Lost Levels: Hey, I can read too ya' know.

I haven't had much luck tracking down retro gaming in recent months. I've come across the occasional SNES game or sealed DS classic, just nothing really remarkable. A couple of trips to local used book stores did produce some decent results, although not specifically video game software. While nothing rare these two strategy guides are two fine additions to the collection, each bringing a unique flavor to classic gaming literature.

Lost Levels: NCSoft Collector's Editions - Part Two

My brief synopsis of NCSoft's past collector's editions ended up being more picture intensive than I planned, so I'm putting the overflow in a second post. Despite the game's lack of success, Tabula Rasa was a well-conceived action rpg with interesting weapons/magic combat mechanics. Without going into too many details, it played like an MMO of Mass Effect, which was also released during the same month. Coincidence? Probably. Still, Tabula Rasa has a much more comprehensive collector's edition pulled straight from its fiction.

Lost Levels: NCSoft Collector's Editions - Part One

As I've made clear in the past, I'm not much of a PC gamer. My roots were always firmly planted in console gaming; pre-Nintendo I was rocking the Odyssey in my parents' basement. I barely touched a computer for gaming until early high school after witnessing the marvels of Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight at a friend's house. Not realizing my PC was capable of manipulating the Force I promptly began to invest in some other worthy titles: Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Civilization II , X-Wing: Rogue Squadron. Nothing really crazy, just the usual big-league titles that made the rounds in high school. It wasn't until college that I eventually dabbled in some MMORPGs like City of Heroes. While the appeal of playing in a progressive world kept me interested, the monthly fee draining my already low finances put a halt to the new endeavor. Eventually I met PC gaming halfway with Guild Wars, the only (good) subscription-free online RPG. By essentially flipping a massive multiplayer middle-finger to World of Warcraft, ArenaNet and NCSoft established itself as a respectable source of virtual worlds. Regardless of their level of success I've been a big fan of the games, and their respective universes. Here's a brief look at a few of NCSoft's other collector's editions, from the very successful to the quickly forgotten.

Lost Levels - Sequelitis (plus some Dreamcast stuff)

You may not believe it, but I'm still picking up old games on occasion. Sure these are from almost 4 months ago. And sure, I've had these photos ready for 3 months. That doesn't mean I'm lazy... just busy. Right? Whatever. Games.

Lost Levels - I'm Not Helping Edition

It can be a little frustrating collecting games. Recently, as seen in some of my older posts, I've been fortunate enough to come across some old Sega Genesis games on the cheap and in decent condition. Never one to pass up on a deal, my Genesis collection has grow significantly in the past few months. The trick is, I don't own a functioning Genesis.

Lost Levels IV - I Ran Out of Clever Names Edition

Hey folks, I'm back with more recent finds from local shops. Nothing too fancy, just a bit of nostalgic gaming.  Although I don't know how much fun these games are considering I have yet to pick up an old Sega Genesis or 32X add-on for that matter. Maybe I should stick to classic Saturn games until then. Check out the pics after the jump.

Lost Levels III - PC Edition

Nothing gets me excited like a trip back home to my parent's house. I don't travel home too frequently and never for more than a couple days at a time. Besides seeing the folks and reminiscing about the old neighborhood, I usually find some old hidden gems tucked away in my room (or my brother's room for that matter). Recently I collected a nice haul of old PC games dating back to old 5.25" floppy disks all the way up to CD games. I grabbed the best of the bunch, leaving some of the older, beat up boxes behind. I'll try to keep the words to a minimum and let you soak in the glory of PC history.

Lost Levels II - Expansion Pack

I'm posting another Lost Levels this week, which shouldn't really happen on a regular basis. Granted, I'm not trying to stick to a two-game limit or a set time frame, it's just been working out that way for now. Basically I wanted to expand on my prior post with a little tribute to a collector's edition that really deserved the attention. Hence my oh-so cleverly named post. Expand. Expansion Pack? Get it?

(*sigh*)...just read the full story after the jump.

Lost Levels II

Time for round 2 of updates to my gaming collection. Like the first Lost Levels I have a couple of older, but by no means "classic" games I picked up, generally of the limited edition variety. I found these within the last month since the prior collection post, although I just now got around to snapping some pics. 

Lost Levels

Part of my weekly routine involves a number of trips to local game stores and other oddball thrift stores hunting down old or collectible games. They are always hit or miss situation but every now and there a nice gem pops up. I'm hoping to share these finds with the internets as I find them, probably every couple of months as I amass enough that's worth sharing. 

One of the best places in the northeast, particularly in Massachusetts, for used games in Newbury Comics. You really have to know which locations carry a decent selection of games as each one is a little different. They recently had a 30th anniversary sale that knocked 30% everything in stores, so I knew I had to hit up my closest location for some scrounging. Sure, I managed to find some nice older collector's editions: