Sony PSP vs Nintendo DS

 I was bored today, and was able to finally pick up a game for the Sony PSP I had been after for awhile.

 I have had the game for the Nintendo DS for awhile, and have been searchin' for the PSP version. Finally, an ad popped up on Craiglist yesterday, a person had it for $5.00, Complete and in Great Condition. I picked it up, Star Wars Lethal Alliance.

 Anyway, I couldn't help but compare the two. Plus, Like I said, I was bored.

 First, lets take a look at the Packaging

And some screen footage. Using my PSP 1000, and Nintendo 3DSXL. The 3DS has a Grip thing I got off eBay for $5.00 shipped, definitely helps my hands during long gaming sessions, I recommend it. The only downside, is the stylus is inaccessible, so I have to keep it loose, I have lost (and found) it a bunch of times.

 The PSP definitely has the better picture. I did notice the DS loads faster though. Let's take a closer look at the screens.

Nintendo DS on top, Sony PSP on bottom

Overall, I am really enjoying the game. I am further along on the PSP version, and prefer it of the two. 

Hope you enjoyed.

Factory Sealed Games

 Over this last weekend I was out doing the Thrift Store Game Hunting thing, and I had the fortune to find some Factory sealed video games.

 At the Goodwill I frequent, I found a Factory Sealed PS3 Game, Dragon Age Origins. Fun game, I played through it as a warrior on Xbox 360. I don't play my PS3 much, but I had been wanting to give this game another play through as a Rogue, so here is an excuse, for $2.99!

Then, since I was headed over to my parents house in Brooklyn Center, I decided to swing by a Thrift Store I have only been to once, last August. And lo and behold, they have a few Sega Genesis games (which is my absolute favorite system), One of which is Factory Sealed.

 It may be a sports game, but to find a 23 year old sealed game for $3.49, I am not going to complain, it just means I won't be tempted to open it. Plus, I want a complete set of games for the Sega Genesis, Including Sports Games so....

Nintendo Game Cartridge Cleaning

Whaaaaat? 2 posts in 2 days?

 As I previously mentioned, I like to hit up Garage Sales and Thrift Stores for Cheap Video Games. I am a collector, and am just looking for things to play. With the exception of Sega Genesis, I want a complete collection, including sports games I will never play. Anyway, sometimes these games are dirty or in rough shape, but as long as I can play em, I don't mind. Today's example is one of those.

 I bought this game, Multi Racing Championship for the Nintendo 64, for the tidy sum of $1.00 at Savers. As you can see it is in a little rough shape, and there generally is no way to test them at the garage sales and thrift stores. Cartridge games however are pretty durable and reliable, unlike today's disc based games.

 So, after 5 Minutes, 2 Q-Tips, my old toothbrush I use for cleaning, a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, Some Windex and Goo Gone, the cartridge itself cleaned up pretty good. The label, well not much I can do there, but the game plays great, and is fun!

Front

Rear

Gameplay

That's it for today folks, thanks for reading.

WTF?

For reference I work at a national auto parts recycling corporation, selling new, used and rebuilt auto parts.

Today I get to work, and listen to my voice mails as I do every morning, I have a message from a man who stated he found my business card in the back of a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe he had recently purchased from Village Chevrolet in Wayzata, MN. Anyway, he goes on to say he was wondering if I was the previous owner, and if I had any spare keys and/or key fobs for the vehicle, as Village Chevrolet would not provide him with and would not cut or program him any additional keys or fobs.

I have a few issues with this situation, and I will use my interwebs space here to voice them.

 #1 - Who would call some random person on a business card found in a car and ask if the person was the previous owner, and if they have any extra keys? Who? Really? I mean you can get business cards anywhere. Even if I was the previous owner, why the fuck would I care if you don't have any extra keys, not my problem.

 #2 - Why would the dealership sell a vehicle not fully and properly cleaned out? Are even dealerships cutting corners these days to save a buck like book publishers (another rant for another day) and not fully or properly cleaning vehicles before putting them on the lot?

