Pointless Hyper Duel collector interview in Games Retro mag

[EmperorIng]

It's a shame some people go through all the trouble of buying these enormously expensive games and they don't even like or play them!

Like, I would put down the money for Hyper Duel if it were a reasonable, sub-$70 price, because I've played the game and its loads of fun, looks great, and sounds great.

Same if I was as sure of Radiant Silvergun (I'm not as sure about that one >.> )

I've only gotten in to purchasing import shmups about 2 years ago, so by that time things were already mondo expensive. It's all about reputation - Radiant Silvergun has the reputation of being a rare import, and its prices will remain, at best, in the $100 range.

$50 is about my limit on shmups. I think the single most expensive shmup I've bought is Thunder Force V, for about $50. I still haven't beaten it (because the last level is a bitch), but all the same I have gotten a great deal of enjoyment out of the game.

[Ed Oscuro]

I agree, it was much better when people sold everything at a loss. Clearly, the law of supply & demand is subservient to my narrow interests.

Why does everything have to be about money?

Because it's better to be explicit about something than to try to make it about some badly-explained "morality" which is just self-interest in disguise.

I already pointed out the only case - that comes to my mind - where I think you can make a reasonable strong morality-based case against game hoarding. Beyond that, the badness of game hoarding is generally minimally impactful, i.e. located in "WHO FUCKING CARES" territory. Somebody holding onto a game isn't depleting the ozone layer or killing polar bears, it's not having any impact on the ability of other people to play the game (because reissuing games is up to the copyright holder, piracy would be immoral!), and it's not really much to get worked up over since it happens with every sought-after collectible. There are guys who plotted to corner the market on an obscure furniture makers' pieces, and once they'd cornered it, they went out and promoted it. Was it wrong that they made sure they bought the stuff up before they promoted it? Not really; they were just making sure their own work was being rewarded. Everybody else had their chance, and no puppies or kittens were harmed as a result. The difference between that case and your average "look at me!1" card-carrying game hoarder is that the average games hoarder is generally pretty clueless about what they want out of it - distraction, peer approval, who knows. But these cases don't mean that a games hoarder can't be noble.

A real shock to the system: A balloon's worth of helium costs about $1 right now. WHADDA SCANDAL! It's all the fault of the guv'mint hoarding helium, too! What a shame.

[Friendly]

$50 is about my limit on shmups.

So you have never imported any new STG? With that limit you are either missing out on tons of the best stuff or you have a parrot on your shoulder, a wooden leg and an eye patch.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Thank goodness all makers of free internet goods never pirate stuff.

[Friendly]

Thank goodness all makers of free internet goods never pirate stuff.

English translation, please.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Many things that are for free on the internet (such as Warning Forever) are made by people who pirate. No idea if the maker of Warning Forever does, but I'm pretty sure the makers of emulators don't buy each and every game they need to test.

[Friendly]

So?

[Obiwanshinobi]

To guote Wikipedia:

The initial form of the boss is called the Pure Heart, which will take on new characteristics in response to the player's assault.

[EmperorIng]

$50 is about my limit on shmups.

So you have never imported any new STG?

Yup.

Simple answer, eh?

Every shmup I've bought has been $50 or lower, and I've bought shmups for the Dreamcast, Saturn, and PS2.

The most expensive has been Thunder Force V, and in that case I snatched it up because it was down from its usual price of $60 on ebay.

I bought Raiden IV used for $20. That's the "newest" shooter I own. Cave shooters ain't really my thang, can ya dig?

[judesalmon]

I recently sold my copy of Hyper Duel for around £100 on eBay, and realised that in the ten years I'd owned it I only played it once. For about five minutes.

Yep, I used to be one of those aimless 'collectors', just buying and buying stuff with the intention of playing, but really getting my thrills from the buying. I wised up.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yep, I used to be one of those aimless 'collectors', just buying and buying stuff with the intention of playing, but really getting my thrills from the buying. I wised up.

See, now THIS is something we can all agree on. It's all about self awareness. Of course, if you decided that it was just the buying and the look of a nice shelf (Retrogaming Roundtable "Rooms O'DOOM") that you like, that seems unwise - but like I said, not really skin off our backs (in most cases).

[BIL]

It's all about self awareness.

Sums it up nicely.

Don't buy shit you don't actually want to own, kids! :"D

So before you snap up that $30,000 "Aero Fighters 3 AES cart," make sure you really love it! ;3

[KAI]

To play, or not to play: that is the question.

[judesalmon]

There are studies that show that people who spend money on experiences are happier than those that spend it on stuff. As I get older I tend to agree.

[KAI]

Games are experiences.

[judesalmon]

Even if you take that line, the truth is that most collectors -- especially the most ardent who only buy sealed games -- don't experience their games. They sit on a shelf.

[Kollision]

Just like action figures geeks.

This is why our hobby is superior. We get to actively enjoy what we collect (true gamers/collectors, that is).

[Obiwanshinobi]

Meh. I tell you what hobby is the bee's knees - assembling scale models. People who do that get to sniff some glue.

[KAI]

In that case, assembling shmups-related models/figures must be the shit.

