Things have changed… in a bad way I’m afraid. Long time collectors as myself know what I’m talking about. It’s getting nearly impossible to find older games in the wild and when you do, prices are berserk. This affects my feelings about the retro scene and my own collection in various ways. First of all, it’s a real buzz kill for my motivation to go hunting. Imagine waking up early in the morning every weekend to arrive early at flea markets to find zilch, nada, niente. Might as well stay in bed a little longer and enjoy the family life, right? Next to that, why wouldn’t I start selling some of my own games when the prices are high? And last of all, in what way will the retro scene evolve in the next few years? Will games get even more scarse? Will there ever be a market crash for collectors? What will there be to collect knowing that the next gen consoles will probably put heavy emphasis on digital releases only. We might as wel try to focus our collection on the current and last generations while we’re at it and when the prices are still OK.
Pickups: February 2016
Oh february, what have you done to me?! I kinda went overboard again on the expenses. Nothing to get worried about, so much is true. It’s just that I planned to take it a bit slower from now on and as the month progressed, well… you’ll see in a bit 🙂
To start off, I got tipped by some fellow collectors that the Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom fighting stick was for sale on a retail website for only 30-ish Euro’s, brand spanking new! Being an arcade stick afficionado and not owning any sticks for the Wii already, I just couldn’t resist! During the same period I also added Rez on PS2 through ebay and The Beatles Rockband for ps3. I really need to try out my rockband set in the near future, as it’s all set up to play, thus only gathering dust at the moment.
Pickups: January 2016
Newsflash! The monthly pickup posts are back!
I know, I know, I’ve skipped way too many of them during the last year. That doesn’t mean I stopped adding new stuff though. Looking back, I feel kinda sorry for myself not making time to share all my additions on this page…
Anyway, let’s get straight to business ‘cause January was a pretty busy month after all.
Â
In the first few days of this year I spoiled myself with a visit to two of my regular second hand stores in the wide Brussels area. As always, I got myself some pretty nice little finds there. I was really happy to find a copy of The Testament of Sherlock Holmes on PS3, Alien Isolation on PS4 and some nice X360 exclusives
Pickups: April 2015
Whow, it seems to me that the month of April has passed with the blink of an eye! I’m lacking time to play and enjoy some games at the moment, but I still managed to acquire some new items for my beloved collection.
A fellow collector informed me about a local seller offering The Order (Ps4) online together with a cool comb for €20 and as it was still on my massive wish list, I immediately bought it. I’ll start playing it as soon as I’ve ended Wolfenstein: The New Order.
I was also very happy to find a copy of GTI Club (Wii) online. Being a German version may be a bit of a downside. Nevertheless, being a racing game fanatic I’m very happy being able to delete this one from my wish list too.
Retro Review: Devilish
| Developer: Starfish | Year: 2005 | Played on: Nintendo DS |
| Players: 1 | Also available for: / | Genre: Bat ‘n’ Ball |
When classic titles are announced on a modern handheld, you’d think shady developers working in dark and dirty backrooms are trying to make some easy money by making a port of the original game. Well, regrettably, those things happen pretty regularly. It’s a bit of another story With Devilish on the DS though.
Some of you might remember Devilish on the Sega Genesis (aka Bad Omen in Japan) or maybe the Sega Game Gear version. Both date from the 1991-1992 period and are classic Bat ’n’ ball games. Well maybe classic isn’t such a good call after all, because the gameplay is far off from the ever epic Arkanoid games who’ve set the mark in this category, but we’ll dive into that matter later on. The point I was trying to make is that Devilish on the DS is clearly based on the gameplay of the Genesis and Game Gear releases, but is actually a completely new game with a new storyline.
Lost in Japan: The Sega Teradrive
| Developer: Sega & IBM | Year: 1991 | In my collection: No |
Life lesson number one: There are no certainties in life! Except death that is… and movie licenses turning into crappy games. Or was it the other way around? We sure do live in confusing times. But let me try to rephrase that! When two successful companies put their resources together and make a new product, also known as Co-branding these days, there’s just no chance that their joint effort will produce an awesome new product, right?
Wrong! Chances are slim but possible. Chances even are you are using one of those products every day (or you’ve bought it as a present for Mother’s Day at least). I’m talking about you, shiny red Senseo coffeemaker. But I guess I’ll leave the juicy details of the passionate relation between Philips and Douwe Egberts untouched for now.
Retro Review: Super Cars II
| Developer: Magnetic Fields | Year: 1991 | Played on: Amiga 500 |
| Players: 1/2 | Also available for: Atari ST | Genre: Racing > overhead |
Ain’t got no rocket in my pocket
What do you get when you throw two arcade classics like Super Sprint and Badlands together and put it in the hands of Developer Magnetic Fields (which had already built up a strong reputation with Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge at that time)? Right, an awesome overhead racing game titled Super Cars II, packed with scrolling tracks and weapons to blast the competition to the moon and back.
Super Cars II is the logic sequel to the very first Super Cars, released only a year earlier. Things have improved much since that first installment. The sequel didn’t only get new tracks and polished graphics, but also a very enjoyable and much needed two player head to head split-screen mode. Fire those rockets and burn some rubber!
Pickups: March 2015
As I wasn’t really planning to start this blog last month, I probably didn’t make pictures of all the game related stuff I’ve bought. Still, some of the new bits and bobs made it to my camera before I’ve put them in the game room.
A package straight outta Japan
I was pretty happy to find this HSS-0136 Virtua Stick for the Sega Saturn. The Japanese model is made from far superior materials compared to the poor looking European models I own. It was rather dirty as you can see on the picture, but after giving it a good rub, it was next to new.
playitretro 