joshdose

I would suggest taking the controller apart and inspecting the rubber pads. If they are still good, you probably just need to clean the contacts with some contact cleaner, or even some alcohol with a q-tip. Then putting it back together. If the pads are no good, try finding some replacement pads or button repair kits online. I wish I had a source on these but I don’t. I’m sure you can find them somewhere on the inter webs. Good luck!

Those GBA Final Fantasys have certainly gone up in value over the years! Good luck with the sales.

I totally respect that, and agree that indie is probably the way to go nowadays. Similarly, my original dream was to create music for video games. This can be an equally challenging industry to get into. You have to be in the top 1% there also. I ended up just working in I.T., playing music as a hobby and collecting video games to fill the void.

I have a strong appreciation for the innovations Naughty Dog have done for Sony. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about developers undergoing dangerous “crunch” practices. It’s sad to see how much these devs have had to endure with recent games. That being said, I’ve decided to acquire something autographed by original Naughty Dog powerhouse dev team, around the time or before the time that the crunching stories started becoming nightmarish. I’m very excited to have this piece in my collection and will hang on to it for life.

Always start by picking up a couple of the cheaper games that you are looking for. Games that are not as likely to be reproduced or duplicated. These could be good references for you to have in hand while studying and researching into your new hobby. Once you become familiar enough in assessing the fine details, you'll gain some confidence with purchasing on Ebay. Always buy from reputable sellers... check their reviews. UKG are very similar to the VGA service we have here. They should be a reliable source for authentic sealed games. Also, this forum, videgamesage, is a great place to get tips and advice for items you are interested in buying. Welcome to the community. I have just joined myself, but I have been collecting casually for about 12 years.

One game that really impressed the crap out of me was Nier Automata. I wasn't expecting it to be so amazing from beginning to end. It's like they figured out every little nuance that could annoy me in a video game and made sure not to include that. A true joy and one of my new favorites of all time.

I believe WATA's rise has had little impact on VGA submissions overall. I just sent a huge batch of games to VGA for grading. My submission contained a lot of very large collector's edition items, a console, many DS games, and even some strategy guides. All of which are very precious to me and I desperately wanted them cased and graded. VGA/CGA has some of the highest quality acrylic craftsmanship I have ever seen. Let me assure you that their business is not struggling even after the rise of WATA. They are struggling to keep up with the demand. Lots of people, such as myself, are still using VGA for their personal collections and with no immediate intentions to re-sale. In this idea, I think a big difference could be that more VGA games are being shelved for personal enjoyment, whereas more WATA games are being put up on the market for re-sale after the grading. Besides, I imagine a large percentage of WATA graded games were VGA slabbed at one point. I have nothing against WATA personally. However, I won't use them due to personal preferences and because of their casing limitations. I think it's great that VGA has some competition, but I know they aren't going anywhere. The reason they don't update their website or simplify their processes is that they don't have to yet. Neither company is the best at what they do, but they are both fantastic in some way or another. If the business isn't hurting, don't change it. Those are my thoughts on the matter.

There was never a “Not For Resale” case for this game. You won’t find one.

Good question. I believe the cable bundle was a somewhat limited release, where the standalone game could still be purchased without the bundle. I’m not 100% certain, but I’m fairly sure.

I personally believe that the cost to properly design and implement a robotics system of this caliber would be more expensive than any toy grading company would ever be worth. So, it’s never gonna happen.

