HoshiChiri

OK! Christmas morning! Time to open my remaining gifts! First up is... UM... *nervous cough* well, I do have a little collection going of odd peripherals... this definitely counts! I will... need to figure out how to clean this before I do much else with it... ? Moving on! More snacks! I'm gonna good until like, March ? and an Antonia Levi book! I haven't heard that name in years, she used to be regular at my local anime con. This'll be fun! BWAHAHA! NO Christmas is complete unless someone gets a toilet-themed gift! Normally it's my mom getting toilet seat covers from my aunt, but I did give my sister Hello Kitty paper once (it was fruit scented!) This will be handy if the hoarders kick in again! And- my first NES homebrew! I have a couple modern carts, but they're more 'late release' (Holy Diver, Jay & Silent Bob: Mall Brawl to be specific.) Looking forward to trying this! And then, the Big One: Now THIS. IS. AWESOME. I LOVE a good rythmn game, so I'm very aware of Beatmania, but it's always been niche enough to be juuust out of reach of me! I'm gonna be spending today looking into how to play imports (as there is a spare PS2 slim floating around here!) Thank you so much! I can't wait!

I just started playing again for the Christmas items... I have SO MANY extra hybrid flowers! Anybody want some? I don't want to toss 'em, but it's getting ridiculous!

So, since my fiance's family has opted to skip Christmas this year, I set myself up a lil' Charlie Brown-type tree & put out my remaining Santa gifts for tomorrow- becuase I could! I'm glad you liked it all! I was a lil' concerned you might already have the 45- I figured being a 'not for resale' copy might justify the duplicate- glad it wasn't an issue! The guys I bought the adapter from ended up sending me an extra, so I inadvertently got a gift for myself out of it! ? They are fun ones! Don't feel guilty! I get the concern (I certainly worry about it), but I don't think anyone here is seeking expensive or multiple gifts- just heartfelt ones. I'd be perfectly happy with one inexpensive thing that was clearly chosen for me than all the impersonal trinkets in the world! (Seriously, it amazes me that AA folk can shop better for me than some of my own family!) This is reigned in?! What the heck would all-out look like, a frickin' arcade cabinet?! ?

This thing, confuses me, so much... When I first saw the trailer, I thought "oh, it's an air fryer", and that made some sense. Then it started flashing specs & I'm like, it's a PC?! But the comments insist it's an actual console & I have no idea if they're just speculating or if I missed something! And of course, this is ignoring the whole 'is it even safe to keep frickin' CHICKEN in your gaming box?!' Wouldn't crumbs & oil be an issue? I just don't get it!

I know that pirate game! We used to play the CRAP out of that! Great fun, but you need a lot of space if you get really into it ? (Mostly I remember my fiance getting mad when I got & opened a pack with all translucent cards/boats, & he realized I just pulled a particularly rare set ?)

I probably would have been terribly amused to recognize something from the workplace- but I get a discount, so it's best if I buy it anyway ? Not in a place to need a new kit though- I've been working on this one for quite awhile! (The stitched area is about 2 feet square!)

Ok, so now that things are settled- my Christmas has been thrown out of whack due to my brother (who lives in the same house as me & my parents) testing positive for covid ? Me & my mom have tested negative, dad & my sister (who visited the day before this was known) are pending. Bro is doing ok, just a general 'under the weather' feeling. I was visiting my fiance when this came up & went home only long enough to get some more supplies- I'm staying here for the quarantine period. So, Christmas is delayed a week for us. But fear not! I grabbed my Santa gifts when I went back, so I'll be finishing those off Christmas day proper. Well, except one, since the paper tore a bit anyway... ? Another one I'm not familiar with (although I'm pretty sure I've seen people post bob comics online, just never had any context for it!) Curious to see what this is like- and how Sinister takes his coffee! Sugar? Cream? Souls? ? EDIT: OK, I only flipped to a couple random pages before posting this, and just now opened to the title page... this is autographed! Shame I don't know any Michaels... I mean, I WORK for Michael's, but I doubt Mr. Notley is just a big craft buff ? Still VERY cool!

I had a few boxes go sideways this year (thankfully not gifts!) Only one's required getting a replacement shipped, the others all started moving after awhile. Fingers crossed for you!

I kinda dig the European name more... I dunno, I think as a kid I might have taken an Adventure more seriously than something that sounds like a virtual amusement park (not that that's inaccurate!) Maybe, anyway- I didn't get serious about games until middle school-ish. Totally agree about the cover art, though! Various going-ons mean I gotta pause my gift a day plan- but I'll be back with more as soon as I can!

?On the fifth day of Christmas, Captain gave to me...? I had to do a quick Google on this one, becuase I'd actually never heard of it! I guess it's called Marvel Land stateside? It's very colorful- I dig it! Even though I only had a couple minutes before work, I had to pop it in just to see it run- despite my Genesis games containing the oldest part of my collection, I actually didn't own any Mega Drive games! I mean, I knew they'd work (save for occasional pal-related issues). I just never actually found one to get. I'm looking forward to really giving this a go!

Catch up day! My niece came by early, so we did a pre-work gift opening! First one: A Queen music box! I actually had to look it up on YouTube to figure out the song, becuase Sev (my niece) didn't want to give it up & doesn't have good speed control ? (it's Bohemian Rhapsody of course!) Despite being my favorite band, I don't have a lot of Queen stuff outside of albums, so this is awesome! While Sev was distracted by the box, I opened the next gift: A new 2600 cart! Sev wanted to try it immediately, but I still have the Odyssey 2 out for Mean Santa, so maybe after work. I went to open the last box, but Sev decided she wanted to open it & grabbed it from me! This one was a box of cute cat buttons! I'm gonna have to figure out what all to attach these to!! ? Fast-forward's over, tune in tomorrow for the 5th day of Christmas & a further display of CaptainBreakout's generosity!?

