Your 2003 Highlights? Tell us!

[digitalpress]

Here we are, just about at the end of another year. And hey, as the "Roundtable Community" this is our fourth year together! So for ALL of you, long-time members and new, what were your highlights, both gaming and non-gamingwise? Think about the whole year, and the stamps that you can brand "2003!" on.

For me.

-two new additions to the family, extending my uncle-hood with my sister's second child Allyson (in October) and my sister-in-law's first, Dillon (in September).

-promoting, organizing and running the Classic Gaming Expo with nary a hitch (August).

-meeting Nolan Bushnell (at CGE, August).

-finding local model Janice who not only turned out to be the classiest, sweetest young lady I've met in years but also let me come to her apartment to photograph her in her underwear (February) :)

-finishing my Sega Genesis (October), Sega CD (June), and Sega 32X (September) collections.

-meeting, hanging out, and gaming with fellow Roundtable members at various events over the course of the year.

[MarioAllStar2600]

- Attended CGE 2k3
- Got a Condor Attack
- Got 1 new arcade machine (going on 2 this week)
- got a new video game room
- Reached 30 Gamecube games
- convinced my best friend to get a cube

Anotehr year passed. Its sad to tihnk about how fast life is going. Man I feel like i have been alive for a week. I better enjoy it well it lasts.

[hydr0x]

- started "collecting" dvds
- got a new job (Media Markt)
- started to study Media Science as a second study subject


- got a 32X and a Saturn
- started my 32X and Dreamcast Collections
- started working for the dp guide
- oh, if i'm not wrong i joined the forum in january

[Rogmeister]

-Finding a lost (abandoned?) guinea pig outside my door one morning...she's still here. I named her Cocoa.
-Finally breaking down and buying a Playstation 2 (my one console purchase of the year)
-Finally deciding I get too many gaming mags and letting most of them expire (not DP, of course...)
-Paying off my car loan
-Finally getting copies of the PS1 Klonoa and Super Puzzle Fighter Turbo, a couple games I'd been wanting for a few years.

[Chunky]

bought a 2700 ft townhouse on a golf course.

nothing else even comes close.
maybe my jukebox finally restored

well maybe my new addition Nibbler.


http://www.heavybox.com/nib1.jpg
we were gonna name him yancy(Futurama) but went with nibbler after seeing here, he has one huge fang on his right and normal on the left. He's 8 and rescued from save-a-pet.
http://www.heavybox.com/nib2.jpg

[Classicgamesdepot]

Hmm pretty much completling my Genesis collection - 5 games or so
Getting nearly every snes box and manual (just need about 350 carts now)
Expanding my Game Gear collection (150 games complete with boxes and manual)
Doing pretty damn well in school the past 2 semesters (junior college) (hopefully good enough to get accepted to my college of choice in the next few months)

- Have no longer been just a lurker in these forums

Aquiring a neo geo for 8 bux and hopefully start expanding that collection

Just Recently started hanging out with a really cute girl in one of my astronomy classes so we'll see if that takes off

Hopefully I'll be saying one of the highlights of 2004 was CGE

[Mr-E_MaN]

Finding 70 boxed NES games for $60 Canadian at a Garage Sale this summer. Finding a complete Action 52 at a Thrift store along with 10 other boxed NES games (including megaman 2) for $4.99 Canadian each.

I'm sure there is lots of other memorable moments, but I can't think of any right now.

[leonk]

2003 has been the greatest change for me than any other year in my LIFE..
Here's why:

- Got an arcade machine in mid-December and worked on it all year (great project)
- Went to Cancun with my brother on vacation in June
- Got engaged to my girlfriend of 4.5 years in July (did it in Central park in NYC. We live in Toronto, but we love NYC.. it's a yearly trip for us)
- In end of August I moved in with her. (I've been living @ my parents all my life up to this point)
- In September I moved to a new position at work. I was an IT Specialist ever since I graduated from comp. sci. in 2000. I decided to become a software developer, and managed to move around the company this year and do so.

Wow.. a lot has happened.

[ClubNinja]

Ah yes, the Ninja's year in review...

