26/12/2011

Mirror's Edge Steelbook. Another good example...


... of an item that is ending for ABSURD prices and was even given as an offer if you bought the original game from a particular retailer in Spain... Mirror's Edge Steelkbook. This thing was found for very cheap prices until the international videogame community figured it was available only in Spain. So, when a few finally appeared, those international buyers decided to pay 100s of euros for it. And I'm not exaggerating. This thing sold for 500 euros... And thanks to that, some sellers decided they should list their own copies with buy it now prices raging from 250 to 450. The price is slowly dropping because not everyone is willing to pay so much for a single steelbook except for the rich hardcore collectors, but this certainly is not worth that much... I paid a very reasonable amount for this even being an unsealed steelbook simply because I know how much is worth. But, unlike many other buyers, I didn't get this to resell...
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Darkstone


The game was originaly released for PC and PS1. This press kit is specifficaly for PC since includes the CDROM and not the PS1 promo, but I loved it and decided to get it. I didn't regret! It's one of the older generation press kits but looks great!
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3rd game, 3rd press kit. The weakest of'em all...


Another example of stupidly high prices for an item that's not THAT special is this Resistance 3 Press Kit. Just a folded cardboard sleeve holding two separate discs that resemble downscaled vinyls. Look at the number on it... this basically means over 7000 have been made, yet people still pay over 70 for this thing. Ah well... It cost me half that price with shipping included and that's the only reason why I got it in the first place. No matter how much I love these editions, the fact is that I don't have that much money to pay for them. Always digging the best deal out there. It's getting harder and harder to collect these things nowadays... This was supposed to come with toy soldiers on a separate package, but I consider that more like a bonus item since the press kit itself is only the 2 disc case. Besides, I didn't really confirmed this but I believe these toy soldiers are exactly the same that come with the Survivor Edition... if so, then I really don't mind.
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That's fast!


One of the best racers on PSP and one of the reasons why owning the console really is worth it. I don't know why but I really like to see wipeout games on the PSP, they seem to fit the console pretty well. I don't think the same about many other ports or spinoffs that seem more suitable to be played at home with a big screen. This is the Wipeout Puls Press Kit, still factory sealed.
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Persona 2

Persona is one popular RPG series released in  japan for... a long time. The series only arrived in Europe way too late and as usual it didn't get the same treatment in Europe. We get some of the games once in a while, when certain independent publishers randomly decide to bring these titles to Europe. This one was borught by Ghostlight. I am very happy to know that these companies exist in Europe, otherwise we wouldn't be receiving such games... Persona 2 Collector's Edition for PSP, directly from Ghostlight's website.


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Game and Watch Reborn

Managed to grab this Nintendo DS console press kit. Looks pretty good, the only problem is that it doesn't come with games. It's basically a dossier with pages that contain information about some of the exclusive titles, such as Trauma Center, Braintraining, Tetris and a few others. Some of the games have their own press disc included in the dossier, which is great! Loved it
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02/12/2011

Dreamcast portuguese bundles: controller + game!


Just like Master System received the Purple Editions and Mega Drive received certain variants with Mega Drive covers but Genesis carts and manuals (no comments...) and the warranty sticker directly printed in the official cover, Dreamcast also received these little bundles. I believe these weren't available in other countries or if they were then they're extremely scarce and I have not been able to target but a few of them.

The one I recently bought is Crazy Taxi + Controller bundle with themed sleeve. The only thing that provides some exclusivity to these bundles is actually the sleeve. So far I got Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis and Another one with just a sticker and the game Rainbow Six included. I know there are others such as the Sega Rally and Space Channel 5 bundles but I am yet to find out more. These were available very cheap when stores decided to get rid of the DC stuff after it died but unfortunately I totally ignored them and now they're much harder to find.
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Saint's Row again... The Third Platinum Pack arrived


I never really paid much attention to Saint's Row, but I have bought the 2nd game's CE and now this particular Platinum edition that dropped to 50% during Amazon's Black Friday's lightning deals. I must say that... The edition is quite weak... The headphones can't be directly connected to the console to be used on live and their quality is... well they say it's good but I'm not quite sure how good it is. The package on PS3 is pretty bad because there's no window showing the headphones and the box is far more simplistic -I'm talking about the PAL UK version. I'm glad I have the 360 version. The contents are nothing more that the OST and a few DLCs also available on other editions. I really didn't like this edition that much, so I rate it 6.5/10 considering its expensive price. Play.com said this was exclusive to them, but Amazon also has it. However, when I heard there was actually a PAL version of this particular edition it was already sold out on Play.com and amazon was selling it for *only* 99.99 pounds. Considering the contents, this is trully only for serious fans in my opinion cause that things' damn expensive!
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Happy Birthday Zelda =)


25 years after the amazing legend was born, we received a special edition 3DS Console to celebrate. I'm not the sort to collect limited edition consoles, but there are too many Zelda nut fans and I decided I should buy this thing before those nut fans go nuts again and prevent me from getting a goodf deal for this console in the future. Better now than ever.

And it's not just the console alone, there's also a special edition of the game with a wiimote bundle. For the price being asked and knowing this is a Zelda game I'd be stupid if I let it go. I have been playing the game and it's pretty good in fact. However, I can't get used to the controllers so for this particular reason the game is not as enjoyable as it could be. Graphically speaking it's good but not THAT good, after all we've been recently spoiled by a game called Xenoblade and its amazing scenarios. The character design in Zelda is quite better though, at least in closer view. Overall, if I was a reviewer I wouldn't give this game the uber scores it's been getting but I'd still put it on my Wii all time favourites chart. I'm halfway through the game already and I'm enjoying it! This game, Xenoblade and hopefully the upcoming titles in Europe (Pandora's Tower and Last Story) will certainly be the best moments on the Wii for me =).
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Kingdom Hearts pain to get...


With the newly released Collector's Edition titles for PSP (I'm talking about Persona 2 and Trails in the Sky...) I remembered I have been missing a particular PSP Edition for a long time now and it was becoming a pain to find a factory sealed copy. It's the Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Special Edition in factory sealed condition. Damn it was not that easy to find a good price for this thing as all the deals I've found for a seald copy were usually 50 euros or more. Finally I found a place selling that for almost half the price. It was now or never folks... so I got it =)
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27/11/2011

Press stuff that doesn't look so good

Not all press kits are great. Not even close. The most sought after are amazing but over the years I also collected some stuff that I never showed because I thought it wasn't worth it. But now I'm trying to put all my stuff together and take pictures of everything so I might as well take the chance to show the other stuff I have but never even mentioned.

These are the weakest press kits I have, which are basically nothing but books, dossiers or press papers with a promo disc or a press disc... Most were provided with a press disc I didn't target these things in particular. I have plenty of pics of those that I decided to post here.