I hate to keep feeding the fire on this thread, but I wanted to take a minute to defend VGA. In total, I have personally sent in about 60 or so games for grading. I’ve learned a lot about what to expect from them with each submission. I also learned to request the add-on grade report for games I was extremely anxious about. You can learn A LOT from these grade reports. It’s the best way to gather insight into what they look for in grading different types of games. In that regard, I have found enough evidence to support the idea that they definitely have a set of strict and consistent standards. Can you blame them for not publicly giving out their grading system protocols / procedures? Unless you purchase a detailed grade report, you won’t know why a game you thought was gem mint scored an 85 or a game you think is unworthy of gold because there is some flaw on it that can be easy to spot. I’m the only one here, other than VGA, that actually held the CC in my hands and studied it under magnification lighting. The tiny tears in the spine are the only issue I remember this game having. A big factor that goes into grading of jewel case games is yellowing. Most people don’t even know to look for this and won’t ever notice it, unless you have the game unslabbed and compare it to another game that is in fact gem mint. It will drop your grade big time and you won’t even know why. Another thing that’s looked at closely is the centering of the sticker labels on top of the game. A lot of PlayStation games had off-center labels that most people don’t notice or know to even look for. These are just a couple examples, but there are more, a lot more, referenced potential flaws that can be ascertained from VGA’s methods by way of grade reports. In the case of this Chrono Cross, I did not purchase a grade report, but I can attest that it was in fantastic condition overall, before sending it in. (Other than the obvious tears on the side). I mean, I had other sealed Chrono Crosses in my hand that I was able to compare to. Most of them had slight yellowing and / or slight UV fade of the artwork. Both of which would have gone un-noticed by me, had I only had the one copy and no “prettier” or “uglier” ones to compare against. I was quite confident that one was the best overall. If it’s something you genuinely care about, you can instruct them notify you of the grade before slabbing it, if you choose to have it slabbed, inquire about the detailed grade report. There will be no mystery that way.

Most every graded game I have ever listed on eBay has a picture of the front only. Not sure why the Uncharted has multiple shots. I guess I was feeling frisky with my new phone that day and was playing with the camera. Re-submitting a game to change for re-Casing / re-grading is always going to be a gamble. I have learned to trust the grader’s decision and move in. I don’t fret over the grade for very long. 90% of every Sealed black label Chrono cross I have seen (AND I HAVE SEEN A LOT) have all had the ripped spine flaw. This was a known flaw with this game’s seal, which is why it’s incredibly hard to find a gold graded copy of it. If you don’t care about the grade, and are only concerned about the quality of the raw game, you should not venture into the world of graded games. It’s not for you. After grading, I care mostly about the grade and the slab, the game inside is left to the verification of the graders. I trust their processes are strict and mostly accurate. I also trust it to hold it’s value as long as it stays in the slab that way. IT IS GOLD GRADED. That is how I stated it as being in my listing. It did not list the item falsely. Had I accidentally shipped you a VGA 85 copy, then I could understand if you become unsatisfied. I shipped you exactly what I said I would and the item is exactly as described. A slabbed 85+.

Hello Magus. Joshdose here. Yes, I’m the one who sold you the Chrono Cross VGA 85+. I am a respected member of the collectible video game community and have never purposely tried to hide any flaws before when selling collectible items. I really wish you would have tried to communicate with me a little better on ebay instead of going behind my back and getting encouragement from others, making assumptions of what kind of person I am, and being a repeat eBay resolution center abuser. I have learned that you’ve done this to other sellers. I believe your expectations about what an 85+ should be are too high. Your knowledge about grading seems subpar and your actions disrespectful. I’m sorry to sound ugly, but it is stressful to have to undergo returns of graded merchandise and have my PayPal account locked down. I have been grading games for years and most of my 85+ PS1 games have slight tears in the spines. Many other factors go into the grading process of these. My fault for assuming a buyer would be aware of this and not adding more pictures. It’s clear to me that you would prefer a 90 or higher of this game, which you will never find, unfortunately. In my opinion, this game is worthy of the 85+. I never did take the protective bag off. I never take any of my graded games out of the polybags. This introduces fingerprints and scratches to the acrylic. I see you have your fingers all over the acrylic case, without gloves on, and are now going to ship it back to me. So, thanks for that. I consider it slightly de-valued now. I wish we could have worked out something else, a partial refund perhaps. I wish you would have had better communication with me after the sale. And to those of you in this thread assuming any negativity on my part, please know that “IT AIN’T LIKE THAT.” Magus, I do appreciate you offering to cover the return shipping, but why not tell me that. I’ve been waiting for a response from you on eBay for over 12 hours and heard nothing. I have to sit and wait in full anxiety, meanwhile you are chatting with everyone else about covering the shipping cost. Don’t you think that’s something I would like to know? Come on man. One day, you are going to want to start selling some of your pieces on eBay. Maybe then, once you deal with a few of these experiences, you’ll know why I’m so upset about this.