Posted January 1 Site News: Happy New Year! - - - - - Yep, it's the time of year again... This years post is a little different, but it's a celebration of life, and a reminder to just enjoy the moment. And there's some game related stuff in there too, plus it explains a bit of what has been going on with the site. Anyway, all the best, here's to 2024 and living in the moment, whatever that means for you, be it playing games or just enjoying life. (and if you have any fond memories to share, about old games/stores, and/or involving family or people you know or knew... please do, if you like) 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 1 Lovely article/tribute, Sam. Very true words. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 1 That reminds me... pour one out for N1 Games. My last local indie brick & mortar games store, which was sadly taken from us in 2023. I'm glad your local joint is still alive & kicking @S.C.G, may it live long and prosper! 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 1 (edited) 1 hour ago, S.C.G said: It's great to see a lot of posts in the Retro Discussion over the past few months or so, be it about game experiences, retro deals, the analogue pocket (which is fantastic btw... yes I did buy one second-hand online, yes it's see-through green, more on that later) or just some cool articles and retrospectives, which are few and far between these days. Anyway, see you on the next page. Oh sweet! Did you get the dock with it as well? Has been my favourite piece of hardware I've gotten this year, just an utterly lovely piece of kit! And yeah, this has been my favourite thread this year. We've just had so much great stuff come out, but the biggest thing for me has to be Tim Stamper's prototype cockteasing. We get that Zelda Spaceworld overdump come out and then here comes Tim, just casually flexing how he has the actual Zelda 1997 Spaceworld cart; alongside Project Dream on N64 and loads of other stuff like a prototype Mario 64. Fantastic Edited January 1 by Dcubed 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 1 I see the price of this PS1 game has skyrocketed thanks to this video. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 1 (edited) If that's the case... then joke's on them because there are far better and more convinient ways to pirate PS1 games these days, even when using real hardware But yeah, pretty crazy that Argonaut got away with shipping that on a retail disc! Makes you wonder how many of these soft-mod exploits found on retail games weren't put in on purpose by disgruntled devs... Edited January 1 by Dcubed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 1 1 minute ago, Dcubed said: If that's the case... then joke's on them becuase there are far better and more convinient ways to pirate PS1 games these days, even when using real hardware Yeah, that's why I don't get it? It's a crazy reaction by the retro market. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 2 (edited) Finally got down to the local-ish retro shop I'd mentioned before, which is Vintage Gamer in Halesowen. Today's pick-ups: Quote PS1 • Bushido Blade PS2 • Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec • Spider-Man • Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams • Batman: Vengeance • Justice League Heroes PS3 • Batman: Arkham City • Grand Theft Auto IV • Gran Turismo 5 Prologue • Gran Turismo 5 • Lair • Mini Ninjas 3 A-Spec (childhood platinum edition) and Arkham City (steelbook) are replacements for games I already have; Batman: Vengeance and Justice League Heroes I picked up for a mate who's a big DC fan; Lair and Mini Ninjas were purely curiosity picks, I know very little to nothing about those games really nice spot, they were sitting through some boxes for their boss to look through before putting games off for sale and I spied some rarities like Suikoden I and Suikoden II, Legend of Dragoon, and Silent Hill. Anyways, not that I'm collecting, some general rules I've set myself for picking up retro stuff are: • if I've played it before, I'll only pick it up if it's an absolute favourite - and in absolutely great condition. • focus above all else on games I haven't played and don't have access to elsewhere; Onimusha Warlords, for example, was available, but I already have it on PS4 through the remaster released a few years ago. • no need to break the bank - while I'm sure there will be games I want to break the bank for to experience because they're currently locked to old platforms (ahem, Silent Hill 2) • given the chance, do I see myself playing this in the next 6 to 12 months? There may be exceptions if I'm going through a series and see a super rare copy of a game from later in the series, but this is more of a "can I just dive in?" vibe as I want to play more shorter games. I feel like this also stops me from just picking up 50+ hour JRPGs, as