- Picked up one of the last Arcadia 2001 multicarts before Ward hung up his gaming gig (Jan)
- Finally met the NY/NJ DP connection at our winter NECG meet (Feb)
- Began to support my dust-collecting Japanese Sega Saturn, mostly with SNK fighters, thanks to Tetsu (Feb)
- Worked on the NECG Ewok Adventure release, got burnt out on the 2600 collecting community, seeked shelter in 16-Bit roots (summer)
- NECG release of Ewok Adventure at summer meet, met with nothing but positive feedback, nearly made the stress completely worth it (July)
- Built Neo Geo MVS dedicated supergun setup, began losing money to MVS habit, became very pleased with gaming (Aug-Sept)
- Completely lost the insane collector menality, and began playing more while hitting fleas less (Sept)
- Welcomed a PS2 and Gameboy Advance into the fold (Nov)
- Awaited arrival of sexy Sega CD (Dec)

Outside of gaming, nothing too big to report. Adopted Daisy, my favorite guitar ever. Played my first festival-style concert gig. Started contributing to the empty beer bottle piles at NECG ;)

Can't really complain, pretty decent year.

[QBert]

Well for me, I guess it would be starting and completing my MAME project this summer. That was a blast and I really want to do another, but will have to wait for a house.
I also found at value village 25 Intellivsion games marked at 5.99 Can each, but got them for $2 each! That was great!

hmmm what else....
Summer vacation was great too! Just driving around Alberta with the girlfriend, hot weather, what else could I need? Besides an Xbox in my truck, heheh but I doubt that will really ever happen.

Chris

[Ed Oscuro]

-Finding a lost (abandoned?) guinea pig outside my door one morning...she's still here. I named her Cocoa.

:D

For me, my highlights would be passing up beat up NES and Genesis 2 consoles at a Goodwill to walk up to the counter and find a complete (virtually new) boxed NES for $40. That's a good sum of cash, but I felt really pretty good buying it.

Otherwise...well, too much stuff to list really. I can't include my purchase of a Sharp x68000 computer yet, since it hasn't arrived (%&$!!) but I could mention buying essentially the whole Samurai Spirits series from Buttasuperb...for once, an honest seller with quality goods :D

[Atar1G1rl]

The years keep going by faster and faster. Lots of good things this year! :)

- Was asked by Joe to write my own little column. So I'm a "wee" bit slow sometimes.. ahem. Truly an honor, though!

- Attended my first CGE and finally got to meet Kristine, Jaime, Earl, and whole buncha other regulars for the first time and even a second time! It was a blast!

- Worked with Anotherfluke, his buddy, and my husband in a small hotel in Hollywood on the Happy Hours Pub drinking contest. Aside from being terribly late in getting there, we had a really good time.

- Celebrated my 1 year Wedding Anniversary in November! Yay!!

- Started taking classes again for the first time in many many years.

- Finally moving almost all of my game stuff to the living room and creating the mini half-a-room-of-doom. Pictures coming soon.

- Moving to a place within walking distance to my job.

- Getting a chance to spend time with my mom and dad this year. Knowing that both are currently okay despite a number of medical issues. Getting to see my sister and spend time with her. Getting to see my mommy-in-law this Christmas.

[tynstar]

I got married on Nov 8 to the best woman in the world.
We bought a new house and moved into it the beginning of April.
Got a lab/sharpei puppy and named him Bartleby.
Bought a new truck. Well new to me anyway 2001 Dodge Dakota.

After those nothing is really that big.
I got over half the Genesis games (407). Passed the 600, 700, 800, 900 count of total games. Got a Ms Pac-Man and sold my three other arcade games.

[Reverend JagDiesel]

Increased my US Intv collection to about 75% complete, all cib.
Got another Odyssey2 and have over 30 cib games for it too.
Xbox collection grew to over 50 games.
Got more involved, both good and bad, here and learned quite a bit about some systems I hadnt ever heard of. Now I gotta plan that trip to CGE next summer!

Non-gaming:
Bought 2 horses (rescued actually) from a crazy backyard breeder who wasnt taking care of them.
Celebrated my 9th anniversary in October (cant believe we've been married that long)
Finally went back to school in October! Now all I gotta do is follow through and get that degree!
Made a trip to Arkansas for the first time in almost 3 years. Man I miss that place!

