$1 PSone Games Makes Myself a Happy Camper

Funnily enough, a couple of days ago (after work) I went driving around to find a protractor. Long story short though, I returned home with eight PSone games and one PS2 game. I did not find the protractor I was after.
I haven’t really bought many games recently at all thanks to my new found poor student status, and now that I still don’t have a suitable protractor I'm closer to having the status of a poor student that’s also failing. None the less, I came across some bargains that day which I would like to share, as they were too cheap not to brag about.

First stop was a Cash Converters, which I can’t say have been in my good books recently. This is not on a store to store basis either, but instead because of a (seemingly) corporate decision. Recently Cashies have been plastering adverts all over the web stating themselves as the go-to shop for retro games. Because of this, in my circumstance their prices have literally tripled. I use to go to that particular shop all the time for $5 PSone games, and I should add these were decent titles too. I particularly remember one time about three years ago, the manager there was trying to sell me additional titles for a dollar each after buying one for five. I didn't take up the offer as there was nothing worth buying, but it goes to show just how much their attitude has changed over the years. As soon as I walked in a few days ago, I went straight to the cabinet where all the retro games are kept and the very same manager approached me. He must have picked me for a collector, as he was pointing out everything they had retro-wise and even mentioned they research their prices now.
There were plenty of great titles there, but unfortunately majority were $15 up. Anyone who’s read this blog for 5 minutes will know that’s not a price I’ll accept, so I thanked the manager for showing me what was available and browsed instead.
Ultimately, I got a bit lucky as buried under some controllers and cables were a few ex-rentals going for cheap. Tunnel B1 and Pitball were $4 each, and even though the cases have been modified, the disks work well (which is the biggest risk with ex-rentals) and the instruction manuals are in acceptable condition for under $5 each.
Pitball seems quite shit really; a sort of one-screen fighting game infused with gameplay elements of basketball. I didn't quite get the hang of the controls in my short testing session, but I'm sure it will make a fun review.
Tunnel B1 is a bit more known thanks to it Ocean Software namesake, and seems fairly original. Set in the first person, you control a hovercraft flying through tunnels and passageways firing at obstacles and enemies. I had a quite a fun time with Tunnel B1, and look forward to reviewing it also.

The next stop was a Salvation Army where there were slim-pickings apart for another bloody fishing game. I have no idea why I bought Reel Fishing when I hated Saltwater Sportsfishing so much, but hey, what can I say? I'm a sucker for PSone games with $3.25 price tags on them no matter how bad they smell.

After that I went to a independent pawn shop and bought Micro Machines for $3, but no one will care about that. The next part was the highlight of my day.
Just down the road from this pawn store is a Good Sammys op-shop. I parked up, and at the front of the door was a $1 bin. Within, I scored complete copies of Wipeout 2097, Wip3out, Lifeforce Tenka and Tomb Raider II. Everything is in fantastic condition, and the disks are spotless. I did have a look around the inside of the store, but it was clear the score was caught. Upon purchase the lady alluded that they might have been in the wrong bin, but since they weren't labelled with anything else the price was honoured. I did feel a bit bad about it though so I gave her a $5 note and said she could keep the change. I guess an extra dollar doesn't prevent me from being a monster, but hey, I tried.

I've always been a huge fan of the Wipeout games, so to score them both for a dollar together has indeed made me a happy camper. I’d never heard of Lifeforce Tenka before, but it was actually developed by Psygnosis too, like both the Wipeout games. I'm not sure if the previous owner was a Psygnosis fan or if it’s just coincidence, but it seems to be a mark of quality regardless. I only played it for half an hour, but again, I quite enjoyed it. It’s a pre-dualshock FPS which would usually send myself running and screaming into the bushes, but it actually felt quite balanced. I had no problem aiming even though I was just using the back triggers and diagonal buttons.

That day I got home and bought the protractor I needed on eBay. I never thought that would be an item I would buy on eBay of all places, but a man has got to think about his study as well as his hobbies.

