HoshiChiri

my Fairchild seems to be a fairly reliable unit (knock on wood). Orange colors give some bleed, I'm not sure if that's a sign the RF is going or just a quirk of my setup. Also, the two carts I got from the shop where I bought the system are very hard to get to connect- you almost have to hold them in place to make the system register that they're in. None of my Ebay carts have that issue- I really wonder what's different about those two (carts 5 and 10), I can't see anything that seems different.

It's a big mix of things, I think. First you have the Disney Effect- Nintendo has brain-wormed its way into our collective consciousness as THE source of timeless, family friendly quality gaming. Much as parents take kids blindly to every Disney musical because 'Disney=good for kids', They immediately get a DS/Wii variant when their spawn is old enough to clamor for games because it's the safe option. When those kids get older and decide to dig into the past, they immediately go for that same safe, familiar option. Second is the Marketing Effect- I mean, that was the whole idea behind the Nintendo Seal Of Quality, right? "Those old Atari games, you never knew if it was crap or not. But with Nintendo, we GUARANTEE all our games are good! Available now at your local retailer!" The idea clearly stuck... how many NES games are generally considered crap, even now? I can't think of more than I can count on one hand... and I KNOW there's more than that! Lastly is the Game Design Shift- preNES games are usually arcade style affairs. One or two screens, no ending, the point is to get a high score. NES marked a clear shift towards games with specific goals and endings when that goal was achieved (even if it just told you 'good job! Now play again!') There's been a mental shift towards an expectation of that kind of gameplay... 'I do a thing, I get a reward'. The idea of 'I do a thing to see how good I am, and that's it' is utterly unappealing to those who put no value into a score total. The end result is trying to take someone who's been trained since their earliest gaming days to believe that NES is good family fun & their competitors lack quality, give them a game that's a much lower graphical quality then they're used to, and expect them to instantly switch from 'playing for story' to 'playing for score'. Most people can't overcome their own mental blocks without actively wanting to and working through the 'this isn't gaming' reflex.

There used to be a puzzle game called Battle Balls in a Neo Geo cabinet at a local restaurant that never got a console release. I've always wanted to play it again- sort of a cross between columns and puzzle bobble.

Apologizes if this is not the best forum- it may be online, but it is still a once a year thing, so- event? Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone else is following Desert Bus for Hope. This is seriously one of my favorite gaming/nerdy things. Just a bunch of weirdos embarrassing themselves on the internet so kids in crappy situations can have some games to play. I've met the LRR folks several times and they're a genuinely cool bunch of people, so I'm glad their silly charity event's gotten such support. So, who's riding the bus? https://desertbus.org/

Not if it's a ceramic file!

I asked mom about this the other day- she doesn't like using the wish list because some things on it have been there for a couple years now, so she's afraid I don't want them anymore. Despite the fact that I'd told her/others multiple times that I check the list every October before my self-imposed personal shopping limits kick in to make sure the list is accurate and features a variety of prices. In fact, some of that older stuff is the best to get because I've obviously forgotten it was there. "But if you forgot it, then you don't want it, right?" *sigh* I tend to worry more if people I know go shopping 'off list'- I've had people in the past spend extra money on stuff I wouldn't have asked for. You say 'thank you' and smile because you don't want to be rude, but you feel guilty because now they've bought a $20-30 yellow shirt you won't wear (which you'd think they'd realize since you've never, ever worn yellow), when a $3 Atari game from your wish list would have been more than sufficient. Now that I think about it, it's almost always a shirt or robe or such that produces that... maybe I need to tell people to quit buying me clothes! I don't often get to gift 'try me!' games, most people I know don't like my favorite titles nearly as much as I do. I did get a chance a few years back, when it occurred to be I had one friend who plays a lot of stuff I like that I hadn't bought for yet. I went through my collection and found the perfect title. That was a fun year: friend opens game, looks at me confused... "what is this?" "It's Klonoa 2! Just trust me, it's one of my favorites!" "O-kay..." A few hours later I get a text- "This game is amazing!" Then we traded wah-hoos for awhile. My plan went perfectly- mwahaha!

