So, I just saw this sealed copy of Contra Force up for sale $7500! Anybody played this game? If so, how is it?

Its totally crap if you ask me. First off its a Contra spinoff. You deal with terrorists rather than aliens. Originally it was suppose to be a game called Arc Hound but for some reason it was cancelled in Japan and Konami decided to release it in NA as Contra Force (probably thinking it would sell better with the Contra name rather than the Arc Hound name). I didnt like it iirc the game play was different than other Contra and SUper C. It kinda reminded me more of Metal Slug than Contra.

just something i came across and wanted to share it, not my pic...but im glad i got my copy

now from my mouth:
first one is a ntsc repro of the real ntsc prototype, second one is a famicom pirate version that starts you with 30 lives, the third one is the real famicom version with the sunsoft FME 7/SUNSOFT 5 memory mapper chip that basically adds three extra sound channels only found in that specific cart and 5 pal copies that pretty much act like the first two versions in the picture.

That thing looks like Bub from Bubble Bobble.

I just can't consider Contra Force a part of the franchise, there's just no way imaginable! Technically if you forget about the Contra brand name beig slapped on this little nasty *nugget it's an entirely different feeling, almost playing and looking little beastie all together. Doesn't carry that classic contra goodness whatsoever. for shame Konami, for shame.

So who wants to pay £999.00 for 2 official 6 button Mega Drive controllers?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-SEGA-MEGA-DRIVE-OFFICIAL-6-BUTTON...

EDIT: Okay, one has been sold according to the seller. So that is basically £1000 for a controller. What moron paid that amount of money for the first one?

I wish I had a Super Nintendo

Hopefully I will soon get "Carby"-loaded with very likely the rarest game featuring the scary pink marshmallow, Kirakira Kids for the Super Famicom.

(and I do have to wonder how one person managed to get six real copies of Mr. Gimmick.)

Apparently Tatsunoko VS Capcom is so rare to find these days that one man had to go to a retailer in Tenasae to get one (This man lives in Toronto, Ontario)
Meanwhile, it's $10 at the Capcom Store.

do you know of Majyuuou for Super Famicom?
check that one out

I've been gaming for most of my life, but I hadn't started collecting until a few years ago. My collection is decent, but not amazing by any means. I have about 125 NES games. 11 CIB Metroid, Megaman, Megaman 6, and a few others that aren't hardly worth mentioning. I have the full set of .hack G.U. games mentioned earlier all complete in box. I have Final Fantasy 7 CIB. Alex Kidd in Shinobi World CIB. Zelda OOT gold cart.

My best recent purchase lately was a Sega Saturn, Sega Nomad, and about 10 Genesis games for $13.

All in all, my collection is about 10 consoles and 350 games worth a few thousand if I ever decided to sell.

Last week I got a semi-grail.
Takahashi Maijin no Boukenjima IV, cart only for about $53.

Something I didn't win (or even bid on, knowing it would go above what I'd want to spend on a single game). Fire Emblem Thraccia 776 Deluxe Pack. I always wondered what one of these would fetch on auction. Looks like about $160. Seems kinda strange Nintendo would give buyers of the Deluxe edition a flash memory cart rather than a ROM cart.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p43...
Another game I was watching but expected to go above my budget was the Wild Guns clone Great Battle V for Super Famicom. I knew it was a bit rare but $167 (complete) on auction! o_O
Mentioned a couple posts above, I saw Majuuou also on auction. At $188 for a copy with box, manual, and a cart with a torn warning label, I'm going to have to pass.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p43...

Kid Klown for nes just shot up recently, i knew it right when i went for a second copy, and Sqoon is slowly but surely going to make it too. i predict Kickmaster isnt too far behind either...

Really? I thought $30 was a bit high already, hoping I could find a deal. Not now.
As to Sqoon, I was kind of iffy on whether I wanted to buy the Famicom cart at even something like $5. So, paying even for the NES cart is unlikely.
(though I know Irem was one company to use EEPROMs instead of ROMs in very early carts (though later prints of the same games used ROMs). I wonder if Sqoon is old enough to be part of that. (definitely 10 Yard Fight and Zippy Race, their first two games). Again, only affects FC games. All licensed NES carts were made by Nintendo and used normal ROMs.

