Messages

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

« on: March 31, 2024, 02:58:21 am »

I finally got around to getting Metroid Dread for the Switch. I hadn't seen new physical copies in stores in at least a year (plenty copies of Prime Remastered are still everywhere though), so to avoid missing out I finally just ordered a copy from the MyNintendo store last week. Happy to report that what arrived today was the 004 latest revision cartridge, so for anyone who's on the lookout, you should try there while supplies last.

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General / Re: May 2022 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased New

« on: May 05, 2022, 04:22:54 pm »

Andro Dunos 2 for the Nintendo 3DS came in the mail. It is the final North American physical Nintendo 3DS game ever printed, only 6000 copies were made. Kinda feel sad about that, but what a run the 3DS had...

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General / Re: Games you almost Finished but gave up on.

« on: April 19, 2022, 02:49:05 pm »

I sunk over 70 hours into Twilight Princess for the GameCube back in the day. Was very thorough and completed every side quest and tracked down all the collectibles and upgrades and heart containers. I got to what I assume is the end of the game, Ganon's Castle, but I never finished that part even though I was SO close.

I still consider it my second favorite Zelda game and one of my favorites of all time. Maybe this year I'll finally put a lid on actually finishing the game once and for all.

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General / Re: Consoles/Handhelds That You Hate

« on: April 19, 2022, 02:30:27 pm »

Ahhhh. I agree with so many comments on here.

That being said ... how has the 360 not made its way onto here till now? The fact that RROD is a thing is based on the absolute crap that is this console. I have actually met people who have told me that they are on their 6th/7th/8th/higher 360 cause their previous one has died and gotten RROD. Like what the actual F*@#&? How can you support such garbage? What does that console offer that would make you want to keep getting another one? 90% of its library (that's being generous honestly ... I'd wager its closer to 95%) is on other consoles. Just a sign that MicroShaft really did not care about its product and only about the revenue it generated. A lack of variety in its genres is yet another reason to take this console (and every iteration since) and toss them off a cliff.

You gotta remember that at the time, and I'm mainly thinking the first 3 or 4 years of the 360 after it launched, the PS3 was a huge disappointment in terms of good first-party exclusives and a shoddy online network compared to Xbox Live. Cross platform games from 2005-2009 were almost always better on the 360 and Xbox Live was just a superior online experience. I'd say around 2010 the PS3 started to become more respected and PS3 versions of games were becoming the "definitive" one. L.A. Noire was on one Blu-Ray disc whereas it was on THREE discs for the 360.

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General / Re: What would you do if you lost your entire collection?

« on: April 15, 2022, 12:44:53 am »

I'd probably focus on a different hobby for a while, and then just get a new Switch and PS5 at some point. I don't think I'd want to try to replace everything, maybe just some of the most absolutely vital important stuff to me, if it's easily replaceable.

I'd be pretty upset at first, but probably feel a sense of relief after a while, to be perfectly honest. They are just things at the end of the day, and lugging and storing boxes of all my gaming stuff over the years from place to place has always been a pain. Through the magic and wonders of emulation, I could still play most games I once had very easily and for free.

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General / Re: Consoles/Handhelds That You Hate

« on: April 14, 2022, 06:46:30 pm »

As someone who almost always prefers playing retro games on original hardware and grew up playing the OG grey Game Boy with the green monochromatic screen, I can easily say that there is no reason for any person to go back and play GB games on it, even for "authenticity". This also applies to the Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, and the original Game Boy Advance. I've gotten too used to backlit screens to be able to enjoy playing games on them, even though I originally played many of them without backlight... I have zero nostalgia for sitting under a lamp and positioning the screen just right with the light.

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General / Re: Owning the same title for multiple consoles

« on: April 02, 2022, 05:35:39 pm »

If it's a game or series I'm really into, I enjoy playing ports if I've already played one version of it over and over. Usually there's something exclusive to each version of a game, even if the overall game is almost exactly the same. It's those small, even minuscule differences that I enjoy coming across. 

Here's just one example:

I own Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, GBA, and N64. I had the PS2 version when it originally came out, I consider that one to be the definitive version of the game, but I've also played it to death and haven't revisited it on the PS2 in a very long time. So when I have the itch to play THPS3, I've gone after other ports just to get a different experience, even if that experience is only a slight hair different most of the time.

The Xbox version of the game does have a few noteworthy differences. The gameplay runs smoother overall and stays at 60 FPS better than other versions of the game, it has 5.1 Dolby Digital support, and best of all, an exclusive oil rig level not found in any other version of the game.

