Monday, February 6, 2012

Polishing the Edges

In case you missed it, I had a poll up for a few days before starting Phantasy Star. It asked for an opinion regarding how I should apply the RPG scale. Somehow, "rate all games" and "after completing them" ranked out the other two opposite options. I can't realistically weigh something after completing it if I don't plan to play it, so I'll try to give an accurate score to those games I deem not RPGs. I still feel I need to mark the RPGs of the bunch; I put 10 down for games I believe will score 10 or above once I get through them.

I've finished up through the year 2001, and only have about 100 games left to check out. (I'm in no rush though, as that's 300 games in, meaning many, many years.) Any game having a blank value under "RPG?" means I'm not completely sure which way to go on it. If there's a 10 for the scale, then I plan to play it anyway and find out what it's like. If that's blank too, then it means I haven't seen enough of the game yet to make a decision.

This advanced rating is based on my interpretation of game videos that I try to skip through in order not to spoil much, so it's absolutely possible I'm not getting a full picture. I ask for everyone's help here in making the RPG scale more accurate, and on getting me to understand these edge cases a little better. Also, if I've mistakenly included a game, I'd like to know that as well.

As I prepare for the next game year or finish a game, I'll give a more final score and post it. I want to keep this rating separate from the final rating system that reflects my (and possibly your) enjoyment, so I'll use the RPG scale on the ending post of each game, giving a final rating in a separate post.

Also, if there are any games missing from the list (I'm sure there are many, especially recent games), tell me. I'll add them and judge them as best I can, and if I've passed their release date, I'll play it as soon as I can get a hold of a copy and after the current game wraps up.
TurboDuo: $300 retail, now $500 ebay (Picture credit to Wikipedia)

Looking ahead, I see some consoles I'm missing that are going to be major purchases. Expect me to skip the first few games on at least the TurboGrax-16/CD, Sega CD, and 3DO. My plan is to push these to a point where I'm able to get the system and games, play through them in "quick" succession, then sell them off again without much loss in a relatively short time frame. This means waiting until nearly the last game on the system is due.

I'll throw this out there as well (even though I don't expect anyone to go for it), if you have a game I currently show as not having and are willing to let me borrow, then promise I will send it back after I'm done. Currently the only thing I'm really looking for is a Sega Master System with Miracle Warriors and Dragon Crystal (although, I'm strongly questioning if the latter was actually released in the US). Aside from those two, I've got everything up through 1990, which is close to 30 games. That should last at least half the year I'm estimating. During that time I'm hoping to pay off a rather high interest student loan, which will free up some money each month to continue this through my own funding.

Lastly, I want to mention that the list is ordered by year and month for the most part. If I only know the year it'll have a -00 for the month. What I'll do for those is throw them in throughout the year as a sprinkling of extra goodness. Games in a particular month can also come in any order within that month. For the most part the list in the side bar is what I've decided on, but things can change, and I'm open to suggestions (notice a theme?).

9 comments:

  1. Obviously it's up to you but I would seriously consider trying an emulator if a particular system only has a couple of RPGs on it. I would baulk at shelling out $500 on the TurboDuo

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  2. I may resort to emulation, but there are inaccuracies not present on original consoles. This is especially true for later systems and less popular games. For games with no easy way to stream or capture screens (Game Gear, DS) it may be my only option, but I'm putting those off for now.

    If I can get it for a reasonable price, I'm hoping I won't lose money on it when selling it off again. I consider it more of an investment than an outright purchase.

    The Jaguar has 1 RPG, and together they can go for 150 - 200. I already am resistant to buy that. Cycling through the games (buying and then selling ones I'll probably never play again) should keep costs manageable. As for the TurboDuo, I actually just saw one go for $400, so maybe I'll get lucky and find one closer to $300.

    That's not for a year or two at least, and I'm able to save up for it.

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    1. From what I understand most of the inaccuracies have been documented. There are some Turbographix-16 games in the Wii Virtual Console from what I understand.

      I mean, yeah, it would be cool and all for you to play all these games on the original system, but some go for hundreds of dollars for the game, let alone the system. I'd rather you do the review then try for perfect myself.

      Remember for Gameboy games you can use the Super Nintendo + Superboy, or for Pokemon you can play it via Pokemon Stadium on the N64.

      Why don't you talk to other reviewers and see their solutions? Dr. Sparkle doesn't seem to have many emulation problems on the SMS, NES or Turbographics-16.

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    2. Most people I've looked at do emulation. Personally, I enjoy the original game on the original system. Many of the early systems have very good emulation thought, so I'm considering it for any older systems I don't have at the moment.

      For Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance, I have those covered with a Game Cube + Game Boy Player. Also, I don't mind re-releases, and would gladly play those if available. I have purchased a handful of Virtual Console games.

      I think the next poll after this is going to involve the videos, and find out how many people actually find those useful. I don't want to overwhelm everyone with questions though.

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    1. That seems to be the way the poll is trending. There doesn't seem to be as much concern for playing the original as I thought there'd be.

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  4. I think we have all seen how much those games can cost you. I would prefer you play the original, but don't want to cost you thousand's of dollars. Perhapses play the cheap ones on the original?

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  5. Dragon crystal for game gear relead last week on 3ds virtual console.

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    1. I heard they were doing this. Unfortunately, I don't have a 3DS, so I have no way of purchasing it. Also, even when I do--and I will buy it through here once I'm able to--I still don't have a way to record off any of the DS systems.

      It won't be for at least a year until I get to Dragon Crystal, so by then, I'll probably have a 3DS and will be playing it on there. Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully they'll release all the Game Gear games I want to play.

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