RH

I'm seriously considering getting one of these but the real reason why is not at all for gaming. Supposedly, it works really really well for VHS ripping and I have a lot of family VHS tapes I'd like to rip. The features that are available for gaming are a bonus, plus I would probably use it in the end for scaling my Wii and DVD player which are the only non-HDMI items hooked up to my family TV.

Yes, but do they have back labels? https://www.ebay.com/itm/156158430176? (Honestly, I just wanted to show this off. I think it's way over priced but who knows. Let's see if anyone actually drops $5k on these.)

There's always multiple factors when it comes to increasing the value of collectibles. Rarity is important and for people like you and me, but in our own niche ways who like the find truly unique and rare items that are part of a larger story, then it's easy to shrug and ask "why?!" But the fact is, you're prototype bootleg that might be from the first batch of any bootleg every created for the Famicom, or my one-of-a-kind Myst Mechanical Age patch disk I just found that I'm still riding high on, has no meaning to the masses. I work from home and when people on Zoom learn that I collect games, they ask me if I have anything really "rare and cool"? I want to show off my 5 New Leaf/Game Factory cartridges, my First Edition Myst and my 3 protos for the Game Boy, but what they really want to see is my dead mint, CIB lefty Mario Bros 3, and even then they need a little bit of education as to why it "matters". Unfortunately, as collector markets mature part of that maturity is mass appeal and what appeals to masses is nostalgia, not rarity and niche, historically important items. So if they desire common or uncommon items, then they have to semi-manufacture conditions that increase scarcity and value and the best way to do that is to sort the options by condition. Is this game sealed? Check. That's already a 1 in 100 of all similar specimens. Is it in Excellent vs. Good condition? It is, so that makes it now a 1 in 20 item of the 1 in 100 copies you might run into that are sealed. Oh, but this one over here is dead mint and the best example we've found for this common game! Aha! So of all the carts, CIBs and Sealed copies of this Game X, this is the most perfect conditioned one you can find and is therefore "rare", "important" and "valuable". And all collector markets built around manufactured goods react this way. And the fact is, I'm not throwing shade at that either. High-conditioned items display well and get you closer what is also that most important feeling people associate with these toys and it's not playing with them--it's the excitement of unwrapping them on Christmas or Birthdays and seeing something you'll know you'll enjoy because you begged for it for ages. I think a lot of collectors are more interested in reliving Christmas, rather than those countless hours of playing the games, and on Christmas, you probably had a mint, store fresh copy. That's what you want on your shelf. Not everything I own needs to be that way, but I do have a some key games that I've wanted CIB/Sealed and generally I want it for the same reasons. Mine are a weird mix though, SMB3, Final Fantasy Adventure, Cybernoid for the NES, Anticipation for the NES (yes, you read that right), Golden Eye 007, Super Mario 64, Sonic 2 for the Game Gear, Duck Tales for the Game Boy and Metroid 1 and 2. That's an odd mix of games that I'd want sealed or in mint CIB shape. But why? Because all of those were games that I spent countless hours playing as a kid. I can relive the game play easy enough, but holding a perfect, mint copy like I did on all of those Christmases and Birthdays ago, well that takes owning the those new or CIB. I have about half of those games, and I don't regret pay the prices I paid for any of them. I'd also, at some point, like to prioritize getting the others too.

Yeah, we've had cloud cover coming in and out but we had about 80-85% coverage. It's amazing and the experience of just seeing dimmed sunlight that's not at all like clouds blocking the sun is just something you have to experience. Well, that was fun. Back to work.

I could be wrong but I think it's a very localized meme on here. I think @DefaultGen started it a few weeks ago, and it just carried over here. I could be wrong though. This is legit the only "social media" site I go to. Like, at all. EDIT Well, ok, some might consider YouTube social media, but since all I watch are gamer, science and hunting/outdoorsy channels, I don't count them. I'm not one to get into the whole Shorts/Community part of YT.

