24/12/2014

20 years of PlayStation in the worst year of my life

Damn... this was by far the worst year I've ever had. Even the most stressful problems and situations I had to deal with my entire life were nothing close to all this sh** that I've been through in the last several months. Too much stuff.

I've just entered the Playstation 20th anniversary competition in order to try to win one of those beautiful limited edition consoles. Unfortunately, I don't think I stand a chance. Last year I managed to strike gold by winning one of the Ducktales Remastered press kits from Capcom. I still can't believe how that happened and you can't even imagine my reaction when I opened the message saying that I won, I wish I had recorded that. It was the first time in my life that I've actually won something that big (free toys inside cereal packages or kinder surprise don't count...).

I live in a country with a relatively small videogaming market but at the same time it's the most important market for Playstation in the world (at least that's what people say... hmm, hmm) Yet, that means nothing when it comes to the availability of important items like the PS4 20th anniversary model. It simply won't be available for sale over here. Why???? PS1 is my favourite system, the one where this entire collection started. This model is so beautiful and special that it bothers me a lot to know I almost don't stand a chance to get my hands on it. I can't live with the fact that I won't be able to get one*.
*I obviously can easily live with that, but this is the internet, the place where it's too easy to troll, dramatize, throw tantrums and insult people.

Now Sony came up with those words about the PS4 being sold on ebay. Yeah, it's a shame to see such a beautiful and limited model created with pure intentions being sold on the internet for easy money. This is not what you guys at Sony wanted. Guess what: it's obvious this would happen. Welcome to my everyday world as a collector. A world where scalpers and resellers steall all the good or important deals and the put them for sale for a lot of money. Easy profit. Yeah, it's a shame that people like me and many other folks out there, who wanted the 20th anniversary console, will miss these or pay big cash for them. Out of the 12300 systems, many will be available for sale now or in the future.

Over the years I've done the best I could to get some of the most illusive editions I currently own, and that was not easy at all. I seriously thought that it would be impossible for me to get some of those. I guess I could say the same about the Limited Edition PS4 console.. that it's just a matter of time until I eventually find one... That PS4, much like many other items I am still missing, are just too far away from reach. Usually I would go as far as I could to get them. But, unfortunately, I'm already tired of doing that and this must stop at one point in my life. After so many years trying so hard to get the editions I wanted, things couldn't be worse for a collector:
1. An overwhelming level of speculation;
2. Resellers absolutely everywhere, even in crappy local advertising websites;
3. Stores with exclusives that refuse to send overseas because of their policies (this can be a PAIN);
4. Preorders sold out in a few hours that I easily miss and they become nightmarish to find;
5. Generic 2nd hand stores that had all the bargains now selling for higher than you can find on eBay with postage included;
6.  Digital Media Rights that require online and dedicated servers, which turn any physical version into something useless once the servers are gone;
7. Not to mention all the digital stuff, DLCs Updates etc that you can't collect.
All these things are taking away all the fun of collecting games in general. If there's no fun, I can't call it a hobby. 

Anyway, this is probably my final post this year. 2015 will certainly be a much better year than this crappy 2014 that I'll try to erase from memories because there really isn't anything good that I can squeeze out of it.

I wish you a Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate in your religion (if you have one). If you don't celebrate anything, then please have a great day. I also wish you a great 2015. I am very positive next year will bring good things this time around.
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05/12/2014

Is there a Smeagol?

People are talking wonders about this game and the only thing I've managed to get so far was the press kit itself. I guess that's fair. I will just pick a regular copy once the price is low enough :)

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Please sign and share this petition to stop Ditto's sexual exploitation!

Ah... the memories... This brings me back in time...

Just kidding. I've only actually played Ruby Version for 4 hours or so. I bought the game but I found out that after spending so many hours playing the previous titles I finally got badly tired of Pokémon. I never touched another Pokémon game until Y came out. A break that lasted over 10 years.

I still had to preorder these two editions, which are kinda lame. They only come with steelbooks and I don't like steelbooks. Oh! I'm pretty sure I didn't mention this 100 times in this blog!

Unfortunately, they rust in countries with usually high humidity levels in the atmosphere and coastal areas, unless they are sealed. "Derrp we live in a hot, sunny country and we don't need thermal isolation and all that crap, so we can save money on materials and still ask a hundred thousand euros for shitty apartments". And nobody lives in the capital because houses  are old, very expensive or both. Not to mention we have some visitors from countries with much lower temperatures and snow that complain this country is cold during winter. No sh!t Sherlock!

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Not sure if designer...

I do not understand what some producers or whoever is responsible for designing video game packages have in their minds. Seriously. I am not a designer but I was lucky enough to be born with this thing "called" brain that seems quite reliable, at least when compared to most models I find every day lurking on this planet...

So, whoever made the design for this extraordinarily expensive edition... failed. It definitely isn't the worst collector's edition I've had on my hands. Capcom (in the US and Europe only because Japan is full of badass stuff) holds the gold medal on that category. 

To be honest, this edition is actually pretty decent overall, but unfortunately it has some big, stupid flaws that make it a little disappointing compared to the original images. I mean... Okay, so... no game inside the box. No news here, we've had that happen several times before, even with the newly released A.C. Unity: Guillotine Edition. But this time, the game is placed on the outer plastic slipcase, that has its own insert? That's new. What the serious business!? This is like someone having a surgery and the doctors leave the intestines on the outside.

It does not hurt too much to include an insert where you can actually place the game inside the box, does it? Because, you see, that's where the game should go: inside the box of the edition itself. And if there is definitely no place for it to fit because you were too lazy to figure out a solution, don't try to find an easy fix like this and just keep the game separated.

If you can ignore the slipcase disaster, the outer box is quite good. I'm not talking about quality or finishing because I don't know much about the materials, but the looks and textures are pretty cool. Then you open the box and remember how much you had to pay for it. Why? Well, if you are lucky enough, nothing is broken, because the interior design is horrible. I heard from the kind person who shipped this edition to me that most editions arrived at the German Gamestop stores with broken items inside and they had to be inspected one by one before being delivered to costumers. No wonder! Chances are you open the box and most stuff is out of its place, lying around loose, hopefully still in one piece but miserably falling from their places. The most fragile items are placed under the lid. When you open the box, they can fall. Yes, it's that stupid.  

I know nobody gives a crap about what I think or write in this blog but here's a small message for producers/designers/humanoids that make these things: FFS this edition is almost 200€! If you're making such an expensive edition, make it right! People order stuff online like never before. People import stuff around the world. We have Paypal. People who buy this are mostly collectors who care about design, quality and condition of their stuff. A bunch of scientists just managed to land a satellite in a frickin' comet... That's a little harder and more expensive than making a decent package for a 170€ edition. Well, 170 if you managed to snatch a preorder before resellers decided to rape prices on eBay and other websites, like they usually do after they ruin all stocks from every store and website. Boxes and packages DO matter! Just make something that can last a ride without arriving in crumbles, please! Yes, I'm not the kindest person around but I paid , didn't I? Thank you.

BTW I'm talking about the Dragon Age: Inquisition Collector's Edition, but I'm pretty sure the text was too long and you immediately looked at the picture, so you already know.


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03/12/2014

I was brave enough to pay more than the default price for this...

Bravely Default Collector's Edition...
*Didn't preorder because I thought it wasn't worth 100 euros.*
*Still think it's not over 100 euros but had to pay more.*
Looking at this description, I'm not sure if it classifies me as a serious collector or simply a dumb person...

Not cool... The game's awesome though.

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