Tips For Collecting Classic Games

My wallet hates me.

Whatever hobby I get into, it feeds off of every last dollar I have. After I got my own debit card and a job, forget it, saving? Saving is for losers.

When I was a kid, it started small, with little 25-cent football helmets and big-headed basketball figurines. Then the whirlwind that was Pokémon cards hit me like an avalanche and I was swamped before I knew it. Then it was comic books, action figures, sports cards; anything that was collectible was collected by me.

Now, it’s video games.

It’s no secret that games are expensive. Really…damn…expensive. The typical new game is $60, not to mention the systems that are hundreds of dollars and additional charges of online services, add-on packs, etc. This is a big reason why I started to get into classic games, because they are ridiculously more affordable (for the most part).

Part of the appeal to collecting classic games is that you can get a lot for your money. Through my own and others’ experiences in the classic gaming hobby, here are a few things I think new hobbyists should take into consideration before diving into this fun and addictive hobby.

So…Where to Start?

The first thing to decide on is what system(s) you want to collect for. Some people want to relive what they grew up with, so they will pick the system of their youth and replay the games they loved or buy the games they always wanted to try. Some people want the opposite, and want to experience now what they didn’t as a kid. Say you grew up with a Sega Genesis and feel like you missed out on some classic SNES titles, and you’re making up for lost time. Some want both. Either is a fine reason.

Maybe you’re collecting for value and want to find games that will be worth something in the future. It will definitely cost you more and will be more difficult to find stuff “complete” (box / case and all instructions and extra stuff) and in great condition, but in the end it might be worthwhile. Some systems are easier to find in the box (Genesis is easiest and cheapest) and you can even find factory sealed games, but it’s going to cost you.

Systems will be anywhere from $10 to $300, depending on its age, rarity, quality, and popularity. A Colecovision is going to be priced higher than an Atari 2600 because they’re rarer. A SNES is going to cost more than a Genesis because it’s more popular. A clean NES with a new 72-pin connector with an AC adaptor, A/V cable and a controller or two is going to be more than a neglected thrift store system. Generally, unless you’re collecting imported systems or super-rare systems (Jaguar CD, Philips CD-I, etc.), you’re probably going to spend less than $60 on the system and anywhere from $1 to $20 on a game.

One option for the indecisive and money-conscious collector would be to get a “clone” system. There are numerous systems like the FC-twin, FC3 Plus, Retro Duo, etc., made by third parties that can play games from multiple systems. These systems are a good alternative to the actual systems, and work pretty well for the most part. A lot of them can only use the proprietary controllers and accessories they come with, making using an actual old controller impossible. There are also some compatibility issues with certain games and accessories. A few well known culprits are Castlevania III (NES), Virtua Racing (GEN), Star Fox (SNES), and the 32x and Sega CD add-ons. Because they consolidate the original system specs and data onto more modern technology, they are cheaper to make but also don’t work exactly like the old technology. For example, in many of the NES clones, there are some sound issues and graphical discoloration. These are minor gripes and, unless you’re a purist, don’t hamper the actual game playing experience, which is what it’s all about. I myself have a FC3 Plus (plays NES, SNES, and Genesis) and, while I’m not thrilled with the controller (build quality and faulty button-mapping), for $60 it is pretty reliable and is what got me started in collecting. Fincancially, it makes sense…

NES ($60) + SNES ($50) + Genesis ($30) = $140
FC3 Plus = $60

So…Where to Buy?

There are numerous places to buy systems and games. Certain types of items are more common than others, but they’re all not impossible to find.

Option 1: Ebay.com: This is pretty much the best place to find classic game-related stuff. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s 99.9% guaranteed it’ll be on Ebay. It’s basically the world’s biggest flea market. There are things of various quality and pricing, and a lot of times you can find a good deal. People will sell their system with a few games and bonuses all together that might end up saving you money opposed to buying them separate. It’s also a good way to gauge the average price things are going for in order to figure out whether or not it’s a “deal” if you find it somewhere else. Just make sure to read the descriptions carefully and pay attention to people’s feedback status so that you don’t get duped. Easily the best option variety-wise for buying.