[hu6800]

My highlights were getting back in touch with Geelw and Maxlords...
long story.

[punkoffgirl]

Wow, it's been a long year, hasn't it?

Let's see.. attended another Philly Classic this year (the third I've been to), made it out to a gaming night at Joe's, BARELY managed to make it to CGE2k3, finally made it to NECG (with many wrong turns!), and added a Genesis to my collection (which is now a whopping 6 systems).

I've also moved twice in the past year (and with all the crap I own, those really ARE accomplishments!), have a new nephew named Connor who was born last month, finally committed myself to going back to school to become a nurse, got in my first car accident ever & got my first "new" car, and finally own a brand new computer with sound *lol*

It's been an interesting, adventurous year, but a good one just the same.

[AB Positive]

See, my year all started with the Dreamcast...


Got a Dreamcast (Jan) and with it the desire to play some of those old console games I used to play back in the day. The seed was planted and...

Joined the forums here (May), and cant count the systems that have passed through the house... at one point 21 separate unique systems have been in here.

Got an interesting INTV bundle (Jul.) for $17. System, 18 complete games, 7 more loose w/ instructions. Later determine that I really really ahbor the INTV. However, profits from selling this stuff to others online gave me the money to get...


The 1-slot MVS setup (Oct.) - This, with the NGPC (Jul) gotten from Maxlords have definitly become my babies collectionwise, next to the TG-16.



Now, as for non-collecting stuff this year...


3/30/03 - Promoted to 3rd key at Gamestop.

...

that's it.

Sad news, my grandfather passed at the ripe old age of 83, finally his diabetes caught up to him. A great man, and he'll be missed by everyone in my family.


Other than this, I had a rather uneventful year. I'm pleasantly boring :D

-AG

[Raccoon Lad]

The aquisition of all 3 Euro only Sega cards (complete):
Hang On (aussie only boxed, complete copy)
Great Soccer (even rarer Itialian version)
Bank Panic

and my pre-release SMS games: Fantasy Zone (complete) x2, Ghost House (complete)

Oh, and making 1bigmig pay $75+ for a game that usually only tops out at $40. Revenge is sweet. :devilish:

[Needle]

Well it's been a rough year. It all started when...

I got rejected for my Master's degree (June). Twice (December). This effectively ends a long college career indefinitely; I do not handle failure well.

But on the bright side, I finally got my hands on an Astrocade (May) after many years of wondering just what it was I used to play at my friend's house when I was a kid.

Obtaining said Astrocade indirectly led me to Digital Press (June), which validated a long belief of mine that there were other people out there most interested in old Nintendo games than the new stuff.

And then this indirectly led me to begin my cartoon series (October) which, between two episodes, has been viewed a cumulative 100,000 times as of this writing. I can only hope widespread success will follow (2004). :)

I've had better years, that's for sure. But I've set up 2004 nicely, all because of an Astrocade! LOL

[boatofcar]

Here goes:

Got engaged (May)

Graduated from college (June)

Attended first CGE, won my first VG Jeopardy (August)

Moved to DC (August)

Started teaching (August)

Bought an iBook (October)

[o2william]

Lots of mixed blessings this year. My father-in-law survived major heart problems, but it forced him into early retirement which is going to be tough on him. I bought a new (used) car, which is good because my old car was dying, but now I have a monthly car payment again, and my rent's going up...

The best highlight was something that happened to my mother. She's an indie PC game developer and Scholastic agreed to promote her latest work, an educational adventure called Cherokee Trails (http://pharosgames.com/cherokee/). Scholastic is a BIG name in kids' software, so hopefully this will bring her lots of success.

Classic gaming-wise, the biggest highlight had to be my chance to interview O2 graphic designer Ron Bradford (http://www.classicgaming.com/o2home/articles/bradford/index.shtml). Had some decent finds, but nothing too spectacular. I guess my favorite "acquisition" was paying superstonic to repair and mod my ColecoVision for composite video. It's great!

