Strange

I couldn’t tell you, but when I saw the price of the SNES limited edition 3DS I sold mine and bought some really nice CIBs with the return. I don’t regret it at all. Some prices you can’t back away from, this was one of those times for me. Maybe it’ll be worth even more in the future but oh well. I like the 3DS system and library so I’m not being a downer on it but I feel like the broader game collecting community, particularly Reddit, is looking for that next underdog or unicorn console. The next Sega Saturn (among other examples) - where the console didn’t do well but the library is pretty alright and so the games skyrocket and stay there. They want to get in on whatever that next system is that fulfills that prophecy so they can feel good and be like “Yeah, I did it!” But like you said, the 3DS did perfectly fine and I don’t think it or any modern library will ever be “the next Sega Saturn.”

Any lesser known stuff that you did like? Ys and Rondo are definitely on my radar but I’m going to try to dig deeper.

Well… one of my local game stores had a brand new Analogue Duo priced at MSRP (I know they’re still available at Analogue) and I had the credit to cover the whole purchase. So I have a PC Engine/CD again. Looks like I’m giving it another shot.

This one was $155. Patience paid off! Granted I wasn’t checking my saved search every single day but I did have to wait a little bit to find that combination of good condition + UPC isn’t cut out + has all inserts + doesn’t cost a premium due to those factors.

I’ve tried on multiple occasions to get into the Xenoblade series too. I’ve tried the original, X, and 2. I don’t know what it is but I just can’t get into it.

I think it’s a great library, I’ve just got enough to collect/play as is so I had to draw line somewhere. The CD stuff looks really cool though. Maybe I’ll come back to it someday. The Analogue Duo did tempt me back in.

I bought a C64 monitor and one of the capacitors immediately started to go out and the colors faded. Then I bought a more modern-ish CRT that died on me. I bought a PC Engine and then realized I don’t really want to play or collect PCE. As for individual games I’ve gotten way pickier about condition so it’s harder for me to regret, but I may still impulse buy a good condition game every now and then and realize “Okay it’s in great shape but do I actually care about this game?” as soon as I get home. It’s hard to let go of that constant dopamine hit from buying a ton of games but curating is my new strategy. Speaking of being picky about condition, I purged a lot of stuff that I had gotten over the years that no longer met my condition standards. That felt great.

Finally I can stop saying to myself “Damn, I need to get Half-Life”

There are a ton of hockey rinks in Tennessee! Disagree about the transplant part though. Nashville’s fanbase flourished before we got filled with transplants. I think Dallas’ was pretty organic too.

Do the Canes bleed over into SC? Hockey in general is huge in Nashville and the surrounding areas in middle Tennessee. There are some Preds fans in Atlanta but I imagine that is leftover from the Thrashers leaving rather than wholly organic. Some of those fans just continued to follow Winnipeg though.

I don’t have anything to contribute that hasn’t already been said, but down here in Nashville the organ dude at Preds games will play themes from hockey video games. And various other Nintendo titles too.

How do I deal? I don’t. I just lost my mom to cancer. It’s a devastating feeling. I worry about my dad, who is around the same age as yours, every single day. I call nearly every day and visit as much as I can. That’s really all we can do. Time is the most important resource in our lives and you’ll never feel like you had enough of it. I know I didn’t when my mom passed. I haven’t figured out how to deal with the mental anguish but maybe someone else here can guide you better. My advice is to just spend time, spend time, spend time.

Homebrew pickups

I have others that I’ll post later but as far as readily available pictures I’ve got some of my copy of Ultima Underworld. This is probably my favorite in my PC collection atm.

Total necromancy here, sorry, but I’m not too proud to admit when I’m wrong. I love the Steam Deck. It’s my main gaming device now. I still use my PS5/Switch/regular PC occasionally but the SD has become my go-to.

Caveat I don’t believe in anything. Religion, astrology, any of it. Sorry if that seems cynical but it’s just how I believe at the moment. My mom just passed. It was a horrifying experience. Seriously, if you have to outlive someone you love then pray it isn’t cancer because watching that disease take her body in her final moments was more horrifying than anything any piece of media could have prepared me for. That being said, if there is any justice in this universe then I hope she is, in some capacity, with her father now. He died 5 years ago of the exact same type of cancer. They were so alike. Despite me not believing in anything I do find comfort in imagining something like that. My grandfather/her dad was a wildlife photographer in Germany and a very talented one at that. Birds were his favorite. Whenever a blue jay or red cardinal would visit my mom would say it was her dad. That’s another fun/comforting thought. So whenever I see a bird hanging around I try to think of them.

Missing the NES version has been a big regret for me for awhile. I’m so glad you opened up preorders for more and for the pocket version.

Another vote for Autobahn Polizei. I used to frequent GameStops back when I first started collecting and had no real established goals yet and this is one that I only ever saw one copy of in that long stretch of time. Anecdotal, yes, but isn’t that how all the best video game rarity lists are made

The Wii was where Sin & Punishment died and now I’m sad all over again

That’s depressingly true. People know the term Metroidvania better than they actually know Metroid or Castlevania these days.

I hear you, and I enjoy my Switch (less so than my Steam Deck these days but I digress) but I think there’s something to be said about it being the cheapest, the portable system, the Pokémon machine, and the one that parents get for their kids because they know the brand. I don’t think those things count for even half the numbers here but they are factors. Idk I just run into way too many Gen Z people who say they “don’t do that Nintendo shit.” I think PC/Xbox/PS share the crown now. My buddy teaches high school music and his class didn’t know what Metroid was when he was gushing to them about the Prime remaster (which breaks my heart). In the end it doesn’t matter, I still love Nintendo. That’s just the overall feeling I get from interacting with others.

I liked the Wii. I still do. It was a huge financial success for Nintendo. But it is no doubt the point where Nintendo took a massive hit in the collective cultural mindshare. I was in middle school and high school when the Wii was a thing. I was a Nintendo kid. Prior to the Wii, so were a lot of other people. But as someone else mentioned here, if you’re a teenager/young adult, which would you rather play? Outside of Nintendo’s sweet first party stuff, you had what, Boom Blox? Then on the other side there was Red Dead, Dark Souls, Halo, God of War, Call of Duty (proper), Skyrim, BioShock, Mass Effect, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, etc.? These games were gaming at the time. Not Nintendo. As a high schooler I thought the Wii was fun but it was a hard sell against playing the aforementioned games with all of my friends. I spent a large portion of that era defending Nintendo against people who said they were “garbage now.” (And then the Wii U came out and I’ve been a bit more sour on Nintendo since, but that’s a discussion for a different thread). Whether us old people want to admit it or not, Nintendo isn’t as popular with the younger generations as they were when we were kids. No I’m not saying they’re shit now and that everyone hates them, but they’re not king in peoples’ minds like they used to be. And I really believe we have this era to blame for that downfall.

I’ve been in this situation twice. Neither ended well. (I haven’t read any of this thread except the OP, idk what all has been said so far or where we’re at in the conversation atm)

For original Game Boy games I have a modern DMG from Supersparkster on Instagram. Probably get the most mileage out of that one. For GBC I have a modded IPS GBC. GBA I use a stock SP.