 #3 Why wouldn't the dealership offer to make them extra keys? Does Village Chevrolet not like making money? I haven't worked for General Motors in 15 years, but a 08 Tahoe would require a Transponder Key, that is about $125.00 and a Remote Key Fob, that's another $125.00+, Unless the new owner is like my real customers, and wants everything for nothing, then I couldn't blame them for telling him to shove off.

 Part of me wants to be an asshole and call the guy back and tell him that, yes I was the owner and that it was stolen, just to mess with this idiot. But in the end, I am just going to chalk it up to another idiot, who probably shouldn't be out of the house without a handler, and move on, and shake my head at society, like I do everyday.

 I weep for the future..........

For the Record, I have never owned a Tahoe

$1.99 Nintendo DS with Zelda Game Score!

So, the server at work shut down @5:00pm for the whole midwest region today, We close our store at 6:00. We literally were unable to do anything, so the boss closed down shop @5:30.

 I took the unexpected early release, to make a run to the Goodwill down the street from work, and see what I could find to feed my video game addiction on the cheap. I am so glad I did!

 I found an original Nintendo DS, with Stylus and The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap for, $1.99!

 There was no charger, but between my kids and I, we had 3 Original DS's and 3 Gameboy Advance SP's, which all use the same charger. Brought my new toy home, plugged it in, charged it up and Boom! Plays both GBA games and DS games perfectly fine!  SO glad work shut down early, and I was able to make a Quick Stop.

 

This is the 1st, Original Nintendo DS, I bought this same one back in November of 2004, I gave it to my daughter 2-3 years back, because her cat knocked her Original Blue DS onto a concrete floor shattering her screen, and I had (and still do) a DS Lite at the time, along with my Gameboy Advance SP Classic NES Edition. It is nice to have an Original one again, to add to the collection.

Warning: Rant Inside

 Well, that didn't take very long. Today at work just set me in a foul mood. I work for a national automotive recycled parts facility. There I was minding my own business, having a fun day as usual. Now I may not like my job, but I truly do love (most of) the people I work with. We always have fun, they are great, I even have a few on my Xbox Live friends list.

 So today must have been retard/asshole/drug addict release day or something....

 A guy comes in with a little girl, she had to have been 3 or so, cute little girl, just playing, looking around the store and being a little girl. Anyway this jackass REEKS of Marijuana, and obviously is not clear headed enough to answer simple questions, What kind of car, what size engine, etc. Who the fuck gets high and takes a 3 year old child out in a car and goes around town? What the fuck is wrong with you? That child should be allowed to grow up and make her own mistakes, not have her life fucked up by some inconsiderate, irresponsible, degenerate asshat! Now I normally let morons be morons, but this kid did not deserve it, I talked to my boss and he would not let me call the police, they are literally up the street, they would have been there in 2-3 mins.

 A couple come to the counter looking for parts, the male REEKS of alcohol, they ask for their parts, I write em up and before they go to the cashier, I look at the female and say "You are the one driving right?" She looks back at me and Says "Huh, oh, yeah". Sure lady, I hope this fucker kills you both and not some innocent person, people or family.

 A phone call, A man calls looking for a tail light for his 2014 Ford F150. I look up the part and give him the price of $130.00. The dude freaks out and says "What? It should be $20.00 you are a junkyard aren't ya?" I said "Have a nice day sir" and hung up. Really dude? you drive a 2014 F150 and you are gonna complain about the cost of a taillight your dumbass broke? WTF?

 And on the other side of the spectrum. A guy calls with a 1984 Chevrolet pickup. He was looking for a "Good, Rust Free door" in a specific color, today. Really? your P.O.S. is 30 years old, do you really think you are going to find #1 a rust free door in Minnesota, and #2 in a certain color? Get a clue ass.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog posts.

