Official retro pickup of the day thread!

This is a follow up to my weekend pick-ups, all of the non X1 games cost me $38($6 for Batman, $2 for everything else), and the 4 X1 games were $144 combined. I also FINALLY got my ebay purchases from 3 weeks ago, half of them were missing the booklet, ended up a really shitty pickup. ;\

I need to hit some garage sales before summer is over. None of the pawn shops around me seem to ever have anything. Although Disc Replay does have good prices sometimes for cheap unpopular games that I can buy cheaper there than getting them shipped. (they over charge the hell out of popular Nintendo games though, they have Super Smash Bros N64 there cart only with the label so bad you can barely tell what it is and they want $70 for it)

Got myself an AV Famicom and a couple of games from Japan.

@emgesp: Nice pickup, I wouldn't mind having one of those in my collection. Does that version also work with the fami disk as well?

Indeed it does. So you get to play all those Fami-Disk games with composite video.

@emgesp: kool, I wonder why Ninty, other than a very few exceptions, never released cartridges with funky colors in the rest of the world.

Went to the Flea Market yesterday and got me 6 games for only $20 dollars and these are in good condition.

1. Command & Conquer
2. Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
3. Soldier of Fortune
4. Unreal Tournament GOTY Edition
5. Alien vs Predator
6. Quake 2

No pics yet, but...

Kingdom Hearts (PlayStation 2)

Primal (PlayStation 2)

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GameCube)

On order. I have One Piece: Grand Adventure (GameCube) on the way

Oh, and I also got Jak and Daxter: Precursor Legacy (PS2).

I just bought a top loader bundle. It's only RF but I mainly got it for the nice stack of games. I might mod it for composite video, but I'll probably just pick up a hi-def NES later on or mod mine with the board http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Nintendo-AV-Famicom-Hi-Def-NES-mod-HDMI-1080p-scanlines-exp-audio-186-/151797650860?hash=item2357d855ac

I think my next NES-ish pick up will be the original Famicom and I'll just mod it with composite or buy it premodded, love the body style on it. I also want to get some japanese consoles (N64 and SNES) to get access to cheaper games.

This isn't quite a pick-up, but I did get my Gamecube working with HDMI. The quality is just awesome, no need for component cables with this. If you can solder small wires and can tolerate a prototype level mod (in terms of installation, the board used is not optimal for size) then it's worth the ~$60 and time.

@achilles614: You don´t need to purchase a japanese N64 to play japanese games, your N64 can be modified to accept the cartridge, its only a matter of removing a little bit of plastic in the cartridge housing in the console, check youtube, there are several videos on how to do it

This also applies with the SNES. Just have to cut some tabs in the cartridge slot and Super Famicom games will run just fine.

@emgesp: @raugutcon: If you have access to a Game Genie you can use that as an adapter as well, no reason to lower the value of your snes by hacking away at the plastic. Still have to file away a little bit of plastic, but on a $9 accessory instead of the $80 console. For the N64 you can use a working Gameshark as an adapter, though some japanese games require a master code, not sure what that means. No modification needed for the N64.

@achilles614: @emgesp: @raugutcon: If you have access to a Game Genie you can use that as an adapter as well, no reason to lower the value of your snes by hacking away at the plastic. Still have to file away a little bit of plastic, but on a $9 accessory instead of the $80 console. For the N64 you can use a working Gameshark as an adapter, though some japanese games require a master code, not sure what that means. No modification needed for the N64.

Yeah, you could do that too. I use a game genie to play repros on my Genesis, since the shells tend to be the Japanese variant.

I did not know that! That's awesome. Time to get some imports :D

Picked up Spider-Man 2 Enter Electro (PS1) during the weekend at an Anime convention

Heres my most recent pick ups. Castlevania Splatterhouse 2 & 3 on Genesis and King of Dragons SNES. I'm going for a complete castlevania collection. So far I have every game up to SOTN.

Okay, here's my pic for some games.

Here are the pickups from the past weekend, Outrun 2006 is missing its manual though so I'll have to locate one of those, game by itself is hard enough to find so the manual might be a real pita.

@n64dd, @emgesp, @raugutcon, @achilles614: I took some photos of my devices I use to play import games and plan to post a new topic to help other import enthusiasts play NTSC-J or PAL games on their NTSC-U machines(Saturn, N64, PS1, SNES). Keep an eye out for the post.

Thanks for the tips. I knew you could hack up the console to make the games fit or use an adapter...but that's no fun :P

I ordered a JP copy of Kirby's Dreamland 3, will probably swap the cartridge PCB over to an american cart shell and see if it works. Been dying to play it on my snes but won't pay ebay prices (my old copy was accidentally thrown away).

