5th August 2015, 10:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 5th August 2015, 10:56 PM by A Black Falcon.)
I got some stuff today. Some I'll talk about later, but this I'll list now:
Atari 2600
--
Seaquest - $1, cart only. Decent Activision game, you play as a sub and shoot stuff and rescue people. The end-label is missing and the label isn't in the greatest condition, but it's good enough, and the price is good.
Also for the 2600, for free (with the other purchases) I got two game manuals. First, Raiders of the Lost Ark, an adventure game where having the manual really is a huge plus because it's somewhat complex; and second, Sega's Tac/Scan, a decent little paddle space shooter. I got the Tac/Scan manual not for the manual part, this game is simple and doesn't really need it; I got it for the other side, which has an awesome, and fairly good-sized, poster! I already put the poster up. It's pretty great stuff. This is the poster: http://www.segaretro.org/File:TacScan_26...Poster.jpg but that doesn't really show the size or color of the poster. This poster is midsized, smaller than a full standard poster size but twice the size of the little posters that often came with '90s cartridge games. Pretty cool stuff.
Atari 5200 - I got two more cheap games because I haven't given up on getting this system. I probably should be getting some more stuff for the TI-99/4A instead -- joysticks and more games, specifically -- but somehow, I want a 5200 more... not sure why.
--
Super Breakout - $1, cart only
Space Invaders - $3, cart with two overlays (not that they're needed, almost nothing is on them...)
Nintendo 64
--
F1 Pole Position 64 - $3, cart only. Yes, I finally got this game despite my reservations; it's a subpar racing game not of much note, but I definitely want to have all of the N64's racing games, so I got it. I played it some, and it's okay but not that great. The graphics are low-poly and simple, though the ad posters look nice and the framerate is solid. Controls are basic arcadey stuff, this is no sim. I'm bad at sims so that's okay, but even though it's easy enough that I can handle it, this game isn't fun or exciting, it's just kind of dull. It is nice to see an N64 F1 game I'm actually competitive at though (on Easy, the default setting), that's not really the case in F1 World Grand Prix or Monaco Grand Prix... but still, yeah, not a game to recommend. It's also the one and only N64 racing game with no multiplayer, sadly enough. Still though, it's not all bad, and is definitely playable and occasionally a bit fun.
Xbox 360 Digital Download - free from Games with Gold
--
Metro 2033 - Another pretty popular title they're giving out for free! Nice. I have this for PC too, and that version is better, but still, it's a nice freebie.
Next, I got these a few days ago but didn't mention it. When I got my tablet computer back early this year, it came with a $25 gift certificate to the Windows Store. I was hoping I'd be able to use it in the Xbox Live store, but you couldn't do that and the gift card expires at the end of this month, so instead I had to find stuff to get in the Windows 8 Store, which is slim pickings. I managed to find some stuff that a dded up to about $23, which is as much as I could get once the tax was added on (since MS charges tax on digital purchases). I can only use these games on the tablet, currently, because you can't access the Windows 8+ Store in Vista. These are the only paid games I have for the system; I mostly use it for the internet and such, and not gaming (portable gaming is better on DS or PSP!).
Windows 8 (or 10) Store
--
Angry Birds Star Wars - would have been $3.50 - meh, why not? I do like the flash games Angry Birds ripped off and Star Wars.
GRIDD 2 - would have been $3 - futuristic rail shooter game, decent fun
Ironworm - would have been $3 - sidescrolling action
Manifest Destiny - would have been $2 - very basic strategy game
Rayman Fiesta Run - would have been $3 - runner platformer
Riptide GP - would have been $2 - 3d racer, I have the second one for PC (Steam). It's well-suited for touch controls, maybe more so than on PC where I was expecting more depth than the series has. It runs fine on the tablet too.
Siegecraft Defender - would have been $2 - tower defense.
Skulls of the Shogun - would have been $4.50 - basic RTS, this game was also published by MS on other platforms (X360, PC). It's good.
Finally, for $5 from ebay I got a new-in-package pair of those adapters that let you replace those old manual-switchbox RF switches some '70s and '80s consoles use with just a little plug. It's got a male F-connection (cable line) plug on one side, and a female phono jack (RCA composite style plug) on the other. Radio Shack packaging, two of them in one package. My Odyssey 2's RF box, or maybe the UHF-to-VHF adapter attached to it (because the box itself only has the two prongs on it), started failing recently and now doesn't really work (the picture rarely reached the TV...), so I wanted something better. These plug-adapters have one downside, which is that you can't daisy-chain them, but manual switchboxes need to have that slider moved around to use daisy-chaining with them anyway, so just having to maybe switch a plug isn't too bad. And the results are great! As I hoped, it improved the O2's image quality. That RF box was definitely degrading it, this plug adapter works better.
