20$ of old school, 8-bit Gaming Joy!!

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:42 pm

http://www.konami.com/gs/castlevaniacontra/

Just got this in the mail today from Amazon! Contra has to be my favorite console game ever, even to this day! So this compilation ought to hold me over until I get a NES or a Famicom-or until someone at Konami grows a brain and decides to port Contra and Super C to the GBA, or some other platform.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:16 pm

I do realize they do have things called emulators that plays this stuff virtually flawlessly now, right?

OmegaFlareX · Post by **OmegaFlareX** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:16 pm

...and for free?

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:19 pm

Yeah, but I view that as piracy, and I won't participate in it. If others want to play these games on emulators, get their XBOX's modded to play every oldshcool game on the planet, that's their business; I'm not gonna give 'em a sermon on it. But for me personally, I cannot and will not use emulation for anything BUT trying out games-unless it's something that's been legalized, like the ZX Spectrum emulator and roms.

In any case, there's no good reason why Konami couldn't have gotten at least the oringinal Contra included on the NES Classics Series-considering that this game is practically a generational icon, I seriously doubt that Nintendo would've refused.

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:24 pm

I picked up the collection some time ago (impulse buy from Fry's) and it's not bad (five perfectly emulated NES games.) One nuisance is that the CD has to be in at all times to play it though. If I recall correctly it does have save state support though.

FatalError · Post by **FatalError** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:26 pm

I play those games on an NES emulator. I actually OWN all the cartridges, but an emulater doesn't need to be blown into to work.

bluberry · Post by **bluberry** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:26 pm

ah man, I had that once by my laptop always goes nuts trying to play games. My video card is <em>awful</em>, it's supposedly 32MB but chokes on pretty much anything post-UT1 (even something as decidedly unadvanced as a Contra collection). How's the emulation, perfect?

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:14 am

Yeah, absolutely perfect!

Like I said, though, I would really like to get a NES for my next console. You can buy one's on Ebay that have completely brand new PIN sets, so it's pretty much like getting a brand new NES-and they're not that expensive, either. Just more expensive then this CD-Rom was.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:30 am

Holy cow, here's a weird-looking Famiclone!:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 26936&rd=1

Never seen that brand before! Only the black-box ones.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:35 am

dave4shmups wrote:Holy cow, here's a weird-looking Famiclone!:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 26936&rd=1

Never seen that brand before! Only the black-box ones.

Wow looks nice

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:39 am

It's cool that they're still selling this, but I already own all 5 of the titles for my NES. Perhaps pack #2 ... if it ever comes out.

df0notfound · Post by **df0notfound** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:00 am

OmegaFlareX wrote:...and for free?

and illegally and without any money going to the people who brought you the game

shall I just get whatever services you offer for free and pass it off as a good thing because "well its for free"

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:27 am

FatalError wrote:I play those games on an NES emulator. I actually OWN all the cartridges, but an emulater doesn't need to be blown into to work.

Hell NO! In the long run, that ruins the cartridge. Moisten a cotton swab with isopropyl alcohol (NOT regular alcohol), and rub the connectors. That'll work much better - and it's good to clean the contacts inside the controllers as well.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:38 am

df0notfound wrote:without any money going to the people who brought you the game

I hope you don't buy games off ebay, then.

(though I do agree that since Konami is making these available, they should be bought by those who want them)

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:03 am

SheSaidDutch wrote:
dave4shmups wrote:Holy cow, here's a weird-looking Famiclone!:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 26936&rd=1

Never seen that brand before! Only the black-box ones.
Wow looks nice

Yeah, there's a few others on Ebay like that-that's the first Famiclone I've seen besides the black FC ones.

I'm sure they work fine, but the problem is that you cannot use ANY NES perhipherals with these systems.

I'm gonna wait until I have enough money to get a Japanese Famicom, and then get a converter-although both are pretty hard to find on Ebay.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:11 am

If you want famiclone info, check out http://www.nesworld.com . Tons of hilarious famiclone stuff.

