#I could just take out disc one and put it in the ps2.........

[exeggcute]

after some trial and error I think I finally have the perfect PS2 setup for the modern gamer. behold:

PS2 (old reliable) + power cable + magicgate memory card for those eight delicious MB of storage

retrotink adapter: a must-have in my case because we don't have any TVs that support analog input. you COULD go scrounge up an old CRT instead of shelling out for an adapter but (1) I have no desire to fistfight a melee player over who gets dibs on the CRT we both spotted on craigslist at exactly the same time (2) I have nowhere to put a CRT and (3) the retrotink is sick. worth every penny imo. this thing has upscaling, lots of settings to mess with (including psuedo-CRT settings to add scanlines and whatnot), and zero lag. there are significantly cheaper adapters out there but I did a shitload of research and nearly all of them have some kind of dealbreaking problem, save for the retrotink, whose only problems are that it isn't cheap and it runs out of stock quickly because they're all made by one guy in his garage.

component/YPbPr cable: the retrotink won't accept the regular AV cable that I've had for two decades (with the red/white/yellow inputs), but apparently AV input kind of sucks so component is the way to go for quality anyway.

wingman PS2: this thing is SO fucking cool dude. if you only pick up a single item on this list let it be the wingman. being able to play PS2 games not just wirelessly but on a modern controller (dualsense ftw) feels amaaaaazing. rumble works great, pairing is easy, no lag as far as I've noticed. the only downside is that modern controllers don't have the same pressure-sensitive buttons that the PS2's dualshock did, which means the handful of games that utilize that feature won't be a 1:1 experience.

so now your wallet just took a hit on all these peripherals—but not to worry, because we're also in the golden age of PS2 piracy:

if you have a stack of compatible DVD-Rs and a disc reader for your PC, you can use freedvdboot ESR patcher to patch an .iso of almost any PS2 game, burn that patched .iso to a disc, and then run the game on unmodified(!!!) PS2 hardware. there's a handful of caveats though:

(1) not all PS2s can take advantage of the exploit; it depends on the version of your console's DVD player. atm I think all slim models are compatible, and some fat models are compatible, but people are working to crack the last few holdouts so don't lose hope if yours isn't supported yet.

(2) technically not all games are compatible either, but more games seem to work than not. games that do work are essentially indistinguishable from a legit copy, though—some of the other game piracy methods I looked into (like MC2SIO) have a lot of performance issues that freedvdboot-patched games don't seem to suffer from at all.

(3) not all DVDs are equal; someone on reddit compiled a list of DVDs that worked/didn't work with freedvdboot-patched games. (they aren't on this list, but I used Verbatim DVD-Rs and they worked fine.)

I have yet to find any good text-based guides about using the patcher, but this guy's video tutorial explains everything well. howeverrrr you can skip all the parts about "creating backups" of your "original game discs" and just use the .iso you downloaded off of Vimm's Lair lol.

bam. not quite free since you have to buy discs, but just about. and a 50-pack of DVDs was still cheaper than any of the used copies of ape escape 3 that I could find on ebay

#PS2 #playstation 2

[mrmallard]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers.

Thanks for the ask game!

A lot of these are probably gonna seem kind of "base", or like highly specific.

1: Getting lunch at work

I don't always get lunch at work because I'm either about to be super late, or because I've been spending too much money and I need to try and cut back to make rent. Lately it hasn't been as much of a problem. Either way, getting lunch at work always makes me happy.

We can order in from a local cafe/restaurant, and every day has its own associated special. My favorite special is on Wednesday - it's a chicken burger with chips (fries) for $13. The burger has half of a chicken schnitzel on it, which is cut in half again to make two burger-sized patties, as well as mayo and lettuce. Eating is a general pleasure whether I'm at work or not, but getting to sit down and eat well after working my ass off for like three hours straight is a real highlight of my work day.

2: Video games

I've always been super into games, and even as I've gotten older games have probably been the most influential media in my life. I'm able to take a step back and acknowledge real life; I'm not exactly well-adjusted, but I'm not living in a fantasy world either y'know.

I could cite at least thirty games here. I love Tetris. Life is Strange fucking rules. I've been playing Runescape on and off for almost twenty whole-ass years of my life. Minecraft has gotten me through some of the toughest years of my life. Turn-based RPGs were a fairly late-stage thing I got into as a teenager - my favorite games growing up were like Jak and Daxter, and eventually Sonic the Hedgehog - but now it's probably one of my favorite genres, and I am certifiably Not Normal about Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest.

It's probably bad that I don't have a more sociable hobby, but man - video games are the best. I love video games.

3: Final Fantasy in particular

Look I'm really deep in the Final Fantasy mines rn so I'm just gonna vent.

I'd dabbled in RPGs before, with the PS2 pack-in demo disc including a demo for Dark Cloud and with me eventually owning both a Harry Potter game and Pokemon Yellow and Crystal on the Game Boy Color. I'd also tried to emulate Chrono Trigger, but keyboard controls and general impatience left me feeling kinda bleh about the whole thing.

Final Fantasy was beyond my scope as a kid, and I actually wouldn't come into direct contact with a Final Fantasy game until high school. I lent a friend of mine Tekken Advance - which is a 2D sprite-based port of Tekken 3 for the GBA, with mixed results - and he lent me Final Fantasy X in return.

I did not like Final Fantasy X. At all.

I grew up on Jak and Daxter, and Ratchet and Clank. I grew up on Pokemon and - of all games - Rocket Slime on the DS. The shortcomings of the Game Boy Pokemon games were whatever, because they were Game Boy games - they still had their own flow and charm, while FFX felt dated and stiff.

FFX came out around the same time as Jak and Daxter, and that game runs circles around it! Real-time shadows, 60fps, dynamic character animations etc. Ratchet and Clank was the same. Of course, it wouldn't come out until way later that Naughty Dog games were basically freaks of nature, with the first Crash Bandicoot going so far as to overclock the PS1 to run properly, and both the Jak games and RnC - which used the same engine as Jak and Daxter, and proprietary code from the games as well - being borderline un-emulatable for a good while, because the tech was so cutting edge and unlike anything else on the market that any support for those games would have to be tailor-made for how they ran.

But that's the comparison I had. It's the early 2010's, and FFX fails to impress even among its own contemporary releases. That's how I felt.

Time passes. I get really bummed out at one point, and there's nothing that I want to play. I just want to sit there and play a game at a steady pace, and I don't want that game to ask very much of me - I want to make progress without the active gameplay that a Jak and Daxter would ask of me.

And then I remember that jank-ass PS2 launch title that I basically forced my way through until I gave up. I'd given it back to my friend years ago, and I went down to the game store and bought my own copy. Worst case scenario, I wasted a few bucks on a game I would continue to dislike - but I was listless and bummed out, and I wanted something to play.

I bought FFX-2 before I even finished the first game. Playing FFX again just hooked me in for good.

I played Final Fantasy 5. I played a bunch of FF1's GBA remake. I tried to emulate FF6 and FF8 (the latter after demolishing Kingdom Hearts 1), but like Chrono Trigger, something just didn't feel right and I couldn't progress. I end up playing FF13 and its sequel, I watch playthroughs of 7 and 9 (though I did play a significant portion of 9), and I get into spinoffs like World of Final Fantasy.

Today, I'm knee-deep in Final Fantasy at most points of the day.

I appreciate the games on their individual merits, but I really love the connective tissue. I'm a huge FF5 guy, and Gilgamesh on the Big Bridge is one of the huge, hallmark moments of that game - his appearances in later games, starting with FF8, create an organic sort of expanded universe through the Void that was introduced in the same game.

I like that Final Fantasy 5 and Final Fantasy 13 are ridiculously at odds with each other concerning their approach to game design. I like how FFX is this beautiful game based on like southeast Asian culture, and how FF8, in comparison, has you fighting fucking dinosaurs with a big sword that has a revolver barrel on it. Final Fantasy is a ridiculous, endlessly robust franchise, and I love it dearly.

4: Songs with wordy lyrics

This one's as honed-in and esoteric as possible. I love a song that goes crazy with the wording in the verses.

I don't have any screenshots on this phone, because I've made endlessly detailed posts about this before, but I'll offer some examples.

The champion of this type of songwriting has got to be Dar Williams, with her song Iowa being absolutely packed with lyrics. At one point, between verses, she manages to squeeze in a little interjection that adds so much flavour to what she was already saying - it's like "once I had everything, I gave it up / for a corner of the driveway in the woods I've never felt / and for you, I've come this far across the tracks / ten miles above the limit and with no seatbelt (and I'd do it again)". All the verses in that song are that wordy, but that "and I'd do it again" is EXTRA EFFORT between this verse and the next part of the song, and it's just such an awesome song that she gave 110% on.

But even smaller lyrics that get unexpectedly wordy in an offbeat way are very pleasant to hear in a song that might not be super wordy in the long run. Idylls of the King by the Mountain Goats is this huge, grand, romantic song (in an album about two people basically stuck circling the drain and pulling each other down with them, which is arguably most famous for being the album with No Children on it) with structure like "this place, with its old plantations / these roads, heading out towards the sea" and "your eyes, twin volcanoes / bad ideas, dancing around in there" - very effective, emotionally evocative lyricism, sure, but the second verse busts out this line:

"and I dreamed of vultures, in the trees around our house / and cicadas, and locusts, and the shrieking of innumerable gibbons"

And the WAY he sings "the shrieking of innumerable gibbons" just SCRATCHES AN ITCH IN MY BRAIN in a way that's super hard to describe.

Maria Mena also has songs that do this, though I won't touch them due to subject matter. Overall, wordy lyrics in songs make me very happy.

5: Hawaiian shirts

I'm not always a very outgoing or cheerful person in real life, but Hawaiian shirts help me to make up the deficit. They're bright and outgoing, communicating a laidback sort of vibe, and they're very open and breezy which is great for ease of movement. Hawaiian shirts make up a significant portion of my wardrobe, and I really relish the opportunity to get more because even the act of throwing one on and buttoning it up - or god forbid, taking a buttoned up shirt I've worn before and just sliding into it - honestly makes me feel so good. Not a lot of clothes fit me, but my stable of Hawaiian shirts never lets me down. In the words of a great philosopher: they're comfy and easy to wear.

#thank you for the ask!!

[bearpillowmonster]

I've been looking for Sly 1 on PS2 for a while now but haven't found a reasonably priced one, they all seem gouged to me, I mean even 20$ seems like a lot for a PS2 game. I've gone to the game stores in my vicinity (within a few towns (30 min), not just my own) and no luck. I might've even be willing to spend a little more just to have it in my hands to inspect and take it instantly but online seemed like my best bet so I check ebay, Mercari, DKOldies, even my hated Amazon. Out of stock except Merc and Ebay. I'm a little picky so I wanted one with a case and original cover (I like both but the original is just so classic) but other than artistic reasons, this pushed me to start to look for covers from now on and something better than "fair".

Shipping is 5$ no matter where but the cheapest between the two sites was around 17$ from New Jersey free ship. That's not totally bad from what I've seen, had the right cover, right disc. Wait, no manual? I was put off but I went back to my Sly 2 copy and really the manuals look the same I could just switch them out if I felt. I went back to the listing, "Good" condition but they took a picture and-

That don't look "Good", scared me off, back to square one.

It's not available on the PS storefront. I don't have a PS3 for the HD collection and I would consider a PSVita or PSTV but those are rare and price gouged as well! It's just ridiculous the hoops I have to jump through to buy a game halfway legit, especially an old game that's no longer worth all that and it hits me all the time.

I can't even emulate because there's a whole process with dumping your BIOS and I don't want that, I have a PS2, I can use it-

#sly cooper #playstation #where is it #it's so annoying #ebay listings #gaming #games #Youtube

[brunstallings6]

Back To School: 10 Internet Security Tips For Mothers And Fathers

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#CRACKSMIN.COM

[thematchalight]

I’ve been thinking about the impact this show had on my aesthetic sense

#princess tutu #the box set is sitting RIGHT THERE on my shelf #I could just take out disc one and put it in the ps2.........

