Let Loose and Disengage

The year was 2808

2012-02-15T04:04:00.000-08:00

That's what it feels like since I last updated this blog, the good news is I have loads of new stuff to show. I trust everyone had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year, I can't believe it's February already...

Here's to a promising 2012, and loads of updates to come!

P.S: Happy Valentines Day!

So it's been 3 months...

2011-07-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

Roughly 3 months anyway since my last update. Anywho last night I was attempting to get to sleep and as usual I had about 20 thoughts running through my head keeping me up (mainly about Sega Game Gears). One of the thoughts was actually to get my backside into gear and update this damn blog, so here it is!
I decided to go for an alternative approach to this update; seeing as my previous posts are awfully similar, so I have decided to bring you, my current console collection list!

What I own:

Nintendo Entertainment System (PAL, Boxed w/ R.O.B, Zapper) - My NES is very stubborn at times, I don't think it actually works now, which is a shame. :(

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (PAL, Un-boxed, Few Boxed Extras) - The SNES, although an excellent strong console, just doesn't do much for me, perhaps I need to get my hands on a few of the Square Soft RPG's.

Nintendo 64 (PAL, Boxed, Boxed extras) The good old, trusty N64, everything I own for this console (even down to the Memory Expansion Pack) is boxed!

Game Boy (PAL, Various models, Mostly un-boxed) I've actually lost track of the amount of Game Boys I've bought over the years, I know I've got around 3 GBC's, 2 GBA's, 1 SP and the Super Game Boy which is a brilliant little add on for the SNES.

Sega Master System (PAL, Mark 2, Un-Boxed) Great system from SEGA, I've always wanted a Mark 1 model however, I might have to invest in one soon as this Mark 2 doesn't want to work. :(

Sega Mega Drive (PAL, Mark 1, Boxed, Boxed Extras) Easily one my top favourite consoles, the library is just pure brilliance, the build and sound quality is superb (For the Mark 1 models anyway). And I'm still yet to beat Sonic & Knuckles.

Sega Saturn (PAL, Mark 2, Boxed, Boxed Extras) There's only 1 reason you need to buy a Saturn, and that's for the excellent Japanese Import Library (something which you probably already know).

Sega Dreamcast (PAL, Unboxed, Few Boxed Extras) Sega Dreamcast, that is all.

SNK Neo-Geo CD (PAL, Boxed, 50/60Hz switch mod) Although a huge SNK fan, I'd have to admit that the Neo-Geo systems (Both AES / CD models) are absolutely amazing consoles, you really haven't lived until you've played a Neo-Geo. They may be the size of a small car but they certainly look the part.

SNK Neo-Geo Pocket Colour (JAP, Boxed, Extras) Perhaps the Game Boys strongest competitor, SNK's Neo-Geo Pocket had a fantastic library, similar to the Game Boys but the NGP had just that bit more power (Like all their consoles) that it wasn't afraid to show off, try the fighters, you'll see what I mean!

There you have it, it may not seem much but they certainly take up a lot of room. In addition I've got loads of extras for my consoles, something which I might cover later on. Just to keep myself busy I've also decided to write up my own personal Wish List! Which gives you an example of what I want to own when I can afford them. :)

What I want to own:
(P.S: The stuff that's in bold is what I'd like to own)

NES (Replacement)
SNES
Virtual Boy
N64
Game Boys (Various but mainly Pre-GBA)
Mk.1 Sega Master System
Mk.2 Sega Master System (Replacement)
Mk.1 Sega Mega Drive (Sega Mega CD & 32X addons)
Sega Game Gear
Sega Saturn
Sega Dreamcast
Sharp X68000
SNK Neo-Geo AES (Wish me luck)
SNK Neo-Geo CD
SNK Neo-Geo Pocket
SNK Neo-Geo Pocket Colour
SNK Neo-Geo MVS Cabinet
TurboGrafx-16 / Turbo-Duo

Welp, there's my update for now, hopefully next week I'll be able to get some pictures up of my collection and perhaps a game review (gasp). Thanks again for reading!

CDs and no cartridges?! It's more likely than you think:

2011-05-02T05:20:00.000-07:00

So after an eventful week (Royal Wedding and what not!) I've been receiving a few bits I've bought off the Internet, some of which are a few Dreamcast titles and a couple of Japanese imports. Now without further ado, here are the DC games I've recently got my hands on!

