New Gamespot, new glitches.

I just logged in to add some new games to my collection list and they got automatically added to my tracked list, although I haven't chosen it as a default preference; sometimes, today it's the third time it happens, I see banned users who give games scores and seem to be online, but if I click on their name they result as actually banned; this reminds me of the John Brown song... "John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave. His soul's marching on!".

Apart from that pipsqueak, what is far more annoying, my XBox 360 died at the end of August, after about 13 months since the purchase: wow, it's never happened something like that, it is a Microsoft negative world record!

Meanwhile always in August I bought 2 Sega Saturn (NTSC/J and PAL), a Nintendo Gamecube (console, control pad, all cables) for only 19,90 euro, guaranteed for 1 year (which is great!), from Blockbuster.
Lately I'm buying lots of games from Blockbuster: I can find used PS, Xbox, Gamecube games for only 1 euro (you can't buy even a packet of candies for that amount of money), and generally prices for Xbox 360/PS2 are also cheaper than other shops.
And for my Sega Saturn collection Ebay of course, directly from Japan via EMS.

I also bought a couple of doujinshi/hentai, one of them about Dead or Alive (featuring Kasumi and Ayane), the other one about Neon Genesis Evangelion (starring Rei Ayanami).

And finally... I hope the LARGE HADRON COLLIDER won't destroy the Earth, I have still a lot of games to play.

During the last three months I've been obsessed by Sega.
In May I asked my cousin if he wanted to sell me his Dreamcast with 13 games, and he agreed.
Always in May I got other DC games from an Ebay seller in Germany.
And the last weeks I remembered that my uncle at the end of 1995 bought for my cousin, as an Xmas present, a Sega Saturn.
Well, to put it in simple words now I've added the obsession for the Saturn, and it seems I'm not the only one: the 32-bit Sega console is a collector's object of desire.
So, two weeks ago I visited ebay.com once again.
I wanted to have a look at the current prices for a Saturn (NTSC-Japanese version, please!) console: buy it now options are quite expensive, but auctions also aren't exactly cheap; not to mention the masterpiece known as Radiant Silvergun.
After a couple hours I noticed a shop (in Japan) with many interesting titles at reasonable prices, with buy it now or best offer options; the prices were so cheap that I decided to buy the items immediately.
The total for all these goods (all in near mint condition, apart from Virtua Cop that has some scratches; some of them have the spine and registration cards included and Virtua Fighter Remix is even sealed): US$ 96,50 (57,50 for 12 games, 39,00 for h/s via EMS).
I bought a PSX game also, not included in the pic.
Well, what else? A good start for a new collection. The only bad point about the situation is I'M STILL WITHOUT A SATURN!!!

I've just read about something I was thinking about during my last years as a gamer (let's say the last 14/15 years): The Terror Mask.

One of the scariest, bloodiest, goriest game ever created is going next gen, available on XBox 360 and PS3; the game is Splatterhouse. Originally released by Namco in 1988, it was the the first horror game I saw and played in my life. For those who don't know it, the nickname "Splatterhouse" (West Mansion) says it all: think about the horror movies genre splatter (it's clear the reference to Jason Voorhees from the "Friday the 13th" series; "The Evil Dead " and "Evil Dead - Dead by Dawn"; Fulci's "House by Cemetery"; and H.P. Lovecraft's novel "Herbert West, Reanimator"); think about lots of blood and guts; now you have an idea. According to the first news and screenshots this 4th episode should be a little different from the first three ones (pretty obvious considering the 7th videogames era potential): first of all no longer 2D side scrolling. The main character also, Rick, is more similar to Hulk than to Jason (I'm not sure this is good: as for me, the best uniform was the one from Splatterhouse 3, only a pair of jeans and a blue shirt, with bare feet as usual; in the first two episodes that suit made Rick look like a convict). Well I hope the guys at Bottlerocket will do a good job: I've been waiting so long for such a sequel...

It's been only a little more than 3 months since I bought it and my X360 has shown the message no-xbox360-owner-hopes-to-see and the red light already 3 times; last week was the last time; another time the logo was in gigantic pixels.
Generally I simply power-off and re-power-on the console.
I'll post a couple of pics I took of it since next time this could not be enough anymore. Everyone's invited to the funeral.

P.S.: the white spot on the first pic doesn't mean there's a light at the end of the tunnel; it's only a reflection of the screen.

