snes

All posts tagged snes

Pick-Ups – SNES Game Manuals

Posted by Sega Dude on October 22, 2016

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, SNES. Tagged: dkoldies, manual, nintendo, snes. Leave a comment

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My online shopping for NES and SNES manuals has really slowed down. At the risk of sounding like a broken record I’m going to site the same old culprits; Retro Video Game prices are getting too hot for my wallet, the US dollar is too strong and shipping often delivers a hefty punch all on it’s own.

Coming to my rescue I got an email from DKOldies.com offering 40% off SNES manuals. It’s like this sale was tailored just for me. A 10% off sale would never get my attention but 40% is significant.

So I dove in and started browsing SNES manuals at Dkoldies.com. I was happy to see that there were a bunch of manuals that I wanted at prices that would be good after the 40% discount. Below are the non-sale prices for the games I picked-up.

Super Metroid – $30
Mega Man X – $20
Breath of Fire – $20
Final Fantasy II – $25
Act Raiser – $15
Donkey Kong Country 3 – $15
Cybernator – $15
Batman Returns – $7
Illusion of Gaia w/ map- $15

Minus the 40% discount of $64.80, plus shipping of $14.73 my grand total was $111.85 USD for nine SNES manuals. That’s close to $12.50 USD each or ~$16.50 each CAD. This is still not cheap but it’s pretty good. I went for this bunch at this price because they included some really good titles like Super Metroid, Mega Man X, Breath of Fire and Final Fantasy II.

As for the condition? They are all in good shape; some are in really good shape. The worst is Final Fantasy II with some marks on the cover but it’s still good. I am very happy with this score. Thank you DKOldies.com for putting on an actually worth while sale!

My Illusion of Gaia came with a map as a bonus. I was not expecting this but it was a very welcome surprise.

This map is like new! Very nice.

Despite this great discount I still passed on a few titles (notably Chrono Trigger) because even with 40% off they were still just too expensive.

When you order from DKOldies.com there is a field on the order confirmation page to add details or instructions. Every time I order I ask for good condition stuff because I just can’t help myself and each time my comment is highlighted to acknowledge that the message was received. I don’t know if this helps but so far I have been happy with my DKOldies.com orders.

Of a collection of 48 SNES carts I now have manuals for 38 of them. And I’ll be patiently waiting for the next super sale!

Pick-Ups – NES Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt and SNES Knights of the Round

Posted by Sega Dude on August 28, 2016

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, NES, Nintendo, SNES. Tagged: duck hunt, knights of the round, NES, snes, super mario bros.. 2 Comments

NES and SNES Additions 01
So, this might be a good indicator that I haven’t been a die-hard NES colletor. I’ve only just recently bought Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. for $10 CAD each from Retro Game Bros. These are two early NES titles that are still fun games to play.

And yes, I do have a NES Zapper and a beautiful CRT TV too. Duck Hunt will get some play time!

Eventually I’ll get some manuals and aftermarket Stone Age Gamer BitBoxes for these carts and this very affordable chapter of my NES collection with be closed.

Regarding my NES and SNES collecting I’ve decided to be financially responsible (I can hear my wife laughing right now… or is that crying I hear?). I’m only looking for games that have a lot of nostalgia for me and for games that have stood the test of time and are still really fun to play.
Which, admittedly, is a terrible segway into my next purchase…

My poor buddy Nintendo Joe went on vacation to enjoy the sites and shop for a some retro video games… he did all that and then he got robbed! Passports and retro games were gone. So on his return we went out for some therapy shopping (straight back to Retro Game Bros.). I dropped (by far) the most amount of money I’ve ever spent on a SNES game. I picked up a good condition loose cart of Knights of the Round for $120 CAD. Nintendo Joe also treated himself.

I played Knights of the Round for about 30 minutes and it is a cool beat’em up. I love the theme and even though the game is generous with lives and continues there is a real challenge to be found here. The only down side are the sound effects which are a bit flat and don’t live up to the very nice look of the game. Despite the fact that I am going to keep Knights of the Round I don’t feel it’s worth $120 if you’re just into playing. However, demand for retro games seems to say otherwise. Fortunately there still many great retro games out there with much more fordable price tags.

