Retro Megabit

GameSwap Vol. 3

Posted by Sega Dude on April 21, 2017

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, Genesis (North America), SEGA, SNK Neo Geo. Tagged: Beyond Oasis, GameSwap, Mortal Kombat, Neo Geo Pocket Color. 1 Comment

Almost a year ago I took notice of the game Beyond Oasis for the Sega Genesis at a local retro game store called Game Swap. This Complete Beyond Oasis was priced at $100 CAD. Unfortunately the original cardboard case had been cut up so that the cover would fit in one of Sega’s hard plastic clamshell cases. I was actually just after the manual to complete my own Beyond Oasis. Understandably the owner of the store did not want to break up the set which would make what was left harder to sell.

Speaking of cutting up original cardboard Sega Genesis cases to make them fit into the more popular plastic clamshell cases… don’t do it! Unlike in the 90’s there is no longer a need for this. If you feel compelled to convert a cardboard case into a plastic clamshell case print a custom cover and leave the cardboard box intact.

Where can you get these ready to print covers from? Right here:

https://www.mediafire.com/?5gm45wyxr3xvv#5gm45wyxr3xvv

Check out this beautiful replacement cover for Beyond Oasis.

A big thanks to djshok for all this amazing work!

But I digress…

I considered buying the whole game for the manual and then reselling the game and case but I was guessing it would take a long time to resell and the manual would end up costing me a lot of money. I was ready to give up on it when the owner told me of a new store policy that he now offers.

Visit GameSwap on your birthday and you’ll get 25% off your purchase that day. That is a very generous offer. And everyone in range of Game Swap should take note (store addresses at the bottom of this post).

So, very slowly the months ticked by until the better part of a year had passed and it was my birthday. I went back to see if Beyond Oasis was still there. Now with 25% off buying the game to harvest the manual and reselling the cart and case became much more feasible.

Regardless if Beyond Oasis was still there or not I brought some games to trade with. I was making the trip and I wanted to come home with something.

I actually brought a lot of stuff with me. What you see below is pretty much the last of my miscellaneous games that I’ve been sitting on. Two complete game gear games, two loose game gear games, a loose Gunstar Heroes, a loose NES Rush ‘n Attack, two complete Genesis/MD games, one complete Sega Mark III game (Double Target), one complete Doom for the original xbox, case and manual for Sonic Spinball and a loose Sega Master system Altered Beast manual.

I also brought the last of my Neo Geo Pocket collection. Eight complete games and the NGPC communication link; used to make the NGPC wireless for two player gaming.

Before we got down to wheeling and dealing I asked about Beyond Oasis and it was still there. Things where looking good. But what I didn’t realize is that you’re not allowed to combine the birthday discount with store credit. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to spend any actual cash.

We had a good time talking about these games and the owner enjoyed seeing so many obscure items that don’t often come his way. I got a kick out of how much he liked my complete Double Target for the Sega Mark III. I also really like it too. And when we were able to find the North American version called Quartet (for the Sega Master System) in his own inventory he was amazed at the difference in the cover art. The Japanese version is so much better! See them side by side here. *Despite being a little stiff Quartet is a good game.

Then the basic math (which felt complex) began. We started to discuss what I would be willing to take in store credit for all the different games that I brought with me. Between us we had a good idea of value for most items and others were a bit trickier to assess. I wish I could remember all the fine details but for the most part these games were valued at roughly $5, $10, and $20 each.

Once everything was finalized I wanted to revisit the possibility of using my new found credit in conjunction with the 25% birthday discount. I did not even have to engage the puppy eye look and my wish was granted. I think the cool factor of some of the games I bought in helped a lot.

And after about 45 minutes of hardcore nerding out Beyond Oasis was mine! I took out the manual, handed the case and cart back and said “how much would you give for this?”. I had found a loop hole for breaking up complete games (sort of)! I said I would take $20 in credit for the game which was now missing the manual but instead I was given $60 credit. He’s really very generous. So the $100 game minus 25%, minus $60 credit leaves me with the manual for $15.

Below is my now complete Beyond Oasis for the Sega Genesis.

Something that will not surprise any Sega Genesis and Mega Drive fans is that the cover art for Beyond Oasis is much nicer for the Japanese version.

