Has it been awhile?

I feel like it has been awhile since the last time I posted something, maybe not (I didn't check when the last post was before starting to write this). I have been working a lot on making a website for the school I work at and that has been taking a lot of time. Pft what is this work thing anyway I'm suppose to be just lounging around right?

Anyway lets get started, I had a doctors appointment last week, at least I think it was last week all these days merge together, anyway I had a doctors appointment. My doctor is about 2 hours away by car, I brought my 3DS with me and back home I would have felt super dorky but in Japan thats a normal sight. I was going to play it in the car but I fell asleep instead. Once we got to the doctors we checked in and started the process of tests. After they were done we just had to see the doctor, so we started to wait. Well one hour went by two hours went by, so I asked how long it would be and they told me there were still 9 people ahead of me. 9 people! I broke out the 3DS and it turned out to be a good thing I brought it because we waited about 4 hours in total. Game update: I had bought Bravely Default for the 3DS and I love the game I'm up to 75 hours of gameplay and I think I have only had the game for 2 weeks but again time lines are fuzzy. But yeah I have been playing it a lot.

In my last post I had bought another Super Famicom and a few days ago I broke down the one I had to swap some of the parts, mainly the controller ports. Now the pictures don't look too different as far as color difference but its noticeable and on the controller port I think it shows the difference clearly.

After I opened the second one I could tell right away that the two boards were different, one was an updated one that came out later. However they also changed the way the ribbon cable from the controller ports connects to the main board. At first I was worried about slack but it turned out to be fine.

Finished Product

After watching a hockey game in which my team blew a 3 goal lead I needed to go out and do something to clear my mind. I went into Tenjin and bought a few games, that always makes things better right? Anyway at Book-Off I picked up Sonic 3 and QuackShot both for the Mega Drive (Genesis in the USA) for $2.50 each. I also found Super Metroid in great condition for $2.50 while I was there, I should be able to get $20 to $30 for it so that was a nice pick up.

I then went over to Mandarake and ended up getting Zelda: Oracle of Seasons ($9) and Pokemon Gold ($3) both in the box and both for the Game Boy Color. I also picked up Taito Chase H.Q. ($3) for the PC Engine.

Then yesterday I made the trip to Hard Off and Eco Book on the way I saw the Shinkansen (bullet train) it was leaving the station at the same time which is how I was able to get a picture of it.

First up was Hard Off, I looked around and saw a few things, a AV cable for the Super Famicom which I need and a nice copy of Twin Bee for the Game Boy. I ended up putting both back as they were each $5 and that was a little too much for me. For some reason its really hard to find Super Famicom AV cables you wouldn't think so but that's the case for some reason. Now if you need Playstation cables those are everywhere. And I really don't understand why Game Boy games are $5 on average for a loose game I mean I would think they would be pennies not dollars.

Anyway I made my way over to Eco Book and was pleased to see a bunch of new items. Looking though the Super Famicom boxed games I found a bunch of games with great prices. First up was Muscle Bomber ($.47), Fatal Fury Special ($.10), Fatal Fury 2 ($.10) and Mortal Kombat ($.48). I had just bought a loose copy of this a week ago for $3 and this was a boxed copy for a fraction of that. Continuing to look though the SFC boxed games I also found Star Fox ($.28), Secret of Mana ($1.98) and Yoshis Island ($6). I looked thought the loose games but didn't find anything worth picking up.

Moving to the N64 games I got a boxed copy of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ($6) but it was missing the instruction book and a boxed copy of 1080 ($1) but the cart turned out to be yellowed. Looking at the Game Boy games I found Pokemon Green and Pokemon Yellow both in their boxes for $6 each. I already have Blue and Red in the boxes so this would complete the original Game Boy set which I can keep or sell.

On the Saturn I found Rockman X4 it was a little pricey at $15 but I had X3 and X4 is a good game anyway so yea.

I ended up grabbing a boxed copy of Dragon Ball Adventure ($6) on the Game Boy Advance, which is a really awesome game. I already own a US version but I figured what the heck. Lastly I picked up another copy of Street Fighter Zero 2 on the Playstation as it was only $1.

A Super Pick Up

Guess what I don't need (well there is lots of things, but anyway) a Super Famicom but guess what I bought? Yep I got another Super Famicom, why you ask? Well, I couldn't help it, really it wasn't my fault. Let me explain. So I had to go ship out a bunch of stuff I sold on eBay and it was a really nice day so I figured I would go to the electronics store to look at some stuff while I was out. It just so happens my favorite recycle shop is right across the street from that store.

I decided to take a look to see if they had got any new games in so I made my way across the street. As I was walking in I saw the Super Famicom. Now lets stop right there because one of the factors that went into the purchase was confirmed at this point, the system was in the original box. I am a box whore, if something has its box I am 200 times more likely to buy it than if it was loose. So it had the box, I took the lid of to look at the condition and if it came with all the cables etc. The box had everything all the cables, 2 controllers, paper warning insert, and the plastic bags that went around the cables and the system. That was check number 2, I don't know anyone besides myself who keeps those plastic bags that go on the cables. As for the condition which was going to be a big factor, well the controllers were very yellow but the system was actually very nice.

The top and sides of the console were the original gray color but the controller ports had some yellowing and you could see the outline of where the controllers were when they were plugged in.

This was not really a big deal because I figured I could swap the parts with the system I already had the main thing was the over all shell was in better condition than the one I had. So that was a neutral check not great but good, lastly and perhaps the biggest condition was the price.

