Inventory Master

INVENTORY MASTER

Boxed Nintendo

Castlevania

 
Castlevania II:  Simon's Quest

Castlevania III:  Dracula's Curse

Kirby's Adventure

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda:  The Adventure of Link

Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. 2

Tiny Toon Adventures

 

 Cartridge Only Nintendo

Boxed Super Nintendo

Actraiser

Actraiser II

Aladdin

Brandish

Breath of Fire

Castlevania Dracula X

Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country 2:  Diddy's Kong Quest

Donkey Kong Country 3:  Dixie Kong's Double Trouble

Earthworm Jim 2

F-Zero

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Final Fight

King of Dragons

Kirby's Avalance

Kirby's Dream Course

Kirby Superstar

The Legend of Zelda:  A Link to the Past

The Lion King

 Mega Man 7

Mega Man X

Mega Man X3

Nosferatu

PTO II

 Sim City

Sim City 2000

Star Fox

Street Fighter II

Street Fighter Alpha 2

Super Adventure Island

Super Bomberman

Super Castlevania IV

Super Mario Kart

Tetris & Dr. Mario

Tetris Attack

Tiny Toon Adventures:  Buster Busts Loose

Wario's Woods

Cartridge Only Super Nintendo

Chrono Trigger

Earthbound

 Boxed Nintendo 64

Aidyn Chronicles

Castlevania (64)

Castlevania:  Legacy of Darkness

Donkey Kong 64

Gauntlet Legends

Goldeneye 007

The Legend of Zelda:  Ocarina of Time

Cartridge Only Nintendo 64

Game Boy Advance

Nintendo DS

Nintendo 3DS

Gamecube

Wii

Wii U

Boxed Sega Genesis

Cartridge Only Sega Genesis

Sega CD

Sega 32x

Sega Saturn

Panzer Dragoon Saga

Sega Dreamcast

Playstation

Shin Megami Tensei - Persona 2:  Eternal Punishment

Suikoden II

Valkyrie Profile

Xenogears

Playstation 2

Playstation Portable

Playstation 3

Playstation Vita

Playstation 4

Xbox

Xbox 360

Xbox One

Updated 8/5.  Added to boxed N64.  

Updated 8/4.  Completed boxed NES, SNES.  Added categories for all systems.  Added entries to Sega Saturn, PSX and CO SNES 

Stuff to do -

Formatting - Delayed so I don't have to fight with it later

Complete sections CO NES, CO SNES, B N64, CO N64, GBA, DS, 3DS, GCN, Wii, Wii U, B SG, CO SG, SCD, 32X, Saturn, DC, PSX, PS2, PSP, PS3, PSV, PS4, XB, XB360, XB1

 

A Collector's Exhortation; or me getting irrationally upset at a buzzfeed list

Hello internet!  Justin here.  By now you've probably realized that when I claimed I would try to post something "every week" I obviously meant "every month."  Sorry about that, but genius (or mediocrity, in my case) can't be rushed and all that jazz...  

I started seriously collecting games during college.  It started small - a PS2 game here, a Gamecube game there; but quickly became a bit of an obsession of mine.  Today, I own somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 games spanning multiple generations, from the most common of PS2 to the rarest of Sega Saturn.  Point is, I know a bit about collecting old games and, side note, a crack addiction would probably be cheaper.

Pictured - Obsession

 Keeping this in mind you can imagine the horror on my face when I saw this posted to Facebook -


32 Of Your Childhood Toys That Are Worth An Absolute Fortune Now!
(Yes, even the prepositions and possessives are capitalized...  Godless heathens...)

Now, the article is clearly clickbait, as most buzzfeed articles are, but there is so much wrong and misleading with it that I can't let it slide (aside from calling video games "toys").  Of course, there are items outside of video games listed, but I imagine they are just as wrong.  The list seems to infer that getting rich is as easy as finding an old game and selling it, and many of the people I see posting it are making comments like "Oh why didn't I save those?!" or "I think I might have some of that stuff!"  I'm sorry to dash your dreams of owning a yacht with a pool so big it can fit another, smaller yacht (doubleyacht!), but this list is woefully inaccurate.  So before you go dig up your old copy of Brutal: Paws of Fury with dollar signs in your eyes let me clarify a few things and give you a bit of insight into my world.

On second thought, dig it up anyway

1 - The author doesn't seem to know how selling things online     works

Perhaps the most difficult thing about buying and selling old video games is pricing.  There's no stock market/hive mind tracking the value of video games that are no longer in production (obviously MSRP dictates the prices of those that are), so really the best we can do is follow trends - What are other people selling it for?  Is there any reason its value will depreciate in the near future?  Is there demand for it for some reason?  Was it recently discovered it cures cancer?

There are numerous reasons why a video game's value will change, and even why one becomes rare in the first place, but they are far too numerous to list here (maybe later).

