PixlBit

Did both .hack games come with the anime DVDs?

Well, Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land is somewhat on the rare side.  It was a near-launch PS2 game (it's actually on a CD-ROM), and it does have some worth these days.  Interest in the game is still there (especially now with the explosion of first-person dungeon crawlers), so it might be a good idea to grab it as long as it is complete.

That's... unfortunate that you missed out on Fatal Frame II .  Most people don't know the value of the games that are sitting on those shelves, which is why I never talk about it in the open.  From what I've seen, there are people who are willing to overpay for these games, as Amazon and eBay are their only options to buy them.  So, you're probably right about that guy grabbing that game to post it online.  Even if he put it up there for a quick sell at $30-35, he's going to make something off of it.  Anyway, too bad you weren't able to charge the game just so that you could get it.

Also, I don't know how GameStop flubs the value of certain used games (like Wizardry for the PS2 for $3).  Games that are complete and in perfect condition should be treated with a bit more care, and definitely not priced the same as a disc-only copy.  But, if they don't want their cut that's fine by me.  It's their loss and our gain after all.

You perfectly described my first experience with Metroid Prime 2.  I was terribly lost in that game and I spent several days just wandering until I gave up on it.  I wasted too much time with nothing to show for it and I was quite angry with the game.  So, I definitely feel your pain with Demon's Souls, because there's no greater crime a game can commit than to waste a player's time (which could be caused by anything).  Still, I saw you playing the game the other night, so you must have regained your motivation.

Don't you just love Ice Man's stage?  That damn chasm with the penguins and armed platforms was miserable in the NES version, and it was not any better in the remake.  I'd tell you to use the Magnet Beam, but where's the fun in that?  As for the Yellow Devil, just look out for the two blocks you have to do one jump over.  After you get past it, the stages and the following bosses become far more manageable.

By the way, which Raiden games are on that compilation?  I'm guessing the first two are on there, but does it also include Aces?

I'm surprised Dokapon Kingdom is going for that much.  At one point in time the game was on clearance - for both the Wii and PS2 version - thanks in part to some harsh reviews it got in the past (most of it was complaints about playing the game solo).  Still, it's always nice to find a great deal on something you know is priced outrageously elsewhere (kind of like Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI). 

I would love it if this happened.  Even though they were separate devices in the past, the combination of the TurboExpress and TurboGrafx-16 left a huge impression on me.  Being able to take the same games the console played and place it in a handheld was very cool.  I always wondered why more companies didn't copy that configuration from the start, because it was great for use in and out of the home.  Of course, Sega did eventually release the Nomad (which is very close to what we might see in the future), while Nintendo went backwards with the Super Game Boy & Game Boy Player.

Still, I can see problems with this approach as the companies involved stand to lose out on a significant amount of money.  Without the extra hardware to release proprietary games on they've effectively cut their revenue sources in half.  It could still happen, though, especially if Japanese consumers demand it.  Between their overwhelming preference for portable systems and the limited amount of time spent at home, I could see them easily accepting it.  A merged console could also work incredibly well in the West, too, as I'm sure plenty of kids, parents, and college-age students would appreciate getting two systems in one.

There's so much going on behind this that it's difficult to pinpoint the problem.  I think Nintendo is making a big mistake, though, by reducing its presence at E3, regardless if they or the third parties have little to show.  I understand they might have reservations about drawing attention to that, but the media and gamers are going to find out anyway.  Any press is better than conceding to the competition at this point, especially now that competition is at its fiercest.  Even if Nintendo didn't want to talk about the Wii U, they could still focus their energy on the 3DS as I'm certain there is quite a bit to talk about.  Are they sure they just want to address those who already own the hardware and ignore the general audience by staging closed meetings (Nintendo Direct or otherwise)?

Yeah, the automated combat system didn't win me over.  That is, without a doubt, my least favorite way to handle conflict in a game, which means the other aspects of the game need work harder to grab my attention.  I just didn't see that with Contact, and I felt that the combat system interferred with what could have been an interesting adventure/puzzle game.

Still, I almost caved and bought it anyway back when it was on clearance for $9.  But, I eventually decided against it.  That said, it's hard to believe this game is nearly seven years old.  The PS3 hadn't even launched yet when this game was released!

I almost did that about a year ago.  I came across a brand new copy of Quarantine during FYE's PS2 clearance sale, and I thought about putting the set together (as the fourth was the rarest of the bunch).  But, I left it behind because I really didn't care for the series.  Of course, that was kind of foolish considering what people were willing to pay for it, even used.  The same thing happened with a KOEI game, Samurai Warriors 2: Empires; FYE had it for $10, which I could have easily sold for $50.

It is funny, however, that we wouldn't mind owning these games if we found them for cheap.  We've played these games and we didn't see the fuss, so the game's worth to us is greatly diminished.  Meanwhile, those who really want these games are willing to drop big bucks on them.  No wonder we're so careful with our games now and haord them like treasure.

But, yeah, I agree with you about spending your money elsewhere, especially if multiple inexpensive games are involved.  As you've said many times, these games are not going to go down in price so get them while you can.

Game resellers can charge as much as they want for .hack!  There's no way I'm dropping that kind of money on four games, especially when the first two games are quite common.  I'm actually curious now about the real worth of these games (what people are willing to pay for them), which is usually displayed in a real auction and not through Buy-It-Now.

Anyway, I'm glad I'm done buying PS2 games.  The pricing has become increasingly absurd these past few years, with used prices moving closer and closer to the MSRP of a new game, and I'll feel bad for anyone who actually wants to play many of these games.