Imagine having a seamless experience playing almost any retro game you could think of. That is Anstream Arcade, an online subscription service that allows you to play over 1300 classic games from the classic arcades, to the NES/SNES all the way to PS1. Universal control schemes, including using your mouse for the laser shooter in games like Operation Wolf make each game seamless to load and play. This is a strange one to review because it’s a subscription platform for retro games, but it does offer such an amazing value that it’s remiss to mention it. It’s only $39.99 a year for access to pretty much every single major arcade game I could think of, without the need to set anything up and the ability to play across multiple platforms. There isn’t anything to say about the games, outside of the previously mentioned seamless controls. Fantastic in that regard, I…
There’s a few things that’s kind of hard to find in the world of video game collecting and one of them is hilariously enough storage solutions. It’s quite difficult to obtain some method to store and display physical games which is where Rose Colored Gaming’s “Köffin” comes in. A full acrylic shell to cover your game from all edges and protect it from the elements while allowing you to still see the full game inside. About RCC’s Koffin Coming in two variants, a base model at ~$20 USD and a UV protective model at ~$30. They are actually quite extremely expensive with the most sincere honesty here when it comes to game storage. The general plastic covers that you can buy in bulk come maybe a dollar a piece; if you buy from a game store sometimes they’ll charge you a few bucks each. These those come with a hefty…
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,…
Death is a natural part of life. Life giveth, life taketh, and life messeth with you a little bit along the way. It’s always sad when a game series forever concludes, but all good things must come to an end. But what about those series that never received a definitive end where the protagonist walks into the sunset as the main theme starts to play? I mean, that’s how my life is going to end (I have rehearsed it repeatedly), but there are many series of games that received no such luck. Today, let’s take a look at what games should’ve gotten another in their series, or should make a return, or simply added truth to the saying that the good always die young. Or, worse yet, are frozen in suspended animation until their publisher decides to use them ever again — truly, an even more twisted fate. 5. F-Zero…
One of my favorite early memories in life was playing on my grandpa’s Super Nintendo as a kid. Sure, there was a pool, a swing-set, and a huge backyard to do pretty much anything, but I was always drawn to the Nintendo. I looked forward to loading up my save files and continuing my journey from last time on the road trip. Super Mario World was one of my favorites. It was such a beautiful world, a side-scrolling game that was simple enough yet challenging at the same time. This game was great back then, and it still holds up today. The first thing about this game is how amazing it looked for the time. The colors all pop and the graphics on this game are so much better than its Super Mario Bros. 3 predecessor on the original NES. The world is so visually pleasing, and it makes you appreciate all the hard work…
So you’ve already beat your favorite game a few times. You have tried others, but you keep finding yourself back in that familiar world on that old console. You know every inch of that map, know exactly how the story unfolds, all of the secrets, and yet you cannot get enough. Then one day out of nowhere, you hear the news – they are re-releasing that game! But what must the re-release have to encourage you to spend that hard-earned money? For me, there are a handful of games that I would buy the re-release no matter what. That’s how special a few of the games I have played are to me. Mainly Zelda games, I would re-purchase Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask until the end of time (same with A Link to the Past, but A Link Between Worlds was mostly a remake). However, a key thing with re-makes that I expect is obviously the graphics. Graphics enhancement…