KhanhAgE's blog
>Resident Evil: Dead Aim (PS2)
>Tekken 4 (PS2)
>Resident Evil: Survivour 2 Code Veronica X (PS2)
>Geist (GC)
>F.E.A.R: Extraction Point (PC)
>F.E.A.R: Perseus Mandate (PC)
>Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Limited Collector's Pack (PC) - This is one of those really nice Collector's Edition. Typically I don't like compilation packs, but this was definitely an exception. Being a compilation pack it comes with all four Splinter Cell games; Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, Chaos Theory and Double Agent. Included is a messenger bag, long-sleeve tee, beanie and belt each adorn with the Splinter Cell logo (you'd have to be a real geek to be caught in public wearing the whole thing). All this comes packaged in a really nice tin box (very nice looking).
>GameCube Controller White - Not quite sure why I needed another GC controller. But as soon as I saw this on Play-Asia, I thought that I just had to have it. It's the typical looking nothing special GC controller, but it's freaking white! Now I'm not sure why a white GC controller is so cool looking, but it is. It just is. I've only used the thing once since I've gotten it and that was to play with my brother and sister (three way battle). Other than that it just sits on the shelf looking pretty.
>Kingdom Hearts Strategy Guide
>Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3) - Got this for $40AUD. Yes, $40AUD. That's just freaking cheap and it was from JB Hi-Fi. Now I'm not sure why they decided to slash the price down to 40 bucks considering they had Ratchet & Clank at ~$100 and Heavenly Sword ~$49. And In my opinion Uncharted is better than the two.
>Metal Gear Solid 2 Premium Package (PS2) - This was interesting. I was browsing eBay for good Metal Gear Solid 4 deals and saw this beauty in the search results (I had "metal gear solid" in my search entry). It had 4hrs. left in auction and I was totally suprised that no one bidded. Now this wasn't per say "cheap" but it was a good deal considering how much it would have cost to import one.
>Metal Gear Solid 4 Premium Packag (PS3) - Staggeringly expensive! I don't think I'll ever buy anything that expensive, ever, again over the net. Was it worth it? I would believe, yes. I'm a huge Metal Gear Solid fan. It's not like I'm going to leave it boxed on a shelf looking pretty. Instead it sits on my TV cabinet, looking pretty. The thing is a PLAYSTATION 3, an actual system (and a pretty one at that). So even though it's expensive, in the end it'd be worth every cent as I plan to play a tonne of Playstation 3 games and Blu-ray movies on it.
>Monster Playstation 3 HDMI - You havn't truly played a Playstation 3 game until you've played it on HDMI. Uncharted, as an example, looks totally different on HDMI compared to component. The difference is just, wow. I didn't want to buy cheap HDMI cables, like those $10 ones (WTF? What are they made of? Crap, probably), but I also didn't want to pay an arm and a leg to get the best. In the end it was either Sony or Monster and I opted for Monster simply because I could get it cheaper that the Sony.
>Metal Gear Solid (GBC) - One of the best (greatest) GameBoy Color game ever(?) I had to have it when I saw it on eBay for such a bloody good price.
>Alone in the Dark 5 Limited Edition (PC) - Hmmm. The critics really arn't liking this game. But I do. And that's all that matters (a good looking limited edition to boot too).
Well, I've received my Metal Gear Solid 4 Premium Package today, about two hours ago to be exact, from Play-Asia (delivered by UPS). I was almost giddy with excitement after signing the delivery man's PDA. I seriously could not wait to open the thing and have it set-up.
...will post pictures and write more later.
I've always wanted to compile a top ten list of my favourite games. So here it goes.
Note: It's not complete at the moment. I plan on doing this over the coming weeks.
Final Fantasy VIII
This was the first title I had played on Sony's Playstation home console. Having finally convinced my father to buy me and my brother a Playstation, it was only a matter of time that we soon had one sitting in the lounge and hooked up. Problem was, we didn't have any games to play on the system. So we both got on our bikes and quickly headed down to the local video store (Civic Videos if you're wondering). Back then I didn't follow the gaming industry,at all. So I pretty much had no real knowledge of what games were available for the system. After about five minutes of basically staring at a shelf full of titles we had never heard of, my eyes came across this one game that used a quad-case. I'm thinking "huh?". Quad-Case? Four CDs? Why on Earth would this game require four CDs when all the others only need one. This must be one hell of a game to take up four CDs, I thought. Since I've never seen any thing like it before. I showed my brother the game. He looked at it in confusion, "Final Fantasy VIII? Huh? Eight?". "Yeah. Apparently there were seven other before it.", I quipped. Yup, me and my brother were quite the uninformed gamers. After awhile we decided to give the game a go as nothing really interested us. While at the counter we realized that all Playstation games were only available for either overnight or three nights rental. Which really sucked, as we were use to the one week rentals from our SNES days. The three nights rental option was a bit expensive in our opinion. But decided on it simply because we thought there was no way we were going to finish the game if we rented it for a night. Not like we could have with three! Having paid the person behind the counter, we quickly raced home and eagerly popped in the disc to try out the console. ....To Be Finish (Yeah, I'm too lazy. That's it for now)
Final Fantasy VIII - Opening Title
So here's my list of crap:
>Phantasy Star Online III themed 251 Block GameCube Memory Card by HORI
>City of Heroes Collector's DVD Edition (PC)
>Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Limited Collector's Edition (PC)
>DUNE II: Battle of Arrakis (PC) - This is the original IBM PC floppy disk version that was released for the PAL region. The US version goes by the name DUNE II: The building of a dynasty.
