Wow, so many things crammed in the mailbox this month! It's one thing to just buy-buy-buy
which I did , but it is another to take a collecting habit to an entire new level. I'm talking about living the lifestyle of a Sega fan.
Import games and import beer. Delicious.
Let's take a peek at this first pic. Last month I picked up a new entertainment stand and coffee table to set up in the family room. Now it's hooked up to a Dreamcast... just like every other TV in the house! I've been using the arcade stick for a certain button-mashy game, and you can certainly see all my personal effects lined along the left. The coasters are a recent project of mine. (sandwich: sheet acrylic, scratched GD-Rom, colored paper, and felt) It's kinda embarassing though... even though the discs don't work anymore, I remember paying far more for them than I did for the table itself. Planning mini-projects liek this is what keeps me from going mad during my day job. Moving onward with this nonsense... I picked up a new keychain.
It is what it is. A bottle-opener and a keychain. It's not licenced by Sega, but is instead manufactured by a company called Nerdkeyz. They've got a number of entertaining options, but what is hard to see on their site is the actual size of this thing, and how fast it becomes scuffed and streaky. I'm a bit of a minimalist with things that I have to carry in my pockets, but I'll make an exception for this thing. Nerdkeyz has lots of options for Sega fans. My other favorite might be the "16-Bit" Mega Drive design.
This month marks a small accomplishment of mine. I finally rounded up all of the US web browsers and a certain preview disc. Bottom left and bottom center is the AT&T preview disc from summer 1999. It included some video trailers, and encouraged you to sign up for their dial-up internet service. The disc on the bottom right was something I didn't even know existed until a month or so ago. The Planetweb 2.62 browser. Not much to say about it other than it's the most stable modem browser.
I finally bagged another copy of Last Hope. I think this makes my fourth (DC, DC LE, DC Pink Bullets, NGCD) and it is worth buying again if I have the opportunity. To the right is one of the few DVD-case Japanese region games, Cosmic Smash. It's basically a virtual-squash type of game. Save this one for when you have company. There aren't a whole lot of games that are worth playing with other players.
Imports of the month.
Possibly the most obscure game in this lot is
Nasubi no Heya. It is a game adaption of a TV game/reality show starring a guy named Nasubi who lives alone in his apartment. His only interaction with the world is through the internet, and to make his way through life, he must complete contests just for the bare necessities (food, toiletries). The poor guy almost never really succeeds in acquiring clothing, so you'll typically see him partially exposed. Nasubi is pretty pathetic, but at least you can have a few laughs at his expense.
Import guides... WOW!
They really cram tons of info into these tiny guides. Of course the big handicap is that if you are struggling with the game because you can't speak the language, the guide is certainly going to be of little help. Most of the guides here are for fighting games, so at least they can be useful.
Wrapping it up in the paper department is a lot of the defunct magazine Gamers' Republic. I managed to snag 28 of the 35 total issues. Now all I have is to fill in a few holes. I'm enjoying the content. They frequently invited celebrities like rock bands and skaters to do guest reviews. Now I get to relive the 90's.
I totally missed a picture of the Official Dreamcast Magazine issue #1. That makes a complete collection for me... one I've been piecing together for years. That's all for August in pictures. September is coming, and there's already stuff in the mail.
I should probably mention I do actually play these games... I've given up on Sydney 2000, and am going to wrap up Sonic Adventure soon. I may be playing Frame Gride next.
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wow, Bob... I was actually planning to do a post just like this showing off my August DC finds, but yours put mine to shame haha.
How much did you get that shiny arcade stick for? It's certainly one of the less common DC sticks.
The keychain is awesome for its ability to open bottles but, yeah I hate having bulky stuff to fit in my pockets as well.
I also didn't realize that Cosmic Shmash came in the DVD-style case. That's cool.
Oh, and how about a detailed guide for those of us who wanna make GD-ROM coasters like yours?
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A) The shiny stick is Pelican's "Alloy Arcade Stick" and I think it may have been a limited release. I snagged it off of ebay a couple years back for about 80 bucks... but with shipping it probably topped 100. I don't know how limited a release it was, because I don't see any info on it, and I don't usually look at hardware/peripherals.
B)Disc coasters...
Maybe that needs a blog post.
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@OatBob:
Oh, btw, I only use the alloy stick because I don't have the ASCII one. I hate the blasted thing. It's shiny and looks nice, but it attracts fingerprints. It's nearly impossible to keep looking clean. At least it comes with a polishing cloth.
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the Agetec is amazing. One of my all-time fav console sticks. I need to get another one. :\
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And here I was, thinkin' I was all badass for having one issue of Gamers' Republic...
*SOB*
Neat idea with the coasters, though; that's the kind of e-waste recycling I can really get behind. I'd probably make a few of those myself...
...if only I had one iota of artistic talent or any skill with tools.
Uh-oh, I think I'm gettin' misty again...
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