Merry Christmas (To Me)

I know Christmas is now a TV advertisement of last week, but for the first time in a while I picked up some gaming goodies a few days before Christmas. Since I so selfishly bought them for myself when it was the time of giving, I'm just going to go ahead and claim them as Christmas presents for myself. There; I'm an asshole.
Anyway, like I said before it has been a while since I really hunted around for some bargains like I use to constantly. It suddenly occurred to me that I'm still really into retro games and how the thrill of the hunt pays off when you find something at a great price. This happened to me twice on that 35+ degree day. The items weren't exactly rare, but the condition of them for the prices they were would of been worthy of a dance on the street if it wasn't so damn hot.

First on the theoretical chopping block, is Donkey Kong Land. This cost me $5. Five dorras.

Look at the condition of this beast! Most of the cartridges you buy individually are stained, faded and the labels are usually peeling. Luckily this one came in a clear plastic case. Not as good as getting it complete in an original box, but probably second best because at least the cartridge is well preserved. I swear I was the only one in my generation who kept the original boxes and instructions.

Uka Uka, this is not a fair contest.

Next up, Crash Bash! This beautifully carved wonder of a game also cost me $5.
This, like DK Land also came in great condition. The disk has no scratches, the case is intact and it also has the instruction manual (which has a Spyro: Year of the Dragon advert on the back... awesome!). Over that it's an original release. Not a dull, grey platinum case like many of my PSone games... sadly.
I've only ever had the demo, which I've always played with friends as this is an excellent party game. Now it will be great to be able to play more then the several levels which the demo restricts you to.

Blog update 9/12/2012

Over the last couple of days I have been redesigning the blog graphically. There hasn't been any changes since April, 2011; when I actually launched the blog. Blue and white seemed like an okay combo for a little while but it's been getting on my nerves lately and I've had complaints that it can effect readability after a while.
Not being one to disgruntle my precious audience, I've decided to make the overall look a bit more modern and the colour scheme a bit more reader friendly. I would never of course pass up the chance to put in some Atari 2600 era wood grain either. Wood grain is fantastic.

Video: Gradius 3 Quicky Review

Sorry I've been dead to the world as far as this blog is concerned, I thought I would make up for it with a video.
This is a new format of video reviewing that I'm trialling where I scripted, recorded and edited everything within one afternoon. More of a first impressions video than anything, please feel free to share your thoughts on the video. Watch in HD too for best results.