Thoughts on videogames.
Just a reminder that if you have a Nintendo Wii hooked up to the interwebs you can share your friend code. Mine is : 1423 3644 2287 4084
Oh and Mom, pick me up a Wii Points card next time you go out. Don’t get it at ShopKo because they charge $29.99 for $20 of credit. Jerks.
The first and third Mondays of every month mean that St. Vincent De Paul’s Thrift Store has a 50% off sale. My past few visits have been marked by a yearning to pick up a box that had been sitting on the floor for weeks. The $75 price tag just threw me off every time. I gave into the urge today thanks to massive savings.
It is a Colecovision with the Atari 2600 Expansion Module and it came with 32 games. Now, I already own two Colecovisions and that wacky expansion dongle. But you never know what you may find when you pick up these collection. I got three games that I do not have in my collection. Defender (Sears Tele-games label), Star Wars: Jedi Arena, and perhaps the oddest Atari 2600 cart ever, the Xonox Double Ender. When I pulled this cart out of the box I was rendered unconcious for hours by what I believe to be a roundhouse kick to the face. When I came to and my blurred vision cleared up I read the cart label. One end of the cartridge was Artillery Duel and the other end was Chuck Norris Superkicks. Sweeeeeet!
EDITOR’S NOTE – MARCH 24, 2009 – I get a lot of traffic to this story, a few e-mails asking questions, and great comments left for this blog entry. I’m really curious how you readers are finding this bit of text. Please leave a comment telling me how!
Behold, puny mortals, my latest thrift store acquisition! St. Vincent De Paul got the shaft as I saved 50% off this $1 piece of raw computational power. The 1986 Talking Computron by VTel features a membrane keyboard, eight-character red LED alpha-numeric display, 20 built-in programs, cartridge slot, and even a real electronic voice! It is powered by 6 C batteries or a 9v 300mA adapter. On the top of the unit written on tape it says verbatim “WURKS NEEDS BATTERYS.” Because I do not have C batteries available to power the unit I am left to wildly speculate as to the true capabilities of this device. To put this all into perspective I will compare and contrast with another deus ex machina, the Sony PlayStation 3.
According to my rudimentary and lackluster American public education math skills the final totals come to Talking Computron with 6, PS3 with -1, and myself with a point. Not bad for a $0.50 investment.
September 3, 2009 Update: The Talking Computron sold for $23 on eBay sometime last month. I had no clue that it would fetch so much, let alone sell at all.
The great eBay purge of my storage closet continues on and with it goes on of my prized possessions. Shining Force III for Sega Saturn, one of the system’s rarest games, is available for auction now. Though I am sad to depart with this gem I am even more depressed at what it reminds me of.
The death knell was pretty much sealed in 1995 with the release of the Sony Playstation. By late 1997 the Sega Saturn was sputtering, but Sega didn’t let their system go without a fight. Three of the system’s greatest games were final releases. Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Shining Force III. There I stood in the videogame aisle of Toys R Us with $20 dollars in my pocket on that cold December day. Panzer Dragoon Saga in my left hand and Shining Force III in the other. I knew that both titles were extremely rare, but had no conception of how rare. I was a big fan of Panzer Dragoon I and II, but for some reason I chose Shining Force III.
It was only later that I found out the horrible truth about both of those titles. Panzer Dragoon Saga had only 2000 copies released stateside while Shining Force III was only chapter one of a trilogy. The latter two chapters would only be released in Japan. Now Panzer Dragoon Saga sells on eBay for $150-200. I had it in my hand and if I had purchased it, I would have never EVER sold it. Shining Force III was an amazing RPG, but every single time I think about it Panzer Dragoon Saga comes to mind. I cry a little bit knowing that I held perhaps the most sought after RPG by collectors in my naïve hands.
Today I came across the most peculiar videogame console at a local thrift store. I knew immediately what it was when I spotted it, but the thing that prompted me to plunk down $5 for it was its sheer design lunacy. I just could not resist.
The Super Joy Voyager is a Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom clone unit. Because the original NES (Famicom in asian markets) had such widespread popularity, many black market vendors created their own version. These units have ranged in design styles to varying degrees of success. In fact I already own a Famicom clone that looks identical to the original Famicom with the exception of the faceplate. Some of these clones are cased in mock PlayStation cases, or even stranger N64 controller housings. The Super Joy Voyager is a bit of an oddity among this style of clones in that it is housed in a GameBoy casing. The outer casing features the following.:
Because they originate from the black market their quality is somewhat dubious. Even more questionable is the content provided with them. Often the clones include a number of illegally copied games. The Super Joy Voyager is no different as this unit features 84 games. Among the titles include the well known Galaga, Galaxian, 1942, Arkanoid, Dig Dug, Paperboy, Gradius, Spy vs. Spy, and Xevious. The rest of the titles are much lesser known or never released outside of asian markets. Piracy does not always go hand in hand as some Famicom clones sometimes include a cartridge slot to connect original games to. This clone has a cartridge slot, but oddly, it only fits the single cartridge ever made for the unit. Turning the Power Joy Voyager on without the cartridge labeled PJ-008 only yields a purple screen on the television. The decision to include a cartridge instead of hard wiring the ROMs to the unit seems very strange. I doubt I will ever come across another cartridge for this thing.
