Introduction 

It's been five years since I joined Video Game Sage on November 19, 2019. This Blog focuses on where I was before I joined and what I've been doing here, such as posting Blogs that took several weeks or even months to make. 

The Forums I've Been On Before VGS 

GameWinners 

GameWinners was the first place I joined in 2000. I stayed there until 2002 or so, then moved on to other sites. It was a typical forum site that also featured a section with codes and strategies for both classic and modern games. 

It was alright. There were some nice people there, and there was a fair bit to talk about. They had different boards for different game series, like Mario and Mega Man. 

GameFAQs 

Next place I joined was GameFAQs in 2002. I stayed there longer than any other site, until joining VGS years later. 

I enjoyed GameFAQs in the early 2000s. It was fun talking about rumors and unused content in games, such as the lost levels in Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Citadel test map in GoldenEye. 

But by 2006 or so, I started liking it less. I noticed a change in people's attitudes by this point. People were more likely to start arguing, and it was becoming less fun. I left in the Summer of 2007, not necessarily because of the arguing (which I wasn't really part of) but because I joined YouTube the year before and became more interested in making videos than talking on forums. After being on forums for seven years, I wanted to do something different.

From 2012-2014, I occasionally lurked around GameFAQs and noticed some of the boards (particularly the Wii U board) were hotspots of arguments with people saying things like "Wii U is Nintendo's biggest failure since Virtual Boy" and others defending the console and often starting their posts by saying "by your logic", and always talking about sales and profits. Needless to say, I was glad I wasn't really with GameFAQs anymore. It wasn't the forum site I remembered visiting in 2002 or so. 

The NES Files 

A site largely about the NES, which I joined in 2003. They have scans of boxes and NES cartridges, as well as some music for each NES game in MIDI format. Didn't visit the forums very often, but visited the site fairly often to look at the game pages. 

It was around this time that I got back into playing the NES, with rental stores like Hollywood Video still having NES games and many NES sites to look at such as NES Player (now Nintendo Player). NES Files was just one of many NES sites I visited.  
 
NintendoAge 

After leaving GameFAQs in 2007, I wouldn't join another forum until ten years later in 2017 as I was busy running a YouTube Channel that I've had since 2006. NintendoAge already existed while I was on GameFAQs, but I didn't join until February 2017. 

I posted pics of new additions to my video game collection, as I do here on VGS. I did occasionally talk to some NA members who are still here on VGS. Other less positive things happened, but I'm not getting into any of that (other than the fact that I right about certain things). 

I enjoyed NA as a forum, but my main issue with it (and I remember others mentioned this too) was that it was outdated. No reactions, for example, and the whole site resembled the Game Winners forum I visited in 2000. 

NintendoAge archive: https://archive.nes.science/nintendoage-forums/nintendoage.com/forum/index.html

Along with the rest of the NA Community, I left NA in the fall of 2019 because I had no other choice. Read on. 

GoCollect 

GoCollect was what appeared and replaced NintendoAge around September or October 2019.

I remember everyone's disappointment when this happened. Not as much was going on, and many topics that were on NA were gone (though some of them were archived on another site; see the link above).

I decided to hang around here for a little while to see if there were any improvements. Only minimal changes were made, and nearly everyone was leaving. 

Then I noticed that the few remaining members were talking about a site called Video Game Sage, and that most of the community was moving there. I wasn't sure if I was going to join VGS. I was still busy running my YouTube Channel and was also busy with several other things. There wasn't much point in staying on GoCollect, but was joining another forum really something I wanted to do? 

Joining The Ranks Of Video Game Sage 

After some thought, I joined Video Game Sage on November 19, 2019...and am still here after five years. Here are some of the things I've been doing on the site since 2019.

New Additions To My Video Game Collection 

I continue to post new additions to my video game collection, as I did on NintendoAge. I'd already spent thousands of dollars adding stuff to my collection even before joining NintendoAge in 2017, such as a Super Mario Bros. 3 Happy Meal Toy Display, a Mega Man X Controller for GameCube, a Mega Man hat that was given away at CES 1990, Kiosk Demo discs, imported games, and Wonderland Dizzy for the NES (which was previously unreleased, and had a limited physical release via a Kickstarter). These items remain highlights in my collection. 