My year's ending on a sour note however... I'm getting kicked out of my apartment and have to sell my prized Atari Home Computers display. :(

[WiseSalesman]

- Moved back to a real university.
- Made a firm decision on my major (sorry vocal music :( )
- Got back on track with my studies.
- Got approached by a professional a capella group to sing on a cruise ship.....and turned it down due to college. :angry:
- Quit the restaurant I had been serving at since its inception
- Lost two of my three cats (RIP Sugar and Hobbes - ? - 2003)
- Attended my first convention - Ohayocon
- Visited New York City.
- Met Patrick Stewart.
- By the time the year ends, will have amassed 200 games total.

[Captain Wrong]

- My grandfather came back from being seriously ill, finally quit smoking, and is healthier than he's been in years.

- Managed to bring my cat Bud back from the brink of death (seriously) earlier this year. (Well, the vets did all the work, but I'm still thankful.)

- Managed to pay all the vet bills Bud has needed through out the year (the most recent one I really didn't know if I was going to be able to scrape together.)

- Got back on a radio show, which, incidentally is 4th in the ratings for it's time slot, beating out several Clear Channel stations. Whoo hoo!

- Inched close to graduation (one class left.)

- Re-wrote an entire semester long group project in 48 hours, mostly by myself.

- Learned a lot about myself. Forced myself to make some difficult decisions with regards to relationships I had. Attempted to become a better person.



Oh yeah...I built a supergun too. :)

[brykasch]

Well lets see... highlights for the year

Collecting wise

Discovered the forums here, had used the price guides here occasionally, but have found a great new home. Replaced everything I sold last year to pay for the wife being out of work while my daughter was born. And got everything back for way less then I paid for it originally:)

Got into collecting again (never should have left)

Celebrated my daughters first birthday:)
Celebrated my 3rd anniversary (love ya Rachel)

Got a new used car thanks to the inlaws as the Cavalier bit the dust after 200K and 2 engines (transmission died, the original one)

[Dire 51]

Let's see:

February - my Japanese contact initially got in touch with me and we began our trading program.
April - my website The OPCFG turned five years old!
July - my second daughter Kathryn was born.
August - celebrated one year of marriage to my wife Lisa.

Other than that, this year's kinda sucked.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Non-gaming highlights:

Buying a home - still a work in progress. We better have some good news by this weekend or I'm gonna snap.
New niece - born in April, still going strong, and by golly, I'm gonna turn her into a gamer (much to my sister-in-law's horror). She's already fond of watching Pac-Man as played on the Namco 5-in-1 joystick. :D

Gaming highlights:

CGE 2K3 - I'd always heard that CGE was just the coolest thing ever. Y'know, I think they were underselling it when they said that. Meeting the programmers, meeting fellow collectors, meeting folks like Bill Kunkel...just too cool. Count me IN for this show as long as it's on the map, no matter where it is. I'm hoping I can jolt myself out of my stunned reverie in '04 and actually socialize more (sorry if anyone thought I was being strangely distant this year). Maybe I need to get over it, but I still pop in the video I shot at CGE every once in a while and think to myself "Wow, I was there."
OKGE - sure, it's no CGE, but does it have to be? I was fortunate to get exposure to the biggest gathering in the hobby and a small new gathering in the space of just two months. They both have their charms, and they're both a LOT of fun. I enjoyed bringing my stuff and watching other people have fun playing it - I was afraid I'd be sweating bullets worrying about people abusing the hardware, etc., but nothing even remotely like that happened. It was a nice, cozy little get-together - with enough dealers present to give it that 'big show' flavor.
Kickman - working! For $200! Nothin' like a real live arcade machine. I'm amazed how attached I've gotten to this thing.
Odyssey - I've added a lot of new hardware to my collection this year: an Atari 400, a C64, a TI 99/4A, and all of the Odyssey x00/x000 Pong clones ...but nothing has fascinated me as much as this machine. Yes, it's just video tennis, and yes, its unique analog quirks make it more of a conversation piece than an actual game...but this is where it all started for home video games. I'm pleased to have one and to be able to show it off. (It was, hands-down, the most popular thing I took to OKGE with me.)
Game Room - I finally buckled down and put together a real live game room...which has now been torn up for moving purposes! But I'm already working on many, many ideas for the new game room in the new house. I've become very fond of putting together a place that fits the games that can be found in it.