[silverthetheorist]

The Dream smp will have a bad ending (And why preparation beats improvisation)

So. I am back after a little while. And this is a topic that has been on my mind for a long time. But before we get to my main point we have to clear some things.

The medium where a story is told dramatically affects the story in many ways. A story cannot be the same in a book, or a film, or a tv show, or an anime, or a comicbooks. They are all different mediums that have their own positives and negatives when it comes to telling stories. A book can fit more information but a tv show can have music and good camera work, etc. 

Now, the Dream Smp is a completely different thing. This is a medium that has (I think) never been used before (Or at least not at this extend). And as all mediums it has its positives and negatives. The positives are very clear, strong and interesting: You can watch multiple POVs, follow the storylines you care about, you can see events from different perspectives and see whoever your favourite streamer is as the main character. And all of these positives are amazing and unique. No other medium has something like it... but it also has negatives no other medium has. As I see the Dream Smp has three big flaws due to it’s medium:

First of all, real life sometimes gets in the way. In books, movies and tv shows you can just pretend life does not exists for the duration of the episode or movie. This is called escapism, the reason why storytelling is so attractive. The problem with the medium of the Dream SMP is that the storyline sometimes is affected by real life in ways other mediums aren’t. For example a streamer deciding not to do roleplay after a big event when we could use a nice view of the after-effects of said event, or a streamer missing an important event that they could have been a major part of. And this is not the streamer’s fault at all. Real life is inevitable. An example is when Wilbur missed the festival because he forgot to read the groupchat. But it is still an unfortunate negative of the medium.

Second, improvisation can be great. But it can also... not. It is a miracle, a truly testament of how good everyone’s improvisation skills are that the story has been so good for a long time (As I have said in prior post, the story is basically flawless until the manberg/pogtopia war. Then it all kind of went downhill). But I think it is starting to show that preparation beats improvisation 9 times out of 10. Improvisation only works when people have a small guideline, something that tells them point A and point B for them to connect. And I don’t think that is happening a lot nowadays. Furthermore, I don’t think the current writer are doing a good job of communicating the plot to other and including everyone. We can see this in many ways: Nicky not knowing about the festival until the day before because of her chat, Dream leaving Techno on read when he asked what the next plotline was, Tommy not reading the scripts, the story becoming more and more the “Tommy and other two people show” instead of the “Dream Smp show”, and many other examples. (I have many thoughts about how I feel like Tommy sometimes is grabbing all the story/clout of the SMP for himself, not on purpose probably, but... I just feel I bad vibe from that. It is not something I can really put into words. Just a feeling. Not accusing him of doing that or being evil or anything. Just an unfortunate side-effect of him being the center of attention all the time which can lead to fatigue from the viewers when the plot is always about one guy and his discs all the time)

And finally the main negative. The biggest problem and challenge the SMP will have. It’s ending: It is not a secret that the SMP is successful, popular and makes a ton of money. So of course they will continue the SMP. But the problem is that the smp has a story and stories can only go so far. For example, Tommy’s discs being a motivation for his character for one or two arcs is understandable. But when the discs are his motivation for several arcs (And counting), it kind hurts your suspension of disbelief (That is the amount of things you can take in a story before you say “This story is not believable at all”). I am not comparing the smp to Disney. But when they continue to stretch the story more than it should because it is successful... yikes. The manberg/pogtopia war could have been the finally if they changed around a couple of things. And I fully understand them wanting to continue the story after that arc (Which I agree was a good idea despite their not so successful attempt of replicating prior arcs). And the point where we are now although kind of weird, I can totally see the story continuing. But there will be a point where it just feels like everything should have ended long ago. You cannot have a character go through the same arcs, the story having the same events all the time. Writing a long story is hard and complicated, you have to justificate why there is more all the time. 

And if they don’t start organizing better, including everyone, planning things out, and deciding on a satisfying ending... then the Dream Smp has a will have a boring repeated ending that few people will watch because it will happen when people start moving on from the smp. And I really don’t want that. They should quit when they are ahead, when they feel comfortable ending the story, when all arcs are resolved, before things start going even more downhill. 

PS1: Again, english. Sorry if i’m a bit negative on my blog. But there are already thousands of people explaining an analysis all the amazing things from the smp that I would just be repeating what everyone says. Criticising something you love is not a bad thing. I see as your love for something is so big that even with flaws you can still love it... that sounds corny, jesus christs it is just minecraft roleplay. As always, I am never sending hate ever. 

PS2: Something irks about Tommy and Tubbo not streaming together almost at all even though in the story they are friends again. That and Tubbo not being on any of Tommy’s videos but other are just... It is probably nothing... probably. Maybe it is just me projecting my own insecurities with my own friends. I am not saying they had a fight or they hate each other now or whatever. But... it’s still a bit sad and weird. Maybe it is because Tommy only wants to do content with like big youtubers and he is focused on always improving and stuff, while Tubbo is more about relaxing and streaming shit he enjoys. A shame. After months of no content from them, they are back but not really. 

PS3: Nothing has happened story wise at all since Doomsday. Which is odd. Is Tommy moving on from the smp? He did say he is focusing on youtube at the moment (And unfortunate negative of the medium, real life gets in the way of the story as I said) so maybe it is that. Nothing major has really happened. Not even small things. Why is Tommy streaming less and less all the time? I don’t know. I also do not think there will be an event on the 16th because of the chess tournament and the lack of any plot developments at all since Doomsday. Many questions, few answers. I kinda feel like I am getting a bit tired/moving from the smp. And Tommy specifically, I am glad for him and happy that he is getting all this success but I think his persona made more sense/was more bearable when he was a relatively smaller streamer/youtuber. With the risk of sounding corny again... I feel like Tommy is too mainstream now (Tiktokers are commenting on his instagram posts and that is never a good sign) and has become more corporate (Only streaming and making videos with people who benefit his video’s/streams instead of HIS BEST FRIEND TUBBO. But that really could just be my anxiety talking. Don’t think to hard about it, I am no one to say what he should or should not do, and I do not know of his life to say things definitively. Just a hunch, a bad vibe I am getting from him.).

#dream smp #dream #tommyinnit #tubbo #wilbur #wilbur soot #jschaltt #nihachu #Nicky #fundy #eret #ranboo #philza #QUACKITY #badboyhalo #SapNap #georgenotfound #skeppy #antfrost #technoblade

[lady-maria-the-wolf225]

Mikey x Fem! reader Ch: 5

Mikey's P.O.V

I showed the lovely lady around the lair. I can tell by the look on her face. She seemed so fascinated by it. Her eyes lit up like glitter. I just couldn't help myself but just stare at her. She catches my attention like crazy. After giving her a tour, I took her to my room. "Well, now I showed you the lair, what do you think?" she smiled and looked at me. "It's pretty cool. plus your room...is a mess." I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah that's true. Raph and I used to share a bunk bed, but after two years of sharing, we made the decision to have seperate bedrooms instead." She looks at my game system. "So. you own a PS2. where did you get it?" I explained to her about it since I can tell she was curious. "I found it at a nearby dumpster. It was kinda busted up, so I brought it here, and Donnie fixed it for me. As for the controller, surprisingly, it still works." I noticed a pretty looking bag, and I picked it up. "Is this yours?" she nodded and grabbed it. "Yes it is. Wanna see what I have inside?" I immediately sat down with excitement. "Aw yeah Do I!" She opens it up and shows me some video games she got. "I have Mario kart, Crash bandicoot, The legend of spyro trilogy, Legend of Zelda, sly cooper, sonic heroes, ratchet and clank, pac man world 2, and...wait. Where's my Sonic unleashed game?" she was looking for it, and I found the disc on the floor along with the game case. "Is it this one?" she sees it in my hand, and she takes it. "Yes. thank you. Do you have any games yourself?" I nodded, and went to go grab it. When I got back, I showed it to her. "I have a guitar hero game. Sadly it's the only game I have." She looks at it and I look at her games. Her games are super cool, I want to play all of them all day and all night. I looked at her and asked. "Hey uh. Mind if I play some of your games? I never played these but I always wanted to try them." she smiles and responds to me sweetly. "Yeah. go ahead." I look at each game, and I made the decision to start off with this spyro game I never heard of. One of them. The cover art was a picture of a little purple dragon with lightning around. I take out the disc, and put it in my game system. I was blown away by how good those graphics were! When the little dragon breathed out fire from his mouth at those monkeys, I was cheering all the way.  Three hours have passed, and I was having some trouble in some levels. Thankfully this lovely lady who was sitting right next to me helped me out. Man oh man. I never knew she was that good at video games like me. After having fun playing, we talked more about ourselves. I told her about the good and bad my brothers and I faced, and how we became friends with April O' Neil. She then started talking about the fact that her home city has the best deep dish pizza ever. Speaking of pizza, Leo brings in pizza and we all went to eat. I gave the girl a slice, and she declined. "No thank you. I'm not hungry." I frowned a bit. "Are you sure Angel cakes? I don't want you to starve." she nods and responds in a soft tone. "Yeah." Leo looks at us and starts talking. "So. I see you guys are liking each other's company already." I nodded as I stuffed my face with pizza. I ate like I haven't eaten in weeks. She looks at me and giggles. I swallowed my food and smiled back at her. She's cute when she smiles. So cute in fact, I wanna pinch her cheeks and smother her with hugs and kisses all over. I notice Raph was shaking his head and sighs. "What's wrong big bro? Something bothering you?" Raph looks at me annoyed. "Yeah. would you stop eating like a damn maniac?" I stared at him and sighed. I got up from the table, and went to my bedroom. The girl gets up too and follows me. I know my bros were staring and talking but I didn't care. Hours passed, and she was showing me her phone. There's this thing called "you tube". She was showing me tons and tons of videos. Some made me laugh, some made me cry, and some well....made me blush. I never wanted the fun to end. Just until I heard her phone ring. She answered it. "Hello?.....oh hey mom.....no no I'm fine! Just calm down will ya?......*sigh* okay." After she hung up the phone, I sighed and spoke to her. "You gotta head home?" she nods looking at me with disappointment. "Yeah....my mom wants me home. Do you guys have a car?" I nodded but then paused when I remembered what happened with the shell raiser. "Yeah. we do, but it's in need of repair right now because I accidentally crashed it last week after I made the dumbest decision to give that baby a spin. I'll just carry you home cutie pie." I helped her with her stuff, but she decided to let me keep her games which was very sweet of her by the way. I picked her up bridal style, and I used my rocket skateboard to move quicker. "Just show me where you live, and we're good to go." she nods and we skated the night away. The night was gorgeous out. Stars were sparkling all over, and the moon was glowing like a shiny light bulb. She finally pointed to her home, and I landed by the balcony. "And we're here." I gently put her down, and she enters her home. "Well, glad we got to know each other. and....I was wondering.... Um...." I rubbed the back of my neck as I chuckled and blushed bright red feeling nervous. She put her hand on my shoulder and responded. "I'd be happy to come over again soon." I smiled and looked into her innocent (E/C) eyes. She giggled at me and I blushed. "I better get going. I don't want my master splinter to know that I'm gone." she nods in understanding. As she was about to go, I almost forgot to ask. "Wait up. You forgot to tell me your name." She smiles at me. "My name is (Y/N)." my eyes lit up when I heard her name for the first time. "(Y/N)....that's a pretty name." she rolls her eyes chuckling at me. "Well. goodnight.....Michelangelo." I stared at her dreamily but then snapped out of it. "Please.....call me mikey." We both waved goodbye, and I started running off before anyone would see me out in the open. I can't believe it....I finally spent time with a girl! The first girl to ever hang out with a turtle like me! Oh that (Y/N). She makes me want to fly high in the sky. I can't wait to see her again, whatever day she may come by to the lair to see me. I just also hope that my bros and this outside world will accept us too. I know a friendship is an okay thing for them but love?....I guess I'll be the first to show that mutants and humans can fall in love. Besides. Love comes in many shapes and forms. What's the worst that could happen?

