For two months, I haven't bought a single game due to work obligations and some other minor stuff I had to take care of. Now, it's time to make up for that time by buying several games at once. It's one of those advantages of being without games for a while: everything seems new and promising and you can't wait to get your hands on them.

First of all, I need to make a confession. I own both a DS and PSP. Yet I don't have a single game to play on both those systems. Naturally, I'm going to take care of this by shifting my attention to handheld games first. Certain purchases are:

These will do for now, at least for two months. I can't wait to play them, more importantly I can't wait to play them on my new systems.

Also, there's one game that's just begging my attention. I've been neglecting it for several months now but I've set my mind on buying this game. I have really high hopes for this one:

Finally, I just might pick this one up as well, simply because I love the franchise:

These games will keep me busy, right? I highly recommend taking a break from playing games, it really revitalises your gaming appetite. And you'll have a lot of fun playing them, as well.

I was bored playing today's games, the little brats on Live and CJ's newest drug deal. So I figured it was time for those precious hours of simple fun. I called my brother, who doesn't really like today's games, and asked him if he'd fancy a marathon of pure nostalgia. Of course he agreed.

You know what I'm talking about, a marathon of classic gaming! A collection of the finest games when I was still a kid, in mint condition. Connecting those dusty stereo cables, handling the clunky square shaped cartridges, feeling those blisters come alive the instant of holding the controller again, the obligatory blowing in the cartridge, ah yes it was all there.

I was tempted to connect my NES and SNES to my dolby digital receiver, and I figured oh why the hell not. I can tell you, listening to the theme of Megaman 2 in surround format (at least, emulated of course) brings warm feelings. It makes a lot of difference using a DD receiver, even playing NES games it really adds to the experience.

Anyway, here's the sweet golden list of classic games, dripping with nostalgia and cherished memories...

I can't remember how many times I finished this game. My brother and I finished it once 8 times in a row. There's something extraordinary about this game, something that forces you not to get angry when you're game over. You simply think 'oh well, let's just start over'. You start beating up those baddies again, using your timeless circling kick which is still kind of difficult to pull off due to the limited amount of buttons on the NES controller. The 'secret' move, the flying knee, is still awesome, enabling you to actually kick someone out of the screen, killing him instantly.

And let's not forget the helicopter level where you could be kicked outside, the cogwheel level with the difficult jumping and instant death by falling off, the fight against your own shadow, the two agile ninjas and, of course, the famous cheat of beating the hell out of P2 and using his own lives.

The game features excellent music, extremely simple but very catching indeed. It also has one of the best co-op features ever created. To me, this is one of the best games ever created and even now, it holds up as one of the most enjoyable games.

Well, what else is there to be said about this game. It has one of the best single player experiences available, but the multiplayer mode is brilliant as well. Either playing co-op through the levels (the whistles are banned explicitly!) or entering the battle mode, it all stands for fun, pure and simple. My brother and I had some real fights because of battle mode, by using cheap tricks (jumping through platforms), the TNT block, split second steals and jumping endlessly on each other's heads.

Even now, we got agitated in a good way by playing this game, delivering some friendly punches and an occaisional 'steal' of the other's controller.

I got this just weeks before I bought my SNES, yet it actually managed to regain all my faith and attention in the NES. The fighting is simple, but still very deep for a NES game. This game was made for co-op, it really seemed the game was designed for it. By working together, you could beat the hell out of the baddies and more importantly, the bosses. There was a cheap trick for virtually any boss, which we mastered and exploited.

The runs for pizzas, again split second steals of kills, entertaining music and cheesy one liners made for a very enjoyable game, by delivering simple fighting and four characters to choose from.

Moving on to the SNES....

Big prizes, big money, I love it! Good luck, you'll need it! I'd buy that for a dollar! The lines that would flavor this game in such an original way. Again, a game designed mainly for co-op, by delivering frantic fights. Not by strong enemies, (on the contrary, one hit would suffice) yet by the number of enemies. Your screen would fill with enemies in an instant, which would enable endless killing sprees and sheer madness. The game always made you feel powerless, but never so much you would feel cheated. You were outnumbered, but your weapons really compensated. Rocket launchers, grenade launchers, a shield of turning knives, a 'ball' of double shots, they were essential and always scarce.

A game of frustration, madness, unfair boss battles, head-to-head comparisons and cooperation, what's there not to like?

Still, the best Mario Kart game ever created. This game featured an unparalleled level of racing fun, by offering simple power ups, simple yet very recognisable tracks, a great line up of racers and brilliant music. Again, you could play this game co-op, by entering the GP mode, battling 6 (cheating) cpu controlled racers and each other. You could race together, but there's nothing like hitting your opponent off the road when you just used your star. The game was difficult on its hardest setting, due to cheating opponents and the fact that you actually had to race instead of hitting each other and just messing about.

Similar to Mario Bros 3, this game featured a battle mode, where players were placed in an arena, with the sole purpose of eliminating each other. Again, there were cheap tricks such as using the feather to reach certain areas, but this was another game made for endless sessions, in some way offering enough depth and fun never to get boring or repetitive.

