Messages

31

General / Re: August 2024 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased New

« on: August 21, 2024, 12:41:14 am »

Had another collector's swap meet this last Sunday and picked up a few things I've been wanting for the collection, but mostly consoles I plan on modding.


PS1 consoles (3x)
Nintendo DS Lite (dark blue)
Nintendo Gamecube (Silver)
Mario Party (N64 - CIB)
Cruisn' USA (N64) - I accidentally sold my only copy of this game a few years ago, so I'm happy to have it back again

32

General / Re: Is there any hope for this site?

« on: August 21, 2024, 12:37:40 am »

I'm guilty of spending more time in facebook game groups and local communities.  I think the problem as some have pointed out is that the forums use old tech and it's hard to go back to them when there are other communication options that give more immediate feedback.  For example- uploading pictures of recent pickups.  In a local facebook group- it takes a minute or two.  But here, I have to upload each picture to imgur, then click the image link and make sure the formatting is correct so it actually displays.  It just takes too long so I stopped. 

I still like participating in the Secret Santa and I really enjoy the database features the site offers so I still hope to be a part of this community for a long time to come.  I just might not be as talkative as other members.

For me it's the 52 games challenge that keeps me active in the forums mostly. I actually use Pricecharting to track my collection now since it gives it a monetary value which I need for insurance purposes. The other thing I'm guilty of is not really being that much of a collector anymore despite still technically being one. If I'm being completely honest with myself, the 52 games challenge and the occasional engaging thread is what still keeps me here. I've played around with the idea of just tracking the games I beat in a google doc, but I also enjoy seeing what other people are playing and hearing their thoughts on a particular game. I've also tried other sites (backloggery, How Long to Beat, and a few that focus more on the game playing side of things) and one thing or another has turned me off about their site, forums, community, or a combo of these things. I feel like this is the best I'm probably going to find since forums are more or less a thing of the past. I just wish others found the forums as worthwhile as I do. And yes, I use Facebook groups too, but those have their own drawbacks that I find way more annoying than the ones associated with most forums.

33

General / Re: The "Should I have picked it up?" Thread

« on: August 18, 2024, 12:25:31 am »

Rule of Rose for $90 back around 2013 or 2014


Panzer Dragoon Saga at a local game shop for $200 around 2015 or so


A Genesis with Moonwalker, Gunstar Heroes, and I believe Sonic 3 at the flea market for $50 total back around 2011


There are probably dozens of others ones, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately

34

General / Re: How did you choose between PS2 and Xbox (or PS3 and 360)?

« on: August 18, 2024, 12:22:18 am »

PS2 vs XBOX: I chose the PS2 because it had more games that appealed to me and I also got into the PS1 late in its life, so naturally I wanted a PS2. The XBOX was the new kid on the block and I think many of us had our doubts. While the XBOX has grown on me a ton since it first came out, I still vastly prefer the PS2.


PS3 vs 360: Funny enough, I actually went with a 360 before I bought my first PS3. I remember specifically wanting to play Forza, Mass Effect, Project Gothem Racing 3, and a few other XBOX exclusives at the time. There just wasn't as much on the PS3 around launch that impressed me that much, and the 360 got a 1-year head start. However, about a year and a hald into owning my 360, the damn disc drive broke and out of warranty would have cost like $150 to replace. I sold it as is on ebay, some guy fixed it, and then contacted me 4 or 5 months later because it went RRoD. He was wonderng about a partial refund even though it didn't have that issue at the time lol. I ended up not getting another 360 for a long time, and instead got a PS3. That system really grew on me and it's still my preferred system over the 360.


On a side note, it's crazy to think this thread was created before the Wii U, PS4, and XBONE came out. Freakin time flies...