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Stone Age Gamer BitBoxes Vol. 3

Posted by Sega Dude on July 18, 2016

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, NES, Nintendo, SNES. Tagged: bitbox, NES, nintendo, snes, stone age gamer. 7 Comments

Yes that’s right! At this moment all of my loose NES and SNES cartridges are safely stored, each in their own Stone Age Gamer BitBox. True my Nintendo collection is not as authentic as my Sega collection in their original cases but ‘Wow!’ I really do feel my Nintendo Collection is look’in great.

There is nothing wrong with leaving your game cartridges loose. They look fine and they will take up the least amount of space but they will lack some polish and panache!

I’ve lost track of some of the prices I’ve paid for the above games but here are the details I do remember:

01) Mega Man 2 $??, Manual $22 USD
02) Contra $55 CAD, No Manual
03) Faxanadu $10 CAD, Manual $6 USD.
04) Adventure Island Traded, Manual $10 USD.
05) Double Dragon II $15 CAD, Manual $7 USD
06) Ninja Gaiden $20 CAD, No Manual
07) Ninja Gaiden II which sold with the manual for $25 CAD
08) Wizards & Warriors $8 USD, Manual $3 USD
09) Dr. Mario $10 CAD, Manual $3 USD
10) Life Force $13 USD, Manual $6 USD
11) Gradius Free with Lukie point, Manual $8 USD
12) Karnov $8 USD, No Manual
13) Pro Wrestling $5 CAD, Manual $2 USD
14) P.O.W. $10 CAD, No Manual
15) Ice Hockey $5 CAD, Manual $2 USD
16) Dragon Warrior II $30 CAD, No Manual
17) Castlevania III – $40, No Manual

This is my third order for BitBoxes from Stone Age Gamer and I know I’ll keep ordering every time I add some naked NES, SNES or even Super Famicom carts to the collection.

Oh my, just look at that image below. Now they really Pop! Sure, BitBoxes are not original NES/SNES cardboard boxes but they are pristine and vibrant. It would be difficult and expensive to get these games with good condition original boxes. Plus, there is a custom BitBox cover-art insert ready for download for almost every single NES and SNES game. And the fact that these custom covers use the original artwork helps keep this aftermarket solution looking as authentic as possible.

I do have manuals for a few of my games so in they went into their respective BitBox. I enjoy completing the package with original manuals when I can find them for a reasonable price.

Most of my NES and SNES manuals I’ve been finding at LukieGames.com. Every now and again I’ll search for affordable manuals for under $10 USD and if I find a few I might add in one expensive manual if it’s for an extra cool game and maybe pay $20-$25 for it.

I had only nine SNES games that needs BitBoxes. Two of them being Super Famicom games. Both Pariudus Da! and Pop’n Twin Bee never got a release for the Super Nintendo so I’m happy to have the Japanese versions of these fun shooters. The same BitBox that holds a single SNES cart can alternatively hold a Super Famicom cart. Which gives a nice extra bit of versatility to the SNES BitBox.

Again I can’t recall all the prices that I paid for this bunch:

Chuck Rock $?? , Manual 4 USD
Donkey Kong Country 3 $40 CAD, No Manual
Secret of Mana $60 CAD, No Manual
Final Fight $??, Manual $8 USD
Secret of Evermore $40 CAD, No Manual
Gradius $??, Manual $8 USD
Kirby’s Alavanche $12 USD, Manual $4 USD
Paroduis Da! $15 USD, No Manual
Pop’n Twin Bee $9 USD, No Manual

And here are my SNES carts look’in good in their new Stone Age Gamer BitBoxes.

Just like the NES games I also have a few SNES manuals.

Here’s a closer look at Parodius Da! and Pop’in Twin Bee. If you’re into shooter and haven’t heard of them you should check them out.

For this Stone Age Gamer order I received 35 BitBoxes and 35 Document strap (straps hold the manuals). 10 BitBoxes for SNES and 25 for NES. I haven’t yet used all 35 but I don’t mind having a few extra on hand. Each BitBox worked out to about $5.10 CAD per BitBox with a document strap. It’s really much more cost effective to buy BitBoxes in bulk. The discount is significant.

