dvertov

1 hour ago, twiztor said:

Mega Man- i tend to play buster only, unless a different weapon is required to progress.

With the exception of the Metal Blade, isn't that usually how everyone plays Mega Man games?

Really appreciated the latest episode on organic vs artificial collectability. The Trough of No Value is a great concept any collector should read about -- I think this is the original blog post for anyone who hasn't heard of it. 

River City Girls on Switch. The game has a bit of a learning curve, and many folks suggest it's better with two players because the early game is just too hard. I'm not sure I agree, though. I made it 75% of the way through with a buddy on local co-op on my first run... then the lockdown hit, so I started over on a solo run. Verdict: It's a different experience, not necessarily better or worse either way. It's true that with co-op play you have extra coverage that can come in handy, especially with bosses. When flying solo, however, you don't have to share money and item drops with a second player, so the occasional grinding you may need to do to level up your character goes faster and doesn't seem as awkward.

Early difficulty aside, by mid-game my character was an absolute beast. Once you understand how the stats system works (shop items permanently boost stats, but only the first time you use them) you can strategize how to level up efficiently, and after filling out your moveset at the dojo (and learning how to use it) you can easily clear an entire screen of enemies in a few seconds while feeling like a total badass. Each of the four PCs play somewhat differently so you'll need to adjust your play style depending on who you use. I'm already ripping through a New Game + run, having a blast learning how to use one of the new unlocked characters.

Overall, a great game. If there's a downside, it's that the story is quite dumb. Hopefully the secret ending available the second time through will be an improvement.

3 hours ago, captmorgandrinker said:

For my personal collection- Punch Out Famicom Gold or the special edition of GTA V

Oh man, those gold Punch Outs are gorgeous. Cart only or CIB? Generally speaking I don't spend much on games but that's one of the few I might make an exception for one day.

7 minutes ago, attakid101 said:

So I’m kind of embarrassed to say now. You guys are so....sensible.

Yeah, I figured I was too lightweight to post on this topic but I'm glad to see there are at least a few other cheap basterds around here. 

For some reason one day I decided I was very into Rockin' Kats for the NES, so I won an eBay auction for a flawless cart-only copy for $100 (about average at that time). I played it for a few weeks until I had gone from believing it was a true hidden gem to a buggy, mediocre Bionic Commando wannabe and flipped it again for $95. I chalk it up as a cautionary tale and a $5 rental fee.

With that said, I also remember buying Final Fantasy II / IV for SNES with my own allowance money waaaay back in the day, which I think retailed for around $70 in 1991. Adjusted for inflation that would be around $130 today... Does that count? Games were expensive back then.

Here's one: Okami is a better Zelda game than nearly every (or all??) other Zelda games.

I really enjoyed Wing Commander: Privateer as an early open-world space sim, and played it to the point where I had exhausted all possible story routes. Against my own expectations I ended up getting into the very rudimentary merchant aspect of the game and spent literally months pointlessly shuttling goods from base to base looking for the best deals. The trade system is comically underdeveloped by modern standards but somehow this has become one of my favorite gaming memories. I was oddly into Steve Miller Band during that time, so to this day whenever I hear "Jet Airliner" it immediately takes me back to flying around Gemini Sector in the ol' space Winnebago, smuggling contraband while avoiding pirates and Confederation authorities. Good stuff.

11 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

If I need to make a game harder, I usually just find a different game. It's too hard to me to restrict myself from the "best" strategy or moves. If I'm trying to get good at a game, I usually just want to get good at it with standard rules.

Where would you consider games with a non-default "hard mode" to fall on that spectrum? Is that still "standard rules"? Also thinking of games where the real hard mode doesn't unlock until after you beat the game at least once, etc.

2 hours ago, Tanooki said:

So is it a known how long the wait is if you buy SoR4 from LRGs website and it actually being shipped?  I don't recall them mentioning a ship time on Panzer Dragoon either unless I forgot.

They're saying at least 2-4 months after the preorder closes. I'd been putting off buying a copy myself until reviews came out, but so far they've been very good so I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

On a first playthrough, discovering an overpowered item can be thrilling, especially if the game has been a real challenge up to that point. I'll never forget finding crissaegrim during a random item drop in SOTN and had no idea what it was. I felt like an absolute beast shredding through the rest of the game. On subsequent playthroughs I've usually skipped it to give myself more of a challenge.

Looks great.

Side note, I love the ambition represented by a complete KOEI set. For at least 25 years "Literally any KOEI game" has been in the top 5 on my One Day I Will Learn How to Play This list. Then I finally convince myself to plug in a cartridge and it's, "Hmm... Ok, maybe the next time I have a free week or two I'll sit down and figure this out." Which of course never happens. One day, though, one day... I will finally play one of these games.

Just now, Bearcat-Doug said:

Aa far as cryptic games go, I beat Shadowgate and Deja Vu as a kid without any hints or guides, but I couldn't figure Uninvited out at all. I didn't finish that one until a few years ago with a walkthrough.

As a kid, I think the most difficult puzzle I ran into in Shadowgate was the first screen. Once I figured out how to get damn front door open it was mostly smooth sailing.

18 minutes ago, guitarzombie said:

While we're on the subject, I think Zelda 1 is a bit overrated.  Its a great game but its incredibly cryptic and doesn't really get as much flak as it should. I mean, does it give you any hints where to bomb to get the blue ring?  I do respect it influenced tons of games I love, including Doom. 

