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Zombie's Ultimate X-COM Collection


Zombie

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eBay of course. If a person has a bank/checking account, all you need to do is set up an account with PayPal and all your purchases will be deducted from there. Personally, I like the safety of a credit card as well as the end of month purchase statement, so I use that as the primary payment method via PayPal. This has worked great since 2001 when I used eBay to nab a replacement copy of UFO: Defense for the Playstation. The trouble with auctions is that you never know if a bidding war will suddenly erupt and blow past your max, that, and the last minute bidder who comes by 1 minute before the end and screws you over. :P

 

Amazon.com is also good for getting things rather cheaply and over there you don't have to worry about being outbid. Everything is "Buy It Now" and the price is firm. This helps you to get an idea if a item is worthwhile to get through an auction or just to buy it privately. Once I decide that I will purchase through Amazon, I go to StrategyCore's Shop page and buy through there. Every transaction made through there gives Pete a little monetary kickback to help defray the costs of running this site. :oh:

 

- Zombie

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  • 3 months later...

Well, I just won a PAL copy of UFO: Enemy Unknown for the Playstation yesterday, so that's another game off the list! I ended up spending ~$50 USD on it though. The US dollar has been very weak against international currencies lately (especially the British Pound) so the conversion was a killer. Still, I needed it. There were a couple PAL copies of TFTD floating around eBay too but they were something like $75 USD and when I contacted one seller about shipping, he refused to post to the United States. It's for the best really. That's a little to rich for my blood. Anyway, hurray for eBay.co.uk! :)

 

Just as a note, Pete informed me that we no longer have a shop feature through Amazon.com. That kind of sucks as every once and a while I purchase something through there. Ah well, not many people besides me used it anyway. :)

 

So it looks like my next priority is the TFTD PAL PSX version or perhaps the original Eurpoean EU on 3.5" floppies. Whatever comes first, right? :)

 

- Zombie

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Nice one Zombie! Think I will do some shopping of my own with the current dollar (and maybe even have a vacation in the states this summer). Maybe you should start some sort of X-COM museum at some point? You can start with an interactive one here at StrategyCore! :)
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Nice one Zombie! Think I will do some shopping of my own with the current dollar (and maybe even have a vacation in the states this summer). Maybe you should start some sort of X-COM museum at some point? You can start with an interactive one here at StrategyCore! :)

Actually, I was thinking about doing just that. I'll have to take some scans of the smaller items and get some digital pics of the stuff too big and dump them in a site page soon. :)

 

You guys are welcome to spend your money over here. We need the influx of cash to help the economy. But do we have anything you want? That's the big question. :)

 

- Zombie

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Success! Last night I purchased a PAL copy of TFTD for $6 less than the EU PSX version (including shipping). So there you go, another version accounted for. :)

 

I have been looking for the Japanese equivalent of Enemy Unknown but haven't found it yet. Copies of that game are nearly impossible to get a hold of. Now, I was doing a little bit of research into PAL/NTSC formats today and it looks like Japan is in NTSC like the United States. That means I should be able play the game on my system assuming I ever get a copy. Sweet! :)

 

Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to play PAL discs on my NTSC Playstation yet. At one time I thought a mod chip would do it, but I'm not sure anymore. Anyone with experience in this area please contact me. In the meantime, I'll keep looking for a way. :)

 

I updated the list in my first post in this topic to reflect the new changes. A also added the two Amiga versions which I need yet - the A500 and CD32. I have a feeling the A500 might be just as hard to find as the Japanese PSX version. :(

 

- Zombie

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Thanks for the great info and links, Knan! The Amiga500 review was priceless. :)

 

Right, almost forgot the "Unknown Terror" title. I think that comes bundled with the Official Strategy Guides if I'm not mistaken. That's probably the reason why I left it out: I already have multiple copies of the Strategy Guides. BTW: did you see the cover directly after the X-COM stuff entitled Xenocide? I think Project Xenocide (over at the Xcomufo forums) knows about it, but I never saw the cover. Neat! :)

 

Seems my email and password don't work at the Japanese Amazon.com. I tried a babelfish translation of the page and didn't see anything about shipping to the United States in there. Anyone with a working knowledge of Japanese: please help! Anyhow, the price isn't too bad considering the exchange rates these days. $12 USD is quite reasonable actually. :)

 

- Zombie

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Actually, I was thinking about doing just that. I'll have to take some scans of the smaller items and get some digital pics of the stuff too big and dump them in a site page soon. :)

 

You guys are welcome to spend your money over here. We need the influx of cash to help the economy. But do we have anything you want? That's the big question. :)

 

- Zombie

Hmm, we could even invite others to contribute. If someone has rare X-COM related items that you do not, they could help complete the museum. Would be very interesting...

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Unfortunately, I haven't found a way to play PAL discs on my NTSC Playstation yet. At one time I thought a mod chip would do it, but I'm not sure anymore. Anyone with experience in this area please contact me. In the meantime, I'll keep looking for a way. :)

Dunno how well it'll work, but if you have an X-Box you could try emulating the game on that... UFO with a fast forward button, anyone? :)

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Ah, well I don't have an X-Box so I guess that's out of the question. (If you can believe this, the last gaming console I purchased was the PSOne). :)

 

I found (and purchased) a somewhat rare item just before: the German version of Interceptor. Nice, and very cheap too! Everything is supposedly in German - all the game controls and documentation. Would be interesting to test my knowledge of the language by playing the game, eh? :)

 

@Slaughter: that's a great idea. I suppose the biggest stumbling block is getting people to give me first crack at the item before they put it up for sale. Most are just after the cash anyway, so we have to convince them that their item is going to a good home and their help would be appreciated not only by myself, but the community as a whole. I think it's important to get these items all in one location too. :)

 

- Zombie

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Just imagine starting up a little cafe, with glass/perspex cases, with the various games on velvet cushions and a bit of delightful lighting all on display for customers to gaze at while they sip a cuppa.