08/02/2015 update: I obviously never ended up posting pics of these, unfortunately... hopefully some other time in the futre...
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26/11/2011

Assassin's Creed Revelations, just one of 100 different editions made


Yeah... they did it again. How many different versions of Assassin's Creed Revelations exist around the world? Too many. I got what seemed to me the best version of this game. The package is great, despite not being your regular rectangular box. This one's a little b*tchy to store... The 3D effect isn't the greatest but heck it's just the package and looks good overall. The Encyclopaedia is amazing. The rest of the contents are the same as the regular Collector's Edition. Haven't tried the game yet as I just finished Dead Space 2 and will move on to other games now, so this one will stay for later. How would I rate this edition? The package is good, or should I say instead, looks good. It's a big box. The encyclopaedia is awesome but unfortunately it seems it's available for sale separately but I still have to confirm if it really is the same book or not. Considering its price I'd rate this as 8.0, mainly because of the book, since the contents are basically the same from the CE which is cheaper.
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13/11/2011

It's all about MONEY. That's all there is to it.

Okay, so for the first time in my life I came to the point where collecting is becoming more and more a matter of business that's ruining the love that I and many other gamers have for this hobby.

When I first started to buy games from ebay and forums, I'd usually go there to avoid paying so much for the games that were sold for higher prices in shops. I also resorted to ebay to find games that either weren't released over here or were in fact rare. After all, you could find some second hand copies around, some of them still mint, for lower prices than the RRP. Recently, when the huge amount of limited edition started being released for almost every important game, this behaviour of buying multiple copies for making a profit is going sick. A bunch of no-lifers decide to preorder several of these limited editions, making shops run out of stock faster. And even if they are not sold out, they immediately pop up on ebay for higher prices. When certain editions really become limited, they are sold out on preorders but once you go to ebay, guess what... you find several copies for sale at ridiculously high prices ON PREORDER.

The greatest example of this greedy behaviour is what's been happening with the Collector's Edition of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, limited to 4000 units worldwide and only available for sale at one of the dorkiest retailers I've ever dealt with: www.zavvi.com. Considering their terrible costumer service, how they do even get the rights to sell something exclusive like this??

In only two days this edition was sold out. The next few days however, several appeared on ebay. The first ones started selling for nearly £100, but when the sellers realized they could make even more money because desperate fans who missed their opportunity to get that edition at the fair price are desperate to get it, prices went up to 200, 300, even 500... Several weeks or even months after this edition was sold out, even to this day the game still keeps popping up on ebay.

Even collectors ordered more than a copy claiming they want one to play and another one to keep sealed, using all kinds of excuses to prove that their attitude is perfectly justifiable. In the end, most people who do that are only thinking about how much this will be worth in the future and the profit they may do. They don't give a damn if they're stealing someone else's opportunity to get this game for the retail price. Whenever I just want another copy to play, I don't go wasting money on two expensive special editions. There are 4000 units of this one only, yet how many people will actually have one for the RRP? Not 4000 for sure. Not even remotely close to that. Who cares anyway? Those who missed the preorder and can't afford to pay 200 or 300 for it just go find something else to buy. People usually say "the value of certain games and editions depend on how much people are willing to pay for them". In the end, it's something more like "the value of certain games and editions depends on how much money you have to spend on it, because whether you like it a lot or just a little bit it's irrelevant cause you may/will not be able to buy it anyway".

This is a common fact not just for videogames, but nearly everything in life, including basic needs. But who cares? The only important thing is MONEY. You don't have it? Nobody cares. People die because they can't buy food and we just pretend we care about that. Then why the hell would we care about something as irrelevant as VIDEOGAMES? That would be ridiculous, right?
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10/11/2011

How many Dragon Ball games are there already?


A lot... When I started to see the series at age 13, I never expected to see so many games still being made even 16 years later. That's quite impressive I must say.

I loved the PS2 titles, especially the Budokai series, but I wasn't so impressed with Tenkaichi games. I recognize they are good, but I liked Budokai's battle system most. I didn't play the recent titles for PS3 and Xbox besides the demo of the first Raging Blast but I really did not like the gameplay at all. I'm still missing Raging Blast 2 LE but I hope to find a cheaper copy when the price finally drops (stil waiting for it to happen...)

Now finally a new Dragon Ball game came out and this one has a bigger Collector's Edition boxset. It includes a regular copy of the game and a Limited Edition Gohan statue. The statue looks pretty good and is quite stylish, with enough detail for what you would expect from a Dragon Ball figure. I certainly am not sure why they added Gohan with that suit instead of a different figure, like Goku's. Anyway, I'd rate this edition 6.5/10. It's limited to 10000 copies but it isn't numbered and it's hard to tell if there are really 10000. The price of 80 euros wasn't that bad at all, considering the game's RRP and the price these statues usually cost. But, honestly, it lacks contents. The only thing this has is a statue and nothing else. Thankfully, the statue is good and overal this edition is still far better than Raging Blast 2 LE, that had almost nothing but a cell and a cardbox scenario.
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06/11/2011

Sonic is back, and better than ever!


Oh boy... Sonic is one of the most famous videogame characters from the 2D era that couldn't deal very well with time. Ever since Sonic became 3D, the games were never the same. Most games were considered average or good at best but hardly any of them was a hit like the original Mega Drive and Mega CD titles. This time, however, I believe SEGA did a great great job! Sonic Generations is by far the best and most impressive Sonic game I have played in a long time and I simply love it.

To celebrate Sonic's 20th anniversary, this game also received a Collector's Edition. And I must say that this is another one of my favourites. It comes inside a very simplistic, yet great looking box with both Sonics facing each other. The game included is nothing more than the retail version with a slipcase. Inside the box there are two figurines, not very big but Sonic figures don't really need to look big because there really isn't the need to add too much detail on them and the bigger they are the plainer they look. These figurines are quite better that the one included with Sonic Colors, although the later is an articulated action figure but looks too cheap. They have a stand with the 20th anniversary logo and there's also a small ring from the game, really shiny, with its own stand. The fact that they made a figure for each Sonic is really sweet! Classic Sonic figure brings so much nostalgia and looks amazing. It also comes with two bonus discs: a soundtrack disc that includes a selection of music and a dvd with Sonic's history. Finally, there's the artbook, which isn't half bad either. Overall, this edition really fits Sonic's 20th anniversary. The contents are pretty nice too! I love it and I give it a 9/10. I's limited to 12000 units worldwide.
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Manbat


When Arkham Asylum came out, I was quite surprised to see that it was so good. It really is a great game. It's been a while since I played a Batman game and I must say that I never imagined a game like this would ever be done. Its sequel is quite impresive as well. And it deserved another Collector's Edition and several steelbooks etc. So far I only bought Batman: Arkham City Collector's Edition and I'll probably not get the steelbooks any time soon.

