NintendoAge E-zine

Sure is quiet around here lately.  As we go through this little dry spell, I invite you over to NintendoAge.com - if you're one of the few who haven't arrived here to my blog from that site, then I encourage you to sign up (it's free) and join the discussion.

In addition, as a member you'll have access to the semi-regular e-zine.  The last two issues have included articles written by...me!  Enjoy.

#743-B - Metal Storm (again)

#743-B
Metal Storm
ecrater.com
7/5/12

Dammit.  I already had Metal Storm.  I picked it up about 3 years ago in a big lot of games I bought from a dealer at an indoor flea market for $2.  At the time I had never heard of it and had just started collecting NES, so it got thrown onto the shelf and sat while I played Duck Tales.

Then about a year ago I was watching a series of videos by LordKat called "Until We Win" - where the guy basically plays through difficult retro video games until...well...  His video on Metal Storm was entertaining and piqued my interest in giving the unknown game a shot.  Aaaaaand then the damn thing wouldn't work.

Catridge based video games are usually resistant to the torture they endure during their lifespans.  Grubby little kids, animal encounters, blazing sun, freezing cold and general lack of care can really grime up the plastic, but usually a little elbow grease and a lot of rubbing alcohol can clean the contacts enough for the game to boot up and play.

Unfortunately, Metal Storm (the copy on the left in the picture above), seemed clean on the outside, but wouldn't start up.  Swab the contacts with alcohol...nope.  Clean out the NES with a toothbrush...nope.  Take the cart apart and deep clean the board...nope.  Look up replacement copies on eBay...sigh.  Since the game is apparently fun and apparently uncommon, therefore the copies online were pricey and since I already had a cartridge, a replacement wasn't very high on my priority list.

Cut to now and after a few recent eBay sales to build up my Paypal account I decided the time had come to right the wrong.  Ecrater.com is a new site I hadn't used before - I'm not sure if it's eBay related or what...but either way I can now play Metal Storm (the copy on the right).  And yes, it is as good as advertised.

Masters of the Universal Game Cases

Remember in my last post when I mentioned how cool the custom artwork on the universal game case looked when I received my Bonk's Adventure cart in the mail?  Sure you do...you think about it every night as you go to sleep...tossing...turning...

Well anyway, I took the bait and bought a case of cases (as well as a couple of new printer ink cartridges) and got to work making some of my own.  When I say a case of cases, I mean that literally.  They only come in boxes of 100 - so I've got quite a few sitting in my living room at the moment.  Interestingly enough, they are called 'universal' in that they hold all kinds of discs and cartridges, EXCEPT for original NES.  I had to take a box cutter and pair of pliers to each one in order to knock out the little tabs standing in my way...

As for the artwork...there is a GREAT website that offers up customized lables for almost every system:   www.thecoverproject.net - I recommend scanning through their forums to see pictures of some great customized case collections.

The cases look really great all put next to one another.  I'm a sucker for the sleek, uniform look of all the cases.  NES boxes are all over the map in their design and color and quite frankly, they look a mess on the shelf.  Not to mention that many boxes didn't survive the more than 2 decades since they were printed, having since long disintegrated in landfills across America.  Boxed game collectors are having to bend over and open up their wallets to finish off their sets.  This is a nice looking, cheap alternative.

So this is what I've got so far.  I'll add some more eventually - these labels will kill an ink cartridge really fast, especially on my crummy printer, so I'm being selective in what I make a label for.  Right now I've got some of my more valuable games and some of my favorites, as well as a really awesome custom MegaMan set.

#743 - Bonk's Adventure

Game #743
Bonk's Adventure
NA
6/12/12

It was nice to find a response to my 'want to buy' thread on NintendoAge from yet ANOTHER Canadian (jeez, how many of them are out there?) with an offer to purchase a very nice condition Bonk's Adventure cart.  Dude gave me a very fair deal and even shipped the custom hard case along with the game.

I really like this case.  It's a universal game case with a couple of notches cut out to fit NES carts and a nicely printed custom label.  These look really neat, especially all together on a shelf - if it wouldn't cost literally hundreds of dollars and take up WAY too much space, I would consider housing all of my NES carts in such awesome plastic.