Some of the items I've gotten since joining Video Game Sage include the Japanese release of Zelda: Twilight Princess for GameCube (which was available online only in that Country), the Japanese release of Pac-Man World 2 for PS2, the Japanese release of Tiny Toons Adventures 2 for the Famicom/NES, SoulCalibur IV Premium Edition for Xbox 360, Sonic Origins Plus Premium Physical Edition for Switch, the (New) Super Mario Bros. Movie on 4K, a Mega Man 9 Demo Cartridge for the NES, Nintendo World Championships NES Edition Deluxe Set for Switch, both the original 1996 Japanese release of Super Mario 64 and the "Shindou" Japanese release from 1997 that added Rumble Pak support, the Japanese release of Super Mario RPG for the Super Famicom/SNES along with its remake for the Switch, and a free copy of Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast. My collection has really grown, and has a few thousand games now.

I've also gotten several free CRT TV's and TV Stands, a Samsung DLP TV, and even a free HDTV. I've turned my basement into a sort of mini Arcade. 

Probably one of the best things I've gotten so far is a Super Pac-Man 7 in 1 Arcade1Up machine.

I got into buying collector's edition packages even though I don't buy them often.

I've gotten a modified NES with Adventure Island 2 (which, BTW, happens to be a copy from a Hollywood Video store I used to go to), bootleg cartridges, and a Sega Master System with ten games (including the console's built-in Snail Maze Game), two Controllers, all the hookups, and some accessories all for free from a friend in the past few years. 

In 2020, I visited a game store that was having a closing sale. The next year, I visited a newer game store that was selling imported games. One of the games I got at this store was the Japanese release of Mega Man 4, which is on a nice orange cartridge. 

I got the Japanese release of Luigi's Mansion in Sept. 2021, just in time for the GameCube's Japanese 20th Anniversary on Sept. 14 that year.

I continue to collect, most recently getting things like an Arizona Cardinals Ping Pong Table and an Air Hockey Table. 

VGS Game Nights 

I started joining these in October of 2020. The highlights were Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Tetris 99, Power Bomberman, Super Mario Party (even with its odd controls requiring a Switch Joy-Con and having no compatibility with other Controllers), and TMNT: Shredder's Revenge. My favorites were the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe game nights. TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, which we played in 2022, was the last game night I participated in. 

This is a video of the first VGS Game Night I joined in October 2020.

Game Completions 

I've contributed in @Splain's Game Boy topics and completed several Game Boy games last year and earlier this year, as well as participating in the Backlog Challenge in 2021 and 2022 completing various games on my backlog list. One of my best accomplishments this year, as far as completions go, was completing Mega Man IV for the original Game Boy. This is the only original Game Boy Mega Man game I don't have, but I was able to play it because it was released on the Switch's Game Boy App this year.

I also completed the Game Boy Mega Man V, which I do have. 

Baubles and Charms 

Back before this site used Badges, there were Charms instead. I had eight of them for collecting 50+ Imports (I have more than 100 now), buying a VGS Shirt, participating in Game Nights (I believe I participated in about twenty of those), participating in the Halloween Bingo Contest in 2021, participating in NES Weekly Contests, and Subscribing to the site. These were replaced with Badges in 2024. At least the proof that I used to have all of these Charms still exists.  

Blogs 

Since 2022, these are what I've been focusing on here on VGS. I retired my YouTube Channel in 2021 (it's still there, but not receiving any further updates) after fifteen years, so I had a little more time to do other things such as making these blogs. 

This is my 38th Blog. Maybe I'll make a Top 10 Blogs list for my 50th Blog. 

Conclusion 

MegaMan52 Blog #38 completed. 

I don't have much else to say about this. I'll continue adding games and related items to my collection, and making Blogs (no matter how stressful and time-consuming they can be). Maybe I'll contribute to Splain's Game Boy topics again when I have time.

I've thought about getting my Blogs translated into other languages, but don't know yet when I'll do that. 

Thanks for reading my Blog, and be sure to check out my other Blogs too. 

Blogs: https://www.videogamesage.com/blogs/blog/51-megaman52s-blogs/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MegaMan52

X (Twitter): https://x.com/Mega_Man_52 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mega_man_52/ 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Mega_Man_52/ 

Kingdom Hearts Insider: https://downloads.khinsider.com/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mega_man_52

-MegaMan52