GameStop's New Incentive Program: Retro Game Vault

Try harder, GameStop.

If you haven't heard, the generally anti-retro game retailer GameStop is now trying their best to steal their own little piece of the nostalgia pie.

Through GameStop's PowerUp Rewards program, you earn points for each purchase, which can then be exchanged for rewards, similar to Best Buy's Reward Zone membership.  But what's this?  You can now use these points towards classic games through GameStop's "Retro Game Vault".

Sounds great, doesn't it?  Well, yeah, until you check the values.

Super Mario Bros., a pretty common cartridge, has a current value of around $4 (the SMB/Duck Hunt cartridges are easier to find and much cheaper).  Through the GameStop Rewards program, the game is 43,250 points!

Here's the point breakdown for the program, per their website:

• 10 points per dollar spent on all new games and consoles 
• 20 points per dollar spent on pre-owned games, accessories and consoles 
• 20 points per dollar on traded-in games or consoles

Assuming you're smart enough to stay away from trading in games for less than a quarter of their value, and also assuming you avoid buying "new" (It's not used if GameStop removes the seal and plays it, only if you do) copies, you'll get 20 points per dollar on used games.  Okay, cool.

So, 43250 / 20 = 2162.5.

Spend $2,162.50 on used games, and you'll take home a game that was free with the NES.  One that you can find at any given garage sale or flea market for 25 cents.

What a deal!  Clearly you've changed your stance on retro games, GameStop.  The retro community salutes you!

Only a single finger in the salute, though.  The rest of them just weren't feeling it.

See it for yourself at https://www.poweruprewards.com/PUR/Index/RetroGameVault.

Another Trip, More Goodies

I figured that, since I've still got my car this weekend, I'd take a trip to Salem for another tour of the numerous thrift stores down there.

As with most of my long thrifting day trips, I wasn't disappointed.

That's some serious hardware.

At the very first Goodwill I checked on the way down, I ran into this: A boxed Super Scope 6.  The box was hiding under a stack of other random boxes next to the register - seriously, guys, check every inch of your thrift stores, you really never know.

All parts for the gun are included as well as the sensor, but the Super Scope 6 cartridge isn't... but I've actually seen people giving the cartridge away, so it shouldn't be hard to track one down.  $24.99, and they go for around $30-40.  Also purchased here but not pictured: a new N64 memory card (or controller pak) for $4.99.  Off to a good start!

Can never have too many of these.  Why?  Bomberman, that's why.

At a Value Village, I picked up another Sega Saturn controller for $2.99.  This is a version one controller, and you can usually pick these up for $10 or so.

Where do these keep coming from?

Lastly, at the same Goodwill where I bought a bunch of 2600 games a few months ago, I found yet another stack.  Where are these coming from?  Is there an infinitely renewing fountain of Atari 2600 games nearby?  If so, where can I find this fountain?

The games are Space Invaders, Cosmic Ark, Demons to Diamonds, Warlords (finally!), Breakaway IV, and Riddle of the Sphinx.  These were $2.99 each, so yes, I grossly overpaid for almost all of them.  Breakaway IV, however, is worth around $5, so there was one decent deal.  I have no problem overpaying for a stack of 2600 games when, on the same trip, I massively underpaid for something else.  It all balances out, you see.

As it turns out, I already had a copy of Space Invaders.  I love overpaying for something I already own.  I can't wait until my Verizon service contract ends so I can activate this Virgin Mobile smartphone.  It'd be so nice to have access to my RF Generation collection list on the go.  There is actually an app for that.

Also, in this same trip, I picked up a Gamecube for $9.99... but that's a discussion for a few years in the future.  Happy hunting, everyone!

Goodwill Hunting - More Atari 2600 Finds!

What's cooler than a console with a wood grain sticker on it?

A box for your games with a wood grain sticker on it!

Today's Goodwill finds actually come from of Goodwill's auction site, http://www.shopgoodwill.com.    Goodwill's auctions can be another great source for bulk retro items - but there are a few caveats.  First, it's become quite well known, so don't expect a super-rare game to go for a low price.  Second, the shipping tends to be atrocious, so watch it carefully.  The best course of action, in my opinion, is to watch for local auctions, because that means you can pick it up locally for a much smaller handling fee.

This is an Atari Game Center, a wood grained thing of beauty designed to store your Atari cartridges and peripherals, with a set of grooves on top which snugly fit your console.  Included with the game center are all of the cartridges you see inside, as well as a stack of manuals and inserts!

I love this stuff.

The games are Battlezone, Air-Sea Battle, Ms. Pac-Man, Mario Bros., Asteroids, E.T., Combat, Pole Position, Yar's Revenge, Space Invaders, Vanguard, Jungle Hunt, Surround, 2 copies of Missile Command, 2 copies of Pac-Man, and 3 copies of Berzerk.  There are manuals for most of the games... as well as a few manuals for games that aren't here.  Odd, but cool.  Oh, and there's a comic book for Yar's Revenge!  ...maybe it'll help that game make some sense.  This whole set was only $11, which was a really great deal for everything included.

The pickup location for this was the Goodwill Outlet in Hillsboro, so I stopped in to take a look.  The Goodwill Outlet is affectionately known as "The Bins" because, well, that's exactly what it is.  It's a large store that's simply filled with huge plastic bins.  Your role is to tear through all of the junk (and really, a lot of it is junk) in order to find a gem or two to take home.

