Sam’s Scores VII
Today’s Sam’s Scores will be 4 old scores and a bonus at the end, enjoy!
4) – Sega Saturn controller
Although I don’t even own a Sega Saturn (yet), when I found a controller for the system I wanted it! It looked to be in good shape, all the buttons have a nice stiff response, so I assume everything works. Surely not something you see everyday at a thrift store, at least not for me.
3) – Quickshot NES Joystick
This may look like a repeat of a previous score, but there is a difference. This one is actually a Quickshot brand joystick and the other was Radio Shack’s Archer brand. They are nearly identical in every aspect, except for the brand markings. I will be going into a little bit more detail with the pair in a later article. But for now, lets show off that price!
2) – Quickshot Maverick 3
The Quickshot Maverick 3 was obviously modeled after the NES Advantage, which I happen to love. Naturally when I saw this I had to weigh the price vs unknown functionality in my head, but what I bought with it (see below) really helped push my choice over the edge. Luckily, everything works well with the exception of a weak turbo on/off switch.
1) – Sega Genesis 3
The Sega Genesis 3 was the smallest and last Genesis ever produced, and from what I understand it wasn’t even made by Sega! Sega gave Majesco the rights to make this little system and slap their name on it. The Genesis 3 has the bare essentials to play Genesis games, and I do mean bare! This system isn’t compatible with all Genesis games, nor any Sega CD or 32x attachments. Since I don’t own any of those attachments, the system works perfectly fine for me.
Sam’s Storage!
When your video game collection starts to grow, you need somewhere to store it all. I had been using cardboard boxes, but lately those have been spilling out onto anywhere my video games will go. While I was on the hunt for video games I came across 2 very useful ALS (a company well known for making storage drawers and carrying cases for the video game industry) storage systems.
The first of which is a Nintendo unit with 2 draws that holds the Zapper and 2 controllers at the top, while holding up to 28 NES games at the bottom. It will only hold loose cartridges in sleeves easily, but it may hold fewer boxed games, just not very well. The top has a special place for the cables for the controllers and zapper, but if you wrap them tightly enough, they will fit under the controller, giving you more room for other cables.
The second unit is based off their Sony Playstation drawer, only this one just says Video Matic on the front. It is a single drawer unit, meant to hold CD cases but I find that it holds a lot of other games just as well. There was a little organizer inside, but after a while it got in the way of other games so I took it out.
The outer box of these units is made of particleboard and a black vinyl is glued on top, while the drawers are made of pretty solid plastic. These units stack really well, saving me room, and have really been helpful in keeping my collection under control. I found the Nintendo one on a half price day at Goodwill. The Video Matic came from a flea market where I initially passed it up, until I did more research on what it was used for, but went back the next day to pick it up.
Video Matic: $1
NES vs Sega Master System: My Personal Opinion
No matter where you may stand on the whole Nintendo vs Sega debate, there are two indisputable facts when it comes to their 8-bit systems: Nintendo’s NES was far more successful, but Sega’s Master System was more powerful. With Nintendo’s NES coming out approximately 9 months before Sega’s Master System, Nintendo was headlong into building up popularity for their NES, but in that time Sega made the Master System more powerful. Even so, with Nintendo’s tight grasp on licensing games for the NES, marketing manners and many other factors, the Master System, sadly, never stood a chance.
I must admit that the Master System wasn’t as high on my list of wanted consoles as say.. the NES top loader, but it was always there. As research for the system, I spent countless hours studying video game comparison for the few games that were released for both the NES and the Master System, with the Master System version almost always looking the best. I had always hoped to acquire a Sega Master System (or Power Base converter for my Genesis 1) on a vintage gaming hunt, but sadly I had only found one at Disc Replay and one at an indoor flea market, both of which were priced too high for the thrift hunter within.
Being fed up with waiting I decided to just go ahead and pay a little more than I normally would, just to own the system and see what it was all about. After spending some time with both the actual system and some emulation, just to get a feel for what the games I don’t own felt like, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the Master System. Although I now love the Sega Master System, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have it’s faults, chief among which is the pause button being built into the console, instead of conveniently on the controller.