Option 2: Chasethechuckwagon.com: This is a website I’ve been turned on to recently and I think deserves a lot more attention. It’s basically an auction/buying site like Ebay but it’s totally committed to video games. It’s a great community that is out to sell good product rather than deceive buyers. Not to mention there is a forum you can join that is very informative and fun and can lead to some great contacts with the community. Funny name, great website.

Option 3: Craigslist.org: Like an online classified ad, people list things they want to sell and you can buy it for that price or, often, bargain down to something you both find reasonable. It’s really a mixed bag on Craigslist, and with all the negative press it’s gotten lately with murderers and such, it’s gained a bad reputation. Video gamers are a relatively docile crowd though, and I wouldn’t think there would be any issues. Quality and price is probably all over the place, and I’ve never personally bought anything off it so I can’t give any real impressions. It’s pretty bare-bones, but useful.

Option 3: Local Stores: This is a somewhat risky and limited option as opposed to online, but it can really pay off in the end with some patience and knowledge. The most reliable local buying option would be a used video game store. The big chains (i.e. Gamestop) won’t carry anything older than Playstation 2, so you’re going to have to find a smaller chain or a mom-and-pop store that has used games. Some take better care of the systems and games, but if a video game store is selling it, it’s most likely in working order, which is the most important thing.

Anther good local option is flea markets / pawn shops. Goodwill, Salvation Army, and some antique stores (yeah, antiques, sad aint it?) will sometimes have systems and games. There can be a lot of hidden gems in these places, but there can also be a lot of crap. I bought a bare-bones (no cords) Sega Genesis from a Goodwill store for $3.30 that was super dusty and when I opened the serial port, there was a dead bug inside. After some cleaning and “de-bugging” (ha ha), I bought an AC cable and an RF adapter and it works perfectly fine. Sometimes, all these old things need is a little cleaning and they work perfect, which is more than I can say for my Playstations (1, 2, and 3).

So…How to Take Care of Them?

So now if you have a system and some games, how do you keep it in working order? The biggest culprit for older systems and games is dust. Often times, that is the only reason something won’t work and it’s a real easy fix.

For the systems, the easiest thing to do is to unscrew the top of the system and blow compressed air (from a can, not your mouth) around the motherboard and surrounding bits (but not with the can upside down!!!!). You don’t have a warranty to worry about voiding, and it’s perfectly harmless as long as you don’t touch or get anything on the circuitry and chips. That usually takes care of most of the issues. If that doesn’t fix the problem, search online for tips on specifically fixing your problem.

Taking care of games depends on what kind you have. For cartridge games, you’re going to want to use a Q-tip lightly soaked in Windex (or any window cleaner) and rub that on the metal contact points (the part that goes into the system). You should notice the Q-tip turn black, that’s the dust caked on the contacts. Because there’s dust on them, they can’t make a clear connection to the receiving contacts on the system which makes the games unreadable and unplayable. After your Q-tips stop showing dust on them, use a dry Q-tip the same way you used the wet one and dry off the contacts. Make sure to do this with both sides of the contacts and let the game air-dry for a few minutes before trying it. Often times, people think their games or system are broken, when really all it needs is a light cleaning. You can even use a similar method to clean the contacts of the system, by using a thin card (gift card, credit card, etc.) and putting a cloth over it that has a light amount of Windex on it and then drying it with a dry cloth.

CD games aren’t as easy. You’re going to need some solvent and, often times, some kind of scratch fixing device. Some are manual and some are machine-based, and the results can be spotty. Also the lens on the system can be misaligned and will not read the disc properly. If you’re confident with electronics, you can try and fix the lens yourself, but if you’re not, seek someone out who can do it for you or look online for detailed instructions.

So that covers a general introductory overview to the classic gaming world. There are a multitude of systems to collect and experience and the options are basically endless. The library of games available is immense and varied. You can spend as much or as little as you want and you can collect for quantity, quality, or anything in between. If you’re looking for something to collect that you can have fun with instead of stare at behind a case, classic gaming is perfect.