Anyway, the point of this tirade is that everyone who has ever sold anything online knows that the sellers name their own price.  It would be one thing if the author was able to produce several listings at extremely high price point, but he literally just posted  single listings with an exorbitantly high prices, most likely listed by a crazy person (more on that later).  Simply traveling to Ebay and typing in "Game Boy Color" will debunk that ludicrious $1,689.89 price point.

2 - Condition is King

Okay, so you're doing research on the pricing of a game...  Let's say Aero the Acrobat.  You plug it into Amazon and immediately go "holy crap, people are selling this for $90!"  You create a listing for it and people start laughing at your price point, because you failed to take into account the fact that you played the hell out of it when you were younger.

Oh Aero, you truly were the red headed stepchild of the 90's "Heros with an attitude"

 "New" is a word that carries very specific meaning in the world of video game collecting.  It doesn't mean "looks like new," nor "I played it once and put it back in the box forever," nor even "I took it out of the box" (tisk tisk Gamestop).  New means never played, factory sealed and never opened.  You'll notice that the extremely expensive listings in the list are marked as new, but the author never points this out.  In fact, he encourages you to search your mothers basement, but unless your mother was a weirdo that bought you games she'd never let you play you're probably out of luck.  Also note that although being new adds maybe a couple hundred dollars to a games value, you'll almost never see anybody buying one for over $500 unless it is both new and super rare - M.U.S.H.A., PDS and Earthbound immediately come to mind.

So why do games in new condition fetch such a high price point?  Novelty really.  You own something nobody has ever used before, and there are very few games that exist in this state.  Only a select few will pursue a collection comprised of new games, as it forces the condition that actually playing them greatly depreciates their value.  Therefore, most of the people who buy them do so as an investment, not a hobby.  Sadly, because of this there are more than a few con artists with shrink wrap machines that list clearly used games as new, to the point where there are guides dedicated to telling the difference by how they are wrapped.  My rule of thumb is to always buy my games in person if possible, as even used listings online can be deceptive.

So how should you sell your old cartridge?  Or, if you're crazy like me and want to start a video game collection, what should you look for?  This sounds like a segue into an overly detailed explanation!  Well, there are several categories used games can fall into...

Cart(ridge)/Disc Only - By far the most common, both online and in brick and mortar stores.  Usually the product of people reading lists like the one this article is based around, or  people just wanting to make a quick buck by selling the old stuff just laying around.  When I look at a game in this state I consider a couple things.

•  How much would having the box/manual really add to its value?  An older, common game wouldn't gain much.
• What is the condition of the cartridge/disc itself?  For cartridges, are screws loose?  How does the board (the part you can actually see inside the cartridge) look?  Any stains? (Smoke?  Marker?  Blood?!)  For discs, are there scratches?  Foil damage?  Chips/Cracks? (Why are you trying to sell it at all then?!)
• Most importantly, does it look like it's going to work?  This and the above point usually go hand in hand, and if it's questionable I test it immediately when I arrive home.  Obviously collectors want games that work, so if your old copy of Chameleon Twist only sometimes works when you blow in it six times, angle it slightly to the right, spin around three times and sacrifice a baby goat to Shigeru Miyamoto, you better make a note of it and adjust the price accordingly.

I hear he prefers foals anyway...

Case, no manual - the second most common state.  Many people throw away, misplace, or otherwise lose manuals for games.  As a child, I would keep manuals in a drawer in my room and just read them every once and while (I was a weird kid), but most of them were lost in the great purge of 2003 (my mother donating most of my old games). This is far more common with discs than with cartridges, owing to the general flimsiness of cartridge boxes, with the notable exception of the Genesis shell cases, those will outlast humanity, and as a result the value of cartridges with boxes appreciate far more than their disc based brethren, even more so if the game has particularly memorable (read: bad) coverart, such as the infamous Mega Man 1 and 2 boxes.  Obviously, I do all the checks listed above, but now I have to check the condition of the case.

• For cartridges - Is there any notable staining or discoloration on the box?  Is the box ripped/torn in any way?  Is that weird little white, game holding insert present for Nintendo games?
• For discs - Is the jewel case cracked anywhere? This, thankfully, is easily remedied, as replacement jewel cases identical to the originals are easily available.  If there is a cover/back insert that is not the manual, is it present/a reproduction/a piss poor black and white printer reproduction cut out with rusty scissors?

Manual, no case - the third most common.  Exercise caution, as this type is very likely to be a previous rental and therefore subject to the torment of all the demon 90's children like my former sel).  The state of the manual is obviously paramount here.  Are there any tears/pages missing?  Any water damage or discoloration?  Are there passwords listed in the notes section in the back?  If so, hell yes, time to skip ahead!

