RH

Just tryina become a Goomba!

I got this bad boy a couple of weeks ago.

Games I enjoy but I've not seen-- Harvest Moon and Front Mission series. Oh my, do I like Front Mission, but it can feel quite technical to some.

Ah, I wasn't aware that the Best Offer values weren't available (if I understand what you're saying.) I knew you couldn't get those details if you went to a SOLD page, if they sold that way, but I assumed their APIs would properly return that information.

There are two reasons why I've not created a new game pricing site. #1, I don't have time. #2, I can't make a site like that without having all of the features I'd want. One of those features I'd add is for any given game, I'd list something like "3 Month Average" and "Projected Value". Instead of posting a straight value, I'd estimate it. These values would use analytics like how much has the general value of a CIB item gone up period over period, and then for the items that are rarely sold, I'd factor that in. Other factors might include metrics that determine how much more to value "rarely sold" titles. For instance, for all titles that haven't sold a game in 2+ years, if they tend to jump 300% in value when sold today, then any game that last sold for $25 in 2017 or earlier would be estimated at $75.

If you start with the scrapper and keep caching those details while you build out the new service API, and then the UI, you could have "good enough" data once it goes live. If you can have 3 months in the can, that's good enough for the modern stuff. Also, since list of games are already public knowledge, you could shortcut your assimilation task by creating a big game list of every game from GVN, and then import that into your new tool. I'd only take the a names/systems, but that'd be it. Also, I don't know if GVN does this, but a better approach to dumping eBay data might be to daily dump info from each category, or do wider searches like "SNES GAME", or something like that. Then, once you dump all of the VG game sales for a given day, you can analyze it on your server. The benefit to this (again, if it is an option) is it will dramatically cut down on the API calls. I think we all remember how long VGN was down because eBay kept giving them the runaround regarding getting their API limit increased. If you can properly structure your queries to return more data, then maybe you can operate within that limit.

VGN looks better but at this point, I use it for tracking my collection (I'll likely need an alternative soon) and I look at the specific sales data, and not just the straight numbers. PC also provides sales history. In that way, it's the same, but it feels "old", and who likes that.

It might be, but considering my religion, I'm using the don't-ask-don't-tell policy. I actually just searched for it because I've also used a tool called Stylish to tweak CSS on sites, but this is an extension that just "dark mode"s everything. I was immediately impressed and it has over 1M users.

This is a fair point, but for me when it comes to cleaning, I do not like using solvents or mechanisms that damage the cart. A lot of people swear by Magic-Eraser. Well, that does work well because it's basically fine-grit "sandpaper". If you have a game with textured plastic, it rubs off the texture, and I'm not cool with that. This is basically true too with toothpaste, brasso or any other fine-grit substances. If someone is fine with stripping off a fine layer of plastic to get rid of the ink, then there are "better" mechanisms than the DOT-3 brake fluid. However, if keeping your cart in good condition is key, then you have to look for solvents and, so far, Brake Fluid has been #1 for me.

While we wait, this is a nice alternative, and works "globally" in the browser. https://darkreader.org

Golf Story, Trials of Mana, and on my mobile phone I'm helping beta test Soda Dungeon 2.

If you have a Virtual Boy in box that works and is in good shape, I could be interested in the whole VB lot. Also, if that Chrono is in Mint shape, I could be interested in that too.

Thanks for posting these details since you are the "Paper King". Have you tried to gauge the rarity of any of these? I'm more curious than anything.

I've very-often wondered that of the many promo materials posted in these games from the NES/SNES era, if you took the time to find the customer support lines for these US companies and asked if they still had any NOS, if you'd find anything. I mean. It's not likely, but not impossible. Between the 10-15 big companies that are still around and the inventory they've had, there's likely a box somewhere with old stuff in it, and if the price books kept getting pushed into new inventory management systems, there's a small chance it wasn't chunked. I've been a database manager for a couple of companies with inventory. When there is shelf space and you don't need the extra room in the warehouse, you'd be surprised how long NOS can set around. The Enix stuff is almost certainly gone since they likely merged with Square and consolidated any warehouses they had with the stuff. Still, I bet there is some of this promotional material still out there, setting on company shelves just waiting for someone to ask for the right item, with the right SKU.