I was kind of thinking KickMaster would eventually, slowly but surely the later Taito games are creeping up in price. So that's why I grabbed it for about $12 or so. I grabbed Jetsons when you could get it buy-it-now for $20 easy. Even then it seemed an anomaly among the other late-era Taito games that were already expensive (Little Samson, Panic Restaurant, Bubble Bobble 2, Power Blade 2 and Flintstones 2).
Jetsons was released in 1993, after LS, PR and PB2 but before BB2 and F2. KickMaster was probably the last release before all of the expensive games.
I think the last before that was Flintstones 1. And that's been pretty steady around $10 for some time.

Though I do remember one emulator saying it had to hack around an issue with KickMaster freezing after fight the second boss (win or lose). Most likely a form of copy-protection, have to wonder how that would affect the value of original copies.

I'd like to back him up on this. The gameplay wasn't just different, it was terrible. There were 4 guys you could choose from, and upgradable weapons for that are different for each character. That sounds cool and all, but there's so much slowdown, the level design of even the first level (which I could never beat after a bazillion tries) was awful, and some of the weapons weren't very useful IIRC. I think you also had a life bare and only one life. for the entire game, but I could be confused there. Overall, it's just not worth the money at all...

Hmmm... The reviews of Contra Force are pretty mixed out on the old 'Net. But most say it is at least decent but with some slowdown and it is best not to think of it as a Contra game. I still want a copy.

You can ask the game for a temporary CPU second player, but it seems that you can select that as much as you want, so I wonder why they only allow you to activate it for like five seconds before it disappears? Kind of annoying.
You definitely get more than one life, though.
Although it could maybe happen in a bootleg version, though. Konami did program anti-piracy features in most of their later games that would make them much harder/impossible if they detected they were a counterfeit.

Another game that has been recently inflated besides the Taito games is Journey to Silius. Ever since we mentioned that game a while back on these forums I have slowly watched the value of the game go up and up. I could have got a complete copy for around $15.00 a year ago. Now? Not so much. Just look at this Kid Clown trying to sell a complete copy for $150! "Ultra Rare" my Kickmaster foot!

@KingMike
i picked the taito games up right before they started getting crazy with the prices, the prices i payed were already kind of high and ive been watching them ever since. i always look up my rare or expensive games and it never stops amazing me how they shot up in value right after i got them. ive been good at predicting this behavior, and to be honest i knew kid klown was next. i think i payed 40$ for it. now its double. most of my carts have at least doubled. what i think is happening is the sellers are looking for the next game to raise prices on because everyone knows about all the "common rares" and they are trying to keep the ball rolling. as collectors eat up the sought after games, the sellers are pulling out the next "rare game". another one will probably be Growl for Genesis. obscure games are rising and re sellers will always find that one game most people never knew they wanted. so many people are still discovering old games they never knew existed. i got The Trolls In Crazyland (pal game) for like 50$ or so i think. now its going for 200$. i was prepared to pay 150$ for it easily back then. theres a Castlevania Dracula X nib going for 6200$ lol its not even vga graded. as soon as someone overpays for a game it goes up. some of you may remember me playing around on ebay and got that Castlevania Dracula X cart for 118$. now check it for cart only. they all go up. i see so many people hesitate on a game because they think the price is high, but all it takes is a few months later to make them wish theyd bit the bullet then. to me once youve got a few gems in the collection and you see them going up in value the rest kinda just come to you. if things keep going the way they are i can guarantee in 5 years Power Blade 2 and Panic Restaurant will be over what LIttle Samson is this month. after Power Blade 2 and Panic Restaurant there will be another. i just analyze this stuff sit back and play my games. heck, just the way Kickmaser looks on ebay i can tell they are getting ready. it might take a few years but it will happen. in fact, just by this thread, were making these games more expensive because i have exposed a game plan. i got my Kickmaster for like 12 bucks myself. to others, do yerself a favor and get Kickmaster and hold on to it, watch the prices on and off. if it doesnt go up in value youve got an awesome game to play so its a win/win deal.

yep. say Kickmaster 3 times in the mirror and watch what happens...