the_wizard_666

Progressing rather steadily in Dungeon Magic. Got the third sword, and was about to raid the next dungeon only to get bitch slapped by the first enemy...guess it's time to grind a bit. No big deal, I'll just raid the sky area a bunch to get the next few levels. The enemies there give decent XP, and they can't seem to hurt me anymore. I'll be away from my NES this weekend though, so it probably won't get knocked off until next week, but I'm gonna make as much progress as possible before I go...

Wait, that turd doesn't have a season mode? Damn, I should probably bite the bullet and scratch it off my personal list so I never have to think about it again

I play games for the same reason other people watch TV or read books. Escapism, plain and simple. I lean toward games that exercise my brain, mainly rpgs, adventures, and strategy games, but almost anything can do in a pinch.

Well, I've finally settled on a game after a few false starts. Been playing Dungeon Magic and am so far enjoying it. Considering how daunting it seemed at the start, it really isn't all that bad. I've been following the mail away strategy guide because, well, why not So unlike what every guide online said to do, I chose Water magic to start. While I do wish I had the maps that Fairy magic provides, my ass was saved more than once by the protection spells. And now that I have powered up the Earth sword and acquired Earth magic, I can now heal status conditions, which has been the only real drawback for me so far. Now I'm just chugging along, having just pinged level 6. Almost nothing on the overworld can damage me (flies are a bitch with their magic, but aren't too tough), so it's not too bad to grind shit out now. Next up is to acquire the ring of flight and chase the fairy sword, and some armor upgrades along the way. Seriously though, considering how few true RPGs I have left to beat on the NES, I can't imagine why I left this one so long. It's pretty freaking awesome so far!

I'm working on an RPG I've been meaning to play for years and never got around to. Dungeon Magic. So far it's kinda fun, if monotonous. It's got a bit of a learning curve, but overall I'm enjoying it.

20 more than last year, that's encouraging.

You can scratch off City Connection as well. I'm not big on arcade style games, but that one is a childhood favorite. I may revisit a few more this year as well.

I'm probably not gonna play much this year in all honesty. I'm just too busy right now, and honestly I was more interested in playing the games than actually competing in most cases. I may play a few rounds that pique my interest, but I'm not gonna be trying for a top spot or anything. That may change of course, but after playing most of the games last year, I just burned out by the end. I will say that I think I preferred the single elimination system for the playoffs. I also liked most of the game choices. I still think the genres should be reduced to Action, Puzzle, Sports, and SHMUP, as this would allow for more games per genre and less confusion between them (especially arcade vs action, that's always the worst). Most of what I said last year would still apply now really.

Honestly, my biggest issue with NA was the hyperfocus on economics. Barely anyone posted in threads about playing the games. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely a place and a need for such things, but when Price Check is the most active section of the board, its really not a fun place to be.

I completely agree. It sucks when you're selling stuff, but as far as why I visit - to talk about my hobby with like minded individuals - VGS can't be beat.

Been working on Robowarrior. I seriously need to work on my skills etc, cuz I'm terrible at this

So basically it fluked into it. I'll be damned. If anyone wants to do a relatively easy 10 pointer, Nightshade is it...at least once you get the hang of the combat. As usual, I mostly avoid games I've already beaten, but I may tackle it later in the year if nobody else does.

Hey @scaryice, you may need to double check the numbers...Nightshade was a 9 last year when I beat it, but it's listed as a 10 now...that can't be right...

Did a quick recount of my list, and it had a total of 38 titles. I like round numbers, so I added two more to the list before 2023 hits. Now to decide what I'm gonna start with tomorrow...

That's midnight VGS time, so here in Alberta it'll be like 10pm. Just so you know.

I don't think the extra games hurt. After a while I started just playing games I wanted to play. I knocked off 12 Famicom games this year, for example, almost doubling my combined total for all previous years. In total, I knocked off 72 first time completions, but after a while slogging through so many grinds, I just ended up burning out and working on easier completions. I think I'd like to see a different mix of bonus games though. I would definitely prefer having all unlicensed, and I'll argue that point until the day I die. I also think all the PAL exclusives would be good to add, and a larger selection of Famicom games to boot. There were a ton of interesting translation patches released this year that would make for some fine additions. I say forget about hacks, homebrews and FDS games. The latter because of availability, and the former because, well, I couldn't give a crap about them Honestly, I'd sooner play through Action 52 in its entirety than waste time with a hack or like 95% of homebrews. Anyway, I'm thinking after such a great year I'm gonna do a few favorites that didn't get done this year, like Romance of the Three Kingdoms II and the Wizardry games. And maybe The Punisher...it's been a few years since I last ran through it. I'll leave the flight sims and basketball games to someone else

The RP would put it as either a review copy or pre launch kiosk demo. With the factory stamp I wouldn't be worried about its authenticity, but I would be curious about it's history.

Well that's good to know. Just out of curiosity, do any of them have back labels? The ones on ebay lack them so it'd be good to know.

If you're just wanting to see the end, there are codes that will let you bypass the progression wall. Use the code "WELDERSBENCH" to unlock chapter select. I wouldn't call it beating it legit, but if you just want to see the parts you haven't been to yet, it's worth a go.

The thing is, data cannot be copyrighted. You can go to any website and take whatever data you require, so long as you're not copying anything that isn't simply factual data (reviews, etc). While it's good form to give credit, there's no real requirement. Photos, however, are a different beast. Every photo or scan is owned by the person who photographed/scanned the item in question. Databases that take user submitted content have disclaimers that when you submit to their database you are either relinquishing ownership or are essentially licensing them to use it for whatever purpose they need. So basically, any information can be sourced from anywhere without issue. Photos and scans would have to be owned by whoever submits them. And any extra content, like reviews and such, would have to be either brand new content unique to the database, or be authorized by the original author to be reprinted on the site (like if you have reviews posted on GameFAQs for example, you could migrate that content because it's YOUR content...but you can't copy someone else's review without their express written consent). As for whether it's worth doing, I say yes, it absolutely is. Sure there's sites that exist that serve similar purposes, but there are few good ones that check off all potential boxes (variants, rarity, etc). NintendoAge's database was such a loss because it really was the only one out there that checked all the boxes, at least insofar as what was covered by it. What I envision for a potential VGS database would be something similar to RFGeneration, but far less unwieldy. It would cover rarities of all parts of the package. And it would also include the technical data that can be found on the NES Cart Database. It's a daunting prospect to cover everything, but it'd also be an amazing resource that would be far, far better than having to go to several sites just to piece together what you're looking for.

I don't get how The Magic of Scheherazade could be a bad name. It's loosely based on Arabian Nights, and Scheherazade was the name of the princess telling the stories. The name actually fits pretty well. Unless y'all mean because it's hard for 'Muricans to deal with foreign words

I think he means he doesn't have the proper one for that variant. I could be mistaken though.

Yeah, that label looks all kinds of wrong. Even board pics wouldn't help on this, as it's an NROM board which would be real easy to fake. I wouldn't risk it.

Bases Loaded 3 is technically just beating one game, but it's not an easy one. But with 2 and 4 you gotta play a full season, which is just not feasible with a week or so remaining in the year. I've got my password for Bases Loaded 1 that's around 16 wins in, if anyone wants to pick it up from there, but I'm definitely not working on it anymore.

They are. But with all the tweaking I've had to do to the mix, it's a process. Also just had some blood work done, so hopefully that doesn't necessitate another change. Cuz if my meds are killing my kidneys, I know what is going first