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!

The Birthday Gift Card - Amazon Expeditions

Among my birthday gifts this year was a gift card for $50 at Amazon.com.  Since my birthday was primarily filled with modern stuff, I decided I'd go retro with it, and this is what I came up with.

One of my most wanted.

First order of business - I needed a true classic for my new Sega Master System, and no, ALF wasn't going to cut it.  It may have been pricey, but a complete in case Phantasy Star is just what this collection needed. This accounted for more than half of the money spent.

That is more like it!

Next, some new NES games.  Rad Racer, Gradius, Wizards & Warriors, R.C. Pro-AM, Marble Madness and Kung Fu Heroes.

You may have noticed a small difference between these games and my normal acquisitions - these are all really good games.  When setting out to purchase games of my own accord (when not out deal hunting) I choose my games much, much more carefully.  Sure, I could have found these at a thrift or flea market for considerably less, but you know what? Sometimes it doesn't matter. Just go for it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a handful of awesome games that demand my attention.

How To Repair A Sega Master System - Assuming You Did The Obvious

So, your Sega Master System won't turn on. It worked last time you tried it, but now it just stares blankly when you press the power button.

I know what you did. You know what you did.

You plugged in a Nintendo AC adapter, didn't you? Don't worry about it. Everyone has done it - not necessarily with this system, but with something.


But the important thing is, yes, you've fried your SMS. And now, we're going to fix it.

First things first though, a bit of boring technical info. The reason it's broken is pretty simple, really. AC adapters are appropriately named - they're meant to convert AC power into DC power that your device can use. In most cases, such as Sega's adapters, that's exactly what they do.

Not so, in Nintendo's case. Nintendo's wall warts actually feed the system AC power which wreaks havoc on your poor DC device. Generally, the first and last thing to get fried in the Master System is the voltage regulator.

So, in order to fix it, you're going to need a soldering iron, solder, a desoldering braid, and a phillips screwdriver.  Also, you'll need to buy a new voltage regulator, a +5V Fixed-Voltage Regulator 7805, which is available at Radio Shack. Who knew Radio Shack still sells components? I thought they only sold cellular phones these days.

Six easy screws.

Remove the six screws holding the case together, highlighted above. No hidden screws, these are all you'll need.

More screws on the RF shielding.

Now the RF shielding - six more screws here.  Three in front, one on top, and two in the back. Again, they're all pretty easy to find.

Now to get that board off.

Here's some more. Two around the power switch, one dead in the middle of the board, and two around each cartridge slot. The board should now lift away from the bottom of the case.

This screw is the bane of my existence.

This photograph was almost as hard to get as that screw was to get out. As you can see, there's a piece of metal screwed to the board - this is the heat sink for the voltage regulator. See that screw? You'll need to squeeze your screwdriver around the components on the board to take that screw out from inside the heat sink. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Now that you're thoroughly irritated, remove the heat sink by taking out the two screws under the board.

Finally. Ugh.

Now, your voltage regulator is free!

Fuzzy, but you get the idea.

As you can see, the original voltage regulator is bent slightly so it can be attached to the heat sink.  Bend yours in the same way. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it should bend easily.

Sorry, I have no pictures of the next steps as I don't have enough hands to hold the camera while holding a soldering iron.  There are a million soldering tutorials on YouTube and across the internet, so if you need assistance, please refer to one of them.

Using the desoldering wick and iron, remove the existing solder from the voltage regulator and pop it out.  You can now slide the new one in - but wait! It is much, much easier to screw the voltage regulator to the heat sink now.  Screw the new one in to the heat sink and slide the pins through the holes. Now solder it in.

You don't want to do it the other way.  Think of what a pain it was getting it out - imagine that in reverse.

So, get the heat sink back on and hook it up.

Green light! Green light!

The power LED should light up, and you're back in business!

Poor city. But at least my Master System is working!

Follow the steps in reverse, as always, to reassemble the system.  This may not work on every system, so if you're still having trouble, use a multimeter to check where the issue might be.  If it did work, have fun! I know I will.