Another issue is the standard look that almost all of the game boxes and cartridge labels have, instead of flashy artwork it all seems pretty stock and boring. Finally, and it may seem trivial, but the cartridges are pretty hard to get out of the system. There is very little sticking out to grasp on to, which seems to result in transferring sweat and grease to the cartridge’s label, which seemingly helps it deteriorate.
I do, however, quite enjoy the D-pad on the Master System’s controller, a full 8 directional, concave pad that I find to be very comfortable. The 1 and 2 buttons on the controller are large, comfortable and number 1 doubles as the Start button, again perhaps there should have been a single start/pause button (like the Genesis!), but that is well past debate. The Sega Light Phaser feels much better than the NES Zapper, and for some unexplainable reason, makes shooting games more fun!
Now lets talk about games. The Master System’s library is nearly half that of the NES, which some may think that would cut down on the junk, and you’d be wrong. The Master System does have it’s share of pure gems such as; Golden Axe Warrior, Ys, Out Run, Hang On and quite a few more, but it also had it’s share of complete trash. And when I say a game is trash, it was completely unplayable. Albeit, I was using the emulation to test most games, and I did test a few games I now own and hated them on emulation, yet love them once the controller is in my hands. Let that last sentence stand for itself.
Overall I find it sad that the Sega Master System seems to be a massively overlooked system. The games that are good, are great, but sadly the games that are bad are terrible! My only true gripe goes back to the Pause button being mounted within the console itself and not on the controller. The thrift hunter within me is mostly upset that I’ve never seen a single Sega Master System game anywhere other than Disc Replay, so snagging them at a good price is going to be impossible, but at least finding them isn’t.
Sam’s Scores IV
The fourth edition of Sam’s Scores is upon us and there are many more scores to show!
4) – King’s Quest VI & Lamborghini American Challenge
Admittedly, I’m not a PC gamer, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them, I am just more of a console person. Usually while searching through CDs for misplaced or mistaken Playstation games, I often find PC games thrown in as well. There aren’t many titles I actively search for, but you never know what you’ll find in a thrift store CD bin. King’s Quest is completely new to me, but I had heard of the name before so I picked it up. Now, I’ve had a fond past with Lamborghini American Challenge release on the Super Nintendo, so I was well aware of what this game was and knew I had to have it, even though I still prefer the SNES version.
Lamborghini American Challenge – $2
3) – Sega Genistick
The Sega Genistick is a joystick controller with integrated A, B and C buttons as well as the Start and a turbo feature, much like the Quickshot joysticks. Oddly enough, this looks almost identical to the Quickshot QS-177 for the Sega Genesis, with gray buttons instead of blue. This sat on the shelf for a week or so before I went in and bought it during a discount week, not a bad price….
2) – Mario Party 2 and WCW Mayhem N64
I’ve been buying any game I can for my N64, I love that thing! Even though some games are pretty lousy, if I get them cheap enough I don’t feel bad adding them to my collection. N64 games don’t pop up all that often at the thrift stores I frequent, but when they do I try to get my hands on them unless I already own them. If I don’t know a title, I’m not afraid to check it out because the price is always pretty inexpensive.
1) – N64 Tremor pak CIB
As always, like above, I’m on the look out for N64 accessories, controllers, memory cards, anything really. Back in the day, Performance was making accessories for anything they could and N64 was a hot ticket. When I came across one of their Tremor Paks (complete in box no less!) I was pretty excited, especially by the price. Sadly, when I brought it home the previous owner had left the batteries inside to corrode and leak, with a little cleaning and coaxing it trembled to life in my controller and everything turned out alright.
