Ranks & Badges Discussion Thread

[fcgamer | 4,719]

6 minutes ago, Ankos said:

If I had to guess I'd say that a pretty large chunk of its collectors are in regions that are unlikely to visit this site though. I've seen listings for it out of Mainland China, so that is a giant country where these sorts of things could wind up and never be heard from in the West again.

I agree and disagree with this bit; while I am sure that there are collectors in China, almost all of the local resellers that I know end up selling the games to western resellers who then sell to western collectors. I reckon it's for two reasons.

A:

TBH, most times I've delt with mainland collectors it has been a pain in the ass - always trying to beg for low prices way under the market value, complaining about the condition afterwards, complaining if you take four days to ship yet there was a weekend, and they took four (working) days to pay you, etc. The list of horrors goes on and on.

B: Western collectors are much more willing to pay up for games of obscurity, so the local resellers can get a bigger cut too. They've caught on to this over the past ten years.

I guess what I'm saying is that anytime I see A'can games go up for sale, they're immediately on ebay a few weeks later being sold by foreigners, to foreigners. If there weren't collectors, there wouldn't be this sort of market (contrast with Gamate where the demand is much, much less outside of a few certain titles).

This leads me to another thing to think about: I think most of the (western) people who collect these types of items and are interested in them simply aren't on VGS. Same for Sachen games, Syntax, etc. There's much more western interest than one might initially think, but the collectors are on other sites / platforms generally, rather than it just being some Chinese collectors thing.

 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

13 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Is it not a bit strange that there are more A'can games being sold currently online by sellers that are situated in countries around the globe that are not Taiwan, than actually being sold in Taiwan itself? You don't find that strange at all, even a slight bit?

Given that the picture you so frequently paint of Taiwan at street level tends to be one where technology is available but the culture rejects and ignores it, no, not really, based on that snapshot of the place.  If the place really is typically local people shopping in local stores and generally not caring a great deal about their technological treasures of the past (either domestic or imported), it would make absolute sense that there's not a plethora of Taiwanese folks ponying up their 28-year-old domestic-only console and its games online for the rest of the world to fight over.

However, that viewpoint on Taiwan could be (and very likely is) not a realistic picture of the modern day country and people.  That being said...

It seems weird that you find it strange that "Westerners" (non-Taiwanese, really) are sitting on the vast majority of stock of systems and games not sold directly from Taiwan, and yet when it happens with Koren NES games, you don't seem to bat an eye.  So which is it?  Is it strange for the mother country for a system and/or software to be sitting on the "motherlode" of supply but not making it widely available to the rest of the world or isn't it?

13 hours ago, fcgamer said:

With only twelve games having been known to exist (the eleven CIB games, and then the twelfth which many consider to have gone unreleased, with a few sample copies leaked out), people who own the console are likely to try to obtain a full set much in the same way that Virtual Boy owners might (or anyone who owns another machine with little software).

It seems unlikely that they didn't produce enough software to go around compared to the number of systems that they produced.  If anything, historically, console makers have always put out more software titles than what the platform could support (at one time, there were more copies of Pac Man for the Atari 2600 than existed Atari 2600 systems themselves).  There might not be an enormous library for the system, but virtually guaranteed, there's most likely more than enough software to go around per-console, even if it's harder to find (which isn't surprising given where it was exclusive and when).

14 hours ago, fcgamer said:

It's not necessarily about getting a full set, rather about having software to play on the machine, allowing one to explore the machine and its library. I'd reckon Casio Loopy collectors would feel the same way, too - at least I do, and I'm not even a hardcore Loopy collector, just a guy that happens to own one, but would like to explore the machine further.

Pretty much anyone who ends up picking up some ma chine that has interchangeable software will want to get more for it.  You don't automatically become a "collector" because you want more games to play on your console, even if there are/were only 11-12total  games released for it.

14 hours ago, fcgamer said:

So why you're trying to be a bit degrading or dismissive towards the whole thing, you've completely missed the mark,

I'm really not, I'm just dissenting with your statement about how widespread, well known, and beloved that system is.

14 hours ago, fcgamer said:

and even your comparison to fart-sniffing sealed guys falls flat, since the guys going after A'can sets can't just be grouped together easily into one set group like sealed collectors can (i.e. investors, for example). You've got gaming historians, sixteen bit fans, bootleg fans, old time collectors, even those with historic ties to the island of Taiwan all interested in the machine for various reasons, and that's not even considering other diversity amongst those that would be collecting the machine, either.

There are all of those sorts of people and more who are also active sealed collectors as well as fans of sealed collecting.  Don't act like this particularly niche, uncommon-if-not-rare, mid-90s, Taiwan-only console is even as remotely well known, loved, etc., as virtually any system that actually had an international launch, as well as localized software released for it, or that the comparatively small pool of people who do love it are somehow more diverse, interesting, "better," etc. than anyone else in any other realm of video game collecting, because they simply aren't.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

40 minutes ago, twiztor said:

nobody is doubting that there are Western collectors of the system. Just that there's not many of them HERE, so a charm for it would only apply to one or two people, and thus is not worth the effort to implement. 

