My Greatest Game Pickup of All Time?

Game collecting has been a hobby of mine for years now. It all started in the early 2000’s when I had my first job and a decent amount of income for a kid. When a local used game store opened up, it was a match made in heaven: a kid with not too much money who loves games going to a store that sold a ton of games for not too much money.

From there the hobby grew and grew. Eventually I discovered the Sega Dreamcast, thanks to my brother giving me one for my birthday. Since I was (and still kind of am) into fighting games and RPGs at the time, the Dreamcast was a great fit: it housed arcade ports of dozens of excellent fighters, exclusive to the system, and had some unique RPGs to boot. So I made a mini-goal for my collection: I wanted to own every US released Sega Dreamcast game.

Fast forward a decade or more to today and that goal has come to a screeching halt. Or rather, it had come to a halt until this past week, when I somehow managed to score four of the most expensive Dreamcast games in one seller’s lot. Oh yeah, and that lot also had a few dozen other games I already had, but were nonetheless excellent finds!

Earlier this week I found on Craigslist someone selling a small lot of PlayStation games and a PS2 console. Tucked in the otherwise lame lot of games was Ghost in the Shell, a $60-$80 game at least, all bundled together for a price of just $40. On any given day if you asked me what my best find was I would probably say that, but somehow this week it was toppled by this Dreamcast monstrosity.

The four games of highlight are Tech Romancer, Project Justice, Mars Matrix, and Cannon Spike.

Cannon Spike!! I had actually already conceited that I would never own this game because of how damn expensive it is and how hard it is to find in the wild. Yet here we are, Cannon Spike, the Dreamcast’s most sought after game (arguably), in perfect condition, now in my collection!

And then there’s Mars Matrix, Capcom’s arcade bullet hell that no one really even knows about. Another game I never thought I’d even play! And let’s not rule out the mech fighter Tech Romancer or the sequel to the awesome fighter Rival Schools, Project Justice! All stellar games and super hard to find Dreamcast items, now in my collection! I am ecstatic!

Finally there are two more finds from this lot that I wanted to highlight, because again, like the above games, I just never thought I’d own them. Perfect condition official Sega Dreamcast Fight Sticks. These guys are very hard to find and to find them in this condition for a good price is unheard of! The seller was obviously a fighting game fan, and he knew he had some good stuff here, so he took care of them. I’ve played with the sticks and all these games, and they all work great and so far are a blast to play!

Those were the items of value to me, because everything else I actually already owned. But if you didn’t already have a Dreamcast, or were looking for an instant awesome collection, this lot was it! Other highlights include a modded Dreamcast console to play Japanese games without needing a boot disc, as well as Japanese versions of Capcom vs. SNK, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Power Stone 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and Guilty Gear X. US versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Marvel vs. Capcom, Virtual On: Ontario Tangram, Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and Shenmue are also major titles!

OK, mini-rant over. I usually don’t like to just talk about pickups, but I was way too excited about this find to not share it and capture it here for posterity. I had honestly kind of given up on Dreamcast collecting because I just couldn’t find these hard to find games, which are the only ones I really have left to get to complete the collection. Now with this shot of adrenaline, I might have to dig deep and track down the last few games I need!

What games are you always on the lookout for? Are there any titles you thought you’d never see, but somehow ended up picking up? Let me know!!

Laters,
Jsick