Zelda 1 is a great example of a game that is actually much harder than we all remember it being because we've internalized so many aspects of the gameplay through history and video game pop culture.

See above set, which I greatly regret not buying for $7.50 back in the day.

In order of preference:

1. Stinger

2. Castlevania

3. Gradius

4. Everything else

I'm looking for framable quality on any of these. Would really prefer singles of my top three but I'm willing to entertain an offer for a full set.

1 minute ago, MiamiSlice said:

- Artificial rarity just means you forced something to be rare by producing it in a small quantity. It doesn’t mean the end product isn’t rare. Rarity is a function of numbers, nothing else.

Sure, that's why I indicated both are still rare. Artificial scarcity is still scarcity. My point was that I don't think they're exactly the same type of product from a collecting POV, which may imply different motives for collecting, different implications for long-term value, etc.

29 minutes ago, B.A. said:

I guess I need specific examples of what you are talking about, as none of the 80s and 90s baseball cards that I can think of fit what you are describing. Current baseball cards absolutely DO make artificial rarity, variant numbered cards with a different colored border, that type of thing. Only collectors would care about those and they do indeed sell for big bucks.

I don't know, it's been maybe a decade since I bothered to look at most of it. I am absolutely positive I several boxes of cellophane-wrapped, numbered editions of very shiny worthless junk. I've also seen many collectors-only markets implode over time just among my own family members, from "special edition" Beanie Babies to hand-woven baby wraps (ask my wife about these f*****ing things). Again, I'm not trying to judge, just curious if people are speculating or what. In fairness, I don't quite understand collecting graded games either, but as those are, uh... "organically" rare items (as opposed to "intentionally" rare?) I feel like it's a different type of product? I could be splitting hairs here.

Side note: I'm a huge fan of LRG and similar publishers and own several SE releases (sadly all used now). I'm sure some digital-only guy reading this thinks I'm a sap for that. My excuse is this comes from +15 years working in video production, which gave me an eternal distrust of digital-only media. The words "Quicktime Codec" alone are enough to make me want to throw a keyboard through a window. Thanks to that, I prefer my favorite games physical. You know, just in case.

2 hours ago, B.A. said:

The main difference between your baseball card example and this is right in the title of this thread (and the company name) "Limited Run".  There was nothing limited about 90s baseball cards, they printed millions of them. 

1 hour ago, MiamiSlice said:

I know this topic has been talked to death elsewhere, but why do people buy these graded games anyway, especially if you're never going to open them and play with them? Aren't the only people who collect them other collectors? And if that's true, how sustainable is the market for these things? My mom still has a whole basement shelf of my Atari games from the 70's I wouldn't be able to sell for $10 a box these days. How is this different?

My apologies -- I guess when I said "collectors edition" it wasn't clear that I was talking about sealed, numbered, "limited edition" boxes specifically made for the collector market; i.e., exactly the type of thing we're talking about here. They're worthless now because the only people who bought them were collectors who kept them in pristine condition as the market became wildly oversaturated with premium product, so they've just been taking up space for 25 years on shelves.

Look, I'm not trying to judge anyone or harsh anybody's mellow, I'm just asking. If your goal in buying these things is to open them and play with the stuff, that's fine. I'm just curious about the appeal of collecting huge CE boxes if the plan is never to open them. With the baseball cards, my excuse is that I was a teenager who thought I was making a prudent investment decision and it didn't pan out. Do you flip them on eBay? Do you just have a lot of space and like the look of the boxes? I'm honestly curious.

Currently at 16 homebrew titles and counting. Do I get extra credit for the homemade Lizard poster?!

I know this topic has been talked to death elsewhere, but why do people buy these collector's editions anyway, especially if you're never going to open them and play with all the extra toys? Aren't the only people who collect them other collectors? And if that's true, how sustainable is the market for these things? My mom still has a whole basement shelf of my "collector's edition" baseball card sets from the '90s I wouldn't be able to sell for $10 a box these days. How is this different?

7 hours ago, LaC said:

I don't think there will be any conventions of any sort until there is a vaccine... which is 12-18 months.

Seems likely, at this point.

On 3/13/2020 at 10:45 PM, dvertov said:

On the other hand, now I have the budget to make it out to Portland for PRGE in August... Let’s hope this virus business doesn’t affect that one.

Dammit.

That’s too bad, I was looking forward to finally checking out the show this year. On the other hand, now I have the budget to make it out to Portland for PRGE in August... Let’s hope this virus business doesn’t affect that one.

More details from the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch:

Quote

Months after the burglary, a woman accompanied by a man tried to sell some of the games at video game stores across the St. Louis area, sheriff's officials said. At several stores, the games raised the suspicions of employees, who asked for IDs from the sellers. 

“All of these stores have really come in and stepped up for me and been very helpful getting as much evidence as they can against these people,” Brassard said.

Of the 115 games or so that were in the safe, Brassard has so far recovered only about 20 of them. Brassard said he doesn't have Air Raid, but he knows it was sold in Las Vegas. Officials said someone tried to sell other games in Colorado, and noted that Jackson is a transient.

Good of the retailers to step up like that. Hope he gets the rest of those games back.

Kind of an old pic (I have a better TV now) but still one of my favorite midwestern microbrews...