If that's what you were trying to say, then that's fine. If you're not into S2 then S3 probably isn't going to be your thing either. But I am saying that, in my opinion, Sonic 2 is excellent but Sonic 3 just does the final refinement of the whole package. It does refine the level design a bit more, while making the whole package prettier, and the story telling is much more polished. Plus, game saves helps a lot considering its size. But yeah, by the time they made Sonic 2, the feel of the 2D series was set. If you can't enjoy Sonic 2, I would not recommend Sonic 3. That said, if someone wanted to try out the series or never gave it a fair shake beyond 5 minutes on S1 or S2, I'd highly recommend giving S3, S&K or even S3&K a solid try. There's nothing wrong with skipping the earlier titles, but Sonic 2 is most definitely a finished Sonic game.

Haha, dude, don't even try to make it binary. I mentioned this in the Sonic 1 rating, so I know I'm being honest. Sonic 1 is just meh. Sonic needed the spin dash and that's when the game went from being just aight to awesome. Then going from 2 to S3&K* is when the stars aligned. Using the Reed Scale, today, I'd rate those three games 5, 8 & 9.5. I don't think I can quite call S3&K a perfect 10. I'm not arguing that. But it is a killer game. [*] And I'm well aware that most of you guys know the history of these two games--Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles, but the fact that one game was split in two makes it a tad hard to reference. I consider both games, one game. I could rate/discuss each one individually but since I always had both, or went to a friend/family members house who had both, I just can't separate the two, so reference the game how many in the fan community do when you link the two carts together-- "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles."

..vs Final Fantasy VII, no doubt. Lol, we did 64 games for the Genesis. The PS1, in my opinion, has the highest ratio of absolute bangers to trash titles. You can't throw a rock at the PS1 collection without hitting either a classic or a real, true hidden gem. We're going to need a bracket 128 titles, if not 256 if we want to do it justice. In 30 seconds, I could rattle off at least 25 games that should be on the list, and I wouldn't even be giving it much thought.

At $6, I'd agree. If he sold the cartridge for above $20, I'd think he was doing a bait and switch on the people that'd be inclined to pay attention to such things, but if this were a $6 item then yeah, he's just reusing the same photo cause that's easy. Or, maybe he was aware. Is there, by chance, fine print that says "You will get a copy of this game, but it may not be the one pictured". I'd still consider that a little bit of a dirty trick if he intentionally selected a photo of a Minuet, but at least he'd be semi-honest in his details. I don't mind sellers posting personal, stock photos so long as they state "You will not receive this item, but one similar to it." I know all of the big, online resellers like JJ Games and DK Oldies do that.

There's also a jump button. This is the EXACT example of what we're talking about in gaining experience to go fast. You learn "I'll go through this loop... then another... ok, juuuump NOW! Phew, I did it!" It's exhilarating to learn and chain together the fast sections. Yes, there are strategically placed stopping points or, worse, bumpers that send you backwards. Frustrating at first, but when you get your timing down to JUMP over them, then it's exhilarating because it almost feels like your cheating/hacking the level design. But it's not. The level design is playing your emotions and making it feel like a thrilling accomplishment, each time you master quickly getting over those stopping points. If this were easy and straight forward, there'd be no point to these Sonic games. Ok, there would be, but this is how you build your speed. Learn the levels by knowing when to jump. The spin-dash is just step one. Jumping is step two.

What service did you buy it through? If it was eBay, returns should be easy enough, even if he doesn’t accept it. Hopefully, your outside the NA or Europe so I have no clue if they are as fair to the buyers in your region as they are elsewhere.

Nah, I think they mean some time between 2025 and 2050.

@BeaIank or @guillavoie. You know, I always assumed this was fine. I've been supe busy and this new game season, I got an NES Advantage and if I can get back into participating, I was going to use the NES Advantage some, but I won't if even that's illegal.