Bonk's Adventure is, of course, a port of the TurboGrafx-16 game.  In fact, Bonk was a mascot of the TG-16, so it's still a little strange to see the character on a Nintendo cartridge.  I guess nowadays that's not so big a deal, what with Sonic and Mario playing at the Olympics together every couple of years.

Now the collection stands at 743 NES games, 673 of them are officially licensed.  There are a total of 677 licensed carts - which means I have only 4 left to find.  It's exciting to be this close to finishing up the licensed set, but looking ahead at the price tags and lack of availability on what's left is certainly daunting.  Hopefully with a little patience and a lot of luck, I'll be able to mow down at least 3 of them this year.  In the interim I'll be adding more varied content to this blog - starting with a new link on the right side of the page.  Enjoy "Game Over" another collector blog from a fellow NA member.

#742 - Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters

#742
Godzilla 2
Collector's Cards & Games
5/21/12

So strange to find a boxed game this late in the game that's within my budget - but here sits Godzilla 2, fresh from a nice little shop in Florida.  The box is in not-so-mint shape, but I don't care much.  I was just glad to find this game for $30 - especially after the prices have all gone skyrocketing on eBay and Amazon.

Godzilla 2 is a weird strategy something or other game...I don't really have much interest in it beyond having it on the collection shelf.  Check out AVGN's video to get an idea of what it's all about.  I like the box art - it's red and orange and Godzilla looks PISSED with lightning striking him from all sides...

Now we're really down to it.  Only 5 licensed games left and the prices are STEEP to say the least (especially for the run-in-place game).  I'll hold out hope that I'll find a deal out there somewhere.

In the meantime, I'm considering ways to keep this blog going.  Just because all the little gray squares are getting snapped up doesn't mean we can't continue these sporadic musings.  So, as they say at the end of every TV season finale; 'to be continued....'

#740 & 741 - Stack Up & Dragon Fighter

#740 & 741
Stack Up & Dragon Fighter
NA & eBay
5/7/12

It's times like this where the whole 'collect every game' thing gets weird.  There have been games that I have no interest in playing (anything where you take turns to fight each other) or are duplicates of other games (Donkey Kong Classics), but at least those were games that I could play if I wanted to.  See that Stack Up game?  I can't even play that one.

See, Stack Up was the second and last R.O.B. game (Gyromite is the other) and it requires a special set of pieces to play it properly.  There are round blocks (if you can call a round shape a 'block'), special claws for R.O.B. and little trays that you hook onto him.  I have none of that stuff.  I don't intend to ever get any of that stuff.  Stack Up is, therefore, an unplayable game for me.  Yay?

On the bright side, Stack Up DOES finish off the 'black box' set - I have all but 4 in their actual black boxes (no Stack Up, DK Jr Math, Urban Champion or CluClu Land boxes).  So that's pretty cool.  Plus, I can just let R.O.B. play with the cartridge.  See?  He's having fun.

The other pickup is Dragon Fighter, which I got from eBay by offering and counter-offering and realizing I had a few bucks left on a gift card.  The 10 minutes of it I played was a decent experience.  You walk along, slashing monsters and snowflakes when suddenly...you become...a giant green fucking dragon!  Every play Michael Jackson's Moonwalker and get the comet to turn into Super Mecha-Michael Jackson?  Same kind of feeling you get in Dragon Fighter.


Cross your fingers, as I may have ANOTHER cart coming in the mail in the next week or so.  We're coming down the home stretch and this shit's getting REAL now.

The Nerd Cave

About a year ago I was sitting around and I thought to myself; "Self, you should start a blog about Nintendo game collecting!" - to which I replied to myself; "Inner-Self, that's stupid. Nobody cares what I'd have to say about buying obsolete video games." Well, despite my better judgement I began to write Little Gray Squares and I sit here on the 1 year anniversary of post #1. Remember April 17, 2011? The sun has been shining a little bit brighter ever since.

Anyways, I don't have any new games to show off today, but I figured now is as good a time as any to show off the entire collection. My first LGS post showcased a blurry cell phone picture of my NES collection. Since then I've moved to a new house and expanded by 49 the number of original Nintendo carts, but I haven't mentioned or shown much of the rest of the 'Nerd Cave' as my wife has nicknamed the game room. So I'll shut up now and show off some slightly less blurry cell phone pics.

Have fun spotting all the Star Trek games.

First up - these are all the games. NES carts on the left and top of the right. Everything else below that. The carts are stacked a little weird in order to fit more on a shelf.