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:26 am

Congrats dave4shmups. While Contra isn't my cup of tea, it's still a great classic. Don't listen to the pirates here, it's way much better to play the actual thing than it is to download a ROM. They're just jealous that they don't own a Contra cart.

I shelled out $50 for my Earthbound cart. Worth every penny.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:39 am

df0notfound wrote:
OmegaFlareX wrote:...and for free?
and illegally and without any money going to the people who brought you the game shall I just get whatever services you offer for free and pass it off as a good thing because "well its for free"

I used to think that way. However, you got to remember that Nintendo had an illegal chokehold on the market back in the days of the NES, with that "I am Nintendo, Thy licensor. Thou shalt not developeth for others licensors than me." and that when they got taken to court for that, their "punishment" was offering a bunch of coupons worth 5 dollars for the purchase of a NES game. While the SMS languished, unloved and hungry, collecting dust in the bargain bins.

So every time I load a Nintendo rom, I think to myself: "It's payback time, bitches."

Besides, it's not like Konami has had to lay people off due to OMG TEH PIRATEX0RZ R RUINING OUR BIZNEX0rz!!!11

Let's not start a flame war over this. The developers of those games got paid for their work already, and they wouldn't see a cent of your money even if you bought all the Contra cartridges in existence. The money for your PSP and memory stick and the taxes you paid for them already have been put to good use by paying Joe Worker and John TruckDriver for their effort so they can feed their families. Might as well make sure you get your money's worth.

Besides, you only live once.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:22 am

Specineff wrote:
df0notfound wrote:
OmegaFlareX wrote:...and for free?
and illegally and without any money going to the people who brought you the game shall I just get whatever services you offer for free and pass it off as a good thing because "well its for free"
I used to think that way. However, you got to remember that Nintendo had an illegal chokehold on the market back in the days of the NES, with that "I am Nintendo, Thy licensor. Thou shalt not developeth for others licensors than me." and that when they got taken to court for that, their "punishment" was offering a bunch of coupons worth 5 dollars for the purchase of a NES game. While the SMS languished, unloved and hungry, collecting dust in the bargain bins.

So every time I load a Nintendo rom, I think to myself: "It's payback time, bitches."

Besides, it's not like Konami has had to lay people off due to OMG TEH PIRATEX0RZ R RUINING OUR BIZNEX0rz!!!11

Let's not start a flame war over this. The developers of those games got paid for their work already, and they wouldn't see a cent of your money even if you bought all the Contra cartridges in existence. The money for your PSP and memory stick and the taxes you paid for them already have been put to good use by paying Joe Worker and John TruckDriver for their effort so they can feed their families. Might as well make sure you get your money's worth.

Besides, you only live once.

The fact that they wouldn't see any of my money isn't the point; the fact that it's copyrighted material that someone ELSE made is. And as long as said material remains copyrighted, I don't personally think I have ANY right to play it unless I pay for it.

I don't want a flame war either Specineff, but I'm not going to hold a grudge against Nintendo because of their console monopoly way back in the '80s-I personally love both 8-bit consoles, but what's done is done. IMO, it's water under the bridge. I don't like everything Microsoft has done, and continues to do, but I wasn't about to pass up getting an XBOX because of that.

Whatever, this disc is JUST a hold-over until I get me a (REAL!) Famicom-I don't enjoy spending large amounts of time in front of my computer gaming.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:59 am

dave4shmups wrote:Yeah, but I view that as piracy, and I won't participate in it. If others want to play these games on emulators, get their XBOX's modded to play every oldshcool game on the planet, that's their business; I'm not gonna give 'em a sermon on it. But for me personally, I cannot and will not use emulation for anything BUT trying out games-unless it's something that's been legalized, like the ZX Spectrum emulator and roms.

You are in a very gray area there. "BUT trying out games" ... technically that's still piracy.

Not that I care - I love emulation and play hundereds of games that way.

Back on topic - I think Fry's has this for $9.99 or so. I've seen in it the last 3 or 4 times I've been there.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:18 am

I emulate NES games that I already own on my Xbox because I don't feel like hooking up my NES and digging out all the carts, and because my top loader can only hook up with an RF switch.

