Well, after about a month or two of solid searching I finally found a Neo-Geo cab to my liking, so without further ado, here it is...

This is a model that is refered to as the Gold cab, due to the Gold paneling on the control panel and around the marquees. For a while, I was all about the Big Red, but once I saw this one of Craigslist, I had to have it. It came with Sengoku (a Final Fight type game) and Top Players Golf, but I am looking to get more games (KOF & SS ae big on my list). So this is probably my last big (as in size) aquisition until I get a new place (years away), cuz I really don't have good space even for this! :P

As most of you who know me from the Candid Collector's forum know, I'm huge into game displays. I finally got what was my holy grail of a Dreamcast Kiosk about a month ago and have loved every minute of it. The problem with getting the one item that you really desire is... what do you do next? Well, I know what I'm going to do...

It's time to get a Neo Geo MVS! I'm a big SNK fan (anyone that knows what my name means, this should be obvious) and I've always loved their arcade system. I thought about a console, but the arcade system is just so much cooler. Plus, the carts for the arcade are WAY cheaper than the ones for the AES system.

I've started the hunt and so far, what I have near me has been very sad. There is a one slot near by, but it's been kept working in a basement. Given all the moisture of a basement, I can only imagine how corroded things could be in there, so I'm really not excited about the prospect. The other one is a 4 slot (Big red, as they are called) but the seller wants $1,200 for a big red, which is rediculous. I keep seeing them for like $400-500 with games, so at that price, the coin op slots would have to be replaced with some sort of sexual gratification machine (which I'm sure the wife wouldn't be a fan of)

Once I've reached the point of success, I'll let you guys know, but until then, I won't be buying any games (the collection will still rise on the wife's purchases :P )

Alright, rant time!

I know it's not exactly the most eloquent thesis statement, but this current generation of systems SUCKS! I started off buying a lot of games this generation, because I was really excited for the promise of this generation, based on how great the last generation was. The GameCube had some great new series (Pikmin and Animal Crossing) and revived some old ones (Metroid Prime). Mixrosoft game on the scene and brought a slightly harder edge to gaming. And then, of course, is the PS2 which was just amazing with more than enough games for anyone's taste. So with the great performance of the prior gen, you'd think game maker would actually improve this generation bu increasing the power of the systems. Taking what you've been doing and using the new capabilities to do more, awesome! No.

Somehow, it seems every game system has some MAJOR shortfalls which have contributed to an overall lack of quality that is causing us to suffer from what feels like a huge quality drought. Thanks to Nintendo, every game is shovelware. Even Nintendo's own 1st party software is shovelware! Look at WiiPlay, totally worthless games tacked on with a controller. I speak as an owner, the game is terrible Really, they're the type of games you'd play on ome flash site, get bored, andnever see again.

Playstation, well it's asy to see where they went wrong, they set their price so high that even if their old audience was willing to go with their system, they couldn't afford it. Now, a lot of their titles go ov er to X360. And once that happens, the worst thing of all happens. You get the nerfed game that has to fit onto one DVD. If any of you wondered why GTA4 was so much smaller of a world than San Andreas and why FFXIII is taking so long, look no further than X360's format of choice, the DVD.

I find myself buying games on anything EXCEPT this gen lately. This year, I've bought exactly TWO games on the current gen systems (not including DS/PSP) and that is Ace Combat 6 and Street Fighter IV. With my game buying habits (usually 10-30 games a month), to only have2 games from this gen added to my collection in 2 months, that's just sad and speaks to the lack of quality.

Personaly, I'm starting to wonder if this generation can be saved. Nintendo is gone, IMO. Unless something shocking happens at E3, I think that there's a good chance I dont play Wii again (only The Conduit looks to possibly change that, cuz lord knows Project HAMMER is gone). X360, I'm starting to think that I won't go to that other than for games I already have, because honestly, how many more FPS games can one person play outside of the Fauxcore gamers? PS3, that's my system right now this gen, and even that gets very little attention.

Kind of sad, but last gen, even though Dreamcast is my favorite, really, every system had so many redeeming qualities, I played the hell out of all of them. This gen though, really, the systems perform the task of lowering my TV stand's center of gravity more than anything.

Whenever a new generation of systems comes by, it seems that some series don't make a natural change into the new systems, either due to new capabilities (2D into 3D, for example) or due to developers trying too hard to utilize something not meant for a particular game (motion controls). Here's my Top 5 list of Games Hurt By the Next-Gen...