At least as far as what I was saying, yeah, you're mostly on the mark there.  I was also saying that there weren't nearly so many anywhere outside of Taiwan as he was trying to play up.

20 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Thus far zero likes on my post asking for a like if someone is eligible for that charm, so... 

Bingo.  If "Western" (non-Taiwanese) collectors were so numerous, surely more than a couple would have ended up on here.

18 minutes ago, Ankos said:

While though I agree with you that the Super A'can isn't super well known in the West, I would like to point out that it might not be as unknown as you suggest.

I'm not really saying that it's totally unknown, even in the West, just that it's not remotely as ubiquitous as fcgamer is making it out to be.  And I'd wager that the vast majority of Westerners who know about it have the equivalent of a "huh, that's neat, moving on" attitude toward it than being the type of die-hard collector that was being illustrated.

As far as media coverage is concerned (both what you've mentioned, and what fcgamer alluded to), with the vast majority of us not speaking the language or reading the local publications, I'd wager that there were (and perhaps are) far more publications talking about such things, even if it was just a brief blurb, than we know about or have been made aware of.  The ones in English just stick up because they're easy for us to search for and actually read.

It probably is a neat machine from a hardware perspective, but I don't own one, I won't own one, and therefore I just don't care.  So, consider me a +1 to the list of Westerners who know about the system and a +/- 0 to the list of Westerners who care about it or collect it.

[Gloves | 11,759]

5 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

I guess what I'm saying is that anytime I see A'can games go up for sale, they're immediately on ebay a few weeks later being sold by foreigners, to foreigners. If there weren't collectors, there wouldn't be this sort of market (contrast with Gamate where the demand is much, much less outside of a few certain titles).

 

Looking at ebay I only see 4 items relating to the Super A'Can, and none of them are in North America; one is in Taiwan and the other 3 are all in the UK. In terms of recently sold I can see 3 things and holy shit are they expensive. 

 

6 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

This leads me to another thing to think about: I think most of the (western) people who collect these types of items and are interested in them simply aren't on VGS. 

That's MY point! xD

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:49 AM, darkchylde28 said:

Cool, thanks for the update regarding the return of charms.  That being said, any light you can shed on whatever it was that @FireHazard51 was hint-hinting about?    Or is that still on double secret probation? 

There will be a "tiered" charm system of sorts for those who collect for a system but haven't fully completed the collection...

[Ankos | 433]

2 hours ago, fcgamer said:

I agree and disagree with this bit; while I am sure that there are collectors in China, almost all of the local resellers that I know end up selling the games to western resellers who then sell to western collectors. I reckon it's for two reasons.

A:

TBH, most times I've delt with mainland collectors it has been a pain in the ass - always trying to beg for low prices way under the market value, complaining about the condition afterwards, complaining if you take four days to ship yet there was a weekend, and they took four (working) days to pay you, etc. The list of horrors goes on and on.

Based on conversations I've had with our friend yy, I don't think that online shopping is the only way Taiwanese video games end up in Mainland China. A significant amount of mainlanders, especially in the Guangdong and Fujian provinces, move back and forth between Mainland China and Taiwan, bringing Taiwanese games with them. I'm not sure how prevalent this is, but I've definitely seen a lot of Taiwanese games being sold out of Mainland China. That is where I got my first XB multi from

Edited January 20, 2023 by Ankos

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Wait. These still exist? I haven't seen any users' charms in a good few months. Is there some kinda checkbox I missed in my account settings?

[MrWunderful | 2,926]

Sealed collectors: super Acan collectors

100000:1

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

42 minutes ago, Philosoraptor said:

Wait. These still exist? I haven't seen any users' charms in a good few months. Is there some kinda checkbox I missed in my account settings?

No, Gloves had to disable the plugin as part of troubleshooting why the site's software keeps sending random emails to people, regardless of their "please contact me" status.  And, unfortunately, because that plugin was never updated to be officially compatible with the current version of the site's software, he can't re-enable them until that developer does the update.  Word is there's a replacement system being worked on and tweaked that's built into the platform, so we may not be without our charms/badges/etc. for too much longer.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

On 1/21/2023 at 2:49 AM, darkchylde28 said:

Given that the picture you so frequently paint of Taiwan at street level tends to be one where technology is available but the culture rejects and ignores it, no, not really, based on that snapshot of the place.  If the place really is typically local people shopping in local stores and generally not caring a great deal about their technological treasures of the past (either domestic or imported), it would make absolute sense that there's not a plethora of Taiwanese folks ponying up their 28-year-old domestic-only console and its games online for the rest of the world to fight over.

However, that viewpoint on Taiwan could be (and very likely is) not a realistic picture of the modern day country and people.  That being said...