Complete in Box (CIB) - Oh yeah, here we go, this is what I'm talking about.  This is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, this is free season passes to your favorite sporting event, this is whatever else makes you incredibly excited (naked ladies or something?) - the elusive complete in box used game, what every collector seeks to find.  Obviously these are the rarest and most expensive, but rightfully so.  While all the usual checks for quality are encouraged, you usually don't have to worry about it, as the previous owner(s) was almost assuredly either a person keeping it in good condition with the goal of selling it or a fellow collector needing extra money or seeking to escape the game (spoiler - you never truly escape).

JUST LOOK AT HOW PRETTY IT IS!

3. Crazy People

So what were we talking about again?  Oh, right, that list.  I mentioned listings by crazy people earlier, and its a surprisingly common phenomenon I've witnessed several times on online vendors like Ebay, Amazon, Etc..  If a game is even somewhat rare, there is this one guy that lists is at an extremely high price point like, $10,000 or something, sometimes even disc/cart only, and just sits on it...  Forever...  Its like he believes that any day now humanity is going to be enslaved by Russian Nazi Zombie Velociraptors, and the only way to liberate our race will be defeating the RNZV Overlord in a game of Yoshi's Cookie, and dammit, when that day comes they will gladly pay the price for the last one left on the Earth!

I spent entirely too much time on this...

So yeah, those are the reasons why that list is unbelievably stupid as well as a small glimpse inside the world of video game collecting.  See you all next time!

UFGTX Preliminary Pools - Musing on how screwed I am

First off, I love fighting games, I always have.  The sense of competition, the thrill of victory, the saltiness of defeat; it gives me that same sort of rush I get from performing.  Growing up, I was the big dog at the Peoria arcade, and I started seriously studying and practicing fighting games in College.  For the past three years I have made a pilgrimage to Chicago to attend the biggest fighting game tournament in the Midwest - Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament.  I did at fairly well last year, 2/2 in AE, 2/2 in Mystery Game, and 7th in Divekick.

The preliminary pool list came out for this year (UFGTX), and as it stands I'm pretty well screwed.  Below are some of my thoughts and potential strategies looking at who I have to face in my pool.   

Street Fighter Arcade Edition 2012

WARNING - TECHNICAL JARGON INCOMING
As some of you may know, I play Chun Li in AE 2012, and those of you who play the game might be asking "why?" right now.  Indeed, Chun is sadly not a very good character AE 2012.  She doesn't have a vortex, has no real way to rush down, relies on frame traps and risky high/low mixups for pressure, and has an absolutely abysmal defensive game - her only reversal option is EX Spinning Bird Kick (SBK), which is beaten by many, many airborne offensive options and, if all else fails, crouching with about 80% of the cast, so it's easily baitable.  Adding to that, her antiair options are unreliable at best, and you need to quickly react with the right button to specific situations - no catch all like a DP, no sir.  Basically, if she get's knocked down, it's bad news.

WHY AREN'T YOU BETTER IN THIS GAME?

So what is Chun good at?  Footsies.  Chun has arguably the best normals in the game, so her footsie game is incredibly strong.  Pokes like St. HP, St. MP, Cr. MP, Cr. MK and Cr. HK (as long as you're not predictable with it) are all fantastic, so she is terrific at mid range on the ground.  Hosenka (Ultra 1) is good as an anti fireball tool, and Kikosho (Ultra 2) is free damage after her really easy bread and butter combo if she ever somehow gets a jump in. 

So let's look at my pool competition to see how screwed I am!

EG Ricky Ortiz

O_O

Yup...  Game over man...  Great Tournament Great Experience.

So...  Ricky Ortiz...  There's a lot to say about him, but here's all you really need to know - He won AE at the last US major (ECT), has ranked in top 8 at EVO just about every year in SF4 and is widely considered the best Rufus in the world. Here's his EG profile.

Yup.  So, onto the subject of Rufus - Rufus is arguably Chun's worst matchup, the only real competition being Akuma.  Why, do you ask?  Well, Rufus' main tool is his divekick, and Chun has absolutely no good way to deal with it.  Here are the options -

1.  Attempt to Anti Air -With normals at best, you'll trade.  At worst, you'll get stuffed and eat a full combo.  If the opponent is carelessly using it as a movement option and enters your range without actually hitting you, you can tag them with a St. FP or a Cr. HK, but that's fairly unlikely.

A properly timed EX SBK will actually beat Rufus divekick, but you've got to be sure they've committed and it takes meter.  This is a useful option to escape the corner and stupid Rufus mixup (detailed later).

2.  Focus - This actually seems to be a popular option against Rufus divekick in general, and probably the best option.  Since divekick only ever hits once, the focus will absorb the hit, and immediately releasing the attack will beat anything he tries to do afterwards.  Obviously most Rufus players will block, but hey, you're not losing anything and will gain at least a little ground.  The danger here is that if it starts to get predictable they'll start using other jump ins that get the second hit quicker, and now you're back in a bad situation.

