August 25th, 2023
The first blog post made for this update. One that's ACTUALLY going to be published on time. Hopefully.
Nintendo has finally ended maintenance on Splatoon 1. The game went under maintenance on March 2nd because of an exploit discovered months earlier and has been under maintenance for 5 months. Nintendo has ended the maintenance with a new title update to patch the exploit. This is the first update for Splatoon in almost 7 years, with the last one being from September 2016.
The version number was bumped up to 2.21.1. This is most likely the final version of Splatoon.
Since there has been an update. The Squid Sisters announced that a new update has been released and to check the official website for details. Nothing new was added as the patch notes state that only the exploit was fixed. The official website doesn't say a drop about Splatoon 1 either.
This was the current rotation when the patch released.
Rotations in Splatoon 1 were 4 hours long, though the patch was released at the last hour of the rotation. I played the first and second rotation on patch day. A lot of other people also got on and played too. These people probably were playing Splatoon 3 earlier that day, but wanted to come back to Splatoon 1 for the patch. It really felt like Splatoon was down forever!
Anyways, I like Splatoon. I don't know, but this was a little bit enjoyable compared to Splatoon 3 right now. It might be the burnout kicking in, but my time playing was really fun! The maps were really large!
Of course, there's some things that a lot of people don't like. One of them was how the quick respawn ability worked. In Splatoon 1, the ability would always be active, so you could kill a whole team and then die and you would be back in the game in 2 seconds. They nerfed the ability in the sequel, where the ability only activates if you haven't killed anyone during the time you were alive.
I remember a lot of people hating the instant specials. In Splatoon 1, there were a lot of specials that gave you invulnerability, such as Bubbler or Kraken. Unlike Splatoon 2 and 3, where specials gave you some frames of vulnerability, Splatoon 1 gave you invulnerability the moment you popped a special that had the trait. It's a free win for the small fights.
Despite everything, I still liked it.
One thing that irks me about this update was the announcement.
If further issues occur which make it difficult to continue supporting online play, we may have to discontinue the online play service for the Wii U games Splatoon and Mario Kart 8 at short notice.
This potentially means that if another exploit is discovered within these games, online support may be cut entirely. I'm not sure if it'll be only these games or the entire network, but I hope it's not something that happens anyways.
Ring the alarm! We still got more stuff. This time, we have stuff outside of the regular PlayStation imports. There's... way more actually.
This black Wii system will start us off! The seller only confirmed that the console could turn on and listed it as 100 yen junk. There is a large amount of 100 yen Wii systems, so I scooped this one up. You can go on Yahoo Auctions right now and look up Wii本体 and you will find a bunch of cheap Wiis. Of course, conditions are all over the place, but there's a chance you might get a working one. I've seen so many systems go for 100 yen and those always get relisted because people don't care enough to buy them.
This Wii is a little scuffed. A quick clean made the system look better, and I can easily ignore the scratches. I can't really get upset at this, this Wii did cost less than a dollar. There's no need to worry about missing out on GameCube games since the Family Edition and Mini systems never came out in Japan. So if this does work, I can also import GameCube games!
Once I got it unboxed and hooked up, it turned on and showed the white system menu. It actually works. Screenshots of the system from now on are taken from Dolphin running the NAND backup I made shortly after getting the system.
The previous owner left their copy of Mario Kart Wii in the system, and the seller didn't realize this and shipped it to me too. It appears this was the only game they ever played on the system, no save data for any other game exists. There's a lot of play history letters with only this game. Even checking Playstats, it seems like the only other thing ever played was the preinstalled channels.
"Today, I made this strange character."
Looking at the Wii Message Board tells me the last time someone used this console was rather recent, with this last message being posted on November 28th, 2022. That's not even a year ago! Nintendo was already showing the second season of Splatoon 3!
The previous owner never went online with their console. The system still has the Wii + Internet video and no existing internet configurations. The system was also on Ver. 4.1J, which was the latest version when the colored Wiis first released in Japan. The latest version now is 4.3.
After checking everything out, I took a backup of the NAND and then updated to the latest version. Late Wiis are not compatible with BootMii as boot2, and all colored Wiis fall into this category. It's a simple process.
