miketheratguy

Huh, that's got me really curious now. Maybe there was no error on this site then, and instead the problem comes from some bizarre numbering scheme on Gamepro's part. Being that they didn't start the numbering until 91 - just in time for a countdown to that issue 100 - this seems to be a highly possible scenario. This does make me wonder if you're right and Gamepro released some extra issues to pad their total. If Gamepro simply fudged their numbers then I guess that's what everyone has to accept (maybe they didn't bet on anyone actually counting). If not though, and there are ten other "side" issues out there that contribute to the overall count, my OCD won't be able to rest knowing that the numbering on this site (as well as the files that I've placed on my ebook reader) is incorrect.

I don't know if this has been brought up before but I just noticed that a few dozen issues of Gamepro are mislabeled. Starting with number 81, the file names continue in correct numerical order but the issues themselves jump forward by ten. For example downloading issue 80 will result in getting issue 80 like it should, but downloading issue 81 results in getting issue 91 instead. It remains this way for the rest of the issues: Issue 100 is actually issue 110, issue 110 is actually issue 120, and so on. So basically, somehow the issues of Gamepro between 80 and 90 were skipped and are apparently not available for download as a result, but the file names don't reflect this and as a result are off by ten issues from 81 onward. EDIT: Wait, upon further inspection it seems that the issues DON'T jump ahead beginning with 81. 81 just happens to be the first issue that's numbered on the cover of the magazine. However that number says 91, even though it's only the 81st issue in the download order. So somehow there are still ten issues missing, or Gamepro was off by ten issues when they started numbering them. I'm so confused. Look, just check out Gamepro download 81. On the cover it says issue 91. This 10 digit discrepancy continues through the rest of the downloads. I need to get some sleep, someone else can figure this out.

That's awesome! To know that my post inspired someone to go out and buy some MUSCLE figures is really cool, I wouldn't have anticipated that. Good choice of figure too, and I can only imagine that it's nearly impossible to find a specific figure in a certain color. For me, right since day one (literally while checking them out in the store for the very first time), my all-time favorite MUSCLE figure was "The Hand". I loved the majority of the figures, but this one always stood out among all the rest. After my entire childhood toy collection burned in a fire (yes, I'm serious) I had to just kind of accept that I'd never get any of them back. But a few years ago, driven by something I must have seen online, I did exactly what you did and headed to ebay to search for my favorite figure. Little did I know that he's almost EVERYONE'S favorite, and in very high demand. All the same, I found and snagged him. Including shipping it was twenty bucks for this guy alone - just this little inch and a half tall plastic resin figure - but I don't regret it. He was an important piece of my youth. Here's an official collector's page discussing the figure, if you're interested. You may even want to see if that favorite figure of yours has any info on the site. http://www.musclefigures.com/spotlight/edition-1-figure-153-the-claw-the-hand/

Well then huggles right back at you for the compliment.

I don't feel that video games are dying, but I definitely don't like the direction that the industry is veering towards. Microtransactions, game content being held back as "DLC" (sometimes when it's even on the disc already), mandatory online verification and / or persistent internet connection, mandatory installation of effectively unnecessary third party software such as Steam or Games For Windows Live, overzealous DRM policies, console home screens that are saturated with ads, consoles that take five minutes of branding and legalese to boot up, consoles that undergo mandatory (and often lengthy) updates, attempts to limit the consumer's ability to sell (or buy) used games, the reduction (and potential for elimination) of physical media in favor of manufacturer-controlled cloud-based storage, the increasing emphasis on multiplayer at the expense of the single-player experience, I could go on and on. The internet was a huge boon to the industry but now I feel that it's little more than a crutch. Publishers, developers and console manufacturers have studied it and tested its boundaries to find more ways to exploit consumers while growing more complacent with regard to quality assurance in the process. What's the motivation to make a complete, proudly polished title when you know that you can release it half-finished, charge people ten or twenty bucks to download the rest of it, fix game-breaking bugs AFTER release (if at all), and still charge full price? The last console generation was the testing ground to see how far they could get away with pushing it, and as consumers become accustomed to the changing practices and accept them as the norm those in control are just going to find ways to take more. I miss those evergreen days of my childhood where I could simply throw a cartridge into my NES and be up and running in seconds. No external requirements, no connecting or signing up or logging in, no waiting for the system to check for petty updates or offers from HBO and Warner music. Just me, the couch, the controller, and the television glowing long into the night as I enjoy the complete video game experience that I paid for.

