Retro Road Trip (part 1 of 4)

Game Zone
270 Essex St, Salem, MA 01970
Salem, Massachusetts
978-744-2630


A lucky find! One second we were touring the hallowed streets of Salem Massachusetts and learning about the prosecution of alleged witches. Then, BAM! We find what is probably the best retro video games store in the United States (or at least it's in the top 3). The serendipitous encounter would become the first retro gaming shopping trip on our travels.


A small, unassuming brick facade houses the culmination of decades worth of video game history. Just name it. Commodore 64? Of course it's here! Neo Geo AES? You want the box with that? If I had to pick out one fatal flaw (besides not being within walking distance of my house), it would be that they do not appear to have any sort of website. I can't complain too much though. The harder it is for me to buy from there the less likely I am to drive myself broke. Sadly, I did not buy anything here. Not because they didn't have anything I wanted, just because money was a little tight this trip, and there was plenty more to see on this trip without blowing my wad here.

If you've been looking for it, chance are these guys have it.

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is in fact a boxed Neo Geo. $600 and she could be yours.

Speaking of boxed stuff... This is one unit I coveted in my youth above most others.
The box was as big as I was, and promised a whole new world of mind-blowing entertainment.
I finally got one of these a few years back but no original box sadly.

I don't actually recognize that grey sucker in the center. You learn so much traveling to these places.

BAM! You've been Robbed!

The unusual suspects. Speaking of unusual...

Fuck! Just when I thought you guys were on the ball...

There are a few more pictures (including the one I teased this series with), on my flickr photostream if you want to see some more of this amazing store. If I ever find myself in Salem again, you'd better believe I'm going back there.


Do check in next week when we visit Digital Press!

The Long Hard Road

Wow! I cannot believe how long it's been since I've last updated this poor neglected blog. Between actual paying work (not just crimes of passion like this), housework, writing for Fraggs Magazine, and becoming a father (no small ordeal), I haven't really had time to play any video games, let alone write anything about them.


Despite all the hang ups, there is lots of new content on the way. Expect more thrift store finds, reviews, and content previously written for other outlets that was never used for one reason or another. To ensure there isn't a drought of content again, we'll be going on a brief hiatus to ensure there's enough articles to keep this thing rolling in the event I'm tied up for another 5 months. So far, 4 are written, but I want to have a few more to give myself a bit of a head start. Expect to see some action this week!


Here's a taste of what's coming.

This was just one stop on my incredible retro-roadtrip.

Goodwill Hunting 2: Extreme Edition: Day 1

This is what my camera saw the first time I tried to take a picture of this place.
This image is NOT Photoshopped. I must've turned my wrist... Or it was trying to warn me.

A thousand Apologies for the infrequency of updates. The forces that be have kept me from keeping the blog updated, but I will have a little more time free up in the coming weeks so bear with me. Last week, I teased a continuation of the Goodwill hunting series. Obviously not the movie, but the hunt through Goodwills and similar thrift shops, on my quest for rare and unusual video games, peripherals and merchandise. My travels would take me to Richmond, the capitol of Virginia. A city where I saw one stretch of about three city blocks occupied by a mammoth goodwill, a pawnshop, and four or five various other thrift stores. There was so much stuff in fact, that I will be breaking this post up into two parts, Instead of the anticipated one. So without further adieu.

The First Goodwill

I can't believe someone would just give
this thing away!

From the moment we walked into the first Goodwill on our list of shops to browse I knew we were in for a rush of discovery, but I had no idea that the first leg of our journey would contain such a treasure as this. If I didn't already have one of these that recently had faulty video capacitors replaced, I would totally jump all over this thing. I mean, a Game Gear with a Game Genie, 2 games, a screen magnifier, car and home AC adapters, and a case? For $10.25?! That is the kind of find most collectors dream about. The only issue I could find with the unit was that you had to hold it at a 70º angle to see anything, but it was otherwise perfect! There were a few other odds and ends about, but this was the only article really worth going over in depth.

The Dirt Mall

The sign seems obvious... But that's not what's in there.

Wow... Just... wow...

