Messages

1

General / Re: Your 2025 Gaming and Collecting Goals

« on: January 12, 2025, 04:51:07 pm »

I want to enforce stricter goals for 2025:

Collecting Goals
-Constantly evaluate and trim down my wishlist.
-Primarily focus on STG and games developed by Konami/Treasure.
-Address the shallow spots in my collection. If a system I own has <10 games, it'll take priority.

Gaming Goals
-1CC more STGs/arcade games than last year. Only had a couple in 2024. I'll be happy with at least five in 2025.
-Play more genres I like but seldom touch, mainly survival horror and RPGs.
-Stick with two games max to prevent burnout and lack of direction.

2

General / Re: Top 30 Pick Ups of 2024!

« on: January 07, 2025, 07:59:20 pm »

Made some great pickups in 2024, especially for the Mega Drive and PC Engine. Came across plenty of sealed games too. Here are some highlights listed below:

PlayStation NTSC-J
Rakugaki Showtime

This one defo one I want to score someday. very interesting game

It sure is. It was on my periphery for a while but most listings online were either overpriced, in questionable condition, or both. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I saw a listing on Yahoo Auctions that checked all the right boxes, so I had to jump on it.

OG Konami, and by extension Treasure, are one of my all time favorite developers. I always prioritize their games when I'm on the hunt.

3

General / Re: Top 30 Pick Ups of 2024!

« on: January 04, 2025, 11:15:11 pm »

Made some great pickups in 2024, especially for the Mega Drive and PC Engine. Came across plenty of sealed games too. Here are some highlights listed below:

Famicom
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti

Gameboy Advance NTSC-J
Guardian Heroes Advance (Sealed)

Gameboy Advance NTSC-U/C
Klonoa Empire of Dreams (Sealed)
Klonoa 2 Dream Champ Tournament (Sealed)

Gameboy NTSC-J
Parodius da!

PC-Engine CD
Gate of Thunder (Sealed)

PC-Engine HuCard
Winds of Thunder (Sealed)

PlayStation NTSC-J
Gensei Kyokou Seirei Kidoudan - Elemental Gearbolt (Sealed)
Rakugaki Showtime

PlayStation NTSC-U/C
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile

Sega Dreamcast NTSC-J
GigaWing 2

Sega Mega Drive
Rocket Knight Adventures
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Hyper Duel

Super Famicom
Sonic Wings

I want to tackle the weaker spots in my collection going into 2025 such as Famicom and Gameboy games. Even things out to prevent owning a disproportionate amount of games per console and for variety's sake.

4

Modern Video Games / Re: The Game Awards 2024

« on: December 15, 2024, 08:48:56 pm »

Haven't played much Ninja Gaiden, but Ragebound had me hooked knowing The Game Kitchen is the developer. Blasphemous I and II has been my go to metroidvania games as of late, can't wait to see their take of Ninja Gaiden come to fruition.

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General / Re: December 2024 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: December 04, 2024, 08:35:21 pm »

Made a good haul to end the year on. Broke into Japanese Gameboy and Gameboy Advance collecting with Parodius da! and Guardian Heroes Advance, respectively. Grabbed one more Saturn and PSX game to top off those collections at 40 games each. Swooped in on a few auctions and nabbed some Super Famicom games as well.

Imports will still be my main focus going into 2025, specifically Konami and Treasure developed games to fill the shallow spots in my collection. We'll see where the winds blows.

Gameboy Advance NTSC-J
Guardian Heroes Advance

Gameboy NTSC-J
Parodius da!

PlayStation NTSC-J
GUNbare! Game Tengoku: The Game Paradise 2

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Kyūkyoku Tiger II Plus

Super Famicom
Hagane
Sparkster
Sonic Wings

6

General / Re: FPS, RPG, SIM ... where are you "at home"?

« on: December 02, 2024, 07:31:19 pm »

As a kid I played whatever I could get my hands on that appealed to me. Which mainly consisted of platformers and horror games with an occasional RPG. Teenage me got hooked into first/third person shooters and fighting games. I love the fast game play you'd typically see in both with the execution/mentality required to play either genre competently. I put in way too much time trying to get that competitive edge. In adulthood that competitiveness is still there. I still play shooters and fighting games, just infrequently. Shrinking free time really puts your priorities into perspective.

As this moment my "at home" genres would have to be shoot'em ups and platformers. Shoot'em ups share subtle parallels with fighting games and I've enjoyed learning them. While a good platformer is easy to sink time into at your own pace. Horror and RPGs are on the periphery if the mood strikes.

7

Classic Video Games / Re: Konami vs Square Enix (Squaresoft) You can only keep one.

« on: November 29, 2024, 03:41:30 pm »

Konami if we're strictly talking about them pre-7th gen. I got nothing against Sqauresoft, but Konami's output in the 20th century was insane. They set the standard for many of the genres I enjoy outside of RPGs. Post-6th gen Konami has fallen so far down I treat them as a separate entity entirely. To my knowledge Square has retained a better reputation over the years, even after the Enix merger.

Both have a strong and lasting legacy that is well deserved.

