November 2009 Finds

[Flashback2012]

Car dealers have been doing this for years. The only reason they do this is because it 'sounds' better to the consumer. Used comes across as a harsher thing beacuse you conjure up in your mind that it was heavily used, damaged ect.

When you hear about those factory 'pre-owned' cars, it conjurs up an image of them being in great condition and that they've had all kinds of checks done to them. Its the same thing with games. Oh, would you like a pre-owned copy, or a used one?

QFT. In all the years I spent working for GS, I never cared for the term "USED Games" and always preferred referring to them as "Pre-Owned". I know a few years ago when GS and EB merged, they released an internal memo stating that the official/correct terminology they wanted us to say to customers was "USED". I of course refused to comply.

It would seem that now they've reversed that stance and prefer the "Pre-Owned" terminology again. I find it mildly weird that after I left they started to fix up thing that I long railed about and have been (slowly) working on improving their image. They've got a LOOOOOOOONG way to go and one thing that will help reduce people raising an eyebrow at the change in terminology is them cracking down on their trade-in policies and being more strict with what they accept. Now that Game Crazy has severely scaled back operations, you'd think they could stand to be a little more selective but we'll see (I assure you I'm not holding my breath).

As for the pennies they offer on trades....well I don't ever see that improving.

[Flashback2012]

Duh....forgot to mention what I found today. My buddy and I stopped by Game Crazy on the way home after noticing they upped the discount to 80% off remaining stock. He picked up a stack of XB360 games for $17 and I found the Elebits DS game for $3.80.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

That's a pretty good price! What's your plans for it?

It's weird, because the last machine I picked up was another JAMMA-tized Super Pac-Man. I am in the process of converting the exterior of that one back to a Super Pac-Man... which means a complete repainting by hand of all the lettering and logos. I put a multiboard in it, which includes Super Pac-Man.

Since I will have left over paint from my current project, I may as well try and do the same to this one. I'll probably re-mount the monitor vertically and put another multi-board in it, and sell this one.

Repainting the cab without stencils is really time consuming, so it'll be a while before I start on this one. But Super Pac-Man has a unique cabinet, that I'd like to preserve. I've been working on my current one for about 2 months now, but it's starting to look good.

Here's a flickr set dedicated to my current project, which will give you an idea of where I'm heading with my Free Cabinet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhanlen...7622516605766/

And here's more pictures of the one I picked up yesterday... I really have my work cut out, as the interior is a rats nest of hacked wiring.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhanlen...7622763668802/

[Kitsune Sniper]

Today's finds:

Silent Hill Homecoming Soundtrack (new) - $1
Thexder (Windows 95 version, CD in case) + PC Games.EXE demo disc - $3
Return To Salem's Lot VHS tape - $1

I'm really happy to have found that Silent Hill CD. I know the game wasn't very... popular... but it's still got great music.

[Tupin]

Picked up a huge lot of old computers, many DOS-era, including a Compaq Portable II. A whole bunch of stuff, all for free. I'll post pictures and a list of all the items tomorrow.

[Eric Dude]

New game finds article:

http://good-evil.net/features/game-h...more#more-2600

(not mine, somebody else took the reins on this one)

[SPAZ-12]

Got an iMac for free today, well almost. I paid for it with my back, I had to lug it almost a kilometer. Sure the thing may have a handle, but that really doesn't help much when it weighs 40 lbs!

It's an older G3, which is nice since it means that finding a ram upgrade will be easier. Wait, did I say upgrade? I tried turning on the computer, and not to much happened. Then I saw this:

I guess whoever threw this out pulled the only parts they could actually get their hands on. No biggie, pc100 ram is dirt cheap, and I'm going back to my "source" to see if I can scrounge some out of an old computer for free. And then once I get everything running... DinoPark Tycoon! I haven't played that game for 10 years, and I do miss it. I don't really care to do much else with this computer, but we'll see. Depending on how smoothly I can get it running and what sort of software I can cram on there it might me good for at least browsing the web.

I also got my Famicom Sharp Twin in the mail today, and a GameCube Broadband adapter that I managed to snag off of eBay for the price of $2.50 (plus $20 shipping). My friend is going to give me his adapter, and then it's time for eight player Mario Kart goodness.