End of P.O.V Chapter 6 will be next. :)

#tmnt bayverse #michelangelo #fanfic #romance

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #310

“i get pretty just to fuck my face up.”

Do you have a clock in your room? No. What book, movie, TV show, or video game have you been wanting to start up? I *want* to read The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, but I care more about reading Wings of Fire, so I probably realistically won't for a long time. I don't read enough for that; Sutherland will surely keep pumping out books in the series so I'll never catch up, haha. As for a movie, I've been interested in seeing Jacob's Ladder for a very long time; it served as a very large influence on the Silent Hill series, and boy, anyone who brings up video games in front of me knows SH is my SHIT. I also just know I'm bound to like it with how essentially legendary it is in the psychological horror genre, which is my favorite. Onto TV show, I'm not certain. Shows don't really interest me. I would like to keep watching A:TLA w/ Sara, but "start up" implies beginning something new, so. Lastly, video games. There are a LOT of games I want to play, but yeah, I have no operational gaming console above a PS2. I'm dyinnnngggggg to play a ton of PS4 remasters (namely the original Spyro the Dragon trilogy and SoTC), but as for a fresh game I've never experienced, Ico, which is from the same producers of Shadow of the Colossus. It's an old game, and Mom's bought it off of Ebay for me twice, but neither disc worked - they froze only minutes into the game. It's hella expensive in new condition though because of its age... so who knows when I'll actually get to play it. Do you put anything else on your grilled cheese sandwiches? Just butter. Have you ever read a book in a different language? I've read some simple fairy tales as well as the play Faust in German courses. Do you want to go to the Harry Potter theme park at Universal? I have no connection with the franchise, but I mean, I'd go if you're paying, haha. If you had a secret room in your house, how would you decorate it? I'm trying to think what kind of room I'd keep a secret... Ha, actually, IF my love of tarantulas expands so largely to having dozens (which I doubt, but I acknowledge the possibility once I get my own place), a room kept on the down low to others just for them would be pretty cool. Imagine someone not knowing they're sharing a house with like, a hundred Ts, haha. As for actual decor, I'm unsure. I'd definitely keep it generally dark for them as nocturnal creatures, maybe with some Halloween decorations, like lots of fake webbing and neon green or orange lights. Man... that sounds dope. What did you get your dad for his last birthday? I couldn't buy him anything, nor did I actually make anything since I didn't know what to create. I just told him happy birthday, of course. Do any of your relatives live in another country? No. Are you claustrophobic? In some spaces, yes. Ever seen Blair Witch? Without spoilers, you know "that part" near the end? Yeah, if you've seen it, you know. That would be a fucking NIGHTMARE for me. Even watching it made me squirm. When grocery shopping, do you usually buy brand names or store brand? With most items anyway, we just get the store brand bc we cheap. Around what time do you usually eat dinner? Generally between 5:30-6:30 nowadays. Do you have any clothing that you get dry cleaned? No. Do you like foods with coconut in it? Eugh, not a coconut fan. I don't hate it as much as I used to, but I still don't like it. Have you ever researched your family history? No, but some past relative researched our family tree. Have you ever had surgery that kept you in the hospital for over a day? No. Do you like carrots more if they’re raw, or cooked? I hate carrots. Did you play with Legos as a kid? Nah, I was more into Lincoln Logs. Which bothers you more… spelling mistakes or bad grammar? It really depends on the severity and simplicity of the spelling or grammar rule. Grammatical misuse of "there/their/they're" stand out very strongly to me, though. Have you ever bought anything off of eBay? Yeah, a good number of things. Is anybody in your family schizophrenic? If so, what is their life like? I have a scizophrenic half-sister that I've never met, so I couldn't tell you. How organized is your mind? How do you know it's organized/disorganized? My mind is running Windows '98 with multiple windows and even more tabs open, all of them not responding. :^) Why do you follow the religion that you do? I don't follow one. My personal religious journey was a train wreck liberating to jump off of. Do you feel superior to others because you're that religion? I don't care if you're atheist, Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, whatever - you are by no means superior to another person in any way just because you believe different things happen once you die. If you do, it's time for some introspection. Are you a blind believer, or do you frequently challenge your own beliefs? Seeing as I went from Catholic to Christian to briefly Neo-Pagan-ish to what I am now, just believing there's some higher power/knowledge and some form of sentience after death, I obviously challenge them. What's the greatest thing about science? Life itself. This universe, this planet, your state of just knowing is a product of science, and that's pretty damn beautiful. Are you emotional or very stolid? I know I'm too emotional. I'm trying to get better about it. Do your siblings look like you? To a degree, but not NEARLY as much as they look like each other. Ashley and Nicole have been mistaken multiple times in their lives and even asked if they're twins. How many states have you lived in? Just this shitty one. How many states have you traveled through/vacationed in? Traveled through, a whole lot. Up and down the east coast. I've stayed in New York, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, South Carolina briefly, and I think possibly Michigan as a baby. Which state was/is your favorite? I don't know. Not NC, haha. You have two weeks alone in any place in the world; where would you go? Alone? Um... I dunno. I'd get lonely through two weeks in absolute isolation. How old were you when you first moved out of your parents' home? I want to say I was 18 when I briefly "moved in" with Jason and our roommates. Did you ever have to move back in? Yeah; the apartment didn't last very long. None of us were ready. How old were you when you thought you were "in love" for the first time? I was in love at 16. I'd fight God literally for eternity to prove that fact. How many exterior doors are in your home? Two, or maybe three, depending on your outlook. We have like this deck in the back with a roof and mesh separating you from the outside, and then you properly go into the yard from the door beyond that. How many cars have you owned? I myself, none. How many email accounts do you have? Ummmm my very first one I misspelled, so I didn't use it long before making a new one with the correct spelling, then later I had no choice but to make a Gmail to use YouTube, and I know I've had at least one email specifically for school. I'm probably forgetting some other oldies I used for small things. What was the last movie you watched alone? The Shining. What (if any) one television program do you watch religiously every day/week? None. What (if any) is your favorite sport? Dance. Scoff at that shit and then try one dance session and tell me it's not one. What is your favorite musical? None. Have you ever seen a live opera production? No. Dressing up for an evening out: Pants or skirt? Pants. I don't show my legs. What do you currently hear right now? I'm listening to Dance With the Dead's "The Man Who Made a Monster." I LOVE the aesthetic of synthwave and rock mixed together, but the only problem I have with this song is that it's very repetitive. Still stuck in my head though, haha. What type of survey do you refuse to take? I'm not into bolding surveys, specifically. Do you like to run? bitch fuck no Do you think you could run the mile in 10 minutes? Zero chance. What was the longest movie you watched? Hm, I don't remember... It's faintly there in my head, I just can't identify it... Have you ever been to a job interview? Well yeah. Who was the last person to call you? My psychiatrist. Now that I'm doing the partial hospitalization program again, he calls once a week. When was the last time you talked to your last ex boyfriend? Uhhh I think around the start of this month? Missed him and felt like chatting for a bit. Is your dog mixed or full? I don't have a dog, buuuut... we're getting one soon! I'm quite sure she's a mutt. What was the last thing you and your mother did together? Rode to the pharmacy to pick up my meds. Do you take good pictures? I like to think so. What is your display picture on myspace/facebook right now? The most recent selfie I took and liked. I'm finally comfortable using makeupless photos as a display picture. :') Not that I like my body by any means, I just don't care enough to feel like I HAVE to wear makeup to be even remotely pretty in the face. As for everywhere else... ahahaha. What is going on outside right now? It's raining. Like it has been for what feels like literally weeks - and it might actually have been. There's been one or two sunny days in a huge streak of just nothing but rain. It's so gross outside by now; we've been under a flood warning for days on end. Who was the last person you kissed? My best friend, but we were dating then. What color looks the best on you? Black. Have you ever bought the wrong size because you were too lazy to check it? Oh, absolutely. I LOATHE trying on clothes. You have to essentially drag me to go do it. I don't have a good reason other than I don't want to, lol. What was the last thing you bought over 5 dollars? I put down the deposit on my tattoo. c: Do you have any mag subscriptions? No. What is something you're not scared of but a lot of people are? Snakes are probably the highest on the list. I adore snakes, all snakes. Would you ever have a threesome? No; I'm strictly monogamous and to me would be cheating even if your partner was in on it. Are you an U.S. citizen? Yep. Do you have any step siblings? I have a stepbrother, yeah, but I don't see him as my brother, honestly. He's a very quiet and reclusive guy I've had almost no conversations with, and they've only ever been short. Do they annoy you? Nah, he's fine. How many times a day do you talk to your mom on the phone? Well, we live together... What did you wear yesterday? The same pjs I'm in now. I'm changing when I take a shower later. The tank top is a Day of the Dead-esque skull pattern, while the pants are mostly navy with skulls and candy can crossbones that say "nice until proven naughty" arching over and beneath them. They were a Christmas gift from my sis and are really soft and comfortable. Really don't care that it's now out of season, I wear them anyway. I do not match colors AT ALL, but again, I don't care. What color straightener do you have? We don't have one; neither Mom or I use one. Do you listen to music really loud or really low? Turn that shit up LOUD. I'll be nearly deaf one day, but... worth it? lol Do you live with anybody other than your siblings and your parents? No. Both my sisters have moved out. I'm still here because I'm just not emotionally or financially equipped to live on my own yet. Who was your last crush? I still like my best friend, but agree with her that right now isn't the time for anything. How many tattoos do you have? Currently only six. :( What is your favorite thing to do? Car rides with Mom while I ride passenger, controlling the music nice and loud with my iPod. It's odd, considering I'm very afraid of being on the road, but it's just such a freeing, wild feeling to blare music and just go, letting your mind wander. How many pets do you own? I only have a cat and a snake right now, but we're getting a dog hopefully very soon, preferably today actually when Mom has to go to the appropriate city for her normal check-up to keep her cancer at bay. Her name is Vanna and sounds so perfect for us. Mom can barely wait. Are you close with your parents? Yes, very, Mom especially. Where do you shop the most for your clothes? Hot Topic or Wal-Mart. I'd really like more stuff from Rebel's Market; they have such a wide range of stuff that just scream my aesthetic. I got my purse from there, and it's fantastic quality and so cool-looking. Have you ever read a whole series of books? Well, one trilogy that I remember: Shiloh. I adored those books and the movies. I got very, very deep into Warriors by Erin Hunter, but then my interest in reading waned, and I'm immensely behind. I don't think I'll pick it up again, but I've thought briefly about it. When you tell someone you love them do you mean it? Yes. Are you going to walk at your graduation or just pick your diploma up? I walked. Do you ever eat anything everybody else thinks is gross? Hm, perhaps. I'd have to think for a while. What did you do for your last birthday? I just ate pizza at home with my one sister that was free that day, Mom, and a family friend, as well as opened presents. What do you plan on doing for your 18th birthday? I don't recall, but I think that may have been when I was in the psych hospital. Or was that my 21st? I don't remember. Do you have to type with good grammer? Yes. I type pretty much exactly how I talk. What is your favorite quote? It's hard to pick one singular favorite. Are you allowed to cuss in front of your parents? Dad could care less, but I try to limit myself with Mom, especially with "fuck." She's not a fan, nor does she like if I just swear too much in front of her. Like she won't yell at me or anything, she just makes it clear she wants me to stop. How long was your last phone conversation? Just a couple minutes. I didn't get the Zoom link to group therapy one day and let the place know. Turns out their email was fucking up. Which one of your friends annoy you? The family friend I mentioned a few questions above has the ability to be incredibly aggravating. I love her, but she has zero issue with inserting herself into everything (and sometimes we just don't want to see her), and she voices incredibly rude opinions literally no one asks for a whoooole lot. She's got a strong tendency to try to take control over every situation. Her being our landlord now makes it harder to speak up, and besides, no one wants to hurt her feelings. Don't be mistaken though, she truly is an incredible person with a heart more caring than probably any person I know. Have you ever lost a close friend to death? No, thank fuck. I mean, I think. I do believe one of my childhood online friends committed suicide because of sexual abuse from her own fucking brother, but I guess I'll never know. She was talking to me one night horribly depressed and scared and then just vanished. Bless her, I loved her. Do you know someone who suffers from addiction? Yes. Do you have a lot of pictures in your room? Tons of posters and artwork, anyway. I currently don't have any photographs, but I got this shadowbox thing for my bday to decorate with pictures of Teddy so I can use it in my "tribute shrine" or whatever for him, and I'd also like to frame the picture of Sara's and my first hug and maybe put it on my bedside table. Do you have Facebook? Yeah, I do. Have you ever found a dog/cat on the side of the road? I myself, no, but a friend's mom did find two poor kittens thrown aside in a fucking plastic bag... Some people are abominable. Knowing how much my family loved cats, she reached out to us, and we took them in and named them Aphrodite and... I can't remember the other's name. She disappeared kinda early. Aphrodite wound up being one of my most beloved cats and was even the mother of a kitten that same family adopted. Delilah is still alive, doing wonderfully, and incredibly loved. <3 Aphrodite, meanwhile, as well as all our other cats at the time, were taken by animal control because our neighbors were tired of them wandering, even though they were too fucking cowardly to confront us first. I've said in many surveys that I am very much against outdoor cats, but I wasn't then because I was uninformed and really didn't understand. I wailed and sobbed and just pure shrieked like a banshee outside when we came home to learn they were taken. I have no clue how any are now, and that's the worst part. Do you go bowling in your town? We are in the middle of a pandemic, lol. Even beforehand though, I rarely went. Last time I did was on a date with Girt. We had fun. Do you have a drive-in theater? No sir. What brand is your favorite shoe? Converse. Is your best friend's mom like your own? They're quite similar, yes. Both are very sweet and caring for others. Do you have anxiety or depression? Try both. What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Sonic. Do you own a pair of brass knuckles? Nah. Have you and your friends ever made up a word? Likely as kids. Do you have any embarrassing baby pictures of yourself? Not that I know of. What is the worst smell in the world? Anyone remember that survey I took mentioning my dog's old tumor? Yeah, that after he spent overnight in a diaper and inevitably peed himself in his old age. And he had a UTI. You probably can't even imagine how fucking vomit-inducing that smell was. Do you dye your hair a lot? No. :/ I really wish. I have so many colors I wanna try. Do you have anybody in your family who rides dirtbikes/fourwheelers? Not really? No one in my family owns one. My younger sister would totally go if you asked her and had one for her to use, though. She's done it plenty before. Have you ever rode a dirtbike/fourwheeler? Yeah, a fourwheeler, and it's really fun! Tell me how you got one of your scars? Hmmm, let's think of a unique one. Ah, my shins, left one especially. When I shave my legs, they get unbelievably itchy, even if I use lotion, and I would scratch my skin absolutely raw so often that I have permanent scars. It's partially why I barely shave my legs anymore. Have you ever had a friend who cut themselves? I know many, sadly. I don't know of any that still do, thankfully. I promise, it never helps. If you ever have the urge, I can't suggest enough running where you want to self-harm under cold water or slap the location (like your wrist) with a rubber band. The latter is especially helpful. It's a similar burning sensation and doesn't leave marks. It would help me refrain sometimes. What is your favorite thing to do in the summer? Swim in a nice, warm pool. Otherwise, become a hermit and wait for the outdoors to not be prepared to melt the flesh off my bones. x_x Do you go tanning or do you lay out? Neither, ugh. As you can guess from above, I hate the sensation of heat on me. What is your favorite skin lotion? I just really like cocoa butter. Smells really good and is perfectly moisturizing. Do you use a lot of hair products? The only hair product I use is shampoo, haha. Do you have a cousin you dislike? No. Well, one is incredibly brainwashed and misled by her psychopath of a father, but I love her nonetheless. We talk now and again because family is important to her. Have you ever heard Theory of a Deadman? Yeah, they're good. What is your comfort food? Absolutely ice cream. Who is your celebrity crush? Mark Fischbach/Markiplier is a perfect human being with the looks of a god and heart of a saint and you cannot convince me otherwise. What’s the song you most wish you had written? "Imagine" by John Lennon is a high contendant, for sure. Definitely something I'd write. Have you ever been stuck by someone very annoying on a plane/bus/etc? I think so at one point or another. Did you get lost at all on your first day of high school? Ha, for sure. Have you ever been interrupted during sex? A bitch knows how to act asleep if she hears a door so much as barely squeak, I'll tell you that much lmaooo. Have you ever been recorded doing stupid things while drunk? No. Has a significant other ever called you by the wrong name? No. Have you ever cooked anything and it turned out horrible? I've barely actually cooked anything in order TO fuck up. Have you ever made a bad first impression on someone’s parents? I can't say with certainty, but I think Jason's mom had her doubts about me at first because she commented on the ripped jeans I wore when I went to his house for the first time. She came to love me like her own though, and I love(d) her. I was actually just thinking about her and how she's doing the other day. What is a food that you always are in the mood to eat? Always? Perhaps sour candy, like Sour Punch Straws in specific. Ever held a newborn animal? Many kittens, yes. Do you make a wish when you blow out your birthday candles? I do, but just for the annual appeal of it. I don't actually believe it will have any effect on what I wished, it's just... normal, ig. What is the last thing you searched for online? Medical coding classes. Having trouble finding any free ones that are actually legit... Is it wicked hard for you to sleep when it's hot in your room? It's borderline impossible. Do you dunk your cookies in milk? Sometimes, and almost always with Oreos. Do medical terms make you uncomfortable? Ha, speaking of medical coding... No, not really. It's unnerving to hear "you have _____," but I understand it can be something so, so minor. Of course, it could be the exact opposite, but. I also actually find it quite interesting to learn the Latin roots of the terms. Are you afraid of failure? Beyond measure. Have you been called a bad influence? Yes, to my former friend's son. Not that that witch of a woman was a great person. I'd love to know how an infant can be negatively affected by receiving nothing but love from his "aunt," also having no concept of understanding about me being unemployed and not very "adult-ish" in general, which I'm sure is what she meant. Normally judgment hits me deep, but that shit I just rolled my eyes at.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''bottom is a rock'' by mother mother

