A Small Trip

Today I had to go to the post office to ship out a bunch of things that I sold on ebay. Since I was going out I decided I would try that Book-Eco place again. After dropping everything off at the post office I jumped on the bus that would take me to the train station. It was at this point I realized I only had $80 so I wouldn't just be able to buy whatever I wanted I would need to choose wisely.

At the station I now felt like a pro, I knew where I had to go and what train I needed to get on. So after about 30 minutes or so I was at the Ikea station again. It was odd but to think about it but I was debating whether or not to go to Hard Off, I mean in the past it would have been no question but it was in the opposite direction. I decided that I was this close I have to go.

After looking around for a little bit, and not finding much I decided to start making my way over to Book-Eco. Not before picking up a pretty sweet original Game Boy, it was listed as junk and not working. The system itself was in really good shape nice color, buttons were nice the only issue was that the contacts for the batteries were caked in battery acid. So someone had left batteries in the the thing for god knows how long and they had leaked but it really didn't look that bad. It didn't seem that they corrosion had reach the board inside. They were only asking $3 so yea I picked that up.

Anyway after buying the Game Boy I left and started down the road heading toward the Book-Eco store. I had done some research and there was a Book-Off just a little farther past the Book-Eco so I had decided that I would go there first to see if I could find something there too. On my way while in one of the cross walks I saw a very cool bus for kindergarteners. I mean look at this thing if I was a kid that would be awesome.

So I continued walking and eventually got to the Book-Off, unfortunately they really didn't have that much. A okay section of Xbox games but no Sega Saturn games. I looked though the Playstation 1 games and was able to find Raiden Project, it wasn't in the best shape but they were only asking $2.50. I took a look at the Game Boy Advanced games and was able to find a copy of Rockman Zero 3 in the box at a very reasonable $5. They actually had two but I was on a budget so I only got the one copy.

After leaving I went to get some food which I didn't really want to do because of the money shortage situation but I was starving. After I ate I walked over to the Book-Eco store, this time I was going to take a little more time looking around. I started by going though the toy sections to see what they had. In the end there wasn't anything that really interested me but it was fun looking around.

I made my way over to the games and this time started with the Famicom section, a section I only glanced at last time I was there. I found some games that interested me but not at the prices they wanted. They weren't crazy but they weren't great. I found a copy of TMNT 2 (which is actually TMNT 3 for the NES in the USA) but they wanted $10 so while I did hold on to it for awhile it eventually went back on the shelf. I was able to find one good deal which was Kid Dracula in the box, granted it was beat up but they only wanted $3. I had just sold a loose copy of the game for $25 so this was a no brainer. They also had some Game Boy games in that area that I had missed last time. Again the GB prices were kind of high but I did find Twin-Bee Da! for just $2.

I then went down the Super Famicom aisle which had been reorganized since the last time I had been there. Looking though the boxed SFC games I grabbed Lady Stalker ($.28, great game for kids right) and Kid Klown in Crazy Chase ($.78). I looked down to the loose carts and immediately my eye caught sight of Rockman X3 a game that was not there last time and I had bought a few weeks ago for $21. I picked it up and saw that they were only asking $3, looking though the rest of the SFC loose games I found Mortal Kombat II ($1.48), Exhaust Heat ($.10), another copy of F-Zero ($.48), another copy of StarFox ($.28, in much better shape than the last one) and Rockman X2 ($4). They also had Touge Densetsu Saisoku Battle ($3, which turned out to be a bust but it looked familiar), Cotton 100% ($3) and Ghost Sweeper GS ($4). Ghost Sweeper goes for about $30 and the same for Cotton so those were nice pick ups.

Turning around I saw they had Choro-Q 64 and Doom 64 both boxed and marked for $3 each. They also had another boxed copy of Pilotwings 64 but even at only $1 I had to say no.

I took a look at the cases again. The gold N64 had been sold but they had some new systems in there though they were loose and being on a budget I was out at $30. I made my way to the Sega Saturn section and started looking though. Seems I picked this one clean I did find a few games but ended up putting them back as I needed the money for some other items.