I've never heard of Game Buyer, I'd be curious to check that out. Were you the one looking for alternate copies of EGM #70 (the one with MK3's Sheeva on the cover)? I can't remember where I saw that post or who made it but I think I've got a different variant of that issue somewhere. I know that I have a copy, I just don't want to promise anything until I can locate it (and verify that it's different, though I believe that it is. I think it's red).

I agree with pretty much everything you said. My favorite PSP games are a ragtag bunch of unique titles such as The Warriors, Sid Meier's Pirates, Castlevania, The Sims 2: Pets, Silent Hill, Fight Night, Burnout, WWE SVR 2006 and Star Wars Battlefront II (special mention goes to Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble which wound up being a crazy fun game that I only discovered by accident). The titles it had were good, but kind of few and far between. I first asked my girlfriend for a PSP for Christmas of 2006 because I thought that it was a sleek system with great potential and a couple of huge games (the recently released GTA: Liberty City Stories being one of them). It was only through happening to stumble upon an exploitable glitch in GTA that I learned that the system could be exploited to allow emulation, and I quickly found that most exciting of all. Within a few years the emu scene for the PSP had become so thriving that you could play games from pretty much every major system up until the Nintendo 64. It was a handheld NES, SNES, Genesis, Gameboy, PS1 and little arcade all in one. It replaced my imported GP32 Blu and then some. Hacking the PSP also allowed for easy conversion of my UMDs into digital copies by connecting the system to a PC through its USB port and ripping them, 1 2 3. I would imagine that this could have been crazy for pirates but for me it was a simple matter of convenience - I only had about a dozen games for the machine and I hated carting them around, especially since everything else on the machine was convenient digital emulation, so being able to place both all my emulated games and all the stupid UMDs onto a 64 GB memory stick was incredibly handy. All I needed is the PSP and a charger and I was good to go. The UMD thing was dumb (it reminded me of Nintendo's stubborn cartridge policy in the face of increasingly practical cds) and I absolutely despised the fact that the system had just one flimsy thumbstick. Whoever thought that this was a good idea must have never played a video game from like 2000 onward. But the screen was great and that PC connectivity really opened a world of possibilities, so for me the PSP ultimately redeemed itself as an incredible system. I agree with everything that you said as well. The proprietary memory sticks were a terrible idea and at the moment there's hardly anything worth playing on the system unless you're a hardcore fan of JRPGs and other random Japanese titles. They had such ridiculous priorities for the system, concerning themselves more with gimmicks like a rear touchscreen than with developing a solid library and really utilizing the potential of the system. The Vita had GREAT potential - I imagined it as being something akin to a portable PS2, with all the emulation possibilities that would go with that, but it doesn't seem like it's ever going to pass. Aside from Minecraft, Mortal Kombat, and a version of Dynasty Warriors I don't use the Vita for anything other than web browsing because I don't own a cell phone. That's literally it. The emu scene appears to be at a dead stop because Sony was feverish about combating it, and I don't foresee any great games on the horizon. The Vita was the little system that could, but it seems like the company behind it didn't even want to try. This is yet another thing that I hated about the Vita: After getting mine, and realizing that there were less games that I wanted to play on it than fingers on my one hand, I shrugged and thought "but hey, at least I can play portable versions of my PS3 games like GTAV and Shadow of the Colossus. That will be awesome". But nope, it turned out that this was yet another aspect of the Vita that had potential but which Sony completely half-assed. It turned out that in order to play PS3 games on the Vita the games in question had to have the technology built into them, and this was apparently completely left up to the developers to decide. As a result there's literally something like fifteen PS3 games that can actually do this, and I don't even remember if any of them were any good. With this, the prohibitive memory crap and the overly aggressive stance against hacking it's almost like Sony produced a system they were so proud of making that they didn't want anyone to actually touch it.

Niiiice. Never even seen this one before. Fillin' them gaps!