5) Mega Man (Mega Man Legends)- When every Mega Man fan heard the prospects of a new Mega Man game coming out where it was a fully fledged RPG, most of us were rejoicing. I mean, finally, we'd get to play as Mega Man in a way that we get to interact with all our favorite characters! Oh how sadly disappointed we all were. It was probably our overly high expectations, but even though the game was a solid experience, somehow (at least in this gamer's opinion), the game just wasn't as engaging as the Mega Man games of old.

Maybe it's because of my general impression of that 3D era, but the game felt very empty. Like you were spending 5 minutes running and seeing maybe a couple enemies during that time. Nothing like the 2D side view action game where if you dared back up too far, that enemy you blasted 2 seconds ago was back again with all his friends.

And if you don't agree with me on Legends, I think anyone would agree with me that Mega Man X7 and X8 weren't nearly as good as the 2D MMX counterparts.

4) Street Fighter (EX series)-No, I'm not picking on Capcom, they really just have been around long enough to be through generation changes. Street Fighter was and is still considered the pinnacle of fighting games (at least in North America, I prefer KOF myself). There was a large & diverse cast of characters, which went through many different games getting subtle changes to perfect the balance and usefulness of each character. And during the late 90's to 2000 the series saw the highest of highs & the lowest of lows. Street Fighter 3 finally provided an upgraded experience with a completely revised cast and at it's end, what is considered by most the current champion of 2D fighting games.

But the team over at Arika had another monster brewing, bringing the series into the world of 3D with Street Fighter EX. Taking the Street Fighter design and using new 3D models, Capcom turned it's nicely detailed 2D characters into.... well, walking blocks. While this was more of a limitation of the system at the time, this still detracted from the overall feel and the game somehow felt slower and less refined, overall. The same fate would happen to KOF, but at least without the blocky characters (except for Mai's Morgan Webb like jawline)

3) Bomberman (Bomberman Zero)- It's such a simple game that screwing it up almost seems to take work. You take n overhead 2D game which is like a giant map/puzzle game. It works great, is a fun party game, and has plenty of charm. But some felt that this formula was tired, which it very well may be. But taking a charming game, making the guy look like he ate half of Barry Bonds steroid stash (Oh snap!), and mearging the games environment with what appears to be the post-robot takeover Earth from Terminator, and giving a third-person view of a giant map really just doesn't make sense as a way to revolutionie the series. Way to vomit on your own series, Hudson!

2) Final Fantasy (FF7 and beyond)- I really need a flame shield for this one. Final Fantasy was, even on the limited hardware of the NES and SNES, truly a beautiful game to behold.But somewhere along the way, the series really lost the hold on the story lines of old, with a group of truly interesting stories and instead, with the success of FF7, began to become too formulaic. Gone were all the creature like characters, the main characters that looked like their actual gender, and instead an overly harsh lean on the whole lover's triangle realted story lines. While FF7 was arguably the pinnacle of the series, it's success ultimately is the reason the series has become stagnant and formulaic.

1) Sonic (anything past Sonic Adventure 2)- Kind of hard not to see this one coming, eh? Sonic was quite arguably just as much fun as the Mario 2D games, even though it took a completely different approach to the 2D platforming genre. But the move to 3D, where a system constantly has to deal with camera angles, draw rates, etc. really took the wind right out of Sonic's sail. He could almost be called Sluggo now (Sluggo the Hedgehog is not realted to Sluggo the Bulldog). And it seems that as the series continues, things are just getting slower, peaking with the new Sonic game on X360 and PS3 which actually has 5-10 second load times for 2-5 second video clips. I mean WTF!

Ok E3 (or the retarded step child of the former E3...) has wrapped up, all the companies have shown there wares. Here's my take on it...

Microsoft- I actually got a chance to watch the conference for MS live on G4. And as I had predicted to a couple friends, they basically spent a third of it to talk about Halo 3. Look Microsoft, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE already knows Halo 3 is coming. It's already going to sell out no matter what. So why send so much time on it. Maybe because everything else you have is pretty mediocre or shared with a competitor?

Obviously, I was unimpressed. Granted, they've got some good titles for this year coming, but I still think that MS' game diversity is severly lacking. It's great to see some more RPGs coming (Mass Effect leading the way), but seeing titles from X360 worth having continuously leaking over to the PC is also disappointing. Oh and Scene It? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Nintendo- Over time, I've actually found Nintendo to be the most disappointing out of ALL of the major 3 for E3. It seems that Nintendo has given up on the real gaming crowd, in favor of trying to expand there market with gimmicks. I don't think that the basic form of the Wii is a gimmick, in fact, I love the whole Wiimote aiming system & motion controls. But a plastic gun case & plastic wheel get set up as big items? Who cares! And hardly anything new game on games. We knew about those big 3 titles, all Nintendo did was settle the dates. So? Do you have anything PAST 2007 to look forward to? Or more than 3 games for this year?

