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I recently purchased this really fun Game Boy refurb called “Pastel Boy” from Vapor95 which is a reseller for Gamerchanger Mods. They took a case from MizuCat (which was limited to 50), some upgrades and voila: you get a new Game Boy. I haven’t received it yet but it got me hankering for more: I realized this wasn’t a Game Boy Color. This was, by all accounts, a wonderful decoration for my house and nifty toy but it wasn’t really useful. I needed something where I could bring my massive library that I have amassed of portable games around with me and the Zelda Game & Watch is really useful, but it only has Zelda. I don’t want just PSP either, I want GBA! Luckily that’s where retro handhelds come in. Steam Deck / ROG Ally These devices are now more aesthetic or price based – $150 or less to…

In a recent video by Karl Jobst, he proposes that we’re in a retro video game bubble that’s been artificially inflated by the same folks who have done so with coins and comic books. That prices right now are unsustainable and that the market will collapse, leaving sellers with no buyers. Which is kind of scary for folks who love video games and kind of hard to take in for those who are attempting to invest in retro games. Well, when we ask if we’re in a retro video game bubble, the answer is very likely dependent on the game itself and the condition of the game. Loose cartridges, CIB games and games that are new but not graded are all right now showing minor inflation due to higher demand during 2020 and 2021 lockdowns for older games, especially in the Gamecube market. Collectors may have to pay a premium…

To save you time, if you define a scam to mean that you give someone money for a service and they do not do that service, then by all means WATA and VGA (Video Game Authority) are not scams. They’re legitimate companies that, if you ship your games to them, will grade your games and send them back based on what services you paid for. Maybe not very quickly, but they do what they promise to do. Now, is video game grading in of itself a scam? A fictional system designed to inflate the prices of retro video games that are becoming more scarce due to the fragile materials used to construct their boxes? That’s a deeper question with some actually quite odd answers. Furthermore, should you invest in graded games? That’s an even tougher question. We will dive into all of them below. If you’re wanting to collect retro…

If you have fond memories of the good ‘ol days of games from bygone eras then you may want to consider buying games now instead of later, no matter which day you read this. The reason being that physical game media is becoming more rare by the day as games break, get thrown out and are lost to the fates of time. The prices of which are increasing, especially as older games which used cardboard for their cases begin to decay from moisture and age. The community and market for physical video games remained rather stable for a long period of time. Generally speaking, games were worth a percentage of their retail price based on popularity, with more popular games taking a smaller percentage of their retail on third party sites like eBay. For instance, a $49.99 game would likely sale for $35 on eBay used for the longest time,…

Back in the day, there used to be two baseball games that would compete with each other; Sony’s MLB The Show and MLB 2K. Following the release of MLB 2K13, 2K Sports dropped the franchise, leaving PlayStation exclusive The Show to dominate the virtual baseball market. In 2014, RBI Baseball brought back their franchise, aiming to create a more arcade-based style instead of the realistic simulation that The Show offers. I think that is an unwise decision and that the RBI Baseball franchise won’t exist much longer in the future. The thing about baseball video games is that no one buys them except for hardcore baseball fans. Except for Mario Baseball or epic arcade-style games like The Bigs or Slugfest, baseball fans want a realistic sim. The casual baseball fan isn’t going to buy a copy of RBI Baseball like a casual fan would buy Madden or NBA 2K. If…

Mario Kart is a franchise that has always been a blast to play, whether it be on a tv screen or a handheld console. Much like Smash Bros is associated with a Gamecube controller, I am a big believer that Mario Kart should use the Wii Wheel at all times. It just feels right. The Nintendo Wii is one of my favorite consoles ever, and Mario Kart Wii used the Wii remote in the best way possible. I loved the concept of the Wii Wheel. Putting the Wii remote into the wheel and being able to physically turn it left and right felt perfect. It was a seamless feeling and I don’t think there is any other way a Mario Kart game should be played. I can never go back to using buttons after my Mario Kart Wii experience. It is how it is supposed to be played. Now Mario…

I have conquered the likes of Ganon and Bowser several times, defeated Nazi zombies, taken down Team Rocket, and thwarted many other villains over the years. But there is one antagonist in the video game world who cannot be defeated. He is a raccoon with nothing but pure evil in his heart and gold in his pockets, and his name is Tom Nook. I’ll never forget my first Animal Crossing experience. I was around six or seven years old and had no clue what I was doing. All I knew was that I needed to rack up bells to pay off my mortgage debt to Tom Nook. It took me days to figure out the best ways to save up, and finally, I did it. I paid off my mortgage! Then Tom asked if I wanted to upgrade my crib, and I couldn’t refuse. I thought I beat the game, but…

With the second Lego movie recently hitting theaters, I thought of another one of my favorite combos: Legos and Star Wars. I have no carpentry skills whatsoever, and if you told me to build a birdhouse, I would fail epically. However, even at a young age, I was a Lego connoisseur and could create anything that crossed my path. I was obsessed with Legos and Star Wars, and even built the Lego Millenium Falcon all by myself. You can envision my excitement when I found out there would be a Lego Star Wars video game. Game on bro. When I first found out about Lego Star Wars: The Video Game I was ecstatic. It would be the perfect blend of the loves of my life at the time. Now imagine the pain that came with that when I realized it was initially released on the Xbox and PS2, but not on the Gamecube. Oh,…

There are two things I love in life that when mixed are the perfect combination, and that is Mario and America’s greatest pastime. Sure, realistic games like MLB The Show are fun, but it’s way more entertaining to play against friends with a roster filled with Mario and his pals and enemies. I’m sorry, it just is. Mario Superstar Baseball is a game that I am always down to play. I still have my Gamecube (the Gamecube Mario ball is better than the Wii’s) and will take on anyone who is foolish enough to challenge me to a game of five innings. We’re turning off power-ups though; power-ups are a total scrub move. What makes the game so fun is the fact that you can pick a new team every time, and each player is unique and skilled in their particular area. You could go for a team filled with…