Renmauzo

I had another round of things accumulate at my Japanese box, so it was really nice to get this brought home I'm still fleshing out the J-Saturn collection, and this time, I was able to get both Bulk Slash and Variable Geo Advanced (special edition w/puzzle) for really good deals, while Parodius, Strikers 1945 and Thunder Force Gold Pack vol. 1 are nice additions that presented themselves while I was waiting on other things. The big score this time around, however, has been this complete Hello Kitty Dreamcast console. I've wanted to get the blue version for decades when I first started importing through NCSX, but the opportunity never presented itself. As I get to the end of my game collecting journey, I'm getting some of these things that I've 'back-burnered'. I managed to get the system for about a fifth off the going rate for fully complete (w/baggies, no yellowing, etc.) and this console is going to get set up with the VGA adapter for some sweet, sweet looking import gaming I'll be shipping out another box in a few days, so there are a bunch more dope games that'll be on the way shortly! Good luck to all on the hunt

'Attack of the Friday Monsters!! A Tokyo Tale' came from the mind of the dev who made the Boku no Natsuyasumi (My summer vacation) series of PlayStation consoles and is a wonderful slice of life mystery game that hearkens back to being a kid and having 'grand, imaginative adventures' with friends. I bought this one when it came out and I still go back to it again when I feel like a relaxing Sunday afternoon game on the 3DS. The other three titles I love from the Guild01/Guild02 project on 3DS are Aero Porter, Crimson Shroud, and The Starship Damrey. The first is an organizational style puzzle game that uses the baggage system in an airport that throws an increasing number of variables at you as you complete each 'day of work' (reminds me of 'Papers, Please!' in some ways), the second is a first person D&D-esque RPG created by Matsuno (of Ogre Battle/FF Tactics fame) with Level 5 onside, and the third is a first person survival horror that feels rather haunting. At any rate, just thought I'd share some games I really enjoy from the e-shop. Oh! I almost forgot Boxy Boy and its sequel! Those are really fun environmental puzzle games

Rice-A-Roni and stewed tomatoes...couldn't pass the gag reflex.

The GBC was my intro to owning/playing Game Boy. I'd tried the original when it came out, wasn't impressed, and left it at that. When Pokémon came out, that's when I decided to buy a Teal GBC to play those as I was loving the cartoon, and thought it would be great to play on campus between classes. A short time later, Oracle of Ages / Seasons and the MMX games would make me feel like buying in was more than worth it, and in the years since, MGS, Survival Kids, Wario 3, and Harvest Moon 3 would only further that sentiment. I really like the GBC unit itself, and while the dedicated library only had a couple dozen games of note, I feel the same is true of the N64. As an incremental upgrade as opposed to something wholly new with a limited library, I get why it doesn't get much love or attention, but it still holds a special place in my heart as my first Game Boy (with some real - albeit few - bangers).

It's been a minute. I been dealing with house related items (finally have the steel roof on!) and a herniated L2 disc in my back...my heart goes out to anyone dealing with serious back injuries and this pain and road to recovery has been...arduous, to say the least. That said, I've picked up a few things here and there, and it started with a chance notification from Thrift Books in which I was able to get 'Game Over' for $10! This is a book I've often seen/heard referenced and always wanted to read but couldn't find, so this was great to get as I LOVE reading about gaming history. Next, I was watching the 'Here's My Question For You' podcast that Chris and Coury (CGQ and MLiG) have been doing of late, and Coury mentioned that he was having a print run done of their M2 documentary that had been commissioned by LRG for the Battle Garegga limited edition from a couple years back. I love what M2 has been doing over the years (the Shot Triggers line is especially awesome!), so I ordered a copy to check out. Aside from that, an LRG order showed up, and I got Kirby and Metroid on a lark. With regards to Metroid, I'd played the original some, but couldn't get invested because of the odd control scheme; I'm very excited that options have been added for the controls, so I'm looking forward to digging in once I've knocked out Tactics Ogre and Octopath Traveller which I've got on the go right now. Then, just today, it felt like Christmas because a box of games showed up from Jim (KidShoryuken / Mad Panic Gaming) through his Patreon gamebox service. I'd been rolling over money for the last few months to get some higher ticket titles taken care of on my list, and here's what he surprised me with: Super Tempo was a complete surprise because it wasn't on my list (I couldn't remember the name of the game, which I'd only seen for the first time at PRGE) so that was an awesome surprise, and SFZ3...dooope!!! Shooters, a fighter, and a platformer...super excited to play these I set up a Saturn and the Switch in my room while I recover and rehab...been getting my ass handed to me for the last 2 weeks on the 'shoot 'em up' front, lol.