Anyway, This edition gets a 7/10 from me. The edition itself is not very big, which is a good thing because lately most major games receive very big boxes that take away a lot of space. The figure is small, yet heavy and quite detailed. Again, it's not impressive but does the job. The artbook is pretty small, not the sort of artbooks I love, and I really can't stand the fact that the game disc doesn't have its own box but comes inside the artbook. I really don't like that too much... Finally, the top piece of card inside the box that identifies the console cannot hold its place inside the box and as a result you can usually find that edition with the top card piece slightly off its place. However, a good thing about this edition is its release price, which is frankly quite good.
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It may be Drake's Deception, but it's not my deception for sure


Finally, Uncharted 3 came out! And with it, another incredible edition. The explorer edition, exclusive to Europe. I really had to get that one, and it wasn't as easy as I expected.

Overall, I rate this edition as 8/10. The figure is quite detailed but not as good or impressive as others like we've seen in Assassin's Creed or Gears of War 3 and Halo Reach. They surely could put some more effort on that figure in my opinion. The figure should also have a better box instead of just the plastic inserts, but that's a personal opinion. The necklace with the ring and the buckle are pretty cool items, especially the ring, and their quality is quite good. The 3d lenticular card is a little useless, not quite sure why they added that. It would be more interesting if they added a postcard set with or without these lenticular effects. The outer box is quite amazing, FAR superior to AC:B Codex Edition or GowIII Pandora's box. It's so much better it's hardly comparable. It does NOT look cheap, it's quite detailed and combines several materials, including wood. I liked it a lot, the only thing I don't like too much about these editions is when they come with a box and all items are loose inside it. The special edition included (also available for sale separately) is quite original as well because it really resembles Nathan's notebook and it's a small art book. The only let down is the way the disc is placed inside the notebook, which is quite stupid in my opinion. Still, it's one of my favourite editions, I like it a lot.
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27/09/2011

Where are the pics dude???

I needed some time for myself because I was really tired from the daily working routine but I finally have some time to settle down a few things.

I'm working on updating this blog. First writing the stuff that goes in my mind. Pics will come later, hopefully by the weekend. There are plenty of things to add besides the ones I already wrote about. It's now 1:30 AM and here I am, writing crap about my collection, knowing that it will be a pain in the arse to get it off bed to go to work within a few hours. It's always the same thing but I can't go to sleep sooner, I need a couple of hours every day to do the stuff I love so I have to sacrifice a little bit of sleep. I have some friends at work who do nothing but work, go home to take care of all the daily tasks including taking care of their children... Phew... Life should be more than that :(

Just a bit longer, just a tiny bit longer and you'll have your pics added to each post.
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Professor Layton



Three games later, Nintendo decided to offer a special trilogy box for those who register the V.I.P. codes from the three games on Club Nintendo. Thankfully I have some really nice friends who sometimes sacrifice themselves in order to help me achieve happiness. Almost. Not quite... at all...

Ok, that sounds gay but I must thank Johnny for offering me his box after he knew that I really wanted to keep my copies of the game sealed (although I did play the games). It's nothing special at all but I am happy with this box. Took him a couple of months to give it to me, but I didn't try to buy it and he decided to offer it to me on his own. I wasn't really expecting that at all, but I feel this guy deserves some love!

Here I go being gay again. But thanks a lot Johnny bro!
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Two Collector's Editions, one that sucks and another one that doesn't.



The one that doesn't suck is Agarest Zero. The price was fair and this is another one of those unexpected titles to see the daylight in Europe. I'm quite glad this actually came out over here.

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The other one is Arcana Hearts. While the regular limited edition doesn't suck and the price is pretty nice...

...THIS STUPID SUGGOI OPPA FAN EDITION WAS PROBABLY SIMILAR TO HAVE A TERRORIST HYPNOTIZE YOU AND MAKE YOU PAY FOR THE CRAPPIEST LIMITED EDITION EVER MADE, EVEN WORST THAN THE SHIPPING BOX EDITION OF BLAZBLUE CONTINUUM SHIFT, CLAIMING THERE WERE ONLY 500 MADE AND YOU THOUGHT YOU'D BE MISSING SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT.

I basically paid nearly 3 times as much as the regular limited edition for a mouse mat and a keyring. Once again, this is NOT a special edition of any sort, because there is NOT a box to hold all the items together. This is just a £30 limited edition with a bonus mouse mat and keyring for £60 more! Just terrible! Seriously, I really thought those guys from that weird online store I hardly ever heard about had made their homework with the Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus Boxset, which is a really great collector's edition, expensive as HELL but really worth to own. It may be overpriced, but I could easily overcome the price when I saw the quality of the box and the items included. The numbered box alone, the canvas art, the artbook, the soundtrack disc and the game, plus the t-shirt and the keyring are more than enought to satisfy me. But this Arcana crap? Give me a break will ya???
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Castlevania and Megaman


Some people who know me a little better already know that my main goal at this moment is to try and collect all the retro versions of Megaman and Castlevania while keeping up with the latest limited and collector's editions. Due to the stupidly demand on press kits and the fact that I'm quite low on cash at this moment and I don't know what will happen in the future with my job, I am leaving the press kits behind for a while. I already missed many but I can't buy everything anyway and the massive amount of exclusive and limited editions being released at the same time make it impossible for me to keep up with everything so I have to make decisions...



I usually don't show just single games unless they're that special, but this is my blog and I post whatever I want to.

Getting all megaman games will be a pain. I have a complete NES PAL Set and X2 for the SNES. I still need to buy a lot of games for the GBA unfortunately. But at the very least I found an important game in a pretty good condition: Megaman IV for the original Gameboy. All games from Laguna seem to be a PAIN to get, and this one and V are by far the rarest for the Gameboy. Same goes with X3 for the SNES which will be my worst nightmare...


As far as Castlevania goes, I got a mint copy of Castlevania III that seems to be the hardest to find for the NES. And for the Gameboy I'm now missing only Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge because another nightmare was over when I found a copy of Castlevania Legends for a fairly decent price. As for Belmont's Revenge, it's not easy to find a complete copy but due to lack of money I failed to win a recent auction for a fair price. However, it's only a matter of time until another one pops up. I'm glad to have found a copy of Legends because that was the game causing me the bigger head ache.
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And since we are talking about rare games...



... I will also talk about another nightmarish game it took me years to find for a decent price. Several years ago I would be able to buy this game for a certain high price and I wasn't really willing to pay that much for it. But now? That price is now twice as much on almost every auction and that's unacceptable. Soon I figured I had to get this game once the opportunity showed up and that's what I did. This game is not THAT RARE, in fact is far more common than a few others I've recently bought. But its price is insane and just keeps rising...

