18 Holy Grails Part 2

And now for the continuation of my 18 Gaming Holy Grails.



10. Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)

-Any self-respecting collector knows about Radiant Silvergun. Like Final Fantasy VII, it isn’t rare in the conventional sense, but it seems like everyone wants a copy. I’m mainly just collecting American releases, but I can make an exception.

Price: $200



11. Foxhound Gamecube

-What’s this? A third Hideo Kojima related item? Say it isn’t so! All joking aside though, I only recently came across this one. It came packaged with Twin Snakes in Japan…and that’s everything I know about it. Even though the only distinguishing feature it has from a normal Platinum Gamecube is the bad ass Foxhound symbol on the disc door, that’s more than enough for me.

Price: ?



12. Revelations: Persona (Psx)

-I loved Persona 3, and it only made me more curious about the series’ roots. I am aware that they are remaking this one for the Psp currently, but I still want to go back and see how it all started on the original Playstation.

Price: $100



13. Ogre Battle 64 (N64)

-Have you ever wanted to play a game so badly you could die…only to not have the money for it when it’s released? And when you do finally scrape together the funds, something else is already out? This is my relationship with Ogre Battle 64. Though I can’t remember what came out around the same time for it to be swept under the rug so callously, I’ve been kicking myself for it ever since. Of all the games in the Nintendo 64 library, this is the one I’m most looking forward to getting my hands on.

Price: $40



14. Harvest Moon 64 (N64)

-See my above entry. I had a friend who owned it, and after hearing his description, I was enthralled with the thought of something so unconventional (farming and married life…so what do you kill?). I put this one just a hair behind Ogre Battle on my most anticipated games in the N64 library I’ve yet to play.

Price: $30



15. Yuna’s Tiny Bee Gun Controllers X-2

-The Playstation 2 is the home to many strange and awesome controllers (the Dragon Quest slime one and Onimusha Katana come to mind), but my favorite is the Final Fantasy X-2 gun controllers. Wanted by collectors and cosplayers alike, they don’t add anything substantial in the game play department (you can fire at the screen during Yuna’s limit break) but they’re certainly one of the most stylish pieces of hardware ever made. Regardless, I’m actually holding off on playing FFX-2 until I get a set of these.

Price: $400



16. Elemental Gearbolt Assassin’s Case (Psx)

-An obscure Playstation game? Yes please. A game that comes with a red memory card and a golden light gun inside of a suitcase? Now you really have my attention. Given away to only 50 people at E3 in 1998 you say? …Shit.

Price: The last time one of these traded hands publicly it was for $787—and that’s considered cheap.



17. Majora’s Mask Fish Bone Guitar

-Perhaps the rarest item on my list. It popped into my mind subliminally the other day while listening to the Majora’s Mask soundtrack and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. The contest in issue 140 of Nintendo Power was for a custom Jackson Guitar made to look like the fish one Link uses when he’s disguised as a Zora. After posting a forum at Digitpress, it seems like only a handful of people even know these things exist. The only mention I could find of it on the internet claims that there were 7 of them made. What this all translates to is I’m going to need to be extremely lucky or extremely rich.

Price: I’m afraid to call and ask, most likely the price of a small car.



18. F-Zero AX Monster Ride

-Last but not least, the beast of arcade cabinets. I liked F-Zero on the Gamecube (despite being one of the hardest games I’ve ever played), but while playing it I felt like something was missing…something like a fully tilting cockpit that you control while zipping around futuristic tracks at 1500km an hour. I don’t think this needs any further description of why this thing is awesome. It’s also probably the biggest reason I’ll end up living in a warehouse at one point to accommodate this ridiculous collection of mine.

Price: I’ve seen a couple pop up online for around 5 to 10 thousand dollars.

*Honorable Mentions: Lunar Silver Star Story Complete (Psx), Lunar 2: Eternal Blue (Psx), Neo Geo AES, Bubble Bobble Part 2 (NES), D long box (Psx), Intensor Gaming Chair.

What do you think? Hopefully I’ve maybe pulled back the curtain on some things you didn’t even know existed. I highly encourage you all to make lists of your own =) Now keep in mind, a true collector is never finished, so as I come across some of these, I’ll probably replace them with new items (it’s always good to be looking forward to something).

As a last and slightly unrelated note, I’ve also recently decided to start collecting American Psp releases. The pile grows…

Stephen

All images are property of their respective owners.

My Top 18 Holy Grails of Gaming Part 1

Holy Grail of Collecting: Noun, an item or items of mythical proportion that when found is/are oftentimes considered the highlight or pinnacle of a person’s collection.

The topic of “Holy Grails” is popular over at Digitpress, and having only started collecting recently, I’d never given much thought as to what my personal Grails of the video game world would be. With this in mind, I set out to find the cool, obscure, and downright nostalgic items in each of the libraries I’m collecting for. What I ended up with was a good mix of impossible to find items (things that’ll take a lifetime worth of searching), along with more common items I’ll probably be able to find in the wild. This list eventually snowballed out of control, and turned out to be so prolific it couldn’t be held to a measly top 10 list, it had to be stretched to a top 18. Why such a weird number? Well recently I was assembling the “What I Want to Accomplish in my Lifetime” list and came to the realization that you shouldn’t limit yourself. If there is something you want, you should pursue it (or in this case, include it), and at the same time, you shouldn’t pad your lists just to make it into a pretty multiple of ten.