Despite GameSwap having a large stack of complete Japanese Mega Drive games the only other game I picked up this trip was Mortal Kombat 1 for the Genesis for $25. I saw it and thought to myself “Yes! That’s the one I need!” I got it home only to find that I had Mortal Kombat 1 and was missing Mortal Kombat 3… However, I did discover that I didn’t have the manual for Mortal Kombat 1 but I do now and that helps take the sting out of buying a double.

And thus, the miscellaneous pile of video games starts anew.

So by the end of my visit to GameSwap I came away with Mortal Kombat, a Beyond Oasis manual and $130 CAD in store credit.

Nintendo Joe gave me the loose Gun Star Heroes that I traded in so some of this store credit will go to him.

If you’re in the neighborhood check out GameSwap for some retro goodness!

GameSwap:
1601 Birchmount Rd, Scarborough, ON M1P 2H5
and
715 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON M4J 1L2

Barrie Game Exchange at the Red Barn

Posted by Sega Dude on April 9, 2017

Posted in: Collection New Additions, dreamcast, Games, Genesis (North America), SEGA. Tagged: Barrie Game Exchange, dreamcast, genesis, Red Barn, sega, Trubo Grafx-16. 5 Comments

On June 11, 2011 I wrote my first post here at RetroMegabit.com (the site was called The Sega Collection at that time). The subject of that post was Warsong for the Sega Genesis. It’s a turned based strategy game that I really enjoy but was unable to pick-up complete for a good price. If I remember right it was often listed for $50 complete while I was hoping to find it for $20. No real surprise but I should have paid that price way back then.

The loose cart that I did find in 2011 was a super deal for $5 but far from complete and in pretty rough shape. Now, almost 6 years later I have a complete Warsong. All thanks to Nintendo Joe who took me to the Red Barn for the Barrie Game Exchange this past April 2nd.

My new and beautiful Warsong was purchased from my buddies at Retro Game Bros.

Warsong was priced at $110 CAD and I gave Retro Game Bros. Batman Returns, Tiny Toons (for the Sega Genesis), Samurai Spirits! and Puzzle Bobble Mini (for the Neo Geo Pocket Color) (all complete) and $70 cash. I had been trying to sell these games for a long while without success and I was ready to unload them. I was happy for the discount.

Next up, from a different vendor at the Barrie Game Exchange is Pink Goes to Hollywood for $15. Which was much easier on the wallet. I didn’t notice at first that the manual has a barcode sticker stuck on it and I might try to remove it at some point. A sticker on paper will be hard to remove and might not be possible. But I’ve tried before and it worked out well.

Sports games… the last refuge for cheap retro video games. Wold Championship Soccer II for $3.

And Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge for $4.

I have a friend who regularly sells games at these venues. He collects by buying large lots of games, taking what he likes and then re-sells the rest. He was at this Barrie Game Exchange and he had put a few games aside that I asked for and they were there waiting for me.

A long while ago I asked him for Psychic World only later realizing that I have it. But since mine was missing the manual and not in perfect shape I ended up swapping mine for his and giving him some cash.

I handed over $40 and my copy for a complete and very good condition Psychic World and Ranma ½ for the PC Engine. He also gave me 3-D Glasses for the Sega Master System for free. Adaptor and Glasses. I tried them and they are not completely working. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to fix them. But if I can I’ll write a post about that endeavor.

A few years ago a good friend gave me my Turbo Grafx-16 with CD unit. In it was Ranma ½ for the PC Engine. It was a loose CD and I wanted to get a complete copy. Which is why I bought this new Ranma ½. What I didn’t realize is there are more than one Ranma ½ for the PC Engine.

My first Ranma ½ is a fighting game like Street Fighter and the new one is a platformer. My first Ranma ½ will have to get completed some other time.

Next up is Space Harrier for the Turbo Grafx-16. It’s missing the cardboard box but it does have the jewel case, manual, Hu Card and sleeve. With this vendor I was able to trade Space Harrier straight up for a complete English Crush Roller for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. This Crush Roller that I traded I originally received in exchange for a boxed Phantasy Star for the Sega Mark III a few years back. In the Retro Scene trading is the circle of life.

