Month in Review: October 2009

A drastic cut-back this month. Not for financial reasons or anything, it's just simply due to carboot season being pretty much over and a horrible time at work taking me away from any other bargain hunting. October is Christmas set-up time for me and it was a real pain in the butt-ocks. Management playing musical chairs, floods in my friends newly-acquired store, horrendous supplier issues, long (long) weeks and an outbreak of incompetance among the weekend staff. But hey, it's done now. Just in time for a slew of killer new games, some of which I hope to pick up in the run-up to Christmas (the one in December).

New Acquisitions

A brace of PC games that have been out for quite a while but have been sitting on my wishlist since release. I really like WWII games, so finding these new and sealed in a 2 for £10 deal was great. One downer, MoH:A is a ****** to install if you have anything newer than the included two-year-old Ageia PhysX drivers. Which means if you're a sensible computer user who likes to keep things like drivers up-to-date you can't play without rolling back about five versions. I think the developers should utter a collective "D'oh!" and get to work on a fix, pronto.

Fade to Black (and its prequel, Flashback) were two of my favourite PC games back when I first starting playing computer games seriously (sometime in the mid-nineties); cIassy sci-fi adventures from French company Delphine (also of Another World fame and, erm, Shaq Fu). The original PC versions I owned have long since been misplaced (or they're sitting in the loft somewhere) and besides they would require too much DosBOX tinkering to work so picking up a hassle-free PS1 copy on a carboot for 50p seemed like a smart thing to do.

And finally, introducing Lurky and Murky the baby Murlocs. I love freebies.

Games Played

Fallout 2 (PC)

I polished off Fallout 2 this month. Oh, how I love thee, despite thy aged interface and slow gameplay. Just as when I replayed the first Fallout I'm surprised at how quickly I rattled through the game, clocking in at just under 35 hours, and how much I remembered from all those years ago. I suppose that's a real indication of greatness, that something sticks with you for all those years despite playing hundreds of other games in the interim. I've decided to jump back into Fallout 3 again now, to play through the add-ons I haven't tried out yet. I might leave that until I upgrade my computer though (I've got the bits, so it's just as Soon(TM) as I can be bothered) - as even though my current rig can handle the game perfectly well, it's always nice to crank those sliders right up to the top!

Guitar Hero: World Tour (X360)

I didn't get much of a chance to play 360 games this month. It's talent show season which means my mum takes over the living room (and therefore, the big TV). After putting up with annoyingly untalented imbeciles ruining perfectly good rock tunes last night though, I put my foot down and shredded through a couple of sets of GH4. I'll be picking up 5 soon, I suppose.

In Conclusion...

Less than a week until Dragon Age! Yippee!

* Die große Fotographien sind hier.

Month in Review: September 2009

Another cracking month. That comment about cutting back on the game purchases? That turned out to be an outright fabrication on my part.

New Acquisitions

A bit of hardware first. Got this nice little 19" TV from my brother. It's a Samsung LE19B450 LCD TV/monitor and is absolutely amazing. It's going to be my new bedroom TV, which means it will be my first port of call for PS2 and GameCube gaming. It's also got my brand spanky Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray player (bargain buy from Richer Sounds) hooked up at the moment, but that's only a temporary measure so I can watch multi-region DVDs in bed. 1080p is a bit wasted on a 19".

Huge stack of Spectrum games from a guy on eBay. I bought them in one job lot for £9. Some commons, some cIassics, some rarities, a nice bundle all round. Only one duplicate (Dan Dare II) and even that was an improvement on my first copy.

I've always had a soft spot for this old LCD handhelds, and since the real collectables (such as Nintendo Game & Watch) are usually well out of my price range I'm content with whatever quirky little games I can pick up in charity shops and at carboots. These were picked up in a charity shop for £4. I only really wanted the Captain Scarlet one, but they were all together in a baggie so I figured what the hey? It's for charity.

But then I had to go and spoil it all by buying these two Game & Watch games off eBay. I got Mario's Cement Factory and Snoopy Tennis. They are not mint, so I got a bargain price on them, but they are still in very good nick and work fine.

Minty fresh Famicom versions of a couple of early Dragon Quest games (3 and 4). Dragon Quest is one of my favourite game series, so I was thrilled to see these two mint games go for a couple of quid each. Just collector's items to me though, since my Japanese is non-existant.

Ten Commodore 16 games that work on my Plus/4. The real reason I bought this lot (other than the price, just £2) was the inclusion of Tutti Frutti, a real gem from my childhood.

A couple of new PC games from the Zavvi autumn sale. Bargains both, Space Siege was less than £4 and the second Fallout 3 add-on pack (containing Broken Steel and Point Lookout) was £10.95 just a week after release.

A shopping spree in town only turned up two games, but at a pound each who's to complain?

Eight complete NES games from various sellers on eBay. All are in good to mint condition and priced between £4 and £6 each. Double Dragon II, Rygar and Duck Tales are awesome.