The Mega Man number got me back in the day between releases on different consoles. For example, I didn't bother with the Game Boy releases for being - mostly - remixes of the 1 through 5 on NES. Because they shared the same number scheme, by the time we got to 5 on GB, I expected more of the same and I wasn't going to buy a Game Boy back then to play games I thought I'd largely already played. So, to find out much later that 5 on GB had a unique story and characters was a surprise, especially when I'd seen the same thing happen on GG with Mega Man which was just a repackaged MM5 from NES. Capcom did the same thing with artwork and naming conventions for PC Mega Man games, so the whole thing became quite the mess. Adding the 'World' secondary title to the GB releases as they did in Japan would have helped with differentiation, but it was weird that they went from remix games for the first 4 then decided to pivot with an original for 5 o_0?

That is a sick kiosk!!! Don't know what to say other than 'you win'.@GexIf you ever come across a new Turbo/PCE forum, post a thread, I'd be there to hang out in a heartbeat.

An easy 8 from me; this game sparked my love for Fire Emblem and I've played every game - released since - to death.

I just saw this today...I would never have expected this Summer Vacation Shin-Chan game to get released here, which is AWESOME! If there was a way to get Sony to bring over the four Boku no Natsuyasumi games in a compilation or something, I'd buy two copies just to support the endeavour and my way of saying 'THANK YOU' for making that gaming dream come true.

*Systems are in the order I got them, and when they were current/active; I didn't include any systems I picked up after their run* NES: Q-Bert, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa!! SNES: Super Mario World, Mario Paint Sega Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Spinball PlayStation: Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VII N64: Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time GBC: Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue GBA: Castlevania Circle of the Moon, Mega Man Battle Network NGPC: Puzzle Link Dreamcast: Shenmue, Capcom vs. SNK, Grandia II, Bomberman Online PS2: Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec XBOX: Ghost Recon 2 Gamecube: Super Mario Sunshine, Animal Crossing PSP: Vampire Chronicle, Ridge Racer, Lumines *Imported the PSP on the Japanese launch* XB360: Ridge Racer 6 Wii: Metal Slug anthology PS3: Ridge Racer 7, Folklore WiiU: New Super Mario Bros U

Steel Assault is a sick game! I almost never buy anything digital, but made an exception for this one; def. a title that deserves to be played.

I hear you. I just beat Dead Space over the weekend, so I'm back to working on a couple of games from the list like Tactics Ogre and Symphony of the night...whew TO is a HUGE game; I'm only on chapter 4...trying to save Cressida is proving to be a challenge.

On Christmas Eve, I ordered all four of the 'Works' books from LRG, all 4 have been showing as 'ready' at least a month (started checking when I noticed I hadn't received a shipping notice), but the order is still sitting there waiting to be shipped. 13 days ago, I sent a support ticket request for some information on a shipping timeline since everything is ready, but have yet to receive a response. With the games, I just order and put it out of my mind, but these books are in stock, so this is my first experience with this kind of issue as it relates to LRG. I just sent in a reply - to their confirmation email of my original support request - as a followup, but am I ever missing being able to speak to a person since; maybe it's just me, but I always feel like support requests by email are ignored and there's a certain catharsis in talking to a person about an issue (regardless of how effectual they actually are). Those NES Works books look awesome, and I felt confident in getting them since the Game Boy books are so great.

@HeartOfDavid, this could be really fun if you let it; the greatest thrills tend to come from getting something you truly treasure! I agree with your assertion to treat it as a marathon and not a sprint, and having a solid plan and sticking to it as has been said is a good way to start. Do you have a list of 5, 10, 15 or even 20 games that would just be awesome to own and PLAY? Forget the filler nonsense as, every dollar that goes towards a game you have little actual interest in is a dollar you could be putting towards something you will love and play. Avoid feeling like volume equals good, or that there is some imaginary group of people to impress, and certainly don't feel compelled to get what's popular just because it is (I'm not ashamed to say I like games like Mark Davis' The Fishing Master on SNES...I think it's a pretty dope game and great on a quiet Sunday afternoon, or Legend of the River King on Game Boy!). Hearing about the stories tied to peoples games is one of the great parts of being in a gaming community! All that said, would I start over now if it came down to it? Yes. But as focused as I am on the games I choose and have chosen since the 80's, I would make myself a 'desert island' list of a dozen or two of my all time favourites and focus on those (like a few of my top 10 - Mega Man X, Xenogears, Soldier Blade, and Chrono Trigger - for example) and price be damned since those titles are special to me. Anyway, I wish you nothing but fun and excitement on your journey. Games should always be fun first, and if you can only get a title here and there, make 'em good ones that mean something to you and enjoy the heck out of them