This was definitely an experience, I can say that for certain. What I can't say for certain is how I managed to not only go into this place twice without losing my wallet or an eye. This "FLEA MARKET" is not so much a flea market, so much as it is a dirt mall filled with knockoff shoes, clothes, electronics, color changing contacts (Good luck with those), and glass pipes for "tobacco." This place looks like an inner-city ghetto decided to squat in a K-Mart while the management was on vacation. Despite it's ragged look however, buried deep beneath the heaps of fake Gucchi bags, light-up belt buckles, fake designer jeans, and the creepy guy who tried to make me think I knew him as he walked by; this potential crime-scene held some remarkable retro gaming and pop-culture artifacts. So enough about the state of this place, let's explore the wonders within.

The Intellivision

Beautiful isn't it?

Even the "Intelligent television," has been known to go slummin'. Though I'm not the biggest Intellivision fan around, (that distinction goes to Samurai Smurfette who's featured in April's issue of Fraggs Magazine), I can't downplay the significance of this find. Seemingly complete and in near-mint condition with a manual, this bastard would have come home with me had it not been for the hefty $75.00 price tag and my lack of interest in the platform :-/. If it hasn't been micturated upon by vagrants or sold already, it's definitely a worthwhile trip to pick this thing up. 

Big Ol' Heap of Consoles

At least they aren't in a dumpster, right?

Just to the right of the Intellivision lie heaps of old, beat up consoles. Among them, a few Atari 2600s (both Junior and the old school wood-panel models), a Dreamcast, a stack of Sega Genesis systems, and some Sega Saturn games. This was the first real collection of used games and systems I came across in the dirt mall, so I Figured it warranted mentioning with a few photos. It's also the first merchandise I'd found that looked like it actually belonged in a flea market. I didn't buy anything yet, as I wasn't wanting for spare parts or systems, and I  was still waiting for a big score.

Jackpot!

An Atari what?

The last booth we visited ,was a veritable gold mine! There were two guys manning it who insisted on not using ebay for some reason or another, and despite knowing the value of their merchandise, sold everything for far less than it was worth. Odd fellows, but from the sound of it, they simply got a big thrill out of buying up truckloads of unwanted stuff and reselling it via auctions and flea markets. They both seemed sorta crestfallen by the state of this particular flea market, and remarked that the way it was advertised was a bit of a bait and switch. But I was very happy to see them there. The Atari 400 to the left was only $10, but it was filthy and didn't come with any of the components. They assured me it worked, but who knows for sure? These guys were fairly shrewd as well. The younger of the two pegged me as a collector off the bat, and actually managed to answer any questions I had without struggle. Hell, they even offered to sell me the lot of consoles for $50. As tempting as a room filled with musty old game systems sounded, I passed. That's when I saw this sucker hanging out at the end of their little alcove.

No dick jokes... What are you, twelve?

The Nerd Primes among you know exactly what this is, for everyone else, allow me to explain. What's pictured above is the coveted Fortress Maximus which-as far as I know, is the largest Transformer ever made. It also happens to be one of the rarest. This Fort Max may be in a state of disrepair, but think of it as buying a rusted-out hotrod. Sure it's rotting out in the driveway for all your neighbors to see, but as time goes by you find opportunities to work on it, and pieces show up here and there. Before you know it you've got a sleek roadster that simultaneously makes your neighbors jealous and your dick seem bigger... That, but in a toy robot... So it attracts way less pussy.


Someone tried to offer less than the $20 the owner was asking for it before I arrived, and left to try and make em sweat a bit. The owner said he'd sell it to me if I got him the cash first. Ten minutes later, I beat the kid by about 2 minutes, and got to bask in his defeated expression before making my final exit from the dirt mall. Seeing as how a complete Fort Max can demand a price well into the $600 range, it serves the brat right for trying to haggle on an already great deal. All in all, a successful trip.


A friend is going to pay me what I paid for Fort Max and I'll have his Christmas and Birthdays covered for awhile (this thing is missing quite a few pieces). As cool as Fortress Maximus is, the real cool shit went down on day 2.