I've been told that our Canadian friends have exclusive access to the "Mr. Big" bar. With wafers covered in chocolate covered in rice crisps covered in caramel covered in peanuts, it's quite possibly the best candy bar - nay, the best THING - ever made. We had the bar in America for like a minute in 1995 or 1996 where it was endorsed by Shaquille O Neal and called the "Shaq Snaq". If what I've heard is true and you guys can walk into any supermarket and grab one of these at any time, you're jerks and I hate you.

Game Player's? You wouldn't happen to have the November 1990 issue with TMNT: The Arcade Game on the cover, do you? My first ever exposure to the Monkey Island series was that issue of the magazine, and I have very fond memories of relaxing, eating microwave popcorn, and reading (and re-reading) that review because the game sounded like one of the coolest things I'd ever heard of (and was from the Maniac Mansion people to boot) but I didn't have a computer and figured that I'd never get to play it. Eventually it came out on Sega CD and I short-sightedly tore out the review to have with me when I went to play the game at a local video game store. Since that time I have no idea what happened to the magazine, let alone the torn-out review, and have been looking long and hard to find a replacement copy ever since.

Nice. Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid. That was one of the best times to be a gamer.

Hmm, I see Maniac Mansion, Startropics, and Castlevania III. You're doing alright. You're missing the Dragon Warrior games though. And you need many, many more SNES games! I also like that you've got the top-loading NES. I love that thing and will never get rid of it. And it's kind of hard to tell from the pictures but is that a knob dial television? If so, you're really rocking the old-school proper. Nice cozy-looking setup!

I actually haven't played a JRPG since... . ...Jeez, I want to say Final Fantasy VIII. I know that that was the last game in that particular series that I ever played, that much is for sure. It's not even that I thought the game sucked (though it was a wild departure from pretty much everything that I first loved about a game called "Final Fantasy"), it was that I just suddenly found myself needing a break from the typical JRPG formula. I thought that after playing some other games I'd get back to it, but I guess I just never really did. Anyway I'm obviously out of the loop - the only Final Fantasy games that I ever play now are remakes of IV and VI - so I'm surprised to hear about the optional elimination of random battles. I mean, how does the game even work then? Do you just find yourself at arbitrarily higher levels whenever you encounter the next boss? Getting rid of random battles would move a title's gameplay along at a faster pace, allowing the player to enjoy more of the game instead of spending all their time grinding. At the same time I'm sick of all the adjustments and provisions and hand-holding that keeps happening to franchises these days. It seems that everything's being made simpler to cater to a wider audience and to a gamer like me, that sucks. Skyrim is the best example that I can think of: The Elder Scrolls used to be what I would describe as a hardcore RPG: Loads of quests, loads of guilds, loads of immersion, unpredictable enemy strength, lore-friendly (backpack style) inventory screens, the need to navigate by relying on landmarks and lengthy NPC directions. By the time Skyrim rolled around the dumbing-down of the series' structure that began with Oblivion only continued. Less quests, less guilds, less immersion, enemies whose levels all scale to match the player's, scrolling cell phone-style inventory screens, easy navigation by way of a fast travel button, an onscreen compass and map markers that magically point out exactly where to go. Skyrim is a great game and I love it, but I'd be lying to myself if I thought that the game wasn't watered down and made more accessible than its predecessors for the sake of making more money. Right, that or give the player an option that can be switched on or off at any time which disables encounters with enemies that are at a lower level than the player's. That way either the encounter rate would be less frequent, since the lower-level enemies aren't popping up, or the battles are as frequent as always but don't feature time-wasting jobber monsters.

I've got a hacked white Star Wars psp that's got a 32 GB memory stick and something like 300 classic games in emulated form (as well as digital copies of all my official psp games). I love that little machine, it's an emulation paradise. I had high hopes that the same could eventually be said for the Vita, but apparently Sony put more effort into preventing the device from being hacked than they did in developing a game library that consists of anything other than JRPGs. My friend bought his Vita from another friend for 35 bucks because the guy was desperate to get rid of it. After a few months my friend just gave it to me for free. I've got...let's see......three games for it?

Something similar to this? I honestly think that this might have been the first internet page that I ever looked at. http://flamesgif.com/archive/ate_my_balls/mr_t.html And what a perfect lead-in to another nostalgia post: I viewed that page not through a computer screen, but through the television and the magic of WebTV. Anyone else used to have WebTV?

