Nick Goracke's Collection

Nick Goracke

I'm still around!?,
Joined
Aug 7, 2001
Posts
2,250
I'm a poor photographer with a poor camera. Sorry!

This new gallery, in conjunction with 8man's excellent ladder-attached-to-mahogany-bookshelf picture, inspired me to clean up the game room a bit. For the record, every lady-friend who ever stayed at this house has only seen the door, locked and key hidden! Except one, who broke in while I was at work, took pictures, printed them, and sent me a card with cut-outs of herself sitting on a mountain of games. I'll post it if I can find it. :lolz:

Try your best to ignore the 30 year old couch (reupholstered 20 years ago!) that I just don't have the heart to put on the curb.

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Turn to the left, and you'll see my very first arcade cabinet (Big Red, purchased locally from Gameoz, who was kind enough to load it into the back of his van and drive it to my house for free), and my Blast City intended exclusively for top-down shooters (purchased recently from BIGTIME on the forums, who's been a pleasure to deal with). I'd really like to add one more. As a friend of mine pointed out, our kids won't even know what an arcade is. That's not right! What's cooler than playing 20 year old games on tiny CRT monitors?! Some day he'll (be forced to) game on these.

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Aaaaand further to the left, we have another wall full of games.

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The Super Nintendo was my first game system. A majority of these games were purchased new in the early 90's. The memory that really pains me involves the game at the top. Best Buy had a stack of Earthbound on clearance for $10 dollars each. I purchased all of them (one at a time, day after day) then took them to Funcoland to resell for $14 dollars in store credit each. I thought I was pretty resourceful. Secret of Mana is probably my favorite game on the shelf, followed closely by Super Metroid, Harvest Moon, and the Lufia series.

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I have some desirable boxed/complete NES series (Mega Man, Castlevania, Contra, Dragon Warrior, and Ninja Gaiden), but the only 2 games I have much connection to from that era are displayed at the top left - RBI Baseball and Legacy of the Wizard. I remember having nightmares as a child that centered around the adventure portion of Guardian Legend, so it's prominently displayed now!

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I really prefer Arranged soundtracks, so I purchased Neo Geo CD games assuming a CDZ mod to make games load quickly was imminent... Oops. The Sapphire is real and my source is legit. I have provenance. I'm sure it's been greatly devalued over the years, though!

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A bunch of soundtracks. Secret of Mana + is a favorite, as are many of the other Squaresoft ASTs. If anyone wants to sell me the Secret of Evermore OST, let me know. I missed a $10 BIN auction years ago, and haven't been mentally unable to check eBay for it since!

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Neo Geo! My home cart collection has (regretably) shrunk greatly over the years. The story isn't worth telling. The story for how it started, however, is! In 2001, I walked in to my local Hi-Vee (grocery store chain common in the midwest) to grab a 12 pack of Diet Pepsi. The video section at the very front of the store had a bin full of factory sealed NES games for 10 dollars each. I cannot even imagine what confluence of events led to those games being there. The star purchase was Dragon Warrior IV. They were all sold to break into Neo Geo homecarts (I grew up on ports).

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Strategy guides. The Lufia 1 guide took me forever to get... I remember trying (and failing) to special order for months through various book stores (after it was out of print, I'm sure)... then found sitting in a Funcoland for 50 cents. I doubt it's worth very much now, but getting it was a pretty awesome feeling when I was a kid! Plenty of other NES & SNES guides on the shelf...

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If someone says they want to see a game on my projector, but does not specify which game, they get Chou Aniki for PS2. Also, if they say they want to see a game, but not something gay, they get Chou Aniki for PS2.

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There was a time when I had every domestically released RPG and shooter for PlayStation (and every system that preceded it). I slimmed the collection down quite a bit to help with a down payment on the house... hopefully I still have all of the good ones!

