Category Archives: Nintendo Powers
Pick Ups for Today! PSA FOR BUYING VIDEO GAMES
Hey guys. I swung by my local Game X Change, a fairly decent size used media chain. It has video games, pops, and movies. Maybe more, but those are the things I’ve noticed.
Now I have a handful of games I consider buy on the sight games. Darkwatch on Xbox is one of those games. Guess what game they had.
That’s right. They had the game I’ve been looking for. And at a great price, too.
They had it for almost $10 under pricecharting. When I opened the case and saw the manual, this became a no brainer. What I really didn’t expect to see was a Nintendo Power, in my collecting goal range, no less. Nintendo Power 198 with Ike from Fire Embelm: Path of Radiance as the main cover attraction.
Ike is my favorite character in Super Smash Bros Brawl on Wii. This game, in particular, is a crown jewel for Gamecube collectors. I’m going for every Nintendo Power in the N64 and Gamecube era. All these factors make this another easy purchase. I flipped through it, trying to see if it still had its poster. Truthfully, I didn’t see it, but I was rushed. I’ll double-check for it in the morning. Obviously, the posters are usually not deal breakers for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have it than not have it, but I’m fine either way.
Now for my rookie mistake. Let this be a PSA to everyone buying from a non-big box retailer but anywhere really because this stuff can happen at your Walmarts and Dollar General’s as well.
I got to the register and began talking to the employee. He’s been there the last few times I’ve gone, and we’ve struck up conversations each time. We talked about comics, the store, Ryan Gosling, etc. Well, my total should have been $35 plus tax. It rang up $43 dollars. I thought, “Dang, what is the tax rate again?”
When he handed me the receipt, I noticed Darkwatch rank up $30 instead of $25. I asked him about it. He informed me it’s based on the system price, not the sticker price. He said he could refund me, but really I didn’t want a refund, just my five dollars back.
Now, I’m not here to bad mouth Game X Change or that employee. I should have said something or he could have pointed out the price discrepancy. But we were both distracted by talking. I worked at a video game store for years. So I understand. This sometimes happened there, too, but mostly with games that got traded in often. Maddens, Call of Dutys, etc. One trade in these games are 5.99. The next time they’re traded in, they’re 7.99. So when the employee puts the game in the system, the system is updated to reflect 7.99. A customer can pick up that 5.99 and be shocked when we ring it up. Obviously, the easiest solution is to either just keep pricing the games 5.99 if our inventory already reflects we have 1 on the floor. Or update all versions of that game to the 7.99 via a new sticker. Take your pick, but that eliminates this problem.
So I get it. Some games are going to slip through the crackl. I’m just surprised it was Darkwatch. The one I got was the only one they worked out on the floor. And that copy was priced in April, not yet 4 months ago. So I’m a little surprised for the sticker to system discrepancy for an uncommon game. Of course, an employee could have always messed up the sticker price or the system price.
Either way, my copy was still cheaper than Pricecharting. It was still an easy purchase and I didn’t feel like making a big stink about it when it was still a good deal even with the mishap. But I do think it bares repeating to pay attention when checking out.
Has that happened to you? When you found something at a good price you rung it up just to find the price was different?
This is different but it’s similar enough of a story to tell here. When I was working at Dollar General, we would run sales on certain sizes of certain products [don’t ask me what it was now.] But my boss had warned me about this customer. She would intentionally take an item, move it to the section on sale, then bring it up to us, and act surprised when it didn’t ring up on sale. Then, she would make us leave the cash register to show us where she got it from. Now, mind you, I was a lowly grunt at DG, I could not void transactions, nor could I go in an altar price. So I would have to go get my boss to explain the situation to her. Unfortunately, my boss said we just had to give her the price she wanted because it just wasn’t worth hassling with her. Again, my situation is different, but I’ll never forget that woman, so this seemed like a good time to reminisce about here.
Anyway, not a bad haul. Thank you guys for reading and have a great day!
My Nintendo Powers
Hey guys. It is time to finally start tracking our Nintendo Powers. I will be making new update posts as time goes on. So if you want to follow the journey, make sure you subscribe to the blog! I am mostly collecting the N64 and Gamecube ones. Now, mind you, I will get older ones because I love them, but they aren’t priorities. https://archive.org/details/Nintendo-Power-Magazine-The-N64-Era-1996-2001 list roughly 62 Nintendo 64 issues (missed opportunity to have 64 issues,). https://archive.org/details/Nintendo-Power-Magazine-The-GameCube-Era-2001-2006 seems to list 60 issues for the Gamecube era, but it looks like it starts to veer towards the DS and Wii towards the end. So it is going to be roughly 120 issues. Welcome to the hunt, let’s see what we have!
110: WWF: War Zone
My oldest Nintendo Power has WWF: War Zone as the cover game. While I have deep dived into this one, it covers Quest 64 and Banjo Kazooie. That’s pretty cool.
117: Mario Party
This has got to be one of my favorites in my collection. That cover is awesome. I actually thought it was Mario Party 3 with the way Mario is hitting the block. Either way this cover is iconic and it covers the game that launched my favorite party series. Beyond thrilled this one is in the collection.