Honestly no clue where you're getting such ideas from. Taiwan in many ways is more technically advanced than the States, in terms of the general public and what they do.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

@darkchylde28 well you can roll your eyes as much as you want, but let me know when convenience stores in the states let you pay your bills, receive parcels, and also please remind me of the amount of usage for non cash options at regular shops in the states, kthanx.

[Mega Tank | 955]

16 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

@darkchylde28 well you can roll your eyes as much as you want, but let me know when convenience stores in the states let you pay your bills, receive parcels, and also please remind me of the amount of usage for non cash options at regular shops in the states, kthanx.

This thread is about charms. Go derail your own threads. kthanx.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

.

Edited January 22, 2023 by darkchylde28
Blanked by me to keep the peace.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

7 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

I could say the same to you, who mostly rolls his eyes at comments I make, but rarely deigns to actually make a coherent, well supported response.

As for convenience store services?  Wow, it wasn't too hard to Google the same thing already having happened in the United States at all.  Similar services are offered at most of the convenience stores in my little hillbilly town, they just aren't nationally documented in the media.

As for parcel delivery, while it's not yet common in the US, it's not as if it doesn't exist.

And are you serious about people not using cash to pay at regular shops in the US?  Seriously, how long has it been since you've been here?!  Virtually every place in the US now accepts at the very least credit/debit cards, either via a traditional card machine, or in increasing commonality, phone and app-based card swipers.

You constantly put in digs about Taiwan, whether you realize it or not, virtually every time you post about it.  It's more obvious when you're posting about how you've somehow felt inconvenienced or mistreated, but it's visible in the cracks, crevices, and corners of many posts you make.  Perhaps you tend to only hang out in and speak about the "dark underbelly" of the country, digging through junk shops and all manner of mom-and-pop retailers, but the picture you usually tend to paint of the place is far from any sort of ultra modern, high tech utopia.

 

Hahaha You really made me laugh.

Go get a clue, you've got no idea dude. No clue.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

13 minutes ago, Mega Tank said:

This thread is about charms. Go derail your own threads. kthanx.

Totally agree, go reprimand all the others who are off topic here, or you want me to help you?

We wouldn't be having this conversation if navy kyle wasn't spewing his ignorance about the Super A'Can in here. such a troll.

[Mega Tank | 955]

4 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

Totally agree, go reprimand all the others who are off topic here, or you want me to help you?

We wouldn't be having this conversation if navy kyle wasn't spewing his ignorance about the Super A'Can in here. such a troll.

Translates roughly to:  Why don't you just shut it?

Edited January 22, 2023 by Mega Tank

[fcgamer | 4,719]

4 minutes ago, Mega Tank said:

Translates roughly to:  Why don't you just shut it?

I guess your tank isn't mega enough?

Now, let's get back to those wonderful items known as baubles and charms. Anyone else earn an interesting one recently?

[doner24 | 1,195]

Please, enough with the bickering, time to get this thread back on topic. 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

On 1/20/2023 at 12:28 PM, FireHazard51 said:

There will be a "tiered" charm system of sorts for those who collect for a system but haven't fully completed the collection...

I really hope you're joking, but I guess that's the sort of world we live in now in 2023...

We're all winners!!!!!!!

You can "like" individual posts, for fuck sakes... wtf happened to the 80's???  Oh 80's, where are youuuuuuuu....

[T-Pac | 7,513]

On 1/23/2023 at 8:06 PM, Dr. Morbis said:

I really hope you're joking, but I guess that's the sort of world we live in now in 2023...

We're all winners!!!!!!!

You can "like" individual posts, for fuck sakes... wtf happened to the 80's???  Oh 80's, where are youuuuuuuu....

Don't worry - there will still be full-set charms.

But the idea moving forward is to make the charms a reflection of each individual user's interests, rather than just being a bunch of exclusive trophies. After all, it's not a competition aside from certain events charms.

For example, I like to collect Atari 2600 and play space-shooters. Ideally, the charms I earn will reflect that, and everyone will be able to glance at my profile, immediately get a feel for what I'm into, and hopefully engage with me about that stuff.

At least that's the plan. I know not everyone will love it, but we want to do our own thing with the badges instead of defaulting to "the way it was on NinendoAge".

-CasualCart

[a3quit4s | 4,091]

Was there a charm for the complete 8-bit Xmas set? The link to the list doesn’t seem to work anymore. 
Or will there not even be a list anymore if everyone is just making up their own?

edit: @Glovesor @Deadeye

Edited January 28, 2023 by a3quit4s

[Gloves | 11,759]

On 1/26/2023 at 1:13 PM, a3quit4s said:

Was there a charm for the complete 8-bit Xmas set? The link to the list doesn’t seem to work anymore. 
Or will there not even be a list anymore if everyone is just making up their own?

edit: @Glovesor @Deadeye

There was not a complete 8-bit xmas set charm. 

[drxandy | 3,225]

Are they ever coming back?

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

7 hours ago, drxandy said:

Are they ever coming back?

[Brickman | 3,978]

8 hours ago, drxandy said:

Are they ever coming back?

Soon™