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Other than Golden Eye, I can't think of anything to add to my N64 collection. It's really sad. Shenmue II is obviously the star of this shelf! There's a Shining Force 3 special disc in there that used to be worth a bit. I got it for free when I shopped Akihabara for the first time. Was like heaven for a dorky, game-obsessed high school kid. Not so much any more.

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Anime. A few of these shows are probably still worth watching...

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Next up is the "theater" room. Speakers are the Paradigm Monitor 7 series, screen is home-made using Da-Lite Highpower material, projector is the Sharp XV-Z12000 Mark II, and the couch is really comfortable.

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Yamaha receiver, XRGB, and console(s) are hidden in this corner out of view.

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And the living room... Pioneer DVL 909 (DVD/LD combo player) and NAD C370 integrated amp are in the corner, the speakers are Audes Soul, and the subwoofer was from Av123 (who I just discovered is out of business and the founder was indicted for charity fraud by a grand jury!). The bookshelf houses fine whisky and Laserdiscs! I try not to "pollute" other rooms with visible gaming equipment or media, but the Wii and LDs didn't make it back to their home yet after recent use.

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lantus360

Fu'un-Ken Master
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Posts
1,527
wow this is a seriously awesome collection.

great stuff. Thanks for sharing!
 

Joneo

Belnar Institute Student
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Posts
1,242
With what appears to be largely 90's era games, I think that couch's upholstery is perfectly apt. :D
Great setup you've got there!
 

Chempop

BESTEST Buttrider in chat.Officially No.10 at Schm
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Posts
3,024
Very nice! You plan on filling in the 360's selection of shooters? I see Deathsmiles and Raiden 4, are the others hiding?
I like those orange walls and Workig Designs posters.
 

Detroit44

n00b
Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Posts
6
Holy Crap - awesome collection. Thanks for posting it. I feel your pain on the Earthbound story. Man - If I could turn back time on games I sold prematurially, I would be a millionaire!
 

loegan43

I've served my time in the Dark Army., Have you?,
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Posts
1,946
I like how neat and organized your collection is (the exact opposite of mine. lol).
 

theMot

Reformed collector of junk
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Posts
7,589
Im liking that shelf full of snes ames. Awesome!
 

Colorado Rockie

Terry Bogard's Taylor
Joined
Jan 5, 2012
Posts
1,680
You have a very nice house and an amazing setup. Like theMot, my favorite is your snes games! Secret of Mana is in my top 3 snes rpg's (Chrono Trigger, and Lufia II are the others) as well, and it's still one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time.

I used to set this song as my alarm clock for the morning. (secret of mana town theme)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRWfG2BfTus

tell me that song doesnt put a smile on your face in the morning. :)
 
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MegaGraffin

Edo Express Delivery Guy
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Posts
347
I love the complete display of everything. Where did you get the shelves to display the games? Simple but effective.

Also the Samba De Amigo maracas box..That is a fun, awesome game, way ahead of it's time...I have the maracas/sensor/and mat but need a box for mine..
 
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Nick Goracke

I'm still around!?,
Joined
Aug 7, 2001
Posts
2,250
With what appears to be largely 90's era games, I think that couch's upholstery is perfectly apt. :D
Great setup you've got there!

I've got a matching loveseat in the garage available to collectors of games from the same era. Pricing should be on par with a Neo Geo World Mat!

Very nice! You plan on filling in the 360's selection of shooters? I see Deathsmiles and Raiden 4, are the others hiding?
I like those orange walls and Workig Designs posters.

I have Raiden Fighters Aces & Mushihimesama Futari sitting next to the cab. I'm hoping to pick up a (cheap) used Japanese 360 when we head there next month so I can actually purchase and play region locked titles.

I really enjoyed Dragon Force (Lunar not as much actually - I didn't play the Sega CD versions until long after their release - but I get the appeal and like the art), and the posters Working Designs sold were very nice quality (worth the cost to frame). I've also got an original Lunar SS, Lunar Eternal Blue, Alundra, and Vanguard Bandits poster rolled up in a closet. I know a poster for Vay and Shining Wisdom also exist... not sure what else they released. I'd really like one for Elemental Gearbolt.