[breadknight-likes-things]

Bread’s Game Journal 11/08/20: The PS2, Best Console Ever Made?  It’s More Likely Than You Think!

It wasn’t until 2001 that I actually played a PS2, and a little less than a year later that I would get one for myself, but neither of these events are things that happen anymore.  Not getting consoles of course, you can just go buy a console whenever you want.  It’s the two ways that I achieved both the initial playing of the PS2 and acquiring one for myself that has vanished into the social ether.  One for an unfortunate reality of changing times, and another because of the powerful curse it put upon me. Getting a little ahead of myself with the curse there, but let's start with how I first played the second Playstation console.  The store is Capitola Video, the owner is Ken, an exceedingly nice Vietnamese immigrant who clearly loved movies, and the PS2 is the store rental unit.  It seems insane to think of now, but local video stores used to just....rent out consoles!  Ken even included a store memory card, that believe it or not I actually now own, and treasure!  That rental unit is where I first played Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, an all time favorite game (And also something else I made sure to buy when that store unfortunately went out business about a year ago now), and by extension, where I was introduced to a new conception of the grand adventures that video games could be.

Now, that being said, I bet if you tally up the amount of times we actually rented that store PS2 it would probably only be three or four, but each one meant a lot to me.   So when it came time to get my own PS2, that’s when I was irrevocably cursed.  Bless my mom’s heart, she knew I liked video games, and when one of her co-workers asked around at the school she worked for if someone wanted to buy her son’s Playstation 2, she had the great idea to take her up on the ridiculous $80 offer (The PS2 was still $300 new at the time, I don’t know if the low price was intentional, but I often think about the ridiculous deal we got).  What I didn’t know until much later, is she was selling the PS2 as a punishment for something the son had done...and I took that kids PS2 away from him without even knowing or caring.  I swear I see the ghost of that kids passion for video games out of the corner of my eye every now and then.....

But hey!  What a console!  I wrote that post title in a half joking manner based on how many people decisively claim that the PS2 is the best console of all time, but really?  They aren’t all that far off!  The game library for PS2 had everything!  You could get action games, racing games, RPGs, excellent platformers, and even first person shooters, which had begun to come into their own on consoles around the time (The PS2 never did have the elusive “Halo Killer”, but it did have quite a few great FPS games when you know where to look).  

I have vivid memories of Killzone being hyped up as the “Halo Killer” and recall that when I actually played it, I found is esoteric and nowhere near as effortlessly fun as Halo, those claims were always wild!

Notably, unlike the consoles of today, the PS2 felt like it was largely defined by new IP.  If you really dig into it, a lot of the games on PS2 that were from older established franchises ended up pushing a lot of said franchises over a bridge too far.  I don’t mean to say all of them were bad (Tony Hawk, for example, only got better, and Final Fantasy’s PS2 entries are widely beloved), just that in my time, it was the original titles that really stick out to me in defining that era. It really felt like a time of experimentation for a lot of the big companies, where that same experimentation is really only the field of indies now. It’s genuinely insane to me to think that, in general, the 6th gen of consoles only lasted about 5 years.  So many great experiences, and indeed, industry defining games, came out during then.  Whether those be radical reinventions of established formulas like Resident Evil 4, noteworthy consistency like Tony Hawk, or even an explosion of JRPG’s that earlier consoles could only dream of.  The PS2 was an incredible era for video games!  It molded and shaped most of my game tastes up to the games I still play now!  I revisit PS2 games on an almost constant basis, for nostalgia sometimes, and other times simply because the games themselves are still incredible.  I didn’t even get to the fact that the PS2 was the first ever DVD player I ever owned, which was another huge boon to this console that I didn’t even go into here!

A strange fact I recall was “The Matrix” on DVD being a significant driver of PS2 sales in the early years of both that console and format, it was good timing! (And of course, a great movie!)

Because I can’t think of a very good way to sell just how much the PS2 meant to me in an ending for this post, I’m going to tell you a silly fact instead:  I used to watch the trailers and developer diaries for scary games on Official Playstation Magazine demo discs, but I was genuinely scared to think of what might happen if I ever actually played one of them myself....Siren still haunts me to this day!

#video games #playstation #ps2 #ps1 #playstation 2 #playstation 5 #ps5 #retro games #ps #ps2 games #retrospective #sony #sony games #naughty dog #the matrix #movies #dvd #killzone #gurellia #bread's game journal #game journal #game journalism

[awkwarddannyphantomphotos]

I have something a little bit special to share tonight, a tale that begins a while back when I was hanging out with some friends. 

We had gone to an old box computer (just like the ones in older movies) they had downstairs to play some old computer games that don’t run on current computer systems (Sonic Schoolhouse I’m looking at you) and started playing some.

We had a great time, us 3 who are finished high school, playing preschool math games.

That’s when I spotted it... A DVD game. Quickly we put it in the computer but it didn't run, so we had to play it on a TV. And when we finished with it my friends told me I should take the disc or they would end up throwing it in the fire pit.

That game...

Was THIS...

So anyways I’m gonna talk about this poorly made Scene it game now. This one’s a long one so strap in.