College Slam
In 1996, Acclaim decided to go back to school and released College Slam for all major home and handheld systems. College Slam seems to be a more polished, albeit college themed, version of Acclaim’s smash hit NBA Jam. With NBA Jam you will probably remember shooting three pointers from just about anywhere and slam dunking from half court, all of which is still here in College Slam, as well as a few added features to increase the longevity of the game. Sadly, it seems since this game didn’t have the big names that it’s predecessor did, it didn’t translate with the audience as well as Acclaim may have hoped.
College Slam’s game play is identical to NBA Jam. You still have turbo to boost your player around the court for a short period of time before needing to recharge it, you can still shoot the ball from anywhere, steal the ball, push the other players over, elbow them and even catch fire. But unlike NBA Jam, you can call a time out at any point you possess the ball and substitute for 1 or 2 fresh players. College Slam also borrows from NBA Jam Tournament Edition with it’s more fluid movement and of course the tournament mode, as well as offering a more upbeat announcer who has more dialog than he did in NBA Jam. As you would expect, College Slam follows the college rule of 2 halves instead of four quarters.
To get started, you pick your team from a list of over 40 colleges, then select any 2 of 5 positions, as opposed to NBA Jam’s strictly 2 players per team. With College Slam there are no names, simply different stats for each position, which I like to think of as an advantage for re-playability. No matter when you play this game, you can just imagine you’re controlling your favorite college player (even if they weren’t even born when this game was released!) instead of being stuck with outdated rosters. From there you go to the Tonight’s Match-Up screen, where you can enter codes as the announcer tells you which 2 teams are playing and you prepare for the opening tip off.
Some people may prefer NBA to college, but in my opinion this game shined it’s whole career, but never made it to the draft. I own a complete in box set of this game as well as another cartridge strictly used for playing the game. Certainly this game will never become rare or highly valuable, but its a secret treasure for me to own a complete set of the game because I enjoy it that much! Still to this day I enjoy (win or lose) firing three pointers from the other team’s goal just to see whether I can get them to fall or not. NBA Jam has all the big names, but College Slam has the perpetual starry-eyed heart and determination it takes to make it to the big time.
Sam’s Scores: Sega Editon!!
Welcome to a special edition of Sam’s Scores! All scores featured in this edition are for the Sega Genesis. This is also the first Sam’s Scores of 2011, yet I’m still working with scores from 2010, as I have so many, so stay tuned for more! It may not always be easy to find the things I want, but I always enjoy searching through thrift stores to find something that is valuable to me. I just hope everyone enjoys these finds as much as I do!
8)
Number eight is a Sega Genesis 2 that I found at a local thrift store. It was just the system and 1 controller, with no other hookups. Even though it was just the system and controller, I decided the price was still decent and it was in good cosmetic condition…
System powers on but I have no way to test full functionality.
7)
After purchasing the Genesis above, I knew that both of my Sega Genesis systems needed power supplies and AV cables, so I kept my eyes open. Soon enough I came across two Sega AC adapters in a thrift store. These adapters work for the Genesis 2 and the 32x, the last of which I don’t own, but at least I found own these! I didn’t see a price so I asked a store employee…
Both AC adapters powered up the Genesis above!
6)
Are you being menaced? Get THE MENACER! Do you remember the Sega Menacer? Honestly, me either! I had never in my life seen this until I found it in a local thrift store. The box was crushed but still intact. After inspecting what was inside (everything but the game cartridge) I headed to the cashier…
5)
I am always looking for controllers and now I have quite a few for the Genesis. I bought a High Frequency, which has individual switches for programming turbo or slow motion on each of the 6 buttons. I also bought a Performance brand controller with the same feature, only this time it’s only 1 switch for all 6 buttons. Finally I bought a Power Player controller, which isn’t even for the Genesis but I hope it works because it’s blue and has a joystick add-on for the D-pad.
Performance Super Pad -38 cents
Power Player -$1
4)
Number four is an official Sega Genesis controller. These were much smaller than the original controllers and more comfortable, they also had a mode button on the top right. I needed Genesis controllers so I bought this one for just…
3)
Naturally if you’re going to have a Genesis, you want games! I’ve managed a handful of them throughout the year, you may recall the 2 I got for 50 cents each in my Top 5 scores list. I also happened to score these others: Altered Beast, Pacman 2, Virtua Racing and Ren and Stimpy.
