While venturing into new and challenging games is often a lot of fun way to spend your free time, it's great to play something you're familiar with and love. A comfort game, if you will. On this episode, Cal & Murph talk about comfort games, why we think we have them and what some of our own are!

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Getting into retro game collecting can seem super daunting. Cost of hardware, software, scalers, splitters; it's very easy to get lost in nitty gritty of it all. In this episode, Cal and Murph break down step by step what you need to get started in your retro game collecting journey, as well as provide some tips and tricks to help out even the most advanced of collectors.

Episode #15

00:00 - Intro

02:16 - Starting Out

03:13 - Buy a PS2

10:15 - Connecting to an HDTV

15:16 - Expanding Your Collection

17:45 - Scalers and Connections

23:40 - Where to Buy Retro Games?

32:17 - How to Use Pricecharting

34:11 - Loose vs. CIB

38:03 - Buying Accessories

42:09 - Final Thoughts

47:19 - Recent Pickups

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The release of Sony's PlayStation Portable was realistically the only time anyone was able to challenge Nintendo in the handheld gaming space, and with the DS on Nintendo's side, what a challenge it was! Cal and Murph put these two titans of the portable gaming market head to head by examining the hardware, software, and everything in between in order to see which was the true king of the generation.

00:00 - Intro

01:49 - Our Experiences

08:46 - Hardware

24:17 - The Best DS Games

35:24 - The Best PSP Games

55:23 - Waxing Poetically About RPGs

58:03 - Backwards Compatibility?

1:06:46 - Collecting in the Present Day

1:20:11 - Recent Pickups

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With how many video games have come out over time, it's easy for games to slip through the cracks. Some games don't live up to expectations that were set to high or just don't get the love the deserved. Heck, some titles just have fallen off modern gamer's radar. Join Cal & Murph as they dig up some of their favorites of these titles, their hidden gems!

00:00 - Intro

01:50 - What is a Hidden Gem?

03:25 - Gladius

08:25 - James Bond 007: Nightfire

13:30 - Auto Modelista

18:30 - WWE! Smackdown vs. Raw 2006

25:00 - WrestleMania 2000

31:24 - Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

41:25 - Sunset Overdrive

46:13 - Are "Hidden Gems" a Dying Breed?

55:44 - Recent Pickups

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Has this ever happened to you: You like the idea of playing classic, older games, but when you actually play them, they aren't as fun as you thought they’d be? What's up with that? Cal and Murph tackle this surprisingly common scenario by taking a deep dive into what people struggle with when playing retro games, and potential ways to get in the right mind-set.

00:00 - Intro

03:00 - Hardware/Software Limitations

17:52 - Controls

24:36 - Lack of QOL

32:51 - How to Get Around These Problems

39:44 - If All Else Fails

53:32 - Recent Pickups

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Collecting for the OG Xbox is great. The games are mostly cheap, and the hardware is awesome. However, it definitely has a perception as being nothing more than a Halo machine. What other games do Cal and Murph recommend when getting into collecting for the Original Xbox?

00:00 - Intro

00:45 - Our History

05:02 - Quick Facts

08:49 - The Good

18:56 - The Bad

23:27 - Special Editions and Revisions

33:43 - Best Exclusives

43:37 - SEGA

45:50 - Best 3rd Party Games

50:38 - Backwards Compatibility

54:38 -The Modding Scene

1:04:42 - Recent Pickups

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The terms remake and remaster get thrown around a lot, but what do each of them mean? How much do Cal and Murph expect out of each? Are they a net positive or negative to gamers and the game collecting scene? All this and more on this episode of the Level Up Podcast!

00:00 - Intro

01:11 - Criteria

06:37 - What We're Looking For

08:53 - Remakes/Remasters and Collecting

14:09 - What Makes a Good One?

24:00 - What Makes a Bad One?

35:14 - Unnecessary Remakes/Remasters

45:04 - Our Dream Remakes/Remasters

50:47 - Recent Pickups

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Metacritic can be a great way to find some of the best games of all time, but do all the games deserve to be there? Cal and Murph take a deep dive and look at the top 10 best games of all time as listed by Metacritic and re-evaluate them with a modern lens.

00:00 - Intro

03:08 - Metroid Prime

13:54 - Red Dead Redemption 2

22:13 - Perfect Dark

31:47 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

38:35 - Breath of the Wild

49:46 - Mario Galaxy 1& 2

56:30 - Grand Theft Auto IV

01:04:24 - SoulCalibur

01:09:28 - Ocarina of Time

01:18:03 - Final Rankings

01:22:42 - Recent Pickups

GameStop Retro was announced recently as an initiative to pivot the largest video game retail giant into the classic video game space. Does GameStop know what they're getting into? Is this a service die-hard collectors would even use? In this episode, Cal and Murph break down the announcement, and talk about what they want from an ideal retro video game store.

0:00 - Intro

00:36 - Main Topic

43:53 - Recent Pickups

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So you want to get into GameCube collecting but don't know where to start? Join Cal and Murph as they talk about the best, must have games for any GameCube owner's library, as well as other tips and recommendations for hardware and accessories!

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