I go out of my way to get copies that have the spine card now. When I started my PCE collection a few years ago, I didn't even consider it, but as time has gone on and I've been getting each Saturn game with the obi, I regret not considering this when I was picking up my PCE stuff. It's not just about completeness for me though, it's part of the art. PCE have the white tray spine, Saturn have the black ones, both are boring which is resolved by the obi/spine card. Some cards are a little more plain, some have cool artwork on them...and since I keep every game in a box protector, it's not as though they get in the way or anything. Anyway, just speaking for me, I do have regrets that I didn't look for copies w/obi for the PCE stuff, so if you are thinking you may regret it, that thought will probably creep back in at some point. Motivations are different though, and for me, it's all about and extra coolness to the package as a whole.

Just in time for the weekend, my last months worth of pickups from Japan came in! Other than that, EB Games forgot to call me about Fire Emblem so they were sitting there since launch which I only realized after seeing folks post theirs here. I LOVE the Fire Emblem series and have since jump, but I don't keep up with game news outside of watching Nintendo Direct which is how I able to avoid missing out on the gorgeous special edition of Engage! *NOTE: My apologies, I'm getting ready to replace the T-molding on the Big Red which is why it's missing * And from Japan, more sweet, sweet Saturn games!!! This time, I got Waku Waku 7 (RAM pack version), Vampire Saviour (RAM pack version) and Pocket Fighter. I'm thinking about trying to get all the RAM pack games, although I'm on the fence about Final Fight since I keep hearing/reading that it is poor (and also being expensive makes for a bad combination that I'll likely avoid). Lastly, I got Deep Fear because I was watching a Sega Lord X video about Saturn games about a month ago and he went fairly in depth on the title. I didn't know that the game is in English by and large and, and it gave me Dino Crisis x Galerians vibes so I took the plunge (no pun intended). Aside from that, I love me some Thunder Force, and I've never gotten around to opening my PS1 copy of V, but I wanted to play this on Saturn and to listen to that soundtrack in the Special Pack. I signed up with Jim (Kidshoryuken, now Mad Panic Gamin) in November, so I'm anxious to see what he's tracked down for me. I want to play Blast Wind so bad...fingers crossed! I hope everyone has an awesome weekend and gets a chance to unwind and play some games!

A few things showed up over the past four days or so. To start, Weltall-2 (ID mode) came in...and will be going right into the Xenogears display in the game room! Recently, my wife told me about this Earthbound item on the Nintendo rewards site, and sicne everyone in the extended family has picked up and been playing Switch Sports online together (my aunt even bought herself a Switch last week to join in and has been playing online daily), so we ordered a copy and I picked up a replacement Clubhouse games because my Mom was given the game a hard look on the shelf 2 weeks ago so I gave her mine. Ender Lilies and Sol Cresta showing up was a complete surprise...I don't even bother checking when LRG orders are ready anymore. I picked up Dead Space on Friday, and my daughter was over the moon that Cuddly Forest Friends arrived today (home sick, so it worked out even better) and we thought it would be funny to display these side by side XD. And that's it for the moment. There should be some pretty dope stuff showing up in a day or two (more Saturn, yay!), so that'll be fun.

I'm not sure if anyone else here is familiar with Resonant Arc and the 'State of the Arc' podcast, but they cover games by way of deep dive narrative and thematic analysis in a book club format (play up to a certain point each week and the viewer does the same, then discuss that section the following week). The latest title - in which they're up to episode 3 for - is BioShock. I'm not one for 1st person shooters, but the story, theme and setting really hooked me to where I didn't mind that it is an FPS. I started on Sunday and just finished the game today, saved all the Little Sisters for the heartwarming ending, but the scene was so quick and there were no credits, so I didn't get a photo (I was kind of surprised that there weren't credits.). The story and setting made it worth the play (the gameplay itself was pretty forgettable for me): I love that art deco style, the voice acting and writing was absolutely fantastic, and I love the messaging, bringing together themes I remember reading from Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.

8/10 for me. I didn't realize that 'Portal girl' had a name, and I'm pretty sure I recognize Alex from the cover of Siberia...wouldn't swear to it though.

