WOW , it's been awhile since I've done much with this blog. Much of that has to do with me being lazy, hey I may be the only honest blogger on the web. Another reason being that I've been a little torn about my retro gaming, and retro gaming in general. Not the nostalgia, or fun of playing and collecting classic games but more with WHAT to collect. With so many systems, and very little money to spare I had to sell part of my collection and downsize what I can realistically collect.
So I had lots of hard choices to make. And I made them. So out went the NES and SNES stuff, although I do still plan on picking up games in the wild for those systems when I find them, weather they are games I want or games I can use for trading fodder I just can't afford to collect for them anymore. The last two years have seen the market for games on those two systems SKYROCKET in value, maybe I shouldn't say value, more like price. Games like Chrono Trigger ARE NOT RARE but are priced like they are, and it seams like many games are like that overpriced to the point where they cost more NOW than when they where new, and don't get me started on the prices of games that are rarer like Earth Bound. When you go to a game store and see prices like $11.00 for Dragon Warrior 1 on NES you know things have gotten out of hand. If it weren't for emulation a lot of us wold never get to play a lot of these games. But that is a whole other post entirely.
NOW before all the Nintendo fanboys start running away calling me a traitor, I still collect games that I really want such as RPG's for any system, and I still collect for one Nintendo system that most people overlook, that being the Gamecube. Actually that leads me into my next topic of what I actually am currently collecting for. Those being the last generation of systems namely the PS2 and Gamecube. I hope to have a regular Xbox some day , but until I come across one in the wild for uber cheap........it can wait.
You may be asking yourself "Why?" And the answers are plentiful and easy to come by. Just like games for those systems. Also right now the games are relatively cheap ranging from a couple bucks to about 8 dollars at the most in the wild. There where a plethora of games for just the PS2 well over 3000 counting Japanese only games. The unit itself sold over 150 MILLION, making it the best selling unit of all time , which only just quit being produced in January of this year. That's right folk, they where still poppin these babies out till 2013. And the reason is obvious, it was a solid system, with (for its day) fairly powerful hardware capable of some amazing things in the hands of the right programer. Now do I ever even HOPE to have all the games for the PS2.........no. I would have to either mod or buy a Japanese PS2 to even play the imports and learning to read Japanese is not high on my list of things to do. Would I someday shoot for a complete US only set. Maybe. But for the time being I see it as a solid invest in both fun and future value. As long as the disc rot doesn't eat threw my collection it should last for quite awhile.
The Gamecube has always been kinda the underdog for me, and honestly the system I know the least about, beyond a few classics and hidden gems I would love to find. Tales of Symphonia looks fantastic and if I had a video card capable of running Dolphin I would have probably already emulated and played it. Its no secret I loves me some JRPG's which I don't think the system was heavy on, but I hear the few that are there are pretty good. Gamecube games are cheap as the PS2 and just as common. Even some of the more uncommon (as far as collectors are concerned) seam to be fairly easy to find around here. I picked up my copy of The Legend of Zelda : Wind Waker, for 8 bucks at a local pawn shop, which is also the highest place I have seen to buy games around here. What I like best about the Gamecube hands down, no pun intended, is the controller. I have never felt a controller that felt as RIGHT as the GC controller. The analog stick is so perfect it gives perfection a new meaning. Shoulder buttons always threw me off and on other controller have they ever felt really natural too me, till the GC controller.
OF COURSE, I can't completely give up on collecting for the 16 bit era, so I have switched gears to the more affordable, but still epic Genesis/Megadrive. I came across a Genesis model 3, which while not be the greatest when it comes to some things, ISN'T REGION LOCKED! So Mega Drive exclusives are at least within my ability to play. So far the BOOM which has skyrocketed even some not so rare games on the SNES and NES hasn't been as devastating to the Genesis. The prices are going up, but are not in any way climbing at the exponential rate of SNES games. One crappy thing I have found however, unlike many NES and SNES games that miraculously the back up battery still works in, I have yet to find a SINGLE WORKING BATTERY BACKED UP CART , that still saves for the Genesis. Nothing sucks worse than owning games that you have no hope of ever beating till you pay someone to replace he battery. (I would prefer paying just for the insurance that they won't fuck my game up and if they do they will replace or pay me for it) Looks like I will be making a trip to a local game shop to get my Phantasy Star 4 juiced back up.