A long time ago I picked up a boxed Dreamcast Keyboard and when I saw this Dreamcast Mouse for $20 I thought it was time to complete the set.

At first I was surprised to see that the Dreamcast mouse is a ball mouse and not a laser mouse but then I remembered it’s age. The mouse is in great shape and it looks like it’s never been used.

For a short one hour trip it made for a fun day. With any luck Nintendo Joe will post finds soon. He had a much bigger day than I did!

Update: Click here for Nintendo Joe’s Barrie Game Exchange loot.

This is Paprium! Rule, be ruled, or die!

Posted by Sega Dude on March 27, 2017

Posted in: Community, Games, Genesis (North America), Hardware, Mega Drive (EURO), Mega Drive (Japanese), New Release (Hardware), SEGA. Tagged: Paprium, pre order, project y, Rule be Ruled or die!, trailer, Water Melon. 3 Comments

It’s time to pull that Genesis out of the closet and dust off your Mega Drive. The largest ever Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive video game now has an official launch date.

Meet Paprium; the meanest, baddest and biggest post-apocalyptic two player brawler ever to grace the 16-bit era!

Available for pre-order right now at paprium.com for $99 USD for the Limited Edition version or $69 for the Classic Edition (Worldwide shipping included). Both with a release date of September 16, 2017. The limited Edition comes in three flavors; styled after the Sega Genesis, PAL Mega Drive and Japanese Mega Drive. All editions of Paprium are region free and all contain English, Japanese, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish languages.

Update: Shortly after Paprium was made available for pre-order the price was increased for the Limited Edition from $89 USD to $99 USD. The Classic Edition and the Grand Stick have remained the same.

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And what better companion for the ultimate beat ’em all than an all mighty arcade stick; retailing for $150 USD.

This physical release for the Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive is the largest game ever for the system; weighing in at a whopping 80 MEGs.

The game cartridge for PAPRIUM features an integrated DT128M16VA1LT semiconductor. The 16-bit experience has never been so perfect: The features, so rich; The audio, so crisp; The MEG power, so intimidating.

But don’t get lost in the technical mayhem, throw your gaming prowess at multiple game modes, 24 Levels and up to 5 selectable characters! You can play in co-op with one or two simultaneous players.

With some of the finest 16-bit graphics I have ever seen Paprium has built up an immense amount of excitement in the retro video gaming community. I believe we’re looking at an absolute blockbuster. Which will likely become a must own for gamers and collectors.

If somehow you’re not entirely shell-shocked from the above screen shots then you’re ready to dive into the rabbit hole and bear witness to the evolution of 16-bit gaming:

Couldn’t catch the in game tunes in the high intensity trailer? Here’s a better video to sample the outstanding audio:

Planning on purchasing Paprium? Feel free to use any one of the follow digital coupon codes to receive a 10% discount:

9479238 (from Sega Dude)
9385087 (from makinagenesis)
9379000 (from Man-Fa Tang)
10027253 (from Daniel)

(The above codes can be used an unlimited number of times [starting March 28th] by anyone until they expire on April 24, 2017)

Paprium is Coming! A Project Y Update.

Posted by Sega Dude on March 19, 2017

Posted in: Community, Genesis (North America), Mega Drive (EURO), Mega Drive (Japanese), SEGA. Tagged: 10% discount, genesis, mega drive, Paprium, project y, sega, watermelon. 11 Comments

What is Paprium?

Paprium is the official name for WaterMelon’s new video game for play on your Sega Mega Drive and Sega Genesis video game console. Paprium was previously called Project Y.

Update: Click here for more details and Pre-order Now.

This game has been in development for about 4-5 years. And finally! At long last!! …it’s still not done.
But it’s close! It’s so very close!! …I don’t really know that, but I think it’s true.

Here’s what is for certain. WaterMelon will be making an announcement about Paprium this March 28th, 2017. WaterMelon has also given Investors limited time coupon codes to discount the purchase price of Paptrium. And some of these codes can be shared with everyone.

*’Investor’ is Watermelon’s term for people who got in early and crowdfunded Paprium.

What do fans following Paprium (myself included) believe will be announced this Tuesday March 28th? We’re guessing that Watermelon will release a video trailer for Paprium, announce an official release date and open pre-orders for the game.