Slimer. Wait, that doesn't count?

I will say that as much as I stand by the brake fluid method, I've found that it seems to only work well/perfectly with "Sharpie" brand. If the marker was a cheap knock-off brand, or a different type of marker, it doesn't work as well. That said, there's something about the DOT-3 oil that breaks down the enzymes in Sharpie ink near-miraculously. It might take a couple of applications, but it gets the ink 100% off. I've never tried the dry-eraser method, and sounds like a good step-two. Regarding cleaning the exterior of carts and the use of isopropyl alcohol, I almost never use it. If there are faint, sticky dust marks or if a glossy label is dirty, I use it for a gentle cleaning with a q-tip. Otherwise, I've found it to not be "harsh" enough on the gunk and I usually have to use a generous amount of elbow-grease to completely clean anything that's excessively dirty and for sticker residue, it's good for smearing that stuff around but not actually lifting it off the cartridge. For me, that stuff is basically a last resort. It does work, but it's often not the best tool for the job.

Since I don't collect handhelds that much, and just the games, I think this is the only legit orange shell there is. So, if someone wanted all official colors, I think they need this one too and as others said, it's pretty rare. I actually really like it and if it was in the neighborhood of about $75, or so, I'd definitely want to find one. I'm sure it's not that cheap, though. To a GBC hunter who knows about this item, I'm sure it's worth more than a few bucks above what I'd pay.

Time to get to work, and New Retro Wave always sets the tone. Right now, I'm in the mood for some Ben Businovski.

That's odd. I made it as public as possible. Maybe reach out to support. I was able to join other clubs.

It can be a bit relative. IMHO, Game & Watch is fine for home-related items, and generally, we're excluding arcade items unless they happened to be mechanical. Basically, before Donkey Kong as a smash hit. The idea being, Nintendo has a ton of history before it was known as a "video game" company. Let's enjoy discussing that period in this club.

Good to hear that it's already on the radar. I'm not sure what all is involved, but I can try to dedicate some time/effort. This will be my 4th SS, so I guess it's time I also give back to the system.

So is this where we just post a bunch of nonsense in an effort to have a 20k post thread, and push the forum site to it's limits? Everybody to the limit in the most Strongbad of ways!

I honestly considered it, but this isn't slashdot.

Well, Secret Santa was a tradition at NA I've long loved to be a part of. I know it's a bit early but since pre-organization can take time, discussion and planning, I figured I'd ask if this is in the pre-works?. I don't know who managed the "Secret Santa" account, but I'd like to ask should we have SS here, or maybe keep it over at NA if the lights are still on in November through December. Obviously, many of you are glad to move on from NA, however, the one advantage I see to keeping it over at that site for 2019 is that there are some people who are casual lurkers that might not know about this place who've enjoyed Secret Santa. I know a couple of the people I've gifted too seemed to be in that category. Of course, maybe we should just forge forward and start a new tradition hear at VGS. I think a really solid gift exchange can be a good advertising piece, but it's also not the type of thing where you want to say "come one, come all" when a forum is this new. You could get a lot of grinches because we've not established rep for our users. So, has anyone else thought about this? What should we do? I really like to give to others and it's my gaming highlight of the year.

Not surprising. Vinyl has been "cool" for a long time and I kind of appreciate how it's about the last vestige of the analog era that still lives. Long live vinyl. We've lost everything else. I wish it were CRTs or even cameras with film, but I'll take what I can get. CDs are physical media, which is great, but since there's no benefit to owning a CD other than "it's yours" for as long as the disc lasts, there's no benefit. Most music is online now and it's different than vintage video games. CDs are only useful for music you're pretty sure will disappear with obscurity. But, if you're going to have physical media, you might as well have it on something with a bit of dynamic range. Well, it should. Most "new" vinyl albums to day are rips of CDs, supposedly, which is sad.