These were the main games we played for hours. Looking back now, it was one of the best gaming sessions for about a year, which says a lot about today's games in my opinion. These games are now stored again in the holy gaming box, waiting to deliver another boost of nostalgia next year.

To complement the list, here are some of the other games we played for a short while.

Ever since gaming has become popular in Japan, North America and Europe, there has always been the problem of having to convert NTSC games (as used in America and Japan) to the PAL system.

Most Europeans who play games in a 'casual' way, in other words who don't even know there's a difference between NTSC and PAL, take the prices of games for granted, not knowing there's a significant difference between its foreign counterparts. For years I've been annoyed US and Japan gamers get their games:

• Faster, usually months before the European release date. Examples are Metal Gear Solid 2 (3 months), Metroid Prime (4 months), Devil May Cry (3 months).

• In a perfect state. For example, the European Devil May Cry featured big black borders and was set on a lower pace.

• At a lower price.

As of October 29, 1 Euro equals 1,2745 dollar ~ 1,28 dollar.

To illustrate the difference in prices I've created a comparison between European and American games. I'm ignoring the Japanese prices, because well, my Japanese isn't exactly on par.

I took the liberty of basing all the American prices on the prices of GameStop. My impression is that GameStop represents standard prices, commonly used throughout NA. If not, please let me know. The European prices are based on the prices of Dixons, an UK company represented in many European countries. I didn't use the UK website due to the fact that the prices are listed in pounds (of course), instead I used the Dutch Dixons site, simply because I speak Dutch as well. The website can be found at www.dixons.nl.

Without further ado:

PlayStation 2

The System and accessories

1. PsTwo, the newly designed Ps2. America: $149.99 Europe: E149.99 Conversion: 149.99 * 1,28 = 191,99. Difference = $42

2. DualShock 2 controller America: $24.99 Europe: E33.99 Conversion: 33.99 * 1,28 = 43,51 Difference = $18.52

3. Memory Card America: $24.99 Europe: E31.99 Conversion: 31.99 * 1,28 = 40,95 Difference = $15,96

Games (both newly released and Platinum)

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas America: $49.99 Europe: E59.99 Conversion: 59.99 * 1,28 = 76.79 Difference = $26.80

2. Mortal Kombat: Deception America: $49.99 Europe: E59.99 Equal

3. Gran Turismo 3 (Platinum) America: $19.99 Europe: E29.99 Conversion: 29.99 * 1,28 = 38.39 Difference = $18.40

4. (All other Platinum games equal GT3)

GameCube

The System and accessories

1. GameCube console America: $99.99 Europe: E99.99 Conversion: 99.99 * 1,28 = 127.99 Difference: $28

2. GameCube controller America: $24.99 Europe: E34.99 Conversion: 34.99 * 1,28 = 44.79 Difference: $19.80

3. GameCube memorycard 251 America: $19.99 Europe: E29.99 Conversion: 29.99 * 1,28 = 38.39 Difference: $18.40

Games (both newly released and budget)

1. Paper Mario 2 America: $49.99 Europe: not released yet, estimated at 59.99 (common price for GCN) Difference: $26.80
2. Donkey Konga America: $49.99 Europe: E59.99 Equal
3. Metroid Prime (budget) America: $19.99 Europe: E29.99 Conversion: 29.99 * 1.28 = 38.39 Difference: $18.40

XBOX

The System and its accessories

1. Xbox console America: $149.99 Europe: E149.99 Conversion: 149.99 * 1,28 = 191.99 Difference: $42
2. Xbox S controller America: $29.99 Europe: E39.99 Conversion: 39.99 * 1,28 = 51.19 Difference: $21.20
3. Xbox high def pack America: $19.99 Europe: E19.99 Conversion: 19.99 * 1,28 = 25.59 Difference: $5.60

Games (both newly released and budget)

1. Ninja Gaiden America: $49.99 Europe: E59.99 Conversion: 59.99 * 1.28 = 76.79 Difference: $26.80
2. Fable America: $49.99 Europe: E59.99 Equal
3. Tom Clancy Ghost recon (budget) America: $19.99 Europe: E29.99 Conversion: 29.99 * 1,28 = 38.39 Difference: $18.40

If you buy a Ps2, GTA:SA, a memory card and an extra controller, you'd pay $249.99 in the US, and $353.24 in Europe. Hence: $103.25 more.

If you buy a Gamecube, Paper Mario 2, a memory card and an extra controller, you'd pay $194.96 in the US, and $287.96 in Europe. Hence: $93 more.

If you buy an Xbox, Fable, a high def pack and an extra controller, you'd pay $249.96 in the US, and $345.56 in Europe. Hence: $95.60 more.

This clearly illustrates that the prices are substantially higher in Europe than in the US. It puzzles me why the difference is this high: I can imagine, due to the codification process and translation costs, the prices would be marginally higher. Yet we're talking about having to pay close to $100 more in Europe for a full system and one game. The prices should be close to equal, hopefully as soon as possible.