Five Dollar Awesomeness

I went thrift shopping the other day since my best friend had come for a visit and hadn’t been to a thrift shop in some time.  After finding her an Ugly Christmas Sweater for her pending annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, we stopped off at the glass case where the retro games are usually stashed.  There was nothing good to be seen, and just as we were about to leave, one of the workers recognized me as the “Video Game Lady”.  He said that they had just priced some stuff and hadn’t put it out yet, but that he’d go and grab it for me if I was interested.

He returned with two things.  The first was an NES Four Score, an accessory that allows for the NES to plug in four controllers instead of the usual two.  The greatest part about this was that it was still in its box with all its inserts and a very cool Nintendo Power poster.  The original price tag on the box said $4595, which I’m sure means $45.95, and the thrift store had this priced for only $5!  This is one accessory that we didn’t already have, so I scooped that up in a heartbeat.  After getting it home and looking online to see how much it’s going for, I was shocked to see that i was pushing $60-$70 Canadian in the completeness and condition that this one was in.  Talk about a deal!  Here’s a photo of the accessory, its box, and all its fun inserts!

The NES Four Score is compatible with about 30 games or so.  The most interesting ones on the list for me are Bomberman II, Gauntlet II, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Smash TV.  There are lots of great sports games that support it, but I’m not much of a sports game girl.  We do already have an NES Satellite, but it introduces a bit of lag that I can’t get over in platformers.  I used to use the NES Satellite to be able to sit on my couch across the room from my TV, and not so much for the four player advantage.  It’ll be nice to have a lag-less option in the NES Four Score!

The second thing that we were handed was a PSP!  I know I just picked one up recently, but this one was also for the low, low price of $5.  It looked practically brand new.  When I asked to test it out, the unit didn’t turn on, and the power cord didn’t seem to turn on the charge light (it turns out that it was a power cord for some weird phone that I’d never heard of before.)  I had a charger at home to test it out with, and when I got it home, it worked after charging for a few hours.  I don’t have any games to test the disc portion yet, but I couldn’t pass up on an opportunity for a PSP for only $5.  Here’s a photo of the machine!

This was a great thrift day.  It truly helps to know people in these places, and the small town-ness of my city is certainly helpful for building a rapport with people.  Anyone have some good PSP recommendations?  I’m not too familiar with a lot of PSP-exclusive games.

A few updates:

1. I finally made some progress in EarthBound.  I was stuck at a spot that I thought I had screwed myself over in by initiating a cutscene before getting weapon/equipment upgrades.  After a little grinding and some perseverance, I made it.  I am hoping to finish this game in a timely fashion and finally get to playing some of my other games soon!
2. There is another swap close by this weekend that I’m hoping to get to.  Send me all your luck!
3. I overspent on a lot of Sega Master System games on eBay recently.  I’m still torn because I know I spent way too much, but there are some great games in there that I’ve never seen at a swap that I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to find for a while.  The package is on its way, and when it gets here, I’ll do up a proper post about it.

I hope you’re all well.  Thanks so much for reading.

-GG