A Big Bad Christmas

KA-BLAM!

Alright, I know what you're thinking so let's get this out of the way first and foremost. I did not just go out and buy this thing willy-nilly. I got some Paypal money and ebay gift cards for Christmas so I helped myself to some cables, random bibs and bobs I've needed around my office, a component rack (that only cost $30.00!), and this bad boy.

Here's a brief history of this thing for those who either weren't there or weren't aware of it: Virtual On was released in arcades in 1995. It's a third-person, mech fighting game with an emphasis on speed and split-second strategy. The game was released in somewhat limited numbers due to the overwhelming cost of the cabinet and the size of the whole unit (which approached half a ton). It consisted of 2 full size cabinets with adjustable seats, a privacy screen, and 2 sets of twin joysticks to control your mecha. Regardless, it was an instant classic and received a home port to Sega's flagship console at the time, the Saturn. No doubt, even if you've never seen a Saturn in person, you've figured out that the default controller probably doesn't look like this.

I first encountered this beast in the summer of 1995 on a family vacation to Las Vegas Nevada. It's been a wild love affair ever since. Back then I threw approximately $100 into the arcade version. It was a great time, and you better believe I got excited when I heard a homeport was coming to the Saturn.

This is the original copy we bought back then. Ah, memories...

Now, my family wasn't exactly millionaires, but we did have a Saturn and a couple of games for it (not all the ones shown here mind you), but there was no way in Hell we were getting what was printed on the last page of the manual! 

Hey, who do you think you'd get if you called the number up there?

HOLY SHIT! It looked like someone had literally ripped the joysticks out of the arcade cabinet! Awesome, no? Back then I actually did call Sega Sales to inquire as to the price of the sticks and was told they went for $75.00. The biggest catch for us was that they only worked with Virtual On. Now, I was 14 at the time, and I had a priority to buy up as many older games as I could to start building our library. I didn't have the cash to dump $150 on controllers. If I had the money I'd be staring at 2 sets of these things right now. But I didn't, so we played with the regular Saturn pads for over a decade, which believe it or not worked fine... Until now that is...

Boom!... Ok, so there's only one set. But the badass seller did include the original box and manual along with a Japanese copy of the game.

I was very excited when these came in, now I can kick ass arcade style in the comfort of my own home. The little bastards at the Laser Tag arena up the street will never see me coming. I'm not going to go into too much more detail here, suffice it to say these things work like a dream. If you want to find out more about these little gems I've included a link to my Flickr photostream below that has details and pictures of the unboxing. It's worth going there to see the box they shipped it in (fuckin' awesome)!

In summary, it was a good Christmas this year. I didn't technically add anything new to my library that I'm gonna have to defeat and write about later on AND I scored the only peripheral I've ever truly coveted (since I already have an Ascii Stick that is).

Here's the link to the set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/retronick/sets/72157625782094711/

Enjoy!

A Spectacle of Modern Commerce

Ok, so I was distraught at the thought of not bringing my Genesis 1 with a Powerbase converter to play me some Phantasy Star and report back; but let me explain. I knew there was only one TV here and I didn't want to monopolize it. I know, I'm a real sweetheart. That said, my thirst for classic gaming has not gone unquenched! First on our agenda was a trip to The Mall of America in Minnesota!

Bask in its materialistic glory.

For those of you who either don't live in the mid-north of the United States, or are simply out of the know (seriously, I grew up in Colorado and had heard of this place!); The Mall of America is a mighty monument to capitalism and consumerism. Located in Minnesota, it is the second largest shopping mall in the United States in terms of usable retail space. The only thing surprising about the mall is that there isn't a mammoth bronze statue of Sam Walton out front with a plaque bearing PT Barnum’s famous, “There's one born every minute”, quote and greeting consumers with a knowing grin out in the parking lot (that distinction goes to Kingfisher Oklahoma).

We were figuring out a plan of attack on the mall. I was driving when Stacy asked what I wanted to see in there while she was glancing over the directory in the backseat. I said “nothing” as I guessed there would probably be two Game Stops and nothing else. It was a good guess in that I was right, but an easy one... Why wouldn't there be two Game Stops in the second biggest mall in the country... There's two Game Stops down the street I live off of... Fuck I hate Game Stop. 