Sega Saturn

Ah, Sega Saturn. The unfortunate neglected middle child of the 90’s Sega family.

I picked up one of these bad boys not too long ago. It’s been on the “to-buy” list for me for a while and, to be honest, if I had to say why I wanted it so bad, I’m not really too sure. I never had one, I never knew anyone who had one when it was a current system, and I don’t ever really remember playing it ever, maybe in a store demo or something.

Then again, I am an OCD collector that pretty much wants any and all things game related, so it would be downright unfair of me to neglect this little guy if I’m also typing “Atari Jaguar” and “TurboGrafix” into my eBay searches.

The Saturn often gets hastily plopped in to the category of “failure”, along with pretty much everything else in between the SNES and the Playstation. Technically, this was one thing that precipitated Sega’s slide out of the hardware business, but it does have some bright spots and to be honest, not all of the issues the Saturn faced were really within its control. But it still had its fair share of stupidity.

So, to start, I’m going to list off a few general reasons why the Saturn didn’t fare so well and then give my general feelings about the system…

Issue #1: Timing – As stated before, not all of the Saturn’s downfalls were within its control. This is one issue where that rings partially true. In North America, Sony initially announced its American release date on “Saturnday”, September 2, 1995. I didn’t make that up, that was an actual pun they used for marketing. The system fared pretty well in Japan when it was released about a year earlier (170K sold on opening day), so things were looking good for Sega.

Only, there was one problem.

Sony announced that their Playstation would be released one week later on September 9th. Because of this, Sega attempted to release the console early, marketing it as a surprise when it was actually released on May 11th. It sure came as a surprise to third-party developers who suddenly found that they didn’t have the four months they anticipated to polish the release-date titles, therefore leaving Sega with basically no well-constructed launch titles. The majority were Sega arcade ports, like Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA, which were unimpressive ports that brought about the 32-bit era with a whimper instead of a bang.

Issue #2: Hardware – Compounding the frustration of a rushed launch for the third-party developers was the overcomplicated hardware design of the Saturn, which made programming unnecessarily difficult. I’m not a super proficient computer expert here, but from what I understand, the Saturn’s use of two CPU’s and six processors made coordinating it all together really difficult. Also, many of the computery bits (not technical term) in the system weren’t specifically designed to work together.

Sega also failed to supply the programmers with any good development tools, making the developers do even more work coding and stuff. In the interest of time and convenience, some developers would just use one CPU (Alien vs. Predator as one example). Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the Atari Jaguar had a similar issue (using 2 cpus), and that's never good when you share failure points with the Jag.

Issue #3: Competition – Playstation…Nintendo 64…enough said

Issue #4: Bernie Stolar – I know the guy gets a tough rap, and it seems like everyone passes harsh judgment on the guy. With the gift of hindsight, we can now see the error in his ways. He thought that RPG’s wouldn’t fare well with an American audience. I think Final Fantasy XII did OK. He felt that 2D games weren’t any good because they didn’t fully harness what the Saturn had to offer. I guess that’s why something like Guardian Heroes is one of the most sought after Saturn games and commands prices of modern games over a decade later.

When it rains, it pours buddy. To be fair, a lot of Sega’s arcade ports (Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop) did well and were flagship Saturn games, but they just couldn’t compete with the boundaries that the Playstation and the Nintendo 64 were pushing. Stolar’s issues also overlap into the final nail in the Saturn’s coffin…

Issue #5: The Dreamcast – It takes some kind of company to have your next-gen console hurt your current-gen console in the way the Dreamcast affected the Saturn. By 1997, Sega (at least in America) decided to move forward with their next-gen system that became the Dreamcast. By throwing in the towel on the Saturn, Sega again pissed off a lot of its third-party partners that expected a longer lifespan and more opportunities to make games. Perhaps screwing the Dreamcast before it was even released, a lot of these developers left and made the move to develop for Sony and/or Nintendo.

My Thoughts…

The Saturn gets a big shrug of indifference by me.

I think it looks pretty sleek, better than the Playstation for sure, which is one of the ugliest looking systems in my opinion. Sega retains its bad boy image with another black system that just looks as sexy as a game system can look. The controller is basically a Genesis/Mega-Drive 6-button controller with R and L triggers ala SNES. It feels good and works well.