No, it has “30+ years of failed games” because Sonic never made a proper jump to 3D. Sonic Mania is a fantastic game and a return to its roots. Many say it’s even better than S&K3. 2D Sonic is great. It’s not an acquired taste for everyone, but as an example, neither is beer. Imagine if I came in here and said “beer is nasty and sucks. The fact that you have to learn to like it is proof I’m right”, probably 95% of you would want to burn me at the stake. I accept that’s my opinion about the stuff but I can also accept I’m in the minority. I don’t have to tear down beer lovers because they enjoy something different that I do. The same is true with Sonic. You like it or you don’t. There’s no need to berate the series just because it’s not your cup of tea. In fact, it seems to be the SNES bois who have to keep pushing the Mario vs. Sonic narrative when, in fact, both can coexist. Some can like one over the other, while others can appreciate what both series have to offer.

I went with ‘never seen it, never will’ but this is one of those cases where none of the other options feels right. I saw it decades ago. It kept my attention once, but I remember nothing about nor do I feel the need to watch it again. Was it good, bad or mediocre? No clue. Do I care to watch it again? Nope, not at all.

About a month ago my 10yo son burnt himself on the arm, the exact same place as Micheal, but with the edge of a waffle iron. He’s gonna have a nasty scar. That part of your arm for some reason isn’t super-sensitive so he had his arm setting on it for a half second longer than, say, your finger tips and he got a 2nd/3rd degree burn. It’s healed up fine but the scars certainly going to be there the rest of his life.

@Brickman, are there alternatives to Super Potato? I always here that it’s over priced and it sounds like it’s geared to Westerners visiting Japan. Are there alternative shops, maybe in less touristee areas geared toward local? Anyway, if I were to visit Japan, I actually would like to see the country side. Everything you see and about Japan from the outside seems to promote the business of it’s cities, but I’d like to see a rural town, go to Mount Fuji, see how Kobe beef is raised, etc.

I’m seriously considering this one. I have acquired a piano-to-Genesis parallel cable and now I’m looking for the right/cheap Miracle Piano that works and at least has a power adapter. I might start with a NES cart first and then work to the Genesis. My hope/goal is to basically make a synth so, obviously, people can make music on the fly rather than having to program a tracker to make NES and/or Genesis tunes. I have a lot to learn, though, but from what I’ve read, it’s nothing I couldn’t do.

Not really. If I were to go on such a trip, I’d do my research before hand. It’s generally more expensive to import this stuff than to stuff it in your suitcase. As a matter of mental self preservation, I don’t research to much import stuff since I’m not likely to get it. That said, I do know I’d like the Parodius games as well as the Hudsonsoft parody shmup. I can’t recall it’s name.

When it comes to what I’d buy, I’m easy to please. I wouldn’t mind picking up a couple of nice conditioned Game Boy Lights, and as many working, nice condition, tight N64 controllers I could fit in a suit case. I also need a Famicom and I could see myself buying a few shmups that are Japanese exclusives for it.

Well this just arrived today. A first edition Myst for the Macintosh. This box is in fantastic shape. I already have a few copies as I’d like to piece together a near perfect copy. This box is near perfect! But the fact is, I did not immediately hit the BIN button because of the box. In fact, I didn’t even pay attention. The reason I bought this was because I noticed it contained something I’d never seen before, a Mechanical Age patch disc. After purchasing this on eBay, I immediately tried to do some research and I asked around on various communities if anyone knew anything about this. I pretty much found nothing. Some really, really big fans in the Cyan Discord searched some old message groups going back to the mid-90s and the most they could find was mention of some people getting stuck in the Mech Age on early copies, but there was no mention of the patch disc. So, yeah, it might just be a simple patch disk but I’m excited to have a near one-of-a-kind item like this for a franchise I’ve loved for 30 years. Next, I need to find someone who can dump the contents. It’s an old double-density Mac 3.25” and from my research, Apple who always does things differently to lock people into their tech made the drive run a variable speeds so you have to dump this off of an old Mac, or specialized hardware. If anyone knows anyone who can do that, I’d appreciate a contact.