much as I might love them. I've also got some other pick-ups from the same place from a pile which was only just dropped off today, so those are being priced for me to potentially pick up at some point, and I also ordered a couple of retro games from eBay. So...please be excited? Edited January 2 by Julius 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 2 Lovely pick ups Ah, Gran Turismo 3. That's my fav GT out of the ones I've played. I put countless hours into it. Onimusha: DoD is the only one in the series I never played. I was always put off by the change in direction of it when compared to the original trilogy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 4 @Cube ought to get a kick out of this... Hidden Palace just found and released a prototype of the PS2 version of Sonic Heroes! This build comes from around 2 months before the final release and... ... woof! It is rough! Insane how unfinished the game was this close to release! But then again, Sonic 3 was in quite a similarily unfinished state at a similar time with its prototype build. Looks like Izuka wasn't kidding when he said that Sonic Heroes was the most challenging game he's ever worked on! ... whelp! Guess you've gotta play another Sonic game now Cube 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 4 Someone has ported Tomb Raider to the Sega 32X Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 5 (edited) Update for Smash Remix! Gotta say, one of the characters added is absolutely inspired! And it's not the one that @RedShell so obviously bribed the modders to include. Edited January 5 by Glen-i 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 6 (edited) Went and picked up the games from my last trip to my local retro game shop on Tuesday, after they'd been priced: Quote PS1 Gran Turismo Gran Turismo 2 Tenchu: Stealth Assassin's PS2 Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven SSX 3 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (for a friend) SSX on Tour TimeSplitters Drakengard Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny Gran Turismo 4 Gran Turismo Concept I then also went ahead and picked up a few games today, some of which were curiosity pick-ups, but one of which is to replace a game I experienced - but did not complete - in my childhood, which I've mentioned before: Quote PS1 Dino Crisis PS2 Dino Stalker Ring of Red Burnout Black (also got a Platinum copy for a friend, who doesn't mind about editions) Bodycount That childhood game was Dino Crisis, in case anyone was wondering had to pick it up because my dad wasn't able to find my childhood copy given to us by a family friend, but if it's ever found, I have a feeling it'll be very much worse for wear. Cost a pretty penny because of the excellent condition that it's in, but I honestly don't mind - look forward to getting to it and conquering my childhood trauma with the game! He also dropped off most (but not all) of my childhood PS1 and PS2 games, including my AU copy of Battlefront II I picked up when living over in Australia, but perhaps most fitting for this thread and my nostalgia-driven affinity for them: Quote PS1 Spider-Man Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro Retro shelf has filled up quite nicely over the last week got to set up my old fat childhood PS2 with the RAD2X I picked up at some point, and while there are still a few more games I'll likely pick up off eBay in the coming weeks and some games I'll still actively be hunting down in decent enough condition (such as the remaining GT games - the DF Retro on them really inspired me to pick them all up and have them be my FIFA replacement!), I think my next main target following that is going to be picking up particular higher value or more rare items: namely, some Armored Core titles, and Silent Hill 2 (and maybe the first one? I know that's on PS3 as a Classic, though, so we'll see). I'm going back in a couple of weekends with some friends, but yeah, it's hard not to love the place. A little cramped but some really friendly folks who are happy to help you move things around and find particular items you're hinting for, and of course, some great games! Since Tuesday they've got in a couple of copies of The Thousand Year Door, someone came in while I was there to sell Path of Radiance, Wind Waker with the bonus disc, etc. Just some really great stuff. Thank the gaming gods I don't have a Wii or a GameCube to hand, eh? Also some Wii games like Other M (which maybe I should've picked up...) and Metroid Prime 3 in very good condition, as well as a copy of Mario Galaxy 2 in its cardboard box sleeve which was still sealed, and on DS they had the DQ remakes and Chrono Trigger (thank goodness I already own those, eh?). Asked about Suikoden V (the only mainline Suikoden game not on PS3 as a classic?! What's up with that by the way?!?!) but unfortunately no luck