Play-Asia has a whole bunch of preowned Limited Edition Japanese Game Boy handheld consoles spanning from the GBC to  the GBA SP for any deep-pocketed collector to purchase. And you are not likely to find the following on eBay.

First up, a Game Boy Color – Pokemon Center Special Edition console. Coming in white, Play-Asia is selling this at a price of USD 109.90. The specs are similar to a typical GBC console but there are embellishments to the case and face-plate. Interested? Click here for details.

Next, you have the Game Boy Pocket – Pink Tamagotchi Bundle. Like the name says, the Game Boy Pocket comes with a Tamagotchi game cartridge in matching colours. Price tag? USD 79.90. Click here for details.

Third in line is the Game Boy Advance SP Pokemon Center Limited Edition Torchic Orange. This has the Pokemon embellished on the top cover of the GBA SP. Interested? It’s selling for USD 149.90. Click here for details.

Last but not least, is the most interesting collector’s item in this list as far as I’m concerned. It’s the GBA SP – Boktai Bundle Pack. The console itself comes in a Red & Black colour combination (coffin colours so to say), along with a copy of Konami’s Boktai. Click here for purchase information.

I never had the opportunity to play on a Neo Geo arcade machine, but a couple of years back, I had the opportunity to watch a former colleague blaze through King of Fighters on one, in a single sitting, in an arcade right in the heart of Bangkok.

That to me was pretty cool. And the fact that there is a way to run Neo Geo arcade games on the Nintendo DS, its all the more exciting. All you need are some prerequisites. First up, you’ll obviously need a Nintendo DS and also  a flashkart capable of running homebrew software on the Nintendo DS.

You’ll need also to download the latest copy of NeoDS, a Neo Geo MVS/AES emulator for the Nintendo DS (get it here), several MAME ROMS and of course, a NeoGeo BIOS ROM.

Okie-dokie. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Uncompress the NeoDS folder that you downloaded and place the uncompressed folder somewhere convenient. For me, it’s my PC’s desktop. The file structure of the folder should be something like this:

Step 2: The thing about NeoDS is that any MAME ROMs that you wish to run with the emulator needs to be converted first. For this to happen, you’ll need the ROM (MAME naming conventions apply) and the BIOS ROM as well. Copy these two files into the NeoDSConvert folder.

Step 3: Once you have the ROM files within the NeoDSConvert folder, run NeoDSConvert.exe. Depending on the number of ROMS you dumped into the NeoDSConvert, you’ll see the same number of files with the .neo file extension created.

Step 4: Just one more step to go. Copy the .neo files and the NeoDS.nds (refer to screenshot 1) to your flashkart’s memory. Turn on your Nintendo DS and run NeoDS.nds. From here you can select which Neo Geo ROM to run. Enjoy!

That’s right. What do Arkanoid (the game) and Apple (the company that gave us the Mac personal computer and iPhones among other things), have in common?

First one to answer correctly gets a USD 5 Play-Asia voucher!

The amount of video game related materials that I purchased this week has surpassed even my previous record. But if you are thinking peripherals, you are wrong. Try literature instead. Yup, having decided that Arcade Mania wasn’t enough, I ordered Chris Kohler’s Power-Up from Kinokuniya on Monday evening, and it arrived on Wednesday morning. How’s that for fast?

I went to MPH earlier this evening having a gut feeling that I’ll get lucky. True enough, the only copies of  the two video game magazines I only buy, Retro Gamer (Load 60) and the March issue of EDGE were available. They were in pristine despite not being wrapped in plastic unlike those generic video game magazines. It’s funny how that works out since both magazines are more expensive that almost anything else on the same shelf.

Coming home, I found a Play-Asia parcel in my mailbox, with the Classic Game Room DVD inside. I ordered this on the 24th of February and chose the free shipping option. I guess that Pos Malaysia has gotten its Mojo back, my parcels are coming in right on time.

Why no new game purchases? Well, with prices going northwards (no thanks to a weak Ringgit, and a government being in denial: “What recession? We’re not in a recession”) my purchasing power has taken a dent (or two). With high exchange rates such as what we are facing right now, I find it prudent to cash out on my web earnings (which are in USD), rather than just spend ‘em all.

Besides, my brother has started buying games for the PS3, with his first title being the rock fest known as Guitar Hero: World Tour. Rock on. Psst the game is selling below RM 300 over at Play-Asia (click here for details).

Anyways, stay tuned for the upcoming The Rom Report feature. Nine Over Ten 9/10 will show you how to play Neo Geo games, on where else but your NINTENDO DS!

Have you watched the Classic Game Room HD videos on YouTube? No? Then you are missing out some really interesting video game reviews published in video form on the Internet. It started of as the first classic video game review show on the Internet back in 1999 and 2000.

Armed with one camera, a green screen and a USD 50 budget, Mark Bussler and David Crosson combined beer drinking, bottle throwing, joystick slinging and reviews into something special. The early days of Classic Game Room are now chronicled in a mockumentary DVD titled Classic Game Room: The Rise and Fall of the Internet’s Greatest Video Game Review Show.

It features 11 full reviews done by the pair on games such as Duck Hunt (NES), Seaman (Dreamcast), Alien (Atari 2600) and many more. The DVD is on sale with a big discount, selling for a mere USD 4.90 (click here for details).

