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oldnintendonerd · 6 years

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Tis the season... to be hunting

Aw yes! Here we are folks. Yard sale season. You know what that means. Actual finds. Spring cleaning has come and gone! People are now having Yard Sales, and donating to thrift stores. We are already chock full for this post, so sit back and relax, I have pictures of everything, and it is a long one.

First up is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for Playstation - Found 2018.04.20 at Goodwill

I have never played this game, and have no intention of playing this game. Hate to start out o a bit of a negative note, but Harry Potter is of no interest to me. It was $0.99, so with tax, $1.06 out the door. Strictly resale bait. Anything I can sell for about seven to eight times what I paid for it, I’ll always pick it up.

Next up, you are witnessing the very first yard sale I was able to get to this season. It was literally within walking distance of my house. I happened to see the sign on the way out to get breakfast on the morning of April 21st. It was so convenient I really had no thoughts of actually finding anything. But of course I stopped anyway and lo and behold... three very nice condition PS2 games. Nothing earth shattering, but I’ve been wanting to try the Ratchet and Clank games for a while. Now is my chance.

Ratchet and Clank - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

As you can see from the masking tape price tag, it was only $0.50. Those are my kinds of prices, especially for clean, well taken care of games. It is complete and in great condition.

It has instructions/poster. Which are in A condition, as well as a solid A disc, and A case. I will be looking forward to checking out this game in the near future. Not sure when, but soon. Especially since the lot came with an additional Ratchet and Clank game...

Ratchet and Clank Going Commando - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

Another one in pristine condition for being as old as it is. Same ratings accross the board as it’s prequel. Could not ask for much more. Solid games for a very good price at this sale.

Once again, just minty fresh, and complete with instructions/poster. Definitely going in the collection, right along with Ratchet and Clank.

The third one they had may go in a bundle or be trade bait, I am not a big Star Wars, or Lego movie/game fan, don’t get me wrong, I love Legos. I just always thought the games and movies were hoakie and kinda blah. But, for $0.50, its hard to really pass up any title. I may have bought freakin Madden games for that price just to have extra cases or bundle fodder.

Lego Star Wars The Video Game - PS2 - Found on 2018.04.21 at a yard sale

Once again, just immaculate condition. A’s accross the board. There were kids at the sale, but I cannot imagine this was ever handled by them, I have a feeling the homeowner was also the PS2 owner. There were no other games or consoles out. Which is strange. Who puts out just three PS2 games. However, being the first sale, and so dumbstruck was I that I even found something, I broke my very first rule. I forgot to ask about more games. So I’m not sure if they would have had any more, or be willing to part with them if they had. Dropped the ball there, it won’t happen again.

An item that is a little off topic from the usual blog content, I also picked up a really nice Sony dual tape deck for $1 at the same sale, it says “turns on but won’t play”, I immediately figured it needed belts. I opened it up and it does in fact need belts. They are snapped and gooey, wrapped around the flywheels and gears. I have ordered a set and I can’t wait to get those in and fix it up, and listen to all my old cassettes. Maybe even turn a few of them into MP3. Not traditional music Cassettes, these are recording I made when I was a kid, and even live concerts i recorded off of the radio back in the early 90′s. Can’t replace those. So backing up to digital would be very nice.

Well. Since that is not related to the normal content of this blog we’ll just stop talking about that one right there. Though if you don’t mind seeing a few things here and there outside of gaming for finds, I’m happy to toss one in here and there. Leave a comment if you feel one way or the other on that topic. Here is a pickup recap photo with the tape deck in it for fun anyway.

Moving quickly on, or this will be a mile long and you will be here all day reading this post. I think it may get to be a mile long anyway. Sorry about that.

A couple days later I popped back into a Goodwill and found a game I never could get to play on any of my machines at the time it came out. I think I had a demo, and it absolutely destroyed both my rigs at the time. It was unplayable. It is old enough to be on 5 CD ROM discs, no DVD ROMs here! In a nice condition double disc jewel case I found...

Far Cry - PC - Found 2018.04.23 at Goodwill

I picked it up and thought, there has to be a missing disc, or they are all scratched to hell. But nope, every disc was accounted for, and they were in immaculate condition. Ubisoft releases patches for their older games, and after a quick Google search in the store, it appears there is one that will allow this to work on Windows 10. So I bought it. $1.06 out the door from the CD bin. I haven’t tried it yet, and even if it doesn’t work, that’s a cool piece to have.

Next up is another one I had a long time ago, not valuable or rare or anything, but was a good game that I enjoyed playing in the early 2000′s.

Fable - XBox - Found 2018.05.03 at Goodwill

This was in a little rougher condition than I’d have liked, but it might still play. See the scratches on the disc below.