Low points:

Losing Iago - nothing has caused a big gaping hole in my heart like this. Iago, my white cat, died from complications of feline diabetes and liver failure earlier this month...I had home for just over nine years. I never thought I'd have one of my cats but not the other...never imagined I'd lose him so soon. I could go on and on about him, but just take my word for it... this loss hurts. As does having to watch Othello, a cat who spent his whole life with Iago around, trying to figure out where his 'brother' is...and then finally giving up because Iago can't be found and won't answer his calls.
Losing Chief - Chief (actual registered name: Phaedrus Zein) was a six-month old purebred Arabian colt born in late summer 2002, and he was one of the friendliest, most respectful, and yet most playful horses I've ever seen in my life. At around six months, he suddenly developed a respiratory problem, and it turned out to be more serious than anyone thought - so much so that he died at the vet clinic in the space of time that it took one of the employees to turn their back and bring him some hay. I really miss him. I hope he and Iago are comparing notes and keeping each other company.
Buying a home - I know this also appears on my "good" list, but I never realized how much BS one has to put up with to get this done, and how much stress it causes. I've had my first gray hairs this year, and it's only been since we initiated the process of buying a house. I just hope it's all worth it - and I hope we get into the place before I feel the urge to throw my mortgage broker a left hook next time I see him.

There you go. The bitter and the sweet.

[ubersaurus]

Well, lets see...
This is the year I really started talking with Adrienne, who's turned out to be one of my best buds.
Found a stray 5 week old kitten who now lives here, and is very insane, what with the other denizens of the house being 3 dogs.
I got a tg-16, a PS2, a colecovision, and a crapload of high quality titles all around.
I played Samurai Shodown V, one of the best games I've ever done rounds in at the arcade.

Low points include the deaths of my aunt and my great-aunt, the fact that my car conked out and died right before I really started working to get my license, and the fact I still haven't figure out the problem with that one atari.

[Sotenga]

Pfft. This year kinda bit. No highs I can note, nor are there any lows. But next year, my life shall truly begin. I guarantee it. I'm tired of my boring life, and I gotta change that.

EDIT: WAIT! It didn't suck THAT much! Of course! I rediscovered that market with The Simpsons, Operation Wolf, Time Travelers, Zombie Raid, the sit-down Outrun cabinet, and SAMURAI SHODOWN V!!! I nearly forgot about that. :D

Other than going back to the market there... -_-

[Oobgarm]

Hmm...

Good:

-Finishing more games this year than the past couple of years combined
-Getting involved with the DP community
-Riding the coasters at DPCP '03 (was scared to death of them prior to going)
-Becoming great friends outside of work with a couple of my coworkers (Becky & Jon)
-Actually financing my own vehicle, rather than leasing again

Lame:

-Breaking my elbow in February. If you've never done it, keep it that way.
-My friends' wedding after Christmas, since I got a weeks' notice to rent a tux/book a hotel/rearrange my schedule accordingly

Overall, I'd have to say it was a good year for myself. Next year should be even better with DPKI '04, CGE 2K4, etc. Hopefully no broken bones *crosses fingers* :)

[Pantechnicon]

Gaming Highlights, eh?

Good:
-Completing my second MAME cab (pics and history to some soon), which is the first of hopefully many more I can sell locally.

-Finding a Playstation2 at Goodwill for $10. Best.thrift find.ever. Broken, yet under warranty. Repaired for free. It's the first time I've owned a "modern" game system since my Atari 2600 was purchased new in 1981.

-Getting a Dreamcast through trade. What an awesome machine. Sorry I missed out on its release, but then again my wallet won't complain about the post-bandwagon pricing LOL

Bad:
-Missing CGE and OKGE. I never made it to World Of Atari in 1998, but I was proud to say I made it to every CGE up until 2003. I was actually more chagrined about missing OKGE since I really wanted to do something to help start PDF's show off in style. Maybe next year, Earl.

To all the friends I've made on this board in the last six monthys or so, best wishes for 2004. May your thumbs be sore from too much gaming, and may your collection acquisitions be cheap and plentiful.