There will also be some surprises like this arcade style joystick build specifically for the Genesis/Mega Drive and for PC:

If you’re planning on purchasing Paprium feel free to use any one of the follow digital coupon codes to receive a 10% discount:

9479238 (from Sega Dude)
9385087 (from makinagenesis)
9379000 (from Man-Fa Tang)
10027253 (from Daniel)

(The above codes can be used an unlimited number of times [starting March 28th] by anyone until they expire on April 24, 2017)

My code was given to me by WaterMelon Co. and every single Paprium Investor got a code as well. If anyone uses one of the above codes Watermelon will give 50 gems to the owner of the code. Gems are currency on the WM web site (MagicalGameFactory) used for paying for their products. 500 gems = $50 USD.

If you have a friend who is an Investor in Paprium you can asked them for their code so that you can help them out while at the same time getting a 10% discount for yourself. I’m guessing that these discount codes will not stack and you’ll only be able to use one. So use the code from the person you’d most like to support.

Any Paprium Investors out there? If you’d like to share your code here please leave it in the comments below and I’ll add it to this post right along side my own.

Need a refresher on what Paprium is going to look like? Here are some very old screen shots of this awesome looking brawler from its development phase.

Early Work In Progress video of Paprium:

On March 28th visit www.paprium.com to (hopefully) pre-order your copy of Paprium for the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Genesis.

Game Room Update February 2017

Posted by Sega Dude on February 28, 2017

Posted in: Community, Games, Nintendo, SEGA, SNK Neo Geo. Tagged: retro megabit, Retro Video Game Collection, sega dude, Update. 17 Comments

retro-megabit-game-room-update-5

Sometime in the fall of 2016 I threw on my coat and told the wife that we’re going to Ikea! It was time. The Retro Video Game collection was spilling over and no longer fit neatly into the two existing bookshelves that I had dedicated to it.

In fact, at the time I was pretty sure the entire wall that I was using no longer offered enough space. So the man cave underwent a great awakening. An explosion of growth and expansion not entirely unlike the Big Bang.

My Game Room is a rectangular room in the basement. I was using the short wall for the collection but that has all changed now. I bought two more book shelves that are identical to the first two. These four bookshelves and the TV stand fit perfectly along the long wall of my basement. There were two windows in the basement and just half of one is left visible. I’m not above blotting out the sun for the greater good.

Considering that Retro Video Game Collecting specifically has not yet been officially recognized as an addiction or a compulsive disorder there has been nothing to stop me from doing this.

BEHOLD!!! Sega Dude’s Retro Video Game Collection (February 2017).

How many games are here in the collection? Any guesses?
There are 1,288 games on those shelves.

Take a moment to catch your breath and get ready for some close-ups of each of the shelves.

Complete good condition Sega Genesis games are getting harder to come by. I’m glad I already have so many of my favorites.

Pictured above are two of my first Genesis games. Altered Beast and Space Harrier. I have a lot of great memories working hard to beat both of those games.

I really do prefer the look of the older style black insert Sega Genesis cover art compared to the red cases. There’s nothing wrong with the red covers; it’s just my preference. And as best as I could I tried to make games with black cases more prominent but they’re just out numbered.

The shelf below with Sega Genesis games is one of three shelves left with some room for growth. The rest are jammed packed. As far as problems go, it’s a nice one to have.

Did you see that shelf above with 64 complete Game Boy Advanced games? I was really into the GBA when it was current and I bought most of those games used during it’s era. The typical price I was paying per game back then was anywhere between $10 and $20 each. And I was careful about getting them only if they were complete and in good shape. It’s a great collection for GBA that I just don’t know how to display well.

It wasn’t that long ago that I decided to purge a lot of my SNES and NES games. There are sooo many titles and I just can’t afford to chase them all. I’m sticking to the core classics a few that I think will be fun to play.

Next up are my giant Neo Geo MVS cartridges in their after market Shockboxes. They look great but they really do take up a lot of space! …totally worth it.

During the Super Nintendo era I was really enjoying Street Fighter 2 (we all were). I had a ton of fun with it and I could complete the game with all the characters. But fighting games were not my main interest. So it wasn’t until about 2014 when I really got to sample what the arcades had to offer and what the true diehard fighters were into.

