Ah Capitalism

Someone has paid $800,000 dollars on eBay for the NES game you see pictured above. Let me enunciate that: eight hundred thousand dollars. Almost one million dollars for a sealed copy of a very rare game (probably the rarest from what I've read), which only has value because the handful of collectors willing to pay such prices think it has that value.

Its pretty sad that we've gotten to this point. On the one hand sure its a piece of history just like a Picasso or a Warhol painting whose value should be determined by what it means to the person purchasing it and what the consensus is among those who would want such an item. But on the other we're talking about $800k for what is essentially is plastic inside a box wrapped in more plastic.

But this is what capitalism is all about: not only having the freedom to own private property but having the freedom to own whatever private property you want and spending whatever ridiculous amount of money you want for it. That we've reached the point in which a video game is worth that much money probably proves some point that Marx made in Das Kapital or the Brumeire. What that point is evades me right now but I'm sure it would have something to do with not being a fucking moron.

I'm kinda glad for the person who sold it though. A game collector, someone who obviously loves video games, selling it probably because this game has fetched up to $40,000 previously and deciding to cash in. And why not? the way I see it the person who bought it isn't a game collector like you and me but some rich guy who can afford to splurge in stupid stuff like this. Shit, its probably Todd McFarlane. The transfer of wealth from such a person (or casino or hedge fund or whatever) to a regular citizen is great, I'm sure eBay is happy about it too.

I'm also happy since that auction where I bought Killer Instinct, Maximum Carnage and a JLA game for $20 now seems like a steal.

So the moral of the story? simple:

1. find a copy of Stadium Events
2. Put it up for auction on eBay
3. ????
4. Profit.

Selling Out

In my recent foray into nostalgic gaming there is one thing that has become abundantly clear: fighting games DO NOT hold up with time. I should retract that, some games do hold up, some games should hold up, but the ones I've had the chance to play and replay have become eye openers, making me realize that, in fact, my childhood was not as full of superb gaming as I thought it was.

Which brings me to my next point, I have a few games that I, and many more, would consider classics, games that I grew up with and that I obtained not only because of my memories but because of the general consensus regarding their greatness. I hold on to these games like one would hold on to family heirlooms. But now I've decided to sell them.

I'm talking specifically of three games: King of Fighters 2002, KOF 2003 and the first Darkstalkers. I thought I loved these games but I've decided to put them up for auction because I realized that I actually loved what these games represented, their characters, their art and not exactly the gameplay which, to bring this full circle, is not as amazing in 2009 as it was when these came out.

But thats, of course, true of every other game that came out in the past, its true of every game that I've reviewed here but the reality simply is that fighters dont hold up as well as platformers. Anyone can still pick up the original Mario Bros. and enjoy the fuck out of it but that is not true of the original Street Fighter. To be sure, the games I'm selling off (not just because of disinterest but also for profit) are not that old and not that bad nor dated but if I'm just going to hold on to them for sentimental value or for the sake of having them then whats the point? I'd rather have someone else enjoy the games and that will be that.

Plus theres a new KOF coming out, still fully drawn 2-D and if its as good as the revamped Street Fighter and not as bad as the abortion that is KOF Maximum Impact then we'll be fine.

Done-key Kong, har har.

I beat Donkey Kong the other day, all in all it took me about two hours. Not continuous mind you but thats the total in scattered play for about a week. Congrats I say, I never beat it when I was a kid and now, ten years later, sweet sweet revenge.

It was surprisingly easy. Why? I dont know, maybe because of my superior intellect? no, its probably not that I mean you have to walk straight and jump on things, you dont really need to understand the nuances of historical materialism nor how they apply to the case of a disintegrating Yugoslavia to do that. I'm sure it helps.

This isnt a bitch post mind you. I wasnt expecting this game to be GTA IV. No, no six-fingered women in this one. I was looking for innocent fun that I can pick up at any time and keep playing, thats what I got. Now we move on to other games. Anybody got a spare Mario RPG?

On the bright side now that my eBay business is actually working (Oh Twilight books, I had to sell you: not because you became too mainstream, no, its because that fourth book was balls) I actually have a bit of dispossible income and am able to actually buy a few more games, on the cheap, and write a couple more blogs.

But back to Donkey Kong, after I beat the game it turns out I only had beaten about 60% of it, Cranky Kong informed me I had missed a shit ton of mini games. First of all fuck you Cranky Kong, second of all I'm not completist, third, I dont have the time for this shit. I guess this is what passed as replay value back in the day. Im not saying its a bad thing, the capacity of the games was limited, I'm just saying I dont care enough to go back and try to find more Rambi tokens.