[R79]

Haven't seen the Games TM offshoot, but Retro Gamer in the UK frequently feels like a frustrating waste of a fiver whenever they try to cover what I would shamelessly term as hardcore 90s 2d titles. Last one I saw had the same, lamentable quick gloss over key Capcom fighters like Third Strike, plus a cursory mini review of the RSG Live release.

I am lucky to have a fairly extensive collection of video game music from the era of Hyper Dual, and I can honestly say, the OST is quite simply one of the most melodic and energetic I have ever heard. Sadly, I have never been able to afford the actual game, but if I did get it one day, I would play the living daylights out of it for sure, like all my other Saturn games.

in the past five years, prices seem to have risen far, far more than they did throughout the entire 90s up until 07-08ish.

Hmm, well decent SS shooters were never cheap, even from the get-go, but most games (apart from Neo Geo AES) could be had very reasonably throughout the 90s, and eBay was around for years before boxed SNES games started shooting through the roof. PCBs, I have never entered that arena, but obviously as the actual true arcade games, I can't envisage them ever being cheap. I'm personally just finishing off Xbox1 right now, just in case some of those begin to leap upwards... a console I always get caught out on with games suddenly shooting up if you look away for like a few years has to be the PS2.

Who knows where the Western and Far Eastern economies will be in a few years time, and what the supply will be like? So if you think an older game you never played looks awesome, try to get it now if possible, as, in my view, video game collecting is still very much in it's infancy.

[R79]

Games are experiences.

When are they ever gonna put a 'like' button on here eh? :thumbs-up:

Even if you take that line, the truth is that most collectors -- especially the most ardent who only buy sealed games -- don't experience their games. They sit on a shelf.

Maybe they experienced it, say, 20 years ago, and enjoyed it so much they now want a pristine and legit artefact to help appreciate the nostalgia of those times? The actual games themselves, in many cases, as we all know, can often be played for free or low amounts on the PC or with the console updates.

A sealed PAL FFVII is an important statement, regardless of the game's flawed version and common distribution.

I watch Dinky collectors in their 60s at real life auction houses bid and hand over huge sums to buy back elements of their younger life. In many ways, it's no different.

[judesalmon]

People are of course free to waste their money as they see fit, but I don't see collecting tat as a good waste.

[R79]

And of course, from now on, games may well not even be released any longer on discs, in boxes. A game that comes out now (let's say, Minecraft) which young people enjoy, may well just end up being re-released on some retro budget download service in 20 years time, or in fact, simply stay up online forever.

I only have to look at a ZX Spectrum to instantly flashback to the 80s, and vividly recall the type of life, room and gaming experience I had back then. How do you do that with a 'quickplay' option you browse to on a console dashboard? All the modern added features, extra artwork, HD etc., could never replicate the feeling of slotting a Phantasy Star III cart into a Mega Drive during a long 90s summer school holiday, that's for sure.

Even if Hyper Duel came out on Live Arcade tomorrow, I would still want the original Japanese game on display in front of me as I played it. It's a key game, from a key developer, on a key console, from a fond moment in time, all closely relating to one of my fave long-term hobbies: the historic STG genre.

If you wanna talk about gaming tat, look at EA sports games in charity shops, or eBay Halo toys and mugs etc.

[judesalmon]

As I said, it's just an opinion. And if you have a shaky memory like you appear to, it probably can't hurt collecting a bit of gaming tat.

[Ganelon]

Games are experiences.

Indeed, people who play games for the experience are happier than those who play them for random fun.

[Obiwanshinobi]

If I buy real hardware and games as well as "collect" CRTs, it's because those give me still better and/or cheaper experience than emulators (authenticity doesn't matter as much since I'm not gearing up for doing my best in real arcades). "The industry" gets the cut too whenever I buy a new game. Needless to say, the more stuff I buy, the less I'm inclined to pirate.
That said, even if I owned all "retro consoles" with RGB mods set up all over my court and a Batman-style cave filled up with dreamy cabs, it would be just a caveful of games written in dead languages no-one cares to read. Life cannot be "collected".

I have a soft spot for GB, GBC, and GBA carts, though, regardless of how well devices with screens brighter than GBA SP can emulate these. SP still has some of the best d-pad and buttons around. It's quite sturdy too, and loose carts are small, so... (This is actually a useful piece of equipment.)

[Ed Oscuro]

Games are experiences.

Indeed, people who play games for the experience are happier than those who play them for random fun.

I see what you have accomplished here!

[Special World]

Yeah, it is really lame how the collectors in that section typically haven't played the game. It'd be nice if they tried harder to find people who have played it and had an opinion on it. I don't really care if you have an expensive game, I care if that game is worth owning or not.

I actually really don't like Retro Gamer in general. I think it has something to do with British love of the Spectrum taking up half the magazine.

[Ed Oscuro]

I actually really don't like Retro Gamer in general. I think it has something to do with British love of the Spectrum taking up half the magazine.

Yeah, that's the feeling I got from the Contra edition of the rag. I love the Spectrum too, but when I want to read about it, there's always scanned issues of World of Sinclair or Your Sinclair!, with the added benefit of real genuine '80s computer geek humor (or attempts at it).

[moonblood]

(This is actually a useful piece of equipment.)

what is that thing?