How to Find Cheap Retro Games

Retro gaming can be an expensive hobby if you're not careful. The main reasoning for this is because it has become mainstream in recent years, which is both good and bad.
I don't want to come out as a Hipster twat or anything (too late?) but the bad side is that it makes the demand for the product go up. Since retro games aren't manufactured anymore, the demand is going up but the amount of product out there is staying the same. This is making the prices go up, which is understandable, but lame for us collectors at the same time. It's great that it's getting more recognition now than it ever was, which is the good since it deserves to be more appreciated but it does sting the wallet.

But hey, don't cry. There are ways around this, which I've figured out over three years of collecting.
I'm by no means a pro or anything, but I've done this long enough to know where to look, and damn it, it works for me. Hopefully it will work for you too.

Op Shops
Otherwise known as thrift stores. You know, the ones Macklemore told you to go to? I never really went to these until recently, which was a big mistake on my behalf as op shops are the motherflipping boss.
You see, these are not always going to have stock, that's one thing I've figured out. Many times I've gone into one, and come out empty handed except for a $4 wooden South Park poster.

True Story

When they do have stock though, the prices are excellent. Not to discredit the fine volunteers of op shops or anything, but most are old woman who don't have a single clue about gaming. They're in the same generation that consider games "toys for kids", which I usually hate, but since they're of that opinion they price them quite cheaply. Most items are under $5, no matter what it is.
When it comes to games that are in CD or DVD cases too, they're usually just lumped in with the actual CD's and DVD's, which are mostly priced at a flat rate. The only downside is that you have to hunt through copies of Hanson's Greatest Hits and the complete season third season of Neighbours on DVD, but some weirdo's like me find that fun.
I also recommend checking out the board game sections, as big boxed PC games tend to end up there. Sometimes, they're lumped in with actual kids toys too if the employee thinks they're just for kids like I was explaining before. The other day I was in a Salvation Army and next to some McDonald's Happy Meal toys was a PSone for $13 that had a copy of Rugrats inside, and a SNES racing game for $3.
It a pays to look, is all I'm saying.

Swap Meets
Otherwise known as Flee Markets, these are the places of choice if you want to pick up some 1980's romance novels or pot plants, but people sell their old games too.
Sadly, with the invention of the internet and then smart phones with 3G/4G access there are a lot of sellers who base they're pricing off eBay. This is the sort of thing we want to avoid really, but it does (again) pay to look. Every now and again you'll hit a jackpot, whether it's someone who just wants to get rid of their 'junk' no matter what or clueless mothers clearing out their attic, there are bargains to be found.
I haven't been to many as of late, but recently I scored a $5 copy of Grim Fandango which I was quite proud of.

Garage Sales
These are where people sell their old possessions in their yard, so quite like swap meets although you have to hunt these out more.
Again, these can be hit and miss since a lot of people check their prices online these days, but it's always worth a look. You never know, the seller might be willing to haggle.

Pawn Shops
Pawn stores are a double edged sword. On one hand, they always have good stock, but on another these were the guys who pioneered online price checking. Again, these guys might be willing to haggle but it depends on the circumstance. Usually if you buy a few items they'll be willing to bundle them for a better deal.
Like all retail environments though, they have sales and constantly change the price of their stock. If something sits there for a while, they may bring down the price to clear it out. There are a few places I always check out, and it seems the prices change every visit.

Dedicated Retro Stores
This may not apply to everyone since these aren't everywhere, but there are stores out there who's sole purpose is to sell retro video games. Of course it can vary from store to store, but these places are always very competitively priced , with the staff being highly knowledgeable. Since they deal in the business of games too, usually the consoles are on hand so the games will be tested. These places may charge more, but unlike pawn stores it's always very much worth it.

Craigslist Sorta Websites
These are basically online swap meets, the digital version of the classified section of a newspaper. These can vary depending on where you are; Craigslist is the big one in America but in Australia Gumtree is more popular. This can be a mindfield to navigate as I've talked about plenty of times before, but the deals are there. You just have to find them.
The best luck I've found was with game lots, people will sell a bulk lot of games for a discount as opposed to selling them individually. Sure they may make more with individual listings, but luckily for us most people are lazy.
Some of my best scores include a $20 Mega Drive and a $10 Atari ST.