Atari 2600
--
Seaquest - $1, cart only. Decent Activision game, you play as a sub and shoot stuff and rescue people. The end-label is missing and the label isn't in the greatest condition, but it's good enough, and the price is good.
Also for the 2600, for free (with the other purchases) I got two game manuals. First, Raiders of the Lost Ark, an adventure game where having the manual really is a huge plus because it's somewhat complex; and second, Sega's Tac/Scan, a decent little paddle space shooter. I got the Tac/Scan manual not for the manual part, this game is simple and doesn't really need it; I got it for the other side, which has an awesome, and fairly good-sized, poster! I already put the poster up. It's pretty great stuff. This is the poster: http://www.segaretro.org/File:TacScan_26...Poster.jpg but that doesn't really show the size or color of the poster. This poster is midsized, smaller than a full standard poster size but twice the size of the little posters that often came with '90s cartridge games. Pretty cool stuff.
Atari 5200 - I got two more cheap games because I haven't given up on getting this system. I probably should be getting some more stuff for the TI-99/4A instead -- joysticks and more games, specifically -- but somehow, I want a 5200 more... not sure why.
--
Super Breakout - $1, cart only
Space Invaders - $3, cart with two overlays (not that they're needed, almost nothing is on them...)
Nintendo 64
--
F1 Pole Position 64 - $3, cart only. Yes, I finally got this game despite my reservations; it's a subpar racing game not of much note, but I definitely want to have all of the N64's racing games, so I got it. I played it some, and it's okay but not that great. The graphics are low-poly and simple, though the ad posters look nice and the framerate is solid. Controls are basic arcadey stuff, this is no sim. I'm bad at sims so that's okay, but even though it's easy enough that I can handle it, this game isn't fun or exciting, it's just kind of dull. It is nice to see an N64 F1 game I'm actually competitive at though (on Easy, the default setting), that's not really the case in F1 World Grand Prix or Monaco Grand Prix... but still, yeah, not a game to recommend. It's also the one and only N64 racing game with no multiplayer, sadly enough. Still though, it's not all bad, and is definitely playable and occasionally a bit fun.
Xbox 360 Digital Download - free from Games with Gold
--
Metro 2033 - Another pretty popular title they're giving out for free! Nice. I have this for PC too, and that version is better, but still, it's a nice freebie.
Next, I got these a few days ago but didn't mention it. When I got my tablet computer back early this year, it came with a $25 gift certificate to the Windows Store. I was hoping I'd be able to use it in the Xbox Live store, but you couldn't do that and the gift card expires at the end of this month, so instead I had to find stuff to get in the Windows 8 Store, which is slim pickings. I managed to find some stuff that a dded up to about $23, which is as much as I could get once the tax was added on (since MS charges tax on digital purchases). I can only use these games on the tablet, currently, because you can't access the Windows 8+ Store in Vista. These are the only paid games I have for the system; I mostly use it for the internet and such, and not gaming (portable gaming is better on DS or PSP!).
Windows 8 (or 10) Store
--
Angry Birds Star Wars - would have been $3.50 - meh, why not? I do like the flash games Angry Birds ripped off and Star Wars.
GRIDD 2 - would have been $3 - futuristic rail shooter game, decent fun
Ironworm - would have been $3 - sidescrolling action
Manifest Destiny - would have been $2 - very basic strategy game
Rayman Fiesta Run - would have been $3 - runner platformer
Riptide GP - would have been $2 - 3d racer, I have the second one for PC (Steam). It's well-suited for touch controls, maybe more so than on PC where I was expecting more depth than the series has. It runs fine on the tablet too.
Siegecraft Defender - would have been $2 - tower defense.
Skulls of the Shogun - would have been $4.50 - basic RTS, this game was also published by MS on other platforms (X360, PC). It's good.
Finally, for $5 from ebay I got a new-in-package pair of those adapters that let you replace those old manual-switchbox RF switches some '70s and '80s consoles use with just a little plug. It's got a male F-connection (cable line) plug on one side, and a female phono jack (RCA composite style plug) on the other. Radio Shack packaging, two of them in one package. My Odyssey 2's RF box, or maybe the UHF-to-VHF adapter attached to it (because the box itself only has the two prongs on it), started failing recently and now doesn't really work (the picture rarely reached the TV...), so I wanted something better. These plug-adapters have one downside, which is that you can't daisy-chain them, but manual switchboxes need to have that slider moved around to use daisy-chaining with them anyway, so just having to maybe switch a plug isn't too bad. And the results are great! As I hoped, it improved the O2's image quality. That RF box was definitely degrading it, this plug adapter works better.