Worst case I can get it resurfaced for like $2. The scratches do not have a “catch” to them when you run your fingernail over them, which is a good sign. They will likely buff right out and it’ll be good as new. Unfortunately that would put it up to a total cost of $5.21 since this guy cost $3.21, and with a value at only $7.36 it doesn’t really make it much of a bargain. But I can live with that if it is added to my collection in working order.

Still a couple bucks under retail, and if I’m lucky, I won’t have to resurface it, making it even closer to a bargain at about half price. So disc is about a C. The case has a small crack, placing it at about a C+, and there is some wear on the manual. The manual though is not falling apart so it stays in the B’s with a B-. Some days later I found a minty “Platinum Hits” edition of Fable at another Goodwill, but the case was empty. I took it to the counter to ask if I could have the case, and they said no, unless I wanted to pay $3 for it. Bummer.

I don’t know why all of a sudden most of the Goodwills in the area are keeping people from taking empty cases. The one closest to my house still lets me take them if I get the right employee/manager on at the time, but the others still won’t let me take them without paying at least a little bit for them. At least they don’t want full price. Maybe they are getting a good deal on recycle material or something. It’s irritating though, glad I got the cases I did throughout last year while I had the chance.

Anyway, moving on.

This was actually the same store and trip that I found the empty Fable case. The game section had close to zero games in it, and I was about to leave (and see if the cashier would give me the Fable case) when I decided to eyeball the toy section in case some controllers or other accessories got tossed over there. For some reason three PS2 games were sitting on the shelf. Two of them were of no interest and were not valuable enough to even buy at $3. But, this one I was interested in playing. I had Defender of the Future on the Dreamcast a LONG time ago. That version is a lot more valuable than this one now of course. By about double, but if it is the same game, I’m in.

Ecco The Dolphin Defender of the Future - PS2 - Found 2018.05.06 at Goodwill

Another very good condition case and disc. Id put the case at an A-, you can see some wear on the outer plastic. Disc is a solid A, as is the manual.

I was always mesmerized playing this game on the DC, how fluid, and realistic the movements of the dolphin were through the water. If this one is as good as the DC, and plays the same, it will stay in the collection as well.

Side bonus to this one, the clerk only charged me the DVD price of $1.99, instead of the video game price of $2.99. Score! I’ll take any small discounts I can get. That $1 could be a GameCube game at a yard sale or something.

The very next day I wound up at another Goodwill and noticed a Wii bundle in the showcase. It was marked $49.99. I noticed there wasn’t a power cable, video cable, or sensor bar sitting with it, which was making me start to shy away from it. It did have several games with it, along with a first party Classic Controller, which I could use, I don’t have one, and have been on the look out for one. Additionally it had two first party nunchucks. I need nunchucks, I only have one first party nunchuck. As far as stuff that did not help the value, there was a Wii balance Board and it also had two third party controllers with it. Which were junk. Additionally it was missing flaps. So I felt at the top end, I was willing to pay maybe $25. The store manager noticed me looking at it and immediately apologized for there not being a sensor bar, power or AV cables with it. He said he usually tries to get them complete before they are put out, he wasn’t sure why this one was out, and it was definitely priced as though it was complete, so he dropped the price to $30 right there. Okay, now we are getting somewhere, but another $5 off would be better.

I said thank you, I appreciate that, that does compensate mostly for the missing cables, though I have a couple other concerns. The GameCube controller port covers are missing, and the two Wiimote controllers it has are absolute junk. How about $25? He didn’t even think about it, he immediately said yes, and dug it out of the showcase to bring it over to the register for me. I wish I’d offered $20 first now. Worst case he comes back with $25 and we end up there anyway.

Wii Bundle - Found 2018.05.07 at Goodwill

I looked closer at the games while he ran around behind the counter for a few moments, then helped a couple other employees with something, and they are all in extremely good condition. Of the games in the bundle, I am interested in adding Mario Galaxy, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz to my collection. So I will do close ups on those below. The rest are in almost as good condition and I’d like to sell off as a bundle, and get close to or more than I paid here for it. Sonic was in the DVD / Games bin and cost an additional $3.21 to get that as it was obviously not part of the Wii bundle. It was also in immaculate condition. So I couldn’t pass it by. I included it in the picture because it was all the same purchase. As he was ringing me up, and because he was so eager to get me going, I almost thought maybe he knew something was wrong with it. But when tested, it booted right up and reads discs OK. Likely it was just busy in there and he was looking to get the transaction taken care of and me on my way.

As for the games themselves, well, have a gander.

