While my first console growing up was an NES, the first system we had which was “mine” was a Game Gear, and I must have sunk thousands of hours into that thing growing up. It was a Christmas present, along with a subscription to Sega Visions magazine (Sega’s own take on Nintendo Power). I fondly remember poring over screenshots and reviews of all the latest Sega games, from the Genesis up through the Sega CD, 32X, Saturn – and, yes, the Pico.
Over time, and especially with the failure of the Saturn to gain much of a foothold, my interest gravitated back toward Nintendo products, but I was the “Sega kid” on the playground growing up, haha.
That is a pretty good deal – I seem to recall tracking down a power cable adapter has become more tricky lately, and Mario Clash (being a Mario game) is getting a little bit more pricey out of the “common” games.
Coming out of the woodwork to say, I’ve always had great respect for what this community has been able to achieve, and how supportive of each other everyone is. I’ve mostly been lurking lately since life will be life (got married, bought a house, changed jobs) but I keep an eye on what everyone here is up to. And I’ve still got a special place in my nostalgia-heart for our little red-and-black oddball of a game system.
If someone had told 15-year-old-me that one day I’d have an English-language SD Gundam cart, for example… I’d have gone nuts! Incredible kudos to bigmak, Tusk, Ben, MineStorm, and everyone who’s had a hand in the top-notch repro releases so far.
With all that said – finances being what they were at the time, I did unfortunately end up missing out on Fishbone and Faceball Remastered… so if there’s ever a chance of another batch of either, I’d be interested. (I know better than to even ask about HF at this point, lol.)
In the words of the immortal Bill & Ted – be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!
I think this sort of contributed to Nintendo’s high levels of caution when the DS was first announced. I remember at that year’s E3, they stressed several times that it was intended to be a “third pillar” for Nintendo’s system lineup, alongside Game Boy Advance and GameCube. It was positioned very deliberately as not necessarily being the successor to the GBA, just in case it was a tremendous flop… but, of course, that’s ancient history and the DS went on to become one of the most successful game consoles ever. 🙂
The last time they had introduced a system so drastically different from its precursor really was when the Virtual Boy was launched.
Not sure I’ll be able to afford this one in time, what with new house expenses and starting to plan for this year’s PAX East… but it looks great! Another fine job from everyone involved. Cheers all around!
If memory serves, I paid $70 (plus shipping) for my CIB copy, with only minor scuffing/wear on the box – not unheard of for such an old game that no one had taken the time to protect. That was late 2011 or so, though.
First of all, the case of this thing is epic, are these 3D printed?
I’m glad you like the case. Yes, it was printed on my MakerBot Replicator 2.
Before, I was hacking original cases. Printing saves me a lot of work because I can drop the PCB straight in.
I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty thrilled with the 3D printed case myself, too – gives it that extra-homebrewy feel, and drives home in a visual way that it was a community creation.
As a new homeowner, I REALLY appreciate spacing these releases out! 😉
I don’t know, there’s something I always found appealing about SD Gundam… I first started collecting VB stuff in high school, right when I was in a big Gundam phase… so it’s always been a personal goal to get that game in my collection, in some fashion. (Quality of the actual game notwithstanding, heh.)
As for a reproduction logo – this could actually be cool, if it’s placed where the typical publisher logo would have gone, in the lower left corner of the front of the box.
Dor-Si wrote:
Man, I’m going to need a new display case for all these things. Although, this will also get me that much closer to justifying an upsized display cabinet with the wife! Can’t wait to add this to the collection!
Hee hee… looking at houses now with the wife. I’d be lying if I said I weren’t secretly factoring in space for a display case of my own someday. 😀
So excited for this!!! Of all the rare Japan-only games, this is the one I’ve always wanted to own a physical copy of, without breaking the bank – I’m literally giddy!!
Keep up the great work, everyone! Looks like another top-shelf release! 😀
This sounds like a very interesting development, indeed! I’d be happy to provide some amount of support, if needed. Even if it’s just a reproduction box, having something tangibly “Dragon Hopper” would be pretty sweet!