3.  Meet in the air - So, the third option is to preempt the divekick entirely and meet Rufus in the air.  Generally speaking, Chun has better air to air options - jump LK, HK, HP and air throw are all good options in this situation, but there is one exception, and one thing that stops this from being a practical strategy - Rufus jump HK.  If you get hit with it, you're eating at least a Snake Strike, EX if he has the meter, and that hurts.

So yeah, as Chun no option is particularly good, so you're often forced to take the mixup.

The stupid Rufus Mixup

Many people consider Rufus to be an "autopilot" character, and there is a grain of truth to this, as his mixup is incredibly simple, but also effective.  It starts with a divekick.  If the divekick hits, combo into Galactic Tornado, then restart.  If the divekick is blocked, these are the follow up options -

1.  Go low - Rufus doesn't have much of a high low mixup, so they'll mostly go for a cr. LK in this scenario.  This can be beaten by quick attacks if the divekick makes contact too high, but is generally a blockstring.

2.  Walk up throw - expecting a block string, the opponent gets thrown instead.  The logical solution to this situation is crouch tech, but that is risky because -

3.  Low dive kick - this blows up crouch tech, along with any other standing/crouching attacks or pokes that you might throw out.

Remember when I said Chun's strength is footsies?  Well, since she doesn't have a way to deal with divekick Rufus doesn't even have to worry about playing footsies.  He doesn't care about your footsies, he'll just jump over them and kick you in the face.

So what are Rufus' weaknesses?  Well, ironically, much like Chun he has a horrible wakeup game (arguably worse, actually).  His only reversal option is EX Messiah Kick which is also pretty baitable, and extremely unsafe on whiff or block.  He also has low stun, so the best strategy is to somehow knock him down and pressure him on wakeup.  Unfortunately, as mentioned before, Chun has no vortex, so any and all pressure is pretty meter dependent.
/TECHNICAL JARGON

Anyway, that's enough on Rufus, let's see who else is in the pool...

TFA|RZR omg itZ Andre

So, he's a bit less intimidating than Ricky.  He's mainly known for Marvel.  I don't even know who he plays in AE...  Rose I think?  If so, Rose is actually not a bad match for Chun.  Anyway, I'm less worried about him, but he's still there.  There's also a member of team CORN, but I don't recognize the name.

Ultra Street Fighter 4 Preview Tournament

UFGT is having a special preview tournament event with the latest build of Ultra Street Fighter 4, and I'm pretty psyched about it.  Chun is getting significantly better in this build - she's getting her df LK antiair back, EX hazanshu is going to focus break, and EX SBK is getting it's hitbox extended downwards so it can't be crouched as easily.  I am pretty excited.  So here is who is in my pool -

Floe

*facepalm,* another Rufus!  Fantasitic!  A former EG, Floe is actually who knocked me into losers last year (and wrecked me in the process)...  So yeah...  Df LK might give me a little bit of a better tool against divekicks, but it's still gonna be a bad match.

Besides that CORN Alucard is in my pool, but he's also more famous for Marvel.  I think he plays boxer, which isn't a terrible matchup.

Killer Instinct

So I bought an Xbone last winter, and therefore dabbled in KI.  I'm fairly okay at it - I can do a couple manuals.  It's a fairly new game, so the playing field is still kinda even, and my fundamentals are pretty strong so unless I'm facing someone like Justin Wong I should probably do at least kinda well.  Let's see who's in my pool -

EG Jwong

OH COME ON!  So yeah, Justin Wong is in my pool.  His Sabrewulf with eviscerate my Jago.  End of story. Here's his EG profile.

Divekick

So, some of you may know I took 7th in Divekick last year.  I consider myself at least pretty good, so I should stand a chance...  Right?  Right?

Chris G

REALLY?  REALLY? 

So for those of you who don't follow the fighting game scene, Chris G is the best Marvel player on the planet.  He knocked me into losers in Divekick last year.  This makes me sad.

Also in my pool is Dave Lang, notable because he is a bigwig at Iron Galaxy Studios, the company that makes the game.  Yeah...

Mystery Game Tournament

So, a small solace, I don't really have any famous names in my mystery game pool.  So yeah, I might do fairly well in that...  Whoo... 

So there it is, a list of the killers in my pool.  Really, I had no illusions of winning any tournaments this weekend, but I would've liked to at least get close to getting out of pools.  Regardless, I'm sure I'll have fun this weekend, but damn I got a bad hand.  Who knows, maybe I'll get an upset...  I wouldn't bet on it but the possibility is still there.  Also, these are preliminary pool assignments, so they might change...  Maybe I'll get lucky and get transferred to a pool filled with monkeys or something...  That'd be great...