That's right...no human being would stack books this way.

The third shelf that holds paper and toys. Super sweet Deluxe Set box on top next to nerdy video game tournament trophies and a really awesome DK Jenga set.

Dark and dreary close up of some old strategy and tip books. Jeff Rovin boxed set and BOTH Skip Rogers VHS tapes are the highlight. Remember, level 3 is tough...have patience!

More old paper - Nintendo Power, Game Players magazines, some walkthrough cheatbooks.

TOYS. CANDY. Cool!

Some nifty boxed accessories like the Double Player wireless controllers (mine smell weird) and the Aladdin Deck Enhancer that allows you to play unlicensed Aladdin games. I like the Mario Christmas cards circa 1988 that I picked up for a dollar at a flea market.

Who likes board games? Apparently I like four of them.

Back to the video game shelf - these are the boxed NES games I've stumbled upon. Boxed games are fun to look at, but ultimately take up too much shelf space. Still, I hesitate to get rid of any of the boxes I've come across.

Unlicensed carts on the shelf above, 'black box' games on the middle shelf. The black box set are the first 30ish games Nintendo published for the NES and they look nice all next to each other, especially when you add the Zelda games, Ice Hockey and a few others. I'm missing a few for a full set, they can get pricey. Below that are the Aladdin games - mine appear to have never been played.

The boxed games below (plus Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, Gyromite, Excitebike and Donkey Kong 3) represent all the games I owned as a kid back when NES was 'new'. I distinctly remember getting only a few of them - but safe to say that they were mostly given as birthday or Christmas presents or bought with a saved up allowance. I DO recall that Ghosts n Goblins was one of the first games I owned when I was 6 or 7 years old...which could be considered a form of child abuse.

All killer, no filler (if you ignore Mario is Missing) Super NES collection. Not going for a full set, but I tend to find really good SNES games for really low prices quite often.

Boxed SNES are even bigger, bulkier and uglier than boxed NES. Still, Super Metroid is my favorite video game and I had to have a complete boxed copy.

For a brief time I thought it would be fun to collect boxed N64 games. It wasn't fun. I stopped.

Put on your 3D glasses for this picture of Gamecube games!

I enjoy the Wii more than most people do. Squint your eyes and you'll see another Star Trek game in there somewhere.

Truth be told, I probably played more Genesis in my tween/teen years than NES, but mainly because I was way too into sports games. I sold off, but eventually re-purchased most of my collection and then some. Super Baseball 2020 is AWESOME.

DS games.

I've been buying up PS2 games a lot in recent months. It's definitely the cheapest console to collect games for - luckily most of these games are good.

PS3 and PSP games - FINALLY a fun Back to the Future game.

A boxed copy of Mario Dance Dance Revolution sitting next to a pile of console and accessory boxes covered with the Mario 25th Anniversary backpack thingy that my wife got me for Christmas with the Wii version of Punch Out.

As most collectors have already discovered, these plastic storage bins serve a game room well by offering a place to stash all the little crap, wires and controllers that end up all over the place.

And Game Boy games!

Those pins are totally retro - purchased from my school's 2nd grade book fair.

Speaking of books - here are a bunch of manuals.

They can't all be winners, can they? If I cared I'd pick up the stand that goes with the Virtual Boy...if I cared.

Controllers, random crap, more controllers...

My retro gaming set up. Got the TV a few weeks ago from Goodwill after the old one died a dishonorable death. ROB guards the consoles from the approaching swarm of unloved Rock Band instruments.

I've trimmed my console collection considerably in the last year - this is what's left.

That is MY original Nintendo that I got for Christmas in 1988. It still works...sometimes.

The Super Nintendo and top-loading NES stay out all the time as they get the most playtime. The top-loader is prettier and more reliable, but gives nasty 'jailbars' on the screen due to lack of RF shielding or something.

Several posters hanging up - DK, Mario and Zelda are Club Nintendo freebies, the ROB poster came out of an old black box game and the Metroid Prime poster was given away with preorders of Metroid Prime Trilogy on Wii.

Lastly are posters for 2 of my favorite movies and a quick snapshot of my DVD/Blu-Ray collection. What Nerd Cave would be complete without them? Look at all that Star Trek! How embarrassing! Thanks for reading Little Gray Squares...here's to another year of dorkiness online!