The inside... there sure are a lot of ghosts whom I don't recognize in here.

Loving the Danny Phantom centric theme going on here, but when was Danny ever a shadow of himself? It doesn't sound like it’s referring to over-shadowing, and Danny doesn't act like a shadow of his former self unless you want to count the bad timeline in The Ultimate Enemy.

Alright, the main menu... feels... kind of barren for a Nick thing? This lighting feels off. Anyways, party play it is.

aaaand before I have a chance to read a screen with some options on it I’m whisked away. No, I do not know what those boxes with JPEGs on them are supposed to be.

I’ll tell you right now I’m going to skip a lot of this game because we are only here for the Danny Phantom stuff, but rest assured. The emotion this thing in full inflicted on me and my friends sure was something both funny and something we will not be repeating. When I return the disc to them I might need to update you all on their reaction to seeing it again.

(I have a feeling it will be along the lines of “no, get that out of here before I burn it.”)

Ok, I mean, they might be able to throw a curve ball here-

… I think the only people who will get this wrong are the people who never saw the show.

Wow, that even more distorted then what I usually find!

and the image is... Isn't that from when Ember hypnotized him to be in love with Sam?

Was this the best Mr. Lancer picture they could get?? They actively looked at this and figured yup, that the one we want.

oh no, they’re going to dunk me in the PS2 slime, why does it look worse then everything else?

Jazz, what have they done to you?!

Of all the images, the took them all in the middle of a lip flap. And Jack is really close to being perfectly lined up in those two pictures!

Again, these are the best photos they have apparently.

And that is it. There are some “Chose from a line up” type questions that are not Danny Phantom related but have characters as an option but other then those I got them all! And the only time we see Danny as Phantom was one of those ones!

There is barely anything on this disc, When the questions are done there is no indication that it finished. It just loops back to the same questions. In the same Order. With the same answers.

Lets see what the one other mode has then

Danny take your hand out of the slime.

It’s... the exact same but now it tells people to move pieces across a board (that... It doesn't come with???)

My recommendation is don’t buy this. Even if it’s a single penny don’t buy this.

It’s not worth it.

Misleading on the amount of ghosts you get based on the cover, I wish I had a haunted game instead of this one. 0/10

#Danny Phantom #Sceneit? #I wish I hadn't sceneit

[murfeelee]

Video Games Pt3: Video Game Challenge

I saw this list on Pinterest out of nowhere, and what better way to ring in the new year than with another questionnaire, about my favorite pastime! This is the spiritual successor to Part 1 and Part 2.

Day 1 - Very first video game: Pacman and/or Mortal Kombat and/or Samurai Shodown on arcade machines (way back in the day when laundromats had arcade machines and gumball machines and such in them--good times, good times U_U); Tetris on computers; and a buttload of PS1 titles (again: back in the good ole days when consoles came with promo demo discs--I had Frogger, Need for Speed, Medieval, and a bunch of others).

Day 2 - Your favorite character: Here’s my Top 10 Males post and Top 10 Females post.

Day 3 - A game that is underrated: I will preach the greatness of PS1′s Legend of Dragoon till my dying day. It was doomed to dwell in Final Fantasy 7′s shadow, which came out earlier that same year, and it’s a real shame, cuz LoD was E V E R Y T H I N G.

My favorite aspects of the game are:

Its lore and worldbuilding. On top of the fact that the premise of the game is could be an anime series in its own right, you just get SO EXCITED to visit each new location, and uncover more about the world’s history, and see the different architecture, technologies, cultures and different races (I LOVE the Winglies, of course). It’s actually a gorgeous game for its time.

The combat -- I STILL have some of the Addition patterns memorized to this very day! They get progressively harder as you level up, but once you get used to the timing you feel so dang good. Die, More and More!

The soundtrack and cutscenes. The NOSTALGIA? O_O Bruh. The story is just really good, and was the very first video game to make me cry when certain...events...happened. Play the game and find out for yourself!

Day 4 - Your guilty pleasure game: The Sims, Dragon Age...any and all EA games. Effing ashamed of myself every time I give that nest of corporate demons at Electronic Farts money. “Surprise mechanics” my arse. 

Day 5 - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were): Has Jar Jar Binks been in a video game yet? Then that’s me. XD But I wish I was most like Lara Croft, as explained in my Top 10 Females post.

Day 6 - Most annoying character: For females it’s Lightning from Final Fantasy 13, and for males it’s Vaan, from Final Fantasy 12. I don’t mind as much when supporting characters are effing annoying (Vanille, Hope, etc), but when it’s the MAIN protagonist?! WHY, Square Enix? WHY.

Lightning was just a negative nancy debbie downer. I wish they had swapped Serah and Lightning, I seriously do. I just couldn’t stand her dry and soulless personality. She wasn’t being edgy or bada** or cool or sexy or FANG or anything; she was just a bitter jaded unhappy wench.

And with Vaan I just effing hate that dude. Why was he even there? They tried so hard to make this pushy entitled kid relevant, but I was like no, the story could’ve easily been told without him, and I wish it had been; he’s a effing idiot.

Day 7 - Favorite game couple: Yuna and Tidus from FFX (hardest I ever cried playing a video game -- THE FEELS I TELL YOU).

Day 8 - Best soundtrack: I used to think it was Skyrim, but nope, it’s Witcher 1, 2 and 3. Just listen to ALL of the songs CDPR ever produced for the entire franchise, including all the unreleased tracks, and enjoy the eargasm.

Day 9 - Saddest game scene: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice had me legit depressed for a good week. Get your tissues and holy water ready; it’s seriously effed up. The entire game is the saddest I ever played, jfc.

Day 10 - Best gameplay: Witcher 3, duh. Main quests, side quests, combat, dialogue, plot, graphics, worldbuilding, creatures, bosses, soundtrack, characters, Gwent, NEED I GO ON.

Day 11 - Gaming system of choice: Playstation for life. But the Nintendo Switch is effing brilliant, ngl; once they put Skyrim & The Witcher on it I was like SOLD.

Day 12 - A game everyone should play: At least ONE Final Fantasy game. There’s 15+, and Dissidia and Kingdom Hearts. It’s not just a game, it’s an experience.

As much as I rag on FF13 and FF15, they’re still admittedly LEAGUES better than a lot of other crap out there. I just happen to feel that Square Enix is out of its frikkin mind lately, and tbh I’ve been rapidly losing my hype for the FF7 Remake. I was never much of a FF7 fan to begin with, aside from being a rabid Sephiroth fangirl and watching Advent Children a billion times. But Square’s gotta be drunk as a skunk if they think I’m paying all that money for god knows how many of these effing “episodes” they’re gonna piecemeal us to dangit death with. HAYUL no. I’d rather not get too attached.

Day 13 - A game you’ve played more than five times:

Day 14 - Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper: Huh?

Day 15 - What game are you playing right now: Speak of the devil, I’m replaying God of War for the zillionth time already.

Day 16 - Game with the best cut scenes: In terms of graphics and story impact IMO might be Red Dead Redemption 2. That game was frikkin gorgeous, and the story was SO DANG GOOD. Braithwaite Manor!? O_O

Day 17 - Favorite antagonist: For females it’s either Edea from FF8, or Yunalesca from FFX. For dudes it’s Sephiroth, from FF7. That man needs some serious counseling.

Day 18 - Favorite protagonist: Yuna from FFX for the ladies, and TW3′s Geralt of Rivia for the dudes. 

Day 19 - A game world you would like to live in: The more Middle Eastern-inspired scifi/steampunki-medievalesque world of Ivalice from FF12, or the medieval French/Swiss Toussaint from The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine.

Day 20 - Favorite genre: RPGs and JRPGs, and pretty much action-adventure games with swords and sorcery.

Day 21 - Game with the best story: Red Dead Redemption, which is a good thing and a bad thing. A lot of the time I felt I was watching a movie, rather than playing a game. But it was still an Oscar worthy movie. XD

Day 22 - A game sequel which disappointed you: Technically it hasn’t come out yet, but from what we’ve seen of the Nioh 2 beta release, omfg what’s going on? U_U Now, don’t get me wrong! Nioh 2 looks AMAZING. But....that’s cuz it looks exactly like Nioh 1, just with new yokai gameplay thrown in. o_O Uh...is this a DLC expansion pack or what? Cuz it sure ain't lookin like a full-fledged sequel! :P Dare I call it an asset flip. Come on, don’t do this; do MORE. Unless this is actually an expansion you’ll sell for half the price. ;)

Day 23 - Game you think had the best graphics or art style: For graphics it’s RDR2, but for most unique art style it’s always been Okami for me. <3

Day 24 - Favorite classic game: Spyro the Dragon. Their reboot for PS4 was AMAZING.

Day 25 - A game you plan on playing: Cyberpunk 2077. I’m so bummed, knowing the game’s been delayed to September 2020 instead of April, but oh well. As long as CDPR gives us that master-class level of Polish we all know and love from The Witcher 3, then take as much time as you need, I guess. At least they’re not like effing EA or Bethesda. XD

Day 26 - Best voice acting: BOY. Freaking iconic, Kratos. :P

Day 27 - Most epic scene ever: Ciri beating the absolute tastebuds outta Caranthir in TW3, not once but twice. Most OP Witcher EVER, girl; WERK.

Day 28 - Favorite game developer: Though I effing hate them, I’m still a Square Enix fangirl at heart. It’s just saddening to see this weird turn they’ve been making recently, with garbage like the Quiet Man, and especially with Final Fantasy, my favorite game series of all time. U_U I’m not looking forward to the FF7 Remake anymore, tbh. I just hope FF16 is more of a return to form.

Day 29 - A game you thought you wouldn't like, but ended up loving: Skyrim. I was never a big fan of Elder Scrolls games, and when Skyrim came out I was very meh at first. But then the mods started coming out for it and I was like wow. O_O

Day 30 - Your Favorite game of all time: Legend of Dragoon on PS1, Final Fantasy X on PS2, Skyrim on PS3/PC, The Witcher 3 on PS4, and The Sims on PC.

________________________________________________

Thanks for reading!

#video games #questionnaire #EA you suck #Electronic Arts #more like electronic farts

[daleisgreat]

25 Years of Sega Saturn & Virtual Boy - Flashback Special!

After the deluge of wrestling-themed entries for WrestleMania month this past 30 days, I have been pining to do another videogame anniversary special. Looking up which platforms have major milestone anniversaries this year, I noted six that stuck out. Four of the platforms (NES, Xbox 360, PSone, PS2) I have an extensive history with and they will get their own respective flashback treatment from me when their anniversaries draw nearer later this year. The other two platforms have all had lackluster or outright abysmal degrees of retail success and both I have only had limited histories with and never played on a consistent basis. Nevertheless, the time I did have with them I considered unique and I do have some fond memories of my experiences with each platform. So let us get on with this flashback special as I celebrate the 25th anniversaries of two consoles that each hit in 1995: Sega’s Saturn and Nintendo’s Virtual Boy.

I want to begin with the platform I have played the least of these two, the Saturn. Yes, I played my Virtual Boy and its daunting 14 game library more than the Saturn. In 1995 I was still lagging a generation behind on the latest consoles. All my family had was an NES at this point and I recently got a GameBoy for Christmas of 1993 so in 1995 I was getting a lot of mileage out of my GameBoy and my parents were still hitting up garage sales for bargain price NES game for me. By the time the Saturn and PSone hit in mid-1995, I was a year away from getting a SNES which I desired more so the Saturn and PSone were not even close to making my wish list. I read about them looming in magazines like Game Players and Electronic Gaming Monthly, but truth be told I was not all that excited for the future of disc-based platforms and the advent of polygonal graphics that were about to come into fruition with 32-bit consoles. As a naïve 12-year old, the first major 3D polygonal games that hit on SNES and Genesis in the early 90s like Star Fox and Virtua Racer looked butt-ugly to me, and from trying out demo kiosks of PSone and Saturn at stores the impatient kid I was back then was furious at this newfound ‘feature’ of the latest systems having loading times. Combine that with my family having no desire to chunk down several hundred dollars for another gaming system and I was left with no cravings for the Saturn and PSone when they both hit in 1995. I had no clue of Sega’s surprise Saturn launch announced at the first E3 in May of 1995. For the unfamiliar, it was when going into that E3 it was known that both the Saturn and PSone were slated to launch within days of each other in September of 1995, but at Sega’s press conference they said right then and there the Saturn is out right now at a handful of select retailers. In 1995 the Internet was only around for a few years and not even the slightest bit ubiquitous. Computers were still a couple years away from coming down to more reasonable family friendly prices, so at this time I got all my gaming news from my monthly subscription to Game Players.

