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[img width=200 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/PHP/watermark.php?type=ex;ID=U-075-S-05130-B;number=01[/img] So this week I thought I'd indulge myself and do a feature on one of my all-time favorite games: Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.
Think of this series as Thief in the 21st century. An ex-Navy S.E.A.L. turned spy nearing the age of retirement, gallivanting all over the world stopping threats and assassinating potential ones. Decades of experience matched with sophisticated gadgetry and weapons, combined with sarcastic humor and deadly earnest.
Another comparison often made is to the Metal Gear Solid series. Best way to describe that is if MGS is an arcade stealth game, Splinter Cell is a stealth sim. Burnout versus Forza Motorsports if you would. Achieving perfect scores on level completions is difficult even on normal difficulty, Hard and Elite are almost impossible to anyone but the most patient and skilled players. With the game being so unforgiving and the circumstances ever-changing, you have to rely on your reflexes and abilities as a player, not memory of patterns and timing, to master this game.
The Limited Collector's Edition version of this game was a holy grail of mine to find. Unlike many similar LE's of it's time, this one was actually limited. Meaning there are fewer copies of this than the regular version and no reprinting. Needless to say it's a hard game to find in excellent condition as opposed the the regular version of Chaos Theory which is a dime a dozen in most used stores and can still be bought new.
Be sure to check out my review on the game page here at RF Generation and read the interesting trivia on this title, and discuss this game in our forums in the weekly featured game topic located here.
[img width=250 align=left]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/hardware/E-123/hw/E-123-H-00010-A_00.jpg[/img] Moving on, the featured hardware of the week is the Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3. Released in 1982, the ZX Spectrum or "Speccy" as it's affectionately known, was a huge success in Europe and in particular the United Kingdom. Rivaling the mighty Commodore 64, this machine had a huge following, large software library and several magazines dedicated to it. Even to this day there is still a large community based around this system. A shame it never made it overseas, it has an incredible library of games most of us outside of Europe will probably never have the opportunity to enjoy. Although we did get the Timex Sinclair in North America, it was largely incompatible with the ZX and that had a large part to play in it's failure as a platform here.
This particular model featured this week, the +3, differs from the standard model and the +2, by having a built in floppy disk drive instead of the cassette tape drive the previous models had. It is also capable of running the CP/M operating system on it's own.
Such benefits however come with a price. This model has some documented incompatibilities with certain older games and external devices. It's successor the +2A shares these same problems as well. Thanks go out to James for the great pic of the +3.
[img width=350 align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/collections/RedHerring/160807r.jpg[/img] Our featured collection this week is from RedHerring. A fellow Canadian one province over from me, Red has a great PS2 collection and some really great looking shelving that I'd love to get my hands on. It looks like a game store all organized and there for the picking like that. I wish my shelves looked half as good as those do. Between that and the novelty hamburger you can see by checking out Red's other pics, I'm drooling all over my keyboard here.
So after finishing an early lunch brought on by some spontaneous hankerings born from inspiration, I'm ready to finish the rest of this feature I left half written 
Another part of Red's collection that impresses me is his Game Boy Advance collection. It's hard finding those games CIB and even harder keeping them in good condition. All of his GBA titles are top notch hand-picked titles and make an impressive display.
Check out RedHerring's collection listed here and take a gander at his pictures. If you can pry your eyes from that huge novelty hamburger in one of them, take a moment and appreciate his Mega man bobble head set on his entertainment center.
[img width=200 align=left]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/J-043/bf/J-043-S-00890-A.jpg[/img] Our featured game image this week is the front scan for the Japanese game Pulstar on the Neo Geo AES system. Pulstar is a shmup released in 1995 that was both innovative and gorgeous at the time of it's release. Gameplay is in the vein of R-Type but with 3D graphics in a 2D game.
This game enjoys a high production value and great esteem from gamers, reviewers and collectors alike. Depending on where you get it, this can be a pricey acquisition but a worthy one that can reach well above $100. But if you own a Neo Geo system then you don't need me to tell you that now do you? I'm sure all the Neo Geo AES collectors out there are well aware of what they've invested in that system. Goes to show just how great a system it is when your willing to spend big bucks to have these awesome games. Thanks go out to Adri Hoogesteger who is a staff member known on the boards as "sharp" for the great scan featured this week.
In the meantime, check out the forums, read the blogs, partake in the weekly chat and use our collection tools to their fullest. And stay tuned to this channel next week for the newest set of features and items for forum discussion.
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