And don’t forget the cost of a print job for the cover-art which is not a default included in the cost of a BitBox. I get my print jobs done locally at a professional shop because I intend to have them for a long time I want them looking their best. My cost for each print job (and the cutting service) is about $3.30 CAD each.

Bringing my grand total to $8.40 CAD per BitBox. It is very expensive but I do love the end result.

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New Additions: NES, SNES and PS4 Indies

Posted by Sega Dude on June 24, 2016

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, NES, SNES. Tagged: Castlevania III, Donkey Kong Country 3, Dragon Warrior II, Might Number 9, NES, nintendo, ps4, Retro City Rampage DX, Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana, Shovel Knight, snes, sony. 6 Comments

Pick-Ups NES, SNES and PS4
So as it happens, sometimes my job requires me to leave the office. My regular route takes me very close to my favorite local Video Game store (Game Centre). And of course, I always feel obligated to stop in. Even though their focus is not Retro Video games they always seem to have some good retro stuff.

Here’s what I found just a few days ago when I stopped in.

Below is my newly found Castlevania III Dracula’s Curse. Like all of the games below the price I paid is nothing special. I did better than I would have on eBay and I think I did OK considering I bought these games from a store that knows the popularity of Retro Video games.

Castlevania 3 cost me $40 CAD and it’s in great shape with a really nice label.

Dragon Warrior II is also in really great shape and it set me back $30 CAD.

They are not cheap games but they are really good NES games. And to help easy my concerns about the cost I texted Nintendo Joe and asked his opinion. He’s constantly hunting and buying Nintendo games. With his own experience combined with the price guides he uses I knew he’d be able to tell me how well or poorly I did. His response? “That’s not too bad!” So, I believe I did OK.

I also told him about two games I had passed on. I walked away from SNES Adventure Island for $35 and I also passed on SNES Donkey Kong Country 3 for $40. Nintendo Joe confirmed that I can do better on Adventure Island. But when he told me “DK3 you could have Lorded over me!” (meaning he did not have the game for himself.) I immediately went back to the store and bought it. All of a sudden $40 sounded like a bargain. Below is my copy of Donkey Kong 3; a game that Nintendo Joe does not have.

Next up is SNES Secret of Evermore. I also got this game at Game Centre but that was much earlier this spring. If I remember right it cost me $40. Again not garage sale prices but the JRPG was one of my favorite genre’s on the SNES and this action JRPG looks like it will be fun.

I played Secret of Mana back in the day and I loved it. It’s a great game that I believe Secret of Evermore will be similar to. I was very excited to get this off of the local classifieds (kijiji) for $60. I’ve been watching this one and $80 is a very common price tag. This new addition also joined the collection earlier this spring.

Yes, the following are not technically retro video games but I will not hold it against them. All of Mighty No. 9, Retro City Rampage DX and Shovel Knight are without question retro inspired games.

I am enjoying having physical copies of Indie games that really might have remained digital only. I would love to have a copy of Child of Light as well but that physical copy is a bit too expensive at the moment.

Both Mighty No. 9 and Retro City Rampage DX I bought new when they were released. Shovel Knight I bought used for $22.

I am really happy with these new additions… especially for Donkey Kong Country 3 for the Super Nintendo!

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More NES and SNES Manuals

Posted by Sega Dude on June 22, 2016

Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, NES, Nintendo, SNES. Tagged: game, manual, NES, nintendo, snes, super nintendo. 2 Comments

So, in keeping with my philosophy of a small yet deeply classy Nintendo collection I’ve found a few more manuals for some of my games. As expected some game manuals come with a large price tag but surprisingly a lot of good titles are fairly fordable. Of the 11 game manuals below (ordered from DKOldies.com) the prices ranged from $4 USD to $18 USD. Of course as a Canadian shopper the exchange rate is still hitting hard and it’s why this order was a lot smaller than it could have been. The grand total after shipping and exchange was $150 CAD. Putting the average cost per manual at about $13.60 CAD each. After spending some time checking out prices for loose manuals at retro video gaming conventions I think I did OK. I have yet to find a manual for sale for less than $10 CAD and I bet a bunch of the below would sell for $20 or more locally.