Here is the podcast special on the Saturn I originally recorded way back in 2008. Check it out if you want to know even more about the history of the Saturn and its games. I wound up largely ignoring both the Saturn and PSone for the first few years they were out, maybe occasionally trying out an occasional store kiosk demo and that was about it. I remember the magazines at the time putting a lot of hype into Sega’s arcade ports, and console exclusives like Panzer Dragoon getting cover stories of having mind-shattering graphics, but I was not buying it at the time and stubbornly remained loyal to my 2D sprites. For the Saturn, I finally got my first real experience with it in April of 1997. I remember shortly before this time the Saturn was being pushed aggressively on TV with a special 1996 holiday bundle packaging it with Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Cop for $199. I had no idea at the time why this ridiculous deal happened was because Sega was getting killed in sales at this point in the PSone/Saturn/N64 era and they were desperately trying to play catch-up with a hell of a value considering several months earlier in 1996 it was clinging onto its dooming launch price of $399.

Flash forward a few months later in April of 1997 and my hometown got hit with a huge flood that forced a mandatory evacuation of the entire town for a couple weeks until the waters receded. For a couple days our family stayed at a nearby air base hangar. I believe we were planning on hunkering down there for several days until a couple days in my uncle from St. Paul surprised us and showed up and ‘volunteered’ on taking us in and refused to leave without us coming with him. My siblings and I were delighted to get out of the crowded hangar and spend time with our cousins for what ended up being a week before we were able to get back home. My cousin Royce, who was within a year of my age at the time wound up getting that Saturn three game bundle for Christmas a few months earlier and we played those three games along with the demo disc that came with the system almost every day. We must have played through Virtua Cop at least a few times, and I remember finding it a big step up from previous light gun games I was accustomed to. Daytona USA at the time did not really click with me, and while I was impressed with the graphics at the time I did not come around to checkpoint-racing games yet and was more turned off by their enforced time limits back then. On the demo disc our family got a lot of fun competing against each other in the home run derby mode available in World Series Baseball. The standout game of the pack was easily Virtua Fighter 2. It blew me away and for me it was the first game that proved not only for fighting games, but for games all together that 3D polygonal graphics and gameplay could be viable and damn fun. I knew I was a couple years late to the party by this point, but by 1997 polygonal graphics were no longer the crude, non-textured blocks and rectangles on the SNES and Genesis, but actually had some depth and style to them. I loved Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat at this point, but Virtua Fighter 2 proved to me that 3D fighters could coexist with 2D ones.

That week with my cousin was my proper introduction to the 32/64-bit era. It would be over a decade though before I got more serious hand-on time with the Saturn. Not many friends of mine had the Saturn back home, or if they did we rarely busted it out. My friend and former podcast co-host, Matt has a mammoth collection, and I only recall us turning to the system once or twice all these years to play the charming platformer SCUD. Another friend and podcast co-host of mine, Chris also has a Saturn in his equally mammoth game collection, and until 2008 I only recall us powering it on a couple of times to play the fun co-op action platformer, Three Dirty Dwarves, which had a nonsensical, grungy vibe to its destruction. In 2008, we were a couple years into doing our videogame podcast and we loved doing console retrospectives, so we decided it was time to do one on the Saturn. I just uploaded it to YouTube and integrated it into this article for your listening pleasure! Chris knew about my limited Saturn hands-on time at this point so we decided to spend literally a whole afternoon, about four to five hours of ‘research’ playing a good chunk of his Saturn collection. About 10-15 minutes for each game for a quick refresher for what each game brought to the table. There was one though we played for about two hours straight. That was the rare Panzer Dragoon Saga Chris had a copy of. I knew about it being a collectible at this point and heard the acclaim for it being an ahead of its time RPG and professed to Chris to hope to spend a little more time with it to see what the hype was all about. I remember digging its rail-shooter action the first two games established while simultaneously mixing in RPG style mechanics and exploration. I think we both got wrapped up in it, and stuck with it a bit longer than anticipated. Suffice it to say, those opening hours stood out to me all these years later and I can see why Panzer Dragoon Saga became a hot commodity.

Jeremy Parish did an excellent line of videos with deep dives on every individual Virtual Boy game released, including Japanese exclusives. Here is his take on the Wario's exclusive Virtual Boy game as of yet to be re-released, Wario Land. In my TurboGrafX-16 flashback, I wrote about how I procured the system at a gaming community meet-up event. At that same event there were several gaming systems hooked up for play throughout the night, and one of them was the Saturn. One of the highlights of that night was someone bringing enough multi-taps and controllers that we were able to get plenty of rounds of eight player Saturn Bomberman in. I am a fan of classic multiplayer Bomberman, but never played more than four players before, and was surprised to see the Saturn pull off an eight player version with a micro-sized map and characters in order to fit everyone on screen. It was a Bomberman experience that nothing will likely ever stack up to. I dug up a photo from the event of all of us gathered around the TV so you call can see the tech in action!

Sadly, I never got anymore hands on time with the Saturn after this. It is one of the few major consoles that I do not own. For years I remember seeing the system for sale at our local retro games shop for around $30, but I always hesitated on it. The games I enjoyed on there Sega released better sequels on other systems, and I later got to check out some of its top ranked games like the Capcom fighting games, Guardian Heroes, Nights Into Dreams... and acclaimed shmups like Radiant Silvergun on enhanced re-releases on the Xbox 360 and PS3. There remains games exclusive to the Saturn that I always wanted to try like Die Hard Arcade, World Series Baseball ‘98, Fighters MegaMix, Burning Rangers and Shining Force III, but with retro game prices continuously going up, the time to start a Saturn collection has come and gone in my book unless I happen to stumble upon a steal of a deal. I do have one Saturn game in my collection however, and I will give props to Matt once again who gifted me his extra copy of Bug!. While Sega pulled the plug early in America on the Saturn, it comparatively fared much better than Nintendo with the Virtual Boy. It launched in America in August of 1995, and sold so poor right out of the gate that Nintendo could not have abandoned the platform any faster. Its last game, 3D Tetris, hit North America in March of 1996, only seven months after it launched and with a total of a meager 14 games officially releasing stateside. I remember seeing the hype leading up to the Virtual Boy’s launch in the magazines, and like with the initial wave of polygonal graphics, I was not sold on the concept of virtual reality. However, a couple months after that same flood hit in 1997 our local Wal-Mart had unsold Virtual Boy inventory it was desperate to get rid of by selling the system itself for $20, and games for $5 each. This was one of the first times as a kid I recall my dad abstaining from his garage sales-only videogame rule and realized the steal the system was going for. We walked out of that Wal-Mart with the system and the copy of Mario’s Tennis it came bundled with, along with copies of Golf, Mario Clash and Nester’s Funky Bowling.

I was in the midst of spending summers on a farm at this point in my childhood for several years, and that was the summer of Virtual Boy with my siblings. I played the crap out of all four of those games. I abided by the recommended break alerts that popped up every 15-30 minutes seriously because I recall the gaming mags at the time reporting on the Virtual Boy causing eye strain after consistent use. Even with all that heavy duty play of the Virtual Boy that summer, somehow I am the only one in my family that does not have glasses. All four games we had were solid, but not mind blowing. Mario Clash I thought was a nice, fully-featured take on the classic original Mario Bros. arcade game that fleshed out that style of gameplay with about 100 stages and got so difficult early on I did not come close to finishing it. Golf was a good simulation of the sport, but it only had one course so I did not revisit it that often. I remember enjoying Mario’s Tennis a lot, but this being the debut version of that game it was more of a tennis sim with Mario characters, and had less of the wacky mini-games and power-up attacks associated with the franchise today. My siblings and I played a ton of competitive Nester’s Funky Bowling. There was not anything that funky about it other than the occasional cheerful animation from Nester and his twin sister Hester whenever you scored a strike or spare, but it was a functional enough bowling game that we had plenty of fierce rounds of over that summer. After that summer we and I got our fill of those four games and the Virtual Boy found itself in the closet for many years. Eventually I randomly dug it out and found the tripod busted, and the pack that hooked up to the back of the controller that contained the plug-in for the AC adaptor was missing. With no means of powering on the Virtual Boy, it sat in a bag forgotten in my closet for well over a decade. I will thank one Jeremy Parish for renewing my interest in Virtual Boy with his excellent line of Virtual Boy Works videos. For those that are unfamiliar with him, Parish is one of most credible members of the retro gaming press, with him hosting the renowned retro-game podcast, Retronauts since 2006 and going on to write countless books and producing chronological video series on nearly every 20th century Nintendo platform. He averages one video a week, which usually highlights one or two games and does a deep dive into its development history and then proceeds to review the game. A few years in he has already covered almost all the games released from the first years of the SNES and the first two years of NES and GameBoy.

Throughout 2019 Parish took a detour from those three systems to focus on going through the entire VirtualBoy library, including its several Japanese exclusives. His surprise love for the platform shined through his thorough coverage for each game. It is a well-produced series and fantastic history lesson for this blink-and-miss-it platform that I highly recommend checking out by click or pressing here, especially now to learn about the first major attempt at a virtual reality platform with VR now having a modicum of success with the PlayStation VR and the Oculus Rift having made legit waves these past few years. Virtual Boy Works inspired me to track down a few more Virtual Boy games to my collection which were surprisingly going for not that much on eBay. I wound up getting Galactic Pinball, TeleroBoxer, Virtual League Baseball, Vertical Force and Wario Land. I also tracked down a replacement AC Adaptor hub and tripod stand which resulted in my Virtual Boy powering on once again! I tested out all these games briefly. I love me some videogame pinball, and Galactic Pinball has some nifty 3D tricks up its sleeve. TeleroBoxer is like Punch-Out meets Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots or Real Steel for the younger readers who need a more contemporary reference. Vertical Force is a competent shmup, and I wish I put more than a few minutes into Wario Land because it is a legit top notch platformer and went down as one of the few highly rated games on the system. I swear to one day make it through Wario Land! Thank you for joining me on this two part 25th anniversary special for the Saturn and Virtual Boy! Got a favorite Virtual Boy or Saturn memory of your own? I would like to hear how it compares to my tale so shoot me a line on Twitter over @Gruel. If you enjoyed this journal-style flashback special, than I encourage you to check out the links below to the specials I wrote for the Dreamcast, GameBoy, Genesis, TurboGrafX-16 and yes, even the 32-X. Thank you all once again for indulging me!

My Other Gaming Flashbacks Dreamcast 20th Anniversary GameBoy 30th Anniversary Genesis 30th Anniversary TurboGrafX-16 30th Anniversary and 32-X 25th Anniversary

#videogames #saturn #virtual boy #virtua fighter #panzer dragoon #nester #wario land #three dirty dwarves #teleroboxer

[oldnintendonerd]

Season 3 in full swing - But first... the Pre-Season

Alright, I’ll admit it, I’ve been slacking here. It takes time to write these up, and time is something I have not had as much of as I’d like. We made it to the very end of 2018 in the last blog post, and we had a whopping $103.68 in the game hunting money stash. I’ll tell you what too, it gets even better. One of my first finds of 2019 was at the Goodwill, and it wasn’t even a game, but boy did it help the game hunting money.