The great part about The Bins is that they don't charge per item, they charge per pound.  It's the end of the line for this stuff, so they're less interested in profiting off the items themselves and more interested in getting rid of the bulk that the stores couldn't move.  You will have to dig, but you're almost guaranteed to find something half decent, and at a per-pound price, there's never any reason to leave anything behind.

Bad joke in 3... 2... 1...

I found a copy of Steroids for the Atari 2600.  I thought that game was banned?

"Bins" pickups.

For $1.59, I picked up the notoriously awful Dark Castle for the Sega Genesis, a N64 controller in much better shape than the last few I picked up there, and... oh, it's a copy of Asteroids.  That makes much more sense.

Again, at that price, why leave anything behind?  Of course, I hadn't realized there was a copy of Asteroids in the lot I'd just picked up, but oh well.  Still a great day for deals.

Yard sale season is winding down, so hit those local thrifts, before someone else beats you to it.  And, most of all, have fun!

Another Great Craigslist Haul, Plus a Little Goodwill Hunting!

Mario RPG!

The summer sale season may have come and gone here in the Northwest, but I've still got another great Craigslist haul to report tonight!  For $50, I picked up Super Mario RPG, Ninja Warriors, The Jungle Book, Earthworm Jim, Mystical Ninja and Zombies Ate My Neighbors for the SNES.

The value of these games is almost twice what I paid, so I'm very happy about that, especially after paying full Amazon price for my review copy of Zombies Ate My Neighbors just a few weeks ago and winding up with a beat-up, rental sticker-covered monstrosity.

2600 games - most are true classics, too.

After driving all the way out to Salem, I figured it'd be a good idea to check the nearby Goodwill as I don't make it out there very often.  They had a whole stack of Atari 2600 games, all labelled $3.99, but each and every one was half off due to the color tag sale.  That's better than most retail stores, but I took a loss on the value of these cartridges.  So, there was a small loss, but after the earlier victory, it all balances out to a pretty great day for my collection.  The titles were Space Attack, Super Breakout, Asteroids, Yar's Revenge, Adventure, Centipede, Reactor and Atlantis.

Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2011 Pickups!

This list of pickups is so big, I decided to do a video as requested!

I babbled on for over a half hour - though I managed to cut it down to just under four minutes.  Put together quickly and unscripted, you'll notice my kittens yelling, microphone gain drops and more fun.  I promise, the next video will be of better quality.  Enjoy!

Goodwill Hunting - Atari Flashback2

Actually a lot cooler than I expected.

Normally, I have a strict anti-clone policy when it comes to my collection - and by extension - this blog.  So the prospect of owning an Atari Flashback never really appealed to me.  After all, plug and play games and clone consoles are almost always sad shadows of their original hardware.  When I saw this system at Goodwill, I passed on it.  And passed.  And passed.

When the tag color of the week changed, I revisted.  Sadly, this was not on sale, but it got me thinking.  The joysticks had the original connectors, and they looked pretty nice, so I went home and did a bit of research.

I found that, yes, the joysticks are directly compatible with the original 2600, and $9.99 for two joysticks of this quality is pretty good, even for knockoffs.  And, of course, I needed some for the 2600 I picked up and cleaned up a while back.  So, I snapped it up.

After using the joysticks, I can't even call them knockoffs in good conscience.  These are full-on reproductions, slightly different in appearance, but they feel fantastic.  The console itself was the biggest shock - to my eyes and ears, the colors and sounds are perfect.  Everything is dead-on.

So, I did some more research.  As it turns out, this is not your average NOAC (Nintendo on a Chip) Atari knockoff.  This is a researched, revamped modernization of the hardware in the original Atari 2600.  All it's missing are a some undocumented opcodes - but, of course, anything that wouldn't work isn't included.  The games that are there are just perfect - as soon as I get some of their cartridge-based counterparts I'll put together a comparison video.

Bootleg knockoffs of this system are out there in the wild as well, so keep an eye out.  That said, if you can track down an original, it's worth a look.

Craigslist Finds - Atari 2600 system, 2 of them.

I actually can't even play this game.

This is a console that needs no introduction, but I'll attempt to give one anyway.  The Atari 2600 is an icon of gaming that spans multiple generations.  Depending on your age, this may literally be your grandfather's gaming console.  Originally released in 1977, it was hardly the first home gaming console, but it was the first to become a true household name.

Yuck.

And there's one of the two I purchased yesterday from a seller on Craigslist.  Both were only $10, but didn't come with AC adapters, games or controllers.  It's still a steal.

The one pictured was the worse of the two.  It looks nasty, yes, but you should see the inside.

Eww, just.. eww.

Seriously, eww.  Dust, debris, and.... is that sawdust everywhere?  Paint flakes?

Well, the board and components have been cleaned extensively with rubbing alcohol, and the outer shell with glass cleaner.  It may sound odd, but glass cleaner is one of the best things you can use on consoles from this era to get the years of grime and nastiness off.  Steel wool was also used to remove some paint from the cable, as well as in the polishing of the metal switches.

Here's the result:

I left the "Atari Super Service" sticker on there for the laughs.

Secondary Atari 2600 is now ready for sale.  Any takers?  This 2600 sold for around $20.  Glad I put in the effort!