I haven't busted out my PSP for a bit, but I'd never get rid of it- it's a very solid lil' system with a great library! The only accessory I'd consider is the component cable- it lets you play on a TV (at least on the 2000/3000, I'm not sure it works on the 1000.) Be sure to keep your eyes open around secondhand sources- it's not well known so you might get a lucky hit. I got a 3000 for my sister-in-law at a yard sale a couple years ago for $5... it was in a travel case, so it looked like an empty case at a glance. Even had a couple games with it!

I work two retail jobs, so the last 2 weeks before Christmas get ROUGH. Now I have something to look forward to every day! And something I noticed when I set up to play Mean Santa... the spices from the apples have spread into the other gifts, so everything smells AMAZING! (Also I'm not very good at Mean Santa- at least not yet!)

Well, since the great opening has begun ( and we're getting to the icky part of the season at work)... I am utterly blown away- if I'd opened the big box sooner, I could've done an advent countdown! Actually, since my niece is coming tomorrow, I'll have her help me catch up & do just that! So- snacks and box one! I'm excited to try the apples- we do jam-making from time to time, but we've never dried fruit before! And everyone loves candy ? EEEEE! Christmas homebrew! I was literally just thinking the other day I should look into more O2 games... I'll have to get it set up when we finish the snickerdoodles! (It's a baking day today!) Thank you SO much Captain! I look forward to lots more showing off! ?

My mind immediately jumped to: will they bring back the clicky thumbsticks?! (Clicky thumbsticks is very hard to make, you know! ?)

Yup! My mom was pretty stunned when I told her the going rate online ? We're thinking we may not be able to get a set together before Christmas (since we'd REALLY like to get her New Leaf, but can't find any copies locally)- so it may get pushed back to her birthday instead. We'll see!

Vectorman 2! ? Sonic 3! ? Sonic 3D Blast! ? I kid, I kid- the internet may be less than enthusiastic, but I like 3D Blast just fine! That's a good lineup you got!

It's not my deal, but I wanna post about it anyway! My brother recently started working for a recycling company that, when (easily) possible, resells the electronics they get in. My mom had mentioned to the two of us she wanted to get my 6 year old niece her own handheld game for Christmas, but her budget was VERY low. Like, can't-afford-a-DS-on-Ebay low. Well, my brother comes in today, holds up a white DS that came into work & got thrown into the junk pile for not powering on, and asks if I want to try & get it running. My findings: 1-All it needed to run was a couple minutes on a charger, then it powered right up. 2- Despite being filthy, it was in great cosmetic shape (save for some paint marks I can't get off readily.) 3- It's not a DS. It's a New 3DS Super Mario unit! I'm honestly just floored that someone just threw this out! It works great! The hinge is solid! No dead pixels! It's even still got the stylus! I almost don't want to let my niece have it- but I've got 2 3DSes as is... plus I'm sure my sister will steal it if she loses interest ? So right now I'm just scrambling to get it ready for her- luckily I had an extra charger already. Next up: Screen Protectors!

Back when Gamestop changed the Pro membership perk from '10% off used games' to '$5 certificate every month, I asked the guy at my local store what people thought of the change. What he told me was illuminating. Basically, the average Gamestop customer these days doesn't buy games. They buy the tchotchkes. They collect Funko Pops. And they didn't buy Pro becuase it didn't get them anything- so they changed it. There's a mall nearby that actually has a Thinkgeek physical store in it. They did sell some games- like, 2 shelves worth. I genuinely think that's how Gamestop is going now- a 'videogame' store where games are secondary to gaming tat... becuase apparently the modern players would rather sign up for Gamepass & spend the rest of their gaming dollars on junk to show the world how hardcore they are. So- do we tell them about walking 15 miles in the snow for our games, or just chase them off the lawn? ?

I have finished this year's gingerbread! They're based on the 'Man Family' created by Youtuber Graystillplays for his Sims 4 series. It's basically just 'here's a crazy way to kill sims, let's see who lives the longest!'. With a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek juvenile humor, especially in the character names. These guys are Florida Man, Australian Man, Ellis Dee & Bab Ross. The cats are Spleens & Tonsils, and the thing at the bottom is a FULL LIQUOR BAR! My black frosting apparently liquefied this year, hence Florida Man's black eye! Here's a video link if anyone wants to see where these are from: THE ULTIMATE RESCUE REINDEER!

The most important part of collecting, regardless of how much/how little you're aiming for, is to fit it into your life- not the other way around. Don't go into debt over acquiring games. Don't forgo necessities to get games. Don't get more than you can comfortably store. Don't blow off obligations, social or otherwise, to buy games. Buying games can be a big part of your life, just not all of it! There is a difference between 'no friend, I don't want to go to your cousin's wedding & hang out with strangers, I'd rather check the flea market that Saturday'; & 'sorry mom, I'm not gonna make it to your birthday dinner, this shop 2 hours away got in this game & I have to go buy it now!' (Doubly so if you return her gift on the way home to offset the cost.) I guess the point is, you need to have a life outside of your stuff.

That's awesome, FujiSkunk! (I didn't even know Raiden was available on Lynx!) Since apparently the giant box wasn't enough, I got a Christmas card from my Santa yesterday too! (Please thank Ides for helping me with the photos!) Now, in my household, it's always been OK to open cards right away- so.... Aww, thank you Cap'n! ? This actually solved a lil' problem for me- trying to show off your awesome handwriting without revealing mailing information! And I love the Santa! Now I'm gonna spend today making gingerbread & wondering if 'alchemical' is a hint or not! ?

Good- then I don't have to feel guilty about breaking first!

Mine has arrived too!