Jet Set Radio and Blue Stinger!

Released in 2000, I think that quite a few of you readers may be familiar with Jet Set Radio (Jet Grind Radio in the US), mainly because this was one of the most popular titles released for the DC; many of you will remember the very unusual but revolutionary cell-shaded graphics used in Jet Set Radio and not to mention the brilliant sound track! Another fantastic gem from the DC library "Blue Stinger"; weirdly released 3 weeks before the actual Dreamcast itself in Europe and Australia! One way to describe Blue Stinger is Segas answer to Resident Evil. Onto the game itself, Blue Stinger is one of those early Dreamcast titles you have to experience, even Resident Evil fans (Such as myself) can appreciate the solid game play, puzzles and story behind Blue Stinger, an absolute essential for those Dreamcast fans out there!


The Disk faces and Instruction Booklets.

Now, to introduce my imports. Here I have "Neon Genesis Evangelion 2nd Impression" released in 1997 on Japanese soil for the (very popular) Sega Saturn, unfortunately I can't play this until I receive my Sega Saturn (Spoiler!) however I've heard good things about this game and how it uses RPG style combat based on NGE episodes. Coming from a huge NGE fan and a collector, I was over the moon when I received this game! The case is in great condition for a 14 year old game and the same can (and will be) said about the inserts, instruction manual and various goodies that initially came packed inside the CD case. Now, my second import I wanted to mention is "Cyber City Oedo 808" a game released for the CD-ROM² PC Engine (Don't be fooled, these games aren't for your normal computers, you'd need a system such as a NEC TurboDuo, or a TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM peripheral, these were all the rage in Japan, hence the reason why you probably haven't a clue what I'm talking about lol.) Based on the OVA of the same name, Cyber City Oedo was a brilliant action / cyberpunk anime originally aired around 1990-91, the game was released '91, with no relevance to the original story that followed throughout the anime. Quite unusual to say the least, but I'd still love to see what this game plays like. Too bad I have no intention of owning an NEC Turboduo or TurboGrafx-16; NEC released too much stuff, add ons ect. that put off quite a few people, including myself, not to mention how rare Turboduo's are today!


Both the imports, can be found quite cheaply on eBay!

Thanks again for reading, and hello to my new followers! I hope you're enjoying what you see / read, next time I post (which will be soon, I assure you!) I'll be introducing my new addition to the family! Stick around and check back soon! Cheerio!

Hello, I'm back!

2011-04-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

Phew, what an eventful few months I have had! First and foremost I'd like to apologize for my lack of posts, college work has been catching up on me amongst other things, but on a brighter note I've bought my first car! I'd post some pictures up however I'm more bothered about posting a massive update on my collection! I've been thinking about how to sort of, balance this out (I don't want to put you guys off reading with massive walls of texts after all...) and after nights of thinking and finally picking up my camera I've decided to divide this update and make it into a few different posts (Should make this blog look somewhat more busy). Also I'd like to apologize about the terrible quality of my photographs, Neither me or my 'rents actually own a digital camera (lol) so instead I use my mobile, which isn't fantastic I'm afraid.

So first off let me introduce my few new titles I've added to my Mega-Drive/Genesis collection, as you saw in my last post I bought a nicely boxed Mark-1 Mega-Drive, so after reading up on some pretty essential and forgotten gems for the MD I decided to hunt for a couple on eBay; here's what I've recently got my hands on.


From Top to Bottom: Ghouls 'N Ghosts, Alien Storm, Light Crusader and Altered Beast.

So there's the few (fairly cheap) additions to my MD collection, fantastic games that still work perfectly! Altered Beast and Alien Storm give me nothing but nostalgic memories from back when I was a kid, these 2 fighters are great for 2 Players, and if I'm right in saying; Altered Beast was what made the MD before the entry of Sonic the Hedgehog, pretty interesting stuff! As for Ghouls 'N Ghosts, I'm a massive fan of Capcoms Ghosts 'N Goblins, it never occurred to me that there was a release on the MD. However Ghouls 'N Ghosts is exactly what I had expected, the array of weapons and monsters is fantastic in this great addition to the superb GnG library, too bad I can't beat the damn thing yet!

The front covers of these Mega-Drive essentials!