128: Mario Party 2
If a cover was going to top Mario Party, it was going to be Mario Party 2. I have actually flipped through this one and I love. Some cool things about this one is it includes a walkthrough for 40 Winks. A PS1 game that never got released on N64… until about two decades later when it got crowd funded. This cover also shows off the awesome costumes of Mario Party 2.
134: Kirby 64
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shard is one of my favorite N64 games and this cover pops with the white background and Kirby center stage. In the background we see Kirby performing various actions. This one also previews Majora’s Mask, Megaman 64 and Banjo Tooie. That’s a stacked issue!
150: Luigi’s Mansion
The Gamecube is here! Yes, Luigi’s Mansion marks my first Gamecube cover. I have not opened this one. The cover basically confirms Luigi’s Mansion is releasing as an early launch title for Gamecube. I like the colors here.
158: Here They Come
Believe it or not, I don’t know how I feel about this one. This one is a Gamecube hype cover. With Windwaker Link, Sunshine Mario, and Kirby Air Ride front and center and a heap of 3rd party characters like Pac Man, Rayman, Megaman, Bomberman and more, you’d think I would love it. Either way, it is cool. It gets me excited. Just not my favorite.
162: Metroid Prime
I’m pumped to deep dive into this one. It is easily my biggest Nintendo Power. Metroid made the jump not only to 3D but also into a new genre, First Person Shooter. What a huge leap. I am excited to read these old issues that document Metroid Prime’s development. But it only hints at sports games. So hype cover, but I wish it listed more games on the cover.
171: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
While this is technically a GBA cover, Soul Calibur II and Billy Hatcher in the preview windows. I love Billy Hatcher and I am looking forward to reading this deep dive. I’ve heard great things about the Tactic games, so this issue should be a great read!
174: Fire Emblem GBA
Another Gameboy cover with another series I have never really played. But I got to admit I love this issue. The Fire Emblem art is epic being front and center. The game also hints at Mario Kart Double Dash, Kirby Air Ride, and Metal Gear Solid. Sign me up!
179: Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a very interesting port. I’ve actually some articles about its development and it is cool. So I am always down to read more about it. The cover is awesome and the main topic is interesting, however the preview games this time around leave a little to be desired. Custom Robo is cool but I am not knowledge about it. The other preview games are Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and MVP Baseball 2004.
180: Tales of Symphonia
We have hit a run where every cover is going to be awesome. Tales of Symphonia is the main cover story. I love its art. In the preview window we get Wario Ware, INC, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, and Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green. I’m game for anything Pokemon!
181: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure s
Honestly, I never got to play Four Swords Adventures, so I can’t say I’m nostalgic for it. However, I am still happy to add any and all Zelda Nintendo Powers! This one advertises a load of games but the stand outs would be Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Spider-Man 2, and Shining Force.
182: Resident Evil 4
Here is one of my absolute favorites. Resident Evil 4 was my favorite game on Nintendo Gamecube, so it is awesome having its cover issue. Not to mention, its previews are stacked. Zelda, Star Fox, and Baten Kaitos! I am excited to pop this bad boy open
183: Pikmin 2
The epic run of epicness had to end at some point. Pikmin is not my favorite franchise. However, they have an excellent cover. This cover would make me interested to play Pikmin 2. But sadly, they are not my favorites. This the first one to have subpar preview windows as well. Boasting about Catwoman, Second Sight and NCAA Football 2005 doesn’t exactly get you exicted to open it. However, it does have exclusive preview for Paper Mario when it was still just called 2 and not yet officially named. I love little things like that.
186: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Now this is an epic cover. Samus is just staring you down! The previews aren’t bad either. It features exclusive news for the upcoming DS as well as looks at X-Men: Legends, Mario Power Tennis, and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories round out a solid preview.
188: The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
This is argubly my favorite cover. Minish Cap is such an underrated gem in the Zelda series. The cover art is phenomal. The hot trends of 2005 is a pretty cool time capsule.This one also mentions previewing Super Mario 64 DS and Star Fox Assault and more.
190: Killer 7
A little underwhelming cover for such a bizarre game. The use of white helps the name Killer 7 pop. But the cover is ultimately bland for such a unique game. But this a game I will certainly take all the articles around this strange game. Killer 7 was a part of the Gamecube’s Capcom Five. Capcom’s planned five games for the Gamecube. Unlike Resident Evil 4, Killer 7 remained a Gamecube exclusive.
194: Mario Kart and the Wii Revolution
This may lead you to believe the Gamecube’s run is over, but nope. We still have roughly 10 more issues to go at this point. While it covers two things I am not actively collecting, it is still really cool to see the Wii this early. As you can see, the Wii is still going by its code name, Revolution. It also highlights E3 (or at least post E3.). This one is going to feel oddly nostalgic now that E3 has gone the way of the dinosaurs.
So that’s my Nintendo Power collection. What do you think? Which issue was your favorite? What issue should I go for next? Let me know! Thank you guys for reading. Have a great day!
Da_Hubbz 