You're very right on that- I've seen some horrific offers from time to time myself. Just because they're greedy jerks doesn't mean they won't get mad for you trying to get deals on their turf, though- just means you're a lot more likely to succeed. Then get kicked out. It'll still be worth it.

I'd be surprised if I didn't get games for Christmas- most people default to it. Apparently I'm "hard to shop for"... a thought that confuses me greatly, since I have a fairly good sized amazon wish list. Why people don't just use it is beyond me! I actually give fairly few games as gifts. The people I know who play don't keep wish lists or collection lists, and don't really hold off on buying titles they want. It makes it hard to know what they don't already have, but still want to play. Three of them just re-caught the pokemon bug though, so there's some new 3DSes to feed this year!

Provided it is a polite inquiry, for a fair offer, made with the full knowledge that the answer is likely no, it's fine. I bought a disc+manual Lunar: The Sliver Star years ago. Every so often I'd ask ebay sellers if they'd be willing to sell me just the case at a lower price, since I didn't need the disc. Got a yes a few months ago. It's fine to ask, sometimes it works! What is not ok is to badger or lowball the person. You only get to ask once- after that, at best, you make sure they have your number if they change their mind. Offering someone $10 for their $50+ game is just plain rude. You might as well go up to them and say "hey- give me your game collection, I decided you're too stupid to own it." As for store owners getting mad when customers do this- the logic is different there. Obviously, if they have something good, the store wants to buy it! They aren't going to be happy about getting cut out of the deal, especially when it's their shop that's facilitating it in the first place! I mentioned to the owner of my favorite indy shop once I have sealed copy of Zelda: Minish Cap that I'll likely sell one day. I like to play my games, but now I'd kinda feel bad to break the seal- so I'd buy a used copy with part of the sale money. That's the plan, anyway. He immediately said to come to him first if/when I do that. He asks about it once in awhile... so I imagine if someone shopping by me overheard this and stepped in with an offer, he'd be pissed- after all, he's been trying to get that game outta me for ages! So it's not too surprising that shop folk would be less ok with it.

*facepalm* You know how you stop people from dumpster diving and selling the junk back to you? 1)Lock your dumpster. 2)Test the systems people bring in. It's not that hard! I think I'm kinda glad there isn't one of these in my neck of the woods.

Wow. This thread is FUN. How often does this happen? I'm gonna need more popcorn!

Once you've seen a few consoles come and go, you see a sort of pattern to the public view on them. First it's current, that's pretty straightforward. Then it's 'last gen'- that's when the major chains haven't outed it entirely, but everything's shoved in a corner next to the bargain bin titles. After that things get a lil' fuzzy, but most systems hit a 'dark time', when they are considered old and crappy- but they aren't old enough for the people who played them young to want their childhoods back yet. This is when games are their cheapest, and easiest to find in thrift stores (although these days any game in a thrift store is a rarity). This is current where the systems you mentioned seem to sit, except the Dreamcast (shorter shelf life messes up the pattern.) Pretty soon now, these systems are going to pass the nostalgia line. That seems to happen 15-20 years out from when the system ceased to be current. All those kids growing up on these machines will be adults, with jobs and possibly their own kids. They'll want to share these games with their offspring, or just revel in their youth now that they can afford all they games they couldn't back then. Prices will rise as the market bubble begins to form, and the machines will magically become 'classics' in the process. It just happened with the N64. It already happened with the Dreamcast (since it was discontinued, which accelerates the process but lowers prices.) Playstation will be weird- it was so successful, and PS1 and 2 kind of ran together with the backwards compatibility thing, that it might take longer to move far enough through the collective consciousness to get to 'classic'. Personally, I'm interested to see what the NES market does now... it's old enough that I would normally expect to see prices drop off as those wanting their childhood systems either get one or give up, resulting in a market crash and graduating to 'vintage' status. With modern clones like the retron making it easy for anyone to have a 'working NES', however, I wonder if the system is going to stay pricier longer, or some sort of weird "good" vintage and "bad" vintage thing start to happen. Really though, like I said earlier, this is all personal opinion... anything beyond last-gen can be called 'classic', and someone will agree with you.