SNK Neo Geo games are pure blood arcade games and they can be very punishing! An arcade experience is very different from the home console world.

Did you know you can buy an exceptionally high quality Flash Cart for the Neo Geo AES and MVS right now? At first glance it might look expensive but it’s actually a great way to dive into Neo Geo.

NEOSD at the NEOSDSTORE

My two latest Neo Geo editions are Captain Tomaday and Sengoku 3 (loose carts pictured above). I’ll get cases for them some time down the road. Those two small boxes are two decks of playing cards that use to ship with a Neo Geo game called Knights Chance by Neobitz. I don’t have this game but by chance I bought an unrelated and used Neo Geo MVS game from the creator of Knights Chance (Jeff Kurtz) and he surprised me by giving me these decks for free. It was a very nice gesture. Thanks Jeff! I’d love to own Knights Chance someday but it’s very limited and very expensive.

Moving on to the other half of the collection I’ll start with my Japanese Sega Mega Drive games. You don’t have to go very far back in my blog posts to find that I’ve recently added a bunch of very expensive games to the collection. I can’t make a habit of these premium titles but I do have a lot of seriously good games from the Mega Drive library and I really enjoy them. Right now Gleylancer is stealing the spotlight as an outstanding shooter for the system.

Pictured above is Rockman Mega World another of my recent and very expensive additions. Thanks to a fellow collector I got Rockman for much less than typical ebay prices.

Below is Panorama Cotton another hard to get Japanese Mega Drive game that I picked up in 2012 for $120 CAD.

Battle Mania above was an amazing gift from a close friend in 2013. It cost $100 CAD. Tucked in behind ESWAT is another one of my recent and expensive addition; Alesia Dragoon that I bought with Rockman.

They say you always remember your first. And there is no doubt in my mind that the Sega Master system holds that special place in my heart. The Sega Master System was my first home video game console and the first system I started collecting for when I got into the hobby. The terrible artwork and classic white grid backdrop reek of retro and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Phantasy Star for the win!

There are some seriously good games here. The Wonderboy series, Fantasy Zone II, R-Type, Quartet, Phantasy Star, Mirracle Warriors, Ys and Golvellious are some of my top favorites for the Master System.

Check it out, boxed 3-D Glasses, boxed FM Sound Unit… no big deal.

I also have a good number of complete Sega Mark III games; which (for the most part) are identical to their corresponding Master System game except the packing and cartridge shape.

If I had the money back in the day I’m sure I would have brought a TurboGrafx-16 home. What an excellent home console. It’s just a shame that the games are so hard to find these days. I have 24 Turbo Grafx-16 games including a bunch of the best games the system has to offer. So even though I don’t think my Turbo library will grow much I do feel I have a solid representation of this over-looked gem. My TG-16 and Turbo-Grafx CD was given to me from a close friend who traded for it at a garage sale.

Below is a close up my busiest shelf. In the mix you’ll see PC Engine, TG-16, Sega Game Gear, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast and PS2 games.

A huge thanks goes out to Nintendo Joe! About 98% of my Sega CD and Sega Game Gear games came from him as gifts. They are shinning examples of some of the amazing deals he’d been able to find out in the wild over the years. Thanks Bud! He’s also given me a bunch of TG-16 games too.

Fun Fact: Nintendo Joe‘s own video game collection at the time of this writing consists of a mere 968 video games. He’s what the us Big Timers call a ‘sub-1k’.

The bottom right two shelves are kind of miscellaneous space right now. Games on those shelves were not counted towards my 1,288 grand total. I think subconsciously I’ve started collecting for the Xbox 360 but I’m just not totally aware of it yet.

Stuffed in the cardboard box are misc. games that I’m trying to sell or trade. To the right are some cool Retro Video Game books. Someday these shelves will be setup games like the rest.

Since I took this most recent collection update picture I’ve cleaned up one of the misc. shelves. Already I’m almost done with my Xbox 360 collection. There aren’t many more titles I want. About half of those Xbox 360 games cost me between $2-$4 each at one garage sale. The rest cost between $10-$20 each.

The cartridges stacked on the right are for the Texas Instrument TI 99/4A; which was my first home computer. These games cost me between 50 cent and $2 each.