The Sega Genesis

The Sega Genesis is my favorite "Retro" Game Console. I have very fond memories of this console, and very sincere regret as well.

 The Sega Genesis was Released in North America in August of 1989. The Sega Genesis had 3 Distinct Model Changes. I originally had a model one, and a friend of mine had a model 2 that we played the hell out of. I have only seen a model 3 online, but when I see one in person, for a decent price, it will be added to my collection. The controller also went from a 3 button to a 6 button due to the popularity of the fighting games such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat on the Genesis.

 I do not remember when I got my original Genesis, I would venture a guess and say Xmas of 89, as I remember being 15 and playing my favorite games, more on those later. What I do remember is loving playing my Genesis and in 1995 I traded it in to Funcoland (Which later was bought up and became Gamestop) for a Brand New Sony Playstation, and while I was happy for a few months playing my shiny new games, regret began to set in and would not begin to be resolved until August of 2013.

 6 of my most favorite video games ever, were on the Genesis:

  #1. Road Rash
  #2. Road Rash II
  #3. Road Rash 3

        I loved the Road Rash series, and I remember when I went to trade in my Genesis and games, I told my friend, if they did not have Road Rash for the Playstation, I was keeping my Genesis and the 3 Road Rash Games. Unfortunately for me, they did have Road Rash, and I let the console and games go.

  #4. Shining Force
  #5. Shining Force II

       I loved the Shining Force games as well, they were Segas answer to Final Fantasy, which I played on my NES (Which I still have from 1986) and I remember playing them for hours upon hours.

  #6. Shining in the Darkness

       This game is a Dungeon Crawler, which I purchased on layaway from Sears back in 1991. Again, I spent hours upon hours playing this game. The game had you going through dungeons and caverns in a first person view, and I remember having piles of graph paper "maps" I had made while playing.

 There were also, of course the incredible Sonic the Hedgehog Games a serious rival to Mario, Altered Beast, Vectorman, Aero the Acrobat which my friend and I played on her Model 2, and so many others.

 I have beat myself up and complained for 18 years about the extremely poor decision I made that day in 1995, and the Genesis was the only console I ever got rid of, I never made that mistake again.

 Over the years I bought complete in box NES games I wanted, I dabbled in PC Gaming with Wolfenstein, Doom, Unreal and Quake. I also continued to pick up the new consoles, Playstation 2, Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube, Xbox 360 (which is where I found another absolute favorite game series F.E.A.R.), Nintendo Wii and in December of 2010 I bought myself a Playstation 3 as a Xmas present to myself. However, no matter how much fun I had, no matter how many new games I played and enjoyed, nothing could fill that void in my soul where my Sega Genesis memories lived.

 In the spring/summer of 2013 I found myself craving playing the older "retro" systems. I started playing my NES again, bought a Super Nintendo, which I never had but only borrowed from a friend and played. And as I again played those older systems, Regret and Sadness over the Genesis set back in. Then, for my birthday in August of 2013, my wonderful 19 year old daughter bought me a Model 2 Sega Genesis. I was so happy and excited, and played and played the games. We found all the Sonic Games at the Thrift store, and shortly there after I got ahold of a Model 2 Sega CD and the 32X add ons.

Here is my Genesis today:

 This is the absolute favorite game system, and this will never ever go anywhere else again. Now I just need to full fill my quest to complete the replacement of the 6 favorite games I had, and as of today, I only need 5. after a year and a half, I found Road Rash II in Complete and absolute great condition at a pawn shop down the street.

I am aware, I could go online at any given time and find these games, but there is just something more satisfying about finding them "Out in the Wild".

 There was a day back in the fall of 2013, when I was playing Grand Theft Auto V on my Xbox 360, and I just found myself craving playing the Genesis, so I shut down the 360 and went and played Sonic on the Genesis. While GTA V is a great game, it still does not compare to the the best game console ever made, the Sega Genesis.