Emulators
Emulating is where (using software) the games can be played on the computer, and are downloaded from the internet. This is the cheapest option, as it's obviously free to do so. It is a legal grey area however, since you're technically pirating copyrighted material, and you're not playing on real hardware so it isn't really the same.
However, if don't mind the risk of being sued and don't actually want to collect and pay money but just want to play the games, emulation is a great road to take.
Be warned though, emulators don't always display the game properly and playing console games with a keyboard and mouse is balls. You can however buy adapters that let you plug real controllers in via USB. These can be found on eBay usually.

Officially Emulated
The other option is to buy the official ports, which while more honest also usually guarantees a better experience. This is because since it's the real deal, the controller mapping has been redone making them quite easy to pick up and play.
These can be purchased from the PSN, the XBLA, the Wii's shop (which can be used on the 3DS also) as well as online stores such as Steam or GOG.
There are also retail versions of collections floating around such as the SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection on the PS3, which I reviewed not too long ago.

When they are Cheap
This is just sort of a general thing, but worth noting none the less. After a console is discontinued, but before it's generally considered 'retro', the pricing of the hardware and the games are ridiculously cheap. This is during a time when no one cares about them, so it's the best time to pick up some fantastic games at some even better prices. Just check out one of my most recent posts about my collection and check out the PS2 section. Most of the games I've picked up in the last year and a lot which were under three or four dollars. The same thing is happening with the original Xbox too.
With the Xbox One and the PS4 just being released, expect the prices for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 to plummet more than they already have in recent years. At the moment it's not out of the ordinary to find them under $20 each, and they're not even discontinued yet.

Could A Game REALLY Be That Bad?

Last night I had a dream that I went op-shopping, so of course the first thing I did today after class was go op-shopping. I went to a few thrift stores too, but they were mostly shite.
I had a good run with cheap PSone games mostly, with an overpriced N64 cartridge thrown in for good measure.

The first stop was a Salvo's and that's where I bought the game the title is referring too. Go on, guess as to what it is. Hint: It's the one that most likely smells like baby vomit. A double game pack of the Tweenies: Game Time and Bob the Builder: Can We Fix It?
Why would I buy such a thing you hesitantly ask? Well, I don't really have a solid reason. For one though, it was $3. Two, I'm probably going to have a killer-time reviewing both (hell, I might even create two separate reviews). The sad fact is, I just know they're going to be bad. A good kids game is as rare as a pigeon that looks like it's from a Pixar film and is about to explode.

I took this photo this morning, and honestly, I just can't stop laughing.

Both are developed by the BBC too, which is a bit worrying. Don't get me wrong, I love BBC television shows and their unbiased news reporting, but I just don't see them being a fantastic game developer.
Too add on to that, I remember in an issue of the Official UK PlayStation Magazine years ago where they punished the Tweenies game by letting a toddler destroy it, which I can't say is a good sign. Excellent piece though, maybe one day it will become a Retro Scan.

From the same Salvo's I also bought Speed Freaks for PSone too. This was also $3, and while I don't know too much about it, I have heard a few good things and it's developed by FunCom, who also developed Winter Gold on the SNES. At $3 it was an easy choice.

From there I went to a Anglicare WA Op Shop, which was devoid of gaming related items but I did pick up Need for Speed: High Stakes on the PSone also for $3. It is a platinum case (and one that's falling apart at that) but it was complete with manual, which the two other games were missing. I own a million Need for Speed games, so it was a fairly easy choice. One thing that did grab me though is the Holden HSV on the front case, which I've always believed to be an Australian only car. I could be wrong in that claim, but I'm too lazy to look it up because that car is primarily driven by rev-head dickheads. Whether pricks drive it is beside the case though, it's cool there is an Australian car on there none the less.

Lastly I bought Bomber Man 64 for the N64. This cost more than all the PSone games combined at $10, but it was from a thrift store so what can you do? I played the arcade version of Bomber Man a lot on this thing when I was a kid, so paying the ten smackeroo's wasn't so bad.