I used to set this song as my alarm clock for the morning. (secret of mana town theme)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRWfG2BfTus

tell me that song doesnt put a smile on your face in the morning. :)

I'm pretty sure setting it as my alarm would sour me on the game pretty quick! :)

It's pretty depressing that none of the Mana (Seiken Densetsu) sequels surpassed it. The SNES sequel was pretty enjoyable, I guess, but everything after that felt like a total waste of a good IP. Same feeling about Lufia as well - nothing even came close to II.

Im liking that shelf full of snes games. Awesome!

I slimmed down my collection (every system) quite a bit 6 or 7 years ago - the only things I really regret letting go of were a bunch of really nice boxed SNES games (enix stuff, mostly) and the Neo home carts. Anyway, I thought the system was deserving of its own shelf!

Also the Samba De Amigo maracas box..That is a fun, awesome game, way ahead of it's time...I have the maracas/sensor/and mat but need a box for mine..

People who otherwise have no interest in games enjoy watching... and pointing... and laughing... and then eventually playing. I wish there were more expansion discs for Dreamcast. When I got the 2 channel setup pictured at the end, that was the first game I played on it. I purchased a 2nd set on a previous trip to Japan for cheap - with the exception of the text, it's exactly the same as the US box. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samba-De-Am...456?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item484666ad40

I like how neat and organized your collection is (the exact opposite of mine. lol).
dude that is so sweet. i love how the games are displayed.
MegaGraffin said:
I love the complete display of everything. Where did you get the shelves to display the games? Simple but effective.

The light colored shelves I've had for years (and greatly prefer, as they're entirely adjustable). The darker colored shelves were a recent purchase, and have a "shelf/support" placed in the most obnoxious place - you can see all of the wasted space on the "anime" shelf. Anyway, both are pretty cheap "Sauder" brand shelves. I bought mine at Menards (home supply/hardware store in the midwest) and Suncoast Video (RIP). I'm pretty sure you can even order them online from Amazon or other retailers.

I'd really like to do permanent shelving, but this will do for now.

Detroit44 said:
Holy Crap - awesome collection. Thanks for posting it. I feel your pain on the Earthbound story. Man - If I could turn back time on games I sold prematurely, I would be a millionaire!

I also recall Babbages selling import Saturn games for a short time in their Mall of America location and passing on $10 sealed Radiant Silverguns because I didn't have a converter. :lolz:

Amazing setup. Makes me miss some of my consoles.
awesome gear my man!
wow this is a seriously awesome collection.

great stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Thankyou much!
 

oldschool

Cock Killer with Ice D,
Joined
Aug 14, 2002
Posts
2,099
Such an amazing way to display these games. They appear to be stacked (maybe a few layers?) with the box art facing you, is that correct? :)
 

xb74

Gai's Trainer
10 Year Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Posts
1,326
Great collection and great variety. Good work all round!
 

Comrade Porn King Mikhail

TЗh ЯussiaИs Дre CФm
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Posts
3,486
Great looking collection! It's especially nice to have the arrangement with the best looking artful boxes displayed in the front like a museum. Very nostalgic setup with tons of awesome gaming.
 

StealthLurker

Naomi Yamazaki's Wingman
Joined
Oct 27, 2003
Posts
2,422
Great collection, display and setups! Really like the front facing display.

Question though, how do you keep the front facing games stable so that they don't fall down?

.
 

Kiel

All About Shooters Mod., If you fuck with me, I'll
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2001
Posts
7,804
Wow man, I know in one of our conversations you told me you had a pretty "decent" collection. Haha, you're wayyyy too modest.
 

dan3skate

Quiz Detective
Joined
Apr 12, 2011
Posts
89
Nice setup.. I still have to pick up a copy of keio flying squadron to finish of my sega cd collection..(its only about 10 games for me, couldn't care about the rest haha)
 
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