Cowlitz Gamers For Kids 2012 Pickups!

Today, I visited the 3rd annual Cowlitz Gamers For Kids show. It's like a miniature Retro Game Expo put on for a good cause. Admission comes in the form of a donation of your choice to the Childrens Justice and Advocacy Center, devoted to children who are victims of sexual or physical abuse. The recommended donation is five dollars; I gave ten. I mean, look at what it's for. I can't just give the minimum.

I'd wanted to give a full report on the event with pictures and videos, but I just didn't have time. It's my brother-in-law's birthday.

But, there were arcade machines and a free-play console game setup just like the one at the Retro Game Expo, as well as a DJ spinning some hilarious and awesome mashups. Also, there was an R.C. Pro Am tournament - again, there was no time to participate.

I walked in with $200 (well, $190 after the donation) and after some serious thought, I decided this time I'd go for rarity/quality over quantity. I picked up some smaller items, mostly for haggle fodder, but it's all good stuff. My collection's getting big enough that there's no reason not to jump on the big games when I've got the chance, so here we go.

Finally, I can review Game Boy Color games.

First, I picked up a Game Boy Player for the Gamecube. While neither the Gamecube or the Game Boy Advance are particularly retro in my opinion, this device is the only way for me to record footage of Game Boy Color games, so yeah, it was important for me to track one down.

These two things have little to do with one another.

Next, Conker's Bad Fur Day and an NES Max controller, I've been needing one. It was dirt cheap anyway. Conker, however, was not dirt cheap.

Woot!

More Nintendo stuff - Famicom games! Dracula-kun, Mother (Earthbound Zero), Dragon Buster and Macross.

More SMS games!

Master System stuff - Double Dragon and Shinobi. No manual in Shinobi, but Double Dragon is complete.

Ooooh.

Lastly, what may well be my favorite of these pickups, Splatterhouse and Raiden for the Turbografx 16!

I'm stoked to pop some of this stuff in and give it a shot. It may not look like much when laid out like this, but many of these aren't exactly the kind of games you'd find in a Goodwill hunt, unless you're really, really lucky. Happy hunting!

FamiComplex Video Reviews - The Legend of the Mystical Ninja

Spoiler Alert: just go buy it right now. Seriously.

FamiComplex reviews The Legend of the Mystical Ninja for the SNES. Was the Ganbare Goemon series worth the wait, or should this have stayed in Japan?

Seven Tips For Finding Classic Games At Goodwill

So, you wanna be a Goodwill hunter? There are a great many treasures to be had a Goodwill stores across the country, though it can be a challenge finding them. Every store is different, and that means the prices and locations of stock vary wildly from one to the next.

Here are a few tips for making the most of your trip based on my own shopping experiences.

1) The Case

As soon as you walk into most Goodwill stores, you'll find a glass case filled with what they consider to be their high value merchandise. In some cases, that's where you'll find the games, and oftentimes the systems as well. You'll probably need to have an employee take them out in order to find out what they are. 

2) Behind the Case

In many stores, boxed systems and accessories will be kept behind the counter in order to avoid theft. If there's a stack of boxes, ask if you can look through them. You never know what's in there.

I've also seen baskets filled with cartridges hiding in this area, too. Have a look around before you move on.

3) The Bookshelves

The bookshelves occasionally house boxed games and cartridges. It's worth a quick scan.

4) The CD Section

This section can take a while to browse, but is occasionally worth it. Some stores split games and software CDs into their own section, but many do not. Even in the ones that do, things will be missed. Always browse through all of the music CDs, because you'll almost definitely find a Playstation, Dreamcast or PC game hiding in there.

5) The Electronics Section

This is the most obvious place to look, and tends to be your best bet in any store. Sometimes, they'll stack the cartridges here, but you'll almost always find accessories here - controllers and AC adapters and the like. Unless something is taped to a system, the employees won't match them up and will usually price them separately.

Another thing to keep in mind while browsing this section is that not every consumer electronics device is as it seems. Inside that stack of CD changers may be a Laserdisc player, which could even be a LaserActive. That bunch of DVD players may hide a Nuon-capable DVD or a CD-i. Always scan this section for things out of the ordinary.

6) The Aisle Next To The Toy Aisle

Okay, this one might sound a bit odd, but hear me out. In my local store, this aisle is the sporting goods section, and I've come across a number of controllers and light guns. My theory is that kids pick them up and play with them while their parents browse the other sections, then drop them in the nearest aisle in a mad dash for the toy section. I've seen this in multiple stores, so it isn't an isolated incident.

7) Tag Sales

Most Goodwill stores have tag sales, in which a price tag of a specific color is half off for the week. These change every Sunday. If you've found something you want with a price that's just too high, come back on Sunday and it may be half off, provided it hasn't sold in the meantime.

Keeping these things in mind will help foster a more efficient and lucrative shopping experience. Got any tips of your own? Leave them in the comments section!

FamiComplex's First April Fools' Gag... Kind Of A Success.

FamiComplex's first April Fools' gag is a relative success, in that with every dumb article posted, my view count dropped exponentially.  I'm proud that my readers are intelligent enough to avoid that sort of drivel.

On the other hand, though, it was an extreme challenge to continue writing like that. At least it was fun.

Sorry, guys. I'll try to come up with something better next year.

battlefeild is stupid

battelfeild is a stupid game because they try to be like modern warefare they cant be like modern warefare because it is waaaay better and battlefeild is dum.

mw has better vizuals nd online is beter too. mw has better guns and everybody knos that bf is a game for peeple who cant play mw good.

bf, more like bs amirite?

mass affect is dum

peeple keep talking about mass affect but mass affect is stupid and dum. u shoot aliens liek in resistance and resistnce is on the ps3 so it is bad.

and everybody has feelings and talks all the time. if i wanted to have feelings and talk all the time id get a girlfriend. feelings come from ur vagna and i dont have one of those. so mass affect is stupid.

Vega is pretty cool tho hes a badass space marine like in all the good games that have badass space marines in them.