In spite of my temporary, initial doubts about convenience in purchasing on Ebay, now I must admit it's a great way to do business. You can really find whatever you want, but it's imperative that you know and keep in mind current prices for the item you're looking for or you want to sell. During the last months I won the auctions for great PS1 games, some of them real masterpieces and extremely hard to find now (Parasite Eve from the USA, Vagrant Story and Dino Crisis 2 from UK, the first Wipeout from Belgium, the first Dead or Alive from Germany, and many others). A game in my wishlist I can't find even on EBay is "Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green", as you can easily guess I don't mind too much GS low ratings: I created a Want it Now post, I hope somebody will read it.
The last Tuesday I bought "The Silent Hill Experience" new and sealed, for the reasonable price of 5,90 euros (plus other 5 for handling and shipping) and yesterday I already got it. Interesting item, recommendable for true fans of the Konami franchise and if the price is quite cheap (since it's just a "promotional" UMD video with two digital comics, soundtracks and videos from the four chapters and interviews to Chris Gans, director of SH the movie, to the creator of the game and to the composer of the music). Overall, a good purchase.

This morning I found in a supermarket "Ninety Nine Nights" (aka N3) for the unbelievable price of 9,90 euros: obviously new copies, I was so happy I bought not one but three copies, willing to resell two of them and to play and to keep in my private collection the third one. Now I've just had a look on EBay and great was my disappointment when I realized this game is very little searched, there are only few items on sale but nobody seems to be interested in getting them, there are no bids and starting prices are less than 10 euros.

Is this game so bad?! I read a few reviews about it, there are some glitches affecting it (for example the soldiers who are supposed to support you are so stupid that sometimes you have to return back to previously visited areas to help these morons unable to defeat only few or ONE enemies!), but it should be technically and graphically quite impressive, with lots of soldiers fighting contemporary on the screen. And anyway, I think it must be a real rip off to be even unworthy of such a little expense, so I'm giving it a try.
I obviously thought to sell it at a beginning price of 9,90 euros, but looks like my idea of having business on EBay not only by buying but by selling as well will have to wait...
Fortunately I have 15 days to give them back to the supermarket and to be refunded of the money I spent.

If you're watching GS Player's Ball you can appreciate his talent. And now he's playing guitar! Finally something worth seeing on GS Live Events. Go go dudes!

There must be something wrong with my profile: it's now about a week since my level 25 is stuck on 19,35%. It took about 3 months to pass Metal Slime, I hoped that kind of nuisance would never come back...

Please note I wasn't moderated with point loss, and I keep logging in and browsing the site every day as usual.

Here's a list of videogames I look forward to play:

XBOX 360:
Burnout Paradise. After the dubious Burnout Revenge (great on Xbox, but just good on X360) I hope the Criterion guys won't create a mere HD remake of already seen stuff from Burnout universe. When I had notice Burnout Dominator would be released only on 6th generation consoles (PS2 and PSP), I immediately thought at Electronic Arts somebody had decided to let the franchise die... I hope I was wrong.
Conan. The episode for PS2 and Xbox is almost unknown (just have a look at the small number of users), but it's not that bad. A must for all the fans of the character, it doesn't matter if you prefer the Cymmerian barbarian as seen in the movies or read in the books.
Halo 3. Though I'm not a hardcore fan of the series, Masterchief is always a great character. And let me say I hope nobody will be so fool to waste their money by getting the Legendary Edition (who the hell really needs the Spartan's helmet?!).
Soulcalibur 4. Though a pretty technical beat'em up, it's graphically always a great show for eyes, far superior than many other titles, including Tekken and DoA. Soulcalibur 3 was quite a killer application for PS2!
They. No info enough about it (just a few screenshots); it is supposed to be released in 2009! At a first look, the enemies remind me a sort of mix between combat robots and Aliens.

PS3
Wipeout HD (as soon as I get a PS3...)

PSP
Silent Hill: Origins. I bought the 4th chapter of the saga over 2 years ago and I still must play it. The first one is a masterpiece; the 2nd one is just a fair game; the 3rd one is better than the 2nd but inferior to the 1st, but overall good. At the moment I can't say anything about the 4th, but I promise I'll play it soon: Autumn, with its foggy atmospheres, is a far better season to play horror games than Summer. The first images of SHO look great, detailed and with effective lights, so useful to create the continuous thrilling that you can find only in this franchise (ok, Siren and Fatal Frame are scary games also). We'll meet once again the psychotic nurses from the Alchemilla Hospital, but the main character is new. Here's the official site.
Wipeout Pulse. Adrenaline is a trademark of the franchise. The first episode, now available at Sony download center, was one of the most successful launch title for the golden age of the PS, in the 1995 so far.
Wipeout Pure was the first game I got for my PSP, its controls fit perfectly to Sony handheld, Cold Storage's techno music suits to the futuristic locations and it still remains one of my favourite racing title. I want it!