Another selection of items from eBay. The NES Max controller and SNES Game Genie are both boxed and complete and only cost a couple of quid each. The black cart is a Codemasters release, Ultimate Stuntman, one of the rarer UK NES titles.

Another minty fresh Famicom collectable I couldn't bear to pass up. This one is Final Fantasy I & II on a single cart and the whole thing is practically new, with map, manual, guide book, warranty etc. The white cart so is clean it hurts my eyes.

A small score from the first carboot I went to this month. Harvest Moon for PS2 is complete and as new. The Space Invaders handheld itself is also as new, but the box is a bit battered. Total cost for both: 70p.

Another small score from the second carboot of the month. These were all £1 each and are all complete.

Games Played

Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence (X360)

Yes, I bought and played this game solely for the points. Actually, that's a lie. I bought and played this game because it cost me practically nothing and it's a mindlessly easy way to spend an afternoon lazing in front of the TV. Any large increases to my Gamerscore are simply icing on a cake that is really only for fans of the show or people who know that the cake tastes like cardboard in the real world and enjoy pointing out flaws in the recipe. I have a degree in forensic science (specialised in fire scene investigation, so lots of burnt cake round here) and believe me when I say that rarely is the cake as delicious as the television would have you believe. Enough about cake, anyway, I'm starting to sound like GLaDOS. Five achievements here, for a whopping 1000 points. Cake.

Fallout 2 (PC)

I haven't played Fallout 2 since 1999. That's ten years since I last sampled one of the greatest CRPGs in history. Sure, I've played the first game several times and last year I was wowed by Bethesda's brand new take on the series, but I still have the fondest memories of Fallout 2. Dark, funny, tough... and despite the graphics and interface aging horribly, the gameplay is damn near perfect. 12 hours in and I'm at Vault City.

Guitar Hero: World Tour (X360)

Goddamn it, I'm never going to catch up with all these Guitar Hero games. Five's out now, Van Halen is on it's way... slow down! Nonetheless, I'm taking my time sampling all that World Tour has to offer. Namely, a disappointing setlist. Was I spoilt by GH3? I've hit 8 achievements so far, for a paltry 65 points.

In Conclusion...

Huzzah! Plenty of retro goodies. Hopefully I'll be getting my mucky paws on some new releases in the next few months too; there's a whole bunch of upcoming and just-released titles on my wishlist: Dragon Age, Guitar Hero 5, Wet, Ghostbusters (finally a domestic 360 release), Brutal Legend, Kingdom Hearts DS, Borderlands, Lego Indy 2... eeek! No time to talk, gotta catch up before I go splashing out on new releases. My 360 backlog is horrendous.

* Once more, big pictures here.

Month in Review: August 2009

Suffice to say, this was an excellent month for me. A real retro month too, with nothing newer than a few N64 games added to my collection. I even managed to re-acquire a massive chunk of my childhood.*

New Acquisitions

To start things off, I bought this little lot from the guy who runs the Retrogamer Fanzine**. A smashing guy with a bunch of stuff for sale, mainly old computers (Sinclair, Commodore, Amstrad, BBC etc.) but some console stuff too. I bought the tape deck to replace the broken one I got with my recently-purchased ZX Spectrum+, a joystick interface for the same and a handful of complete games of the adventure/role-playing type. The Hobbit (the loose tape) was a freebie and is a killer text adventure.

All cheap eBay items, plugging some of the more glaringly obvious gaps in my NES collection and picking up a few semi-rarities (Bucky O'Hare and Godzilla) as well. All in excellent complete condition, some real retro cIassics. Godzilla also has the honour of being the 100th NES game in my collection (98 PAL, 2 NTSC).

These were picked up in a charity shop for a pound apiece. The CD is a promotional soundtrack featuring tracks from various Zelda games (original NES to Wind Waker); I have no idea where it originates from. Probably a freebie with a game release. I only saw the CD at first, but then I spied a GBC box under some videos and pulled out a mint, complete copy of Zelda DX.

Nabbed these from eBay for £12. Complete in their box, perfect working order and a nice item for my collection. I didn't really know that wireless NES controllers existed, I always figured that technology game along a bit later. These actually work pretty well and will come in handy, but I don't know what the battery life is like. Not great, I suspect.

Zool for GameBoy, bought cart and case only from a charity shop for 99p.

Now, this is a treasure. It's probably only worth anything to me, but this is a Commdore Plus/4 computer from 1984, an upgraded version of the C16 that was unfortunately a complete flop across much of the world. It did have minor success in the UK, which is how I came to own such a machine as a small child. I spent hours and hours playing on this thing (before I owned a NES) and, partly due to my geeky interest in the micros of yesteryear, I still get pangs of nostalgia for this forgotten machine. My original Plus/4 broke many moons ago and I've been looking for a high-quality replacement for a long time. When this little lot popped up on eBay I just had to have it! It's in perfect working order, boxed and complete with boxed accessories. Shame the box has seen better days. The ten games are those originally bundled with the computer and actually made up a fair percentage of my original little collection.