>Perimeter Promotional Limited Edition (PC)
>Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Collector's Edition (PC) - I had this thing ordered from Gameplanet AU and guess what? It arrived at my door more than a week after the official release date and ****ing damaged. That's right ****ing damaged. Oh, and I don't mean that it was damaged in the mail. It was damaged before it was even posted. The fancy collector's edition box had a massive rip on the top and bottom edge on the right side of the box. It was like some ****ing retard moron who didn't know how to open the box, for some dumb ****ing reason keep tugging away at the side of the box, thinking it would open, until the ****er rips it. The whole thing opens like a book. You just lift the front of the box and the contents are revealed underneath. Hell, the whole thing is even shaped to look like a tome. I would think that every person on the face of this planet would know how to open a book. But now, I don't know. Because that ****er down in the packing and delivery department of Gameplanet clearly doesn't. I had to super glue the corners and clear tap the inside to hold the freaking thing together. Why the **** was the moron trying to open my order in the first place anyway? All I can say is **** you packing and delivery guy from Gameplanet. **** yoouuuuuuu. Well, I'm never going to order from Gameplanet again, even though they have excellent customer service. I originally wanted to order my AoC from TrueGamer, but they got bought out by some bigger online retailer I guess. They were really good too. They always had the cheapest prices online and your orders came to you factory sealed and untampered.
>Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GC)
>Metriod Prime, Animal Crossing, Robotech: Battlecry, Madden 2003, NBA 2K2 and a free Datel PAL Freeloader (GC) - Won these five games as a bundle on eBay. I bidded only for Metriod Prime and Animal Crossing. Robotech isn't a bad inclusion, but I really couldn't give a **** about the two sports game.
>Pikmin (GC)
>Mario Kart: Double Dash Limited Collector's Pack (GC) - This was a GAME UK exclusive edition.
>Tekken 5 Ultimate Collector's Edition (PS2) - This thing cost me an *** load to ship registered from the States. It's definitely the most expensive thing I've bought on eBay to date. But it's totally f'ing worth it. I might even upgrade it in the future with full Sanwa parts (which could be a real pain with the soldered parts and all).
>Tekken 5 (PS2)
>Soul Calibur III (PS2)
>Street Figther Alpha Anthology (PS2) - Why isn't there a Street Fighter release of The 3rd Strike for the PAL region?! Guess I'll just import one.
>HORI Super Shock Light Gun - I got this light gun because it had recoil action and well, because I like HORI. Originally I had thought of buying a GunCon 2 from Namco, but decided against it. Although I might get one in the future. A Japanese one of course.
>Dino Stalker (PS2) - Yeah, I know it's a crappy light gun game. But I want to build a complete library of light gun games for the PS2, even if it means buying the crappy ones.
>RayStorm (PS)
>R-Types I & II (PS)
>Super R-Type (SNES)
>Layer Section (Saturn)
>RayCrisis (PS)
>Nintendo GameCube PAL (Black), Nintendo GameCube 251 Block Memory Card (Black), Nintendo GameCube 59 Block Memory Card (Grey), Mad Catz 59 Block Memory Card, Nintendo Wavebird Controller (Grey), Luigi's Mansion, Star Wars: Rogue Leader - Rogue Sqaudron II, Turok Evolution, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Medal of Honor: Frontline, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, James Bond 007: Nightfire, The Sims, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (GC) - Got this bundle from eBay. It wasn't a great deal, but it was a good one.
So I've recently read an article on The Age Blogs: Screen Play, titled "Your Turn: The Balance of Trade". The piece discuss how much easier it is to import these days compared to a decade ago and the effect it can have on local retailers. The article ends by asking what do we care about more; saving money or supporting the local economy?
Here's the link: http://blogs.theage.com.au/screenplay/archives//009298.html
Me, personally. I'm all about saving every penny I can. I'm a real cheapskate and I won't buy a game if I know I can get it cheaper else where and in better condition. Yeah, I'm also real nit-picky about the condition of the items I'm buying. What I find most annoying about typical EB retailers is that they'll charge you the RRP for items that are supposedly "new", but looks like it has been through the garbage. Why can't they just keep it factory sealed? I have a real grip with retailers charging a lot for used items. Now, I don't mind if they charge 'said' price for a second-hand item that has been kept in pristine used condition, but if you're going to charge $50+ for something that looks like it has been in the ****s, "You've got to be joking, right?". Things are just too expensive to buy in a retail store, whether new or used. Some could argue that there are stores that offer good prices and I should stop being a **** and try harder. Right, like I have the time and petrol money to be driving to every outlet to find a great deal
I could go on about how online sites such as eBay and PlayAsia just plain owns every brick and mortar store in Australia when it comes to price and range (there are things you just can't find in a local store). But I'm too lazy (maybe another time).
Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't support local gaming retailers, but it's hard to support someone who wants to charge you $110 for a brand new PS3 game when you know you could get it for $80 from online (and that's with shipping included).