[BetaWolf47]

Goodwill: Genny Model 2

Which, as we found out, is a VA3 with the best video encoder. Congrats!

[NayusDante]

Which, as we found out, is a VA3 with the best video encoder. Congrats!

Yeah, I think I'm going to S-Video mod it. Maybe I'll wire it up to test this afternoon after class.


Nice on the free iMac. Funny having two indigo iMac G3s found within two weeks... Let me know if you get that working, I'm still learning about these Macs. Does it give any POST codes or indication that there's a problem with missing RAM?

[SPAZ-12]

Nice on the free iMac. Funny having two indigo iMac G3s found within two weeks... Let me know if you get that working, I'm still learning about these Macs. Does it give any POST codes or indication that there's a problem with missing RAM?

All that it does is that I can hear the monitor turn on, but nothing else. Just a black screen. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some other problem with it, which is why I want to scavenge for free (or very cheap) ram, to make sure the computer at least boots before investing any money in it.

And if it is really broken, I'll have an interesting fish tank!

[Ryaan1234]

dock/back lot sale again. Got Microsoft Works 2000 w/key, a COA/key for Windows 98 SE, the 2nd install disc for a Toshiba Satellite 5200, the recovery discs for an Acer Travelmate 340, and a Franz Ferdinand CD.

Also got some electronics adapters/stuff, going to eBay and 20 brand spakin' new Ampex 370 series professional cassete tapes.

Only gaming thing I got was a Pelican PS1 arcade stick. Is it a good controller? It looked sorta nice.

And I also got this Jensen "thing". It's a big black thing that has wall hangers on it. It has rf input and output, a "GAIN" dial", an A/B switch, and an IR bulb at the bottom. I'm thinking an Rf signal amplifier but I'm not sure. Looked interesting so I figured I'd buy it. At 2-3 bucks it's at least worth the parts for projects. It has no model number so I can't ask Google what it is.

(/me goes to get screwdriver to open up the thing.)

EDIT: Damn, the screws were a pain to take out. I hate it when they put them under rubber feet. Has a chemical smell inside. Ick! Sorta like burning plastic. And guess what? The "thing" is an old antenna! Well, at least I can re-use the LED, switch, potentiometer, and copper wiring inside. It's not a total loss. That's the last time I but some crappy, light, cheap looking electronics to open up and see what they are. Ewww. Made in China. Cheap electronics inside. I should've known.

[Dreadstar]

Picked up a stack of loose 7800 carts today at one of my Goodwills for 99 cents each. Too bad my 7800 console is flaky, I'd love to at least test them.

Ballblazer
Choplifter
Crack'ed
Dark Chambers
DK Jr
Galaga
Ms Pac Man
One on One Bball
Pole Position 2
Robotron 2084
TD Football
Winter Games

[Cornelius]

This is the view of the back of my house right now:


so... I haven't had a lot of spare time to hunt for games. Nor the will, really. So much stress involved I just don't have the energy for the 'hunt'. But, I should have a really damn nice room of doom when all is said and done (years? from now).

Nevertheless, today I did have 15 minutes to stop into my local/favorite thrift. Since it is tuesday, everything was 25% off what I've listed.

Jill of the Jungle: Jill Saves the Prince (sealed) - 1.80
Leisure Suit Larry 5 (probably complete) - 2.80
Imperialism (sealed) - 3.80
Adobe Photoshop CS w/ key (is there an easy way to verify the key is good/valid?) - 1.60
The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble (never heard of this, looked interesting) - 1.60.

[ncman071]

not so much a "find", but went to gamestop and bought resistance retribution for the psp....also downloaded no gravity which is an interesting space shooter and also FFVII. Yea i know these dont count really, but i'm happy.

looking at getting all the night traps for 3do, sega cd, sega cd 32x

[Ryaan1234]

The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble (never heard of this, looked interesting) - 1.60.

Wow. I've never heard of this one either. I looked it up and it definitely does look interesting. Let us know how it is!

[Tupin]

Here's the list that I'm crossposting from the Vintage Computer Forums:

Compaq Portable II

Tandy 1000 with 3.5 inch drive

TRS-80 CoCo "KoKo" 2

Heathkit HF-241-80 (runs CP/M, not DOS, and weighs a ton)

Two TI-99/4as, one in box that's never been opened, and one bare.