Piracy? Yeah, technically. But I already paid for the games, so whatever, I don't feel morally bad about it.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:18 am

I just never get excited about old games being sold on the PC...even if $20 for that many games is a fair price.

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:23 pm

Specineff wrote:So every time I load a Nintendo rom, I think to myself: "It's payback time, bitches."

I do get a weird thrill emulating Gameboy Advance games, only because I got fed up with the stupid little handheld. Portiable SNES my ass.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:17 pm

sethsez wrote:I emulate NES games that I already own on my Xbox because I don't feel like hooking up my NES and digging out all the carts, and because my top loader can only hook up with an RF switch.

Piracy? Yeah, technically. But I already paid for the games, so whatever, I don't feel morally bad about it.

OK, I retract my previous comments on emulation-after all, I used to play through an entire game of GG Aleste once. I guess I just feel personally guilty about playing a game I haven't payed for, even if, for example, Compile is dead and gone.

Whatever, enough talk about emulation. I'm not trying to judge anyone, and I apologize if I came off that way, or start a flame war at all, so I'll just dop it.

At any rate, now that I have this old-school Konami PC collection, I may just get a GBA-SP, instead of a NES or SNES-there's plenty of good shmups, and some of my other fav. NES games, like Donkey Kong 3 and Mario Bros., are playable on the GBA.

The only thing that worries me is PC's getting so advanced that this compilation won't work on them anymore.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:40 pm

No offense intended Dave I just gotta rant a bit.

One of the few moments at E3 '02 where my brain blanked out from annoyance was when I tried the Konami collection at their booth and it wouldn't work. As soon as I would start Contra or anything of the other games it crashed every time. That right there was not a good way to try and sign me up for a purchase.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:13 pm

Dylan1CC wrote:No offense intended Dave I just gotta rant a bit.

One of the few moments at E3 '02 where my brain blanked out from annoyance was when I tried the Konami collection at their booth and it wouldn't work. As soon as I would start Contra or anything of the other games it crashed every time. That right there was not a good way to try and sign me up for a purchase.

I'd be angry too, but this compilation works perfectly, as long as you have a CD-Rom Drive with a speed of at least 2X, and DirectX 8, or higher.

I actually got this compilation a few years ago, before I was even on this site, and it wouldn't work on our crappy '99 Compaq Presario-but it works fine on our Vaio, which is a year old this month. So if you have a computer that's relatively new, and you don't already own these games, I'd give this compilation a second look if I were you.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:34 pm

dave4shmups wrote:
Dylan1CC wrote:No offense intended Dave I just gotta rant a bit.

One of the few moments at E3 '02 where my brain blanked out from annoyance was when I tried the Konami collection at their booth and it wouldn't work. As soon as I would start Contra or anything of the other games it crashed every time. That right there was not a good way to try and sign me up for a purchase.
I'd be angry too, but this compilation works perfectly, as long as you have a CD-Rom Drive with a speed of at least 2X, and DirectX 8, or higher.

I actually got this compilation a few years ago, before I was even on this site, and it wouldn't work on our crappy '99 Compaq Presario-but it works fine on our Vaio, which is a year old this month. So if you have a computer that's relatively new, and you don't already own these games, I'd give this compilation a second look if I were you.

Glad to hear it.

They also had a Bomberman collection for the PC (with Bomberman 93 on it) which I don't think was ever released. Weird. Anyone who was E3 02 remember seeing that?

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:38 pm

I bought that for my CV collection sake purposes only, and, it's supposed to have the Jackal rom inside as an hidden game, do you know?

Only, no one still has found a way to unlock it.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:37 pm

Craziness! At any rate, I think that Nintendo's handhelds are good enough, without getting a new Famicom, which is otherwise what I'd do.

OT-anyone know how well the worm light works on the GBC? 'Cause if it works well, I'd like to get a DS and a GBC, for the older Gameboy games.

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 8:52 pm

emulation pwns.

gb2/livejournal/ if you're a pansy-ass about copyright laws.