Yeah, the Code Legend is pretty neat. I bought it through the funding campaign they had because I really liked what it talked about and wanted to do something like this with my son as e's really showing an interest in computers: a coding software designed to teach kids, but you also build your own buster controller to play the levels you design. Designed in Japan by a team of coding instructors and child education professionals...I was like, 'Sign me up!'

I was cleaning up my Amazon wishlist and noticed I'd never pulled the trigger on Jake Hunter, so I'll add 'new 3DS game' to the list of things I didn't think would happen in 2023, and I finally got around to picking up the 2 Bitmap books I've been meaning to get; a book about all things KoF and a book about beat 'em ups, sign me up all day! Other than that, I got VGP to split an order that was holding up Cuphead, Sophstar, and The Callisto Protocol so that I could sneak some play in between Symphony of the Night and Tactics Ogre play sessions. I'd missed out on the order window for WIndjammers 2 and couldn't find it a couple months back at PRGE, but luckily, I discovered PNP in Winnipeg carries all the LRG and Signature Edition releases, so I was able to right that wrong. As for Atari 50, I haven't played an Atari game in over 30 years, but this package is the one that finally roped me in, in large part due to historical component that Digital Eclipse integrated into the package. I find gaming history absolutely fascinating and could read books on the subject all day if I had the time to do so, so things like this are really captivating to me; very much looking forward to spending some time with Atari 50. And that's it for now. I will have some more Japanese Saturn titles on the way shortly, so that is going to be super exciting for me. Until next time!

No change for me; it was hard before, it's hard now. I've got just under 100 titles to go, and I'm done (although the Sharp X68000 and MSX are calling to meeee). It's always been hard, even moreso the last 5 years since I moved from the Toronto area. I live on an island in Atlantic Canada, so I've got no access other than buying online or air travel to a convention, our dollar drops a quarter to USD at any given time, so I have to make more to buy the same stuff (and tend to have to get from the US which is its own challenge the last few years), and pricing is at an all time high. Many have challenges with some or all of these types of things, so I don't have any business complaining like it's just me and simply plug away. That being said, I choose to not be deterred and look at it with 'the cost is the cost' mentality. I have no interest in full sets, so that helps, I love to play (when time permits...the Backlog Challenge has been a lot of fun!), so that keeps me motivated, and I love the stories and history that come with being a fan of games. I have a LOT of sealed games, but not by design (just haven't gotten to experiencing those adventures yet), so the grading part of the community hasn't really crossed my mind much other than a headline here or there. I'm not so naive as to think it hasn't had a trickle down effect on the market...as someone who only goes CIB, the trickle-down economics affecting that space are real, but I haven't let it dictate what I want to do (although I think a big part of that is that there are far more games behind me than there are ahead). I think all in all, the only thing that bugs me about the last 3 years is how changes in the landscape have led to people being priced out who want to be in this but can't/won't (financially or on principle) and genuinely care about original, physical media. If I was thinking about starting here and now in 2023 and hadn't already been in it since the 80's, I don't think I could do it...in my mind it would be like standing at the foot of Everest and trying to visualize myself at the peak...that's a lot of work and a looooong road to travel. Anyway, this is a topic I could go on about for a while, so I'll just leave it at the abridged version

The last couple of months have been challenging insofar as finding time was concerned, along with playing/beating a few new games not on the list (like GoW Ragnarok), but 15 of 18 was a huge improvement for me over last year. I'm looking forward to the 2023 challenge! Thanks for putting this together @Reed Rothchild!

A man of refinement and taste! Love these additions; great games, all!

As I wind down, I'd decided a few months ago that I would finally start my J-Saturn journey. My wife rocked my world yesterday with some amazing games she got on the sly: I'd mentioned Gundam Wing: Endless Duel for SFC (and she loves Gundam WIng, so I thought it'd be fun to play together) and she knew I still had one more FFT figure to go. But then she hit me with a couple of consoles. We were watching a Sega Lord X hardware video for Saturn not too long ago, and so she got us a V-Saturn and a Hi-Saturn which is just awesome! I just signed up for KidShoryuken's Patreon in November for the fun of seeing what he'll send game-wise, but me wife set us up with an instant collection of awesome games. We played some X-Men vs. Street Fighter last night after the kids went to bed and family went home...what a trip! ******************************* I hope all of you had - and continue to have - a wonderful Christmas and holiday with family, friends, and happiness!