Inside The Vault #3-March 2025

 

 

WELCOME TO ISSUE #3!

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Vault fans, we have reached spring..well, sort of. For us, it is a anticipatory time of great excitement, because we will eventually be at the point where we will not solely be reliant on the finds that are brought into us to buy. We're always super grateful for them, but we notice that they tend to offer a lot of repeats, which happens. With spring and better, warmer weather, comes the opportunities to attend yard sales and flea markets in which to scour for some great deals, that we can then pass along to all of you!

This business has entered its 13th year, and will be entering its 6th at its current location of The Marketplace At Steamtown. There has been, and will continue to be transition and evolution into both making the store what our owner has dreamed it to be, and also to serve the community to its fullest potential. We recognize and appreciate your patience and understanding as we make our way through such transitions. 

So we "March" along this month, sharing with you some staff picks, stories on both The Sega Saturn and Paperboy on the NES, as well as a short list of the greatest finds our owner has ever discovered "out in the wild" of the spring and summers of years gone by.

So sit back, relax, enjoy the nice weather as it tries valiantly to gain footing here in NEPA, and, as always..

GAME ON!!

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THE TRAGIC TALE OF THE SEGA SATURN

Certainly this is a story that has been told many, many times, but I've always felt it is one worth repeating in 2025, especially to those who are getting into collecting and enjoying Sega consoles. If you are a younger gamer/collector, you're going to hear and see, a lot of mixed signals on this console and its history. What happened? Was it avoidable? 

If you've read "The Console Wars" (and if you haven't, I strongly recommend you do) you'll find that the one thing that plagued Sega the entirety of its home console and handheld days is that Sega Of America and Sega Of Japan always, always butted heads. There was this air of superiority and "big brother watching little brother" vibe to the relationship, and it caused a lot of issues. While Sega Of America was trying to become a force here in North America, Sega Of Japan always had this sense of urgency coupled with a doubt that Sega Of America could ever do whatever Sega Of Japan deemed as a successful business practice. You had a "hope this works out" versus "we have to move faster, strike quicker" mentalities and the Sega Saturn was probably the biggest example of those two mentalities clashing.

While development for the Sega Saturn began in 1992, it was the 32X, Sega as a whole believing this was a more cost effective way for the consumer to get into 32 bit graphics, that was released first. Sales quickly declined on the 32X and this was a rift between the two divisions of the company because while the 32X and Sega Saturn share a lot of the same components, the Sega Saturn was made a priority in marketing and producing, much to the dismay of Sega Of America, who were still believing strongly in both 2D and 3D gaming, while Sega Of Japan was focused strictly on 3D gaming to compete with Nintendo and later Sony.

Speaking of Sony, Sega did have talks with the company in making a console together, but once again, Sega Of America was focused on both 2D and 3D gaming, while Sony, like Sega Of Japan and Nintendo, were solely focused on 3D gaming, and thus that partnership never materialized. The console wars that were coming, were nearly as intense as the 16 bit one that preceded it, in that everyone was trying to get the upper hand, push that envelope, stay ahead of the game, and Sega Of Japan thought the Sega Saturn would be everywhere by the end of 1994. It was not. They pressured and pressured Sega Of America to get it going in 1995 before the initial scheduled release date, and that created one of the biggest blunders in the history of the video game industry.

While Sega Of America CEO Tom Kalinske had announced a September 2nd 1995 release for the Saturn, earlier that year, Sega Of Japan wanted an earlier release to get ahead of the Sony Playstation, so, just two months after Kalinske's initial announcement, on May 11th 1995 at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, Kalinske announced the Sega Saturn's release, stating that due to "high consumer demand" that 30,000 units of the system were already shipped to Toys R' Us, Babbages, Electronics Boutique, and Software Etc, which infuriated retailers uninformed of this surprise release, including Wal-Mart and Best Buy. KB Toys, in retaliation of this, refused to carry the system and any of its games. 

The Saturn was given a price tag of $399, which was certainly a lot of money in 1995, so much so that all it took was Sony's Steve Race to utter "$299" into the mic at E3 to send the crowd into applause and pretty much leave the Sega Saturn nearly dead on arrival. Despite two price reductions, the Sega Saturn did not have the third party support the Sony Playstation did, nor did it have the Sonic title, with Sonic Xtreme being canceled, that the Nintendo 64 had with Super Mario 64. 

The Sega Saturn does have some great titles, most notably Panzeer Dragoon, but they all come with either some pretty hefty price tags, or low distribution numbers, thus making them harder to find these days. It truly is a tragedy, perhaps the greatest What If in the history of Sega, but also unequivocally its greatest commercial failure. The Sega Saturn was the bridge between the Sega Genesis and the Sega Dreamcast, the WiiU to the Wii and Nintendo Switch. It's a tragic tale that could have had a better ending, but we'll never know now, will we?