I'm talking about Mega Man The Wily Wars for the Mega Drive, another pain of a game to get. I was expecting to find it one day at a second hand store or in an auction site besides ebay. But the thing is... this damn game never ever appeared! Even after several years searching. So yeah it's another title that was a pain to find. I finally got it. Another one to scratch off the list...
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Singstar? No, Not the sort of games I'd go out buying...



Yes they are fun to play with friends blah blah blah but I really don't feel like buying these games... unless of course they are something exclusive just as this particular Blue BBVA Pack that was only offered in Spain in a limited promotion for those who opened a blue account or whatever it was called. This pack is exclusive to that promotion and it's only found in Spain so I believe it's a toughie to find. I never ever heard about this before which is normal because I don't know what's going on in other countries that have websites or stores in different languages, but I stumbled across when I visited a 2nd hand store and they actually had this pack with the game still factory sealed. I called it a lucky shot. It's not something I love or even like that much but I bought it for collection purposes. The game included is nothing more than a copy of a regular Singstar game released in Spain, based in a spanish version of Pop Idol I believe.

It also hurts to say this but... I also bought another Singtstar game named Morangos com Açucar. That's was just... TOO WRONG to buy that game if it wasn't a Portuguese exclusive. It comes from a TV Show that (some people will kill me for saying this) sucks. It's mostly directed at young people with pimps that like stupid hair styles, kinky music, teenage love stories and first sexual experiences after masturbation. Even I had pimps and hate that show. And they released a Singstar game with the amazingly awesome soundtrack from the show. Oh well...
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A long time ago there was this game...

JRPGs have been for a very long time my favorite genre since I started playing them on the PS1. Before that, I thought they were boring, except for a few that came out for Saturn such as Dragon Force and Shining Force 3. Those were awesome games but unfortunately they were note very common over here and a 13 yo child cannot hold much to buy his new game and has to find a replacement as soon as possible. Oh boy... I did chose good games instead, but they are far more common... That's life for me...

When I first heard about this game, I really had no idea what it was. I thought it was a German exclusive, with German screen text only. It took me a while to find out a few things about this game. First, it had a totaly different name in japanese. Second, it was released in English and it received a sequel, but only in the US. I searched for videos and I immediately felt in love with the amazing soundtrack this game has for a 16bit game. The battle themes are simply epic, and I believe this was far more noticeable by the time the game came out. It's a big shame that I had no way to play this back then. I now consider it one of the greatest RPGs ever released on the SNES. Then I found out the game that was released in German was actually the sequel without the II on the title because the first game never came out in Europe. And finally, I wet my pants when I figured there was a PAL English version released in Australia only, AGAIN! I simply HAD to get it!

I'm talking about Lufia II - Rise of the Sinistrals or Estpolis Denki in Japan, which was released as Lufia only in Australia, Germany and probably a few other countries. As soon as I heard about the existence of a PAL English version, I had to get it. And it took me a couple of years until I finally had the chance to buy one. This game's pretty hard to find. First I ever saw in mint condition was sold for a pretty big price. They I saw a few others in good condition but not mint. Thankfully I managed to win the best used copy of this game I have ever found. The price was a little high, but considering the values I've seen these games in worse conditions go, it certainly was a great deal.

Another mission accomplished in my collection!


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More Duke?



Those guys at EB Games really love to spoil their costumers with exclusive editions of their own while they show the finger to the other collector's around the world. Thankfully I was able to find one edition that will probably become a pain to get in the future. I must say that it kinda sucks because it brings nothing special with it. It's quite inferior to the Balls of Steel Edition yet far more limited with only 1600 copies running around. I'm talking about Duke Nukem Forever King Edition. Mine is missing the bubble gum but should I care? I'd like to get the package alone, true, but a bubble gum will probably become rotten over the years. And that sucks. But I got the game, the unused code and the cards inside the limited edition case. And I'm not sure if it's me but all that stuff doesn't seem to fit inside the box that well... I got the PS3 version because it's more limited and basically because it was by far the cheapest I found out so far. I'm very happy with it.
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25/09/2011

Some weird acessory from the 80s



I heard it's pretty uncommon... Not the sort of thing you can find lying around, especially in brand new condition. But for some weird reason quite a few of these popped up in recent times and I bought one for me. The NES Laser Scope with that kid on the cover... this looks really weird. I'm sure I'd freak out if I was given this when I was a kid. This is as ugly as it works (if that even makes any sense).
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Don't be a Brink!

This is not quite the game yet, but the exclusive limited tin released in Australia with extra contents. I'm glad I got it. Now just need to find the game for a rather cheap price because this is one of those games that doesn't mean a lot to me, if you know what I mean. I heard it's good. It may be but I highly dounbt I'll be playing this any time soon. Probably not.


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Tekken 6 and the hoodie thing



I had the Arcade edition since the release date. I actually OPENED it (WOW... I opened an edition!) and found out the ugliest cover I could possibly find out... WITH ALL AGE RATINGS FROM EVERY COUNTRY in a box that looks like one of those promo copies that costs NOTHING ang a huge manual in every language that doesn't even fit the box. The artbook is nice THANK GOD but at least it should have a hard cover.

Now I got the Limited Edition with the hoodie for the Xbox 360 for a rather cheap price. The box is in near mint condition. The reason why I didn't buy it sooner is because all the cheap boxes I could find seemed like someone chewed them and then pooped them. Yes they were that bad. But thankfully I now own both editions.
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A Strange Game




Did you think I missed this one? Emily The Strange for the NDS is a puzzle game based in some sort of cartoons I have never seen or heard in my entire life. But this underground edition is limited to 200 units individually numbered and includes a few exclusive items such as a notebook. My edition remains sealed and I plan on leaving it that way. This Emily the Strange raises many mysteries in my head because I have no idea what it's all about. That's really strange.

*goes to check wikipedia*
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Epic stuff arrived at home



Most people were probably expecting this game... I have only tried to play the first one for a little bit and it's good but got me bored quite fast. This game is also receiving epic scores and it's another one of those titles I expect to play some time in the future after I've cleared the ones I still need to finish first. And it will take some time, but I will play it one day. Yes you know what I'm talking about: Gears of War 3 Epic Edition. I got that thing. Expensive, yet worth it!
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Average Juarez

One of the anticipated games released a couple of months ago became nothing more that mediocre title. And mediocre games sometimes also get mediocre editions. This is the case of Call of Juarez The Cartel Owtlaw Edition, another very limited exclusive edition blah blah blah blah. This editions matches the exact "suckage" level we can find in Sniper Ammo tin edition. The wooden box is so cheap it almost looks like it's fake. It's quite different from the original box pictured. The contents are all pretty weak, really weak. And the price of this edition dropped immediately after the game was released, so everyone who preordered got literally SCREWED. and I was SCREWED. Way to treat your clients Game4game. Nice work!


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They're back! Did they even leave in first place?