Here are the actual prices (in USD) that I paid for each:

Adventure Island $10
Metroid $12
Double Dragon II $7
Mystic Quest $11
Final Fantasy $12
Super R-Type $4
Zelda $18
Final Fight $8
Castlevania $18
Faxanadu $6
Dr. Mario $3

What I dislike about buying retro gaming manuals online from stores like DKOldies.com and Lukiegames.com is that you don’t get to see the manual before you buy it. So some dude out there in the world is making decisions on what they hope I’m going to be OK with.

And for $18 USD I think I would not have purchased the Zelda manual that I received from DKOldies.com. The cover has a few wrinkles and has general wear/rub on the front and back. $18 should have gotten me something better.

But it did come with a map. I had either long since forgotten or didn’t know that Zelda came with a world map. So this was a nice unexpected surprise.

Inside the manual every page is in excellent condition. So despite my grievances with the cover it is a good manual. However (and surprisingly) after doing a quick price check on eBay I found that this manual very regularly sells for a lot less money than what DKOldies.com sold it to me for. I suppose I wont be able to snag the best deal every time but it shows that it’s important to always be diligent.

The Zelda map has a lot of tape holding it together. The upside is the tape was very carefully and neatly applied. So it’s not in great condition but it is good and I’m pleased to have it.

Pouring over the Zelda manual and map has spark a lot of interest in playing this game again. I did play it a lot back in the day but I never beat the game. Maybe it’s time 🙂

Despite a few boxed SNES games that have come my way by chance I’m not really trying for complete games. But I find that I really do enjoy having both a Stone Age Gamer BitBox and manual for each of my NES and SNES games.

Stone Age Gamer BitBoxes Vol. 2

Posted by Sega Dude on March 20, 2016

Posted in: Hardware, Modifications, NES, Nintendo, Restoration, SNES. Tagged: bitbox, case, cover, NES, nintendo, snes, stone age gamer. 4 Comments

After previously sampling a few Stone Age Gamer BitBoxes for five of my favorite SNES carts I’ve decide it’s time to dive in.

For anyone not familiar with BitBoxes they are aftermarket cases for your Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game cartridges or for your Super Nintendo (SNES) game cartridges. If you’re not able to find or afford to collect your NES and SNES games in their original cardboard boxes then the BitBox might be for you.

When adding this second order of new BitBoxes to the previous 5 my collection of NES and SNES game cartridges have started to look pretty impressive.

Below you’ll see my new game cases are for Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Breathe of Fire, Super Mario World, Top Gear and Street Fighter II Turbo.

My Final Fantasy III game cart I bought from a forum member at neo-geo.com for $55 USD including shipping which is about $75-$80 CAD. This is by far the most I’ve spent on any SNES game but we’re talking about Final Fantasy III so I don’t have to say it but I will, ‘totally worth it’.
Chrono Triger I traded for at Retro Game Brothers. It had a $130 CAD price tag and I had to trade in a lot of stuff for it: 2 boxed Neo Geo Pocket games, 3 Genesis games (2 were boxed), 4 NES carts, 1 SNES cart and about 5 complete PS2 games. The only rare items of the lot would be the two NGPC games and maybe Two Crude Dudes for the Genesis. The rest of the SNES games below were given to me by a good friend a year or so back.

Of the Star Wars trilogy games I only ever played Super Star Wars back in the day but I wanted all three for the collection and to try out. I’ve read that Super Empire Strikes Back is very good. I forget what they cost me but they were not expensive games. All of Star Fox, Cybernator and F-Zero were given to me by the same friend that I mentioned above. In my eyes he’s a very wonderful human being 🙂

Even though my main focus has always been the Sega Genesis, Japanese Sega Mega Drive and the Sega Master System over the years I have been picking up loose SNES and NES carts. I haven’t been as diligent about recording what I’ve paid for my Nintendo games. I think I paid about $30-40 CAD for Mega Man X which was the most expensive of the 6 below. (I’m also noticing that Super Street Fighter II Turbo managed to sneak into the photo shoot a 2nd time… oops.)

Below are Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man X, Super Punch Out, Super Mario World and Super R-Type.

The last two SNES BitBox cases I got for some of my SNES carts are Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and Super Mario All Stars.

