Sunday Roundup: 2/22/15

Bomberman DS Release Date: June 21st, 2005 Purchased at: Craigslist (San Jose, CA – $5) A trio of games showed up on Craigslist last week, and of them I already owned one (Lock’s Quest for the DS), but I still thought the deal was too good to pass up. Though simple in concept, Bomberman remains one of my favorite party/strategy games out there. Being able to get eight Bombermen together is tough, but maybe with this game it’ll be possible: there’s Download Play available for multiplayer romps! The game, as with each of the Craigslist games this week, is in perfect condition as well.

Glory Days 2 DS Release Date: July 31st, 2007 Purchased at: Craigslist (San Jose, CA – $5) I think I first saw Glory Days 2 a week or two back while looking up games on eBay. It showed up with a lot of other DS games, and I didn’t know anything at all about the title. It’s the second, obviously, in the series, with the first being totally generically named Super Army War. From the back of the box the game looks kind of awful, but reviews praise the game for it’s strategy and fun gameplay. Here’s hoping.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate 3DS Release Date: February 13th, 2015 Purchased at: N/A (Gift!) My brother sent over this game from LA as they received a copy in their office no one was using! I happily said I’d take the game, and after the first few hours, I can say without a doubt I enjoy this game a lot more than Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for 3DS! The game looks and plays better, without so much downtime between quests. I also feel like the game just looks better, with more attention to HUDs and menus. It’s still a slow grind (because that’s the point), but taking on your first or second huge monster is really cool and fun!

Touch Mechanic DS Release Date: March 24th, 2009 Purchased at: Amazon (Online – $5) I’ve seen this game online for awhile now, and it usually comes in as more expensive than just $5. As a brand spanking new game, for that price I finally bit. Honestly, I’m vaguely interested in playing it: from the general idea of the game to what it looks like on the back of the box, it’s essentially a Trauma Center game, but with cars and mechanical terms. Seeing as I never really heard of this game before, however, I’m sure it’s far inferior to the renown Trauma Center series.

Laters,
Jsick

 

Sunday Roundup: 2/15/15

DJ Star DS Release Date: November 10th, 2009 Purchased at: Amazon (Online – $4) While perusing games online this week, I stumbled upon this little game new for just $4. Normally I stay away from rhythm themed DS games because they don’t really compare to the genre on the consoles, but I saw this game was developed by Deep Silver (the folks behind Dead Island and Saints Row, to name a few). DS Star is a rhythm game where you use the turntables to lay down the tunes. Surprisingly, the game was listed as new on Amazon, and I’ve had bad luck with “New” games being so cheap on the site: they are either obviously repackaged, or not new games at all. This one, however, still appears to be sealed in the original factory sealed plastic. Cool!

Myth Makers: Trixie in Toyland Wii Release Date: June 24th, 2008 Purchased at: eBay (Online – $3) They are all horrible games, but some part of me simply wants to endure the pain and collect all of the Wii’s Myth Makers series. Earlier I was able to pick up a complete, used copy of Orbs of Doom from GameStop for less than a dollar thanks to some discounts. This game is freaking premium comparatively, but it’s been hard to track down used copies of them otherwise. And frankly, I’ll go for most any game under five dollars. Here’s to crappy games!

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D 3DS Release Date: February 13th, 2015 Purchased at: Target (Sunnyvale, CA – $35) For the first time ever (Yes, ever) in my gaming life, I got up super early, waited outside of a store for it to open, and was one of the first people to buy The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D. But the game isn’t what I waited outside for: I actually bought the Majora’s Mask New Nintendo 3DS! They had just 10 in stock, so I got up at 5am, waited until they opened, and, along with nine other happy Nintendo fans, scored a limited edition New 3DS. Hooray for my gaming addiction now sapping sleep!

Hello Kitty Seasons Wii Release Date: November 16th, 2010 Purchased at: eBay (Online – $5) A small lot of games on eBay caught my eye on my feed this week, and, interestingly enough, the biggest draw to me was the Hello Kitty game. Essentially the same concept as Animal Crossing except with the Hello Kitty family of anthropomorphic animals, Hello Kitty Seasons was one of the first appearances of Sanrio’s mascot on the Wii. The game doesn’t look to be all that terrible, and seeing as Laura is a big fan of Animal Crossing (follow her blog on Tumblr!) and also enjoys some Hello Kitty plushies, this game is hers 🙂

Goosebumps: Horrorland Wii Release Date: October 30th, 2008 Purchased at: eBay (Online – $5) A few things about this one. When I was growing up, like many kids my age, I was really into the Goosebumps series of books. “Welcome to Horrorland” was actually one of my favorites! Enter Goosebumps: Horrorland for Wii. A collection of Horrorland-themed mini-games, it’s more of a nostalgia trip for me than anything else. The value of the game is above $5, so the price of admission (get it?) was right. But best of all, this game is still sealed! I’ll likely keep it in the packaging for the time being, but I actually do want to check it out to see what it’s even like. Haunted mini-golf seems like my thing, no?

Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 Wii Release Date: November 9th, 2008 Purchased at: eBay (Online – $5) Sometimes you get a collection of games for a cheap price, and sometimes there are games included that you otherwise have no business buying/playing. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 is one of those games. At least my favorite wrestler when I actually did watch wrestling, Shawn Michaels, is on the cover. So that’s good…

Laters,
Jsick

 

Sunday Roundup: 2/8/15

Good lord, when stores have sales I tend to go crazy! This time around, Space Cat, a local used game store, moved locations to a bigger yet somehow more cramped space, and to commemorate the transition offered 50% off their used games under $9.99! I’m sure you can tell I picked up a lot of titles. What was doubly great about this deal however was the fact that a lot of games I previously passed on during my past visits to the store were still there, and now they’re even cheaper! Those account for a lot of the pickups this week. There was also a random visit to a board game selling couple on Craigslist that lead to a new Wii Fit as well as a very successful trip to Mountain View’s GameStop! And any week I can scrounge up a Sega Saturn game is a good week, so throw that onto the pile for this post as well!