At this point I was ready to get some assistance as there were some items in the case I wanted. First up was a Aqua Blue Millennium Dreamcast controller in the box ($10), they also had the memory card but I had to pass. I also had to pass on a Sakura Dreamcast controller. It goes without saying that the Super Famicom Jr. ($90) was not something I would be able to pick up this time. We then went over to another case where I got a copy of Super Smash Bros ($17) for the N64 that was in the box. I had just sold a loose copy for $20 so I figured I could get around $35 or so. They also had a copy of Metroid Zero Mission for the GBA boxed but though I really wanted it I had to pass at $20.

After it was all added up I did pretty well only spending $55 later I found that they had not charged me for Choro-Q 64 so that was a nice bonus.

I left and headed back to the train station. The ride back was a little more crowded as it was about 6pm I was still able to get a seat though. Once I got back to Hakkata station I went out to the bus stop and realized that I had about 30 minutes to kill before my bus would show up. I took a minute to look at the new decoration out front.

Then decided to go to the Book Off across the street. I only had about $10 and some change. Looking at the games it seems they got some Game Gear games in, both Game Gear and Mega Drive games are really rare in Japan for some reason. I found Sonic which also had the instruction book for $5. I also found a copy of Donkey Kong for the Game Boy also at $5. They had some other things I was interested in but had to pass. I knew I had a few dollars more in change (we have $1 and $5 coins here) so I went to look at the strategy guides. After looking for a short time I came across a copy of All About: Vampire Savior, I had been looking for a copy of All About: Street Fighter Zero 3 for a real long time. I thought this would also be a nice pick up but they wanted $11 so I was going to have to put the games back if I was going to get this book. I had to think about it, back in the game section I was debating with myself. I decided to see exactly how much I had, looking in my wallets change section I saw a had a 2 or maybe 3 $1 coins but then I saw that I actually had a $5 coin. This was big it meant that I could get the book and one of the 2 games. So I was back to debating this time it was Sonic, something I knew nothing about value wise or Donkey Kong that while it wouldn't make me money I kind of wanted to play. In the end I decided to take the risk on Sonic because I have the US version of Donkey Kong back in the states.

With that I made my way back outside and was able to get on the bus after only waiting about 5 minutes. All in all it was a good day but much harder due to not having enough cash with me, though that was probably a good thing (no, no it wasn't). After I got home I started working on the Game Boy, first up was to neutralize the acid. I used some vinegar to get that done while doing this repair I had planed to take the system apart but one of the screws was striped which was a huge downer. After cleaning it as best I could I put some batteries in and started it up.

Success. Heres some of Twin-Bee Da! which is really fun.

Xbox Headaches: The Saga Continues

So about a week or so ago I finally got my 360 back from Microsoft. I was happy to have it back and after I hooked it up it seemed everything was just fine. Well that unfortunately was short lived, the next time I turned it on I noticed that the image that usually appears to show you what game was in the system wasn't there. It was just a generic CD logo that said "Play Game" when I clicked to play game it would start to spin the disc but then an error message would come up that said the disc was not recognized by the system. I tried to restart the system but the same thing happened, I tried a different game, no luck. I tried opening and closing the tray no change. Finally I unplugged the system waited a second and plugged it in again, this time when I powered it on it looked the way it should with the game image displayed. Clicking on it again it acted as it should loading the game normally. I thought okay that was odd but a reset of the whole thing fixed it. I hoped that would solve the issue and that it would be just a one and done kind of situation. Nope the next time I went to play the same thing happened and the next and the next. Grrrrr. On top of that I had a few occasions where the game would freeze and I would need to restart the game. Also from time to time the overall sound of the drive was not normal, it was loud and I worried that I would end up with a scratched ring on my disc (which sometimes happens on the xbox).

So today I had my wife call the service center and tell them what was going on. They are going to replace it, again. The issue is now I will again be with out my system for likely another month.