there. They'd sold the Suikoden and Suikoden II copies that I'd mentioned last time already! Also, thankfully for my wallet, I spotted a Super Famicom version of Chrono Trigger in near-mint condition (with the box in a case), which I'd want on my shelf similar to how I picked up JP copies of some other games I love dearly last month at Birmingham Comic Con, but it had been put aside for a member of staff (also had Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI for Super Famicom in his pile in similarly great condition). Anyways, I guess don't expect me to be gone from this thread for too long really enjoyed focusing on picking up some retro stuff lately, just feels like there's more to say about the experience of buying it or seeking something out when compared to, say, picking up a brand new game? If that makes sense? Edited January 6 by Julius 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 6 Once again, lovely purchases, @Julius. Dino Crisis is one of the games in my tiny PS1 collection. Like you, I never finished it when I was younger but always wanted to rectify this, hence me picking it up. When you do play it, can you let me know how the RAD2X handles the switching between game and inventory? It's one of the games that switches resolutions and some HD convertors have trouble coping with it. I never played Ring of Red or Black but always wanted to. Black was very highly rated back in the day. Happy to see Onimusha 2 in the collection. It's my favourite of the series due to the partner gifting mechanic, which changes who helps you and what endings you can see. The original Timesplitters is worth playing to see how the series started but the sequel is a massive improvement over it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 6 Nice pickups there @Julius! If you want to legally own Silent Hill and not pay the insane prices on a physical PS1 copy on eBay though? The PSN release is your only option and I wouldn’t dawdle on that, because the old PSN store won’t be up for much longer… 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 7 (edited) On 1/2/2024 at 7:15 PM, Hero-of-Time said: Ah, Gran Turismo 3. That's my fav GT out of the ones I've played. I put countless hours into it. Yeah, I've definitely got a lot of love for GT3! My first and only GT that I owned - kind of surprisingly? But maybe not considering Sport and me missing out on the PS3 - prior to 7, actually (think I played 5 Prologue at a friend's house at some point?). I never got particularly far in it, mind, besides probably having 100+ hours in it I replayed the start of Career - with the MX-5, of course! - so many times back then! I'm really excited to losing myself in everything GT, but from 3 up to and including 5 in particular, as I feel like there's a real sweet spot there which could be exactly what I want from going. Very much looking forward to sinking teeth into those games...but not before I see if I can get accustomed to the PS1 games and go through their Careers, too I haven't got the PS2/RAD2X set up yet but I have popped the first game into the PS3 for a few goes around Trial Mountain. Definitely going to take some time to get used to using the D-pad, but my times are improving, so hopefully that sticks and I can start winning some races 7 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: When you do play it, can you let me know how the RAD2X handles the switching between game and inventory? It's one of the games that switches resolutions and some HD convertors have trouble coping with it. Sure thing turns out one of my older PS2 cables is a bit worse for wear, so I've ordered a replacement which should be arriving tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get around to testing it out then or Monday once it's all set up! 7 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: The original Timesplitters is worth playing to see how the series started but the sequel is a massive improvement over it. Yeah, I figured I'd start there (and will probably try my best to go through these series on retro consoles in order) purely for the reason that the tech and mechanics evidently advanced so much between games in a series back then, much more so obviously than we see today (because now we just get bloated sequels for me to complain about ), and so not going through a series in order just makes going back a much tougher prospect. Looking forward to it – heard a lot of great things about the series over the years, but really only know the absolute basics about it mechanically and plot-wise. It was actually rewatching the EZA Hall of Greats videos which convinced me to pick it up, and I'm pretty sure Huber could hype me up enough to buy lint in a launderette 6 hours ago, Dcubed said: If you want to legally own Silent Hill and not pay the insane prices on a physical PS1 copy on eBay though? The PSN release is