Sonic Mega Collection Plus - PS2

I have been playing Sonic games almost as long as Mario games. Maybe less by perhaps 4 or 5 years. While not as near and dear to my heart, I do hold them up as quality games. I owned a Genesis/32X/Sega CD monstrosity for a number of years and played Sonic 2, Sonic CD, and Knuckles Chaotix a lot in my later teen years. I also had a Game Gear with a Sonic game, and this title proclaims to have Game Gear titles on it as well. So I’m looking forward to that.

Super Mario Galaxy - Wii

What can I say about this find? Freaking. Perfect. Condition. Perfect. Like someone took the cellophane off, and brought it to Goodwill. So crispy. I absolutely LOVE finding games in this condition. It is nearly flawless. Close to crystal clear outer art sleeve.

Manual is an solid A, one tiny dent there in the lower right-ish corner prevented the A+, but otherwise looks like its never even been touched. So happy to have this one in the collection finally. I never owned it, even having owned a Wii since at least 2008, I’ve never played it until recently. Looking forward to giving it a proper spin.

Donkey Kong Country Returns - Wii

Wow. Just. Wow. Immaculate. It astounds me that something this old can be in this good of condition coming into a Goodwill. This game was released when? November 2010 according to Wikipedia. So it could be anywhere from roughly six to eight years old or so depending on when this copy was actually manufactured and bought. This belonged to someone who either didn’t care at all, or hated the game the first time it was played, set it on a shelf and it was forgotten until donated, or it was loved and well taken care of. Considering it was donated, I’m going to wager a guess on the former scenario as the most likely.

The crispiest of manuals. A+. Just look at that. Did anyone EVER play either of these games!? I love it. Disc is A+, not a mark on it, flawless. Case is a solid A as well, very clear jacket, no dings, dents, cracks or chips.

The game itself to play is quite good as well, good play control, the visuals are on par with the DKC series, and is updated into the “New Super Mario Bros Wii” style, by rendering everything then fixing the camera in position to create a side scrolling platformer that can be smoothly zoomed in and out, as well as create pseudo parallax scrolling by placing layers of rendered backgrounds behind the area in which you are playing. Backgrounds become the play field in this game as well. I’m enjoying it so far.

I dig this game a great deal, and will also be giving this a proper play through sooner than later.

The condition of most of these finds this month has been stellar so far. Super crispy and clean games. The exception to this is the following game.

Super monkey Ball Banana Blitz - Wii

Really good shape for the most part though, the only blemish on this game is the sticker. GAH! At least we can get that off of there with relative ease, the blog post from a while back I did shows my technique for this. It is very effective and uses nothing more than a damp cloth and packing tape. No goo gone required. So case is an A-. I do however, find the two stickers inside to be rather amusing. They appear to be actual Chiquita banana stickers, with Monkey Ball characters on them, so I think those will stay. It adds to it in my opinion. Manual is A+, very crispy. Disc is a solid A as well.

This game isn’t great because of the controls in my opinion. I much prefer the GameCube games, but my son is a big fan of the series and played the original and the second one on our Wii with a GameCube controller pretty regularly. He has tried this one, and was not as thrilled with it because he cannot use the controller easily, it is all motion/tilt control. But I can see him trying again when he understands the control better. Hes still only three, he will pick it up I’m sure.

Side tangent for a second, does anyone else hate certain games on the Wii because of the controller options? Or rather, severe lack there of? Taking a series like Monkey Ball, or Metroid Prime, that originated on the GameCube, and then make it so you HAVE to use a control scheme that incorporates the new Wiimote motion control. It infuriates me. How hard would it have been to allow fans of the series that played the games on the GameCube to plug in their favorite controller, and seamlessly pick up the game using the same control scheme they know and love. It was simply left out of the game entirely. A big middle finger from Nintendo. Nope, you have to use our new way, we innovated this new motion control platform, and we are going to force you to use it in EVERY game. Plugging in a GameCube controller to a game series that is a continuation FROM THE GAMECUBE should at least be an OPTION. Another example, a game like Twilight Princess, where it was actually a GameCube game ported to the Wii. Not just a series continued from the GameCube. But an actual GameCube game. The original control scheme with a GameCube controller should be an OPTION. But it isn’t. They even mirrored the entire game just so Link would carry the sword in his right hand to match up with 99% of people’s “sword hand”. Really? Oi.

Speaking of Zelda...

*grumble grumble*

Moving on.

To round out this month’s finds I have two more to go. First is a small find from Goodwill. A single game, but, it is on a system that I just do not see games for in Goodwills around here. Gamecube. Nothing spectacular by any stretch, but I had to grab it considering it was GameCube.