So I find myself wondering if the wife will jump in the car with me the next time I exclaim “we’re going to Ikea!” Or will it have to be a secret mission?!

RetroBot

Blast Processing

Pick-Ups – Mega Drive JNTSC and PAL Games

Posted by Sega Dude on January 31, 2017

Posted in: Games, Mega Drive (EURO), Mega Drive (Japanese), SEGA. Tagged: JNTSC, mega drive, pal, Rolling Thunder 2, sega, The Ottifants. 8 Comments

Well, that didn’t take long. It was only just last month when I wrote ‘Collecting like it’s 1998!‘ where I discovered that I no longer have Rolling Thunder 2 for the Japanese Sega Mega Drive. I owned the game once (in 1998) and it had cost me $10 CAD. Then over the years something happened and I no longer had it. I started missing the game and I wanted it back. On eBay getting it back would cost me about $70-$80 CAD. I realized then that I didn’t miss it that badly. So I tried to put it out of my mind. Better to have loved and lost than to have never–Hells No! I want it back!
But I didn’t have a plan. eBay is the only consistently reliable place to find old games like this. But the convenience comes with a giant premium. And for the second time I have recently closed my eBay account. So again I tried to put Rolling Thunder 2 out of my mind.

Then while having a fun day with the wife and some of the family exploring our local China Town my wife reluctantly pointed out A&C Games sitting directly across the street from where we were. I had been to this store at it’s old location and honestly I did not visit it often because it’s typically very expensive for the games that I’m looking for. But just browsing would still be pretty fun even if I didn’t buy anything. So I ventured in…

As I walked in I was immediately impressed with the amount of Retro Video games they had. I asked where they kept their Sega Genesis games and they showed me. They had a lot; maybe 150 boxed games. The condition of the games ranged from just OK to good. Most of the interesting titles were priced at about $80 CAD each. My enthusiasm started to wane. I then asked to see their Turbo Grafx-16 games and they showed me; and I saw some $25 sports games. Then I looked for Sega Master System and Dreamcast games; they had them too. And then I found stack of Neo Geo MVS carts; all commons (but good games) for about $80-$120 each. Everything I asked or looked for was found; which was pretty cool. And even though I hadn’t seen any Mega Drive games while browsing the Genesis section I decided to ask if they had any Japanese Sega Mega Drive games; and they said ‘yes, right this is way please’.

Japanese Sega Mega Drive games must be in less demand. These prices were better. $20 was a common price among the 20 or 25 games that I saw. And to my surprise one of those games was a very excellent condition Rolling Thunder 2. However, it did cost me $50 CAD plus tax (~ $38 USD) which is still a lot of money but better than eBay and it came complete with instant gratification.

Look at that Rolling Thunder 2. If only all retro games were in such great condition. It feels good putting this one back in the collection after all these years.

How good is Rolling Thunder 2? It’s a solid action platformer. Not amazing but still a good game. The boss fights are a bit weak and simplistic. Not simplistic as in ‘easy’ but just uninspired. The game does provide level codes at the end of each stage so you can continue where you left off rather than starting from scratch each time. It’s the type of game where you’ll need to remember enemy attack patterns in order to get through a stage. It may look easy but it will provide a good challenge and it has a great James Bond feel to it.

The next find was very unique for me. In my experience is it exceptionally rare to find PAL Mega Drive games (European Releases) in Canada. I have only two other PAL games and this is only the second time I’ve found a PAL game locally. The first time was decades ago and I passed it up.

There are two problems with having a PAL game in North America. First, CRT TV’s (Tube TVs) in Europe support different standards than CRT TV’s in North America. As a result of this if the game in question was built for the 50 Hz PAL standard it might not display correctly on a 60 Hz NTSC TV (and vice versa). Second, if the game is region locked a North American Sega Genesis will not be able to load the game at all.

In the case of The Ottifants I discovered that it is region locked and my Sega Genesis cannot play it. Fortunately I do have a Super Key and I was able to get around the region locking.

The first stage of The Ottifants reminded me of Castle of Illusion Staring Mickey Mouse. And although a competent platformer (from my brief time with it) The Ottifants is not as good. For $20 plus tax it was still worth picking up just for kicks. It’s also in very good shape and it will be something a little bit unique in my collection.