I meandered about the second biggest Mall in the country and had lunch at A&W. On the menu for me was loaded French fries and deep-fried cheese curds (a local delicacy). Yeah, one of those would have been fine by itself, but together I swear they aged me about five years. I still get a sick feeling looking at the image below.

Looking back, this was a terrible decision.

After punishing my colon for no good reason, I continued perusing the vast consumer wasteland. Then, far off on the horizon; I beheld a store that did not appear on any directory, yet there it was before me. My eyes widened and I let out a stifled "woot" under my breath as I saw first hand...

Words cannot express... *sniff

This place is probably the coolest store I've ever been to in a mall since Funco Land vanished, and definitely only one of two kiosks I've every actually bought anything from (man that other kiosk woman was pushy). The only irritating thing about it was that Game Stop gets two full storefronts, and in the same mall this place is relegated to a crumby kiosk by some shitty comedy club. Is there no justice? Still, despite being in a crappy location on Level 3 (of 4!), they did have an incredible selection of... Well everything!

The guy behind the counter opened this up for me and it even smelled new.

They had games for the Neo Geo, Turbo Grafx 16, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast, 32X, NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Cube, N64, X-Box, X-Box 360, Wii, DS, Virtual Boy, Atari 2600, and a bunch of Playstation crap and used DVDs. Really, the best selection I've seen outside of eStarland in Virginia. My mother in law had given me a $25 Visa gift card just the day before, and though I knew it went against my quest, I could not not support this store and the awesome business they run. I ended up buying two Cryo-developed games for the Sega CD: Dune and MegaRace.

Coincidentally the music for both games was composed by the talented Stéphan Picq.

Call it a moment of weakness if you like, but I defy any one of you in the presence of such a thing to deny its siren call. Besides, I didn’t actually spend any of my money on these two. There’s some more images if you click the link below. You'll get the full effect and perhaps you too will succumb to her wild charms.

Flickr Album: Hi-Score Video Games

A Gentlemen's Weapon

To everyone that has yet to play a Sega Saturn, I would encourage you to find one or someone who owns one and get ahold of one of these. This is the "Ascii Saturn Stick," far and away one of the finest arcade joysticks I've ever played with. It's one of my favorite pieces in my collection and gets the most use of any peripheral I own. I thought it appropriate to christen this blog with a shining example of how things should be done.


Most home "arcade sticks" utilize a great, big awkward ball on top with an often spring-loaded base. Not this monster. What you get here is an arcade-style steel stick with micro switches in the base to register your motion, 8 heavy-duty buttons, a steel base, and an overall solid frame. This is the same stick I've had since 1996 and I've yet to replace it. It is nearly indestructible! Every now and again I'll have to remove the base and clean dust from the contacts on the board, but other than that I haven't experienced any problems with it. It also makes this delightful click every time you nudge the stick.


Despite being a third-party peripheral, this thing dominates Sega's own "Virtua Stick." Sure there's no Turbo switches, but the stick's not only more accurate and comfortable to hold and use, it also still works. The "Virtua Stick" stopped working ages ago. If you like any kind of fighting game (especially the 2D Capcom variety that rocked the Playstation versions back in the day), then this is the stick for you! 


Games the "Ascii Saturn Stick" rocks the shit out of!


-Any Capcom 2D fighter
-SHMUPS such as Radiant Silver Gun, Galactic Attack, Darius Gaiden, etc...
-Arcade style puzzlers like Tetris Plus, Super Puzzle Fighter 2, Bust a Move 2, etc...
-It's also surprisingly good for a lot of platformers like Astal and Sonic Jam


See if you can find one of these things on ebay. Your smug friend will shit his pants when you roll up for some X-Men: Children of the Atom with this baby tucked under your arm.


UPDATE 12/30/2011: Not that you care, but my Virtua Stick just decided to start working again... Not a huge update, but I didn't want misinformation floating around going into the new year.