Whatever happened to Classic Game Room then, you ask. Well, Mark Bussler has revived it under the Classic Game Room HD label, and there are over a hundred new videos on YouTube, covering games from the retro era right up to the current gen ones. Check out some of ‘em here:

I was looking around Play-Asia’s retro catalogue when I found out that the site does have a treasure trove of retro consoles. From Sega Saturns to Neo Geo CDZ to PC Engine consoles and even the odd Hello Kitty Dreamcast, there is a variety of retro stuff and games to go along with them. Here are some notable stuff:

• Sega Saturn Console (Grey/Loose) ~ USD 49.90 – Click here for details.
• Sega Saturn Console (Victor V-Saturn RG-JX1/Loose) ~ USD 49.90 – Click here for details.
• Virtua Cop 2 (Limited Edition Virtua Gun Set/Sega Saturn) ~ USD 29.90 – Click here for details.
• Dreamcast Karaoke Adapter ~ USD 69.90 – Click here for details
• Wonder Borg – WonderSwan Autonomous Insect Robot Kit Version 3 ~ USD 129.90 – Click here for details.
• WonderSwan Color Console (Crystal Blue) ~ USD 39.90 – Click here for details.
• WonderSwan Console (Skeleton Green) ~ USD 24.90 – Click here for details.
• PC-Engine Core Grafx II Console ~ USD 99.90 – Click here for details.
• PC-Engine Shuttle Console ~ USD 249.90 – Click here for details.
• Zero Wing (PC-Engine CD) ~ USD 39.90 – Click here for details.
• NeoGeo CD Top Loader ~ USD 129.90 – Click here for details.
• NeoGeo CDZ Console ~ USD 249.90 – Click here for details.

My PAL SNES looks exactly like the Japanese Super Famicom, except that the words printed on either console. In any case, have you ever wondered the total number of games released on the Super Famicom?

A quick lookabout the interwebs put about the count to be around 750-800. That’s way off the mark since the Super Famicom 1445 Title Complete Coverage Book, which keeps tabs on ALL Super Famicom titles, puts the count at (if you haven’t guessed it already), 1445.

The book is chokeful of screenshots, release date information and game descriptions for the 1455 SFC games released between 1990 to 1999. The page count: 193.

Do note that the entire book is in Japanese. Interested? Click here for details.

D-Pad Hero is a really cool homebrew game for the NES and it’s pretty easy to see where the game draws its inspiration from, which is Guitar Hero and its ilk.

The game is freely available from the developer’s website in ROM form. While you can run the game on an emulator on a PC, check out the following videos whereby the game is played on the Nintendo DS with the help of a flashkart and nesDS, a NES emulator for the NDS:

It’s really scary playing the game on the DS, its as tough as nails. Some of you may have notice that the videos taken were during the game’s listen mode. I won’t be posting up a video of me playing the game; it’s too embarassing with my ineptness.

Click here to download the game.

The hotel that I was staying at for the past three days (Awana Genting Highlands) had a convenience store which also stocked several video game consoles, no doubt for bored tourist kids who can’t be bothered with all the great outdoor fun Awana has to offer. The jungle trails which played host to Trailblazer 08 (read my race report here) are of particular interest, but anyways..

The shop had a couple of Sega Genesis for sale, but these aren’t your run of the mill Sega Megadrive consoles. One thing, not only do they support the usual cartridges, these have games pre-loaded. The price? RM 169, or USD 48.

It does sound like an expensive piece of kit, and before you Sega/retro loving nut rush off to get one, here’s an alternative, the cheaper and official Sega endorsed product, the Sega Mega Drive Twin Pad Player.

Loaded up with 20 Sega licensed games (including Alien Storm, Altered Beast, Sonic and Knuckles, etc), it also plays original Mega Drive and Genesis games. The console comes with a convenient NTSC/PAL switch, to switch the console between the US NTSC Genesis and PAL Mega Drive modes. Best of all, it is now selling at a discounted price of USD 29.90 over at Play-Asia.

Here’s the description of the console, taken from Play-Asia:

The Sega Mega Drive Twin Pad Player from Sega’s official China distributor AtGames brings back all the memories of Sega’s 16bit era. This official product does not only feature twenty hot built-in Mega Drive games, but also plays all original Sega Mega Drive and Sega Genesis games from all regions* (Japan, USA and Europe) as well as specially designed AtGames RedKid cartridges**. Further included in the package are two six-button joypads, an AV Mono cable, a multi voltage power supply as well as an instructions sheet.

The Twin Pad Player features standard Mega Drive joypad ports, so other official or third party pads can be connected in exchange of those ones that are supplied with this bundle.

*Note: The Twin Pad Player features an NTSC/PAL switch to switch your console between US NTSC Genesis and PAL Mega Drive Mode. Japanese Mega Drive games can generally be played in US NTSC mode, however some newer titles (such as Comix Zone) are not compatible due to region protection code. Incompatibility of some other titles may also occur.

**RedKid cartridges are officially licensed Mega Drive cartridges distributed by AtGames. Various game cartridges, including multi game compilations are and further will be made available in the future.

Interested? Click here for purchase details or to find out more about the pre-loaded games in this console.

I went on an eBay shopping spree today, snagging a bunch of Nintendo-related stuff. I couldn’t believe it myself, but here are the items that I purchased today:

• Brand New Pokemon Diamond (English) for the Nintendo DS ~ USD 20.50. I felt bad after the auction concluded because I hijacked the bidding 30 seconds before the auction ended.
• Brand New Tetris DS (English) for the Nintendo DS ~ USD 32.02. This was a crazy auction with plenty of drama and last minute max bids. It would seem that everyone were on the look-out for Tetris DS. The next copy of Tetris DS from the same seller was sold for over USD 40.
• An European SNES (I think) complete with 2 gamepads, power supply and what looks to be 4 original games ~ RM 100

eBay is addictive. So watch out people!