As good as BitBoxes are they’re not cheap considering how many you’re likely to buy if you start at all. As a result I’ve actually sold many of my NES carts because they were not games that I was really interested in and for every game cartridge I sold that would be one less BitBox I had to buy. I know, I know… I’m crazy. What am I collecting? Cool old retro video games or boxes? The up side of my new philosophy is that it really forces me to consider how much I really want a particular game. It’s because of this that I feel like I’m going to end up with a quality collection of games that are either really good or are games that I have a lot of nostalgia for.

The next collecting trap that BitBoxes landed me in is offering a convenient place to store manuals. Just great… so yeah, now I’m looking for game manuals too.

BitBox case are not identical for SNES and NES cartridges. Each are built specifically for SNES or NES and they are not interchangeable. The NES BitBoxes aren’t as deep (marginally) and are skinnier than the SNES BitBoxes (both are identical in height). Other wise the quality and function is the same. The SNES BitBoxes can also accommodate a Super Famicom cart instead of a SNES cart if you collect for both systems.

This was my first order for NES BitBoxes and I’m enjoying them just as much at the SNES BitBoxes.

Below we have Kung Fu, Metroid, Excite Bike, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Castlevania, Rygar, Journey to Silius and Punchout.

Next up are Ghost ‘n Goblins, Super C, Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link.

Pretty awesome right?! Here’s what they cost me. Each BitBox cost $4 USD plus 50 cents if you want a document strap. A document strap is a sleeve/band of clear plastic with one adhesive side. You open the BitBox and stick the document strap to the inside of the left side of the case, as close to the bottom as you can. (See Super Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts below) Once installed you can slide a game manual into this clear plastic sleeve and it will be snugly held in place. At the moment I don’t have any document straps for my NES BitBoxes but I am going to get some.

I can’t really argue with Stone Age Gamers prices on these cases. They have created a really good product and if you’re looking for a nice case for your carts I really do highly recommend BitBoxes. Personally, I do like them more than UGC’s (Universal Game Cases). That being said UGC’s are still a great option because they also look good and they cost a lot less. My good friend Nintendo Joe has managed to buy UGC’s for about $1 each CAD when buying in bulk. You can also get a small price break when buying BitBoxes in bulk but they still cost significantly more money.

My only real problem with BitBoxes is I’m spending Canadian dollars on a product only available in the US and I have to deal with very expensive shipping costs (and I run the risk of duty and broker fees which can add up to another 80-90% more money). By the time my BitBoxes arrived at my door I’ll have spent about $6.50 CAD each. Then I go to my local print shop and get my covers printed for about another $3.25 each (includes printing and cutting). So BitBox cases will cost me about $9.75 each. Which circles back to my plan of trimming down the collection and other creative hobbyist tactics like removing my wife from this blog to help ensure a continued and healthy gaming budget.

If the cost alone didn’t hit hard enough some of my BitBoxes arrived damaged (despite being packaged well) and this was pretty upsetting. I took some pictures of the damage and emailed Stone Age Gamer and they did not question or hesitate. Right away they mailed me replacement cases. This initially bad experience transformed into a huge amount of trust and faith in Stone Age Gamer. Yes, you’re paying a premium compared to a similar product (UGC) but in my experience you will be taken care of.

Below are all of my current SNES carts that I have BitBoxes for. All lined up like good little soldiers supported by the very few boxed SNES games that I have.

Of the boxed SNES games all but Magic Sword were given to me by a good friend who had them kicking around in his basement for many years.

Below you can see the size difference between a Stone Age Gamer BitBox and an original Super Nintendo cardboard case. The BitBoxes are a little bit larger.

Below is my smaller contingent of NES games in their BitBoxes. I’m loving how these boxes dress up the collection and I already have another order placed with Stone Age Gamer.

All of the custom covers for BitBoxes can be found for free for anyone at the following to links:

NES Covers:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/07vlzgyficoohw0/AACa7UzwyI16MocIjCTDC5sda

SNES Covers:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aqbad5j2xz5gger/AABXqs5NRanbDVIdP-vzGhW7a?dl=0

What do you do with your carts? Are you content with loose carts? Do you only buy complete and in the original box games? What aftermarket Retro Video Gaming stuff are you enjoying?

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