My fat PS2 fell victim to the Disc Read Error back in the day. Luckily, this was when Sony was still under court order to repair said error for free, and it's been going along fine since. The only downer was it was out for repair when a gamer cousin I didn't see every often came up for a visit. Not having my (at the time) main system did suck. My first sega CD/genesis combo died on me- but it really wasn't that unexpected. From day one, the genny had rolling static and the CD would stop/freeze constantly, requiring a couple knocks to get things going. Or- I kid you not- spinning the CD by hand before shutting the lid to get it going, like hand-starting a prop plane. I only spent $20 on it, it came with Lunar: Sliver Star and Vay, and I got a discount on the replacement system by telling the shop to keep the hookups/controllers. So I still got my value from it. The one giving me grief these days is my Nintendo 64. I got it just a few months ago for $20 from a thrift shop, with expansion pak- pretty good deal by today's standards. It's a finicky fellow though- if you insert a cart in the standard 'push down firmly' kind of way, it won't run. You have to be gentle about it, and push in just enough to feel the board slide into the system contacts. Once you've got it going though, you're typically fine. (Anybody know what might be up with it? I'm not very familiar with the 64, I don't know if this is a normal issue or not.)

If your neighbors are having similar spikes at the same time as yours, it's not you. There's no way a few consoles are gonna short out a neighborhood! That said, give your strips a look-over, and make sure the spikes haven't fried them. A dead strip will still power devices, but it can't protect them from future surges- I'd hate for all your consoles to get fried. Most surge protectors have 2 indicator lights- one for power, one to confirm the protection is still good. If you don't have both indicators, get new strips. (If they are good, maybe double-check to see if the manufacturer offers a guarantee, and if they actually stand by it. Just in case.)

My dad's an electrician, and one of the first things he told me when I was building my collection is: NEVER use more than one power strip on an outlet. Daisy-chains or just using both plugs on asingle outlet, it's a hazard either way. I have 2 outlets running my setup, each has a 12 outlet surge protector. I've never had any issues- only during the summer when the air conditioner goes into the third outlet in the room by itself. If I plug in a vaccum to one of the 2 open spots on the surge protectors, it trips the breaker. If unplugging part of your setup fixes the issue, go get yourself some new gear- doubly so if you have power strips as opposed to good surge protectors. Otherwise, see if you have any larger appliances on the same circuits (starting with anything plugged in/moved around recently). Those tend to cause the most grief if they aren't on decided circuits.

There's no clear-cut rules for when something becomes 'classic'- a lot of it depends on the person making the distinction. The only thing that comes close to a consensus is: the systems that are being actively produced/developed for are 'current'. That would be Wii U, Xbox One, and PS4 at the moment. The consoles that immediately preceded them are 'last-gen'- so Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3. Anything else you could, arguably, call 'classic'. You'll make a lot of people (myself included) feel old in the process, but a lot of people will probably agree with you too.

But you CAN go into major chains and get Wii games. I was just at Target 2 days ago wondering why they still wanted $50 for Fortune Street on the Wii (the used copy at the nearest Gamestop didn't have a manual.) I tend to consider something 'classic' when Gamestop quits taking trade-ins and liquidates their inventory. Whether you like them or not, they're the biggest name in mainstream gaming retail in the US. If they can't turn a big enough profit to keep carrying a system, it's officially gone to the classic niche. of course, now that they're doing the 'retro classics' thing, I may have to revise that distinction.

I don't consider it classic- it's 'last gen'. I think we need one more generation before it's classic. I tend to think of gaming generations as paired sets... so mentally I lump together pong consoles and atari/Intellivison, NES and SNES, etc. Wii and wii U are part of the same set, making up the current modern nintendo block.