Medal of Honor Frontline - GameCube - Found 2018.05.09 at Goodwill

Relatively good shape, I’d give the case a B. Manual is an A, very crispy. Disc is a solid B, a few light scratches, but no question it will play. It will go in the collection for now, but might not stay forever, FPS games and I do not generally get along on consoles.

Still happy to get it, of course it ran the standard $3.21, it only weighs in at a little over $5 on pricecharting though. Oh well. A GameCube game is a GameCube game these days.

Last but certainly not least, my final yard sale find of the month is a Glacier Game Boy Advance, with Pokemon Red version included.

Game Boy Advance with Pokemon Red - found 2018.05.11 at a yard sale.

I’ve only ever owned an original Game Boy DMG-01. I played Tetris, Revenge of the Gator, Metroid II, TMNT, Mega Man, Super Mario Land and other games for hours as a kid growing up in the late 80′s and early 90′s. The GBA was released after I’d become an adult, and portable gaming was lower on my priority list at that time. I was doing less riding in cars on road trips because I was now the driver on road trips. I had a girlfriend/wife or friends to talk to on those trips in any case, so even if I wasn’t driving, it wasn’t like I was bored off my ass in the back seat while we drove to another family vacation. Or sitting in school or something. I had a job. Way less free time.

So, having never owned some of them when they were new, I am down to get my hands on a few of these portables at this point. If nothing else, I can give them to my son to play with on some family road trips!

I saw this one in a picture in a Cragslist ad, the person’s ad for the Sale had photos. It was on a table along with a TI-84 Plus and an Apple TV. No price tags were on any of it in the photos. I’d hoped to get all three for a steal, and flip the Apple TV and calculator for a profit to help fund the collection. My hope was about $10 for the Apple TV, $15 for the Calculator at most, and perhaps $10 for the GBA. I arrived at the sale only a minute or two after it was scheduled to start. Of course there was already a swarm of people and I thought “damn, I’m sure it’s gone by now.” However it was not gone, as you can see from the picture, marked at $20. Double what I was hoping for. Probably why it was in still there. A glacier GBA is only worth about $25 according to Pricecharting, and I would also assume that price assumes the battery cover is present. This one does not include the battery cover. So I asked the guy if the price was flexible. He said he could go $15. I pointed out it was missing the battery cover and that I was hoping for $10. He said he hadn’t noticed the battery cover, and in that case he could go as low as $12. Knowing Pokemon Red had to be at least a ten dollar bill, I bought it.

As you can see it works fine. I figure this could also be a unit I will take thrifting with me to test GB, GBC, and GBA games right in the store before buying them. Will be handy.

Incidentally the TI-84 was marked at $40, they are only worth about $50 to $60, and this one was a little rough. The Apple TV was marked at $30. But only worth $40 to $50. If I could have gotten them for the prices I was hoping for, I may have picked them up, but given the price he wanted for the GBA, I don’t think I could get him that low, so I didn’t bother even making an offer. The only item I was really after was the GBA, and I think I got a good enough deal on that.

That wraps this post up for a little more than about the last month of hunting. A lot of stuff this time around, the season is just starting to hit stride. Hopefully this continues. The finds have already been fairly good.

So now down to the official business. We had $57.46 at the end of the last posting.

Harry Potter was $1.06, that takes us to $56.40. Ratchet and Clank, Ratchet and Clank Going Commando, and Lego Star Wars were 50 cents each, taking us to $54.90.

Then we found Far Cry, another $1.06 takes us to $53.84, and Fable at $3.21 takes us to $50.36. Ecco the Dolphin Defender of the Future was only $2.13, but that still drops us to $48.50.

That takes care of most of the one off stuff and brings us to the Wii bundle with Sonic Mega Collection Plus. All of it was $30.08 out the door. A little ouch compared to what we have available for funds. But a good deal for what I got. That shrunk the total to $18.42. But it was worth it, those games were in stunning condition. Plus, I should be able to eventually make back every penny on the leftovers. Assuming I'll run across some cables at some point. A Wii bundle with the games that were left, the Wii Fit Board, the controllers, nunchucks, and all the cables should fetch at least $30 - $40.

The last one off game was Medal of Honor Frontline for the GameCube. It ran $3.21. Taking us down to $15.21. Only just enough to bring home the last item, the Glacier Game Boy Advance with Pokemon Red Edition. That $12 brings us down to what I believe is a record low. $3.21.

Ironically, just enough money to buy ONE game at a Goodwill without going negative if one turns up.

Not to fret though, I have a small pile of items I will be listing very directly, which should refill our till so we can move into peak Yard Sale season fully armed.

Slated to hit eBay soon are: Pokemon Red Sealed copy of Wii Fit Plus Sealed copy of Wii Play A copy of Dragonball Revenge of King Piccolo The Lot of 007 Games from last post.