A decent condition TU-2 Tuner pedal from Boss. I actually have one of my own and didn’t need one at all, but at TWO BUCKS? I couldn’t pass it up, knowing it’d have to be easily $40 at minimum, without even looking it up. It was a little dusty, and had a few dings and scrapes, but man, these things are tanks. Anyone familiar with this will recognize it as really good condition. I’ve seen them with massive amounts of rust and nearly no paint left and they still work like a charm.

Little before and after for you here:

Sold that son of a bitch for a cool $58.99 on eBay. After listing fee, PayPal fee, and shipping we add $44.06 to the game hunting money, totaling $147.74. A new record high!

That was in early February. Deep winter is terrible for finds, and it wasn’t until late March, on the 22nd, until I found even SOMETHING. A Wii sensor bar for $0.99 at Goodwill. No pics of that, it’s a sensor bar. It’s... yeah. A sensor bar. I needed them though, I have like 6 extra Wiis. Been waiting to get a couple complete systems so I can sell, or mod and sell each one. In any case, totaled $1.06 out the door. We drop to $146.68. Moving on.

March 26th, once again, at the Goodwill. Knocking on Spring cleaning’s door and I spot a blue Dual Shock 2 controller. Sitting in the toys section, not electronics. Not by the video games. In the toys section. This is not the first time this has happened, finding something game related in the toys section. Last time I think it was a few actual PS2 games.

Tiny bit of dust in some of the nooks and crannies, but man is it in good condition. Sticks are 9/10 easy, and buttons are nice and crispy. My new favorite PS2 controller right now. This one set us back $3.99. Or, $4.29 out the door. This takes us to $142.39.

Great find, I only had one DualShock 2 controller when I found this, so really couldn’t have been better timing. Having two again makes the system feel whole again somehow.

Moving into April, we ran across an unusually valuable title. Now I don’t mean it is worth $100 or anything, I just mean it is one that you would liken to be being something along the lines of maybe $5 complete.

Wheel of Fortune for PS3 - Found at Goodwill 04.12.2019

Again, not a hundred dollars but it was still worth $13.95 on Pricecharting. Usually that tells me it is a least worth a play. So I snagged it. This was Goodwill again, so $2.99, and $3.21 out the door. Takes the hunting money down to $139.18.

on 04.15.2019 I hit a flea market. Really not much there, one guy had a completely obliterated Sega Dreamcast I didn’t even look twice at. That was it, other than a guy with a small bag of DS and GBA games. He wanted $30 for the whole bag, and I’d never heard of any title other than this one...

Snagged it for $4 just by itself. It looks like its going for about $12 loose, so I thought that was acceptable. I don’t have a DS to test it on (yet), but cartridges almost never fail really. So fingers crossed this one is fine. Takes us to $135.18.

A couple weeks later, it is still not yet really Yard Sale season. There has been a sprinkling, and by this time I have visited a handful, but with no luck finding anything. The next find is still a thrift store find. I’ll admit I probably paid more for this than I should have, Pricecharting has this one at $5.69 complete. I paid $3.92, which brought it to $4.20 after tax.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception - Found 04.28.2019 at VoA

I don’t mind paying a little more for games when they have been tough to find, or if they are going to my collection. This one is both. The Uncharted series, ever since I found out about it, and that it was generally well received and liked, I’ve been looking for copies. I knew they were cheap and the only time I’ve run across any copies was at GameStop, and they were $4.99, and disc only. I’m like I am not paying $5 plus tax, for a disc only game that is worth pretty much exactly that CIB. I want the box to put on the shelf! So when I saw this in the thrift I grabbed it anyway. Still under retail price, or at least what I’d pay on eBay to have one shipped. Most were around $10, give or take a dollar. So half price? Not bad, and in decent condition.

The $4.20 takes us to $130.98.

Now, we are at least into the current month. I walked into The Salvation Army store on May 9th and spotted this...

A Sega CD. Not easy to find or come by, especially in the box. However, not being a Sega guy (obviously), and because of that, not having looked at prices for Sega CD really ever, let alone recently, I guessed at it being worth about $100 to $120. I thought the condition of the box was a little rough to be asking $69.99, so I left with only the photo on my phone.

Later that evening I looked on eBay sold listings and was a little surprised. Ones without the box were going for what I thought the CIB one would be worth. I posted the shot I snapped above on my Instagram and asked my followers their opinion: Would they have picked it up?

Overwhelmingly... yes, they would have!

So I stopped in the next morning after they opened and asked to look at it. It was indeed CIB, though the box had seen better days. Even the carton inside had a few rips. but it was all there, and still held everything securely. I asked if it had been tested. The guy at the front said yes they test everything they get. I said oh, you guys have a Genesis to hook to this? Could I see it work?

That was met with a blank stare. Another guy that does the testing actually admitted that it was not tested. So I said how about $40 then, since I’m taking a risk here. They said they can’t adjust the price, only the manager can do that. I asked if the manager was in and after a little chasing, they found her and she came up to the front to talk to me. I explained that this is an add-on system, not a stand alone console and it is not tested, I’d like to get it for a little cheaper to account for the risk I’m taking if I buy it. She lowered the price to $49.99.

I bought it.

Everything is there, the extension piece, the adapter, the manual, both RF shields, and the plate used to attach the extension. There was even a game in it!

The disc is VERY rough on Ecco, but it does play. I know this because a co-worker helped me out, gave me his Genesis and it fired right up on the first try, and booted the game with no problems. I tried a few more times just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, even let it run for a while, and played a bit of it. It did struggle here and there because of the scratches, but otherwise played fine!

Could not be happier. I plan to clean it up a bit, as you can see it does have some dust and grime on it.

But once that’s taken care of I think it will be a great looking Sega CD. I will probably offer it up to Instagram first before trying it on the ‘bay. if anyone is interested please let me know on Instagram, I’m just @oldnintendonerd.

The price isn’t set yet, I am thinking somewhere between about $175 and $200. The last one that sold on ebay went for $300 shipped. better condition box though, so that’s why i’m thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 to $230 shipped. I’m open to opinions if you have them, comment here or DM on IG.

This purchase, after tax was $53.74, taking us down to $77.24. however, this was bought SOLELY to flip. I do not collect for Sega, so this is entirely for profit to help buy more Nintendo stuff. I have no problem with Sega, I do not view it as trash or anything, I just didn’t grow up with it, and my heart belongs to Nintendo. There is only so much room in my home, and in my budget, so it must go.

We’ll call it there for this one, hopefully I’ll have another post up much sooner than every three months or so. Summer months should yield higher finds so I can detail stuff here more often. I hope.

2019.05.29

#segacd #sega #genesis #segagenesis #gamehunting #retrogaming #nintendo #wheeloffortune #sony #playstation #sonyplaystation #ps3 #sonyplaystation3 #nintendods #supermariobros #supermario #mario #luigi #uncharted #uncharted3

[krissiefox]

Loaded (Playstation) Review

"So anyways, I started blastin'..."

When i did my review of Re-Loaded, I had originally intended to play the games in order, but both my PS2 and PS3 were giving me trouble with running the disc. Since then I've been able to get it working on my computer, so here we are!

Like it's sequel, Loaded is a top-down shooter starring a bunch a bunch of homicidal maniacs on a quest to take down an even worse homicidal maniac. The games are very similiar on the surface but there are still differences that make each game feel quite different from one another!

Graphically, this first entry outshines its sequel. The levels may not be as varied visually, but I feel it makes up for that in that it's animated cut scenes are FAR better, which much smoother animation. Characters in-game are much more expressive as well. Characters in Re-Loaded were little more than static sprites than just jerked slightly when firing their little pea shooter weapons. In Loaded however, you can see the recoil in his arms every time Cap N Hands fires his weapon. The barrels smoke afterwords and the bullets scorch off of the walls they hit. Enemies will speak, fight amongst themselves and have a much more animated gibbing effect, similar to when you blow up on of Doom's imps with a rocket launcher. Destroyed crates leave behind burn marks on the floor and each playable character has their own unique death sprite and special attack animation! It's pretty clear they got lazy with the animation in this game's sequel, which is a damn shame. They really didn't need to change much.

The soundtrack will of course be a more subjective matter, but to me it's a bit better in this first entry as well. Both games have some catchy instrumental tunes, but this one as also features some Vocal tracks by a band called "Pop will eat itself". Their song "Kick to Kill" is used a couple of times through the game and it's pretty awesome and sets a good mood for shooting monsters and guards.

Despite these advantages, I still have to credit the sequel for some of the things it did better than this first installment. The level design, I feel, isn't quite as good. The game may look nice graphically, but many of the levels are confusing mazes. Mazes on their own can still be eventually worked through if you choose a wall and stick to it, but what can be really frustrating is that in some levels enemies will continuously re-spawn all over the place- which prevented me from being able to tell where I've already been as I tried to find a level's exit. This is complicated  further in that while the mini-map in this game shows you an outline of the level around you, it only shows a limited view and worse, it doesn't show where you've already gone like Re-Loaded's mini-map does. I fee that both of the these games (but especially the first) could have benefited from a larger and more detailed map screen like Doom has.

As I praised the visuals earlier, the cut scenes in this game are handled much better as well. Rather than mission briefings like you get in the sequel, this one gives you simple one-sentence objectives for each level, and occasionally you'll get some cool little cut scenes too. There's also a cool little ending fmv as well. One thing the sequel did do better, however, is the credits scroll. In this one you only a get a game over screen after the ending video. To see the credits you have to instead head to the options screen to view them, and unlike in the sequel, they're rather plain. No special animations or silly jokes, just some plain scrolling text.

Just as in the sequel, I played through as Cap N Hands, whom moves pretty fast and has a satisfying and easy to aim weapon. But for the sake of the review, I also took a look at the other characters.

-Bounca is a cool lookin' dude, but his weapon felt awkward as he fires it over his shoulder and I always felt like I had to adjust for that while aiming.

- I like Momma's design a lot more this game. In Re-Loaded, Momma kinda looks like Tingle from Zelda hit the gym and then put on some bunny pajamas. He looks more proper in this first title - some kind of giant, powerful man who seems to have a developmental issue where he never got beyond the mindset of a toddler. This shows just what an asshole FUB is in that he was even willing frame some poor guy with special needs. At-least Momma can go teach FUB a lesson now that he has his little ray gun (which fires pretty damn fast) and his Ripple Bomb attack (which has a very cool graphical effect that I haven't seen done much on the ol' Playstation hardware).

 -I had the same weapon problem with Fwank as I did with Bounca, it's another shoulder mounted weapon that feels a bit awkward. A shame too, because Fwank is a pretty cool character that the creators were so proud of that they even featured him on the box art. Fwanks special attack is one of the coolest ones, he throws out a big pile of teddy bears that have explosives inside of them. Once deployed, the teddies will bounce around the room seeking out victims.

- Butch premiered in the first game in all of his badass "fuck gender roles and fuck you!" glory. His weapon is a hand held flamethrower which serves as both a pretty damn good weapon and possibly an ignorance-laden joke about "flaming homosexuals". His special attack is a large fire blast.

- And then there's Vox....honestly the only character in the series that I don't enjoy. Her design is more akin to some rejected Unreal Tournament boob-lady character than the colorful menagerie of physically imposing killers she stars alongside.  Even her weapons seem kinda wimpy compared to the other characters. She shoots a little ray gun from the hip, which feels like a punier version of Momma's weapon. Her special attack is a Sonic blast, which also just doesn't feel as a cool as, say, exploding teddy bear bombs.