A Cheap, Healthy Boost to the Good 'Ole PSone Collection

This morning I found myself in a bit of a rare situation. I had to drop someone off fairly early in the morning (and by early, I mean a ball-busting 9:30am), which ended in myself being in one of the main commercial districts of the eastern suburbs. I had no commitments at that point in time, and the whole day ahead of me. So what did I do of course? You guessed it: retro hunting.
I went to a number of places, a lot more than usual. That Mega Drive was still $130, sadly. But I'm hoping it will go down in price by quite a bit soon. A simple man such as myself can dream.
Ironically enough, all the extra places I went to were pretty ordinary. The games I picked up today were from my usual haunts. Always worth a look though anyway, you'll never know what you'll find.
The first decent catch today was the original Spyro the Dragon. Four dollars. I was a keen player of Year of the Dragon back in the day, and I'm the sort of person who will discredit Skylanders in front of little kids. I guess I'm just getting old, but what they've done to this fine series is atrocious. Hell, I don't think it's even been that good since the early PS2 releases. What a sad world we live in.

Moving onto another store, I picked up WRC Arcade and RC Revenge for $3 each. Three. Dollars. Each. Those are PS2 prices, fella's.

RC Revenge, to be honest, seems kinda crap. WRC Arcade on the other hand, has already won me over just after five minutes of play. Why, you ask?



Two things stand out in this image.
One: I essentially get to play as the Retromobile. The Retromobile is a red 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer. What I'm playing as there, is red a Lancer Evo, presumable the 2002 model because that's when the game came out.
Two: I'm racing in my fricken home city. See the purple sign? That says "Perth, Western Australia" which is where I was born and raised (on the playground was where I spent most of my days). It's a track based off the old Telstra Rally Australia circuit, and something I use to go and watch myself when I was a kid. Sadly, it's not around any more because fun isn't aloud in Perth. Either way though, it was a nice surprise to see my home town in a PSone game.

The Adventures of the Retromobile and I, Stalking out Thrift Stores

Having a day off these days means one of several things. Either I'm at home all day playing video games, or I'm at home all day reviewing video games. It's a hectic life, and sometimes I need to shake it up a bit. Yesterday for the first time since I've gotten my licence, I fulfilled my dream of going out for a drive just to check out thrift stores. Probably doesn't sound all that exciting to some readers, but before I only went to retro stores of interest when I was already in a place for another reason. Yesterday was a milestone in my books, and I thought I would share it here today.

1# Cash City

It was rainy and just terribly sad looking when I started, but that was no deterrent. I started at Cash City. Usually Cash City is kinda shit; it has a lot but the prices are usually ridiculous. I have had some luck there in the past though, I bought a whole heap of Atari 2600 games there for $5 not too long ago. Sadly they didn't have any actual 2600 consoles though, so I still can't play those games. Maybe that's a good thing though, as it might cost $130.

Sadly, the signed Batman and Robin poster wasn't for sale.  

The prices weren't that bad this time though (besides from the above photo), but most were a bit more than I wanted to spend. I did however, pick up Golf for the Game Boy for $10. Not too bad, for a golf game. Hell, I don't even know why I bought a golf game, but there you have it; now I own one.



#2 Cash Converters



One thing about Perth, as soon as it rains, all the crazy drivers come out of the woodwork. Most of them are old people too. On the way from Cash City to Cash Converters I had two driving incidents. Firstly, I was cut off by some old bloke in a van, who wasn't even nice enough to indicate as he was cutting me off. After nearly ramming into the back of him, I had to slow down on the highway as an old lady was driving down the wrong side of the highway. Good times.
Finally I did make it to Cash Converters alive, and to celebrate Perth's bad driving, I bought this for $4:



After all that, I decided I was hungry and had a pit-stop at McDonalds. I tried that new burger, Son of Mac, and was quite impressed. Try it out while you can!



And yes, I'm the type of person who will go through a drive-thru just to eat it in my car, in the fast food joints carpark. I don't really have a particular reason why I do it, but it always feels weird to go into a McDonlads (or whatever) and just sit there by myself eating. Even more so when I demolish my meal in about 5 minutes flat, it's just not the same as going to a restaurant or a cafe.

3# Cash Generators


Last but not least, I stopped off at Cash Generators (starting to see a theme with thrift store naming?).
Sadly, I didn't buy anything there that day but usually I come out with something, thus making it my favourite thrift store in the area. Most noticeably recently, was a cheap copy of Banjo-Kazooie.

So all in all, not a bad run for a first time. Sometime in the future I'll probably do the same thing but with Op Shops instead.