I might list the entire 007 lot for something between $12.99 and $17.99 buy it now with free shipping. I feel like that should move fairly quick, but we'll have to see what's going for what price as I'm listing it all to really choose final pricing.

That’s all for now, happy hunting to my few readers! I love you all.

2018.06.02

#nintendo #ps2 #playstation2 #donkeykong #supermario #mario galaxy #mario galaxy 2 #mariogalaxy2 #wii #nintendowii #sony #medalofhonor #SuperMonkeyBall #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sonicthehodgeheg #sonicmegacollection #pokemon

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anime-herald · 5 years

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4/19/2019, 3:30PM: Time to Unwind

As I stepped out of the interview room once again, I felt a small sense of relief. Finally, I had some time to kick back relax! I quickly hurried downstairs to a place that I probably shouldn’t be heading, knowing myself: The Dealer’s Room.

Inside, I scanned the many booths, which were packed with merchandise. DVDs, Blu-Rays, toys, video games, art books! Whatever you were looking for, there was a good chance that you’d find it here.

Well… for the most part.

I quickly learned that there are two reliable ways to make a dealer balk. “Would you happen to have anything from Sakura Wars?” I asked one, and received a look of utter bewilderment. Time and again, this happened as I sought out more merchandise from the twenty-three-year-old series.

Of course, this didn’t bring anywhere near as many odd looks as my inquiries for specifically bad anime.

“Why… would you want that?” one vendor asked in confusion, their head tilting just a bit before I explained the fun of Bad Anime Night. Once they clued in, they seemed eager to show the usual favorites: Garzey’s Wing, Photon, Darkside Blues… all promising, all glorious trash. Still, they weren’t exactly titles that tickled my dark side.

Funny enough, it was Discotek Media’s booth that proved to be the source for a new title that was bad enough to make audiences weep and wail as they ran for the exits. A cruel smirk played across my lips, as the vendor and her partner chatted on which shows would be bad enough to be considered bad for you. The partner piped up a moment later, saying “I hope you don’t mind losing friends over this one,” as he handed over a copy of Karate Master. I couldn’t help but smile brightly as I responded with “If they are still my friends at the end of the night, I’m doing it wrong!”

Afterwards, it was time to find some, well… good stuff. And find it, I did, as I scooped up titles that somehow eluded my collection. K-On!, Squid Girl, Case Closed, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid… I quickly found my bag filled to bursting with a cavalcade of modern classics.

With my itch to spend thoroughly scratched, I figured it was time to visit an old friend. I made my way to the Science Fiction Continuum booth, where Brian T. Price was working. Price is somewhat of an icon for the convention, as he hosts Totally Subversive Toons and Bad Anime, Bad! Every year to great fanfare. When I stopped by, there was a brief lull in the customer flow. I popped over and we began to chat. As we talked, it became increasingly clear that Price was planning something big for the tenth anniversary of Bad Anime, Bad! I wasn’t sure what at that point, but I was expecting a truly magnificent train wreck, which would make the crowd giggle and recoil at the same time.

Our meeting didn’t last too long, though, as the booth began to grow busy again. We said our farewells, and returned to our normal routines.

Well, as normal as Anime Boston gets, anyway.

4/19/2019, 4:45PM: Dinner and a Demo

By quarter of five, I had gotten my shop on, and decided to hurry out of the hall before I decided to buy something I’d regret, like that Sakura Shinguji cel priced at $200. With MIYAVI’s concert just over an hour away, it felt like the best course of action would be to grab a bite to eat. With dinner on my mind, I made a hasty trek to Eataly’s La Pizza & La Pasta.

“Party of one,” I said to the hostess, who directed me to the bar. As I took my seat, the barkeeper prepared a glass of water, as well as a serving of bread and olive oil. It was a lovely beginning to the meal, with the pillowy bread acting as a delectable sponge for the fragrant oil. It’s a simple treat that I’ll never not crave from time to time.

Image Credit: Eataly

As the bartender circled back, I placed an order for a simple Margherita pizza. I pulled out my phone and began to go over the day’s biggest news developments. I breathed a small sigh of relief, noticing that the news coming from both Anime Boston and Sakura Con was fairly light this time around.

Within a few minutes, the server came around with my pizza. It’s a simple dish: San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, served on a wood-fired crust. Still, as the saying goes, simple is often best.

The sweetness of the tomatoes played beautifully with the slightly bitter char on the crust, which helped to accent the creaminess of the cheese. The basil offered a nice fragrant note that helped to really elevate the entire dish to perfection. I smiled a little as I savored each bite, just losing myself in the moment of a delightful, relaxing meal during a busy weekend.