It took a while to rush into the next gen but as a result the beginning of it was my richest collection of videogames ever got!
I bought my XBOX 360 Pro (aka Premium) Edition on July 06, obviously new, with TDU in the bundle, for only 349,00 euros, and the following are all the games I grabbed; they are all NEW copies, yes I could have saved some money by buying used ones but I don't mind, I wanna be the first and only one to put my hands on them, don't wanna be the "recycler" of items previously used (and abused) by stupid kids too spoilt to really appreciate great works of the electronic art.
So here's the list:

1-PREY, JUL 05, euros 21 (bought on Ebay, including h/s)
2-PERFECT DARK ZERO - COLLECTOR'S EDITION, JUL 05, euros 25 (bought on Ebay, including h/s)
3-TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED, JUL 06, included in the Premium bundle
4-LOST PLANET - EXTREME CONDITION, JUL 09, euros 24,90
5-JUST CAUSE, JUL 13, euros 9,90 (Really!)
6-ENCHANTED ARMS, JUL 13, euros 9,90 (Really!)
7-DEAD OR ALIVE XTREME 2, JUL 18, euros 14,90
8-RAINBOW SIX VEGAS, JUL 18, euros 14,90
9-RIDGE RACER 6, JUL 24, euros 19,95
10-CALL OF DUTY 2, AUG 03, euros 19,90
11-QUAKE 4, AUG 03, euros 24,90
12-DEAD OR ALIVE 4, AUG 09, euros 19,90

What else? Oh yes, no need to say it, I already love my sweet new baby console!

I've been waiting for years for this moment.
I played the second episode in April-May 2001 and it is one of my favourite PS game; I was near to get it, but something went wrong (my uncle had a copy of it, but my cousin lost it).
So I forgot the idea to play it for years, since I bought my PS2 (in June 2003) and Xbox (December 2004): but I never forgot the game.
"Sometimes they come back" wrote Stephen King, and he was right.
During the last April I wanted to replay Parasite Eve 2, so I got it on Ebay (a used copy for the price of 19,00 euros plus shipping).
It was a pleasure to replay it: and that's the reason why, from now, I'll never sell my games.
A game doesn't get old if it makes you feel emotions again and again.
I'm a collector in the strict sense, not just a player: for me videogames are not  mere consumer goods.
As I wrote in a previous blog entry, the only missing game for my PS collection was Parasite Eve, only available on NTSC /*** format.
I had some doubts about Ebay cheapness: I wouldn't consider 70 euros a "cheap" price for a used copy of PE (now THIS is a rip off); finally I realized that my strategy was wrong.
"If you try where the item is very common, basic principles of economics teach that the price must necessarily drop" said my brain: ok, let's try with www.ebay.com... groovy.
The items available are lots and the prices are far cheaper.
I tracked an interesting auction: the 3 discs version of PE, used but like new, shrinkwrapped.
Cool. I start the auction with the first bid, 0,50 USD. The days go by and the bids go on.
I decide to place my highest bid, the highest price I'm ready to pay: 15 USD.
God bless automatically generated bids: another user placed 15 bucks, but since I was the first bidder I won the auction.
The seller is extremely polite and cooperative: he informs me about shipping options, and I decide for the cheapest, but the slowest and less secure also, option: international air mail via USPS.
No tracking, no insurance: if the item goes lost, too bad for you.
But what should have I done? Is it smart to pay 15 bucks the item and 25-30 bucks for shipping?!
I took my risk.
The user tells me it should take about 5-8 days to get to my home. Let's wait patiently.
It's May 10, the item was shipped on May 1: there's a delay, it looks like the item has never left the US borders, maybe there are problems at the customs.
I contact via email the seller: he sends me the postal office receipt and encourages me to be patient.
Let's wait... I wonder what could be wrong with my item: it's original software, it's nothing dangerous or dubious, and the value is very low.
I suggested the seller not to write GIFT on the envelope: writing it is the best way to make customs officers suspicious.
Time goes by, and I get more and more frustrated: "there are so many illegal online purchases (e.g.: "original" Nike shoes for 30-40 bucks: they are generally from China, need to say more?!) and someone is creating troubles with my honest buy?!" I think.
And just when I was near to give up hope, the postman this morning delivered what I was looking forward.

The moral of the story:
Parasite Eve:                     15 US$
Shipping and Handling:      7,25 US $
Customs Taxes:                0 US$/euros
Total:                               22,25 US$ (= 16,50 euros)
Now THIS is doing good business, isn't it?