There are not a lot of games that really jump out me in its library. I might amend that by saying its affordable and non-imported library. That’s one thing about the system potential buyers should know; a lot of the favorite games among fanboys and collectors of the Saturn are the imports. The Street Fighter games and a lot of sh’mups were never released in Stolar’s America, but they actually turned out to be good! A few of them also require a RAM expansion to be playable, but I don’t know how much those go for. The biggie for the system that isn’t an import is Panzer Dragoon Saga, which is like four discs and it’s an RPG. I don’t know much about it, but it’s consistently rated #1 on pretty much every top ten list for Saturn games and it easily sells for over $100 on ebay. I saw one disc (of four) on sale by itself for $50, so that's saying something.

I only have two games so far. When I got the system, I bought Tempest 2000 because it was basically the only game the store had that wasn’t a sports game (another Sega trend). It’s pretty fun, but it doesn’t come across as a game that NEEDS to be on the Saturn. It’s got Vectrex-esque graphics with all wire frames and stuff. It’s a simple but cool title that’s one of those pick-up-and-play games. It’s multiplayer too, though I haven’t tried that yet. Also the soundtrack is absolutely awesome, bumping techno that actually puts the CD-ROM to good use. If you’re really feeling cool, you can pop the game into a CD player and listen to it in the car or at your next Tempest themed party.

I also bought Command and Conquer. I love C&C and basically all RTS games. I anticipated this to be a pile of crap, the idea of a RTS on console sounding like a carpal tunnel inducing mess, but it was four bucks so I said screw it. Surprisingly, it works a lot better than I thought on the Saturn. The controls are pretty easy once you get used to it. Its two discs, one disc for each faction’s missions (nearly 30 all together). It’s only the campaign mode, so there’s no multiplayer or skirmish mode, which kind of hurts its replay value. The music sounds good also, although some of the songs are annoying industrial crap. If you’ve never played this game, get it on PC. It’s not a must-have on the Saturn, but it’s pretty damn cool and for four bucks you’re getting an awesome classic and a surprisingly faithful port.

I also have Daytona USA coming in the mail here soon. A note to consumers, apparently I bought the wrong version of Daytona. The one I bought was the release title version. It was apparently later rereleased (championship circuit edition or something like that, I forget exactly what it’s called) by a more competent team not hampered by a rushed launch. It had some graphical issues fixed and added things that had to be taken out of the original, like multiplayer. Yeah, the one I bought is only one player! What kind of garbage racing game is only one player? Let that be a warning to you all, research your crap before you rush to buy it somewhere! Oh well, it was like six bucks so whatever.

So, in conclusion, the Saturn probably isn’t for everyone, but it has some cool stuff going for it. Out of my three Sega systems (Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast), the Saturn is a pretty distant third. They’re relatively cheap though, making it less of a guilty purchase. I got mine for a little less than 30 bucks with a controller and the AV and power hookups. It has a limited collection of good games, but a lot of them are pretty common (i.e. cheap). If you’re a collector, this is one of the more memorable failures that your collection can not be complete without.

Game Review - Out Of This World (SNES)

Out of This World is probably the most appropriate game title ever, because that’s exactly what this game is.

Or maybe, what it was back in 1992.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good looking game for it’s time. It’s very artistic and cinematic in its presentation, with polygonal characters instead of the typical “sprites”. The whole feel of the game is pretty unique. Obviously, a lot of the focus went into creating the atmosphere. That brings me to the main issue with the game.

It’s pretty damn boring.

Before I get into the actual game play review, here’s a bit about the game’s history. Out of This World was originally released in the UK as Another World in 1991, developed for PC engines like the Amiga, Apple and DOS. The whole thing was designed by a French guy named Eric Chahi. In 1992, Interplay ported the game to the U.S. under the name Out of This World, because there was a TV show called Another World, so they didn’t want to confuse people, like any idiot would think it had anything to do with the show after looking at the box. But there was a sci-fi show in the early 90’s called Out of This World too, so I don’t know what was going on there.