I Bought This For No Real Reason

For the hobby? To play? For the collection? These are questions I ask myself every time I buy an item that relates to retro gaming. I am spending my hard earned dollars (and sometimes Euros) you know.
But for this? This is the first time I've bought something and double-take'd the purchase as I was buying it, driving home, cleaning the dirty-ass contacts, testing it and as I type these words right now.
GoldenEye 007 is a great game, don't get me wrong. That isn't what I'm debating about with myself right now though. I should probably give a bit of back-story.

Even though I never owned a N64 during my childhood, the first time I ever played this game was when I was about seven or eight years old. My Dad and I use to rent out a Nintendo 64 from the local Civic Video as well as this game, and since I didn't even have a PSone at that stage, I played it to death in the weekend or week that I had it.
It wasn't the only time we rented out the console either, so I got to play GoldenEye multiple times as well as a few other N64 games. I can't remember which ones exactly that well, except for a distinctly horrifying memory of Superman 64.

From there you would think; "You played it in your childhood, so it's worth it to play again, right?"
Well yeah, except I've played it since. Long before this blog and my collection, I was really into emulators. I would play emulators of all the old consoles I could find. In fact, the reason I bought a Dreamcast (the start of my collection) was because I couldn't find a DC emulator that worked properly.
I was especially into the N64 emulator though, so much so that I bought a cheap Chinese N64 controller knock-off, and an adapter so I could plug it into a USB port on my computer.

It was during this time that I played through the whole of GoldenEye. Considering this was only a few years ago, and I rarely come back to play games so soon, I essentially just bought this game to put on my shelf. I'm not going to play it, not for years anyway. This is exactly the kind of thing I don't want to be doing; buying games just for the sake of it.

Ah well, it's done now. Maybe one day I'll create a video review for it.

Banjo-Kazooie in a Thrift Store for Under $40? Tell 'Em They're Dreaming

The other day they let me loose early from work (which sorta resembled an animal being released back into the wild) so I thought I would take my Retromobile for a bit of a spin, and see if I could catch any game.

My predictor instincts were heightened as I roamed the barren, stormy streets; it was me against every soccer Mum and their Pajero as I hopped from thrift store to thrift store (it was about 3PM, end of the school day).
Actually, I only went to two. But, the second-time around I scrounged up this for $15:



For reasons unknown to me, this is always insanely expensive in thrift stores alike. Maybe it's the demand that drives the price up, either way there is not one N64 game out there worth that much.
The funny thing is, I think this particular store where I bought this copy was guilty of those prices at one point as well. I'm not sure if it was this exact copy that use to be so expensive, but when I bought it the lady emphasised the fact that there was a 48 hour return policy. It wasn't in the best of condition when I bought it so I bet someone else had already tried it, claimed it didn't work, which resulted in it getting resold at a huge discount.

The contacts were filthy; so filthy in fact that I thought some contacts were actually missing, but it turns out it was just filth. I was so disgusted that I nearly took a photo of it, but I wouldn't want my loyal reader base projectile vomiting all over their keyboards (or screens).
The good news though, is that after quite a lot of cleaning with q-tips and alcohol, the game is running at full steam. I didn't even bother trying it beforehand for fear of it dirtying up the contacts in the N64.

I haven't played too much yet, but there is already a 25 hour long game save. It's amazing to think that someone, somewhere put so much time into this game only to sell it off to a thrift store for (probably) a pittance. Quite sad really, but I guess that's where I come in to give the game some new loving. That's just what I do.

Retro Game On in Melbourne: Collingwood Cash Converters

While not the classiest place that I could possibly be buying games in Melbourne, I came across a Cashies in my travels within Collingwood and Fitzroy. This was no ordinary Cashies though, this one was special. It was special because it's the first one I've been to in Australia that has had two items; Super Famicom and Dreamcast games.

The last time I saw Dreamcast games in the wild was in France and I've never seen Super Famicom games anywhere except Ebay. While these items weren't the cheapest around, they weren't exactly destroying my wallet either. They were roughly what you would expect to pay online (all were under $20 each).

