Finds of the Month Updates

Here is the list of the finds of every month up to October. I do apologize that I haven't posted the last three or so and completely missed the March entry but they are all here! So here they are, each of them with a little info on how I found them.

January
NES Deluxe Set
I was able to pick this up at a thrift store for a mere 34.95. The best part was that the R.O.B. came complete and with all the parts. It was even still in its bag with the games in extreme minty shape! This is for sure one of my most valued items. Amazingly, due to my struggle with money I almost sold this precious item but due to "destiny" the set ended up back in my hands.
February
House of the Dead(Saturn)
This is probably the cheapest find of the month ever, because it was free. During this time, there was a play n trade opened near my home and I was very happy. I used to go there all the time but sadly, the store is gone. This memory will always stay in me though. I went in to go through their used games as usual and found the House of the Dead disc for Saturn but with no price tag. I asked how much it was and the guy checked it out on the computer and said 4.99! I was like WOW NO WAY! Anyways, I picked up a couple of other games and due to their offer of buy two get one free, I came up with a free copy of House of the Dead it being the cheapest game I was buying. Those were sure good times....

March
Famicom CIB

I gotta thank eBay for this finding. This console usually goes for 100+ as well so I was lucky enough to pay 56 dollars for this wonderful console but that's not all. The console also came with twenty six games as well as some pirates in that lot. I couldn't have asked for anything more but that's right, that's not all! I also got an extra Famicom Disk System RAM adapter, those might come in handy, thanks eBay!

April
Valkyrie Profile(PS1)
In one of my trips to the thrift store, I was able to pick this up for a mere 1.95 just to wet my pants later that day when I found out how much this gem was worth. I'm a real fan of RPGs so there is no way I could let go of this game especially when it is in such minty shape. Great find over all...

May
Goal Prototype(NES)
I picked this up at the flea market for the amazing price of two dollars. I had no idea what it was at first but the label caught my attention and I figured why not? And boy did I made a great purchase as this little game right here ended up being a prototype of the game Goal for the NES. I never really play through it to see any differences but it's OK, I'm just happy having it to show it off to my friends.

June
NES Sealed Game Lot
Probably one of the best finds ever from Craiglist, sealed games are what brings you back to the simpler time especially for the NES! I paid a little over 200 dollars for these but I broke even and even more after I sold the duplicates. It's a great way to help your hobby stay alive and not bother your living expenses. I wouldn't dare open any of these because I might just get a heart attack. This can be without a doubt the best find of the year although the rest of the entries are quite impressive and will post a challenge nonetheless.

July
Asian PC Games
In a month of horrible empty handed finds, I was able to pick these games up for .95 cents each if I remember correctly. I wasn't able to test them but they looked like Emulators with roms in them which made them a very unique find and with no challengers to fight for the top spot of July, this one went through with ease.

August
Thousand Arms(PS1)
When it comes to RPGs I go nuts and when it comes to RPGs by Atlus I scream like a little girl! But really, there is just something about Atlus I can't stop loving, they are amazing! I was able to pick this baby up for two bucks and it even came with a Thousand Arms sticker on the memory card. This is surely one of the games in my "to play" list.

September
Pokemon CIB Lot + Yugi
Play n Trade might be gone from my area but that never stopped me from finding others nearby and that's what I did, and that's how I ended up with these finds. Having paid only four dollars and some cents (With the help of my ten percent discount) I was able to pick all of these games up in minty complete condition. The only duplicate was Pokemon Blue which I ended up re-selling to break even with this purchase. This is just one of the things I love about savvy collecting, be sure to take notes mmk?

October
Ico (PS2)
This would be my second copy of Ico I would have in my collection if I hadn't sold it to a good friend of mine but it was fine by me as I told him I would eventually bump into another one. The time finally came as I picked this one up at the flea market for the wonderful price of two dollars. This is another game in my list that will eventually be explore by yours truly, I'll be sure to keep you updated on that.



So that's it for all this year's top finds. Be sure to check each one out with careful consideration as I'll need you to vote this January for the top one! The reason? Do you really need one? All you gotta do is click and you are done, no ID needed so even illegal immigrants can vote! Cya later amigos!

