New dictionary entry

Game boner (noun): an affliction common to many young men causing them
to gaze fondly at JPEGs and movies on the internet until they are able
to reach climax on a game's release date.

Trading games with Goozex

I wish I had thought of this. What a great concept -- it promotes recycling, community, sharing, and it only exploits the games kiddies a little bit.

What is it? I don't get it?

I signed up for this service a few months ago, because of the promise of "free trading." It's an interesting concept: instead of selling games on Ebay for money (and the associated fees for listing, shipping, and so on), users can swap video games with each other for funny money called "Goozex Points." You can either buy these points or earn them by shipping games to other users -- you get the credit once the other party receives your package. The shipper is responsible for paying the cost of postage, which isn't that much if a user isn't motivated by greed to pad the shipping price or use Priority Mail to ship a single GameBoy cartridge.

The only think you, as a buyer, have to pay is $1.00 for a "Goozex trade." During the month of March, trades are free. If you sign up using this link, I get 100 points points and a free trade, just like you would.

Click here to join so I get some credit, if you please (links to my page on Goozex.com)

So it's like a peer-to-peer Gamefly (or Netflix, if you like movies), right?
Yes -- including all the bad parts. Because of the laws of supply and demand, lots of people want the newest titles (at this writing they include Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Halo 3, Professor Layton, Ratchet and Clank tools of Destruction, etc.) which go for lots of points. If you're like me, you have a big backlog of tired old PC games which aren't worth nearly as much. I've found that I *still* come out ahead even if I need to ship 5 old 100 point games, because the exchange rates are so good.

Sometimes you have to wait a long time for a match, so it's really in your interest to stack up your queue with anything that's of the smallest interest. You can always send it out later.

Two more tips:
- Buy cheap padded envelopes on Ebay for about sixteen cents shipped, NOT at Staples for over a dollar each.
- Use PayPal shipping for the easiest way to get "delivery confirmation" so you don't get ripped off. I really like this Greasemonkey script, which automagically transfers your shipping information into a quick form for sending packages.

How do I know I won't get ripped off? There are a lot of nasty people out there.
I thought the same thing, but after sending more than 50 games with delivery confirmation, I haven't had a single problem. Because I've built up good feedback, I don't have to wait for others to get my trades before I receive credit. It sounds as though Goozex will stand behind users if there's a problem -- after all, they're not holding any inventory and they can credit Goozex points to their heart's content since the currency doesn't really exist except on their pages.

Here's my custom link again so you can get me lots of bonuses. :-)
Click here to join Goozex

Portable Sega Genesis (aka Mega Drive)

I've had this little device for a few weeks now, and have been meaning to share some information about it since no one else seems to know about it. There are twenty licensed 16-bit games on here, most of them are good, and the emulation is quite accurate. I don't know of a way to add a second player, but it does come with a mini-plug for AV out so you can play Altered Beast on the full-size TV screen of your choosing.

More details as I get a few minutes to write them down.

PS3 Fanboy now recruiting

Color me very surprised.

1. They PAY people to write this drivel? No wonder everything is so provocative. There must be a bonus for every flame war that spans multiple pages.
2. FIFTY posts a month? Again, no wonder there's so much spamming and crossposting about the smallest little thing.

It occurs to me that I can post whatever I want right here, on topics that interest ME (and perhaps only me). I might even post something about a non-Sony platform, who knows.

 

 

Sent to you by JindoFox via Google Reader:

 

 

PS3 Fanboy now recruiting

via PS3 Fanboy by Andrew Yoon on 3/17/08

Want to be part of the biggest Fanboy coalition in the Joystiq network? Good, because we're looking for some fresh faces. PS Fanboy is finally recruiting, and we'd like to see you join us. We're looking for PlayStation enthusiasts -- those that actually play games on the PSP (they really exist, trust us). We're looking for people with Blu-ray libraries, an appreciation of all things PixelJunk, and/or a pair of Metal Gear underpants. Most importantly, we're looking for capable writers that are interested in getting paid to write about games.

Please read all instructions before submitting your application. Incomplete applications will only be read after the release of Final Fantasy XIV -- because if you can't follow instructions now, there's nothing to make us think you'll be able to follow instructions if we contract you to write for us.

First off, what we're looking for:

• Bloggers willing to commit to writing at least 50 posts a month. (Not sure how much work 50 posts a month is? Take a look at an average-length post on this site. Now multiply that by 50.)
• Columnists willing to write weekly columns between 500 and 1000 words.

Continue reading PS3 Fanboy now recruiting

 

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