HOW DO YOU ENJOY RETRO GAMING? and some weekend mess on a LAZY SUNDAY

No. I will not discuss about nudity or some adult material folks =). It's just one of those Saturday night afters again.

Just a piece of sentiment. . . from a retro gaming collector

after some booze last night.I just woke up and...

One of the very fulfilling moments of my retro video gaming adventure is when i spend my weekends or free nights with my gangsters with some booze while playing games with my ADULT machines, my retro gaming gizmos i meant.

I don't know how other people enjoy the same retro gaming collection but i just hate the one's who get the enjoyment by bragging about the stuff they have and act like they know everything about it.

Unlike other collectors, or hoarders? i don't really care and envy other people's collection,all that matters for me is that i do enjoy what i have together with all the adventure, memories and thrill that came along, the "bragging rights" issue is just second thereof.

I just don't see much of a sense out of it,i meant, if you brag to "brag". I do brag about some of my stuff(not so many stuff that i can brag about actually) but,i do it on the purpose of joking, always,and not because i want to brag and dismay or disgrace someone. I don't like it when someone actually acts like he is superior or something.

for me it all boils down to whenever you actually enjoy them.Or not.

To those who enjoy bragging .Go on.. eat my pants!

MARIO BROTHERS and PAC-MAN : A tribute to two of the not so many TIMELESS and genius games ever produced

"a timeless act or art is done in the right moment, not time, with talent and/or skill at the right platform of expression and with will" - dax reyes


From time to time we see great random things spring out of the open from genius minds. Few are expected to come but most of them just startle us. Some of them though can just be a fad or something that's gonna struck you for days and then just fade. But, there are not many out there that actually become timeless. So great and nice that people just cant get enough.

and things like these came in video games (and many other aspects of course)

Well, so good to play during the days that kids and gamers cant get enough of them and ask for more. This is one manifestation probably why Game series' came to life.

Who in the earth does not know or even heard about Shigeru Miyamoto's mario brothers? No wonder this wonderful creation became a success.

Just like the movies, this timeless video games' sequels were titled as is. Developers or owners just placed 1, 2 or 3 for them to be more recognizable or for whatever reason.

How about Toru Iwatani's originally puck-man or say pac-man ?

Now this is interesting, they didn't just place 1, 2 or 3 on the title , rather, they kind of completed the family by having the other series such as having a Ms. Pacman and a Pacman Jr. Great idea to make it even more catchy.

I don't know if Retro game collectors share the same sentiment but, i really do appreciate little things like obtaining these games. No questions if they are rare or maybe as common like this mario brothers cartridges. Thing is, they are fruit of hardships, wisdom and chance.They were few of the many game creations who were permitted by time to be remembered by most until now.

People liked them, I like them. Easy to say , they are wonderful creations. Its not about how much or how few but just the fact of having them lying on my house readily available for play today, tomorrow ,or if possible in many years to come. That's probably too much to ask.

Kudos to the people who have created such timeless works, and ALSO to all the people, partners, wives, friends and everyone who made it possible for them to do so. You people might even deserve more acknowledgement rather than those who actually got it but, i remember there was once a ruler of an empire who said,

"History remembers Kings not soldiers"

The screws that screwed me ! ( 5 screw NES cartridge)

It was one ordinary day back then that i strucked an article on the internet that deals about NES carts having this "famicom" 60 pin to "Nes" 70 pin converters inside. To think about it, this are actually converters that are officially released by Nintendo itself.

The strange thing happened because Nintendo had some problems producing games on the US NES in which demand most likely to come up because Christmas season was coming during those times. So to avoid shortage, they came up with this idea to put famicom board games into the usual large grey cartridges of NES US. To cut the story short, every kid in the U.S. spent the Christmas happy =)

Having said that, I read about something that this cartridges obtained some physical features like the ordinary NES carts do not have. One is that,

It has 5 screws on it instead of the usual 3

Upon reading this, i immediately browsed my NES carts on the shelf to see if anything was actually obtaining the said 5 screw

I was really exited when i stumbled upon this particular cartridge "Kung Fu"

It's the only one who had this 5 screw feature among all my other NES carts

So i was really amazed that i actually had one and not knowing or even noticing it. I don't remember where i got the cartridge but honestly i didn't notice of the 5 and 3 screw difference back then when i purchased or had it.

of course i was excited to open it up and see the "converter" inside. so i unscrewed it and saw this !

to my disbelief , this NES 5 screw cartridge "screwed" me ! ha ha

it had no nothing in it but the NES board game itself. It didn't have that magical converter that i was excited about.

So, i was a little off but became more curious and read some more articles and eventually confirming that not all 5 screw NES carts had this converter inside and that some are flop =)

i also bumped into an article where they enumerated carts which commonly (not 100% sure still though) had the converters inside. This carts are:

1942
Clu Clu Land
Donkey Kong Jr.
Duck Hunt
Elevator Action
Excitebike
Golf
Gumshoe
Gyromite
Hogan’s Alley
Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!
Pinball
Raid on Bungeling Bay
Rygar
Soccer
Stack Up
Tennis
Urban Champion
Wizards and Warriors
Wrecking Crew

it was also explaining about the PIN feature difference of a regular NES cartridge and the converter which you can see at the bottom of the cartridge.