A few monitors, one IBM PC style for the Heathkit, one Tandy-brand for the Tandy 1000, one Zenith Data Systems monitor that doesn't seem to turn on, and another one that has severe screen burn in.

A US Robotics Courier 2400 modem, in box, never used.

A CompatiCard I in box, never used.

The MS-DOS 5 Upgrade, in box.

TI-99/4a cartridges, cassettes, and most interestingly, a joystick and joystick adapter. Also included 99'er magazines and TI instruction manuals.

A Hitachi CD-ROM drive from 1987.

A box of random replacement drives and cards for IBM PCs, and some random ads and newspaper ads thrown in.

The cost? Free. The guy I got it from ran a computer club at McDonald-Douglas/Boeing and had to liquidate the stock. Certainly explains why this stuff is in better condition than most of my CL finds...

[ScourDX]

Stuff I picked up over the weekend



Stuff I picked up yesterday Xbox HD-DVD with hookup, remote & 1 HD-DVD movie for $15



Finally I got the Modern Warfare 2

[Kitsune Sniper]

Right.



Alone In The Dark 3 CIB (CD version)
The Legend of Robin Hood CIB (Floppy)
The Terminator 2029 CIB (Floppy)
Martian Memorandum CIB (Floppy)
Flashback The Quest For Identity CIB (Floppy)
$9 total. I already bought Martian Memorandum through GoG so that's going to eBay. And I already bought Flashback several years ago (but that was a Slash Corporation CD release). I'm not sure if I'm keeping the other games or not.

An American Werewolf In Paris Soundtrack - $1
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra DVD - $1
Guncon cable thing - 10 Mexican Pesos (about 80 US cents) at the Mexican flea market that sets up where I live.

Not pictured:
Dr. Scholl's Shoe Inserts (NEW) - $1
A brand new RCA Alarm Clock / Radio - $5

There really weren't that many people out there today. I spent two hours going around the flea market and didn't really find much of interest, other than an Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Pro box (which had no CD inside, augh!)

[SEGA_Queen]

I tagged along with my Dad yesterday when he went to visit some out-of-town friends. It gave me the perfect opportunity to visit my favorite game shop. I bought:

Sonic and the Secret Rings for $12.99 (Used but CIB) - I been wanting to try this out, but I didn't want to pay $20 for new copy because I know the game isn't that great.

Prima's Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards Strategy Guide for $6.99 (New) - I asked the shop's cashier where they got all these OOP guides from. He said they found them while they were clearing out their back room.

Then I went to a nearby shopping center and found the following stuff:

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: The Fastest Thing in Time for $6.99 (New) - I picked up this DVD from Toys 'R Us because it has my favorite episodes from this series. (And I'm tired of waiting for Shout Factory to release the final volume.)

A Boy and His Blob for $39.99 (New) - I picked this up at HMV. While I was there, I asked the cashier whether they could do a special order for Zack & Wiki and Tales of Symphonia: DotNW. She wasn't able to find Zack & Wiki in their catalog. However, she was able to locate a copy of ToS2 at another location, and arrange for it to be transferred to my local store. I'll have to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive, but it'll be worth it.

A Sonic the Hedgehog Wallet for $19.99 (New) - I found this in Spencer's Gifts. My only complaint with it is the fact that it doesn't have place to put my loose change.

I also picked up a few things late last week:

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride for $24.99 (Used)

Major Minor's Majestic March for $9.99 (New)

[Deadman]

Went to go have lunch with a newly out-of-work friend across town and spotted a Movie Trading Company that I've never gone in, so I did and using their Buy 3 Get 1 free sale I got:

Aerowings (DC)
Railroad Tycoon II (DC)
Soldier of Fortune (DC)
Urban Chaos (DC)
Silpheed (Sega CD)
D (Saturn)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Genesis) loose
Mazin Saga Mutant Fighter (Genesis) loose

All for just under $40.

Oh I also picked up a copy of "King of Kong" (new) as I've been looking for a used one for over a year and none are available any less than $12.99, which is what this was new.