Inside The Vault #5-May 2025

 WELCOME!!!

Vault Fans, our May 2025 issue of our monthly newsletter "Inside The Vault" is live!

 Inside this issue we're going to talk about some of our best summer finds over the years and why we still utilize yard sales and flea markets over 12 years in filling our store with inventory!

We're also going to take a look on what we feel is a growing trend in gaming right now, rekindling a genre and breathing new life in it, as well as where we think it may be headed!

We got Staff Picks and a look on one of Nick D's favorite games that he stumbled upon as a kid, answering the question if it still holds up today!

Thank you for joining us this month. Let's not waste any more time and get "INSIDE THE VAULT!

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SUMMERS OF HUNTS

One of the most exciting things we do all year, for you, our loyal customers, is of course, game hunting! Obviously in the fall and winter months, this isn't as much of a force in obtaining our inventory, relying mainly on what we obtain from all of you, and by gosh we're grateful!

Still, nearly 13 years into doing this, and there's still an adrenaline rush and excitement that is palpable in going out and searching for treasures to bring back to all of you! Getting up super early, searching frantically, keeping a keen eye open for things, it is a blast!

If you're new to us, you might be wondering why we do this, especially since sometimes certain kinds of games can be harder to find, but the answer has been the same all these years. We don't want to insult you with inflated bogus prices. We want to pass the savings onto you, and the best way we can do that is putting ourselves in the situation where we can dictate prices, and in the way that we have always referred to as simply "sane pricing." 

While we don't get surprised quite as much as we used to these days, it still happens, and some of those surprises have stood with us over the years, further reinforcing the drive and necessity for us to obtain our inventory this way. 

Here are just a few of the surprises we've experienced game hunting over the years:

Knick Knacks and Paintings-Admittedly, your humble scribe and resident video game store owner tends to write off most yard sales with an overabundance of knick knacks, and this is usually because they either don't have any video games whatsoever, or whatever was there has already been sold. At the same time, and always to her credit, my wife Kathy encourages me not to give up so quickly, especially when the yard sale is a big one, as this was one summer day a number of years ago.

With a sign that said "More Stuff Out Back", we went around the home to the backyard and garage. With a sigh of disgust, I saw tables and tables of, what else, knick knacks, along with Christmas decorations. Here we go, I thought.

Then it happened. My eyes locked onto something my mind couldn't comprehend was there, sitting, factory sealed, on a table, surrounded by Christmas decorations. Mario Paint, the game, the mouse, the box, sealed with a Sears catalog sticker on it. Crazy. 

There's No Room For A Gamecube-Admittedly, we attended way more yard sales when we lived in the Mid Valley area, but maybe this was because we always found interesting things, or in this case, interesting situations that were to our benefit. Literally right across the street from our home in Jessup, Kathy and I found a box with a Gamecube and a few games in it. Not just any games, however, but really, really good ones, primarily all the Mario Party Gamecube titles. The couple heading the yard sale was merely asking $30 for the whole box!! They said they were selling things low because with babies and a smaller home, they just didn't have the room for a lot of things, including this Gamecube, so thank you, babies!!

I Hate Estate Sales, But My Wife Doesn't-Another moment from our Mid Valley hunting years. I personally do not like estate sales. In fact, in some instances I loathe them. This is because you can never seem to get to them early enough to actually have a chance at scoring any good items, video games or otherwise. Walking into this estate sale, my eyes immediately spotted a complete boxed Donkey Kong Country SNES set, with some boxed SNES games right beside it. There was already someone on the phone, telling an obvious reseller, what was there. I walked into another room, seeing an Atari 2600 and a few paltry games, while my wife never left the area where the SNES was. After moping in the room a bit (I mope, I want to give you all cool stuff!) my wife came into where I was and asked for my wallet. I asked why. She told me she needed to take money from the ATM because she had got the SNES and games! I was stunned! The phone guy drastically low balled the estate sale folks on the items, while my wife offered a very fair amount for it all. The phone guy was outbid, and the items were coming to the store with us!