Anyway, so the game didn’t sell amazingly, and it’s really not one of the games that most people know about unless they had it. However, it was named the Most Innovative New Game of 1992 by Electronic Gaming, and received a lot of praise for its artistic style and all that. Sweet, but how does it play? Well, I’ll do my best…

So after the opening title screen and a pointless Star Wars scrolling prologue thing, we get a cut scene of some guy Tokyo Drift-parking in front of some building and getting in an elevator. The first thing that’s impressive about this is that it’s an actual moving cut scene, not just pictures with text. Here we finally see the polygon “vector graphics” and, I got to admit, if this was 1992 and I saw this on my Super Nintendo, I might have shit myself.

So we follow our goofy redhead main character, with the stupidest name ever, Lester Knight Chaykin, as he passes through some futuristic-ass retina scans and stuff to get to his particle accelerator lab and he starts up his 3D green computer screen (which tells us the game takes place in 1997). Lester starts up the particle accelerator, pops open a beer, and wouldn’t you know it, lightning strikes the building and travels through the particle accelerator, which transports Lester into...Another World! Lightning and science never makes a good combo.

So now, we start into the actual game play. Lester gets plopped into some pool with a bunch of tentacles at the bottom and if you aren’t quick enough to swim up, you get dragged down and die. If you’re new to this game, get used to it, because you’ll be dying A LOT. Everything kills you in one hit, and everything is out to kill you.

After you get your first look at the alien landscape, you’re probably going to walk right and get killed by those slugs, which is always annoying. Unless you get the timing down for running and jumping over them, you’re going to have to walk and give them a wussy kick to kill them, which is slow and tedious because you start back here every time you die (until the next checkpoint at least). Not to mention, the controls aren’t super responsive, so there’s a noticeable delay between button-press and action that you have to compensate for all game, and that gets a little annoying.

So you end up running and jumping (or walking and kicking) your way right and a big shadowy mean son-of-a-bitch monster jumps in front of you and chases you around. Considering you outrun him, you eventually end up getting saved by a big dude in an executioner’s mask, who just ends up shooting you anyway after you wave at him. Asshole.

Then we are shown in a prison cell hanging from the ceiling with another big dude, and then you have to bust out of your prison cell and start raising hell with your partner while you both try to escape. Here you finally get a weapon and can defend yourself with more than a two-inch kick.

The rest of the game pretty much follows the typical formula of platform hopping and the occasional bad guy, with some other walking-puzzle stuff thrown in. Now, all of that sounds exciting, but the game is just too slow paced. When any action picks up, it’s going to get frustrating because you’re going to die a lot, so the game is constantly fluctuating between boredom and frustration.

A couple things I should probably mention considering my opinion. One, I never got very far in this game. It’s hard for me to just sit down and play the same part 10 million times because stupid little things keep killing me. So, that being said, I might be judging the game prematurely and it might be different having gone through the whole “experience”. That brings me to the second point; maybe I am just terrible at the game. That’s a real possibility, because at this point in my life (1992) I had a Sega Genesis and was more into faster paced games like Sonic the Hedgehog (thank you blast processing). So I guess because Genesis gave me gaming ADD, this PC adventure stuff never was the most thrilling for me. Out of This World plays like an early PC adventure game (because it is one) and just isn’t the kind of 16-bit stuff I’m used to. If you’re into the early 90’s computer games, you’ll probably like this port better than me.

All that considered, Out of This World is probably worth picking up, seeing as you can probably find it for the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis for probably less than $5 (I got my SNES copy for $3.95). If you have an Amiga or an early 90’s Apple or DOS system, it might be worth hunting down that copy too, but I don’t know how much it would be. It’s an artistic and graphical gem for the time, especially as a console port of a computer game. However, don’t expect to be on the edge of your seat, unless you’re reaching to punch your TV in frustration or are falling over asleep.

Pro’s
· Great graphics for the time
· Atmospheric
· Low price (less than $5)

Cons
· Slow-paced gameplay
· Sluggish controls
· Unnecessarily frustrating at times