Cartride tagging (cartridge battles)

Some people generally categorize collectors into two types. The so called "boxed" and "loose" collectors. basically, boxed collectors want stuff which are in mint, if not very good condition, boxed and complete. Some even get stuff only which are factory sealed(which can be very costly). While some others, "loose" collectors, just don't care much about these boxes , manuals and physical condition of the item as long as it serves its intended essence.

That pretty much defines me as a collector(loose). Boxes, manual , good physical condition for me are just bonus. To be honest, it even makes me happier to see signs of usage and ownership embarked in the items for that says something about the history about it.

Do you remember putting your name on every cartridge that you owned back then? So if a friend borrows it , you have every right to get it back because it youre my name on it. ( i dont know if this is a name because i cant read japanese)it was a pretty popular technique during the old times .

This kid who owned this might have lots of love on this game that he wrote something on the back BIG enough

Cartridge tagging also breached allot of problems during the days ! believe it or not. =D Sibling rivalry ? solved by simple cartridge tagging. No wonder these brothers had some issues so probably the mom or dad decided that they need to label them this way

tagging comes in different ways just to give you comfort

see this Circus charlie famicom cart. The original owner placed a typewritten Circus charlie label covered with clear tape on top of it. Probably because he sorted out his games right about close to each other seeing only the top part and placed this so he can just easily read the top to pick the right game whenever he wants to play.

Small things like this give me smile in my face. I think for a second and imagine the kid who once had it, and what was running through his mind that very moment. The all fun moments.

also, tagging was sure a use for companies who run the business

cartridge tags will make you crazy =D, funny crazy because they can really get weird sometimes. From heart drawings , cut photos , game cheats , they write almost anything that makes them feel comfortable seeing in the cartridge.This actually can somehow give you an idea about the person who owned it.

Like this one that can lead you to many scenarios . Why did he/she write a phone number at the back of a game cartridge? Thousand and one possibilities e'? can you give me some ? ha ha

ill do an imaginary scenario :

The guy was playing then someone called him on the phone - gave an important number that he needed to save - sees a pen - looks for paper - cant find anywhere near - guy on the line says "faster i'm in a hurry" - sees bunch of cartridges that he played, picks NES cartridge because its huge - thinks - doesn't want to write on the art work in front - had no choice - writes on the back !

That's just one =D

Scarcity over rarity

A few years ago when everyone wanted to buy an "Xbox 360" the manufacturer couldn't keep up with the demand due to the sudden scurrying of people wanting to give it as a present during the holiday season. Clearly, there was a scarcity of the product. When people realize that they do not have something that they either want or need, they tend to desire it. However, this “something” may range from the most common essential such as drinking water, to a lavish gadget such as the Ipad2, hence; it is not limited to a branded product or a single item, but rather on a whole range of resources.

However, if you had the money, and wanted to buy a vintage 1955 Mercedes with the gull wing doors you would have a hard time finding one because the product is so rare. Rarity has to do with the uniqueness of the item, the value instilled in it. Most of the items labeled as rare are those which are not mass produced during the time it was released to the market. When a thing is rare it is expected to be not widely distributed, and is highly valued because of its uncommonness. One can interchange these terms often, especially when trading off goods and items. Sellers have this tendency to impose how “scarce” their item was. However, the point is, these two terms are a lot different from one another. Being scarce is having limited resources, on the other hand being rare, is having limited resources due to the fact that it is being out of the ordinary, it is bijou. An item can be scarce, but cannot really be rare. But being rare is to be admirably sparse, not just scarce.

this items are scarce and definitely not rare

*Alien invaders (magnavox odessy 2)
*Wai Wai World (nintendo famicom)
*Basic programming (atari) .

The basic reason why they are not rare? its because they were massively produced during their times. The reason why some people think they are rare? its because, due to lack of production now but demand still there people who actually own them dont even think about selling them so basically there aren't any of them even in the used market.

Things dont become rare per se when you just buy them now and then get a hold of them for say 25 years or so. But there are so mane things that can possibly make an item rare . One good example of that is this

BUNG Doctor V64  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_V64

Was on the go of mass production but due to legal issues . Nintendo sued them and actually get them to stop producing these. so considering that they were not that cheap during those times, they also stopped the mass production but several hundreds or thousand have been already released. so its somehow a turnout.

This is a very complex matter . I think there is a very thin line that differentiates rarity and scarcity. most of the time, its a personal discretion or merely a judgement. however, understanding it, i guess, is one of the many ways that we can be more knowledgeable and appreciative of the things that we are passionate with. Collecting should have a purpose and that purpose should be substantiated by these things. we should at least have knowledge on what we want or do.

PS. Well there are also stuff called "HOLY GRAILS" that now is a different story