The Gamers Lounge Podcast Retro Edition Ep 2: "Your Inner Game Collector"
Opening
Any retro games we have played?
John - Shenmue 2 (Xbox), various Saturn games, Virtua Fighter 2, Shinobi, Panzer Dragoon
Erik - Broforce? Cruisin’ USA, Super Smash Bros, Harvest Moon for GBA
Main topic -- What it means to be a Video Game Collector
How to start:
Decide what systems you want to collect: (Xbox, PS1, NES, etc)
Decide what kind of collector you want to be: (Buy what you want, not worrying about CIB, getting complete series or collections, try and get a complete library of a system, focusing on one era of games)
Where to find games at a good price: (Yard Sales, Consignment Shops, Goodwill, Flea Markets, sometimes even friends)
Questionable places to find games and systems at fair or market prices: (Local Mom and Pop stores, eBay, Craigslist) This isn't always the case but these places are sometimes well above market value.
Condition: this can mean everything to collectors. Are you wanting a complete copy to keep and display or is all you want is to have the game to have and play. Some look at collecting as an investment, others just want to have it to play the original.
(Talk here about easy ways to repair and clean) We could talk about buying the batteries and how you cleaned my games
Don't be afraid to buy games that look that they may not play. (I have bought many games that looked brand new that would not play and others that looked bad but cleaned them up and they work great)
Never put a dirty cart into a system. Invest in some simple tools. Screwdriver with bit sets for taking apart systems and games. These are cheap on eBay and can be found at any hardware store. Be sure to get the steel bits and not the black cheap ones, they break very easy.
To clean carts and systems use denatured alcohol. It dry fast and will leave no residue behind. It also removes almost anything. Use a stiff short brush to clean with. Let it dry before plugging in the system or cart.
Also use an eraser to remove carbon build up in cart contacts.
Yellowing of systems in ok. It is a fire resident coating that prevents the plastic from melting, it can be cleaned. Google “retrobright” but be warned cleaning it could result in the plastic becoming brittle and it could ruin your system.
Where to get info?
Retro Magazine (www.readretro.com) A great magazine and site. Great deals on the pdf version
Retro Gamer (https://www.imagineshop.co.uk/bookazines/videogames-and-retro.html) Huge collection of bookazines and monthly magazines on retro gaming. Both physical and digital. I use the Video Games Hardware Handbook.
Video Game Trader Magazine (www.vgtradermag.com) Print or digital quarterly magazine. I use this as a market guide. There price guide is the best around.They have a app for iphone VGT Video Game Price Guide. They do charge for updates to the price guide.
Anything else?
-Retron 5 is out! Need to pick up one more cheap hdmi cable and a SD card for the system so I can use it with my current setup
Closing
Email us retro@the-gamers-lounge.com. Follow us on Twitter @GL_Podcast, Erik is @kube00 and John is @jcmeadows94.
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