I checked my phone as I stepped out of Eataly, noticing that I had a message from a colleague who was hanging out in the Panelists’ room. I swiped over to my clock: 5:25 PM. Plenty of time.

I quickly trekked back into the Hynes, toward the room. I paused for a moment when I arrived, remarking at how quiet everything was inside. It took a moment, but I clued in to two gentlemen were seated and chatting: BH Pierce and YouTuber Professor Otaku.

We exchanged greetings, and got to talking shop. First, we discussed our plans for the weekend, though the conversation quickly moved toward Big Eyes, Small Brains. We discussed the fundamentals behind the game’s systems and the world, as they peeked at a preview copy of the book. Sadly, time was running short for all of us, as Professor Otaku had a panel coming up, Pierce had to prep for his own panel that evening, and I had to make my way toward the auditorium for MIYAVI’s concert.

We said a quick farewell, as we parted ways. Though our meeting was brief, it was great to meet a few more folks in this lively community.

4/19/2019, 6:00PM: What’s My Name?

Note: We will be publishing a full write-up of the MIYAVI concert as part of our Anime Boston 2019 coverage. For now, please enjoy a few photos from the event! All photos credit to Samantha Ferreira, taken in accordance with agreed upon photo policy for Anime Boston

Image Credit: Samantha Ferreira

4/19/2019, 8:30PM, An Annual Tradition

As MIYAVI left the stage, the room was left eagerly chattering, their ears still ringing from the aural experience that just occurred. For me, though, the night was still young. I wanted to check out one final panel for the evening. Seth, meanwhile, was heading for a screening of Lupin The Third: The Mystery of Mamo.

We parted ways once more, each to take on our tasks for the evening. Before anything, though, I had to see to a little tradition of mine.

Every year, since Anime Boston has been in the Hynes, I’ve made it a point to close off my first night with a particular treat from Au Bon Pain. I can’t let a year pass without enjoying one of their chocolate croissants.

I scurried out of the convention center, my bad growing heavy around my shoulder, as I stole my way to the familiar yellow storefront that waited just outside. I hurried to the pasty case, where I found the treat was seeking. I plucked one from its resting place, and hurried to the counter, where I ordered an iced coffee, paid the clerk, and found a place to sit.

Now, the year was complete for me. Au bon Pain’s chocolate croissants are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. These sweet treats are flaky, tender, filled with chocolate, and coated in powdered sugar. With each bite, I could feel the weariness of the day starting to leave me. Sweet chocolate mixed with the bitter coffee, to produce a flavor that is nothing short of heavenly, in my books.

Alas, like most pleasures, it was fleeting. A few minutes later, I found myself finishing the last bite, my eyes again set toward the towering structure that awaited just outside.

4/19/2019, 9:00PM, Foundations of World Building

Note: We covered this event in-detail in a standalone feature, so feel free to check that out for the details! For now, enjoy a few photos.

4/19/2019, 10:00PM, The End of the Evening

I couldn’t help but take a moment to watch in awe, as the packed room calmly filed out into the hallways. Deep down, I had to know that folks would be active even now, but it never ceased to amaze me at just how many there were every year. I let out a small smile and hoisted up my bag. It was time to get some work in for the evening. I slunk back to the Sheraton, and made my way to the elevator, then to my cozy, fourteenth-floor room. The weariness of the day finally hit me, as I collapsed into dead weight on my bed. I lazily went through the daily news reports, which had been arriving from friends and colleagues alike through the day, and got to work. It wouldn’t be long after that, though, that sleep would claim me.

As the clock struck one, consciousness eluded me. It was time to get some rest, for tomorrow would bring about a few moments that I’d never forget.

Anime Boston 2019 Travelogue, 4/18/2019 (Evening): Sound and Fury 4/19/2019, 3:30PM: Time to Unwind As I stepped out of the interview room once again, I felt a small sense of relief.

#anime boston #anime boston 2019 #travelogue

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coniecoleman · 6 years

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CBS All Access Review: What’s This Streaming Service Worth?

You may have heard about CBS All Access when the new Star Trek show, available only on that service, first launched. The app is a unique approach to streaming, and we’re reviewing CBS All Access, the service, to see just how good it is. Streaming services like HBO, Showtime, Netflix and Hulu are pretty easy to understand: They offer a wide variety of content, movies and shows for you to keep up on the latest entertainment, some created by them and some licensed from other networks, etc. CBS All Access is part of a new crop of streaming services that forgo this model and offer only their own content (some when they launch some when it doesn’t) – in this case, the CBS shows that the network wants to stream. But how does this approach work, specifically with CBS content? Is it a worthwhile service to add to your streaming list, or is not worth the monthly cost?

We took a look. Here’s what we found.