Melbourne has been great so far, but sadly besides from this the retro scene has been lacking. There was a retro store that I was going to visit, but since I've been here I've been unable to locate their webpage. Even if I don't grab anything else before I leave on Monday, I won't be bothered. There has been lots of interesting vintage and vinyl store to visit instead, and my record collection has grown quite a bit while my wallet has at the same time shrunk. No worries though, maybe I'll cover those and my record setup back in Perth when I get back in a Retro Unrelated.

And We Welcome an Xbox into the Retro Game On Family

Missing cables, sticky controllers, not breaking a 50 to buy a console; those are just some of the joys that op-shopping as to offer.

Generally speaking, I don't have much luck when it comes to buying consoles from op-shops. Usually you only find a handful of CD based 90's games among $2 jackets and 50 cent plates, but there is a particular Good Sammy's I know where I bought this Xbox for $30. This is actually the same Good Sammy's where I bought my Nintendo 64 from, so at the moment my opinion on that particular storefront is quite high.

$30 bought me the console, two controllers and a power cable. Sadly, one of the controllers is after market, and the legitimately branded one is missing the part of the cable that is suppose to stop cable breaks. Good idea in theory, but I guess those end bits are easy to loose.
Unfortunately the after market controller I can plug in is quite sticky. It doesn't seem to be anything sickly (Coke maybe?) but it's still putting me off playing on the console for an extended amount of time until I can find a replacement for the end of that cable.
I have played it long enough to know it works though, and I bought Project Gotham Racing from a thrift store for $4 (which seems quite fun from the little I've played). As for the missing audio/video cable, I'm currently borrowing one off a friend. There is an after market replacement coming in the mail though.  

While I don't think I can class the original Xbox as 'retro' yet, it is now in that period of time where the hardware and software is insanely cheap. Considering the Xbox One has just been announced, it's nearly two generations behind now; so it's well on its way.
I should have a five to ten year gap where I can enjoy these prices (which I'm also doing with the PS2 at the moment) so there are fun, cheap times ahead. 

More Games I Won't Get to For Months

I took the Retromobile out the other day for a thrift shop run, just like I had envisioned. I don't quite have my licence yet (t-minus 5 days) but it was in the Retromobile non the less, so I thought it was worth a mention.
It was kind of a last minute thing, so I only went to three places. I'm quite pleased with the end result though.

The first place was a bust. I nearly laughed out loud when I saw a Super Nintendo for $150, but I nearly had a heart attack when I saw a Mega Drive for $175. These over inflated prices are just ridiculous. I don't know who to blame, the thrift stores themselves or all the clueless people on Ebay who are also charging these prices, probably basing their numbers off an episode of Pawn Stars they watched.
Quite a shame really, since that place had quite a lot of games. Too bad they were so expensive, maybe I'll come back in a couple of months when maybe they'll bring the prices down after they realise no one is buying them. Either that, or some schmuck will actually pay the ridiculous prices and the whole vicious cycle will start again.

Moving on. The other two shops were quite successful:

No matter where you move your head, the Hawk will still stare into your soul.

The first place was an independent. There I scored Top Gear Rally on the N64 for $10, but the real bargain was buying Red Faction 2 and Tony Hawk's Project 8 on PS2 for $3 each! I can't believe how cheap PS2 games are these days. I better stock up before people consider them 'vintage' and start charging $30 a pop for them as well. 

Also slightly interesting fact; On the top-left of the Red Faction 2 case, you can see a yellow sticker that says 'Ultimate Games'. I found this awesome because during my childhood that was the only independent game store near where I lived. Sadly it's not around these days, but I built up most of my PSone collection from there when they were as cheap as the PS2 games. These were good games too, not the endless $5 copies of Fifa 2001 you see in the present.

The last place I went was a Cash Converters. This particular storefront is usually skimming on games, but they had one sole SNES game sitting in a cabinet; Winter Gold.
I couldn't see the price, so I decided to Google if it was any good. The internet on my phone was going annoyingly slow (it's usually pretty good) so I only got as far as the Wikipedia page, which was no help on the quality of the game. From there I decided to Ebay search it to at least see what it was worth, but as the loading bar was crawling along a store worker asked me if I needed any help. I took the opportunity to ask how much Winter Gold was, so he opened the cabinet and there was a $5 price tag on the back.
For $5 I decided I would just roll with it. There couldn't be much potential personal lose at that price.