There are two controllers that connect simultaneously to the bottom of the unit. Both controllers are unique in their design. The first controller is your standard fair run of the mill buttons. The directional pad however is a stick that can best be likened to a cheap version of the NeoGeo Color’s superb “clicky” control stick. The other controller is simply an ugly abomination. You know how sometimes things go wrong in the womb for twins. One turns out fine and the other turns out “different.” This would be the a case of the latter. The second controller has your standard buttons, a normal directional pad, a trigger under the right handle, and a nozzle for a light gun wrapped around the upper edge. So far I have only been able to use it with “Clay Shooting” which is the third option from Nintendo’s Duck Hunt. Why they would go through the hassle and not include Duck Hunt is beyond me.
The coup de gras for the mediocrity of this unit lies in the monochromatic screen. You cannot play the Famicom games on this screen. Instead this feature is used for the “668-in-1” LCD block games. Some versions of the games are, like the ROMs, well known like Tetris or Breakout. The rest are completely irrational or unplayable. Spending more than a minute with them will most likely make your eyes bleed. I value my eyesight too much to review each of the questionable 668 games. I am willing to gather most are merely variations in difficulty on the same few titles. Oh, how did I fail to mention thep absolute worst feature? When turning the LCD on that this thing plays the same music on the loudest volume setting it can. I recognize the tune as a famous Christmas holiday song but have yet to identify it.
The one thing that this unit does have going in its favor is the sticker on the back which says “This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules [sic].” I secretly pray that it does.
Three summers ago I received an e-mail from my uncle Scott Langteau. He wanted to know if I would fly to Los Angeles to do some alpha testing on his upcoming PS2 shooter Call of Duty. For two weeks I would sit with a PS2 development kit and play the unfinished game before it went to the official testers. Eventually the title was released for not only PS2, but also Xbox and Gamecube. For my efforts my name was sandwiched in the credits under Special Thanks right under fellow friend and family Vi Troung. Call of Duty went on to become a phenomenal hit.
With that popularity came great amounts of income. The publisher, Activision, was allegedly not very reputable in keeping their end of the contract up. Spark Unlimited, which developed CoD, filed suit against Activision for breech of contract on various terms. From what my uncle says the lawsuit is progressing in their favor. The presiding judge has recently released their contract to public record. If you are interested in what exactly goes into the development of a game it is an interesting read.
A while back I stumbled across a box of random untested videogame systems on sale at 50% off for a grand total of $10. The Sega Master System required thirty seconds of repair to get back to working order. Final price on eBay? $46 plus $7 S/H.
Using the same Mac OS X Hints instructions for getting NintendoDS online I have been able to also get my Nintendo Wii online. After a lengthy download from Nintendo after connecting I had access to the Virtual Console, Wii Marketplace, and other online features. I even shared my friend code with my friend Blair. This morning when I returned to my room the Wii disc slot was lit up. I fired up the console to check what it meant. Apparently you can send your custom Mii characters, messages, and other Nintendo goodies.
My Wii friend code: 1423 3644 2287 4084
Leave your Wii friend code via the comments. I have to input your friend code in order for our Wii to communicate.
The kenfager.com network of spies has located a Nintendo Wii for retail price. Delivery of the parcel is en route to a secret alternative location to ensure safe harbor. A peaceable exchange of monies for goods will change hands in an area neutral to both parties. The system works.
Every now and then I like to patron the local thrift stores. It is amazing what treasures you can find. I hit the jackpot yesterday at St. Vincent De Paul. This last Monday they had a 50% off everything sale. I did not see anything of interest until I was ready to leave. A box that said “Sega Systems $20 Untested” caught my eye. But there was more in this box than just Sega stuff. I snatched up the box and paid $10 for the whole lot. Upon unpacking I came away with:
The Nintendo64 would not turn on, but it did come with the Expansion Pak. I have little use for some of the other things so they have already been posted to eBay. The real treasure of this lot is the first model Genesis with the Power Base Converter to play Master System games. That thing is hideous and I love it.
A few days ago I got lucky while looking for an ugly Christmas sweater at Goodwill. For only 99 cents at Goodwill I found a 1995 X-Wing. All the stickers were still attached and the battery still working.
