What video games have you recently bought?

[malicious32dll]

No, don't listen to him. He's pretty much a crackhead. It's definitely one of the higher points of the series. (minus raiden... doesn't matter though. He looks like he's gonna kick ass and take names in IV)

[slapshot63]

Guitar Hero III (PS3)
Manhunt 2 (PS2)

[mixed]

Man you bought some sexy games! Gotta get me guitar hero 3

[slapshot63]

Manhunt 2 came today!

[eatawiiner]

Manhunt 2's been out for a minute...

I picked up Battalion Wars II for the Wii. If anyone wants to get their ass kicked in some skirmish, let me know and we'll trade FC's.

[captainofbeef]

Christmas gifts:
Super Paper Mario- Wii
Super Mario Galaxy- Wii
Wii Sports
Guitar Hero III- Wii

[captainofbeef]

Ninja Gaiden- NES

[ie]

captainofbeef said:

Ninja Gaiden- NES

Nice. Where'd you get it and for how much?

[captainofbeef]

Local store called Play World. Its a pretty grimy place that sells all kinda of used electronics from Wiis to speakers. I got it for three bucks, which I thought was a pretty decent price.

[ie]

captainofbeef said:

Local store called Play World. Its a pretty grimy place that sells all kinda of used electronics from Wiis to speakers. I got it for three bucks, which I thought was a pretty decent price.

Those are the best places to get media. There's a pawn shop in the area where I used to get $4 DVDs all the time, and they'd have 3-for-$10 on NES games.

In general, $3 is a great price for any NES game outside of sports games. Collectors have nothing against sports games, they just tend to be ten thousand times more common than, you know, Ninja Gaiden.

The classics like this and games like Metroid and such don't often have a high rarity value, but I snatch up all the ones I can for potential trades and sellings later.

For example: everyone wants Metroid. Even you. Even if you don't know it yet. At some point in your life, you will want Metroid. And, guess what? I got a yellow label copy for a $1 during a community wide garage sale over the summer, but since you don't know that, I can easily sell the game to you for $10.

[captainofbeef]

^Yea, I definitely see your point. I DO want Metroid and was willing to buy it at a price between 5-10 dollars. But the place was selling it for like 14.95, so I decided I would pass.

[ie]

captainofbeef said:

^Yea, I definitely see your point. I DO want Metroid and was willing to buy it at a price between 5-10 dollars. But the place was selling it for like 14.95, so I decided I would pass.

Well, shit, that makes me feel bad since I can't help a brutha out and sell it to you. Without a bit of effort...


But as a collector of NES games, my advice is to try a bunch of different places. My area has been tapped dry, with no small part thanks to me, so that may seem obvious, but it is the most effective strategy. A few years back, I could go to the pawn shop and Value Village and find games at both places, no problem, any time.

The key is to be patient. Don't expect a game to be there. (That's where the real fun comes in, which does happen when you get duplicates as well.) Games will come eventually, so don't worry if you're only seeing them for $15. And if you really need it, you'll probably buy it for $15 now only to find it for $5 later. *

* Except CD-based games. Besides their batteries, cartridges always seem to last longer than CDs. Well, obviously, because of CD scratches, so you have to be both more careful and less "risky" with CD games, because there are plenty I would have bought for around $5-$10 when Game Stop still regularly had PS1 games, but now that they don't, oh well. Emulation for me.

Try:

- I've seen pawn shops sell video games at generic prices. I unfortunately passed on Final Fantasy 1 for $3 at the local pawn shop once, but I've snatched up plenty of good deals in the past. In fact, I saw one of the Mega Man games for $3 and was so shocked that I left my gloves in the store and had to run there and back to the bus stop.

- Same goes for grimy places like that and used CD stores and the like, although they're more likely to price according to popularity. Goodwill and Value Village might fit under here, although I've found some good stuff at both places for generic prices.

- Garage sales, flea markets, and maybe even your local craigslist (yours seems quiet compared to mine) will occasionally have people that don't know the true value of their goods.

Just play the market right, and occasionally bite the bullet. I bought a boxed copy of Contra, with instruction manual and everything, for $20. Steep, but the lowest you will regularly see games like Contra, Mega Man 1-6 and Final Fantasy is in the $10 range, and having a box just ups the value on that. Plus, we're talking about Contra here. Even at that price, I can still brag that I have a boxed Contra. Of course, I off-set the price by getting Bad Dudes for $3 at the same time, but it works.

- Also, I did this only once with Suikoden 1 (PSX), and at Game Stop of all places: if there's a scratch on the stickers, tear on the box, no instruction manual or something's amiss, ask about it. I did, and since there was no instruction manual, the cashier said "we'll just say there was a scratch and give you a discount." 10% off.

And if you're dealing with pawn shops and frequent them, they will get to know you and be more comfortable with giving you discounts and not so uptight about tax.



