Groovy Kid Stuff

We got some new additions to our ever expanding retro collection this week:

First up, an awesome deal for a Sega Saturn that I found on craigslist. The woman I bought it from said it was her ex-husband’s and she just wanted to get rid of it. For $30 the package included the console and cords, two controllers, a steering wheel accessory, and a handful of games. The games are mostly old sports titles, which I don’t have any interest in, but the keepers include Virtua Cop (needs a light gun though), Virtua Fighter 2, Daytona USA, and The Need For Speed. There was also a pair of sealed Japanese imports, Godzilla and Virtua Fighter 2. I’m going to try to sell those and put the money toward a mod chip that will allow us to play burned copies of Saturn games.

Next, another Playstation. We already had one but this is an earlier model with a parallel port. That’s significant because it also came with a Gold Finger Game Enhancer that plugs into that port and allows you to play backups and imports.

It’s kind of crazy because you have to trick the PS into letting you play a burned copy. You do this by booting up the system with an original disc first and then swapping it out with the game you want to play. All the while something has to be jammed in the lid open/close sensor so it thinks the lid is closed.

Anyway, I’m thrilled to be able to play some of those old titles that go for pretty significant amounts of money if I were to actually, you know, buy them.

And finally, Helen scored a cheap tv from a garage sale so we can play these old systems and actually see what’s going on. Our NES, SNES, PS, and N64 were all connected to a tiny little portable dvd player through a four way A/V selector. It served its purpose but this smoky smelling old box is so much nicer. I had to buy an RF modulator because it didn’t have any RCA jacks, but that little spike to the initial ten dollar price tag was totally worth it.