35

General / Re: What's your pet peeve of each generation

« on: August 18, 2024, 12:15:10 am »

Gen 1: It's pretty much just pong


Gen 2: Games require too much imagination and have mostly aged horribly


Gen 3: Mountains of shovelware with a few gems sprinkled in


Gen 4: Too many subpar platformers and fighting games


Gen 5: The imaginary law that every old franchise had to release a 3D game


Gen 6: The Dreamcast getting killed off too soon and the Gamecube being a dramatic step down from the N64


Gen 7: The corporatization of the video game industry


Gen 8: Massive downloads and HDDs that filled up after a dozen games or so


Gen 9: Most games are glorified CD keys now (save Nintendo)

36

General / Is there any hope for this site?

« on: August 16, 2024, 10:51:27 am »

I'm sure we're all aware of how dead VGcollect has been for the last few years with it seemingly getting worse and worse over time. It seems like we're pretty much down to a dozen or so users that regularly post on here. It's not uncommon for me to not see a single new post in an existing thread for a few days. As for new topics, it seems like one pops up every few weeks if even that, and for a while half of them were troll or delusional rambling posts by a certain user.


This genuinely bums me out as VGcollect has probably been my favorite online forum community since I joined this site about a decade ago. Everyone here for the most part has been super cool, laid back, and friendly, which is a rarity in online forums and even Facebook groups. Speaking of Facebook, while I do belong to a few gaming/collecting groups there, it just doesn't do it for me the same way that good old forums like this do. I want to see this site become a vibrant place for gaming discussion again, however it doesn't feel like VGcollect has been that for 5 or 6 years now, and even then it was a fraction of what it was like when I first joined.


Is there anyway to make this forum lively and fun again, or has pretty much everyone moved on, never to return?

37

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: August 14, 2024, 01:06:13 pm »

39. Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA)

If you can't tell from my previous two reviews and this one, I'm all about the GBA right now. I'm also away from home for about a week so its been a good opportunity to catch up on some handheld games I've been holding off on playing for a while.


Playing Mario Kart Super Circuit is a reminder of how I wish I would have played the GBA more often when it was the current Nintendo handheld. I owned one back in the early 2000s, so did my little brother, but aside from a handful of games I never played it as much as I wish I would have. I've gone back and replayed many of the classics on that system, but knowing how much more I would have appreciated them back in 2001 or 2004 does make me feel a bit bummed out. But anyhow, at least I'm diving into them now and enjoying them!


Mario Kart Super Circuit feels like a much prettier, slightly more refined version of the original Mario Kart on the SNES. The game makes good use of the GBA's amazing, vibrant color pallet to create some cool looking and memorable stages. The character sprites and other details are also way sharper, more detailed, and just better looking overall than anything on the SNES too. The gameplay is mostly carried over from the original Mario Kart, albeit with improvements like certain items that were never in the SNES Mario Kart game. One thing I will give the SNES game more credit for in the gameplay department than Super Circuit is I feel like the courses will designed a little better overall. However, I feel like the top 4 Super Circuit tracks are better than anything in the original game, so there's that. Finally, the audio is pretty good, but nothing as memorable as what's found in Mario Kart 64 or DS. Still, a solid OST overall, and just the sound design in general is what you'd want in a Mario Kart game. There are certainly better games in the Mario Kart franchise, but Super Circuit is still a great time to be had. (8/14/24) [34/50]

38

General / Re: Where do you buy your retro games from these days?

« on: August 13, 2024, 11:18:16 pm »

First off, I rarely buy retro games these days. I either own or have owned nearly every retro game I've ever had any interest in. As for the ones I'm still semi-after, they're either too expensive for what the game is, or I just don't care enough to track down a copy. Also, flash carts, ODEs and emulation has become so good I almost wonder what the point is outside of physical ownership or nostalgia. However, with all that said, I do still occasionally buy retro games and here are the places I pick them up from in order of frequency.


1. Facebook Collector's meetups and swap meets: I partially run a local gaming group with around 2000 members and we have quarterly swap meets where we all meet at a park or large venue like someone's business, and all buy, sell, and trade with one another. I prefer to buy retro games (and modern games) at these venues since you're most likely to get a good deal from a local collector or reseller than you are someone who has to worry about paying rent or keeping the lights on in their business. You also don't lack the interpersonal connection like you do in online marketplaces or ebay. I used to buy a ton of stuff from these swap meets back in the day, but now I primarily wear the hat of seller at them. I still buy a few things every swap meet, some retro, some modern.