[Castelak]

Highlight: Started Collecting :P

Lowlight (haha!): Finding out what I've sold or missed in the years. :P

[Wookie]

Gaming wise:
-> Added over 700 games to the collection, as well as (finally) picking up N64, NGPC, Dreamcast, Vectrex and virtual boy consoles.
-> Finally broke down and converted the spare bedroom into a gameroom. A work in progress.

Other:
-> I'm out of debt! House, cars, credit cards - all paid off. Woohoo!

[GamecubeFreek]

-Started seriously collecting with what little money I have (added five game systems and around 70 games this year)
-Joined the DP community
-Met some foo's at my school that know enough about games to have an actual gaming conversation
-Became A&E Editor on my school's newspaper (just one step closer to becoming a professional video game journalist)
-Started my own game mag....at least somewhat...
-Beating Contra three times in a row, each time ending with more lives than I started with
-Got really close to a monkey at the zoo (like, within inches)

Low points
-Realizing that I have had opportunities in the past to get good deals on games, but stupidly passing them up as I was ignorant
-Every single moment I spend in school other than in Newspaper class.

[The S]

Got SNES for $2
Got free Dreamcast & N64
Celebrated 1st anniversary
Began college
Got THIS MUCH closer to total Godhood

[le geek]

Went to Philly Classic and met some forum members for the first time, plus got a "free" 5200 with broken controllers.

After two years of freelancing, got a full time job again :)

Windwaker and Animal Crossing took days and days out of my life :)

Got back into Amiga gaming...

Made my most expensive collecting purchase ever for NTSC 2600 Motorodeo and Ikari Warriors complete... :eek 2:

Tried to quit smoking.

Lost 20 pounds :)

Thinking abouty getting an Amiga CD32! :embarrassed:

May actually update le geek for the third time this year!!! (fingers crossed)

Cheers,
Ben

[josekortez]

- Completing 3/4 of graduate school
- Getting a car
- Continuing to write articles about video games and hip-hop for the city newspaper
- Interviewing Keith Murray and Joe Budden in person about Def Jam Vendetta
- Continuing to receive newly-released titles for free
- Continuing to "parasite" at video game chains without being caught for soliciting
- Going to my first thrift stores and yard sales and actually finding games
- Buying my first import game, a PAL Rez, for my favorite system, the Dreamcast, and finally getting it to work
- Proving to the haters I encounter that I can make personal happiness and fulfillment look easy

In 2004, I plan to add a trustworthy, steady girlfriend to the mix. I met a stunning woman a few weeks ago who owns a modded Xbox. Now, I just have to wait for her to return from England...

[Britboy]

1st 6 months: lost 60 lbs
2nd 6 months: Kept it off

Raised almost $3000 for the Alzheimer's Association

Watched Britgirl star in an infomercial for exercise videos (couldn't be prouder)

made it through a second year without suckling at the smoky teat of my dark mistress Nicotine

[DDCecil]

Gaming:

- Started with ~900 games at the beginning of the year, now I have 1170+.
- Discovering the greatness that is Gitaroo Man for PS2.
- Finally getting a working Intellivision (I have never played or owned one before) and a Sega CD system (After being without one for 4 long years.)

Non-Gaming:

- Finally becoming a full-time employee at my work in April (After being there since late 2001.)
- Getting a brand new house with my own custom-made room/game closet.
- Got a brand new, used car.

That's about it...

[jaydubnb]

Non gaming: Graduating from college just this week!

Gaming: Getting a debug bios in my NEO AES, an afterburner mod for my NGPC, picking up Garou.

[Mayhem]

Hmmm choices, choices to say for you lovely people...

Obviously the major one is hooking up with QoF on here. Never saw THAT one coming now LOL

And all because you can blame... CGE2K3 of course! Which was brilliant as it was last year when I first attended. But even more so because:

- the kindness of Joe (or nagging from PoG LOL ) let me into the alumni dinner. And then spending the evening sitting with the Activision guys.
- hanging out with the folks from here
- playing lots of arcades
- meeting and talking a lot with Paul Norman, one of my old skool C64 heros
- getting some very nice things signed

Completing my 7800 and NGPC UK collections. Still being alive, got to be thankful for that at least. And still in a job.

