Shawn Schaller

This week I've tried to acquaint myself with a new (to me) video editor called DaVinci Resolve by BlackMagic Design. It's a really full, deep video editor (yep, even the free version), so I did a trial-by-fire and cooked up a couple small videos to try to learn the basic functions.

Rocket Air Blaster (canned/compressed air substitute): https://rb.gy/qpjyf8

DaVinci Resolve: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/

Today I attempted to fix a non-functioning NES I bought about a year ago, and sadly failed. But it wasn't a total loss; I learned a few things, probably have some salvageable parts to save, and got to try out the Da Vinci Resolve free video editor I downloaded recently.

Dragon Quest: Your Story premiered internationally on Feb. 13, 2020, but reviews from its previous release last summer in Japan had me a little concerned. I was happy to watch it anyway, and offer a quick review.

The audio-only version of my latest video, "The Okayest N64 Game," followed by a little audio-only bonus talk about the other games I considered, inspired by this week's article, "Top 5 Good Cheap 3D Platformers for the N64." And by cheap I mean in the relative vicinity of 10 bucks... and by good I loosely mean not-crap.

Sega Saturn consoles really aren't TOO expensive, but its games' reputation for being pricey is deserved. As your resident cheapskate, I've taken the liberty of digging up my top 5 good cheap Sega Saturn games, in order of how strongly I recommend them, starting from the top (strongest). These games are so cheap and so good (well, good enough) that I think they need to be in basically every Sega Saturn owner's collection.

CONNECT

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Twitter/Instagram: @CheapPhysGames

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GAME FOOTAGE: Ray Commend (YouTube Channel) - “Sega Saturn Games on Nvidia Shield…”

MUSIC: Sega Rally Championship OST -  11 Ignition (Lakeside Track)

Also check out the Video Game Dads Podcast at videogamedads.libsyn.com

I'm not an expert when it comes to the Sega Master System, but I do know a a few things about one game that checks off a lot of this nostalgic console's tropes. Things like an embarrassingly bad title and box art that criminally undersell this good, cheap game. The Master System is (almost) the only place you can play it at all, and you should try it if you get the chance

Dragon Quest is a long-standing JRPG franchise with tons of entries. There aren't many great cheapos in the main series, but I think I've picked out the best one (or three or four) for budget-conscious franchise noobs, as well as a handful of spinoffs you might want to investigate as well. It's tough to swallow the fact that my personal favorite probably isn't the best choice, but I'll begrudgingly stand by my main recommendation.

CheapPhysicalGames.com

Music tracks are from the Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PlayStation 2, 2005) Official Sound Track.
Track 1: Overture
Track 2: Strange World/Marching Through The Fields
Track 3: Peaceful Town/Quiet Village/Alchemy Pot

As a thrifty fella, I love compilation games. The Sega Genesis provided my earliest memories of compilation games, and this (almost) handful of them still hold up as solid, cheap games most Genesis-owners should add to their collections. If you don't like listening to my dumb voice (join the club), you can get basically the same-but-silent version of the content at CheapPhysicalGames.com!

It's easy to skip over the Nintendo GameBoy these days; it's even easier to overlook Warner Bros games. A lot of what we consider the best retro license titles are Disney games made by Capcom, but you shouldn't look past Sunsoft's early gems, or what Konami did with the Tiny Toons license. This week I added 8 cheap Warner Bros GameBoy games to my super-official CPG Master List (at CheapPhysicalGames.com); here's a quick recap, highlighted by one of my personal favorites.

MUSIC TRACKS

Tiny Toon Adventures: Babs’ Big Break (OST) 

Track 1: Stage 1

Track 2: Stage 3

Track 3: Stage 2

Welcome to Cheap Physical Games (that don't suck)! This week I was in the mood to dig into one of the most popular genres on the best-selling home console of all time, resulting in the atrocity of an episode title you see here! But none of these games are atrocities at least (depending on how you feel about a couple sequels, I suppose); they're just pretty solid and STUPID-cheap.

GAME MUSIC CREDITS

In/Out: Jak II OST (PS2) - Ram Head Battle

Track 2: Jak II OST (PS2) - Action Jak (JP Trailer)

Track 3: Jak II OST (PS2) - Guard Pursuit

Track 3: Jak II OST (PS2) - Escape