 

Sunday Roundup: 2/1/15

It’s been a long time since I picked up some games on Craigslist, but this week was too good for me to pass up. Making it even better were three (!) successful trips to three different GameStops. I picked up Wii games, DS games, and even a couple PSP games. Whenever I can get three consoles or more in one week’s Roundup I feel a little bad: maybe I’m spreading myself too thin with all these consoles to possibly buy for, but then I look at the actual games, remember why I want to play/own them, and justify the purchase.

 

Game Hunter’s Journal: The Convenience (and Disadvantage) of eBay

Online auction site eBay can be a real haven for game collectors. Literally everything you could ever want is on the site. That includes games, specific versions of games, very specific inserts and other stuff included with a game but not necessarily the game, and some other things you didn’t even existed (but now must have!). With everything at your fingertips, it’s easy to get drawn into the black hole that is eBay and never look back. As a game collector you can use eBay to get all kinds of stuff you otherwise would never find, but using eBay the proper way can be challenging. Here’s how a game collector should use eBay to their advantage and grow their collection the best, most efficient, way possible.

 

Sunday Roundup: 1/25/15

A massive haul from several Goodwill’s around the area helped to make this first official Sunday Roundup of 2015 a big one. There isn’t anything extraordinary in the haul this week, but there are some fun titles and some titles I’ve been sitting on for a long time. I also continued the trend of buying the entire Tony Hawk’s series someone keeps donating. Eventually I’ll run out of games/consoles I don’t have yet, so I’ll need to think of something else to do in the meantime. 

 

Top Ten Pick Ups of 2014

In lieu of the usual Yearly Roundup, where I recount every game added to the collection over the past year, this year I’ve decided to do something different. As with every year here on SlickGaming there are many excellent finds and surprising deals on video games each and ever month, and I’ve always had a blast sharing them all with you. But now it’s time to look at the best of the best from 2014. I purchase a lot of games that are, for better or worse, padding to the collection. Now it’s time to look past those and determine the best, most exciting, and generally awesome finds of the last year. The following games (or groups of games) were the most impressive additions to the catalog in 2014. They’re not necessarily the rarest or most hard to find, but rather the most memorable pickups and greatest deals.

 

Sunday Roundup: 12/28/14

I’m late on getting this Christmas themed Sunday Roundup out, but after the holiday itself, and the craziness that was my job, followed by the fun times had on New Year’s Eve, and then a week long vacation in Las Vegas and getting to see the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, I barley had any time to write! Because of that, I have actually combined the last three weeks into this one Roundup. Honestly, it really just contains the games from the holidays, as I didn’t buy but one game afterward, but to be perfectly fair, you all know. Also, this is the last Roundup of 2014! And I have to say, it was an exceptional way to end the year indeed!

 

Sunday Roundup: 12/21/14

Brain Age: Concentration Training 3DS Release Date: February 10th, 2013 Purchased at: Goodwill (Mountain View, CA – $9)Laura and I happened to be checking out a new sandwich place when we drove past this Goodwill. I have mentioned before stopping in here and commenting on how big it was, even noticing they had some old N64 and Game Boy Advance games for sale (though I didn’t pick any up). This time though they had a shipment of brand new (!) games from K-Mart. Among them was Brain Age: Concentration Training here. Granted not a wonderful price, it was at least still sealed, which is better for that price. And it’ll likely stay sealed.

Just Dance Wii Release Date: November 17th, 2009 Purchased at: Goodwill (Mountain View, CA – $5)We’ve been talking about getting some of the Just Dance games to use at parties and social gatherings, so this was a pretty fun find. Every now and then I see a copy of this original game in the series at GameStop or some place similar, and it’s still up in the $20 range. Dear god, it’s so old and there are a dozen sequels! Why are we still willing to pay that much for such an old game? Anyhow, it’s mine now, and as with every other game series, I must start collecting the rest. Ugh…

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir 3DS Release Date: April 13th, 2012 Purchased at: Goodwill (Mountain View, CA – $5)Woohoo! Best find of the day! Spirit Camera was one of the earlier 3DS games I’ve been searching for, and I am finally able to call it my own. And, just like Brain Age, it’s still sealed! This one might be opened tough, as I really want to play it, and the resale value of the game now isn’t astronomical. As a spinoff of the Fatal Frame series, I can also claim this one to be the final game I needed to complete the American-released series!

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Wii U Release Date: December 5th, 2014 Purchased at: Target (Cupertino, CA – $36) I actually forgot to include this one on last week’s Roundup, so here it is! When Nintendo announced Captain Toad back at E3, I was already on board. Like many other Wii U players, I thought the Captain Toad segments of Super Mario 3D World were fun diversions that were a welcome and challenging change of pace. Now the little guy’s in his own entire game! Having played just an hour of so of the game I can’t speak wholly on it just yet, but so far the game is equal parts challenging and adorable!

Laters,
Jsick

 

Sunday Roundup: 12/14/14

Another sale at GameStop this week has perhaps changed my mind about the company’s policy regarding, well, sales. But the real find this week was a handful of original Xbox games at Goodwill. Don’t get too excited though: this isn’t nearly as grand a find as the GameCube games a few months back, but it’s still decent.