhaps he got offended by "Codes are for chumps" remark.
First I traded some PS3 games and a PS2 game for Baseball, Excitebike, 10-Yard Fight, Double Dragon II, and Adventure Island. The SEGA Genesis I traded for the gun got traded for Rambo, Gurrilla War, and Gradius. I got P.O.W, Bug's Bunny's Birthday Blowout, Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle, Track & Field II, and Rush 'N Attach from eBay. Then I bought Wild Gunman, Duckhunt, Ninja Kid, and Mach Rider from one local game store, and Slalom from another.
Donkey Kong 3 should arrive tomorrow, I have Track & Field (I) in limbo from a loser on eBay, and I got a good deal on all three Ikari Warriors which I hope to have arrive early next week.
I received a bunch of games this week and I'll follow up later on this week's NES collecting progress, but I wanted to point out this awesome gem. P.O.W: Prisoner Of War is a perfect example of how I feel a game should be made. The combat system is fairly simple- simpler then that of Double Dragon but certainly higher then say Kung Fu. I mention this first because it would be my only criticism.
Otherwise lets start with the music. It's fantastic. It has a hint of urgency that really sets the pace. The next time you are racing home from work because you feel explosive diarhea coming on just think of this game's music. I promise you'll make it in time.
Lets talk about items. Beating to death the guards in the barracks and trucks earns you gear. Body Armor: Cool. Brass Knuckles: Instantly turns your enemy into a quadralepligic. Machine Gun: Your mother would be proud.
Graphics? Detailed stages with a layout requires no convincing that this is a prison camp. Parts of the environment scrolls in front of you adding depth that many platformers miss.
That's all I'll mention about this game. Its badass. It's a testament to the spirit of any American Veteran P.O.W. Make sure you play it on Veteran's day. And be thankful that real life P.O.W.s sacrificed a lot so we can have the freedom to play this gem.
Below is a list of my current progress of collecting NES games. On the original list I have (which needs some cleaning up) I currently have 4.1% of all of the games. I hope to hit eBay hard in the coming days.
Adventure Island Baseball Baseball Stars Burgertime Commando Crystalis Desert Commander Donkey Kong Classics Double Dragon Double Dragon II: The Revenge Dr. Mario Dragon Warrior Excitebike Friday the 13th Ghosts 'n Goblins Kung Fu Life Force Major League Baseball Metal Gear Popeye Rush'n Attack Section Z Sky Shark Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 3 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt Tecmo Bowl Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game The Legend of Zelda Track & Field Track & Field II Wrath of the Black Manta
It's finally arrived! The Popeye cartridge came in excellent condition. There was no manual but it did come with a sleave. I was also able to negotiate a trade of an old computer for Dragon Warrior, a 2nd copy of Dr. Mario an additional copy of Super Mario/Duck Hunt, two RFU adaptors, 1 power cord, and 1 SNES controller which I'll probably toss.
I'm currently in the process of collecting every NES game officially licensed and released in the United States. I've taken a casual approach by handpicking good deals from eBay for specific games I want now. I figure I'll eventually pick up the junk games later. Of the four titles I've already puchased one has arrived. One should be delivered tomorrow and the remaining two... well two are in limbo it seems. I've reached out to both sellers and one gave me some reply about being in the process of moving (the transaction occurred a week ago.) The other has not replied (today was day ten.)
This craziness has pushed me to check local game stores but it seems they are way over priced. $35 for a copy of Contra? Was it originally owned by Jesus Christ?
Now I'm taking another approach. This morning I posted a Craigslist ad that stated I was willing to trade an old computer for an original Nintendo and atleast 4 games. I got a promising reply and hopefully the trade will complete tomorrow. This has motivated me to see what else I can trade for old Nintendo games. So now I'm looking forward to trading a computer scanner and a BB gun for one as well.
I've decided to attempt and achieve a WR score on an NES game. I've narrowed it down to one of two games. The first being "Original" Mario Bros. (not super!) or Popeye. Although I enjoy both games it seems the real challenge has been finding the games. After scouring eBay I finally have a copy of Popeye on its way. Finding Mario Bros. has not been as successful, and therefore Popeye will be WR of choice.
As with most things that I involve myself in (specificallyWR scores) I like to pick apart the approach necessary to achieve the record or the desired end result. In this case, I obviously had to do a little research. For starters the current record for Popeye is 1,485,610 points set by Tom Votava on 12/01/2005. I don't know Tom Votava personally but I'm going to assume that this is probably a pretty substantial score because 1.) Tom Votava has plenty of records already, and 2.) the second place score for Popeye is 212,250.
Now that I know what the goal is, the next thing I like to do is determine how long it would be necessary to play the game to achieve the record. In this case I'll either benchmark the game by timing a few levels and recording the score, or in this example of Popeye, I'll refer to http://www.youtube.com/ for a reference. When bench marking any game that has repetitive levels such as Popeye or Mario Bros the longer the bench mark is the more accurate of an estimated time of completion you can come up with in achieving the record.
I decided to use the above video for the benchmark. The player in it takes a casual approach missing opportunities to point press. When benchmarking always take the casual players time and score. You don't want to compare yourself with a relative expert because you'll burn yourself out. After the first level the player scored 10,430 in about 1 minute 25 seconds. He completed the second level in about 1 minute 7 seconds with a score of 5,600 points more then what he had at the end of the first level, and he completed the 3rd level in 2 minutes 38 seconds earning about 16,700 points. All in all, in about 5 minutes 10 seconds you can easily earn 32,730 points.
To complete the bench mark you take the world record and divide it by the total points for all three levels. In this case it would be 1,485,610 divided by 32,730 which equals about 45. This means at an exaggerated minimum it would take completing all three levels 45 times to get the record. Determining how long it would take involves multiplying 45 by however long it took to complete the three levels (which in this case is about 5:10) which adds up to about 3 hours 52 minutes.
Now that I know how long I'll have to play for the next step is determining my availability to practice. Setting a recording isn't as easy as simply sitting down and playing, especially when you have a full time job and a small boy. Those two things obviously take precedence. So a little creativity will be necessary to pull this off. This is where I'll turn to my Nintendo DS. Without going into the exact details I can play the original Nintendo version of Popeye on my DS. We'll just leave it at that. The DS has similiar controls to an NES controller so for the most part it should be seamless in terms of practice and game play. Now, if necessary I can practice anywhere. Well almost anywhere- although my employer probably wouldn't mind me playing games at work (it is part of what we do here) they might not take too kindly if we were playing on a competitors system.
I picked up LifeForce at a used game store. I have fond memories of the arcade game. "Destroy anti-biotics" and "pulse lazer" would echo at the drugstore where I played it frequently. The game reminds me alot of that movie "InnerSpace".
I've decided to start collecting original Nintendo games and I just received BurgerTime in the mail. It was a spur of the moment purchase from eBay and it plays perfectly.
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