Messages

16

Hardware and Tech / Re: Original Xbox with Failed Motherboard

« on: October 30, 2020, 04:27:06 pm »

I would agree that a second opinion is great.  It may be something the first missed.  Such as something in the power section rather than the actual motherboard.
 
Generally speaking though and as somebody who fixes older consoles.  If we say it's not cost effective, we mean it's not cost effective.  It's not about "not giving a shit" it's about how much are YOU willing to pay to fix it.  Personal experience when working with older consoles, "not much" is always the answer.  They expect it to be quick and cheap, and a mobo repair on a OG Xbox is neither.

@shatterstar69
You have 2 options at this point really.
1.  Take it and see if they can pin point the cause of the problem.  This will likely cost some money. 
1a It's fixable.  Ask yourself if you're comfortable spending that kind of money.
1b It's not.  End of the line.

2. Forgo that and just get a working unit.  This is by far the cheapest way.

If your unit was not modded and not backed up there isn't much you are going to be able to do.  Pretty much everything on that drive is inaccessible.  I'm sorry.

17

Hardware and Tech / Re: Sega CD model 2 no power issue

« on: August 02, 2020, 07:57:49 pm »

I had a few Model 2 SCDs years back and they never seemed to have problems. Are these issues something that's popped up in the last decade or so, or was I lucky?

It's more to do with aging hardware. 

18

Hardware and Tech / Re: Sega CD model 2 no power issue

« on: August 01, 2020, 03:08:02 pm »

I would say you're correct.  The transistor at Q301 is known for its ability to fail catastrophically.  From the looks of it, it has.  Luckily cheap and fairly easy.  I would have a spare fuse on hand just in case you need to replace it too, or just in case something happens.

19

General / Re: Sony license server is having problems.

« on: July 11, 2020, 04:09:15 am »

Does getting a disc even matter anymore? Whether you install the game from the internet or from a disc, they can still yank your license. I hope I'm wrong about that...

That's kinda the thing.  When you put in your PS4 or XBONE disc that's what it is looking for is the license on the disc.  So technically no they can't with physical media.

20

General / Re: Sony license server is having problems.

« on: July 11, 2020, 04:05:28 am »

I think I saw this pop up somewhere before. I think it was fixed by rebuilding the database?

I saw this issue on my vita a while back. I just had to sign in to my plus account to restore the licenses.

That has worked for some not for others though.  I don't think this problem is a wide spread as the whole debacle in 2016?  The PSN hack.  It's still something I thought should be made aware.  The only system I have any digital items on is my PS3 and it was fine.
What I don't know is that if this can become a problem later on.  Just because I'm unaffected now doesn't mean I'm out of the woods, or maybe I got lucky.  What I do know is that Sony being completely mum about this issue just like before is really starting to erode my trust in them.  Not that I had much to begin with.

21

General / Sony license server is having problems.

« on: July 10, 2020, 05:55:09 pm »

I wasn't sure where to put this.  So I went with General Discussion.  Peeps you need to keep an eye on your digital purchases through Sony.  Apparently their licensing server is on the blink.  People are losing digital purchases be it full games or just dlc.  Not only are they losing the licence but the transaction history is being deleted too.

Sony's customer support has been less than helpful with this and even if you still have the conformation email verifying your purchase.  Sony is not restoring affected purchases and accounts.

This is affecting the PS4, PS3, PSVita, and PSP.  So check your purchases.

22

General / Re: How do y'all handle your backlogs?

« on: June 20, 2020, 04:22:44 pm »

Poorly.  I keep buying games, I keep telling myself I'm going to play them.  I never get around to it.

23

General / Re: Value Increase of Games Lately

« on: May 22, 2020, 11:04:59 pm »

I would say that everybody here is pretty much correct in their assessment of the situation.  When people in my area got their stimulus checks and or unemployment they have cleaned out every Walmart and game store in the area.  They aren't considering the long term.  Which is great for me since more than a few have already started selling stuff to make ends meet and I've been getting it on the cheap.

I suspect when stores are able to replenish their stock we should start to see prices come down on current stuff.  The older stuff will too when their money pool dries up and nobody is buying.  As far the rare games go, it could become the new norm.  It depends on how bad things get.

24

General / Re: What's the best free haul you've ever gotten?