Oh yeah, this reminds me of a haul I got over the weekend. I went to an isolated Value Village, which is like Goodwill but with red paint instead of blue paint, and they had these waiting for me:

Sonic 1 - GENY - Boxed (no tab) - Instruction Manual - $2
Sonic 2 - GENY - Boxed (tab) - $2
Sonic 3 - GENY - Boxed (no tab) - Instruction Manual - $2
Game Genie - $2

[captainofbeef]

Yea, I was told by one of the clerks at Gamestop the other day that on the east side of Erie (completely the opposite side of town from where I live) a pawn shop with hundreds of old games exists. So when I get some cash again, I think I'll stop down there and check out what they have.

[ie]

captainofbeef said:

Yea, I was told by one of the clerks at Gamestop the other day that on the east side of Erie (completely the opposite side of town from where I live) a pawn shop with hundreds of old games exists. So when I get some cash again, I think I'll stop down there and check out what they have.

Nice. That's the thing too. I've found some great deals in really remote areas, like the aforementioned Sonic games.

Even though I don't live in Seattle (which has an excellent used gaming/CD/DVD/everything store, by the way), I live close enough near by it to where there's a heavy flow of people and I've even seen the work of a couple fellow collectors in my area. So when you have plenty of game, it's all good, but eventually it will become a tragedy of the commons, so you have to go further to graze.

[PTAhole]

Bought:
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon- DS

Do you know where on the east side that shop is, Beed? I definitely want to check it out.

[ie]

ptahole said:

Bought:
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon- DS

Do you know where on the east side that shop is, beed? I definitely want to check it out.

Oh wow, Rune Factory looks really awesome.


The problem with knowing collectors in your area is that you'll both see Metroid for $1, and try to figure out who gets it. Good luck with that.

[captainofbeef]

ptahole said:

Bought:
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon- DS

Do you know where on the east side that shop is, beed? I definitely want to check it out.

All I know is that the guy said something about the Red Fox Inn or some bar with a similar name down on the east side. Maybe you know it. He said it was across the street from that place.

[PTAhole]

ie said:

ptahole said:

Bought:
Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon- DS

Do you know where on the east side that shop is, beed? I definitely want to check it out.

Oh wow, Rune Factory looks really awesome.

Yeah, it's pretty fun so far. I got a pass to the first cave and have started to enslave monsters on my farm. I'm currently aiming to get 200,000 gold, so I can build an addition to my house. It's a nice twist on the Harvest Moon formula.
Thanks Beed. I'll see if I can find out where that is.

[ie]

That sentence about Rune Factory is what I love about video games. Not the plot, just the exploring, seeing what the game can do, kind of things.


My brother nabbed a bunch of old school games for consoles I don't even own for $13 total... wishful thinking. ;D


Atari 2600


Combat (27 games on one cartridge) and box - $3


Street Racer (27 games on one cartridge) and mint display box (opens on the side like a book with game cartridge that hasn't even been taken out of the box and mail-in cards - $3 (originally $19.99 at Sears, circa 1978~, which after inflation would be about.... $67.67)

Missle Command, black cartridge only - $2

---

Virtual Boy

Nester's Funky Bowling, cart only - $2
Red Alarm, cart only - $2

Boxed copies of the Virtual Boy games are going for around $20 on eBay, so... not too bad of a haul overall.

[PTAhole]

I've never played Virtual Boy, but it looks like it's near impossible to do so comfortably.

[captainofbeef]

Apparently it give migraines as well. It would definitely cool to play once, but I'm not gonna waste my time tracking one down.

[ie]

Mar 22, 2008 5:12:02 GMT -5 PTAhole said:

I've never played Virtual Boy, but it looks like it's near impossible to do so comfortably.

Mar 22, 2008 9:09:49 GMT -5 captainofbeef said:

Apparently it give migraines as well. It would definitely cool to play once, but I'm not gonna waste my time tracking one down.

I've played a Virtual Boy all of about one or two times. From a collector's stand-point, the main problem is that the stand for the VB was really shitty, so it might be harder to get one that's not broken. But people apparently pay mad moneys for its games, so if you happen across a VB cartridge on the cheap, you could always eBay it.

As for the console itself, sure it had its fair share of problems, but were it not for the 64 coming out something like six months later (I forget when, but the two were released within one or two years of each other), then it would have done a lot better. That's why you see an even spread of new consoles from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft coming out in five year intervals.

And when the VB came out, it actually caused quite a stir of interest. We actually thought it was pretty damn cool. But then the 64 was on the horizon and most gamers I knew were pretty much like "hmm... I'll wait and get that instead." You know, because while red is kickass and all, full color and 3D was were it was as.

[captainofbeef]

Rented:
No More Heroes- Wii

[ie]

Did you like this review enough to check it out?

[captainofbeef]

I didn't see that review, but I have heard many positive reviews and it looked very interesting, so I picked it up. I played it for about 4 hours last night, it truly is fantastic.

[ie]

I bought five Super Famicom (Japanese SNES) games for $8.

Final Fantasy USA: Mystic Quest
Street Fighter II (with instruction manual)
Wizardry V
Dragon Quest VI
Sangokushi Seishi Tenbu Spirits (with instruction manual)