I brought it to the back and spoke with the owner, I asked how much it was and she told me $10. That is a check, normally the good condition Super Famicom consoles I have seen, without the box mind you, are going for around $30-$35. So at that point I had no choice I was going to have to buy it.

I took a minute to look around and they didn't have any other new games in but I decided to pick up a loose copy of The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time for the N64. Now normally the games are $1 each but when she rang it up she said the game was free so that was a nice bonus. She also had a Slim PS2 in the box but the price of that was $35 so it was easy to pass on.... for now.

A Happy Gamer and Some Nice Days

Its been pretty nice here lately about 60 or 70 degree days. The other day I spent some time in the yard hanging out with the fish. Basically just relaxing.

I picked up a few games the other day first was Mortal Kombat ($3) for the Super Famicom, which I will sell with one of the copies of MK2 that I had bought. The other game I got was a loose copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask ($6) which I will also sell with the loose copy of Ocarina of Time that I picked up a while back.

But the best thing I got was a copy of Street Fighter Zero 3 for the Saturn, hands down the best game on the system. I have talked a little about this game before so I won't go all into it now but I'm very happy to have got it. I couldn't find it anywhere which is not a surprise but I really had the itch to play it. I looked on eBay but the prices were a little too high at around $150. I ended up finding it on Yahoo Auctions which a lot of people in Japan use but you have to live here to use it. There are actually some really good deals to be found. I found SFZ3 for $27 but there was a few days left I made a max bid on $100 and was doing pretty good it went up to $65 on the last day. However in the last half hour there were some bids and with about ten minutes left the price was at $100. I thought well that's it, ten minutes to go and I'm at my limit if anyone was to bid just 1 cent I would have lost but it never happened and I won. Yea it wasn't a super deal but it was a fair price for the game and I was actually able to find it.

I also got a delivery of a few things that I had ordered from Amazon. First was a Japanese text book I needed to get for my school. I finally went back to the converse shoes I used to have and had wanted since I changed shoes the last time I got new shoes. How many times can I say shoes? Finally I got the solder and solder wick for my controller project but I'm still waiting for the soldering iron (which was ordered at the same time).

Yesterday my wife and I went to the Italian place as I was opening the door the workers recognized me and greeted me with a "Oh Michael". I usually get the all you can drink and order tons of coke but due to my stomach issues lately I was going with water but later that night I was given a coke on the house... that's right special treatment.

Sick Again

On Friday I went for a walk to see if I could find any new stores on my way I saw a couple of turtles hanging out in a water outlet and a duck and a bird chilling under a bridge. As far as finding any new stores there was nothing that I would go back to so that was kind of a bust. On the way back I picked up a drink at the store, it was a pear flavored Fanta drink. I don't know why I got it because I new it was a risk having never tried it before and I was actually thirsty. So what did I think of it, well it wasn't that good, it tasted like pear but I don't know if that was a good thing. It was also a little too sweet.

Once I got home I ate a bunch of snacks, popcorn, chips etc. that was basically my dinner. Later that night I was really not feeling well. I ended up throwing up a bunch of times, which is super rare for me. The last time I threw up was 7 years ago I remember because I was visiting Japan at the time. I was up the whole night and the worst part was suppose to teach the next morning. Well I must be turning Japanese because I did brush myself off and made my way to work in the morning. I really didn't want to go but its not a job where someone can just cover for you. If I wasn't there there would be no class and I didn't want to disappoint the kids. I made it though the lesson ok but afterwards I was again not feeling that great on top of that I was exhausted. After I got home I slept for about 8 hours with a few trips to the bathroom mixed in.

The next morning I was feeling a lot better not perfect but around 90% or so. We were suppose to go have lunch with my wife's grandparents and again though I wasn't really feeling it I saddled up. We went to a shrine to have a traditional lunch that was to benefit a charity. It was a newer shrine, not 100+ years old maybe only 10 but it was still very nice. The monk there was more like a comedian than your typical monk character. I was a little wary of eating the food having just started to feel better but it turned out just fine.

On the game front I have bought a few games over the last 2 weeks or so but haven't posted anything till now. Here is a quick recap of what I got. First a game that I bought a while back and just forgot about, Vampire Resurrection ($18) for the Xbox 360. This game was released in the US as a download only which turned me off, I like physical media. I didn't really need the game as it just has Vampire Hunter and Vampire Savior which are 2 games I have on the Saturn but this gives you online play and look at that awesome cover art.

Then I picked up a nice copy of Bomberman Fight! ($2.50) for the Sega Saturn. I also found a copy of Rockman Zero 2 ($5) in the box for the Game Boy Advance but when I opened it today (about two weeks after I got it) it turned out that A it was missing the instruction book (not really a big deal) and B it had the wrong game! Come on the game it had was Rockman Zero 3.... okay but what am I going to do with this box now, Ill have to keep my eye out for a loose Rockman Zero 2... grrr.

Then just yesterday I found a boxed copy of Rockman Zero ($2.50) which had the right game as well as a copy of Super Mario Advance ($5)  both for the Game Boy Advanced. Lastly I found another copy of I.Q. Remix ($2.50) for the PS2.

Finally someone had asked for a size comparison photo of the Hori Mini N64 controller so here it is next to a standard N64 controller (same color scheme, nice touch don't you think?) as well as a 100 yen coin which is a little smaller than a US quarter.