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General / Re: November 2024 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: November 05, 2024, 06:12:13 pm »

Alisia Dragoon and CD Denjin finally arrived after an extra month of waiting. Elemental Gearbolt and House of the Dead should arrive in the next few weeks.

PC Engine CD
CD Denjin: Rockabilly Tengoku

Playstation NTSC-J
Elemental Gearbolt

Sega Mega Drive
Alisia Dragoon

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
House of the Dead

9

General / Re: October 2024 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: October 05, 2024, 06:47:45 am »

Here's my pickups since August. Been filling out my Mega Drive collection, scored my first Famicom game, and got a few PSX and Saturn games I've been eyeing for a while. Alisia Dragoon (Mega Drive) and CD Denjin (PC Engine CD) should arrive soon. USPS keeps shuffling them between two sorting facilities for whatever reason, one of those facilities is literally an hour from my house. Will update this post if they're successfully delivered this month.

Famicom
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti

PlayStation NTSC-J
Robbit Mon Dieu
G Darius

Sega Dreamcast NTSC-J
GigaWing 2

Sega Mega Drive
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2
Splatterhouse Part 2
Thunder Force II
Thunder Force III
Thunder Force IV

Sega Saturn NTSC-J
Guardian Heroes
Purikura Daisakusen
Sonic Wings Special

10

General / Re: How do you prefer your Sonic games? 2D or 3D?

« on: September 01, 2024, 08:31:10 am »

I grew up playing Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Adventure 2 on Gamecube constantly. Same goes for the Sonic Mega Collection and the Sonic Advance games. All of which I have, regrettably, relinquished ownership of throughout the years. If younger me had the foresight to hold onto them all I would have, especially the Sonic Advance games.

2D Sonic would be my go to, without question. I've never felt compelled to play most of the non-SA entries. That's not to say 3D Sonic doesn't have its place despite its inconsistencies, like so many other 2D-centric games that hastily stumbled into the third dimension.

11

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

« on: August 18, 2024, 01:59:26 pm »

My two main haunts are Ebay and Buyee. The latter being a Japanese proxy service to purchase games on Yahoo! Japan auctions. If Ebay doesn't have what I'm looking for Buyee often does, although shipping cost on Buyee tend to be higher. Good deals on both sites do happen seldomly and I'll sometimes swoop in and pick up a game for cheap. If local shops were nearby I'd opt for those every time, but I live in a rural area that has nothing to facilitate game collecting or gaming in general.

I'm fine with limiting myself to one or two games per month, sometimes a little more if I can afford it. I strictly collect CIB games and put more emphasis on the quality of my collection versus the quantity of it.

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

« on: August 03, 2024, 09:12:42 am »

A good haul since my last post. Scored both Thunder Force Gold Packs at roughly half their typical asking price. FFVII came bundled with an open seal copy of Square Soft on PlayStation Collector's CD, given their excellent condition scoring both for $90 was a steal.

Gameboy Advance NTSC-U/C
Klonoa Empire of Dreams
Klonoa 2 Dream Champ Tournament

PSX NTSC-J
R-Types

PSX NTSC-U/C
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX

PC-Engine CD
Steam Heart’s

PC-Engine HuCard
Ordyne
PC Genjin

Sega Mega Drive
Gunstar Heroes

Sega Saturn
Thunder Force Gold Pack 1
Thunder Force Gold Pack 2
Layer Section II
Rockman X3

Super Famicom
Tales of Phantasia

13

Modern Video Games / Re: Nintendo Direct 6.18.2024 thoughts?

« on: June 21, 2024, 07:34:16 pm »

I've been waiting for Prime 4 long before the Switch came to fruition. Finally seeing footage of it with an actual release window made the direct worth it. Brothership was an unexpected, pleasant surprise too. What was shown for both games looks promising. Echos of Wisdom looked interesting enough to keep on my radar, at least. Some of the 3rd party titles had me curious, but my main focus with Switch games has always been 1st party titles.

That being said, I'm hopeful to see Prime 4 get that Switch 2 release alongside an original F-Zero game, or really any other franchise Nintendo has kept in their pocket over the years.

14

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

« on: June 02, 2024, 04:01:29 pm »

It’s been awhile since I last posted about my collection. In the intermediate I’ve become a homeowner, with all the responsibility that comes with it. Needless to say my budget for game collecting has shrunk to reflect my change in priorities. Can’t say for certain how many games I’ll grab in a month. I’ll keep chipping away as often as I can.

Here’s what I’ve salvaged since my last post, mostly for Saturn.

Panzer Bandit (PSX)
Gunbird (Sega Saturn)
Layer Section (Sega Saturn)
Hyper Duel (Sega Saturn)

15

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

« on: February 03, 2024, 10:16:12 pm »

Scored a few PSX games for cheap. Imported Shin Contra for PS2 as well, alongside my first ever Sega CD game with Keio Flying Squadron. Acquired Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2 as well.

XI [sái] (PSX)
XI [sái] Jumbo (PSX)
Shin Contra (PS2)
Keio Flying Squadron (SCD)
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (PSX)
Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (PS2)