@suicidesn0wman that's a good idea for a thread. I would like to start a thread on getting the most (visually) out of your old consoles...but I don't have time to do such a thread justice.

More NES stuff:
Dogbone controller (official)

Guerilla War
Ninja Kid
Strider
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game

@nintendoboy16 said:

Okay, here's my pic for some games.

Primal was awesome I really enjoyed it back in the day. I'm surprised someone would buy Kingdom Hearts or Jak on PS2 seeing how theres the HD versions.

@achilles614: Why mod when you can get one of these. I hear they work great for retro gaming.

@jdc6305: yes that is a great product, I own one and use it all the time. I'm pretty sure I've even recommended it on this forum. You still need to mod your consoles depend on which console revision you have, if not mods then at least new cables.

NES needs rgb mod or at least composite mod. SNES mini needs rgb mod or at least s-video. N64 needs rgb mod. The xrgb has bad 480p handling so for the gamecube you either need the component cable or the hdmi mod.

If all you have is composite sources then the mini isn't really worth it, especially if your TVs analog processing is decent. You need to tweak the consoles for rgb/scart output

Came in mail today. Only paid $25 for Super Metroid! Caught a new listing on ebay, has a tiny label tear but not a big deal.

I didn't have a spare cart with the extra PCB pins so I just put the Kirby PCB right into my snes :p works great. I might get more JP carts, it's not so bad. Will probably get Mega Man X2-3 this way.

BTW all the kirby menus beyond the title screen are in english it seems, hopefully more JP games are like that.

@achilles614: I just bought one also but I'm still waiting on it from Japan. I didn't know you need to mod your console to get the most out of the XRGB. I thought all that was needed is a scart cable?

It's not that you need to mod your console, you just need to have your console output over SCART/component to get the most out of the framemeiser..also have it hooked into a good LCD with any extra processing turned off.

Certain consoles only need a SCART cable (Genesis 1 and Original SNES I think), others like the SNES mini, N64, NES all need to be modified internally to output an RGB signal over scart. Though N64 is ok with S-video which doesn't require a mod. What consoles will you be using?

So I decided to trim the Kirby cart with my dremel (doesn't look bad, two tiny notches in back of cart) and now it fits fine in my SNES. Idk why but I prefer cutting the old JP cart vs my SNES, that may change if I get more JP games.

@achilles614: These images are of my Game Genie Adapter I use for this purpose, as I mentioned before I'd rather damage the $9 accessory than a $100 console or $25 game. Also, the quality of this 'hack' is pretty terrible, I did this like 10-15 years ago with a knife, today I'd probably use a dremel to shave them down. Also the front of the GG was already broken off, I don't think removing that part is necessary to fit the SFC cart in.

I´ve been thinking about this for the past couple of days and ----> to the hell with it, I´d rather purchase me a Japanese console, it´s not like they cost a ton of money, probably the most expensive part is the shipping cost and that if you purchase them at Japan.

@raugutcon: Most of my import stuff was just random, I didn't go looking for imports. However, for both playing the games on modern TV's and imports, I simply went out and got a Retron 5. I play all my SNES and SFC games in HD for about the same cost as a boxed SFC. Hopefully in a few years they add N64 to the mix.

@achilles614: Dremels are great tools 1001 uses for those things. Anyways I'll be using my XRGB with a nes snes n64 ps1 ps2 gamecube genesis original xbox wii. I know the snes mini doesn't support s video. I have both snes versions. Same with the nes I have both the original and top loader. I'll have to figure out how to mod my n64. Was thinking about getting a turbografx also. I've seen modded ones on ebay.

@suicidesn0wman I'll look into that method, I have some game genies/sharks floating around. The big adapter sitting out of the console would probably bug me...another thing is I'm heard some cheat cartridges use large connecting pins that can stretch/damage the cartridge receiver, but that could be overblown/wrong.

How does the retron 5 handle SNES games, specifically SNES games which have extra computing hardware on the cartridge? One day I would like to make a SNES flashcart with the cartridge computing hardware on the FPGA so it would be totally compatible, idk if someone currently has a product like that though.

@raugutcon I just ordered rockman x2 for $25 with free shipping from Japan, I've ordered a good bit of items from there and shipping has been reasonable. I think I may use an adapter short term and just pick up a JP console at some point.

@jdc6305 I <3 my dremel, it's been so useful. Make this site your best friend http://retrorgb.com/systems.html I'll try to give some advice off the top of my head (and please feel free to PM when you get your mini)...

-For NES composite may be easiest, but the NESRGB mod is imo ideal. I'm going to install the NESRGB board as soon as it's back in stock and I pick up a Hakko Fr300 to remove the NES PPU.