So you see, while we could buy our inventory strictly online, that would require us to upcharge you on these items, and I've never wanted to do that. Just know we are always, always looking for items to put into our store. Game hunting, relying strictly on what is brought into us, it may limit us in some ways, but it makes it where in the end the ones benefitting the most are our customers. That's the way it's been, and will remain!

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Galaga 98' (Nick D)

Final Fantasy Legend II (Joe A)

Batman (Joey P)

Disney Dreamlight Valley (Kathy)

Red Dead Revolver

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A Growing Trend: The Rekindling Of The Classic Beat Em Up Style

We're not going to say you're living under a rock if you haven't picked up on this growing trend in gaming, but you'd be hard pressed to find a gamer, especially a longtime fan of the beat em ups of the late 80s and early 90s, that hasn't noticed the growing resurgence in the genre, that while it never really went away, wasn't truly feeling like it used to for quite some time.

You can point at Streets Of Rage 4, or even Double Dragon Neon, but the point of this article isn't to pinpoint where this swell began, but more so take a look at what it accomplished, while throwing out some ideas for where it could be headed.

It's one thing to appreciate where we've been, in that there have been and are classic beat em up franchises that have got that necessary shot in the arm, an appreciation for both its past, while paving the way for a new direction.

What gets me are those games like G.I. Joe Wrath Of Cobra and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind, that not only give us something we never truly got for these brands, but also expands on the little we did get, while also showing the differences in where the genre could be heading. 

Truly, when you look at games like Karate Kid Street Rumble, while not perfect, show us that the door is pretty wide open for classic style beat em ups. So much so, it's hard to pinpoint what's next for it?

While we all certainly have our wishlist (Bucky O'Hare!!!) as well as the possibility of expanding on beat em ups of the past (The Punisher, COWBoys of Moo Mesa), I think things are so wide open and unpredictable things like deep cuts (M.A.S.K.? Gargoyles?) as well as true beat em ups for franchises like Transformers is always going to be a possibility.

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On The Case With Deja Vu

The year was 1990. I was 9 years old when summer had hit and I needed to find a new game to play on the NES, at least over the weekend, but so many of the known popular and just downright good games were rented out. 

My gaze fell to a game called Deja Vu, featuring a strapping detective I'd later find out was named Ace Harding, trenchcoat and all, looking all mysterious and film noir like on the cover. I had never played anything like it before, and 35 years later, I can say the same.

Deja Vu had actually already been released before 1990, 5 years prior in fact, but in black and white on old Macintosh computers. When the jump was made to the NES 5 years later, this game after another point and click adventure, Shadowgate had already emerged on the scene. This would be the 2nd in a point and click trilogy from Kemco that followed up with Uninvited a year later in 1991.

Whereas Shadowgate focused on a more fantasy fiction style, and Uninvited the horror genre, Deja Vu was truly a straight from film noir style classic taking place in post WWII 1940s Chicago. As Ace Harding, private eye, you awaken from a medicine induced black out, unaware of what exactly happened, and more importantly, who you are!

As the game progresses, you are tasked with picking and choosing what items to take, as well as what direction to go. You quickly find out you were framed for a murder, and now not only have to figure out who you are, but clear your name as well!

Deja Vu has a soundtrack that can only be described as smoky bar jazz, tunes that fit the game like a glove and further give it that film noir vibe.

So...

Why You Should Play Deja Vu: If you already enjoy point and click games, the likes of Shadowgate, Uninvited, and Maniac Mansion, to name a few. If you enjoy both film noir and retro video games.

Why You Shouldn't Play Deja Vu: If you're not a fan of the genre, or a fan of actually having to use a walkthrough to play a game. Deja Vu can be frustrating for some going in blind.

Deja Vu is one of my favorite and most unsung games in the history of the NES alone. That doesn't mean it will be one of yours.

But, if nothing else, I hope me speaking on this, how I stumbled upon the game, teaches at least one gamer out there to be open to the possibilities of discovery.

GAME ON!!!

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THANK YOU!!!

We will see you next month, for more exciting adventures here, "Inside The Vault!!!"