The N64 version, which is a port of the PS1 version which is pretty much a watered down version of the PS2 game, is different enough in many of the levels that I found it fun to see how the developers tried to scale the game down to be playable for the old systems. The N64 THPS3 is also historically significant as the final N64 game officially released in North America, yet another excuse to convince myself that I'm not a sucker for paying full price for the same game I already had on three other platforms.

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Off Topic / Re: What brand of coffee do you drink? How do you like your coffee?

« on: April 02, 2022, 04:05:22 pm »

Medium or dark roast coffee beans, freshly ground up and brewed in a French press. Black with no cream or sugar ever. Every once in a while I might add a splash of milk to a cup to shake things up. Keep instant coffee the hell away from me unless we're traveling or camping.

I used to enjoy the typical Mr. Coffee drip machine style until I had roommates who had French presses. Man, it's SO much better from a French press.

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Classic Video Games / Re: What is the hardest RPG you Ever Completed?

« on: March 30, 2022, 03:15:37 pm »

- Shenmue (all 3)

Really? I've only played the first one on Dreamcast, and I don't recall it being a difficult game... tedious at points, maybe, but I don't remember getting stuck for overly long periods of time. Secondly, to consider the Shenmue series as RPGs is, well, debatable.

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Classic Video Games / Re: How Rare Do You Think It Is To Find SNES Cartridges Today?

« on: March 26, 2022, 01:01:20 am »

It's not that hard to find SNES carts at used game shops, at least that's the case in the DFW area of Texas. I can think of at least four shops off the top of my head that always seem to have a lot of the best selling good stuff in stock and reasonably priced too, not just sports titles.

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General / Re: Cheapest game or console you ever bought?

« on: March 23, 2022, 04:14:59 pm »

It's one of the most joyful things collecting retro video games, when you're able to get an item way below it's actual value/price.

It sure is. The worst (or best??) case of a mispricing I've personally encountered was in 2018 at Book Off in Torrance, CA. They had a sealed copy of Golden Sun: The Lost Age with its original $19.99 price sticker still on it. I brought it to the register expecting them to reveal the actual ludicrous price, instead they rang it up for that amount and I walked out of there as fast I could with a giant grin on my face.

Not quite the same thing as a mispricing, but every once in a while on auction sites like eBay you'll score on something just because nobody else bid on an item. In 2020, I scored an authentic PAL Metal Gear Solid for GBC for 20 dollars (the minimum starting bid) and somehow nobody else bid on it. The cart alone regularly goes for $100+...

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General / Re: What games do you recommend getting from the 3DS eShop before it's too late?

« on: February 24, 2022, 05:02:47 pm »

I'm thinking about starting Fire Emblem Fates (I have physical copies of both Birthright and Conquest, but haven't played them because I still haven't beaten Awakening yet) sometime soon for the sole purpose of downloading the Revelation DLC for prosperity. From what I've read, the option to download Revelation only opens up when you reach a certain point in the campaign of either Birthright or Conquest.

3DS games that are stupid expensive in physical form that are worth digital downloading:

- Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
- Yo-kai Watch 3
- Shin Megami Tensei IV (original AND Apocalypse)
- Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King


3DS games you can digital download that aren't *as* expensive physical as the above, but also aren't getting any cheaper:

- WarioWare Gold
- Bravely Default
- Bravely Second: End Layer
- Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate
- Kirby Planet Robobot
- Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn


The majority of the obvious Marios, Zeldas, and other first-party AAA entries for the 3DS are still relatively cheap physically right now, if you can find them online or at your local used game shops, that would be the way to go before the prices inevitably hike up.

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General / Re: Video Game Inspired Baby Names, Would you consider it as a parent?

« on: October 28, 2021, 06:40:08 pm »

Personally, I would afford my children the flexibility to go by a more "normal" middle name in case going by Tifa or Aerith as a first name becomes a source of resentment.

Just going from my own observations throughout life, people with unusual first names tend to hate it and adopt more commonly heard names, even when *I* think their proper given name is cool...

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Classic Video Games / Re: Nintendo Gamecube turned 20 years old recently.

« on: September 30, 2021, 07:47:44 pm »

wait is the zelda collectors edition thing the same as that ocarina of time master quest disc on gamecube?

No, those are two different compilation discs you are referring to. The Ocarina of Time/Master Quest was only available through pre-ordering Wind Waker. The Collector's Edition (which includes Ocarina of Time but not the Master Quest) came out later the same year and could only be obtained either bundled with a GameCube or by subscribing/renewing to Nintendo Power.

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Classic Video Games / Re: Hardest video game levels ever series - I would appreciate feedback?

« on: August 08, 2021, 02:29:38 am »

Ghosts 'n Goblins and its sequel Ghouls 'n Ghosts