Something i have been dong lately is playing a lot of PSONE games on my computer ...........I'll let you guess how, but it really made me take a second look at a system I thought I knew well. I owned a PSONE in the 90's, a Christmas gift in the year of its release, back then it was mind blowing. What really surprises me now, is how poorly the games I loved have aged (Final Fantasy's being the exception for story alone if nothing else) What I have been playing are a lot of the games I missed back then for one reason or another. I was never a shooter fan and was late to the rpg craze with my love for the genre being cemented with FF7 and FF9. I had no concept of strategy games until much much later, and besides Tetris, or I.Q. I was never a puzzle game fan. Now though with the help of a little *ahem* searching online, I have began to play tons games that I missed that have aged a thousand percent better than games like the original Tomb Raider, or ANY 3D fighter on the system.
A major time sink for me has been Ark The Lad. I love me some strategy rpg action, and thankfully they went for sprites instead of polygons and it ages much better for it. The game, at least the first one in the trilogy , isn't without its flaws. I am only about 1/3 of the way into the game, but so far the only major complaint I have is the lack of an item that works like an Escape Rope in Pokemon. You go 15 levels deep into a dungeon, and instead of going back and hitting the stairs up and coming out on top, or at the very least the levels still being cleared of monsters, you have to fight your way back threw all 15 levels to the safety of a save game screen. The dungeon in question......is 30 LEVELS DEEP! Yes its full of treasure, but without any potions that restore MP which are used for all magic and special abilities, AND no way to save and come back to the dungeon later, it makes tackling these dungeons a very time consuming and nerve wracking experience. Imagine making it 25 levels deep, you have used up almost all of your resources (at least the useful ones) you are hit with the sudden realization that you have 5 levels left to reach the bottom, which can only get harder. OR you can back out and start working your way back out and hope and pray you can avoid as many enemies as possible and make it back out now only to have to try and do it all over again and spend another 3 or 4 hours to have the same problem again.
I haven't even attempted part 2 or 3 yet, but I plan on taking them in order. Its a simple to grasp, but still surprisingly challenging game and a real surprise for me since I completely missed it back in the day. Another really great strategy/rpg that uses sprites and aged very well despite its VEEERY JAPANESE storyline is Saiyuki - Journey West. Its too much to try and explain but look it up, if you like the genre, and the 90's, you won't be let down.
But I missed A LOT back then. While I played my PSONE quite a bit, even taking it to the Comic/Gaming shop I worked at to kill time. (Not much call for the new Planescapes box set in rural Eastern Ky) I remember Square releasing Einhander back then , and even being by my favorite company I passed it up because I wasn't into shooters. Now I am having to play older shooters just to not be stuck playing bullet hell games. (Which while they may look pretty, I suck at, so therefore I don't enjoy) So Einhander has been on steady rotation along with Raycrisis, R-Type Delta and several others........the one thing that I still have a problem with when it comes too shooters is that they are soooooo hard to remember the name of as far as distinguishing themselves enough to not get confused with another similar shooter.
There are so many great games on the PSONE that it would be useless to try and name them all, we all remember and love Castlevania - Symphony of the Night (epic voice acting and all) Silent Hill, Resident Evil 1+2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Parasite Eve, the Oddworld Games, Mega Man Legends series, Harvest Moon - Back To Nature, Dragon Warrior 7, Beyond the Beyond, Metal Slug X, the Persona series..............it could just go on and on. Anyone wishing to play these, I suggest you either dig out your psone, and start trying to track them all down..........good luck, OR try one of my favorite sites of all time www.coolrom.com. Everything you need (except maybe the bios for the PS1, you'll have to track that down on another site its no problem to find on google) is on coolrom, and yes THEY HAVE WORKING DS ROMS AND EMULATORS AS WELL!
What do you want to hear about? What would you like reviewed or just to talk about. This blog is not just for me, its for anyone who wants to talk about old school games and wax nostalgia on all things cool and retro. Anyone who would like to write for Not Just Another is welcome to message me and I would be more than happy to not only have you as a commenter but as a writer for the blog as well. I hope you have enjoyed listening to me blather on check back in , hopefully updates will be more often and substantial.
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