« on: May 18, 2020, 04:35:59 pm »

in my case it's deals for cheap, sell the stuff gain money while adding stuff to the collection for free so not truly free.

actual free stuff

I got some comics back in the day from some friends but in terms of games no free stuff here.

in terms of free additions to sets that I did not expect.

one of the better ones was when a guy added a bunch of cib sega 16 bit games to the set wich i didnt expect. phelios aero acrobat 2 and a bunch of other solid titles like shadow dancer and quite a bit more that was fun but again no free haul in that case either.

I don't mind it though I'm not to sure If I could accept free stuff from close friends or family for really good stuff anyway.


@ffxik

That's a great haul. if you could score such titles especially boxed or cib yet most of them are duplicates while barely denting their stock, damm what kind of collection did that store have good stuff.

Not all of it, most of it was really common titles.  Those were just some of the standouts.  Most weren't cib they are missing the instruction manuals.  The ones that didn't have duplicates we're some of the rarer NES and SNES games.  We're talking Little Sampson and the like.  Those are the ones I left.

To put it bluntly the entire thing was in a garden shed at the owners house.  It took two trips in a 1/2 ton pickup and we had the bed of it rounded over with boxes both times.  The store had been moved from a bigger city to a backwater, hillbilly retirement town and since nobody buys games like that in this area.  It was pretty much doomed from the start.

I got to spend several weeks testing games I never thought I'd get to play, all the while bolstering my collection to boot.  All it cost me was time.

25

General / Re: What's the best free haul you've ever gotten?

« on: May 18, 2020, 12:39:38 pm »

I don't know if it would classify as free, but there was at least no money changing hands.  Just my time.

A friend of mine, who is friends with somebody who used to own a retro game store that went under.  She got tasked with sorting and cataloging for sale the inventory of the store.  She called me to come down and give her a hand since I'm the only guy in the area that knows what's what with these things.

The owner made it clear she wouldn't pay me for my time but instead left it to my friend to determine how it was to go down.  Her solution, as we're going through this if you find something you like or want, take it.

I worked under two rules, if there was only one copy in the lot I left it.  If there were multiple copies I only took one and only games I was interested in.  Most of this was early era games, NES, SNES, Genesis, and N64.   There was PS1 and PS2 as well, just not as much.

I left with boxed copies of
SNES
Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II Turbo
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat II
Mortal Kombat 3
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Demon's Crest
Super Castlevania IV
Final Fight
Sky Blazer
Cybernator
Super Ghouls n' Ghosts
Zombie's Ate My Neighbors
X-Men Mutant Apocolypse
Venom-Spider Man: Separation Anxiety
U.N. Squadron

Genesis
Lightening Force
Contra: Hard Corps
Landstalker
Sparkster
Golden Axe
Golden Axe II
El Viento
Elemental Master
Truxton
Grananda
Ranger x
Arrow Flash
Dynamite Headdy
Final Zone
Grind Stormer
Outrunners
Phantasy Star III
TMNT: Hyperstone Hiest
Gunstar Heroes

And a bunch of loose NES carts all from incredibly common to not so much so like
Contra Force
Duck Tales 2
Shatterhand
Kick Master
Dragon Warrior IV
Felix the Cat

All total it was several hundred games.  I know what you're thinking.  No, I didn't put a dent in that volume of games.  There were thousands.

26

General / Re: Are You Happy With The Gaming Industry Now Or Past Discussion

« on: May 17, 2020, 01:05:08 pm »

I believe honestly past generations had it better.  Lets take the visual aspect out, graphics were going to improve regardless.

Developers and publishers had to make sure their games were functional before releasing them.  I know that there were some buggy games and outright broken ones that made it out.  These days though it's really easy to shove it out the door and they may get around to making it somewhat playable via patches.  Which has just as much to do with the asinine release schedule AAA publishers are pushing dev's to.  I don't care if your mainline series gets a yearly release.  I want it functional.  It's funny that the first in the franchise can take 4+ years to develop but subsequent releases take a around a year.  Conversely on that note patches that destroy a game entirely.  Looking at you War Craft III

I'm a big proponent of physical.  I understand that not everybody has the space for multiple consoles and mountains of games.  I don't like the fact that you can pay for a game just to have it stripped from your system the next time you log in.  Digital is convenient, but at what cost?
Tied to my first complaint are the fact that games these days have massive patches that have to be installed right at the start.  You bought that game after the services for that console went down.  It required a day one patch to run properly.  Well, about that.....
Even if you purchase your games physically with the current generation and I guarantee those moving forward.  Tomorrows "retro" collectors are in for a bad time.

