Sunday, September 28, 2008

Pirate multicarts - NES libraries in your pocket

Now that I'm back in Silicon Valley I have access to my favorite video game seller's full inventory. It also means that I have first choice at stuff as it comes in since it seems his family all gets together here as their base of operations. Today in fact he had boxes of new stuff that had just come in from other flea markets. Yes, it's nice to be here where the source is rather than down a ways when he would get to the Tuesday flea market back in the central valley. Don't get me wrong, I got great stuff from him there and I'm sure there are things I miss that he picks up on the way there or while there - but as things go, being here gives me a better chance at the best stuff and to further forge a better friendship.

Pirate Game Boy milticarts are part of that as he is the only person I've ever known that doesn't sell them at insane prices. His Game Boy multicarts used to be $10.00 each but were sold to me for less. These days the price is even lower than it was before and he had a pile of them - which were rotated out the next week, I do plan on buying a ton of them for resale one day. Game Boy Advance multicarts are the sweet spot however as they contain a bunch of NES games with little or no repeats. (GB multicarts are usually six or so games repeated a bunch of times) Of course they're simply the PocketNES emulator hardcoded to a non-flashable chip along with a selection of NES and Famicom ROM dumps. But get a cartridge with the right assortment of games on it and it's the best thing you've ever played. The magic came to a peak when he showed me he had a new version that was a 50 in 1 cartridge. He has a bunch of them, all the same, but the 50 games (49 without repeat) are all top titles. I have other lower assortment multicarts which have a few different games not on other multicarts but if I was to take one multicart with me it would be the 50 in 1.

Since I buy right from his base of operations I can check out the full selection as well. Also, as usual, his regular price isn't bad at all - but my price is amazing. Especially considering one can walk down a few stalls and find similar multicarts selling for over $85.00! Yeah I know they're grey market. Yeah I know it's a slap in the face to those that developed PocketNES. Yeah I know eventually it'll just be cheaper to buy a flash cartridge and do it myself. But for the time being, these cheap NES / Famicom libraries are exactly what I needed to keep my GBA-SP charged and in use.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Repair: Atari 2600 Trak-Ball

I spent a few minutes tonight rebuilding my Atari 2600 Trak-Balls. I've had a pair of them since back in the heyday of the Atari 2600 Jr. and they've both been in need of a rebuild for quite some time. While there were no true Trak-Ball compatible games on the Atari 2600, there's a switch that allows the Trak-Ball to simulate joystick input. This allows the Trak-Ball to function like a standard joystick and works great for games like Centipede and Millipede. Of course years ago Freeway was the Trak-Ball game of choice, as it made for a great controller to regulate movement of your chicken across the freeway.

I gave them both the usual internal cleaning and lubricated all the bearings. The diagonal bearing on each needs to be replaced eventually due to rust build up on the outside but they all spin freely. With the amount of abuse these controllers got from me as a kid it's amazing that they have held up so well. A true testament to their quality.

Also, I'm going to start writing here more often with little this and thats which don't seem to fit into the rest of the site. I suppose using this blog as an extension of my site is better than just letting it sit.

Monday, September 01, 2008

What's been going on at ClassicPlastic.net

A quick apology for the lack of updates at David's Video Game Insanity and all of ClassicPlastic.net for that matter. I recently relocated and have just now been able to settle down and work on the site. However new reviews are up and everything is up to date. I recently sold my TurboDuo and most of the games so that'll be the next listing update. It's actually such a big deal to most people that I'll probably write a short editorial about it soon.

So again, updates will continue and content will start to be regular once again.