Collector’s Log #10: Catching Up

It’s been a few weeks since the last Collector’s Log, so it’s time to catch up a bit.

The original PlayStation and the original Xbox continue to be points of emphasis when it comes to game-hunting.

For the original PlayStation, finding a sealed copy of College Slam just prior to this year’s college basketball postseason was timely, and— despite not being the best fighting game— Criticom expanded my library of longbox games by one more. I bought a sealed copy of Rogue Trip at a significant discount versus market value because the case was cracked— but that can be addressed once I open the game.

Thanks to my re-capped original Xbox, I’ve jumped back into buying games for the platform. There hasn’t been a lot of heavy hitters, but notables like Black, Genma Onimusha, Test Drive: Eve of Destruction, and Nightmare Before Christmas add more depth. The game count is creeping toward 400, and I see myself continuing to be fairly active with grabbing Xbox games for awhile. One other notable, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, was a find driven by watching a Game Grumps playthrough. It’s a game that might seem cheap on a whim, but still commands $20+ on the market.

Collecting for PS2 is much slower than in the past, as my library of games for the platform is already over 1,000… but I still am adding games every so often. I was finally able to secure a black-label copy of NBA Street, leaving just the Greatest Hits variant of NBA Street Vol. 2 to complete that series set. Shining Tears completes my series set… a series that’s not well-liked among a lot of players, but one I enjoy as a hack-and-slash fan.

With Gamecube and Wii celebrating significant anniversaries this year (GCN turns 25 and Wii turns 20), I have generally been looking at launch games for both to talk about when those anniversaries get closer. One exception to this was finding the Rebel Strike demo for Gamecube. GCN demos weren’t as frequent as we saw for PS2 and Xbox, so this is already out of the ordinary… and then you add the fact that Atari’s Star Wars arcade game is playable on this disc. That, for me, made it a must-own.

A few more games— including a pretty valuable variant— should be arriving later this week… so the next Collector’s Log won’t be too far off.