You did the same thing that I did: Keep up with the WWF until the mid 90s, then bail, then get brought back into the fold around 96 or so. I think this is what happened to most people when Mcmahon started throwing characters like wrestling hockey players and wrestling garbage men into the ring. I really liked Suikoden but I got stuck somewhere and now I can't remember where since it's been so many years. It was a situation where I literally couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go on the overworld map, there was a river or something blocking my path and I didn't know how to get past it. Unfortunately I just kind of wound up playing other games and let Suikoden fall by the wayside. Not for lack of interest, just sort of forgot about it. I do hear that the next game (or two) are really good as well. I should try them again sometime.

Oh, you have no IDEA how obsessed I was with Maniac Mansion back when I was 11 or 12. I drew comics about it, wrote stories about it, recorded the soundtrack on a tape recorder so I could listen to it when I wasn't playing. I read the Nintendo Power cover story over and over, made my own maps of the mansion, played through the game umpteen times on the Apple IIe, NES, and the Deluxe version for PC. Tried watching the horrible tv show... I'm telling you, Maniac Mansion was my master and I was its devoted slave.

His avatar is the NES version of Maniac Mansion, one of the best games ever.

Totally agree on all of these films. Even before the page loaded I was thinking "I wonder if The Thing will be on the list". I didn't expect New Nightmare, though I don't know why. That's about the best example of a horror movie that was ahead of its time that I can think of. And The Mist? Another excellent choice. I love it as much as I love The Thing, which is very much. Good choices all around. Oh, and The Blair Witch Project (which I absolutely hated) was preceded by still another sort of "found footage" film, that being The Last Broadcast. It was thematically more similar to Blair Witch (people investigating the Jersey devil disappear into the pine barrens, only for one of them to resurface and face murder charges) but Cannibal Holocaust was the better example for this list.

I've found it pretty difficult and time-consuming to list all the magazines that I own (in physical or digital format) but it's something that I need to do in order to ensure that I don't wind up with duplicate copies or skip on something that I don't yet have. My method is pretty basic but effective for my needs: I simply have a notebook with about a page or two dedicated to each of the different magazines that I have a lot of (EGM, Gamepro, Nintendo Power, etc.). On each page I'll simply fill several columns with increasing digits that represent the issue number of the magazine in question. When I get an issue, I'll circle the corresponding number in red ink. Any numbers that I don't yet have are left alone (and really stand out among all the red circles). That way I can quickly ascertain which issues I have and which ones I still need just by taking a quick glance at the page. For example: EGM ------- (1) (6) 2 7 (3) 8 (4) 9 5 (10) Your spreadsheet idea is a good one, and obviously contains a lot more information than my method does. I'd probably try your way if I had the patience to type up all that information.

I should join up with you guys. My friend and I host a retro video game podcast but no one seems to be listening to it.

You started with the last game in the original series? That's interesting. I guess you don't have to have played the first three games to enjoy the fourth but I would imagine that so much of it would make less sense (not to mention you wouldn't be able to enjoy all the nostalgic touches and callbacks to the earlier games). It's cool that you stuck with it though. My first "experience" with Monkey Island was when I read a review of it for the PC in an old issue of Game Players magazine (an issue that I regularly check for here on the site because of the great memories I have of reading that review). It just seemed so full of comedy and character, not to mention looked like the kind of game that I'd never seen before (with the exception of Maniac Mansion, which I loved). With all this in mind you'd think that I would have moved right along to the sequels, but for some reason I never did. The only Monkey Island game I played after the original was, coincidentally, also Escape From Monkey Island.

I legitimately fear for the future of my favorite hobby. With publishers getting so wrapped up in combating piracy, delivering half-finished games, requiring mandatory tethers to the internet, changing the consumer terminology from "ownership" to "leasing" and desperately trying to switch users from physical media to online storage, it feels like it won't be long before we no longer HAVE anything to archive. I mean hell, we don't even get instruction manuals anymore. Remember those? The balance in the relationship between publisher and consumer continues to tilt dangerously close to one side holding all the power, and that side isn't us.

Don't take it as a knock on your artistic ability. I'm a pretty decent artist but neither Nintendo Power nor EGM saw fit to print any of my envelope art either.