[gamergary]

Going to the nava meeting
Breaking the 200 game mark (have 225 now)
Getting many new systems.

[MattyXB]

Get these Rare Videogame Items:

Crystalis [Prototype] (NES)
M82 Game Selectable Working Product Display (PAL)

& meet the music groups Westbam, Dr. Motte, Schiller & Scooter and get autographed cards.

[ehall]

Pretty light year for me but....

Low points -
Got laid off.

High points -
Got a replacement job.
Got an XBOX
Went to Horrorfind (http//www.Horrorfind.com)

*Edited cuz I was being a downer and didn't want to kill the thread.*

[Dangerboy]

Highlights: Gaming
- The Whole Climber 5 / Activision Anthology GBA Cover Experience
- Aquired Laseractive and games
- Down to less than 100 games needed for '4000 games' mark
- Down to less than 75 games for entire 1240+ US PSX Collection
- Freelancing for GameShark.com (again)

Highlights: Life
- Still happily single and loving it
- Moved back home after 3 years in Maryland
- Got to hang out with friends again
- Finding out I actually make an impact on people in my business
- my gaming comic web-site is still going strong (www.game-rave.com)

Lowlights: Gaming
- Lost a mint Super NES System box and Odyssey 2 box to water damage =(
- Proved I really do suck at Halo
- My Turbo Duo CD drive conks out =(
- Most of this year's game releases pre-holiday

Lowlights: Life
- Family gatherings are no longer fun
- Still working retail
- Fell off the GameShark bandwagon (again)
- No ambition to finish up schooling / degree
- $13,000 in CC Debt :(

Happy Holidays everyone,
Jason

[kainemaxwell]

Some highpoints for me:

-Getting more into collecting
-Finishing my Dragon Warrior collection
-Coming 3 games close to finishing my NES Tengen collection in a short time
-One game to finishing my Mega Man collection
-Winning the Alter-Ego contest
-Getting a copy of Ewok's Adventure through a trade

[Keir]

Threads like this are great... for reminding me how poor my memory is! Let's see what I can remember from this year:

Added Laseractive, Coleco Adam, Commodore SX64, Amiga 500 and GP32 to my collection of systems.
Adopted a kitten who was found abandoned in an old barn.
Went to England for my grandmother's 80th birthday. Saw relatives I hadn't seen in 21 years.
The most important thing is something I won't mention here. Yet. :P

[Flack]

Not to get all sappy, but one of the best gaming things for me this year was finding Digital Press!!!

My wife built an arcade for me, to which I added four arcade cabinets and one MAME machine. I hooked all of my old consoles up in the arcade to play, and bought a projector for playing my next-gen consoles in the house. I bought more PS2 games than I can count, and added a Gamecube to the family. Somewhere in the middle of all that madness I attended OKGE!

This year my wife and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and my son's 2nd birthday. Life's good!

[Half Japanese]

Let's see:


got a GBA SP in July
got a nice TurboGrafx 16 package from Chunky in December
found an RPG I enjoyed (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance) in November
got a nice new HDTV in December
got a cool new job at Circuit City
saw my game collectin grow from the low 100's to borderline 200's
met a lot of cool people and done a lot of great trades since joining here in June

[Balloon Fight]

These are definitely the best things this year

Finding Digital Press, thanks to Tips and Tricks, and signing up in September.

Hanging out with Robert (KirbyStar27) and snatching up all the games we could find.

Actually started to collect, and got around 80 NES games this year.

Buying a Galaxian arcade Cab.

Buying a Vectrex and a Gamecube.

Skateboarding to death.

Attending my first CGE, and buying too much stuff.

[Aswald]

In a strictly video game sense:

1) Getting Bejeweled for the ColecoVision. It's interesting to see a "recent" game on that 1982 console.

2) Space Invaders Collection. This has got to be one of the most fascinating homebrews for the ColecoVision. It has what can be considered 3 perfectly-reproduced Space Invaders games on it (the Midway and Taito versions of Space Invaders 2 were quite different), many extra options, a fantastic title screen, and the full attract modes- all for $30.00, or about 17, 18 dollars in early 1980s money.