CBS All Access Review

Pros

Original content you can’t find anywhere else: CBS offers original content on All Access, notably Star Trek: Discovery. However, CBS does have a few other original shows and is planning for more in the future.

Access to old shows: CBS All Access provides access to many classic shows that are hard to find elsewhere, including the Brady Bunch, the original Hawaii Five-O, the original MacGyver, and so on – a great bonus for those who love the classics.

Clean, usable interface: All Access may have its issues, but the interface isn’t one of them. It’s friendly, easy to use, and fairly speedy.

Live TV: CBS makes the most of All Access by offering Live TV viewing if you’re away from your home TV.

Cons

Questionable pricing: $6, with commercials, is pretty steep for what CBS All Access offers, unless you’re a big CBS fan or absolute need to watch that new Star Trek when each new episode comes out.

You can’t count on your favorite shows being available: For both current and past shows, CBS appears to have random rules about how many episodes to make available on All Access. Some very popular shows only get a season or so out of multiple seasons. Some shows aren’t available at all.

Many shows are available on Hulu: When it comes to current CBS shows, you can find many of them on Hulu for just a couple bucks more, plus access to a vast array of other shows and movies many times what CBS can provide. All Access doesn’t do well on the competition front.

Glitches: Network streaming services aren’t the most stable apps around, and CBS All Access seems particular prone to freezing up, and then making you watch all the commercials you just saw again. These glitches appear to have gotten a bit better in recent months, but may still happen.

CBS All Access Features

Naturally, content is limited to CBS, which may be all you need to make up your mind. It wasn’t for us, hence our review. But how that content is limited is also important, so we’re going to review and evaluate the main categories of shows available on All Access. Current CBS All Access Shows: CBS offers a number of its current network TV shows, including past seasons, to search through and watch as you want. This is a nice feature for getting caught up on shows you like, but it’s also very hit or miss – you may not be getting everything you want. For example there’s only 24 Big Bang Theory episodes out of the many seasons of the show, making it harder to catch up or introduce friends. Some popular shows, like 2 Broke Girls, aren’t on the service at all. These are weird, disappointing choices that make it seem like CBS doesn’t really want people watching All Access if they could be forced to watch network TV instead. It’s also important to note Past CBS Shows: You can also find a number of older CBS classic shows and shows that were canceled some time ago, which makes All Access a nice place to find your old favorites. That includes Cheers, 90210, a couple of the CSIs, Frasier, and the classic Hawaii Five-O. That’s cool, and adds a lot more value to the service. However, here too episodes are very unreliable. You may get all the episodes of Hawaii Five-O and Jericho, but only a portion of the 90201 or Brady Bunch episodes, for reasons that just aren’t clear. Original content: In other words, content that’s only available on All Access, and not even available on the traditional CBS TV network. That means Star Trek Discovery for most people. CBS does have other original content, including The Good Fight, Strange Angel, and No Activity. You probably haven’t heard about those, because no one really cares about them yet. Star Trek is the main selling point here for now. CBS is working to include other shows like a new The Twilight Zone which might make their original content more worthwhile in the future.

Live TV

You can watch live tv! Self-explanatory. Limited only to CBS, live tv of course.

Movies

CBS also offers a collection of movies available to watch as well. It’s pretty random – you get Pink Panther, Bullet Proof Monk, and Hotel Rwanda, all in the same section. There’s only 20 or so of these movies, and they aren’t really a deciding factor for the service unless CBS really, really expands the list in coming years.

Special events

This refers to all the big events that CBS will cover, like the Grammys. You typically get the ability to watch these events live or catch on them afterward if you were busy.

CBS All Access Pricing

CBS All Access offers a basic two-tier pricing structure.

The standard fee is $5.99 a month, and that includes commercials with all your shows.

The premiere tier is $9.99 a month, and doesn’t have any commercials at all. There’s no way to get CBS All Access free except for a brief free trial offerings (the free trial lasts exactly 1 week).

Here we see one of the biggest problems with these single-network streaming services: they just don’t have enough content to be worth the price of admission. During our review, we also discovered that for an equivalent price, you can get access to exponentially more shows in a wide variety of styles and target audiences, all without commercials – or with limited commercials, in Hulu’s case. And, frankly, access to shows like Game of Thrones or Stranger Things that are a bigger part of the zeitgeist than anything on CBS (depending on your feelings about Big Bang Theory). That makes it hard to justify paying this much for only shows from CBS. If you are a diehard CBS fan, then you’ve probably seen a lot of their past content, so historical shows won’t be much good for you. That means you’re primarily paying to catch up on current shows, which is a tough sell. If you don’t much care for CBS and only want to watch a show or two on All Access, it’s an even worse deal. This is why All Access membership goes up for events like The Grammys. People are willing to pay a one-time fee to see a big event in real time (similar to Boxing/MMA views), but then they just cancel afterward (or they just get the 1-week trial and then cancel). This doesn’t say good things about service longevity. Finally, check out the pricing for comparative services for on demand service to see where this $6/$10 pricing falls:

HBO: $15 per month:

Hulu: $8 per month with ads, $12 without

Netflix: $8 to $14 per month, depending on resolution quality you choose

ESPN+: $5 per month

DirecTV Now: $35 per month

Amazon Prime Video: $11 per month or with Prime subscription

Acorn (British shows): $5 per month

Fox Network: Free, with limited episodes

ABC Network: Free, with limited episodes

NBC Network: Free, with limited episodes

The CW and Original CW Seed Content: Free

CBS All Access Review Conclusion

Well, how big of a Star Trek fan are you? On a serious note, content does have different values based on user loyalty. If you are a HUGE Star Trek fan and demand to see the new show ASAP, then paying $6 per month for the ability may not seem like a huge leap for you. The same is true if you’ve been longing to watch old CBS shows from several decades ago and can’t find a good DVD set anywhere. However, if you don’t have this loyalty for any CBS All Access original content, we can’t really recommend buying this service. It doesn’t offer much, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to offer more in the future. Plus – and this is particularly damning – networks like Fox, ABC, NBC, and The CW offer similar streaming apps with collections of current and past shows (including original content), somewhat limited based on your subscription choices but all for free. Why is CBS charging a fee? It certainly doesn’t look good in comparison. On that note, keep in mind that you don’t have to go directly to CBS to get All Access. In other words, other services can bundle CBS All Access into the content you already stream from them, on their platform. If you love Roku, you can find CBS All Access Roku there. If you’re a big Amazon Prime fan, you can buy it through Amazon Prime and watch the content there. The pricing remains the same, but you don’t have to add another app if you don’t want to.

CBS All Access Review: What’s This Streaming Service Worth? is available on Gadget Reviews

CBS All Access Review: What’s This Streaming Service Worth? published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/ CBS All Access Review: What’s This Streaming Service Worth? published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/ CBS All Access Review: What’s This Streaming Service Worth? published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/

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jennifernail · 6 years

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CBS All Access Review: What’s This Streaming Service Worth?

We took a look. Here’s what we found.

CBS All Access Review

Pros

Clean, usable interface: All Access may have its issues, but the interface isn’t one of them. It’s friendly, easy to use, and fairly speedy.

Live TV: CBS makes the most of All Access by offering Live TV viewing if you’re away from your home TV.

Cons

Questionable pricing: $6, with commercials, is pretty steep for what CBS All Access offers, unless you’re a big CBS fan or absolute need to watch that new Star Trek when each new episode comes out.

CBS All Access Features

Live TV

You can watch live tv! Self-explanatory. Limited only to CBS, live tv of course.

Movies

Special events

This refers to all the big events that CBS will cover, like the Grammys. You typically get the ability to watch these events live or catch on them afterward if you were busy.

CBS All Access Pricing

CBS All Access offers a basic two-tier pricing structure.

The standard fee is $5.99 a month, and that includes commercials with all your shows.

HBO: $15 per month:

Hulu: $8 per month with ads, $12 without

Netflix: $8 to $14 per month, depending on resolution quality you choose

ESPN+: $5 per month

DirecTV Now: $35 per month

Amazon Prime Video: $11 per month or with Prime subscription

Acorn (British shows): $5 per month

Fox Network: Free, with limited episodes

ABC Network: Free, with limited episodes

NBC Network: Free, with limited episodes

The CW and Original CW Seed Content: Free

CBS All Access Review Conclusion

However, if you don’t have this loyalty for any CBS All Access original content, we can’t really recommend buying this service. It doesn’t offer much, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to offer more in the future. Plus – and this is particularly damning – networks like Fox, ABC, NBC, and The CW offer similar streaming apps with collections of current and past shows (including original content), somewhat limited based on your subscription choices but all for free. Why is CBS charging a fee? It certainly doesn’t look good in comparison. On that note, keep in mind that you don’t have to go directly to CBS to get All Access. In other words, other services can bundle CBS All Access into the content you already stream from them, on their platform. If you love Roku, you can find CBS All Access Roku there. If you’re a big Amazon Prime fan, you can buy it through Amazon Prime and watch the content there. The pricing remains the same, but you don’t have to add another app if you don’t want to.

CBS All Access Review: What’s This Streaming Service Worth? is available on Gadget Reviews

CBS All Access Review: What’s This Streaming Service Worth? published first on http://www.gadgetreview.com/

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