I like this Wii. Priiloader has a region-free mod you can enable, so I can also play the games I already have. Since the Wii is backwards-compatible with GameCube titles, I'll also be able to buy some GameCube titles too. I'll have to buy another GameCube memory card, since the format of memory cards are region-locked and I want to keep my old GameCube saves. I will start buying stuff soon!
Next, I'll talk about some of the PlayStation imports and purchases. If Mechapwn never existed, I would not have a shelf probably.
I got some memory cards. A skeleton green and skeleton red one! They both have save data on them, let's check it out! Later, some more memory cards came in for PS1 and PS2! Let's dig through the cards and recover any deleted data!
First, the green card has some Dragon Quest save data as well as some Derby Stallion save data as the only data on it. That's on the surface though. The PS1 never actually deletes data, it just marks it as free space able to be overwritten. It wasn't until I imaged the card and put it through MemcardRex that I saw the deleted data.
The games listed are:
| Biohazard 2 |
| Clock Tower: The First Fear |
| Chrono Cross |
| Popolocrois II |
| Total NBA 97 |
| Valkyrie Profile |
There's a lot of adventure and RPG game data in the card.
The red card is similar. Only baseball data on the card. Let's rip it and put it through MemcardRex.
A lot of the games on the card are for baseball games. Whoever owned this card previously was a fan.
Here's one lot I won. 4 cards, 2 PS1 and 2 PS2 cards. The seller had formatted all of them before selling, but it wasn't a complete wipe! Let's see what they tried to hide from me!
Here is the data recovered from the skeleton black card.
Here is the data recovered from the white card.
The PS2 cards need a bit more work to recover them. I need to atleast recover the file listings and the Your System Configuration files to get any idea of what the previous owner did with them. A tutorial online said to use some data recovery software to recover the data. Between these cards, the data on them is screwed, but the file listings and system data are fine. The recovered list is in no particular order.
The OEM card has a file listing of these games.
| Minna no Golf 4 |
| Bomberman Land 2 |
| Dragon Quest VIII |
| Ryuu ga Gotoku |
| Biohazard 4 |
| Final Fantasy XII |
| Jikkyou Powerful Pro Jakyuu 13 |
| Ryuu ga Gotoku 2 |
| Jissen Pachi-Slot Hisshouhou! Hokuto no Ken |
| Daito Giken Koushiki Pachi-slot Simulator Yoshimune |
| Final Fanatasy X International |
| Kingdom Hearts |
| Kingdom Hearts - Final Mix |
| Final Fantasy X-2 |
| Tenchu Kurenai |
The system configuration file has also saved these ELF names that didn't have a save file.
| SLPS_253.82 | From TV Animation - ONE PIECE - Round the Land |
| SLPS_251.74 | Dragon Ball Z - Budokai |
| SLPM_869.97 | Goemon - Shin Sedai Shuumei |
| SLPS_010.59 | Final Fantasy VII International |
| SLPM_867.34 | Tenkuu no Restaurant - Hello Project Version |
| SLPM_651.65 | Project Minerva |
The Kemco card has a file listing of these games.
| Piposaru 2001 |
| Sarugecchu 2 |
| Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 - Umi no Bouken Hen |
| Kaitou Sly Cooper |
| Arc the Lad - Seirei no Tasogare (Premium Box ver.) |
| Siren |
| Ratchet & Clank 3: Totsugeki! Galactic Rangers |
| Sarugecchu 3 |
| Ratchet & Clank 4th: Girigiri Ginga no Giga Battle |
| Sarugecchu Million Monkeys |
| SIMPLE 2000 Series: The Chikyuu Boueigun 2 |
| Galacta Meisaku Gekijou - Rakugaki Oukouku |
| GTA III |
| Monster Hunter |
| Puyo Puyo Fever |
| Monster Hunter G |
| Shin Sangoku Musou 4 |
| Ryuu ga Gotoku |
| Jissen Pachi-slot Hisshouhou! Aladdin II Evolution |
| Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams |
| Monster Hunter 2 |
| Kenka Banchou 2 - Full Throttle |
| Zoku Segare Ijiri: Henchin Tama Segare |
| Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes |
| Ryu ga Gotoku 2 (The Best ver.) |
| Jissen Pachi-slot Hisshouhou! Aladdin A |
| Yamasa Digi World SP |
| Jissen Pachi-slot Hisshouhou! Salaryman Kintarou |
| Yamasa Digi World SP: Umi Ichiban R |
| Yamasa Digi World SP: Neo Magic Pulsar |
| Jissen Pachi-Slot Hisshouhou! Hokuto no Ken |
| Kidou Senshi Gundam |
| Naruto - Narutimate Hero |
| Naruto - Narutimate Hero 2 |
| Ultraman Fighting Evolution 3 |
| Dragon Ball Z 3 |
| Ultraman Fighting Evolution Rebirth |
| Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed Destiny - Rengou Vs. Z.A.F.T. II Plus |
| Spider Man 3 |
The memory card's system configuration file did not have any games that lacked a save file.