But the worst offense was the WiiFit pad, hands down. This thing is one big gimmick. Infact, it's basically just a wireless bathroom scale hooked into your Wii. I'm already calling it the worst Nintendo device since Virtual Boy, purely for it's offensiveness to gamers, being sold along side what is suppose to be a gaming console.

Sony- Easily the ones that won E3, but that was more to weak competition. They did a great job of focusing in on the amount of titles to look forward to this & next year (unfortunately, too many are next year...) , plus the new PSP Slim, for the small physical changes, sounds great, being faster and longer lasting. It's not all positive though...

The late breaking news of the 60GB price drop just being to move out the old with a switch to a $600 only system (with only backcrapability) is a shame. It completely runied what was a mostly positive Sony E3 for me. And given the overall quality of PSN so far, I'm really quesitoning how smooth the Home roll-out will go and how well it will function, as good of an idea as it is on paper.

Add me as a friend if you want (I know usagi704 already has :P )

I only have one complaint about X360... well, not a complaint, just an amusing observation. Why does every damn game have some stupid little achievement for seemingly turning on the game? It's always some goal that is SO easy, like beat the first sub-boss or beat the first round. This is like classes where they give every kid a damn Gold Star, just for trying. Are people that insecure as they need to be coddled while they shoot the bloody hell out of things?

How much will PS3 help out X360 sales? I know mine sold for over $2,000, which prompted me to go out and buy an X360 and 4 games.

If Zelda: Twilight Princess was Zelda: Twinkie Princess, where you play the game by eating as many Hostess products as possible, would Z: TP have gotten over 9? I like to think yes.

Is Gears of War the X360 killer app? Well, if you have a sense of fun and a decent HDTV, it sure as hell is. If you have that, or just an X360, GET THAT GAME!

If you are in a game line, should you go with a weapon? Probably. I don't know why we just don't do Thunderdome for new consoles from now on. If people are gonna attack each other, might as well make it on amicable terms.

And as a last thought.... I declare next week EBGames/GameStop employee appreciation week. After dealing with all these launches and all these stupid casuals coming in, thinking that they might be the one smart person calling a store at a certain second of the day about 50,000 times, they deserve it. Buy them a bottle of soda or a snack as a way to say thanks. Unless the ones near you are a-holes. Screw them.

I realized something about a week ago or so (I didn't blog it cuz I'm *a lazy bastard* busy), all these people that complain about PS3 eBay sellers being greedy or manipulating the system, etc., do you know who you are exactly like? Jack Thompson. That's right, the most opprotunistic lawyer involved in gaming out there. And how is that?

Because, much like Jack Thompson, you go around complaining that there are people out there that need to be protected for their own good. How dare they give $2,000 to someone else who just sat in a line. They shouldn't be subjected to that, those sellers need to be stopped! EBay shouldn't sell their wares, because it's harmful to them!

Sound familiar? Like Jack talking about how companies like Take-Two are "making filth" (or w/e his rants are, that grabs the jist of it) and stores should boycott the sales of those items? That's right you are exactly like him.

So before you complain about eBay sellers, because you are either jealous that these people get their hands on a box and you won't, or will make the cash from selling it, just think to yourself of what you have become.

A douchebag.

I'm Yagami-Iori, and I approved this message. (I also approve of exotic massages)

Because when you have this many games, they all can't be good.

That's right folks... in two weeks, I am FINALLY moving into my own apartment. It's a single bedroom 975 sq. ft. apartment. I absolutely love the place I am going to, especially cuz it will turn my commute from a 40-60 minute haul (depending on where I have to go) to a 5-15 minute car hop. And what does that mean? Time to pack. And of course, priority one is the video games. Sure, it means I can't play them, BUT it also means that they for sure will be with me. Take a look...



I somehow managed to fit in my 31" tall suitcase all my GCN, PS2, Xbox, PSP, and DS games & cases. Quite frankly, I'm amazed they all fit. But they did. And now... I think it's the heaviest suitcase without a dead body in it. Seriusly, I've overpacket it at 80 pounds (a month ago, actually) and this time, it's heavier. Gotta be 100 pounds. I gotta be careful moving it around when the day to move comes.