The Games I Bought While Being Dead to the World

As alluded to at the end of my most recent review, Vortex for the SNES, I mentioned Retro Game On had died a little during the exam period:

An ACTUAL Snapchat from the period

All that is behind me now, as study is finished for few a months with nothing to do in the meantime except make videos and write about video games on the internet. I'm basically going to try and treat it like a full-time job, except without the stress, responsibility and well... money. I would love to do this as my job if it was ever feasible, but for now I'll just keep creating and treating it like the involved hobby it is.
Because of the exams, assessments and just general study though, I wasn't able to buy much during that period. I did buy a few things though, and I actually went op-shopping the other day which felt great. This is what I bought.

First off, I cleared out the Salvation Army store in the Perth CBD actually during exams. I had a two or three-hour gap between exams, so I trained into the city and wasted some time.
Should I have been studying during that period? Probably. But it's yet to be seen since I don't have all my results yet. Anyway, the Salvo's in the city is a bit of a golden egg. It probably gets quite a few interesting bits of stock flowing through its doors thanks to its location, but on top of that also plenty of customers all likely wanting to nab up 15-year-old games at a bargain price before I do.
That visit was my lucky day though, as I exited with all this:

PC gaming galore right there. Probably my favourite purchase out of the bunch is the big-boxed copy of Red Faction. I've always loved the Red Faction series, and even though I already own it on PS2 I had to grab that box, especially when it's only $8.25.
I was quite happy to find The Movies too, since I remember wanting that game when I was younger. That was only $3.25, along with Sim City 3000, Sim City 2000 and Half-Life Opposing Force.
Do not ask me why I bought Sim City 2000 when I already own it in a big ole' box, but for whatever reason I now own it twice. Sim City 3000 is nice to have though, and will likely withdraw hours of my life like 2000 did.
Sadly it seems I cannot play Opposing Force since I don't own the original Half-Life on PC, but I'm sure I'll come across it sooner or later.

A few days ago I actually went proper op-shopping, and god did it just feel so right. I only visited two stores, so the haul was smaller than what I've come home with in the past but it was nice none the less.

First stop was a Salvos where I bought those three PSone games for $3.25 each. What is it with Salvo's ending every price in 25? It's eerie.
Anyway, Everybody's Golf is a true PlayStation classic so that was welcomed into my collection with wide-open arms (even though I suck at golf games). Austin Powers is groovy as all heck, and seemed surprisingly fun for what it is. Who knows though, it might just be charming me too much with all the catchphrases thrown in as you play. You're a tiiiiiger! 
I was surprised by the Xevious compilation (at least, that's what I think it is) since it's labelled as a NTSC-J region disc. What surprised me even more though when I got home was when I discovered it was a pirated copy (the horror!). I don't know what my Japanese PlayStation was trying to tell me when I played the disc, but it was likely saying it wasn't compatible. I really should have noticed it was pirated since the printing job of the disc inserts are a bit shoddy. Oh well.
Lastly, I went into a Good Sammy's and came out with a big-boxed copy of Ghost Recon. That was $5.
I played this game quite a bit when I was younger, since my Dad bought a stupidly cheap Big Bytes version (remember those!?) from EB Games back in the day. It's going to be great to play it again.