Was this the equivalent of Xbox achievements? because I was beating myself up for a while so that I could get as many SF IV achievements on my gamertag and I did a pretty good job. But do I feel like making Cranky Kong happy? not unless he'll create a webpage announcing my greatness to the world.

Good news is I can now focus on other games. Bad news is I have no other games to focus, unless I go back to Aladdin.

Ninja Turtles

I received my TMNT: Tournament Fighters in the mail a couple of days ago, turned it on, played it for a bit and proceeded to be disappointed. The fighting seemed slow, the fighters small, the sound gimmicky. I then played it a bit more and I realized that it actually isnt a sucky game. The reason it appears slow is because I'm used to playing new generation games, the fighters are small and blurry because of my small screen and bad connection and the audio...well the audio is still pretty bad.

Lets talk about the game. There were three different versions: the Sega game which had Raph on the cover, the NES game with Leo and, the one I had, the SNES version with Don dancing with a shark. No love for Mike I guess. The games not only had different covers but they also had different character rosters and, obviously, different graphics.

Like I said, the game really isnt that bad. The available characters included the Turtles as well as five other non-turtle characters. Casey Jones was in there...in the Genesis version. April was also playable...in the Genesis version. The SNES game got some not so great characters, including a purple dinosaur looking guy named "War", Wingnut,, the Shredder, a token female character and a few more. I might have gotten over my initial disappointment of the game but I stil have issues with the available characters. I find myself not caring for any of them. I used to like Wingnut as I had that action figure but not anymore. I think the Rat King is the final boss. I dont remember if you can later select the Rat King but I hope so.

But there are many pluses, this is an old-school drawn fighting game. Of course its modeled after Street Fighter and KOF, but it also does a few other things those didnt have at the time (such as a separate bar for a super move). Each character has a unique stage, also reminiscent of SFII, each character has unique moves, most are able to throw projectiles using the standard Hadouken movement.

Sure this might be a bit forced but the Turtles is a franchise with so many discrepancies between all of its media appearances: what happens in the tv show is different than the movie, than the comic book and so on. That the video game would be just as disconnected is not surprising.

The game is good, yes its a bit slow and yes its a bit difficult but that was the norm when it came out. It really isnt fair to compare it to todays game but thats what we do because of what the norm is today. The biggest issue then really isnt that the character selection is poor but rather that this was not followed up on such in the same way that SF or KOF was. If it had been then TMNT: 2009 would be something else.

Donkey Kong Country

Once upon a time there was a deal made between two video game companies to work together, one was a game developer that was ahead of the game, the other was the flailing king of the entire medium. For a while there in the late 90's it was the partnership between Nintendo and Rare that showed what a video game could be. Though they developed many games, many good games, there was one that stood out as the best, I do believe it was one of their first also and from what I understand video games would not be the same after it.

Yes, I'm talking about Donkey Kong Country, the coolest game around during my childhood/adolescence, a game that I always wanted but was too poor to buy. I did play it many times, I had it on loan for a while, but I was never able to actually buy it. Until now that is. Thank you eBay.

What made this game so good? well lets remember that at the time it came out (1994) Nintendo was the king, the Playstation was about to take the thrown for a variety of reasons: dissent, cheaper cd games, more mature titles. You name it. But the SNES was offering games that looked so much better than the traditional PS fare. The SNES, a weaker machine than the PS or the Saturn, was capable of giving us games with characters that looked like moving action figures, the gameplay was smooth and fun while the CD consoles had to deal with polygons and load screens.

This game eventually franchised out into a few others that progressively introduced new characters. Though the monkey (or ape) protagonist changed the gameplay remained the same. Fifteen years after the original came out the fun that is to be had playing the original also remains. I got the game yesterday and have logged in a few hours now. Its easy, but its difficult, I dont really know how to describe it. I dont think I need to describe it, I'm sure everybody has played it and understands.

It doesnt take rocket science to play it, too many new games require one to read books and make decisions and wander around a vast state on a hummer. How friggin unnecesary, how grating! I understand that games have to evolve, I even understand that we tend to romanticize things from our childhood but that does not take away from the brilliance of this game.

Besides, they never could improve it. They came out with a DK for the N64 and it wasnt as good, in general Nintendo moved towards the same crowd that the PS had before realizing they couldnt compete and deciding to go back to making kids games. But for a while Nintendo was in a dark place, it appeared doomed, the relationship with Rare soured and they went over to Microsoft, never to return.

So this wasnt the normal eightbitter post. It wasnt a game review because there is no need to review a game like Donkey Kong Country. Everybody knows it, everybody loves it and even if they dont I simply assume that they do because it was so big during my childhood. Anyway, I'm just glad I finally have it.