2. Ebay: Sometimes I don't want to wait to come across something in the wild or at a swap meet, so I just save myself the hassle and buy it from an ebay seller. I might be paying slightly more for a game or whatever than had I waited, but the way I see it, the convenience of being able to get it right then and there makes up for the months or years it would take me to find it for a good deal elsewhere. I typically only do this on stuff I really, really want.


3. Independent Game Stores: I treat this option the same as I do Ebay; if its something I'm actively looking for and an independent game store happens to have it, I'll buy it assuming the price is reasonable. The main reason this ranks below Ebay is because there aren't nearly as many stores as there used to be, the stores that remain are typically overpriced, and it's fairly uncommon to have any of the stuff I'm still after.


4. "The Wild": This is pretty much any place where you'd traditionally find a good deal, so like thrift stores, garage sales, pawn shops, or flea markets. I've more or less completely given up on these places since they all know what they got, or don't, and just significantly overprice it because they assume old = valuable. This used to be my primary means of collecting old games years ago, but that time ended around 6 or 7 years ago. I do occasionally look for games in places like this, but it's 95% when I'm there for some other reason (movies, tools, whatever). I rarely ever go out game hunting for the sake of looking just for gaming deals since there just aren't that many to be found anymore, and they are almost guaranteed not to have the stuff I'm still after.

39

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: August 13, 2024, 02:31:19 am »

38. Sonic Advance 3 (GBA)

Last year I beat Sonic Advance 1 and 2, and overall enjoyed both games (1 definitely more than 2), however neither game was able to fill the shoes of pretty much any of the classic mainline Sonic games. I wasn't able to get around to placing Sonic Advance 3, which is the one I was hoping would be at least as good as some of the mainline Genesis Sonic games. Unfortunately it was not as good as those either, however I will say that I liked Advance 3 just a hair more than the first Sonic Advance title, making it the best of the trilogy in my book. Audio and visual presentation is pretty good in Sonic Advance 3, although I'd hardly call either of these attributes memorable or amazing by any means. The gameplay of Sonic Advance 3, while better than both previous games, was still not the greatest with some very poorly laid out stage areas, some very poorly conceived bosses, and once again the random bottomless pits make their return, albeit toned down from Advance 2. Still, I managed to enjoy this game more than dislike it as I got theough each zone. The later zones turn up the poor design and cheapness to the point where you'll question whether or not you want to beat the game, however in the end I'm glad I did. Not a masterpiece or even a must play game necessarily, but certainly one worth checking out if you consider yourself a Sonic fan. (8/13/24) [31/50]

40

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: August 12, 2024, 11:53:57 pm »

37. Gunstar Super Heroes (GBA)

It's been a long, long time since I last played the original Gunstar Heroes, however the impression it left on me was that it was a pretty good 16-bit action game overall with some minor annoyances here and there. Going into Gunstar Super heroes I expected things to be more or less the same, however I was unfortunately left with a much more frustrating, poorly designed, and annoying experience overall. Gunstar Super Heroes is certainly not without it's positives such as its cool, polished sprite based graphics on the GBA and the music is pretty good overall too. Even the action gameplay is pretty impressive and there are plentiful cool, over the top bosses to fight throughout the game. Unfortunately, many of these boss battles just feel poorly designed and frustrating, but that's not this game's biggest flaw. There are checkpoints throughout each stage and if you die after one of them, you will always reload with the same health that you did prior to dying. The only way to regain some of your health potentially is to redo the stage from a previous checkpoint and hope you retain more of your HP next time. I feel like it would have made more sense to start out with all your HP after reloading the checkpoint, or at least be given some sort of health item that allows you to have a fighting chance. However, there is an even bigger design flaw in this game. When you die, which you will a lot, you get kicked out of the game, reload to the Sega and Treasure logo that shows up when you first start the game, and then have to go through every menu back into the stage you were just playing. This got real old, real fast to the point where I just wanted to jump back into where I was, but instead had to do all the menues again, listen to the same cutscenes again, and view any scripted sequences that may have occured since my last checkpoint. This last point in particular kinda ruins the experience of this game and I'm not sure how this got past testing since the original Gunstar Heroes doesn't possess this. I'd definitely recommend sticking with the original game on the Genesis. (8/12/24) [28/50]