 

Very niche, I'd say. :)

 

- NKF

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Hehe, nice idea! Probably wouldn't get much business though. Don't know how much stuff i could get to fill the place up either. Might need to expand the horizons a bit. What to name it? Perhaps X-Cafe or CoreCafe? :)

 

- Zombie

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I just received the PAL PSX version of X-COM today in the mail (X-COM: Enemy Unknown). I couldn't understand why the case was so thick (about twice the thickness of a regular jewel case), but when I looked inside I found that the manual is crammed in there. No wonder. :)

 

A cursory glance through the files doesn't show much difference from the NTSC version. Geoscape.exe is a little bit bigger in size as is the losing sequence (MLOSE_7.STR) and XCOM.DAT. All the other files are identical. I'll have to do a little comparison in the Geo executable to see what is different there. It can't be much.

 

Hrm, since the games are so similar, I wonder what would happen if I create a "hybrid" of the two? Basically, take the stock PAL version and replace SLES_000.54 with SLUS_001.41 from the NTSC version. (Those are the regional identifiers). Then create a CD ROM and try to run it on a modded NTSC Playstation. If the regional identifier is spelled out in one of the executables, then obviously I'll have to edit that, but it should be doable. :)

 

- Zombie

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I'm not sure how well it'll work... PAL and NTSC typically use different frame rates, and NTSC doesn't have the color depth of PAL.

 

But I dunno how the PSX deals with that.

 

ePSXe should let you at least test the PAL version on your computer, if your console won't deal with it.

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An individual on the forums gave me some tips about getting around certain aspects of the Playstation's limitations (both hardware and software). I'm going to try the software fix first as it doesn't require any soldering. :)

 

You would think that the SLES file also tells the game to render images in the PAL format. If you replace that file with the NTSC counterpart (SLUS), it should tell the game to render in NTSC. Not sure if that's how it works, but it's worth a shot. Also, I'm just curious to see if that's what it does. :)

 

If the regional identifier is spelled out in one of the executables, then obviously I'll have to edit that, but it should be doable.

Edit: yup, an SLES or SLUS link is found in Geoscape.exe right near the beginning. That's part one. Now for more research. :)

 

- Zombie

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's been over a week, but I now have the German version of Interceptor. Unfortunately, the whole game isn't in German, it's just the cover and the documentation. Still, it's great to have another one accounted for. I also have the PSX version of Terror From The Deep now as well. That was a great buy as the disc, manual and case are all in near-mint condition. :)

 

I have a boxed copy of TFTD coming my way soon. This one is the Powerplus version with the white cover and colored lettering. See MobyGames to view the images. Yeah, MobyGames lists a lot of versions of the games so it'll be a while before I get them all. But like NKF mentioned a while back, it's the thrill of the chase which makes collecting interesting. I can handle the torture, but can my wallet keep up? Stay tuned to find out! :)

 

- Zombie

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  • 2 months later...

I took a little break from collecting to let my wallet refill, but I'm back at it again. :)

 

This time I purchased the X-COM Interceptor poster off eBay from a European seller. It didn't cost too much even though it was supposedly in mint condition. Ok, so it finally arrived in the mail the other day in a cardboard tube. Unfortunately, the tube was made out of thin cardboard (like paper towels or toilet tissue comes on, but thicker) so it (as well as the poster) took a beating (got crushed). I would have liked to see it mailed in a Jiffy Lite tube since those are thicker and can withstand the vigors of overseas travel, but oh well. (Sometimes I think the mail handlers purposefully break things just to pi$$ off the recipient. I mean, if it says "Do Not Bend", they bend it, if it says "Fragile: Glass", they drop it, and if it is a cardboard tube, they will use it like a baseball bat). ;)

 

However, an intelligent person always has a backup plan, just in case. That's right, I purchased a second poster (from the same seller). We'll see what shape that arrives in...

 

Anyhow, it's a great poster. It's got the giant graphic of the super 'venger on the front along with a star base, 3 UFO's and the Interceptor logo. Nice! But the back was a total surprise. Instead of a glossy white back like most posters have, this has a "short" of each X-COM game along the outside perimeter (Enemy Unknown, TFTD and Apoc) with Interceptor in the center. All have a screenshot or two and the cover art. It also has the time line down the lower half of the back. Ooooo, sweet! I'm glad I'll have a second copy as this way I can frame one showing the front and the second showing the back. :blink:

 

- Zombie

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Hey Zombie, do you keep all your posters and X-Com goodies in display in your home? if so, would it be possible to see some pictures of all of it together some day? I'd like to see all your treasures :blink:

Well, nothing is on display yet as the collection is basically in it's infancy stage. In fact, most of my stuff right now is in a box. For example, I rarely need the games themselves as I just make an archived copy on my hard drive and then make a copy of that for testing. As for the strategy guides, I have 2 copies of each one: a working copy which I use for a desktop reference (usually it's in tough shape) and a second "archival" copy which is pristine and stored away. But yes, eventually I'll take a few pictures to show you guys. This collection just isn't for myself, it's for everyone, and that was my original intention: to gather all the stuff together so the X-COM community could enjoy it. I sure do. ;)

 

- Zombie

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*sigh* - one thing about collecting X-Com merchandise is that it sounds like you'll be able to store it a lot easier. Well, apart from the paraphernalia like the cups and toys. My toy robot collection has really taken its toll on my limited shelf space, and it's nigh impossible to keep mint unsealed box doubles (except for the ones I really treasure). But oh well, we have to make sacrifices in one way or another for our favourite pastimes. :blink:

 

- NKF

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