These were all Buy-It-Now items from eBay. I actually grabbed these mere minutes after they were listed. The guy had a whole bunch of NES stuff, some real oddities too, but I just picked out a few since I'd already gone way overboard on purchases this month. The blue cart is a Famicom multicart, 220 in 1, probably some sort of HK pirate from the looks of it, but I really just got it for the Famicom-to-PAL NES converter (the black thing below it). It's not a HoneyBee, but it will do nicely. £4.99 for the pair! The other games were between £3 and £5 each, except for Zelda II, which was £10. Surprisingly, I've never owned an original copy of Zelda II on NES. I've had the GBA release for a while, though.

All complete, all in very good to mint condition, for £1.99 each. I can't remember the last time I saw complete GameBoy games in the wild!

I went to my first carboot in ages this bank holiday weekend (the weather has been too bad most weekends this summer) and scored a pretty good bunch of stuff. I got a couple of Grandstand handhelds for 50p each. The Computer Kid is practically worthless and I'll probably pass it along to a charity shop soon, but a similar loose Thomas to this one sold on eBay for £70 the other week and another is on there right now at £100 BIN! I'm not selling mine though. The four N64 games cost me £1.50 for the lot. The War of the Worlds PC game was £1. I'm a huge fan of The War of the Worlds book, movies and especially the Jeff Wayne musical, so I was thrilled to see the game sitting on a carboot. It's actually based on the musical, if you can believe that. Now I just need the PS1 game. The 2009 edition of the Guinness Gamer's World Records book was 50p.

Games Played

Double Dragon (NES)

A new acquisition that went straight into my Now Playing pile. I dug out my NES Advantage stick and spent several evenings with Double Dragon. I used to borrow this game from my neighbours all the time as a kid and never got any significant way into it. This time I was determined and, well, I did it. Shame it isn't multi-player though, kinda takes half the fun out of it. Next up, Kung Fu!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)

I've put a few hours into Oblivion this month. I've mainly just finished up the Shivering Isles quest line, which will about wrap up this game for me. 75 hours or so on this save.

Hero Quest (ZX)

Loading... bzzzrrrt... loading... bzzzrrrt... loading... bzzzrrrt... choose your adventurer... choose your level... loading... bzzzrrrt... loading... bzzzrrrt... crap, I missed it... rewind... zzzzzzip... loading... bzzrrrt... ah, here we go! Now, how the heck do I move? Hmm, hit random keys? OK! Now we're getting somewhere. Sigh. I really don't have the patience for tape-based games any more... and yet, I have to shake my head when people have the gall to complain about loading times in modern games. To be fair, Hero Quest is much too advanced for the Spectrum's measly 48k, so it's no small wonder it's a pain to get running. I persevere though, because it's gems like Hero Quest (yep, based on the awesome old Games Workshop board game) that not only got me into adventure/RPG games back in the day, but helped the industry develop the genre to where it is today.

Portal (PC)

I've had this sitting on my hard drive ever since it came out and strangely, I've never got around to playing it properly until now. Everyone said it was awesome, my brief foray into the game's first few levels confirmed this, yet I hesitated. Maybe it was because I am rubbish at puzzle games and was a little scared I'd end up crying tears of frustration and hating such a beautiful, clever game. Thankfully, I'm not as full of fail as I thought and I whipped through this in under four hours, loving every minute. The ending is just hilarious. Shame it's over so quickly. More, please!

The Secret of Monkey Island (X360)

I worked my way through the remainder of this gem of a game, a hilarious and worthy remake of an adventure cIassic. I'm really hoping that more old Lucasarts adventures get the same sort of spit and polish: Monkey Island 2, Sam & Max, Indiana Jones, Day of the Tentacle... the list is quite long. Monkey Island SE took me about six hours in total, it would have taken me much longer if it wasn't for a head full of half-remembered hints. Got a further 8 achievements, for 155 points. Play it old school.

Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy (PC)

It occurred to me that this is yet another PC game I've had sitting around for ages and never played through. No excuses here, Jedi Academy is every bit as good as Jedi Outcast and does the twirly lightsaber thing better than anything. I went Dark Side, of course, just to hear Jennifer Hale do evil. Took me about ten hours in total. Also, someone should totally do another Jedi Knight game. Dark Forces 4? 5? What are we up to now?

In Conclusion...

Yep, a smashing month all round. Lots of new acquisitions and lots of gaming. I've made a conscious decision to cut back on the purchases in September, it's getting a little out of hand. Maybe. We'll see. I'm not cutting back on playing, though!

* One again, due to Glitchspot's peculiarities, larger versions of all the pictures in this blog can be found here (games) and here (Plus/4).

** The Fanzine website can be found here: http://www.retrogamerfanzine.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Sorry it's not a clickable link, but Glitchspot reckons it's an invalid domain name. Wuh?