My first shooter on the PS3 was called Resistance. Not being a fan of shooters, the fact is that there weren't any big games released by the time the console came out. I bought Virtua Fighter 5 on the release day but that game alone wasn't enough to satisfy me so I decided to pick up Resistance as well. i did not regret it. Several years later, the 3rd game gets released and it became best known as R3.

A particular "Survival Edition" was released - and that's what I got. I don't know what's going on with these editions nowadays but they seem to be replacing your usual action figures with... bags? I'm not really a fan of... bags... but the thing is this bag really seems to be a good quality one. So good that the girl at the shop even wanted to buy the bag to herself when I picked this edition.

This edition also comes with... toy soldiers. No way! Toy soldiers! Why toy soldiers? I mean, it kinda brings back memories, but it's only a gimmick. Overall, the edition is nice. Not perfect, but good and it thankfully includes the regular collector's edition as well - that's a really good thing. I don't think I'll be playing the game any time soon, but I'd like to give it a try someday. And hopefully finish it!
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That's what happen to people if they catch too much sun.

A paradise turned into a deadly field with zombies running around killing the few survivors. Sounds nice. Nothing too original at first, but zombie games are usually... good? Maybe.

Anyway, I still didn't have the chance to play this game but thankfully I was able to preorder and receive the rarest editions of all: the Dead Island Treasure Edition. This is another one of those exclusives that came directly from game4game. The wooden box is quite nice! It looks great, it's quite big, it's only missing some finishing though. As for the contents... they are no bid deal. The sweatshirt is much nicer that a regular t-shirt these editions usually include. The comic book is a nice addition but nothing special. The art cards are good but they should include some sort of package and not just come lose like that. And finally, there isn't that much else inside the box, not even a certificate of authenticity because it was pulled back. I got the xbox 360 version of this game, which is currently factory sealed and comes with an Austrian back cover.

Overall, considering the total price of this edition, which should have been a little less, I am satisfied. It's very limited and it sold out so fast that I am not disappointed to be the proud owner of this nice looking wooden box, limited to 266 units. It's a nice item to have in a collection, better than other editions I've seen so far such as the red edition or the regular special edition. The Survival pack is also something I will want to find in the future but right now I can't buy that. There are many editions coming out and there's no way I can buy the same game 4 times or more. So I'm happy with this edition despite its poor contents.

I just hope the game is good as well. The critics are not that good, but not bad either so I know this is one game I'll have to try for myself before making judgments.

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23/09/2011

I'm in love with this game



Yep, that's right. One of my biggest expectations in recent video game releases... My expectations were not  just simply fulfilled... but also highly surpassed. Xenoblade!

When I first heard about this game, I knew the chances to see it being released in Europe were very very slim. In fact, I was pretty sure this game would never see the daylight outside Japan. Yet, nearly two years later, we got the big news: Xenoblade was coming to us. The NA gamers were kinda screwed, thankfully it wasn't us european gamers this time. I am so glad this game came out of Japan. Really glad!

Everything about this game is either good or exceptional. I've played many games with great HD graphics but only a few made my jaw drop. This game might not have the best graphics ever, but the amazing art behind the environment design is absolutely amazing, so amazing that I haven't felt so impressed with a game for a very long time.

As you can probably guess, I have the limited edition with the red controller. It's a shame this edition didn't come with anything else. NoE promised my country that other bonus items were going to be offered to us, but we only received the same thing everyone else in Europe received. Shame, shame, nobody really cares about the portuguese market anyway.

I still haven't finished the game and I'm still quite a few hours away from that, but I've scored over 100 hours already. I gave up being a completist since my free time ran out (ya know, job, training, that stuff...) but this time I am trying to do everything I can during my first play through. I highly doubt I will be doing a 2nd run though. No matter how good this game is I will want to move on to other games such as Dead Island and Dead Space 2. Too many Dead games to play...
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31/07/2011

The way I am #8 - This blog

I mainly used this blog to list my collection and the most important items. It's something I did without the intention of showing my collection to everyone. I did this for fun, to see my pictures and my editions listed like this. I come here a lot of times to read the older posts and edit the text sometimes - there are still many errors around, but some I will probably never correct.

As you probably noticed this was the first time I filled this blog with so much text and no pictures at all, turning it into a boring blog. Few people would have the patience to read through all this stuff I wrote, I know they want to see pictures.

The blog will not be flooded with ridiculous amounts of text like this. I will resume to make short posts about the things I own with the usual badly photoshopped pictures I enjoy so much doing. It's been over 5 years since I started this blog and it's still up and running.

For those who had the time to read all this stuff I wrote, I thank you for that :)
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30/07/2011

The way I am #7 - My goals, the Future

I could basically copy paste what my "friend" Gemini Phoenix (I would rather refer to him by his real name...) wrote at playstationcollecting because most of the things he wrote are also true about me. It was his text that inspired be to write all this gibberish in messages numbered from 1 to 7 anyway. I hope he doesn't mind if I borrow his text:

"I have a job. It’s not very glamourous, but at least it’s something, but it’s going nowhere and was initially intended to be a stop-gap whilst I decided what I wanted out of life. (...) I never did know what I wanted. I can do better, I know that, but I’m stuck in my ways. I have many friends and an active social life, although I will admit that collecting games is my main interest and hobby of choice. My friends and family are tolerant of my collecting, although some don’t quite understand why I bother with such materialistic hoarding. I don’t know the answer to this myself either. I suppose I just haven’t finished growing up yet, and am probably desperately trying to hold onto my youth – But then, isn’t everyone? Trying to justify it to others is significantly harder than justifying it to yourself!"

In a way I envy those who have settled down with someone else in order to start a family, or push to better themselves academically, but I don’t see what all the rush is."


The same is true for me. I could write that with my own words but I don't think it would come out so well. So I borrow his text but I credit him for this. But this is where I have to write on my own...Right now I don't have a girlfriend, nor I even bother getting one. I loved a few girls in the past, but I'm not the sort to hook up to the first that catches my attention. I never had much luck with the girls that I really liked, but I did almost nothing to catch their attention anyway - maybe because I'm a coward in many ways. I ended up turning down those that liked me just because I did not feel anything for them. The ones I really liked are out of my life anyway, I just let it go.

Like Gemini, I also feel like I lost the boat and missed my chance to do certain things in life and I'm not quite sure if this is the road I've chosen or the one I followed by accident. I, too, feel like I'm going anywhere, not making any progress.

As a collector, I think I've come too far already. At the same time, I think that I still I can go much further than this if my enthusiasm and my life allow me to. I've said it multiple times in this blog: this collecting road was tough and only possible through dedication, work and love. Why I care so much about things that many people consider futile yet surpasses me but I don't think too much about it because I know I have my personal reasons.

I plan on keeping collecting. It's now part of my life, part of my personality. I've achieved a massive knowledge and I will keep learning new things as time goes. I now feel my collection is irreplaceable.

