GPX

Welcome newbie!

My most recent achievements on actual physical copies would probably be completing both Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, and obtaining all the stars for both games. Recent years, I've been playing hardcore Geometry Wars and Defense Grid for Xbox Live. With Geometry Wars, I've only been able to crack the top 500 on one of the game modes. With Defense Grid, I've got top 10 on 2 of the levels. So many hours wasted, but so damn addictive!

As per title, what would you say is your current best gaming achievement(s)? Either: - on a personal level OR - on a world ranking achievement Have you got the skills to reach Guinness proportions? Well here's your chance to boast and tell..

Congrats Bronty! Lovely grail landed after the hefty but low-balling bounty! Thanks for sharing this epic piece!!

I think it needs to be emphasised that there are 2 separate issues of discussions going on: 1. Is the grading of CIB any good for the hobby? I believe yes, but only in certain demographics of CIBs. For example, any CIB in poor condition should be rejected for grading because it’s wasting everybody’s time - it looks ugly for display and you won’t likely to make any profit when reselling (except maybe extremely rare items). 2. Is the hype and price hike a natural phenomenon or is it artificially made to take money from rich/stupid buggers? Whether right or wrong, here’s my opinion using an analogy: Ordinarily, when there’s a promotion of an item, I’d want it to be promoted by a salesman with facts and figures, pros and cons. The current hype and “articles” are seemingly done by cult members who want me to believe their ideologies without any linking with the mainstream thoughts. It just feels like I’m being brainwashed into thinking something rather than to give me the info for me to form an opinion on. So kind of the feeling of “good salesman” vs “dodgy salesman”. And I’m sure there are plenty of people with this uneasy feeling about this price hike period.

I can see this vantage point. The world of rich people doing whatever the hell they want, until the top of the crop runs dry on money, or they end up getting bored. However, I think the majority of opinions are seeing not so much the value of the games increasing, but more the rapid rate of price hikes and the self-promotion of "news articles" which ties in with HA, WATA, and random people with decent dollar. There is a certain level of disingenuous about the whole affair. Then you couple this with the owner of HA buying up a WATA graded item, to then sell WATA graded games, with the addition of a questionable background in business affairs. Altogether, there is a certain level of fishiness that is hard not to imagine, whether it's being realistic or purely delusional.

Yes, it seems wrong in so many ways: - the box is the hardest part to find in eye-catching condition and also the ONLY part that you see after grading. If it looks below average, it doesn’t deserve to get more than a 5.0 in my opinion. - it’s only actually “rare” in sealed form, not CIB. People paying ridiculous prices for this stuff are either shill bidding, dumb, or crazy. Can’t comprehend the ridiculousness of this current situation.

I like the analogy BUT, and this is where I feel some of the hate is being thrown at the current situation.. No matter how rich you are, no matter what foreign land you come across, you would often first ask “what’s the price on this?” Then you would pay that price or barter for that price to come down. The current price blow out seems more like this analogy: Tourist: I’ll pay you $100,000 for this item I have a keen interest on. Local: Are you sure you don’t want to ask for the price first? Tourist: nahh, I’m good. Local: ok then! Tourist (A) to another tourist (B): got this item cheap for $100,000! So much nostalgia and significance! Tourist (B): I wish to pay this item for $150,000! Local: are you sure? We have never sold that amount before. Tourist (B): nahh it’s ok, Tourist (A) told me the price already and I think I’m offering a fair price. Local: ok then!

I’m a neutral observer, having graded VGA games but not yet done any WATA grading. From what I can tell WATA provides a service that would be handy in today’s market of repro/scam sellers of CIBs. This was the original necessary selling point of VGA for the sealed games - authentication. I believe the original intention by WATA was to provide a useful service for a segment of the collecting community. However, I think somewhere along the way, there seems to be misdirection from their original intent. From a bystander point of view, I’m seeing a lot of backlash from a lot of the WATA consumers in the rates of their service, and at the same time, seeing WATA actively promoting their stuff with links to HA and “news” articles that have them in their interviews. What would be best is for them to actually focus more on their actual stated service, and try and complete their rates of return of games and better communication with their consumers. Because currently, it gives a negative perception (at least for me) that they are more into promotion of their services rather than actual performing the service!

Ok I’m still a little bit confused with the current situation and I’m hoping for an explanation. I’m one of those NA members who just goes on randomly and makes random discussions, so I’m not really one to notice all the internal politics of NA since the new owner bought the site. Just reading this thread makes me see clearer the angst from a lot of the previous Mods from NA and a fair few of the members from there. So the question I have is: why is NA a forum you no longer want to be associated with? Is it from a privacy/trust issue? Or are there more sinister concerns?

Have you got anymore WWF funny footages to share?

I have to make an honest confession from the outset - I’m from Australia but... I’m not actually a wizard! In case anyone is wondering, I’m also GPX from NA. My passion is games, whether it’d be CIB, sealed, acrylic’ed, or even Qualified. I also have a fetish for making random threads for random chit chats. I like the new look of this forum. Hope it can continue on with the spirit of NA!