-SNES: The old model I believe outputs RGB without modification, but you'll need to do a mod to get the best performance/sharpness. The SNES mini has a very simple RGB mod (like 10-15 solder joints). There is an s-video mod as well.

-N64: does s-video out of box, grey n64 (old mobos) have a simple mod for RGB, fruity color N64 require an extra circuit board install for RGB. I'm doing RGB mod on my green n64 when the board is back in stock.

-Genesis: model 1 does RGB out of box with right cable.

-Gamecube: s-video is a cheap alternative and works well on mini...component is expensive and again tricky since the mini doesn't have the best 480p handling.

Ps2, wii, and xbox are tricky because it depends what titles you play...if it's retro games with 240p support then use xrgb mini with component...if it's 480i/480p titles you're probably better of with your TVs component input.

Hope this was helpful, sorry if it isn't well organized.

@jdc6305 said:

@nintendoboy16 said:

Okay, here's my pic for some games.

Primal was awesome I really enjoyed it back in the day. I'm surprised someone would buy Kingdom Hearts or Jak on PS2 seeing how theres the HD versions.

Unfortunately, thought it was planned, I don't have a PS3 to get those HD versions. Ah well.

@nintendoboy16 said:

@jdc6305 said:

@nintendoboy16 said:

Okay, here's my pic for some games.

Primal was awesome I really enjoyed it back in the day. I'm surprised someone would buy Kingdom Hearts or Jak on PS2 seeing how theres the HD versions.

Unfortunately, thought it was planned, I don't have a PS3 to get those HD versions. Ah well.

Time to get one don´t you think ?

I still plan on it. Otherwise, I didn't start HD console gaming until we got our PAL XBOX 360.

One pick up, finally at a tolerable deal:

So this past weekend I hit the jackpot. The city just north of me had a community garage sale in what is basically the town square, walked away with about 25 x-men comics, 35 games, 4 game guides and a Sega Genesis 2 for $75. Stopped at a few other garage sales, got a copy of the Amazing Spider-man #252(1st black spidey suit which eventually becomes Venom) for $20, a copy of Capcom Collection Vol 2 for $30, Steel Battalion with controller & pedals for $100, and an N64 with 13 games & 2 controllers for $20. Finished it off with a copy of Chrono Trigger at the local thrift store for $6.75, the gentleman behind me in line was looking for games and complaining about the prices until he saw me get that game. I almost feel bad for him since I already had a copy of Chrono Trigger, but the deal was just too good to pass up.

Probably one of the best weekend game hunts I have had in years.

@suicidesn0wman: Holllllllyyyyy shiiiiit ! you got all that ?!?! you sir are crazy ( lol, look who´s talking ), nice finds, all of them.

@raugutcon: Yeah, I had a really good weekend for once, a good example of how patience can pay off. It might take a year(or in this case 10+, I've been looking for Steel Battalion since day 1 but unwilling to pay over $100), but eventually you will find almost everything you want if you know your stuff and keep looking.

Sadly this will probably be my last pickup post until next spring, I need to slow my spending so I can focus on saving for a house. Need more space now that the game collection has outgrown my current shelving, and I want to let my dog run around outside without a leash in a nice, big, fenced in back yard.

Another item for my Donkey Kong collection, really neat ( the shipping and import taxes cost almost as much as the console ---> ouch ! ) :

@raugutcon: Nice pickup, where'd you import this from/to? Shipping costs can be a huge pita, but sometimes a necessary evil to really get what you want. :(

@suicidesn0wman: ´murica, specifically from Massachusets, $70US shipping and $50US taxes to Mexico; I didn´t know this bundle exist, I was looking for DK SNES cartridges for my collection and this bundle surfaced along with several others but the box on those wasn´t that well preserved, the truth is that I paid like $100 US for the box with DK printed on it, but you understand me.

Now that I come to think about it ...... I spent $120 US like an idiot, should have made it shipped to my SIL´s home in Cali, my MIL is attending to my niece´s wedding next month in Cali and she could have brought it back with her..... duh !

@raugutcon: Yep, I can understand that, I believe I paid like $50-60 just for the box and styrofoam only for my SNES. I had every other Nintendo system I own already boxed except the N64DD and Gameboy, still looking for a boxed GB that isn't $100 or a cheap empty box + styrofoam for it. Doubt I'll ever find an empty box for the N64DD and I don't feel like paying for a complete set and having to sell what I already own.

@suicidesn0wman: Now I want a "Hello Kitty" Dreamcast, not for me, but for my daughter, she loves Hello Kitty, fortunately those aren´t hard to find complete.