Tenjin Trip and a Project

First off a few days ago I went for a walk over to my favorite recycle shop and it turned out that she had got some new game items in. It had been about a month or so since the last time I had visited and the shop keeper was happy to see me again. There wasn't really too much new, about 4 games and a N64 controller. I picked up the controller which was the clear blue with clear white and it had a Memory Pak in it for $2. I also grabbed Final Fantasy VIII on the Playstation also for $2, the price increase was because it was a 4 disc game still not a bad price.

Yesterday I went into Tenjin for what seemed like the first time in a while, though it was probably only a week or so. Of course I hit up the regular game stores and picked up a few games. The first stop was Super Book Off where I found a few games for the Saturn, Gale Racer ($1), another copy of Street Fighter Zero 2 ($1) and Virtual On ($1). Finding Virtual On was kind of annoying as I had recently picked this game up, in sub par condition, for $5. I had not seen a single copy the whole time I had been in Japan and need a copy for my twin stick controller. Normally it wouldn't be that big a deal but I won't be able to get that much for it if/when I sell it. I also picked up another copy of Sega Rally 2 on the Dreamcast ($1).

I headed off to Mandarake to see if they had anything new in, come on Saturn *fingers crossed*. When I got there they did not have a Saturn, it was a long shot anyway. While I was there though someone bought the Dreamcast that had been sitting next to where the Saturn had been. I pictured that it was a reenactment of the Saturn being sold.

I made my way to the Super Famicom section which was pretty bare, it was Sunday but a lot of the boxed items were gone. I then went over to the Saturn section, it looked like there wasn't going be much to find, it looked pretty much the same as the last time I saw it. However taking a closer look I could see a few sections of games had moved, which means something had been added to the shelf. Is it sad that I can tell where games are suppose to be on the shelf?

Looking though I found a few good games with prices that were also, surprisingly, pretty good. The first game I found was Shadows of the Tusk ($1) a game I had seen last time and wanted to do some research on before picking it up. Then I came across Vampire Savior, this is a really cool fighting game but the resell value is only around $20 so I was a little torn at $8 but I grabbed it anyway. Next up was Gunbird they only were asking $2 so that was an easy yes, then I got Fatal Fury 3 for $1 had it been more I would have passed on it. I also got The King of Fighters 95 in the box with the 1MB Ram cart, I would have passed because I knew the resell value wasn't that great but they only wanted $3 so in the basket it went. I also came across Darius Gaiden ($5), Star Fighter 3000 ($4) and Galaxy Force II ($12).

I took a quick look at the Neo-Geo AES section and found that they had got another copy of Fatal Fury Special and were only asking $5 for this copy so I grabbed that. Then I turned  back to look at the Dreamcast games. I found that they had Street Fighter Zero 3: Saikyo for only $2, I had just spent $9 at another store last week. I also got Marvel vs. Capcom for $4 but the case had been replaced with a black one, it should have been in a white one so I will need to look into getting that changed. *Update* I swapped the black one for the white one in my second copy of Incoming.

Finally going over to the PC Engine section I found another copy of Gradius ($6), I had recently sold my other copy so I picked this up.

When I left I didn't feel like going home just yet so I headed over to the arcades. I had forgot that it was Sunday so they were really busy. I had been having a Street Fighter Zero 3 urge and was hoping to find it at one of the arcades that has a lot of new and old fighting games but I was out of luck. Even if they had it I probably wouldn't have been able to play it, it was busy due to the weekend but it was even busier due to the fact that they were holding a tournament at that time. It was really cool to see a arcade that alive though.

I went to another arcade but this place had more new games I did see this one guy playing a rhythm game with pretty fast hands.

After that I left but still wasn't ready to go home so I made my way to another Book Off close by. This place is pretty small so I wasn't really expecting to find anything. I did however come across another copy of Rez on the PS2 for $2.50, it was just the game no trance vibrator accessory this time, and I picked up a copy of I.Q. on the PS1 for $1.

I also found a Xbox 360 20GB hard drive in the case, they only wanted $15 which was pretty good usually these go for around $60 or so (at least around here). I needed to get one for my system, I already had the enclosure for it so I picked that up too.

When I got home I ripped into the Xbox hard drive to get it transplanted into the new form factors hard drive enclosure.

I got it set up in the system and transferred all my data over to it so everything worked out just fine.