41

General / Re: VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

« on: August 12, 2024, 12:29:26 am »

How y’all doing?  Just saying what’s up to you fine folks.

A few months late replying to this, but overall pretty good. Work is a bit crap at the moment, mostly because I work in the tech industry and its been anyones guess as to when our company is going to start laying people off. So far no one has been let go, but between a hiring freeze and our company budget being the thinest it's ever been in the 12-years, I'm not considering myself safe by any means. Everyone is definitely on edge about it, but I'm still hopeful that we won't experience any layoffs or if we do I'll be spared.


Gaming wise, I'm doing about the same. I barely buy games anymore and I just started playing more games thanks to a summer of studying for another tech cert. I still need to take the cert test, but I felt like I needed to play something so I've been playing mostly shorter games like I typically do. Once I get my cert, I'm hoping to have at least 4 or 5 years before I have to worry about certs again and can devote a lot more time to playing games like I used to.


I'm also trying really hard to make more youtube videos again, but Youtube isn't doing the best job of making me stay motivated to do this. In short, they're a shit platform that steam roles over anything that isn't clickbait, trendy, or leans of shorts to get views. I would openly celebrate if one other video streaming platform emerged as being a viable competitor to Youtube. As is, sites like Bitchute aren't even a flea in comparison to the monster that is Youtube. I freakin hate it.

42

General / Re: VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

« on: August 12, 2024, 12:14:46 am »

My results from the 4 days of pinball tournaments. Please note that 1) I feel I am not as good as I was last year, and 2) there were a few top 10 world ranked players to compete against, including current #1, so I don't feel too bad.

Pre-tournament finished 40 out of 58
Main finished 83 out of 123
Classics finished 49 out of 113
Post-tournament finished 29 out of 72

Main games were set up extremely hard, like the game tilts when you plunge type of tilt. I didn't focus on those really because I was doing better in Classics which is usual for me. I was in qualifying for Classics B around 1pm on Saturday but I hit a plateau and couldn't improve on anything enough before I ran out of time so I dropped about 20 places. The post-tournament was a weird thing where you could only play 14 times on 18 games and you had to play 8 unique ones. So that is a real crap shoot, if you have a bad game then it is a complete waste.

Hopefully get some good points from this.

I'm very hot or very cold when it comes to pinball; I either am kicking ass and posting high scores on them or being absolutely terrible and losing all three balls in under a few minutes. A few years ago I was at a pinball convention and demolished the high score on Iron Maiden Premium. I posted it to Pinside and was still like #127 on the ranking lol. The idea of competing though intimidates the hell out of me.

43

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: August 10, 2024, 02:13:35 am »

36. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution (PS2)

I generally consider myself to be a big Virtua Fighter fan, however the series kind of got away from me after 3 came out in the late 90s, and it took me a very long time before I ever tried its sequel 4. I haven't played 4 or its updated version, Evolution, in a very long time and I figured it was about time I reviewed it.