Considering the epic nature of this list, I’ve split it into two parts. Let it also be known that these are in no specific order. So without further to do, here is my 18 Holy Grails of Video Gamedom:



1. Earthbound (SNES)

-I didn’t know that this game even existed until trying to find out where Ness was from when playing Smash Brothers for the first time. I’ve never played it, and I’m a big fan of quirky RPGs. It isn’t the rarest game on the SNES, but it’s certainly one of the most sought after.

Price: $90



2. Red Cover Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (Ps2)

-I remember contemplating this preorder years ago but couldn’t rationalize it at the time (no steady income and I already owned a copy of MGS 3). What a fool I was. Considered one of, if not THE rarest Ps2 game, this collector’s edition came with the bonus disc packaged with the original Subsistence (a great deal by itself), and even more bonus goodies including all of the movies in MGS 3 cut into a film by the man-god himself, Hideo Kojima.

Price: $150



3. Bioshock Big Daddy Statue

-Bioshock is one of my favorite games of all time thanks mostly to its style and atmosphere. And who wouldn’t want to bring some of that hulking metal ambience into their house? They were made as promotional items for Gamestop, but I have no clue how many are in existence.

Price: $1700



4. Fire Emblem Thracia 776 Box Set (SNES)

-If a game comes packaged with cool swag you can count me in—and it doesn’t get much cooler than this box set. Coming in a wooden box with plushies, maps, and other greatness, is there any question why I’d want one of these?

Price: $200



5. Steel Battalion (Xbox)

-Games to me are about experiences. If there is something incredibly unique about a game, I can look past some of its faults if it brings something new or unique to the table. What’s special about Steel Battalion? Not a lot except for it comes packed with a 40 button controller and pedals for you to operate your own virtual mech. I wish more games did things like that.

Price: $300

6. Snatcher (Sega CD)

-If I had to narrow down my long list of heroes/people who have influenced me, Hideo Kojima is most likely number one. Snatcher was one of the projects he did before making the original Metal Gear Solid—and I haven’t played it. Enough said.

Price: $100

7. Donkey Kong Country Competition (SNES)

-What actually “counts” as my introduction to gaming is up for debate, but the first game I remember that made me want to be a gamer is Donkey Kong Country. The competition cart only had 2,500 copies released making it the rarest SNES game in the library (that I know of). While I could just as easily throw the Nintendo World Championship Gold Cart on here, Donkey Kong Country holds a much heavier nostalgic factor.

Price: $250-$700



8. Game and Watch Octopus

-Again, not the rarest of the series, but one of the defining titles of the Game and Watch era. Its copper and red finish screams retro (so much so the limited edition Game Boy Micro had the same coloring) and who doesn’t love games starring octopi?

Price: $200

9. Burgertime Arcade Cabinet/Cocktail Table

- The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters made me think, if I were to go for the world record in an old arcade game, what would it be? After some deliberating, Burgertime was inevitably my choice. It has just as much character as other better known classics (Donkey Kong, Pac Man, etc.)while having its own interesting identity. In addition to this, the world’s high score is 11,512,500, so I need to own the cabinet if I hope to even get close.

Price: ?

9 down…9 to go…

All of these images are the property of their respective owners.

Knowing When to Say When AKA Attempting a Platinum Trophy in Mirror's Edge

I’ll open this one by saying that I’m not an Achievement Whore or a Trophy Hunter, and while many people have argued that achievements and trophies have taken some of the “fun” out of games, I believe that they provide a good yard stick as to decide when you’ve finished with a title (especially with games that don’t really have an ending like Hexic or Peggle). The point is they give me something extra to work for, and if I enjoyed a game, thanks to trophies, I now have an excuse to go back through it on another difficulty setting or with a walkthrough to find all of those random collectables I missed. If I don’t enjoy a game, then I don’t need to go back through for trophies right…right?

That is until I discovered the horrifying exception to the rule, Mirror’s Edge.

I played through Mirror’s Edge for the first time three or four months ago. The game isn’t long (I beat it in two sittings) and like many other games I own, I put it aside, planning to return to it for trophies later on so that it would seem more fresh when I got back to it. But sadly, even then I had a sinking suspicion in my stomach that going back to it wouldn’t be the triumphant arrival I had hoped for.
While the game isn’t terrible, it’s definitely frustrating, and I learned this almost immediately after starting it up. In true strategic fashion, I decided to go for one of the more involving trophies on my first play through, Test of Faith, complete the game without shooting an enemy. The game is about running, not combat, how hard could it be?

The answer for 95% of the game? A breeze, no big deal at all. That other 5%? A nightmare. Off the top of my head I can think of at least three places where it is almost necessary to clear the room of enemies…enemies with guns. And while you can disarm them (which is what I ended up doing), the mechanic for doing so is very fickle. I spent more than an hour in the second to last room in the game alone, trying to get through it over and over and over again without shooting anyone. I did it, but I was dead on the inside afterwards.