3) Finding out that Opcode intends to translate MSX games onto the ColecoVision. This will boost the number and variety greatly!

4) Finally getting a working Commodore-64. I've gotten better at machine-language subroutines, even without an assembler or proper instructions.


All said, not a bad year in that regard.

[Pop Culture Portal]

Okey Dokey....most of what happened to me was both good and bad, so let me explain....

-Being so in debt (school, house, ect...) that my parents mortgaged their farm to help my wife and I pay off our $120K+ debts as quick as possible (I'll argue with ANYONE on who the greatest parents in the world are)...good that we'll be getting out of debt much quicker now, but bad because my parents are risking their financial future for us (yes, we feel like heels, but we are incredibly lucky)

-Finding out that the reason I'm always so sick and stressed has to do mostly with my job and career...my doctors told me if I don't find another job/career soon, I won't live to see next Christmas...bad, because, well dying would suck right now and I wouldn't want my wife to be alone, but good because I was pretty much given the go-ahead by my doctors to tell my bosses to suck my big fat left toe...in so many words :evil: ...if you ever get a chance to burn your bridges like I did, for God's sake do it, you'll feel so much better!

-Changed careers...bad because I had to take a pay cut and changing careers at my age is down right scary! Good, because my bosses tell me every day how much they appreciate me and the work I do (I'm a retail merchandiser now)...they've already talking about a promotion! :D Plus, the stress level on my heart has dropped to nearly normal as well as the blood pressure :) !

-Found the mother of all video game black holes, sorta....found Woody Woodpecker Vol 1-3 for 3DO in a craft store/antique store in Nowhere, Kentucky, and keep finding gems everytime I go back (once a month or so)...and they're cheap too! Traded some cool stuff with Mr. DP for Woody Vol. 2 & 3...now his 3DO collection is complete, which is always a good thing.

-Joined this forum a little over a year ago and have been finding all kinds of info here, which is good, but it makes me realize how big of a video game idiot I am, which ain't so good, but funny anyway LOL . My visits and postings to this site have dropped quite a bit...unfortunately, I don't come here as much as I'd like to, which just plain sucks.

-Nearly 10 of my high school classmates have died this year, which has made me feel more mortal that I'd like to think about.

-My wife is actually showing a bit of interest in my hobbies now (video games and comics mostly), which is a friggin' miracle!

[RoboticParanoia]

+Sattelite TV.
+New laptop
+Joining this forum.
+Fanmail. Weee.
+Having my first girlfriend/dating partner (as in, I'm not sure that she is my girlfriend or not)
-No more real Christmas trees
-Another year gone by without actually progressing anywhere socially.
-Parents get more annoying every year.


Wow. 2003 was such a FUUUUUUUUN year.... :hmm:

[chaoticjelly]

+ Completed my A levels and left that blasted college
+ Got accepted into Liverpool John Moore's University to study Computer Games Technology 8-)
+Still with my girlfriend after 3+ years :D

Gaming:

+Got an L.E. Green XBOX LOL
+Got an "L.E." Platinum GAMECUBE LOL
+Snatcher on Mega CD for £0.20p at a car boot sale, then swapped said Snatcher for £30 and a brand new USA version GBA:SP LOL
+Crystal Screen Super Mario Bros Game & Watch, loose & mint for £10 at a car boot sale

etc, wow, dead exciting! what will 2004 bring???

[ianoid]

-Made my own video game buddy (waiting for him to gain coordination enough to play)

-completed my Videopac, Dreamcast and Colecovision collections.

-many, many flea markets.

-new job, new home, new town, new wife (same as the old wife.)

-impossible 2600 games acquired (Gauntlet, Eli's Ladder, Out of Control)

-moved the collection into the new house, but didn't fully unpack it yet (c'mon, it's only been 6 months!)

-CGE- Warlords at night. We need to have a roundtable Warlords tourny with points at CGE! 4 points for last man standing, 3 for 2nd, etc. And random rotations! Alright, this is getting cc:'d to the CGE board. and the rest of the show

-selling alot on eBay and buying many gadgets with the proceeds.