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.

Super Strike Eagle Video Review for the SNES

It's been a while since I created and uploaded a video for this blog. There is not much else to say about it really.
Watch the video. This is a video post. Words are irrelevant.

A Window to the Past

I've probably walked past this window a million times, as it's on the route that's seperating me from where I work, and the closest available coffee.
Quite an important walk considering it's for the all glorious beverage that is coffee, so I'm surprised I've never seen it before.
This is on the side of an ancient Video Ezy (also a great place to buy caffeine) that's probably been long forgotten about. All the windows at the front of the building of course have all the latest consoles advertised, but this one remains my favourite.

Hopefully the owner keeps on forgetting about it so the retro scene can still keep having a public presense (or a hidden one as it were).

スターフォックス

Hey hey, it's the first game to be added to my collection since my hiatus. Funny (though stupid) story on how I got this; I decided to finally play Starfox as it's probably one of the last Nintendo god-tier series I haven't played yet. Pretty weird, I know. But better late than never.

It all started with me scouring the web looking for SNES versions that weren't there. After every search term I tried came up with nada, I decided to bite the dust and just buy a Super Famicom version instead. Luckily I came across an Australian Ebay Seller who only sold Japanese imports, and I bought this for a fantastic price (it was on sale). The guy selling it did an awesome job of posting it, and I am not remorseful of buying it. It came within three days and worked first try. The only thing I wish I had done was do a bit of research beforehand.
Turns out Starfox was named Starwing in Australia because of some sort of copyright business. Searching 'Starwing' instead results in loads of auctions. I feel like such a noob; it only took one Google search to find that out.

Now I have a cartridge that says 'Starfox' on it, but the whole game is in Japanese. This isn't exactly a gamebreaker though, and makes it kind of cool in a way. The only problem I've had so far is figuring out the controls, but a Google search did help me out on that. I wasn't going to make that mistake again.

Current Games Room Photos

It's a bit odd to be writing two blog posts, two days in a row after a four month absence, but I uploaded these photos today to a Racket Boy thread and I thought I should share them here too.
Racket Boy, for those not in the know, is probably the best darn website on the internet revolving around retro gaming (besides from this one of course ahoohooo). I highly recommend their console starter guides, as well as the forums which are quite active.

Anyhoo, today I cleaned up the room and plugged everything back in. It's great having it all set-up again after so long; for months I felt a pang of guilt every time I walked past it. From then onwards I played some terrible SNES racing game for about an hour. I placed 9th just about every time.

I'm Not Dead Yet!

This morning I woke up with a revelation, a sudden shock of sorts. "My retro blog; my poor, poor retro blog..."
...
"Time to get back into the game!" I said, after wiping away some solemn tears. "Time to continue where I left of!" From there I slapped myself in the face, drank some coffee, and then went and surveyed the damage. Not being active in the sort of thing for months has left everything down in the dumps.
I should get out of the way first that I don't want to spend this entire post apologising for why there hasn't been any posts since January. The fact is, life got in the way. I don't make any money off this blog, and it certainly doesn't cost me anything to keep it going (or keep in an inactive state). I'll be damned if I don't miss it though, something certainly feels lacking when you've built up such a blog just to abandon it.
Time for a damage report!

Numero Uno: The Games Room

Sadly, I haven't exactly been near this room in a while. It's not full of cobwebs though, as another tenant has moved in (in the shape of a sibling).

The whole place has become a bit of a pit though, with a Wii only being used (of all consoles!) and most of the consoles gathering dust.

In this picture: sadness

I can't stay mad though, as that Wii is mostly used to play Gamecube Zelda games, which is really the only good use for a Wii I can think of. Maybe I should purchase a Gamecube, and lighten up brother/sister relations so we can share the land in peace.

Number 2: That Damn Console Shelf

I haven't commented on the build for that shelf since last May, which is sadly an entire year ago now. I'm determined to finish the bloody thing though, mark my words. Here is its current state:

Which is fudging depressing

The only thing really stopping me is learning how to use a handheld sander, that is literally it. Time to stop procrastinating.

#3: The Retromobile

Here is some exciting news; very soon Retro Game On will be free and on wheels!



While I'm not going to comment on exactly how old I am, lets just say I'm too old not to have my licence when I live in an area that has poor public transport.
In less than a month I will do my final test that will enable me to drive wherever the hell I want, when I want. This will mean I will be able to go to more swapmeets, garage sales, op shops etc all on my own terms.

Getting your licence in Western Australia is retardedly strenuous, which is why I put it off for so long. I did my practical driving assessment over 5 months ago. From there I had to wait a minimum of 6 months (while logging 25 hours of driving) before being allowed to do a computer test (I shit you not) that then gets me the shiny piece of plastic I'm after. In less than I month I can do that test, and I'll be free! That car you see in the photo above is from now on classified as The Retromobile.

See!

This is the machine that will take me on magical journeys forging for retro goodness, which will in turn hopefully make for awesome blog posts.

Just kidding, there are no decent game shops in Perth.

Four: Just A Tidbit...

If you type "retro game blog" into Google, a link for this blog comes up as result number 2, just behind 1UP!



Feels good man.

Fin: The State of My Collection

While my collection certainly hasn't got any smaller, it would be a plain lie to the face if I was to say it has grown. Every once in a while I pop into an op shop or a secondhand store if I happen to be walking past, but I haven't come across anything worth buying.
I think the reason being, is that I always go to the same places. Having a drivers licence will certainly shake things up a bit, and maybe I can finally track down a working Atari 2600. So far my only option is websites like Gumtree or Ebay, and the prices on those suck.

Eitherway, stay tuned. More content on the way.

Retro Game On is Spreading the Love!

I've been offered a fantastic opportunity to write for the independent English gaming website, This is My Joystick.com.
I will primarily be their 'retro guy', writing articles mostly. Today I had my first article published, The Life and Times of the SEGA Dreamcast, which has been published under my own Retrospective section. Check it out if you have a spare minute, and the rest of the site too as there is some awesome content on there.
Also, don't worry. This certainly does NOT mean I will not be writing for this blog anymore, expect some new stuff heading your way quite soon!

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.

Blog update 9/12/2012

Over the last couple of days I have been redesigning the blog graphically. There hasn't been any changes since April, 2011; when I actually launched the blog. Blue and white seemed like an okay combo for a little while but it's been getting on my nerves lately and I've had complaints that it can effect readability after a while.
Not being one to disgruntle my precious audience, I've decided to make the overall look a bit more modern and the colour scheme a bit more reader friendly. I would never of course pass up the chance to put in some Atari 2600 era wood grain either. Wood grain is fantastic.

Video: Gradius 3 Quicky Review

Sorry I've been dead to the world as far as this blog is concerned, I thought I would make up for it with a video.
This is a new format of video reviewing that I'm trialling where I scripted, recorded and edited everything within one afternoon. More of a first impressions video than anything, please feel free to share your thoughts on the video. Watch in HD too for best results.