Re: my take on the FX
Hah, well, I guess I'll share my story on why the SuperGrafx is the "it" console for me when it comes to cool/cult status. I have no idea if anyone on here will remember my story, I've probably sent it at least twice in the many years of the TML. Waaaaay back in....oh man, 1990, maybe, a friend had a magazine, and it had a single screenshot of a game coming out in japan for a system we'd never heard of. The game was Daimakaimura, the system was called the SuperGrafx. I loved Ghosts n Goblins in the arcade, loved the SNES version, loved the Genny version. And here's a version I've never even heard of? And it's supposed to be a super great version? Bwah?!?! For years I kept the SG and Dai in my mind, seeing it talked about in Die Hard Game Fan, seeing an ad for Dragon Games or something, they advertised import systems. I called and the guy said he had all the games and the system, for JUST 1,500 dollars. Bwah. I do recall he said too many SG games, not the 5 but 10 or something. Maybe it was 1,000 dollars. It was high. That's all I remember. So maybe it's 1997 or so, a guy that runs a nearby used game store tells me about this guy down in Mesquite Texas, Mikey's Wholesale, gives me the number. I call, he has a Supergrafx with two games for 150 bucks. Ack! I tell him I'll be down in a few days with the cash to buy one. I get off work at 6am (my 2 year stint working graveyard at a gas station), hop in a friend's car, and with another friend tagging along, we take off, it's about a 200-250 mile trip. Tired, with cash in hand from the recent paycheck, we zoom down, finally find the place, go in--and OH. MY. GOD. He has EVERYTHING I'd never seen in a store, import games, a shelf that has maybe 200 or so PCE games on it. import systems I've never seen in glass cases. My memory is probably better than the store actually was, or maybe it isn't, hah. So he takes the Supergrafx and puts it on the counter, the two games, and I hand him the 150. I spy something, it's a PCE w/the CD rom attachment, ask him how much. He says 100, I bum cash off the two friends, and have _just_ enough to also get the PCE/CD. I say I'll be back in a week, when I get paid again, but he says he'll be closed by then, he's shutting shop and dumping everything on the video games newsgroup. NoOoOoOOOO! Damn, ain't that the luck. So we drive back, I don't even have enough change for a soda now, get home, fire it all up, and enjoy the reality of my years of desire. Did the two SG games meet my expectations? Probably not. But it didn't matter (I think they were Gran Zort and Battle Ace, if I even remember that title correctly, too lazy to get up and check), as I had the system, and Daimakaimura was going to be found and purchased, ayup. I eventually rounded up the other 5 SG games, and the Darius game, and now they all reside in my room 'o games. Then along came ebay, which imo dampened the mystique of finding stuff a bit , though it can still happen. Problem is ebay turned it into "richest man wins" instead of "find the treasure". Good and bad to both points. :-) I don't have the most toys. But I do have a lot of 'em. Hal Pearcy, AR and for the bored, a pic of my newest toy, scored a month or so ago - http://www.flickr.com/photos/8703176@N03/531851028/