I will keep on collecting and go as far as I possibly can. I would like to open my own "museum" some day, but that dream is way too far away. I'm still young, I guess it's too early for me - or maybe it's already too late but I barely know where to start. My life may even turn around someday. Who know what will happen in the future and how further I can climb the collecting ladder? But I already started and I will keep climbing.

It was nice to write all these messages even if some don't seem to make much sense, but I feel happy for writing these things the way I want to :)
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The way I am #6 - A lesson everyone should learn

This is going to be a little hard to explain. Some people who met me before would call me hypocritical if they came here to read this and I fully understand their point of view, but what I write here is honestly what I think. It's not easy to explain though and I'll make it as short as possible...

Being a collector was not just a hobby I took lightly. At first, maybe, but once it became more serious I started to see how that hobby was changing myself. As a serious collector, I always care about the condition of the games I buy - I refuse to buy incomplete or damaged games. So much dedication in assembling a good collection makes no sense without quality patterns, and I've set mine a long time ago. I'd rather buy everything in sealed condition but we all know that it's not possible so I focus in getting everything as close to "new" as possible, with tolerances of course.

My main concern in getting the games in the best possible condition only makes sense if I am going to take very good care of them and preserve them in the same condition I get them. However, there are WAY TOO MANY OBSTACLES in order to do that...
1. Most videogame retailers don't care how they take care of their games and special editions - even specialized stores treat some of them like trash that must be sold to anyone.
2. Same goes with national distributors who open games to place stupid mandatory stickers and crappy manuals.
3. Even the national law is against my principle of buying games in the condition I want unless I order them from a different country.
4. And then, there are the post service, we all know how bad they treat our packages.
5.To add to all that, there's the price of the games over here. This makes my task of collecting sealed games or limited editions a hard one. It disgusts me...

And this is how I learned an important lesson. First, I've learned to take very good care of my games. I realized that most people - people who specifically work with videogames, people who sell or distribute games -don't give a damn about their condition. I've seen GT5 Signature editions, rock bands, guitar heroes and all sorts of bundles, limited editions, boxsets, whatever, in a VERY bad shape even as soon as they get released, with alarms, stickers, price tags or protection stripes damaging the boxes. I simply DO NOT UNDERSTAND how those ignorant people expect to sell a 180€ limited edition that seems somebody was playing soccer with it on the release date. And that's just a tiny example of all sorts of things I've seen all the time EVERYWHERE. It's simply disgusting. Some editions clearly say "Collector's Edition" on their cover, yet ther are treated so badly... who is the collector that's going to buy those editions in trash conditions? Can those people be really called collectors?

But then I look around... and I realize that it's just not games that many people don't care about. Many people in general don't care about anything at all besides their own lives. They don't care if they drive "nastily", they don't care if they spit on the floor, they don't care if they smoke, drink or make too much noise, they have no sensibility for little details in life as much as they live fine with themselves and their tastes. They don't care about their wrong actions as much as they are in accordance to the law, just slightly off or even totally off if the circumstances allow it. They take many wrong actions on purpose just because they feel more comfortable in their daily lives by doing so. They don't face society as they should in my opinion... And I'm not talking about criminals or anything of that sort, that's a whole different level. I'm talking about regular so called "honest" people.

Being a collector has been like a self taught lesson to me that expanded to the way I live my life and how I am. The sensibility I gained for being a collector taught me many things including how to care about every step I take every day. I try to live my life seriously and enjoyable but always care about the little details that almost no one even thinks about. Some people just don't bother caring about too many things that go beyond their way of thinking. They lack that sensibility. For those very same people, I am stupid for spending so much money in games.
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The way I am #5 - Games and Art

Unfortunately for videogame collectors, there are still many people out there who simply don't understand us... They spend 1000s in cash to buy a great car. They spent over 500 to buy an Iphone. They spend 100s each year in drinks, cigars, go to parties or dinners... Yet, when we spend 200 or much more on one of the greatest videogames ever made , they call us crazy. Unfortunately, that's how the majority of the outside world sees us. It's ok to collect stamps, coins, even cars or painting. But when it comes to videogames, that's just childish.

Videogames, such as many other things, are a form of art to me. The dedication, love and effort some creators put behind certain games is as much or even more than the ones artists usually put in cinema, music, etc. It may be a form of entertainment, but there are some games over there that require a lot of talent and most importantly, creativity. The funny thing is that most people who say otherwise have only a very superficial and casual experience with videogames.

In fact, one of the things I like the most about videogames is the soundtrack. Especially from those japanese titles such as RPGs, some Shmups, even fighting games. The Battle themes for some RPGs starting with the 8bits and ending on the newer generation consoles are remarkable, epic, undiscribable. Yet some blind people refuse to bvelieve that. Some of the music gives me the chills just to listen. Others make me very emotional by reminding me of certain moments of games that are unforgettable. I, on the other hand, can no longer stand any type of music that goes on the radio except for a few particular songs. I hardly ever listen to anything else besides music from movies, series or games. But that's only me. I know I am an exception but I also know there are a few more people who think like me. Xenoblade OST is my current favourite, but there are so many good ones, even from the 8bit era. An example: the Moon theme from Ducktales on the NES. A "random" music from a random level in one disney game that was so remarkable it received a few 12s of recent remixes. Same with all Final Fantasy games, and one that I must point out because I think it's awesome: Lufia II on the SNES. Metal Gear, Wild Arms series, Lost Odyssey, Castlevania series... I could go on and on and on with a list of amazing OSTs for both great games and not so well-known ones.

Now about visuals... Videogames have been an amazing resource of inspiration for architecture, imaginary worlds, amazing landscapes, towns and cities, places that don't exist and never will and some that do. In recent years thanks to all the technology we were able to live these worlds even better. From the 16bit worlds full of colours and animations to the most recent 3D experiences, videogames have always created worlds and stories with a totally different feeling that nothing else has done before.

I could write more and more about this, but I think it's enough. It's a little pointless to write these things though. Most people who visit this blog must love videogames as well. They already know what the rest of the world must think. The people who should read this won't do that. And even if they did they wouldn't change their minds.
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28/07/2011

The Way I am #4 - So what do I collect?

Well, my mind was all set to write the rest of the things I wanted to write a couple of days ago, but unfortunately I am too tired and I can't quite remember what else I was going to write at that moment. But still, I just feel like writing. So that's what I am going to do.

I've told you a little bit of my story already. However, before going any further, I'd like to talk about the things I collect. It's true that sometimes I buy some games that are not so good or special. However, I usually have a reason to buy a particular game except in a few occasions.

First, I started to buy all the good games I missed when I had money for almost nothing. I also tried to find factory sealed copies of my favourite games in the meantime, as well as special editions of the best games. Soon enough I put together many special editions and my interest in these started to grow even more. I started to buy other limited editions for games that I did not care so much before. As a collector I was about to face the hardest challenge I ever faced: getting those press kits. It was pretty hard, really. If I didn't love my collection, I'd probably just give up in the process after growing tired.