VF4 Evolution is a very well made fighting game from a gameplay and mechanics standpoint. Like with most VF games, I do my best to learn the moveset of a specific character and utilize it in a way that makes me a better and better player as I sink more time into the game. While Evolution did keep my interest for quite a while, it also reminded me that I'd have to sink hundreds of hours minimum to do more than just soak my feet in the water. Still, even at a beginners level this is a solid fighting game with very few flaws from a gameplay perspective. However, where it somewhat lacks is in other areas like its presentation and audio. Neither are terrible or even bad, but the graphics do look a little meh for a 2003 PS2 game. The audio, which is something I generally really enjoy in VF games was also nothing special, but again, not bad either. VF4 Evolution is definitely one of the better entries in the series I've played, but still lacks what makes many of the other entries in the series so special. I'd still definitely recommend it though. (8/9/24) [33/50]

44

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: August 06, 2024, 09:36:54 pm »

34. Mortal Kombat 2 (Arcade)

While I was fully aware of what a phenomenon the first Mortal Kombat game was when it first came out, it was actually MK2 that I felt like I was there from day one and rode the hype train for a while for that game until MK3 came out a few years later. Ironically I was forbidden from owning or playing Mortal Kombat games until the mid 90s thanks to my parents buying into the whole violent video game media frenzy of the early 90s. Luckily, I still got to play MK2 quite a bit at friend's houses as well as my local arcade. Replaying MK2 now is definitely a hit of nostalgia, as well as a noticeably improved experience over the first game. However, there are still quite a few things about MK2 that have not aged the best, mainly its very unbalanced and fairly basic gameplay. I have also never been a fan of block receiving its own button rather than just pressing back and auto blocking. While I do have to commend MK2 for introducing Animalities and Babailities, the special moves are still fairly limited and for the most part kind of annoying to pull off. The MK series was still somewhat gimmicky at this point still which means you're pretty much playing this for the cool, super 1990s stop motion graphics and the gore. Despite all this, I still enjoy MK2 quite a bit, but there are now much, much better games in the franchise to play. (8/6/24) [30/50]

35. Mortal Kombat Trilogy (PS1)

With how much I've played MK Trilogy over the years, I'm actually a bit shocked this is my first time reviewing it. MK Trilogy was probably my most hyped MK game ever when it first came out in 1996. While I could have bought or rented the N64 version back in the day, the fact that it didn't have all the characters that the PS1 and Saturn versions had was enough gor me to hold off on playing it until I was able to play one of those two versions. MK Trilogy is essentially the culmination of everything good about classic MK rolled up into a single game. It has every character, every stage, and most of the music, but luckily it uses the significantly refined gameplay of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which while not perfect is a huge leap forward from MK1 and MK2. Visually, it looked about as close to the arcade games as you could get on a 5th gen console. This is ironic since MK Trilogy was never made into an Arcade game, but the character and stages from previous games that were are still represented in Trilogy. To this day, Trilogy is still one of my favorite MK games, and at the very least my favorite classic MK game. (8/6/24) [34/50]

45

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: August 04, 2024, 12:29:44 am »

33. Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS1)

Having been an RE fan for about 25 years, it was to my great shame that I'd never actually beat the original game that started it all back in 1996. I'd certainly played it a handful of times, and ironically REmake is one of my favorite games of all time, but for whatever reason I never made time to beat the original game until this past week.


The original RE still holds up surprising well all these years later. Sure, it has some gameplay annoyances like the static camera, some spongy enemies, and of course the infamous tank controls, but overall none of these things were enough to prevent me from having a good time. In fact, the main issue I had while playing RE had nothing to do with the game, but rather one of my 25+ year old PS1 memory card decided to shit the bed while playing. I was just barely able to get it working long enough to transfer my save files to another memory card, but that up at least an hour i'd have otherwise spent playing the game. But anyhow, other than that the game still is fairly creepy despite it's now heavily dated 3D visuals. The design of puzzles, rooms and areas, and some of the bosses are definitely on the more simplistic side compared to what we'd get in later entires, but honestly I didn't find this to be an issue for the most part. The infamous voice acting definitely falls into that's so bad it's goo category most of the time, and the game's OST is appropriate, albeit not super memorable. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this nearly 30-year old game and how I'd say with a completely straight face that's it's still better than a good chunk of RE games released after it, yes, even some of the mainline games. (8/3/24) [38/50]