My setup has a coax a/b switch mounted on the shelving just under the tv, with an f-plug adapter on one end. I have my systems on nearby shelving. Up until recently, to use them I'd set up a small folding shelf (meant to be a riser in a school locker) to put the system on... but after my most recent storage re-do, I now roll over the 3 drawer unit my 8-64 bit carts are in. The added height is nice.

I was just thinking about this earlier today, actually- you make a wireless controller based on the coleco one (since it best covers the function of all 3 systems), but you have a couple DB9 ports so you can use all the original stuff if you want. I doubt I'd get one for myself- I have all the original systems already, I see no reason to get rid of them- but I'd definitely find friends to gift it to! That way, I get to support the company making such a thing while hopefully hooking someone on the old stuff. Then I can finally have someone to play Combat with!

Ah yes, the collector's tipping point, when your ability to pay for new acquisitions cannot overcome the cost of said acquisitions. I hit that point several years back, I have friends just now getting there. I can't help you much there- I honestly find it kind of liberating, to basically call my collection 'done' and focus on enjoying what I've got. Of course, maybe I'm just ok with it because I have so many systems there's usually one or two with some cheap stuff I can go digging for. There's two ways I tend to go when new games aren't on the docket to keep up 'the hunt' for my collection: one is storage. I'm constantly poking at new boxes & bins, looking for the perfect way to house the games I have. What makes it interesting for gaming is, so much stuff is non-standard sizes as far as storage bins go, so you have to get creative. Sega CD and other longbox disc games rarely fit in media storage boxes- and if they do, it's a loose fit with room to stick things in at odd angles. But this Ikea shoebox? Perfect size! You really have to look everywhere, too- I wish I'd discovered Dixit Expansion boxes make great cart trays for several systems before we threw half of them away. Did you know the wider side of a typical Intellivision cart is the same size as a Magic The Gathering card? Means anything that hold the cards vertically can double as Intellivision storage. You can find all sorts of unexpected game holders with enough poking around. The second thing I do is re-shopping old bargains. I don't put a lot of effort into this, but it can be fun to check prices on something you already own and see how the value's changed. For example, today at a local shop I spotted a copy of Tail Concerto, CIB, for $80. I got my copy a good 10ish years ago... for $5. Makes it feel like a steal all over again. Gotta be careful with this one, though- it's just as likely you'll see the item of choice is half the cost you spent on it. I mostly just opt to skim the 'I can't afford this stuff' case every used media place has, to see if anything I already own is in there.

Perhaps, rather than sell off systems, you should just pick a few to not buy for right now. I've got about twice the systems you do, and limited money to buy for them as well. Just keeping a couple of focus systems in mind helps me a lot- for example, I have no idea when I last bought a NES cart, or a PS2 game. As my two largest collections, I'm often hard-pressed to think of anything I'd be hunting for them, so I don't. Right now I'm really only buying for Atari (lots of cheap, good commons I don't own out there), Master System and N64 (my two newest, so smallest selection.) To be honest, I'm really not buying that much for N64, either- I didn't realize it was in a bubble market right now, so I grabbed a couple choice titles to have something to play. Otherwise, I'm being pretty picky on that one. Buying locally is good advice- Ebay makes things way too easy. Keeping things limited to what you can pick up in person can really help curb frivolous buys, especially if you have good discipline and hold out for specific wants. Be very careful about keeping want lists- it's easy to add games to a want list on a whim, then promptly forget about them the moment they're bought. Try to only use want lists for a few choice hard-to-find titles or favorite series you might need help keeping track of. Otherwise, if it can't stick in your head on its own, do you really need it?

Ah- see, that's why I posted this word... it's one of those 'doesn't equate to english' words. It's not the same thing as our nostalgia (which is 郷愁 (kyoushuu) in Japanese.) Basically I'm being a lil' silly and providing an alternate word since there's been so much disagreeing on the use of 'nostalgia'.

Could you elaborate? I've never heard the word used in any other context, if there's a more common meaning I've never come across, I'd love to hear it!