I also realized that my favourite genre was by far RPGS so at one point I also focused in getting all the RPGs I could find. So my collection grew a lot on PAL RPGs.

Once I collected the majority of games I wanted for each particular console, with time and luck I started to find other rare and obscure titles that I would consider to be a shame to miss them.

The factory sealed madness started pretty soon when I decided to get my favourite games in sealed condition. However, this objective was never accomplished. The only reason why I wanted those sealed games was because that was the very best possible condition for a game that could be found, and as a collector I always care way too much about the condition of my games, specially the ones I trully love! The second reason why I started to collect factory sealed games was simply because there was no time to play all the games. So I started to leave some games unopened. Finally, the third reason why I collect sealed games is... simply because I realized how fascinating it was to have a collection of factory sealed games, in their best possible condition. It's a total different level that many people fail to understand and even I have problems explaining why it's so fascinating.

Nowadays, I collect so many games that it's hard to make a list with the criteria I use to chose wether a game is worth being in my collection or not - and I'm not talking about the condition here, I'm really talking about games or specific editions of games. And - believe me - I do have criteria to help me decide.
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The way I am #3

Year 2004
I forgot to mention that I also bought a Gameboy color somewhere in 1999 or 2000. And a Game Boy Advance when it came out. But since I would prefer to play the home system instead of handheld games, I did not had much more than 4 or 5 games for each of those handhelds.

Back to 2004... University was a good thing, yet something that killed me inside as well. I am a very pessimistic person, I always think I'm behind the others so I usually try to work even more to catch up with them. I know now that it's all psychological... But the truth is I worked so hard to succeed in the University that I placed my social life behind and I wore myself out even before starting a real job. I will never be back to what I was. My rhythm was very high. It took me years to realize that. I always thought I needed to work more or I wouldn't make it. How stupid I was... By the time I made it to the 4th grade, I had spent many nights without sleeping and some of those were totally unnecessary. I did every class at the first attempt, never left anything undone. But was it worth it? Many depressions and almost a break down due to excessive dedication took away a small part of my life in the first 4 years. My personality was changed, my head was a complete mess. I drifted away from some people I loved... Took me some time to recover from all that...

But it was in that 4th year when I also found out a few things to boost my collection a little further... Ebay and internet sites to start with. I actually started using Ebay one year before, but only to purchase a few items and not to collect more seriously. I found myself buying the older games for PS1 and even for Master System and Saturn that I missed or couldn't afford before for just a few pounds each. I was in heaven! I also found out some games and limited editions that I had never seen before. I had to get the most important ones! I also started to visit second hand stores and found a lot of great things. Money was short because I did not have a job, but thanks to all those great sources I managed to buy several games every month for pretty cheap prices! That's when I started to collect. But I was so worried about the condition of the games I bought... I just wanted mint and complete games just like every other game I had. My quality standards were very high I must say, but unfortunately, quality had a price I couldn't easily pay.

Little by little I started to buy the special editions I was missing thanks to ebay. First, I only bought editions of the games I really wanted... but sooner than I expected, I started to move on to the other editions of games that I didn't really want but were still worth getting. Suddenly, I heard about press kits for the first time ever and got my first two thanks to my friend Luis Barros. I owe you a lot for those two editions my friend. That day was special: it was just the beginning of the next step in my collection.

By visiting 2nd hand stores I also found some other consoles I never thought of collecting such as Mega Drive, SNES, N64, Dreamcast and most of the systems I never had the chance to own... and some of those I found were as good as new, including their boxes in mint condition. It took me a while but little by little I started to move on to other systems instead of just focusing on the ones that marked my childhood. I met other collectors who had impressive collections listed in forums, including some who dedicated their collections to a single system or a single company. I started to learn a lot and felt more and more interested in raising the number of systems in my collection.

Year 2005
I was totally messed up and realized I was finally going to fail at one class - the final and most important of all, but I had no more energy to do it even if I wanted - and I didn't give up until the very ending, but eventually I was forced to give up. It was one of the toughest decisions in my life. When I realized I was putting too much effort in university, I decided to finally take it lighter and start practicing some sports - martial arts mainly, something soft preferably. I went to practice taekwondo. The next year, 2006, I was repeating that class I failed while starting my internship and had some extra time to play games and to search for the titles I wanted. I started to feel my social life coming back to me after 5 years straight.

That's when my collection started to grow seriously. I graduated by the end of 2007 and found a job soon after, already in 2008. I can't quite say when I started collecting... maybe in 2004? Maybe when I got my Saturn? Have I always been a collector? In a certain way, yes, but I only consider myself a real collector since 2004! When I finally accepted the fact that I loved games and wanted to collect them.
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The Way I am #2

When I was 11 I received my first videogame console. It was a Sega Master System II. Some of my friends had it as well and I though that I would be able to trade my games with theirs so I could play more titles that way. My first game ever was Sonic the Hedgehog. At least, that was the very first original game I had. It came bundled with the console. I also got a few other games later. Getting a game for me was one of those things that made me happy. Believe it or not, I still think that playing videogames was and still is one of the greatest entertainments for anybody.

I was not really the sort of kid to keep all my toys in great condition and take really good care of them. Except the very few that I really loved or were tought to get, such as a KOUSOKU SENTAI DX TURBOROBO from Bandai Japan that I still have. However, when that Master System came, it was like me having something... I don't know... something important that had to be very well taken care of. So I kept my games, manuals, boxes, leaflets, everything in pristine condition. I also learned that I could not get one game every month like the regular toys, so I used to play the same game again and again and again and I was not satisfied until I did everything that had to be done.

Year 95
A few years later, I got a Sega Saturn. When that happened, my parents gave away my master system console and all the games. I feel so sad, but I guess those things happen to nearly everyone. Every collector surely feels sorry or regret for games they lost or sold in the past. I got the console and had to wait one month until I had enough money to buy the first game. It was Bug! In nearly 2 years I only got 7 Saturn games, some of those were bought when their price dropped. I missed many RPGs that I really wanted to buy back then such as Dragon Force, Shining Force, Shining the Holy Ark and Guardian Heroes. Those games were not that common and I was really misinformed about the release dates but I remember I went to the store searching  for those particular four titles when I had the money. Instead, I ended up buying other games because those were not there at the moment I went to the store. A kid like me couldn't wait to get a new game so I had to find replacements whtihin a couple of minutes before my parents got bored of waiting while I was trying to decide what to buy. Instead, I bought other games such as Nights, Tomb Raider, Dragon Ball Z, Virtua Cop 2... and I do not regret buying those. Tomb Raider was so good that even my mother would only allow me to play it when she had the time to watch that game! Yes, my mother, who was against videogames, made me play that game only when she could watch!