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Famicom Guide Featured Game: Cosmo Police Galivan

Here is another interesting title. Quite expensive but really good! Have a great Sunday!

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Famicom Guide Featured Game: City Connection

Whatever you do, don't run the kitty over please!

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Stop Violating My Turtles!

So here we go, I know most of you have seen certain videos depicting as this game being god awful. Really, what the hell is going on in your head? Are you thinking straight? This game is an incredible challenge that only real men are able to overcome. Stop whining and start playing a real NES game why don't ya? But seriously, who says this game is so horrible? Because it's tough? Aren't over 90 percent of the NES games tough anyways? I have all these questions which I know the answers for but just needed to get them out in the open already. Stop violating my turtles!

Lets go through this game little by little. You start with the four turtles at your disposal. Now, you can't use them all four at the same time but you can switch in between them, I'm guessing the reason for this is the limitation of the NES, even in the SNES turtles game(Turtles in Time) You couldn't use four turtles at the same time, you could use two but not four. I don't find this annoying at all because the game is better off just playing on your own. Just think how it would look if you had four players playing in the same screen? That's what arcade games were made for during the late 80s you know!

So as you can see, it wouldn't have worked in the first place. The game would go real slow and everyone will be on each others way! Stop complaining that it's not multi player already you punk! Furthermore, the monsters I'll admit are not from the animated series so what? There are many monsters that are not from certain cartoons or series so why are you bashing this game so much? The foot soldiers do look like foot soldiers you know...kinda of...still! I also heard that the monsters might be coming from the comic book which does make some sense since the cover art of the game is from the comic book turtles as they all originally wear the red eye cover things.

Anyways, enough about that. The main reason people complain about this game is for the difficulty which is fine if you are a whiner, if you want a real game experience, this is it. You can't any more of a bad ass game than TMNT for the NES(Well try Battletoads). This game will make you cry and cry until you want to throw your controller with rage but if you are wise, you'll know when you had enough and come back the next time even stronger for another round. You can get through the first six levels quite easy until you reach the Technodrome. That's when things get out of hand. I do suggest you stock up on scrolls with all the turtles as they are the ultimate weapon of destruction and of course always keep your turtles healed. There are certain areas where you can rescue a turtle. What you can do is kill your turtle on purpose if it has low health and just rescue it right away, it's just another great way to pick up a healed turtle. It will be really tough if you get to the Technodrome and loose your turtles because when you start off again, you'll be without any of your weapons and will be vulnerable to those spaceman shooting lasers at you. There are also other machine monsters ready to kick your ass, you have to be savvy and use your skills and health wisely. Learn the Technodrome surroundings and you'll come up victorious.

To wrap things up, yes the game is difficult, yes some of the things in the game don't make much sense but you have to tell yourself, it's just a game. Deal with it or just don't play, don't just bitch about it just because you can't beat it. I was able to beat this game when I was six for god's sake! If I was able to do it twenty years ago, I don't see why you can't do it now after all nothing in the game has changed, we have just gotten used to games kissing our ass for us. Cowabunga!

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Finds 235: Metroid 2, Simon's Revenge, Darkwing Duck, and Super Bust-a-Move

Another day for hunting, and I gotta say another successful hunt! This time around I was able to pick up some classic Gameboy titles. They are also real good games! You can't go wrong with Castlevania 2, Metroid 2, and Darkwing Duck! I also picked up this PS2 title with a very funny cover art. Behold photos!
Don't you just love this cover? It's sho cute!! Paid 1.95 for this one!
Picked these three gameboy games for 1.95 each! Now, I just need to find my gameboy player add-on and my gamecube to play these beauties! I just can't do it on an original gameboy or gameboy color anymore, my eyes hurt....wow do I feel old....

So that's it for this hunt, there should be more stuff coming up in the coming weeks and also a probable flea market trip soon! Oh yes, don't forget to check the findings list below!