Now for the games!
Dancing Stage featuring True Kiss Destination! This DDR mix features songs from True Kiss Destination and some Konami originals!
Unfortunately, I can't talk about this game much. Not because I don't really like the music in the game, but the disc is screwed up. A lot of the system BGM doesn't play and the game spits out a CD ERROR in the middle of songs. This was a total loss! Sad to see that 10 yen go to waste...
Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX!
Unlike the other game, this actually works. This game is also pretty interesting, as the music is Red Book audio. This game also supports some APPEND discs released earlier, and those are insanely cheap. Will I buy them or just forget about them? Who knows...
The second Crash Bandicoot game, and also my favorite. I didn't pick this one up initally for some reason! Maybe cause all the listings for it were a little expensive? I don't remember, but I have it now! Very beautiful condition too! I'll talk about this game more later.
Finally, Goo Goo Soundy!
Goo Goo Soundy is a bit tricky to explain but I'll try my best. This game has you raise a baby that is to learn dance moves and perform amongst judges in order to unlock higher forms. You train your baby by using your audio CDs to dance to. It's sort of like Monster Farm?
You can also let the game generate DDR charts from your audio CDs, something that even the DDR games wouldn't do. To be fair, the charts are generated, so they are feel very basic and get out of sync quickly. You don't need to play those charts to train your child either. It's basically just a visualizer similar to something like Annabelle the Sheep.
Now the PS2 games.
Ape Escape 3! Being a popular series at the time, Ape Escape games also go for nothing. I haven't played Ape Escape at all until a few years ago in 2021 when I played the second one on PlayStation Now. I played the entire series soon after that and loved it. I loved 3 the best.
This game is super long and cool. I love the many tools that you can use.
Meiwaku Seijin Panic Maker, or more widely known as Under the Skin.
As in the title, the main objective of this game is to incite panic and screw with the public as an alien masking as other people. It's a fun and challenging game, while also a bit short. My favorite part was the ending where you lose points in your final score for saving the game.
Nah but seriously, it's a really fun game. It's a bit non-Japanese friendly too.
It's beatmania IIDX 3rd style! My third physical IIDX game. This is the first IIDX CS title, starting nearly a decade of PS2 releases.
As this was released after the game had already a few AC titles, some songs from 1st and 2nd style were also brought over, minus a few licenses. It's weird playing this and seeing the transition from more detailed games later on.
Now, pop'n music 9. My third physical traditional pop'n music game. This was actually my first pop'n music game I played years ago. At that point, I wasn't that big in BEMANI stuff, so I only played the same 4 songs on 5-button mode.
The song list for 9 in retrospect feels so calming that it really fits the theme. I recommend who wants to play it.
Next, Crash Bandicoot 4. Rather, the BETTER Crash Bandicoot 4. I'm pretty sure this is one of the first video games I have ever played.
When people think about this game on PS2, people jump to the fact that the loading times are notorious for being really long. It's apparently because the loading screen was supposed to have a minigame tied to it, but due to the patent Namco had at the time, it was sloppily removed. This was fixed in the Greatest Hits release, but this isn't that release! I have a reason why, and it's probably predictable.
If you thought Greatest Hits releases looked ugly in America, look at The Best releases in Japan. They're UGLY! Bright yellow banner, bright yellow spine, ugly white border around the cover art, yuck! I bought this game in its pure form... which means I have to deal with long load times. Thankfully, I have something called a hard drive! I installed the game to the hard drive and load times only take 3 seconds.