Two points--you don't have to like the game design, but what I am saying is what you are calling "broken" I'm saying is by design and some of us enjoy that--it comes down to preference. Plus, in there own way, I never found Sonic games to be harder than Mario games back in the day. In fact, I've beaten Sonic 2 and I got pretty far in both Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles. I didn't beat SMB1 or SMB3 until I was an adult on an honest, no-cheats playthrough. And regarding game size and replayability, SMB3 was at the end of Nintendo's personal support of the NES and cartridges were a lot bigger then than when they started. My reference point of making games hard to add value was a mindset that started in the developers in those older, earlier days but it carried on for a while as the system matured because that's what they were use to doing. I'd argue that even some SNES games are "hard" but yes, as RAM size increased, dev studios could become more recreative in how they added content and value to their games.

I can't disagree with this any more. Your personal opinions are your own, and that's fine but let's be clear--I was a "Nintendo" kid. After the Atari 2600, I got a NES. Loved it, and I loved Mario 1 and 3. Hands-down, Mario 3 is my favorite 2D Mario game and it's a masterpiece. I played it a bunch as a kid and I enjoyed it. After the NES, I got a Game Boy. Since it was several years after the that time that I finally got a TV in my room, I spent a TON of time on my Game Boy. Every Mario game got better and my Metroid II was probably my favorite first party title, and Metroid for the NES was also probably my second or third favorite title on the NES. Of course, time went on and I managed to get a PSX and an N64. The only Sega system I had as a kid was a Game Gear. The Genesis was relegated to playing with friends and family when I went to their homes. My dad would rent a Genesis about once a quarter when my brother and I went to his house and if we got one game, it was Sonic 2. Later, I'd go over to a cousins house and we spent countless hours playing the Genesis and a large part of that time was playing Sonic Knuckles. I say that to say this--I love Mario and I love Sonic, but the experiences are vastly different. As a kid, I found myself liking the Sonic experience far better. Your criticisms aren't entirely fair because they are misinterpretations. Most games start with an "easy mode" and that what you get with waves 1-1 to 1-3 in Sonic 2. It's easy to go fast and it establishes that it's partly a desired goal. So why does it get difficult after that? Does Sonic as a game lose it's way? No, part of the difficulty is struggling through the levels as if they are any platformer but the ADDED benefit is once you can navigate the level, you can further improve your game by learning optimized paths that allow you to blaze through the game, but you have to EARN that. This is not broken, but intentional game design. Sonic games are intended to be fast, but that expectation comes with a price. First you learn your levels, then you master those levels. When you've mastered them, that's when you can blaze through them. IMHO, it's a master class in creating game replayability. People use to, and still do, cry that "NES games are too hard". I'd argue this was partly intentional because most platform based NES games can be beaten in 20 minutes once you master them. Cartridges were smaller so adding high-degrees of challenge added value. However, once you beat a game, usually there wasn't much replay value unless you wanted to truly master a game. Sonic takes that same mechanic, makes it's games modestly difficult (compared to old NES games) and highly incentivizes the desire to come back to the game. Finding those optimized paths and gaining that speed run speed, back in the early 90s, WAS rewarding unlike other platforms on the NES or Genesis. I thought Sonic was better than Mario as a kid. Comparing the eras, I still do, although at this point Mario has so much amazing 2D IP, it's no longer apples to apples. I'm not saying you have to love Sonic. Everybody has their preferences, but you're misreading the room. What you're seeing isn't broken game design--it's different game design. But that difference is intentional, and I don't think the kid that grew up strictly on NES/Mario platformers are too prone to give Sonic a chance for what it is.

It's a PC game, or rather, it's taken from the PC version of a game. Man, I enjoyed that game too. I could see this being at the beginning. Another game featuring crates is is Final Fantasy Tactics, but I don't think there's any form of that game on PC.