Now there's one game in particular I haven't yet mentioned yet, that would be Light Crusader, a game I had previously no idea about. Considering I won this game for a pretty cheap deal on eBay, I was pretty unsure about how I thought this game would play out, RPG's never played a massive role during my younger gaming years, sure I played the basics such as Pokemon and the occasional Final Fantasy, but platformers and fighters dominated my early MD library. But as I've grown I've played many RPG's in the past years and developed a general understanding of how they tend to play, Light Crusader however is a whole different story. You have a pretty safe amount of freedom when you're playing Light Crusader, meaning that it's not very difficult to get lost or loose track, but you can do as you please grabbing some helpful items and weapons before heading off into the next dungeon. To me, Light Crusader has this curious resemblance to Ultima / Diablo style games, however the dungeons and puzzles are comparable to those seen in the Legend of Zelda series. There's one more aspect of Light Crusader that is really something quite impressive: the Magic. You begin with 4 separate initial spells; Wind, Fire, Earth and Water. What's special about this is that you can actually combine upto 4 spells to create an entirely new spell, I can't think of many MD titles that had that! So this is a great RPG/Dungeon Runner that is an absolute essential for those out there wanting to expand their Mega Drive collection!

Once again thanks for reading! I'm keeping on top of this blogging business now that I've got a few weeks off from College. Take it easy and don't forget to check back soon, next time I'm dropping the cartridges and showing off some CD-ROMs. Some Japanese Imports too!

New loot!

2011-02-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

Today I took a visit to a local Pawnbrokers and managed to bag myself a full working boxed Mark-1 Sega Mega Drive, a few Dreamcast games, a Dreamcast scart cable and a VMU, all for £30. Not a bad buy if I may say so, and a great addition to the collection. The Dreamcast games could have been in better shape but I can't complain, I fired them up today and they both worked fine, which I'm very pleased with!

Stumbling across this Mega Drive was actually accidental, I originally (somehow) mistook the boxed Megadrive for a boxed Sega Mega-CD add-on; which I actually got quite excited about. None-the-less I'm really pleased with the condition of this Mega Drive, it came with the original AC adaptor, RF outlet and 2 pads, all in working good order.

I've always wanted a Mark-1 Mega Drive, not sure why, perhaps it's the styling of the console? All I know is the Mega Drive is a great console, one of my personal favourites infact. Can't wait to have a good play on this thing and get a good ol' hit of nostalgic sweetness.

Since I haven't been blogging much (Busy with college work and all that jazz) I'll throw in a picture of the Dreamcast bits I also bought, to make up for my lack of updates. I guess that will balance it out? Now the Dreamcast is a damn good console, and what's even greater is the fact that this console is so under-valued, you can easily get your hands on one of these beasts, complete with a pad and basics for around £20, in decent condition of course. Ebay and similar sites are all fine and dandy, but go check out your local Pawnbrokers, you never know what you might find (And it's even better when the cashier doesn't know how much the stuff is actually worth!). Anyway, here's the bits:

Not much I have to admit, but I must have paid next to nothing for these 2 fantastic games. The VMU works perfectly, but it could do with a battery change sometime soon (This VMU actually had Shenmue 2 save data on it, now that's a damn rare sight!). Soul Calibur has a nice juicy crack down the front of the case, which I'm not that bothered about, when I get some quids I'll replace it. And Sonic Adventure is missing the front pamphlet, again I'm not too fussed about this, considering they both have the instruction manuals. I'm quite pleased with them both, they are a few of the Dreamcasts gems after all!

Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna have a few games on Soul Calibur, thanks for reading this juggernaut, stick around and take it easy!

Adiós dudes!

2011-01-23T09:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight (Well, 2:10AM tomorrow morning to be exact) I'll be setting off from my local College to Liverpool airport, because I'm heading off to Barcelona! I'm extremely excited, I've got all my crap packed and ready to go. In addition to my absence, depending on whether or not I can get on a comp, I might not be updating much throughout the week I'm away. But when I get back I'll be sure to let you know about what went down and what I saw! Stick around for some updates, take it easy!

Welp it's 2011...

2011-01-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

So this is my first official blog post, I'll try my hardest to post frequently on this because I really want to get into blogging. As you may have guessed I'll be updating on my recent travels, my expanding video game collection and my interests in general. I'll also be throwing in some of my current artwork when I get around to scanning some of it.
P.S: My future posts will have much more structure to them, this one is kind of like a practice. Not all of them are going to be shitty like this one! Thanks for reading, stick around for some updates.