Yeah, I can't lie. I don't like this game. I played it for a bit and it was the worst thing to do right after playing something like Crash 2. Most of the movement options became limited and it's a drag to play. I'll beat the game, but I won't 100%. I tried to complete the Xbox version but the game becomes boring quick. If you know anything about getting 100% in this game, you'd probably know about the one level that contains an unskippable minute of climbing bars...
We're almost done! Next is King Camel. If you think this is some adventure RPG with some big camel guy, you're wrong. A vast majority of the cheap PS2 games are Pachi-slot games. This was among them. There's a whole lot of these which were made and based off actual machines. This being based off the King Camel machine by SAMMY, you can find a video of it in action here.
It is a slot machine all right. You played one, you played them all. Like I said, these games are very cheap, usually never being more than 500 yen. I like the characters, I guess.
These games support a pachinko controller using USB, also sometimes coming with stickers to put on the controller. It looks funny. I don't want to import one cause I think they're actually pretty big.
Finally, Space Channel 5: Part 2. I've been looking for this ever since I started importing PS2 games! A lot of listings were for budget re-releases which looked ugly as usual. I finally found a fair priced one that was an original release.
Unlike here in the US, the original Space Channel 5 was re-released on PS2 seperately. I would want to get it but it goes for a bit, like above 20 dollars. It's the opposite for the Dreamcast: first game is cheap but the second game is a billion dollars. Though that's because Part 2 was one of the last few games Sega published for that system.
Also, here's a huge score! My brother gifted me an Atari 2600! It's not the standard Atari branded version though, it's a Sears Video Arcade. It turns out these systems don't go for much if they lack the Atari brand. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that when I was trying to get one.
It came with an overwhelming number of Telegames cartridges, two paddle remotes, and a single joystick. The joystick felt very rubbery and dirty, but I have a few Atari Flashback joysticks that I found a long time ago and they work fine with this machine.
I was after an Atari 2600 because I bought two games at Goodwill years ago. Adventure and Frogger were found in the same Goodwill for only $1.99.
The only issue with this system is that the left difficulty switch is broken. It functions, but the plastic bit is broken off. There might be a way to print a new switch, but I don't mind for now. I also can't find if anyone else had the same problem, so I'll just leave it be.
Ok, now here's the MVP of this month. I won this item for $6. I presume it's because the seller only put the model number in the listing, but I won with no one else fighting for it. I seriously cannot believe I pushed it this far. You can see that it's pretty yellow, but for the price, I don't care.
I bought a copy of Puyo Puyo Tsu Ketteiban. It's also on PlayStation, but I needed to give the Sega Saturn a chance.
Ok, now here's the REAL issue. I don't know if it works. It didn't come with any controllers or an AV cable. All I have is the standard power cable and I can say that it does turn on. I bought an AV cable and I'll start looking for controllers soon. Hopefully it can read discs just fine! If it can't, maybe an ODE is the only way?
In my previous post, I mentioned how I got Crash Bandicoot 3 and I was aiming to 100% the game. I managed to do it rather quickly! This is the second time I completed this game. I thought I would have trouble, since my first time around was rather lengthy, but it wasn't too hard. I got gold relics on each stage in only a few attempts and I constantly maxxed out my life counter.
I'm also 1% above the 105% completion rate. This is possible by completing certain parts of the PocketStation game. I completed all the puzzles which awarded me 1%. I don't really care to get the last 4%, as it doesn't really do anything.
Since I got Crash 2 now, I wanted to play that too! I already completed the game 3 other times, so another try wouldn't hurt. I immediately got to work once the game arrived. It would probably take a bit, I remember Crash 2 was a little tricky, especially since it didn't have any power ups. It didn't really take that long, actually. It was a bit tricky but taking the Crash games slow makes the completion process so much easier.
Also, check this out. I bought this the other day. This is the successor to the previous Splatoon manga.
While I fell off of the manga years ago, I still had a smile reading this. I could just barely read and understand it. I'm not sure if I'll get the other books, since I don't really have the space for books right now, but I liked it.
That's it for this month. I hopefully can get this up before September's post is due and not go through delaying a site update for half a year. My computer situation is now resolved, as I finally replaced my dying hard drive and reinstalled everything again. It was a pain and I hate dealing with my media server. The fun part was staying up until 2 in the morning telling my torrent client where my downloaded torrents were, since the drive letters got shuffled. All 1,000+ torrents...