Rare Gems from the Bargain Bin

Author's Note: All copyrights for the items featured in this comic go to their respective owners.

While Dragon's Lair was ported to multiple platforms, it was also available as an interactive game for the DVD Player. Yet, almost nobody who owns a DVD Player bothers to get the game, which would make this item a good find if you can find one in a bargain bin, that is.

The Su Chi Pai OVA was originally below average at best when it first came out, but the passage of time has its way of vindicating history, by having Jaleco fans search for a DVD copy of the Su Chi Pai OVA. The Tekken Motion Picture from 1998 was actually good, and it was better than the live action Tekken Movie. And for those who are looking for DVDs of both OVAs, you might find them as rare items in a bargain bin.

Recently, Wii Party and Wii Party U have been getting a nostalgic resurgence through multiple videos posted on YouTube. The Wii Party series was not destined to be the next Mario Party, but it was better than Mario Party in several ways almost no one took note of. It's a huge shame that Wii Party's lifetime sales are less than Nintendo Switch Sports sales figures as at May 2023. Wii Party U's sales figures ended up doing worse than Wii Music, which was a huge shame. No wonder Nintendo started relegating Miis to the sidelines. Maybe they should stop disrespecting their loyal customers if they want to survive...

If you think Soldam was an Arcade exclusive title, then you have not heard of the Game Boy port of Soldam. This Game Boy game would be very hard to find inside the bargain bin, and even if you find one copy, it would be a very expensive item, even if its price tag has a 90% discount on it.

F-Zero GP Legend has to be the last F-Zero game in the series before F-Zero 99, if you do not count the Japan-only F-Zero Climax. Of course the Game Boy Advance F-Zero GP Legend is a game worth getting for any GameCube owner who still has the GameCube's Game Boy Player.

Samsung's Forgotten Icon

Ever since Samsung's current logo was first introduced in 1993, Samsung had risen to become a South Korean icon since then. The company had manufactured many products, including TV sets, computers and cellphones to name a few. They also had a license to manufacture Sega consoles as well. The Nuon DVD Player, while also a Samsung product, was a short-lived gaming platform that could not live up to its full potential, however, and it failed to become an icon of the South Korean company. But this was not Samsung's fault, however, as VM Labs, the company that conceived the Nuon platform, faced a lot of problems. In addition to a poorly managed marketing campaign, the Nuon faced tougher competition from Sony's PlayStation 2, which happens to be able to play DVDs. It didn't help that the Nuon's graphics were comparable to the PS1 and N64 when the market was bracing itself for the PS2.

In the end, the Nuon was discontinued in 2003, and VM Labs was acquired by Genesis Microchip who in turn, was acquired by ST Microelectronics. The Nuon ended up being merely a footnote in the history of Samsung. From Samsung's perspective, the Nuon was a commercial failure. But at least its failure was nowhere near as bad as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and its exploding batteries...

Japanese DVD Player Game Box Art

Let's be honest. There are interactive games for the DVD Player, and a large number of Japanese DVD Player games exist, but most of them contain "Not Safe For Work" content, especially the box art, and are unsuitable for anyone under 18. However, not all interactive games for the DVD Player that are unsuitable for people under 18 come from Japan. Tender Loving Care was believed to be the only DVD Player game that is unsuitable for people under 18 that did not come from Japan.

Despite Sony's policies that forbid "Not Safe For Work" content from any game programmed for the PlayStation 2, the DVD Player included in the PlayStation 2 and the Original XBox consoles were compatible with some DVD games, and some of these games with "Not Safe For Work" content are also on the list, which poses a problem for regulations governing console gaming.

If censorship has a legitimate reason to exist, it has to be due to the existence of "Not Safe For Work" content, including video game box art.