Pacman 2 (Complete in case) -$2
Virtua Racing -50 cents
Ren and Stimpy (Complete in case) -Free!
2)
Recently, I found an original Sega Genesis in a local thrift store, the side door was missing but I wasn’t concerned with that. I knew the store had the system, so I went to check for a power supply or AV cables. I ended up only finding 2 Sega controllers; a Quickshot and a genuine controller you could tell went with this deck. These items were marked a little funny but I went ahead and bought them all…
Sega MK1650 and QS-181 -$4.50
1)
Probably one of the most well known RPG series for the Sega Genesis was Phantasy Star. Despite an odd (intentional) spelling error it looked fun, yet I never really clicked with the series. But I did know when I saw Phantasy Star II in it’s case, I had to snatch it up!
Sam’s Scores [Top 5]
Here at TVG they call me a bargain master, the truth is I simply do my best to make sure I get the item(s) I want for the lowest possible price. Sometimes I’m successful and other times I either pay full price, because it was already a bargain anyway, or I end up losing the item waiting for it to go on sale. In my bargain hunting guide I promised to share with you some of my recent scores and in 2010 I have to say, I have been pretty lucky with the scores I’ve managed! I have (painfully) narrowed it down to my 5 favorite scores of 2010. This is by no means all of them, just the best!
5)
As always, a day at a local thrift store yielded number 5. I walked in and just behind the front counter I saw four NES games, I couldn’t tell what they were because they were sitting sideways on the shelf. I asked for assistance and at first I didn’t see any price tags but whatever the price was it was 50% off because they all had the 50% off discount colored tag on them. The games were: Operation Wolf, Jeopardy, Super Mario: 3 in 1 and Super Mario/Duck hunt. It turns out Super Mario/ Duck Hunt did have a price tag on it, which set the price for all four games…
4)
Number 4 came from Craigslist, an interesting place despite my items wanted posts always being removed. I only try to acquire things from Craigslist if I feel the seller and I can agree on a reasonable price. I had been searching Craigslist for vintage systems, games, etc. when I found a Nintendo 64 being sold very close to where I live. The ad was for the system, all the hookups, a controller, a memory card and a rumble pak, all fairly cheap. Still, I had to bargain so I sent the seller my offer. As a bonus score, I recently found an official red N64 controller at a thrift store…
3)
While documenting an outing for my hunting guide, I found an NES in a local thrift store for a very reasonable $7.98. Since there was no way to test it’s full functionality and this store has a no return policy, I walked up to the cashier and asked if there was any discount we could work out. The tag was orange which was not part of the store’s weekly discount colors, but I ended up with a discount anyway…
2)
Earlier this year I made a sizable score which included an NES with 14 games and multiple controllers (including a Beeshu Zipper and Wico Commander). Also an Atari 2600 with a few game manuals and the original AC adapter, although there we no games or controllers. Everything was in really good shape but needed some serious cleaning, which I’m not afraid of! The NES and games worked perfectly and until recently the Atari went unchecked, the original AC adapter was dead and I’m still unsure if the system works or not. All these items were…
1)
Last but certainly not least is the Zelda: Ocarina of Time score, this is my favorite score (thus far)! I didn’t even own an N64 at the time, yet I knew enough about Zelda to know that I needed this game when I saw it! I was looking through a rack of VHS tapes, because sometimes game boxes are confused and placed amongst them, when I seen a golden box that said Zelda on it. I picked up the box and I knew right away there was a game inside, it was the limited edition Ocarina of time. Inside the box was the manual and the gold cartridge, all three were in good shape! I also picked up 2 Sega Genesis games at the same time, both in their boxes with manuals (NBA Jam and Triple Play ’96).
Sega Games – 50 cents each
Zelda: Ocarina of Time – 90 cents!