your only option and I wouldn’t dawdle on that, because the old PSN store won’t be up for much longer… Yeah, I know I said I was on the fence about seeing if I'd get the first game physically, and while I'm interested in potentially doing so, I guess I'd be breaking one of my above rules in tracking down a physical copy for a silly amount when it's still available on PSN for a bit over £5 so, thanks! You pushed me to do it and it's now sitting on my PS3! I also cheekily used up my PS Stars points on some credit and so got it for "free", which feels real good Much more interested in making sure I can get a decent copy of Silent Hill 2, from what I gather the Director's Cut only got a Platinum release over here? Which, well, yelp, gives me an interesting conundrum. Either the DC or the standard edition look to cost a pretty penny; I'm going to the Birmingham Gaming Market in a few months, where - based on watching YouTube videos from last year's event and seeing at least 5 different copies strewn about the place - I'm much more confident I'll be able to track down a copy, as well as some of the other more costly items on my retro wishlist! Edited January 7 by Julius 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 7 I had a good chuckle at you starting with the MX-5. No matter who I talked to about GT3, that was their starting car. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 7 On 01/01/2024 at 8:28 AM, S.C.G said: Site News: Happy New Year! - - - - - Yep, it's the time of year again... This years post is a little different, but it's a celebration of life, and a reminder to just enjoy the moment. And there's some game related stuff in there too, plus it explains a bit of what has been going on with the site. Anyway, all the best, here's to 2024 and living in the moment, whatever that means for you, be it playing games or just enjoying life. (and if you have any fond memories to share, about old games/stores, and/or involving family or people you know or knew... please do, if you like) Nice article & appreciation to those who impact your life (as well as keeping this site afloat). A quick Google search has told me the story of the Faceless Monkey and I’m sorry to hear about that, and pleased to hear that his family have reopened, and hope it continues. It looks like a great place with fun events and I wish there could’ve been a place like that up the road in Devon growing up (or nearby to me nowadays). Here’s to all those who keep our love for gaming thriving, and to you, Josh & the rest of the forum members for 2024! 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 9 That’s nuts! And it makes a ton of sense since Clockwork Knight 2 is basically a glorified level pack for the first game (much like Sonic & Knuckles before it). Only SEGA would include an entire other game and hide it behind an obscure cheat code that they never bothered to tell anyone. Typical idiotic 90’s SEGA move Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 10 On 07/01/2024 at 9:30 AM, WackerJr said: Nice article & appreciation to those who impact your life (as well as keeping this site afloat). A quick Google search has told me the story of the Faceless Monkey and I’m sorry to hear about that, and pleased to hear that his family have reopened, and hope it continues. It looks like a great place with fun events and I wish there could’ve been a place like that up the road in Devon growing up (or nearby to me nowadays). Here’s to all those who keep our love for gaming thriving, and to you, Josh & the rest of the forum members for 2024! Thank you. I'm grateful for everyone's comments. Yes, it is a great shame, as Luke was an amazing guy, and he's certainly missed every day... I'm forever grateful to his daughter Becca for reopening Faceless Monkey, and to the rest of his family and friends for helping with the reopening, plus the continued running of the store. Becca kept the place going for over a year, all the while through what has been a challenging time... and even putting it into words doesn't do justice to the love that has gone into the place. It's a special shop for sure, where magic happens every day, and I'm grateful to be continuing with the legacy by now keeping the shop open, just as Luke and Becca did. I remember the place originally from when it was in another location, in another market located in Pool, as my brothers and I would have fond memories of going there to visit Luke and buy all kinds of games, comics, toys, Pokémon cards etc from him at the weekend. The whole story will likely require a feature in itself... one that I'm not even promising to write, but if and when I do, it will surely be substantial and could even run into a decicated local retro gaming shop article... we shall see, but for now I'm focusing on keeping the shop running every day. If anyone is interested, the shop is located in Truro