After a couple of month hiatus, I decided to pick it up again to try and finish what I started. Again, reverting back to strategy, I decided to tackle some of the more involved trophies at the start, Pro Runner (beat the game on hard) and Packrat (find all of the hidden bags). And like before, I was able to beat the game in two sittings.

“Cool,” I said, “maybe my time off has made me a better gamer, getting this platinum won’t be hard at all.”

Wrong wrong wrong WRONG WRONG WRONG!

After getting these story mode trophies, you’re subjected to the speed runs and time trials, but don’t be fooled by their name, they are hell on a disc, and in a lot of ways, the full realization of the phrase “practice makes perfect.” It seems simple enough on paper, run through the checkpoints and beat the target time, but if you make even the tiniest mistake, you’re done. You dangled on that ledge for an extra second? Back to start. You climbed over that fence and didn’t vault over it? Back to start. I don’t know if I ever played a game before that had so little of a margin for error.

And where does that put me? I gave up with about 55% of the trophies and after a twenty hour barrage of profanities. However, not all is lost, I’ve developed a theory. Certain people are born to play certain games. The only proof I have of this is if you head over to youtube and type in “Mirror’s Edge Time Trials” your jaw will hit the floor.

I guess this one just wasn’t my virtual destiny, and the best part is, I’ll never have to play it again.

~S

Why I Should Win Nintendo World Championship

The wonderful JJGames is holding a contest and the grand prize winner gets a copy of Nintendo World Championship (one of the rarest video games in the world). To enter, all I have to do is write a blog explaining why I should be the one to take home the prize, and here we are.

So instead of sticking with the bare minimum requirements, I’m going to give you 3, count em, 3 reasons why I should win this contest:

1. I only recently started collecting video games, and while I have a good amount of them for a beginner (a couple hundred) not very many of them are “rare” by any stretch of the imagination. What I own I’ve had to either buy new or scrounge through garage sales (and in a desert town in the middle of nowhere, they usually only have vacuum cleaners and bread makers). I don’t know when another oppurtunity like this one is going to be made available (that is, one that doesn’t involve me spending thousands of dollars). And how satisfying would it be to take a thick red pen to one of these rare games on my list right off the bat?

2. I’m not a greedy douche. I’m not collecting to turn a profit; I’m doing it out of admiration for the industry and a deep love for the medium. If I were to win this contest, I wouldn’t turn around and resell it on eBay—I’d keep it and enjoy it for all the years that I collect, and if I ever have kids who enjoy video games, pass it onto them eventually.

3. Lastly, I need this cart because the last time I tried to hold a world championship with just a copy of Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego and Skate or Die, it didn’t turn out so well…

So everyone, cross your fingers for me =) I’ll have an actual video game blog up soon, stay tuned.
~S

Welcome! #1

Hello everyone, my name is Stephen, and this is my video game inspired blog.

I love video games, and ever since I got my first Super Nintendo at the age of 8 they have held a special place in my life. In fact, this admiration has recently given me yet another epic goal. That goal is to own one of the best video game collections of all time. However, I don't simply plan on owning all of these games, that would be too simple. Instead, I plan on playing through every one of them (and losing copius amounts of sanity along the way I'm sure).

Let's begin shall we?

Initially I thought I would try to get one of everything, but perusing Wikipedia (and seeing that video online that covers 450 consoles in twenty minutes) made me decide to limit what I'm collecting for by just a tad. Here are the complete libraries I came up with:

(Note: I'm only collecting North American releases)

-Gameboy, Gameboy Light, Gameboy Pocket, Super Gameboy

-Gameboy Color

-Gameboy Advance, GBA SP, Gameboy Micro

-Game and Watch

-DS, DS Lite, DSi

-NES

-SNES

-Nintendo 64

-Sega Genesis

-32x

-Neo Geo

-Gamecube

-Xbox

-Sega CD

-Sega Saturn

-Dreamcast

-Playstation

-Ps2

-Ps3

-10 Arcade Cabinets (I'm not sure which yet)

It should also be noted that I'm trying to get completes (that is original cases and instruction manuals) for all of the disc based consoles, but not necessarily for the cartridges. I'm also going to try and get all of the variations for each of the consoles themselves (different colors etc.) and all of the controllers and peripherals (though I haven't decided yet if I want all of the third party ones also).


What do you think? Insanity? With a little luck I'll play through 20,000 (that isn't a typo) games in my lifetime. That should cover all of the systems mentioned above and anything modern that's released. In this blog I'll chronicle my new purchases (and rare finds that I happen across in the wild), what I'm playing currently, articles about games and the game industry, brief thoughts on games and full on reviews.

Are you as excited as I am? Well welcome yet again, I look forward to sharing this crazy journey with you. Grab a comfortable seat, we're going to be here for a while...

Stephen


PS: I'm over at Digitpress also: StetsonGraves

I'm also on Facebook and Myspace as well if you want to get to know me outside of video game land. Okay, I'll shut up for now.