Micro transactions.  Sure an extra level here, a skin pack there.  It was a novel idea that has worn out it's welcome by being absolutely abused.  You want the real ending to that game? $14.99.  What's that? The characters that were shown in the trailer?  Yeah. that'll be $4.99 each.  You were getting too much content for your $59.99 so we decided to put it behind a paywall.

Online only.  I have several games that I cannot play because they were, online only.  I picked up Starhawk for the PS3 then shelved it figuring I'd get to it eventually.  I didn't realize it was an online only game until I read they had shut the servers down.  The same happened with Chromehounds on the 360.  Except I was in the shop, picked it up because it was a mech game only to realize they had shut the servers down mere days before I bought it.

So yes, past generation had it better over all.  The majority of the games you purchased were functional.  Sure they had to release another version to add characters or fix a few bugs.  They still do that today and if it isn't a physical release they hit you with the DLC, so your still out the extra cash.  The games still work as intended unless you didn't take care of your things, or are serviceable unless damage is extreme.
Sure games today offer massive amounts of content but in the end it feels incredibly hollow.  As each game vie's for your money and time.  Some get it right, most don't.

27

General / Re: Which of my games is the rarest?

« on: May 07, 2020, 11:26:59 pm »

Fairchild, hands down.

28

Classic Video Games / Re: What's the best deal you've gotten on classic video games?

« on: May 07, 2020, 11:19:39 pm »

Probably the best was Dragon Force and Shining the Holy Ark for the Saturn.  I picked those up for $8 a piece CIB.

I went in expecting to pay full price for them or at least close to it.  The owner of the shop was kinda a friend, so when he cut me that deal I spent another $200 in there as a thank you.

29

Classic Video Games / Re: What's your breaking point with a video game?

« on: May 07, 2020, 12:01:44 am »

Generally I know pretty quick.  I have had some "UNO reverse cards" on a couple and one which I just wouldn't let it get the better of me.  Yet it ultimately did.

Two games I didn't like right off the bat was Valkyrie Profile and Final Fantasy Tactics.  I borrowed FFT off a school buddy put five hours into it that evening, gave it back the next day.  On a whim borrowed it again month later and loved it, still do. 
Another friend brought VP by the house raving about it.  I played a coupe of hours of it, didn't like it.  Was at a mutual friends house who had borrowed it and watched him play it for three hours, still didn't care for it.
I bought it for $20 at a Gamestop because I had money burning a hole in my pocket.  Brought it home put it on the shelf for months.  Took it down because it was one I hadn't played to death, or at all.  It's among my top 5 Playstation games. 

Games that I have put several hours into and haven't looked back, Grand Theft Auto III, I haven't played any of them since.  I only own GTA V by chance.  It came with the Xbox One I bought.  I haven't even bothered to install it. 
Unlimited Saga.  Played it for 30 minutes and decided that was more than enough.  Parasite Eve 2.  I loved the first one, was looking forward to the sequel.  Parasite Evil 2, more like.  Too much like RE for my blood.  I love RE but it just didn't feel right here.

The one I kept throwing myself at again and again was Saga Frontier II.  I thought at first I just didn't understand it.  Nope, I just didn't like it.  I wasn't going to let it beat me though.  It did, repeatedly.  So I got one of those cheat adapters and maxed out my parties stats, bull dozed my way to what I presumed to be the final boss.  Just to have it after a couple of turns pull some AoE wave attack that one shot my entire party.  It wasn't a fluke.  It done it regularly.  I quit at that point.  I traded it two days later.  I was done.

30

Off Topic / Re: Finding Online Retro Games Could Now Becoming Scarce Too Many Collectors

« on: May 06, 2020, 08:59:36 pm »

I've noticed some of the games I was after a while back has had their prices escalate pretty severely.  So I doubt I'm going to be getting those anytime soon, if at all.  That's for the harder to come by Saturn and Sega CD games I didn't pick up yet though.

I've noticed some level out and a few drop.  The only way the prices will drop is if most big collectors start dumping their games all at once.  I don't see it taking a tangible drop any other way.