within Cornwall at the Pannier Market and you can always check out the Faceless Monkey page on Facebook, as there's more I could say, but I've already said everything there, and you can keep up to date with what's going on, though... as with everything, on the site here, and on the shop page, it all takes time, so posts will be sporadic, but when there's something worth posting, and when I get the time, both here and Faceless Monkey page will be updated. Also, if anyone is ever in the area, and happens to be in Cornwall ever, for any reason, definitely visit the place and see for yourself, and mention N-Europe for a discount of course. Even if not, if you see anything posted on the page, and you'd seriously like to buy, then message the account on there, or message here and I can post items if required, there just isn't an online shop, and I want to keep it that way, as the physical shop is the main attraction. Anyway, time to get some sleep before getting back to the shop again in a few hours. (Opening hours - 11am 4pm on Monday - Saturday) Each new day is different, and I really love being there, but I've got to keep at it, as I'm working towards its continued success every single day. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 10 (edited) One for @Cube... https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/01/a-sonic-mobile-card-game-from-the-2000s-has-just-been-preserved I told you before... Edited January 10 by Dcubed 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 10 There's a ton more that were part of the same service, so hopefully they can also be found - a few of them even sound interesting. (I also recently played another Happy Meal Sonic game) 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 12 (edited) Last few retro pick-ups, for now...probably Also had my Retrovision component cables arrive (in case I end up with any suitable games to use it), PS1 and PS2 memory cards, and a newly refurbished DualShock 2 controller. Finally got around to setting up my PS2 the other night, which was surprisingly straightforward and heard that PS2 startup for the first time in a good while: Took me back this was before the memory cards arrived but I couldn't wait to test it out, so changed over to 4:3 and then immediately threw in my copy of Battlefront II for a round of Instant Action on Coruscant (awesome) followed by a go around Trial Mountain in GT3 in the Castrol NSX after testing GT and GT2 a little while back I'm not too sure how much time I'll commit to those, but everything from GT3 onwards is set to be a timesink, and in the space of a few weeks I've gathered every PAL released game except for GT6 and Sport, but I'm sure it won't be too long until those are added to the collection too oh! And I also twisted the PS logo to be horizontal because I never knew about that when I was a kid Unfortunately, I swapped in Dino Crisis to test the resolution change in the menus on the RAD2X for @Hero-of-Time, and...my PS2 took a while to pick up on the PS1 disc (several resets). When it did eventually load, it got stuck at the warning about the game containing 'scenes of explicit violence and gore' (seriously, why did my dad let me boot this up as a little kid?!), and got no further I then tried every PS1 game I own on the PS2, and same issue: multiple attempts to read the game, when they did eventually read, it'd get stuck. From what I could figure out it was because of the PS1 games - all of them I had available - being black-backed, which can cause some difficulties in weaker lasers. I went inside and cleaned up the PS2 and wiped the laser down (by the way, up until the other night, still had the guarantee seal on after 20 or whatever years, so I was the first to dive into this PS2! Felt strange to take it off, and the 'VOID' sticker gave me a good chuckle still have the Cash Converters price label on the bottom from when I picked it up, too!) but it didn't make a difference. No issue, right, I'll just test it on the PS1 my dad also dropped off? Well, turns out no luck there either (also a little more involved in getting the timing on turning both the RAD2X and PS1 at the same time) that one just straight up isn't reading games, so I'm fairly sure the laser is gone on that too. Oh, also obligatory: My PS2 model is an SCPH-39003 so I've gone ahead and found a KHS-400C laser replacement I'll try fitting myself, so hopefully that works. If not? Then it might be something with the motor - but it'd be weird if that were the case seeing as all my PS2 games worked, and only the PS1 games don't. Anyways, hopefully I'll be back with thoughts on the RAD2X sooner rather than later, sorry to keep you waiting H-o-T! Edited January 12 by Julius 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 12 Finally @Julius gets to play the superior Spiderman 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