Overall, I would recommend this one. Even if the levels aren't as visually varied and colorful as they are in-Reloaded, I feel this one has the better gameplay. The combat is the core of the game, and it's a lot more satisfying in this one. Your character moves very quickly and the screen is always lighting up with explosive action.  You might need to look up a guide to get through some of the more confusing levels (I needed one for levels 3 and 4) but if you can stick through it there's lots of fun, arcade-y action to be had.

#Loaded #psx #playstation #review

[attract-mode-collective]

Love May Dwindle Between Street Fighters, But There Will Always Be Paris

The above is from Bastien Vives, which recently made a reappearance on Twitter (thanks for the heads up @VitaminSteve). Though I’ve known about them for some time now, dating all the way back since 2010, when Eric posted them on GSW!

Anyhow, here are two others in the series…

I’d also end up sharing another illustration of Bastien’s on GSW myself, which was part of another series…

BTW, I’ve been trying to get ahold of Bastien for literally years now, so if anyone could please pass this post along to him, along with the following message, that would be awesome:

“Bastien! I’m a HUGE fan of your work and would love to work together! There’s an art show I’m putting together and would be honored to have you take part! So let’s talk; my email is [email protected].”

So what else has been going on? Well, lots of stuff as usual, though for starters, there’s going to be a Papers Please? movie! Well, a short film at least; here’s @dukope with some production shots…

Also, according to Eric at his regular digs, there’s gonna be another Seaman!

Hopefully this one makes it onto US shores, cuz I’m still bummed that the last follow up for the PS2 never arrived here…

As for “actual news”, you know how Trump brought out the best in folks on Twitter this past week? Including those who enjoy making game related gags, and this one might be the my personal fave (via @Nibellion)…

Coming in at a close second we have (via we-love-gaming)…

Speaking of Pokemon; a Blastoise sculpture made out of cheese for whatever reason (via retrogamerblog)…

And here have a more traditional definition of “art”; it’s an oil painting of Marisa Kirisame, and kbnet explains: “Artist is Zarigani Misawa, an art teacher by trade. There was a small exhibition of Touhou art done in traditional media on the 28th where this photo was taken”…

The Verge recently highlighted the work of Matt Anderson, it didn’t so much make me think of what Zelda game on a smart phone could look like but instead a Zelda game in the hands of CAPY…

Here’s a video that’s gotten a surprising amount of attention, though perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised; The 8-Bit Guy decided to restore a pair of old games that were more than a little rough around the edges, which ended up upsetting classic game and preservationists. And while I understand where they’re coming from, I also love the total DIY route that Dave (aka The 8-Bit Guy’s real first name, I think) employed when replacing the label for Pitfall…

And here’s a video that hardly anyone has seen, which I’m hoping to correct: my buddy Andy Reitano has been showcasing NESpectre, a project by himself and his pal Zachary Johnson, for quite some time now (my first taste was at the last, and I do mean last, IndieCade East).

Basically, it’s a modified NES that allows people to alter various aspect of a given game by logging in via their smart phones. It’s also one of those things in which you need to see it action to understand, so here’s Andy’s talk from SIGNAL last week…

BTW, some may recall another project of Andy’s I mentioned around this parts a whiles ago as well, that being Super Russian Roulette. The following was posted on Twitter; “First official run of @adamgetsawesome's batch programming GUI. Wirelessly flashing 5 NES carts at once (with progress bars!)”

Elsewhere on Twitter, another example of game development, courtesy of @dosnostalgic…

And back to the subject of hardware tricky; am not entire sure what’s going on here, which I spotted over at cf-12’s corner, when looking to see if he’s been up to anything new since last checking in…

All right, enough of the house that Mario built, let’s talk Sega, yet also sticking with hardware innovations… or Innoventions as Disney calls them. Here we have the latest from home movie from My Retro Life, which again proudly flaunts the Esposito family’s affinity for the house that Sonic built, even while vacationing at Disney World…

All I can say is, I would gladly opt for Virtua Formula (that eight player linked Virtua Racing set-up that you might miss if you blink) over that dumbass looking Avatar thing they currently have going on.

And sticking with Sega for just a bit more; some not so funny jokes from a not so funny Sonic joke book (via sonicthehedgeblog). While not directly contributing to them eventually bowing out of the home console business, I still can’t help wonder how little it helped them either…

Remember my mention of an Ulala Figma from a few weeks ago? Well, here it is “in action” (this is mostly just a chance to showcase Good Smile Company’s YouTube page, which I had idea existed until now)…

Do you also recall that unpainted TwinBee toy I posted pics of a few weeks ago also? Well, here it is in color, cuz it’s now available for pre-order (via miki800.com)…

And a reminder of how Konami used to be a fun place to work, as well as how Konami is attached to Frogger (via vgjunk)…

Please enjoy this downpour of Famicom Disk System discs (via gamergunk)…

Also please enjoy this latest reminder of how batsh*t insane Sonic Blast Man is (via obscurevideogames)…

You know that girl that really likes Sega, as evidenced by the Saturn she wears on her head? Well, she’s into SNK as well, as evidenced by the new shirt that our pals at Fangamer recently released…

Speaking of SNK, I finally have a reason to share the marquee for the mini 2slot MVS that were in certain McDonald’s in Japan. Been looking for the perfect time to share this for ages now (via @turfmasta)…

Here’s something that originally aired on Japanese TV and which I stumbled across on YouTube…

I’ve looked high and low and cannot find any hard info, so all I have are observations. So for those of you who don’t feel like watching the 20+ minute long clip: for starters, it’s clearly a show that highlights retro gaming, and one of the hosts is… the creator of Dragon Quest?!?! Actually, one of the hosts simply strikes a very close resemblance to Yuji Horii (I’m pretty sure if he was hosing a show, it would be somewhat common knowledge). Also, everyone’s wearing snazzy THUNDERBOX attire!

I believe the guest is the dude whose apartment we visit, which is overflowing with Famicom boxes. Am shocked that he’d allow television cameras come visit, but hey, more power to the guy for being so proud of his collection. We immediately cut to a segment on controllers for the Famicom, with the highlight being an inflatable motorcycle! After that is their version of the Power Pad and their version of the Power Glove. Turns out, the latter is just as unmanageable as its American equivalent. And finally they bust out the Switch cuz the milking mini game in 1-2-Switch makes for great television.

And finally here, gonna wrap things up with the final thing I shared in that GSW post of mine that I posted at the very top. Which basically served as the prototype for the Attract Mode blog, as anyone can tell. Anyhow, here we have the ultimate dream team of Link and WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon…

Don’t forget: Attract Mode is now on Medium! There you can subscribe to keep up to date, as well as enjoy some “best of” content you might have missed the first time around, plus be spared of the technical issues that’s starting to overtake Tumblr.

[blipbrickwrites]

Resident Evil: How Zombies Brought My Family Together

If you were lucky, you perhaps grew up with a gaming console in your home. If you were even luckier, you perhaps formed bonds with the members of your family while huddled around the TV playing that console. For many people my age, that console was often a Nintendo or PlayStation. For me and my family however, it was slew of Sega consoles that filled our shelves. In fact, we were one of the very few families at the time that owned a Sega Dreamcast. People like us were out numbered by PS2 owners 16 to 1, (x) but as a kid, I didn’t care. Because hey, the kid down the street may have had Crash Bandicoot, but I had a bootleg copy of Sonic Adventure 2 powered by boot disc, and that’s all I needed. As a kid, I didn’t think it could get any better than choppy copies of Sonic and Crazy Taxi. That is, until one day my dad brought home game from the store, (not just from his buddy at the office that seemed to have some sort of super lucrative underground game piracy business on the side), but an actual game! A game that didn’t require a boot disk to start or come in a clear case, but instead had actual box art and a manual! That game was Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Now, seeing as though Resident Evil was far more mature in content than Rayman or Shenmue, and because my dad actually paid full price for this game; I wasn’t allowed to play it by myself. (Which was ok by me because at 6 years old, the zombies pictured in the manual completely freaking terrified me.) However, when my dad would get home late at night after his 3 hour commute from his office, I would quietly creep halfway down the stairs and watch him play through the slats of the balustrade while I was supposed to be sleeping...and I was enraptured. I was enraptured by the bombastic action sequences, the creepy and foreboding atmosphere, and insanely cool playable character--Claire Redfield. Eventually, my dad got wise to my past-your-bedtime surveillance missions of his play sessions. However, instead of shooing me away, we made a pact: he would start the game from the beginning so I could experience the whole game so long as went to bed when I was supposed to. Then, on the weekends, I could watch him play late at night. And so it was! He started a fresh file, and on weekend nights, I was treated to watching my dad uncover the mystery of Claire’s missing brother, Chris, as she battled her way through hordes of the undead. (Though, admittedly, this eventually morphed into my bedtime just being pushed back a bit later on the weekdays so that we wouldn’t have to wait a week to discover what was waiting for Claire behind some mysterious door.) We were like a team, my dad and I, he would direct Claire’s movements, and I would direct him to direct Claire’s movements. (I was a bit of a backseat gamer and enjoyed testing my dad’s patience...but hey! What if there really HAD been something useful behind that trashcan???) Playing Resident Evil: Code Veronica with my dad is one my clearest and fondest memories I have with games, and until recently, I haven’t had an experience quite like it since. That is until, I picked up PlayStation VR. I had decided on the day that the PSVR came out, that I would put it on layaway at my local big box store, and would slowly pay it off. However, with the costs of tuition slowly creeping upon me, I decided it would be wise to forego the PSVR altogether and save the cash....but...that doesn’t mean I can’t have one good hoorah with it, right? I went to the layaway counter and slammed down the money for the headset. I had the intention of taking it home, playing around with it for two weeks, and bringing it back within the window of return. That, however, did not happen once my dad put on the headset, exclaiming that, “This is what [he] always dreamed video games would be like when [he] was a kid!” He thought it was a shame that I was going to return the PSVR, and offered to go Dutch on the price so long as “he could play it whenever [he] liked.” Deal. So, this foster child of a PSVR found a permanent family within our home. However, one member of my family was horribly against it. Unlike my Dad and I, my 16 year old sister wanted “no part in this whole VR thing.” My sister is made easily uncomfortable by fast frame rates, 3D movies, and IMAX theaters. The very thought of putting that headset on, made her extremely anxious. No matter how hard I tried to convince her to just try it on, she adamantly refused. That is until one day just a few weeks ago, I was playing through VR demos, and she was sitting in the living room watching YouTube. After struggling to complete some damn impossible puzzle in Tumble VR, I decided to boot up my Resident Evil 7 demo. Once I was plunged into the hyper-realistic virtual home of the psychotic Baker family, I immediately noped right out of the headset once I heard my first creepy noise. My sister was passively watching me, and intrigued by sudden cowardice, insisted on trying it out herself. And that’s how a new bond started. We would take turns with headset, steadily uncovering the secrets of the dummy finger, the VHS, and whatever horrors may reside in the basement until we finally found the “true ending” to the demo. Soon, we had something to talk about. We would swap videos about the upcoming game, we worked together to unlock the “dirty coin”, we even got our dad to play. I felt like a kid again; huddled around a TV late at night, uncovering the mysteries that resided in this game. So, on launch night, I picked up the game and brought it home to play so that we could all experience this creepfest to its fullest extent. My sister and I sat next to each other and booted up the game. I began to direct this new hero, Ethan Winters, and my sister began to direct me to direct Ethan while my dad watched. (That’s universal karma, for you.) It’s odd to think such a horrifying series of games has tied my family closer together, but I am so thankful for its place my life. Claire and Ethan’s struggles to fight hordes of monsters just so they can find their loved ones reminds me that although plenty of unpleasantness may get in the way, I would do anything for my family. However, even with Claire and Ethan’s unbridled bravery, it’s always important to keep in mind: it’s not always the meaning of the games on TV that is most important, but rather, who’s sitting next to you on the sofa experiencing it with you.