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STAFF PICKS MARCH 2025

NICK D

Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit 

Jet Force Gemini 

Cobra Triangle 

Joey P

Pitfall! 

Sonic And Knuckles 

Super Mario 64  

Kathy

Super Ghouls N Ghosts

Jersey Devil

Tomba!

 

Joe A

Civilization   VI

Golgo-13

Untitled   Goose   Game

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Nick D's Paperboy On The NES Experience

..and the lingering unanswered questions within.

Trust me, I know that's a very long title for a newsletter article, but work with me here, Vault fans. Back in 1988-1989, a much younger yours truly was introduced to Paperboy on the NES. It was one of those games that was consistently rented at Montage Video at the Keyser Oak Shopping Plaza more times than I care to remember. 

I was not very good at it. In fact, it was probably one of the games I was the absolute worst at. That being said, it was one of the first games I worked at, practiced, and did whatever I could to get better at it. Even as I failed, time and time again, one thing remained unchanged. I really, really enjoyed the game. It was the most fun I was having with a video game at the time.

So no, my first experience with Paperboy was NOT on the super cool bicycle styling arcade machine (that would come a bit later), nor was it in the sequel (which was way harder!) It took years, decades even, for me to consider myself not a master of the game, but someone who could put up a decent to very decent high score, as well as finish the game.

The more time passed, as I worked on my skills in the game, I began to realize just why this game was so much fun to me. Because it is completely bonkers. I am not someone who takes themselves seriously. I went to college, fine tuning my writing skills on the platform of the world taking itself far too seriously, and thus, my most favorite forms of media or entertainment are those things that also don't take themselves seriously at all.

It does not take long of you playing Paperboy on the NES to realize just how NOT serious the game takes itself. You are operating a full week of being a paperboy, making sure to either deliver the paper onto the front porch, or if you're slick enough, right into the mailbox. 

Now I've never been an actual paperboy, but one could imagine that throwing a paper onto a porch or into a mailbox, depending on the speed of your bike, might prove challenging. You're throwing while sitting. To me, this would be the most arduous challenge of being an actual paperboy. Meanwhile, the game of the same name throws in things like guys operating a jackhammer, an old woman with a rolling pin, and a stray dog for you to navigate around in delivering papers, and those are just the least insane and random obstacles.

Not only that, but each day offers you a "bonus round" if you will, a chance to get more points after (hopefully) delivering to all the houses on your route and not (more likely) smashing up a bunch of windows or throwing a paper onto a uncontrolled RC car (totally on accident). And what better way to end a day of throwing papers than what appears to be a full on BMX bike track? Because sure, why not?

Over 35 years have passed, since I first started playing this game, and like many weird, zany, out of this world, yet totally fun games of the era, this one has some unanswered questions, if only to this guy writing this article. I'm gonna share with you the ones I feel are the most notable.

THAT'S..NOT BREAKDANCING

While it's no secret that Japanese game developers often based their nation's interpretation of the West in video games of the 1980s and 1990s, there wasn't one Japanese programmer, designer, what have you, involved in the NES port of Paperboy. That alone is enough to make one puzzled at how THIS was looked at as breakdancing.

I understand this was the late 1980s and perhaps breakdancing was starting to lose a bit of its luster, but still, the last I checked, breakdancing never, ever, EVER looked like someone trying to itch their butt or shake loose change from their pockets in the most unorthodox way. I throw a paper at this guy just to shame him. "Sir, stop that! That's NOT breakdancing!"

SO YEAH, ABOUT DEATH

Perhaps nothing is more discussed about this game in sheer puzzlement than the appearance of Death itself. 

 

I don't believe anything is ever explained as to why Death is there, past them being listed as a hazard in this game. What does Death have against our paperboy? Did he make a deal with Death involving his soul? Is he marking houses red for Death so they know who is going to die soon? It's just all so bizarre, plus the fact you can't play as Death, delivering papers, is huge on the lame factor.

 

THAT R.C. CAR!!

Everyone who has ever played this game has their "bane of their existence" hazard, that one thing that breaks up their rhythm in getting through the game, and for me, it is not the tire, the tricycle or go kart riding kid, or even the chasing dog. It is, without question, that R.C. car that drives itself on the lawns of some folks. I can be in the groove, getting papers right where they need to be, and then one of these jerks cuts off my shot by driving right in front of my toss. I still haven't forgiven these mysterious RC cars over 35 years later.

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Thanks you for joining us this month for our online newsletter. We will see you all again in April!

 

Thank you for your continued support and patronage!

 

GAME ON!!!