Year 97
When Tomb Raider II was announced, I soon realized it would not be released for Sega Saturn. It would be only for PS1. I didn't have a PS1 and buying another console of the same generation back then was unthinkable. So I was quite disappointed... I thought so much about it that... I felt like I had to do something. I still had 6 months since I heard about the game, so I had to do my best to save enough money to buy a PS1. And I made it with extremely luck - seriously - thanks to a one day promotion at a particular mall before the end of the year, where the price of the console dropped to half. And thanks to my father for travelling really early that day to get it to me before it was sold out.

That's when things became a little serious. Over the years I missed many games, but step by step I made a great selection of titles. In 5 years I managed to get nearly 30 games, all top titles of all sorts: racing, survival horror, adventure, action, shooting, platforms, fighting, RPGS... I remember one game called Final Fantasy VII. I knew NOTHING about it, except for that TV show that was saying it was one of the greatest successes in Japan and it was coming to our country in 3 months. It looked like crap to me, honestly. But one day, nearly 5 months later, I walked to the store to find a new game to buy, and I saw it. The box was huge, the price was fine, it had 4 cds! For a boy like me, a game with 4 cds must take a hell lot of a time to finish and I need games that take time to finish because I don't have much cash, and that tv show was saying that it's good so... Nah, I will leave it here. I remember it doesn't look good.That same night, I made one of the greatest decisions of my life: to go back to the store the next day and get it. A couple of weeks later I thought I had found the best game I've ever played.

Year 98
I still had my Saturn but I realized Sega had abandoned the console. I remember I had to make a choice between Saturn and PS1 so I chose Saturn because I loved Sega, but I felt that I was betrayed when suddenly all the good games were going directly for the PS1 and the catalogue for Saturn was getting very very short... So when I first heard about a PS2, I started saving money.

Year 2000
It took me almost 2 years to have enough money to buy the PS2 before the release date and I was ready to buy the console when it came out... but I didn't. I simply wasn't able to spend all the money it took me 2 years to save all at once. I only bought it one month later when the second batch of consoles arrived thanks to my friend Rui who gave me the motivation to do it. Thanks a lot Rui :)

A couple of years later I went to the University. My spare time was reduced to nothing because I was a very dedicated student. I was a very unsecure person, so I tried to work hard because I was afraid to fail and not being able to graduate because the stress, excess of work and fatigue ware taking over my mind and all I could think was to give up. I only bought and played the really important titles such as MGS2, Final Fantasy X (the first summer holidays were completely spent playing that game!). I was a little off collecting videogames for a few years. But some things changed back then.
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27/07/2011

The Way I am... #1

I know, I know, there are still some pictures that I did not add to the text, so some of the few who visit this blog may be thinking what are some of the editions I just recently mentioned but showed nothing yet. But I came here this time to write my thoughts as a collector. This blog was originally intended to just post pictures of my collection and show some special editions to a restrict number of people who know about this blog's existence.

First of all I must thank Gemini Phoenix, a serious collector well known in a few forums I visit. The post he wrote at the PlaystationCollecting website (http://www.playstationcollecting.com/general/in-too-deep-no-regrets#more-478) about his thoughts as a collector reminded me of my thoughts as well. And I really felt like writing something about my thoughts as well.

When I was younger I've always blamed my parents for not buying me a videogaming system. Not only it was expensive for a portuguese family like mine but my mother was against children playing videogames. In order to play, I had to go to shopping malls and wait for my turn to play at the display consoles. That, or visiting my friends' homes. I've played many titles like that since my parents (particularly my mother) didn't want to buy me a console. I don't blame her now though. Maybe the reason why it was so hard for me to get the first console is the reason why I love videogames so much nowadays.

There are several reasons why I want to write these messages. First, to show how collecting so seriously became a part of my life and helped me making the person I am today. But I won't be able to do that without explaining my past as a collector or why I took this hobby so serious. Secondly, to express my thoughts about my collection, about myself, about my social life. Finally, I would also like to clear some ideas about collecting videogames so seriously and what I expect from the future. So let's start with the history of me in the following post...
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19/06/2011

More zombies!

Not too long ago I've added the House od the Dead 2 & 3 Zombie pack to this blog. But recently I found out a pretty impressive pack called Super Zombie Pack that comes with a black shotgun to insert the wiimote and nunchuk. When I received it, it was love at first sight. I am not really a fan of regular game + gun bundles, but I felt in love with this one, it's just awesome!


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Say hi to the THREE new members of the family!

I am still missing some of the main consoles. but in the last few months I was able to get some of those I was missing.

First of all, the Mega CD II. I really don't like Mega CD to be honest, but it still has some pretty good games. Not many, but those few are really worth the system alone. Snatcher should probably be the number 1 title for that console in my opinion.

Seccondly, the Mega Drive I. I already had a few models of Mega Drive II but I was never able to find the first console in good condition and for a good price. I finally found it, and I am very glad that I bought it!

And finally, probably the rarest and most important of them all... Something I did not even know it existed until last year and I never expected to find it so soon: a PAL version of the NES Top Loader. I am so glad that I was able to get such a console in my collection. I did not expect to find one so soon, really!




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The sparkling Spiderman is back.

I've probably said it before but I'll say it again... I didn't like inFamous that much... I find the game unoriginal, GTA-based and a little random... but that's just me. I will probably not play the game but at the very least I had to get the Hero edition and the Portuguese Special Edition as well - both sealed, and shall remain like that. Sometimes I don't know what makes me buy such expensive editions if I don't even like some of the games that much, but I came to a point that is just looks bad to miss on some things like this in my collection...

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It may be Strange, but it's limited above all.

I still don't know much about this game but I know it's a puzzler, for Nintendo DS. And I love Puzzlers. I've checked the reviews and images for this game and I couldn't let go the Collector's Edition of Emily the Strange, limited to 200 units only, signed individually. Still factory sealed and it will remain like that. Impressive huh? It was also a little expensive in my opinion but at least it was worth it - or so I think! There have been way too many PAL limited editions with so few units it's almost scary!
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16/06/2011

This came out too soon! It should have been released in 2012!



It may be incomplete, but it was the only "affordable" Motorstorm Apocalypse Press Kit I was able to purchase. I'm glad with it, except for the fact that it's another tin... and it's rusted! Damn :P
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05/06/2011

And it's almost 2500

Well, not quite yet there... but I can say that the last games I bought which should arrive soon will be enough to raise my collection to the impressive number of... 2500. This year I was very luck with some deals I found but I am still lacking some rare and important games that I cannot find anywhere besides ebay for stupid prices thanks to stupid sellers around the world who think they have a gold mine instead of a game.

I will make a more detailed post about my collection as soon as I have the time and patience to write about it.
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