TDIRunner

I've been buying from LRG from the beginning, but I've always stuck with the mindset that I only buy either what I want to play, or what I want to own as a collector's piece (like Night Trap). Someone online once listed the total amount of money one would have spent if they had bought every release up to that point, and it was pretty eye opening to how much this hobby can cost.

That sounds about right. Of course with it being Bioshock, if there is anything physical, I will probably get it.

I've seen that before and it's pretty funny. All jokes aside though, that tree probably produced some pretty cool cuts of lumber.

That would be awesome, but I seriously doubt they will be sold separately physically. But if so, I would be all over that.

Several years ago, I lost out on a great deal on an N64 lot due to a local reseller who backdoored me. After I called him out on in publicly, he offered to sell me the games as a way to "make it up to me." Obviously I declined. He is well known locally for doing similar things with other people, so this wasn't the first or last time.

I would agree on the part about the Arcade Card except for the fact that I basically got mine for free. When I bought my Duo R, I paid the going rate at the time, but I was also able to get an Arcade Card (CIB), multi-tap, 6 button pad and 2 button pad thrown in for the price. Overall, I did pretty well. Since I kept my Core Grafx, if I ever get around to getting a Super SD System 3 or similar, I might be able to sell my Duo R, Arcade Card and Everdrive since they would be covered by the Super SD System 3. I just haven't decided to pull the trigger on that yet.

This reminded me of something I thought was odd. In Horizon Zero Dawn on the PS4, getting 100% in game completion (tracked in your statistics) does not complete everything needed to get a platinum trophy. Also, completing everything to get a platinum trophy does not complete everything needed to get 100% in game completion. I've done both to confirm. I just thought it was interesting that the game offers two different methods of "completion." I'm sure other games work the same way, but that's one I know of for sure.

I think for me, it just depends on the game. Others have said something similar, but if getting 100% is fun, i will go for it. If not, I just don't care. Here is my example: Crash Bandicoot 1 and 2 are some of my favorite games. In Crash 1, getting 100% is pretty tricky. To get a gem for a level, not only do you need to get all of the boxes, but you need to do it without losing a life. That can be pretty frustrating in the later challenging levels. However, in Crash 2, you have to get all of the boxes, but it doesn't matter how many times you die. For that reason, I have only completed Crash 1 at 100% once in my entire life. However, I've completed Crash 2 at 100% more times than I can count. And that doesn't mean I won't play Crash 1. I still love the game. But when I play Crash 1, I play it until I beat the game. When I play Crash 2, I play it until I 100% it.

I love that game, but the bonus levels are killer.

Has Nintendo released a portable dock yet? I would love to have something that "docks" the Switch to a TV, but much smaller just for the purposes of traveling. Mainly, I would use it in the van to hook the Switch up to the TV, but using it in a hotel room would be nice as well. This is exactly what I want, but I can't bring myself to buy a third party device for such a thing: Portable Switch Dock

MGS4 is probably my favorite in the series. I didn't play it until about 2 years after it came out, but after I finished the game, I immediately began to play it again and I ended up playing it straight through from start to finish about 8 times in a row. That's the only game I ever done something like that for. I was such an amazing experience, I just couldn't get tired of it. The Shadow Moses visit is obviously my favorite part, but I also loved the part where you have to follow the guy through the empty city without being caught by the military patrol. When I played it, trophies weren't available yet, and I remember when they became available, you had to start from scratch in order to earn them. That's something I've never tried to do. I have several comments about Twin Snakes, but if you haven't played it yet, and you plan to play it soon, I will wait. I want to hear your thoughts and opinions before you hear anything from me.

You make me want to play through this game again, and maybe I will. It's probably been at least 10 years for me as well. Quick question since you are clearly pretty familiar with this game. Did you ever play MGS4? Specifically, the part in the game when you go back and visit Shadow Moses? Talk about amazing. Also, what are your thoughts on MSG Twin Snakes? Do you play to play through it at all for this blog, or are you focusing just on PS1?

I'm probably repeating a lot, but I didn't read through the entire thread first. I love the PC Engine, but I have no desire to collect for it. I originally bought a Core Grafx and a Turbo Everdrive which allowed me to play all Hu Card based games. I eventually upgraded to a PC Engine Duo R with a component mod and an Arcade Card. Now I can play the same Hu Card games from before, plus all CD based games including the Arcade games. Since I have the Everdrive and a CD burner, I can play just about anything without having to buy games. I love playing them, but I don't have enough nostalgia for the system to justify paying the going prices for the games. My suggestion would be to do something similar to what I did. The PC Engine stuff is a lot cheaper and easier to find. Buy the Japanese hardware and then go with one of the many ways to play ROMs and ISOs, or just play them on the Raspberry Pie.

I thought the same thing at first. As always, Twizer's shelving setup looks fantastic.

I'm actually the opposite. I don't have a problem with the "aging poorly" argument. I may or may not agree with what has aged poorly, but regardless, I certainly understand the mindset.

Read the OP again.

So is the New 3DS its own console with a library of approximately a dozen games?

Agreed. While I will admit that I'm not personally interested in the Arcade 1Up pinball machines, I'm still happy to see these exist. And I would classify them as somewhere in between "virtual" pinball, and a real table.

The TMNT cabs were $299 on Black Friday, but I never go shopping on those days. Even though they were announced at $399 at launch, I always see them for $350. Even though it seems like a fair deal, I still don't want to pay that much right now.

I think the blog length is fine, but my interest is helped by the fact that I really enjoy and know this game very well. I'm starting to remember the amount of backtracking this game includes. It's one of the few things I wasn't crazy about even when the game was new. I felt that it was put in to help pad the length of the game.

It's funny what can change over night. On Wednesday, I was in my local Wal-Mart and I always take a quick stroll through the video game section just in case anything is marked down or on sale. I noticed a hand full of Arcade 1Up machines, but everything was regular price. I ended up needing to return something, so I was also in the same store Thursday night and they had the same Arcade 1Up machines marked down to $199, and they had a new pallet of them sitting out in the isle. The $199 sale included the Final Fight cab which was tempting, but I already own two and if I get one more, I'm pretty sure it will be the Turtles Arcade / Turtles in Time cab (which is my all time favorite two arcade games).

I've never failed the torture other than the times I did it on purpose just to get the stealth camo. However, it's a lot of fun to play the game with the camo. Of course it doesn't work in situations where you are required to interact with the enemy (like boss fights, or mandatory alert phases).

Also, you are one boss battle away from changing discs.

I haven't been commenting, but I've been reading and enjoying all of these posts. MGS was one of my favorite PS1 games. I was lucky enough to buy it used and cheap just a few weeks after it was released because a friend of mine in high school bought it on launch day and beat it in a week before selling it to me. A lot of the things you point out are funny to me because I remember thinking something similar back in the day. The Codec conversations usually seem to occur during inappropriate times. Why can't Snake steal the stealth camouflage from the dead soldiers? Also, you are correct that by passing Ocelots torture, you will get the infinite ammo bandanna. I always thought that the stealth camo was a better item than the bandanna even though you only get it by failing the torture and getting the bad ending.

And to clarify one more time, when I say they are just buying the shell of the cabinet, I mean JUST the shell. They aren't even keeping the original graphics on the outside of the cabinet.