-Findings List-
Super Bust-a-Move (PS2)
Darkwing Duck (GB)
Metroid 2 (GB)
Castlevania 2 -Belmont's Revenge (GB)

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Retro Game of the Week 055: Sword of Mana(GBA)

One of the more interesting games for the GBA is surely Sword of Mana. Supposedly this is the first Seiken Densetsu game in the Mana series but was for some reason renamed to Final Fantasy Adventure in its original release. I'm guessing it was more of a popular name to put into a title to raise sales. Either way, as much as I loved the original, this one is a great improvement over it. Of course, I can't say I miss the classic gameboy colors but this is a totally different experience altogether. The game is a well done remake that proves yet again how Square kept milking their old games into "remakes" This time around though, they succeeded in a positive note. The game plays like any of the other Mana games(The good ones at least), and delivers a very satisfying gaming experience. You are able to pick from a male or female character which you will name whatever you want(Name advice, Petunia, Resputan).



So here we go in a new grand adventure, you will probably feel at home with the beat em up style gameplay it brings as well as Mana cards you can use to summon your magical powers. Sadly, this game doesn't bring a link cable gameplay option which would have made it an incredible experience(Some of you may remember Secret of Mana on the SNES, three players!). You can still connect two GBAs with the games but only for trading purposes, this isn't Pokemon you know! The game does deliver you with companions who will aid you on your quest but won't stay long with you, just like the original(Remember that mage that looked like a red mage?). The game also has a very interesting gameplay feature which involves finding items on certain days which is a big plus as it'll make you play the game for a certain amount of time.


Overall, like always don't want to give out too much so you can enjoy and find yourself yet another great gaming experience. Until next week!

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Dear Virtual Console, Bite Me

With the release of the virtual console in the next gen consoles, we have been able to play our classics without the chore of bringing them out of our closets. In some cases, some of us still have our classic consoles connected to the TV because we just love to get our retro game fix once in a while. I think it's a great idea for a virtual console except for the fact that it's ruining our collections one game at a time. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that new generations are able to play these classics with their latest consoles whether it is the Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3. There have also been new releases by developers that keeps our interest up with such titles as Mega Man 10 and Castlevania. The problem is that with new technology, new problems appear in front of us to deal with. For instance, I'm a collector of everything to do with retro gaming and have cherished and worked hard on obtaining certain games so wouldn't it just bother you at least a little bit if you find out that due to the game being released as a download, the value of your game you worked so hard to find has gone down in value as well. I think that's just killing the retro gaming collectors all over the world. There are certain things that should be left alone, of course they can release the Marios and Megamans and what not but why not do as Capcom and release a new Mega Man rather than just try to milk out from work that was already done decades ago. That's one of the things that pisses me off about Nintendo especially during the GBA era when they re-released lots of the SNES titles into small chopped up versions of each one. Whatever happened to the originality? It's definitely gone, I can tell you for sure that I'm one of the gamers that doesn't get excited when I hear a new Mario game is coming out. I lost that excitement years ago.....

There are some pros to the virtual console though. We have gotten a new generation of gamers to cherish and respect these games. I'm glad that some of the younger generations are able to appreciate these classics and can still find them fun to play to this day. You really can't beat Super Mario Bros 3, that was Mario on his prime if you haven't noticed. It's amazing to see how many teenagers are collecting old consoles like the NES and Genesis. It's really great to hear that they love such games as Castlevania Bloodlines and Contra but also tend to complain about the same games we complained about. Some of them have the guts to challenge these games and come out victorious, it's a great feeling when I get messages from kids telling me they beat certain game that is just brutal to play through but not impossible. There are also the bad side of these individuals, the snotty punk ass smart ass retro wannabes that don't appreciate or cherish anything. All that comes out of their mouths is stench of ugliness surrounded by their loud ego. I advice you to stay away from them and run the other way as soon as possible.

Overall, the virtual console does good and bad things to collectors and players alike. Whether you like it or not, this paid emulator will be here to stay. I must say though, there is no way I'll pay ten dollars for a download, I rather have the real deal.

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Famicom Guide Featured Game: Cocoron

Here we have Cocoron for the Famicom. This title is quite odd but fun over all. There were 20+ videos added today so take a chance and check them out. Lets help the Famicom Guide keep on growing!

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Famicom Guide Featured Game: Contra Spirits 1995

Here we go yet again with another crappy pirate game! Contra 3 gone bad...

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Famicom Guide Featured Game: Akomajou Dracula

Hmmmm Halloween may be over but Dracula is alive all year long!



Famicom Guide

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