Finally logging on to Ebay later that day, I received a minor shock. For some reason, all the auctions for Winter Gold ranged from $30 to $40. I have no idea why it's that dear, as the 5 minutes I committed to Googling the answer came up with nothing. What I do know is that it was only released in PAL regions, and relatively late in the consoles lifespan too (1996). Why this justifies the high price, who knows. All I do know is that its quite a fun game, and the 3D in it rocks. I guess that's all that matters at the end of the day. 

Possibly the Only Game I've Ever Bought From the Salvos

Salvos: Helping certain struggling families get through hard times, such as sport car owners. 

It's no secret the Salvation Army can be a bit hit and miss when it comes to collecting retro games; hell, its always hit and miss. Usually if there are any games, they're way over priced. Most of the time if I come across a Salvos, I just sail right past because there are better places I could be wasting my time looking for decades old video games.
Yesterday I found a store that seemed to be bucking the trends though. There were hardly any games in there but what there was, was affordable. This particular shop is nowhere near where I live; I stopped at a bottleshop next to it yesterday on the way to a family event, and I thought I mind as well check it out. You really don't know until you try, it could be full of $10 Neo-Geo carts for all I know.
There were about 10 odd games for sale, mostly sports games. I emptied all the change out of my wallet and bought this for $2:

Rad.

For a skateboarding game its quite different from the likes of Tony Hawks Pro Skater, but I'll hopefully get into the specifics of it in a future video review.
It came complete with the instruction manual, and the disk is in a reasonable condition.

Opening the case up revealed this hidden away inside too:



Nice surprise really, I'm always after demo disks to broaden my interest in certain games I wouldn't have given the light of day otherwise. Its from issue 26 of the Official Australian Playstation Magazine.

Moral of the story, always check in places you wouldn't usually. While this game isn't the find of the century, it still interested me enough to buy it. Otherwise I would still be one game short and $2 richer.

Merry Christmas (To Me)

I know Christmas is now a TV advertisement of last week, but for the first time in a while I picked up some gaming goodies a few days before Christmas. Since I so selfishly bought them for myself when it was the time of giving, I'm just going to go ahead and claim them as Christmas presents for myself. There; I'm an asshole.
Anyway, like I said before it has been a while since I really hunted around for some bargains like I use to constantly. It suddenly occurred to me that I'm still really into retro games and how the thrill of the hunt pays off when you find something at a great price. This happened to me twice on that 35+ degree day. The items weren't exactly rare, but the condition of them for the prices they were would of been worthy of a dance on the street if it wasn't so damn hot.

First on the theoretical chopping block, is Donkey Kong Land. This cost me $5. Five dorras.

Look at the condition of this beast! Most of the cartridges you buy individually are stained, faded and the labels are usually peeling. Luckily this one came in a clear plastic case. Not as good as getting it complete in an original box, but probably second best because at least the cartridge is well preserved. I swear I was the only one in my generation who kept the original boxes and instructions.

Uka Uka, this is not a fair contest.

Next up, Crash Bash! This beautifully carved wonder of a game also cost me $5.
This, like DK Land also came in great condition. The disk has no scratches, the case is intact and it also has the instruction manual (which has a Spyro: Year of the Dragon advert on the back... awesome!). Over that it's an original release. Not a dull, grey platinum case like many of my PSone games... sadly.
I've only ever had the demo, which I've always played with friends as this is an excellent party game. Now it will be great to be able to play more then the several levels which the demo restricts you to.

Well Travelled Game Boy Cartridge

So much for writing articles on my week off... lol. In the mean time, have this in which I found kinda funny.

So I bought this Game Boy game, Conker's Pocket Tales for $5 from a local hock shop. No biggie right. 

I buy it, turn it over and see this...

It's been previously brought from another local hock shop, which is actually next door to the previous one. 

I found it funny. It must of been stolen from some poor sods house and the sold to the first shop, only to be bought and stolen again and sold to the other shop. That's the funny story in my head anyway because lets face it, a lot of stock in those stores come from questionable places. 

The game it's self is a load of crock. I bought it expecting to play as a hungover squirl because of the N64 game, Conker's Bad Fur Day. Nope, turns out Rare re-did his profile and it turned out as this kiddy, badly done RPG crap. At least I didn't pay $10 for it.