The Honest Opinion - Video Games Monthly
This post is going to be a little different, it's actually going to be broken into three sections. The first section will focus on a review/reflection of Video Games Monthly, the second section will be an interview with one of the partners at VGM, and lastly I'll do an unboxing. But before I get into it, I'm sure most of you have one question.
What is Video Games Monthly?
By now, a lot of you have probably heard of LootCrate, it's a monthly nerd-subscription that sends you things localized to a specific theme every month, with a new theme each month. Since then, a lot of different variances have been born that follow the same box-of-goodies monthly subscription, and Video Games Monthly is of the same variety.
VGM caters specifically to gamers. You can subscribe on their website for a box of either 3, 4, 5, or 10 video games to be sent to you every month. The only difference between these guys and the others is that the theme is the best theme of them all, and it's the same every month. The theme is you. Each box is put together with you in mind, and trying to give you the games that you used to love, or new ones just like them that you may not have played or even heard of before. On their site, once you subscribe, you are given the ability to pick from any of the consoles that they offer, and choose only those ones to be in your box.
As of writing this, they offer the following game systems : Atari, NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Sega Genesis, Playstation 1, Playstation 2, Original Xbox, and the most recent addition is the Super Famicom. They even offer handheld systems such as Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Game Gear. And like I said above, you can choose which ones pop into your box. So if you don't own a PS2, you don't have to be stuck with getting games for a console you don't even own.
What's more, is each console comes with it's own sub-list of video games so you can even go in and check off what you do already own, and you won't receive any duplicates. Like I said, the theme every month is you, and it shows. These guys put a lot of hard work and dedication into making each box as personalized as possible (obviously within reason), so each month when you open yours, you get excited and go "Oh my God, I remember this game from when I was a kid...".
They even created their own 8-bit hero to be the face of the company, Floyd.
The Honest Opinion
So, what do I think of VGM? It's amazing. I first signed up back in the spring (March or April). My fiancee had found an ad for it and I decided to check it out. At first glance, I was a bit weary of it. It seemed almost too good to be true. Retro games shipped right to my door, every month, that i can KEEP? There has to be a catch. So I played it safe and signed up for the 3-game box.
After subscribing, I hopped on YouTube, the almighty review board of all things unknown, right? I figured, I'll search for Video Games Monthly and try to see how everything works and peoples thoughts on it all. In the first video I watched, my jaw dropped. This guy (who had just received his first subscription box) pulled out an NES cart of Final Fantasy. I couldn't believe it! And as he pulled out the rest of his games, my jaw got lower, and lower. So I clicked on to another video, and then another after that. I couldn't believe what these people were getting. I saw all these great games being pulled out of these boxes. I saw GoldenEye on N64, Castle of Illusion on Sega Genesis, Castlevania games, all of these really great games. So before I even got my first box, I upgraded it from 3 games to 5.
Since then, I've upgraded to what's known as the Power Pack, 10-games every month. And what's even cooler is you get random chances at Game-Ups. Every box comes with a card that reminds you to update your list on the website with the things inside the box, but some boxes come with anything from a 1-up to a 5-up. These are additional games, FREE, in your box. So you could potentially pay for a 3-game box and get up to 8!
Here's a snapshot of some of the great games I've received from VGM ever since I signed up. So trust me when I say that this is one monthly subscription that is MORE than worth it. I've gotten 5 or 6 boxes by now and I honestly have loved every single one. My only wish is that I had found out about it sooner.
Every box I've gotten has felt like it was catered to me. Not once have I taken a game out and gone "Ugh...this?!" For the first day or two after receiving my games, I'm stuck with the awful decision of "Which one do I play?" I'll pick one up and then set it back down to grab another one, and it takes me forever to decide.
So whether or not you've heard of them, VGM is truly amazing. Head to their Facebook page and check em out, along with tons of photos of people's boxes that they've received.
My Interview With VGM
Around the second week of August, I sent an email to one of the partners of VGM, asking if I'd be able to ask them a few questions and do this blog post about them. I was surprised when they not only said yes, but asked if they could talk with me on the phone too instead of just typing out a bunch of answers. So I got to talk to one of the partners, Joe, and here's a bit of what he had to say.
HG: When did VGM start and how did the idea for it come up?
Joe : The idea started a few years ago from a simple conversation. A bunch of local gamers had been talking about how hard it was to find retro games and stores around here, and one of them said "Wouldn't it be easier if you could just get them delivered to your door every month?" and from that, VGM pretty much got it's start.
HG: So did it gain popularity right away? Or did it start slow and then "boom" out of nowhere?
Joe : It honestly grew a lot faster than we expected it to. The first month we did it, we started it towards the end around the 25th of the month. By the end of the month in just those few days, we'd gotten almost ten subscribers to ship out to. The next month we got a few dozen more, and the month after that it started growing by 50 and then 100 each month until now, a few years later, when it's blossomed into something really good. We've let the community speak for itself and all of our fans and the pictures they post or the unboxing videos they do. Everything we've gotten to do has pretty much all been through word of mouth for the most part.
HG: As of right now, you guys offer just about everything from Atari up through PS2/Xbox/GameCube, and you just recently announced you'll be shipping out Super Famicom games. Are there any plans to go into newer or other consoles, or are you nearing a sort of stopping point?
Joe : We really don't have a stopping point per-se. It all has to do with what everyone wants to see from us. That's why we added the Atari and Super Famicom, we'd been getting lots of questions about them. So if the demand goes up for something else, sure, we'll be adding it!
HG: You guys have Partner Pack's and Joke Boxes that you send out now, how did those ideas get started?
Joe : The Partner Pack's started right away. We thought it would be a cool personal touch if we had each one of the partner's for VGM personally pick out one of their favorite games to include in a box. The Joke Boxes actually got started on Facebook. We had a person put Shaq-Fu on their wishlist, and so we sent it to them in their box one month. After they got it, they posted a picture of it on our Facebook page (with their whole box) and someone else was like "Shaq-Fu? That has to be a joke!" So the next month, we sent them an entire box of just Shaq-Fu's and ever since then it's become kind of a tradition every month.
HG: Anything you guys try to avoid doing with the boxes?
Joe : Our big thing is we try to not ship out any of the yeared sports games (Madden 2001, NHL 94, etc,) unless someone actually requests them. These games are sort of recycles that get released every single year, so there's not a whole lot of value to them. So we try to not ship them out unless it's either requested or our Joke Boxes (which get sent in addition to the persons regular box). The other thing we try to avoid is shipping out games that require an accessory of some sort, like the light-gun for NES, or the mouse for SNES unless, again, someone requests them. But if we do send them out, we try to send them with the accessory too.
HG: So what are the craziest and silliest game requests you've gotten from people?
Joe : Oh boy. Well, by far the craziest one we've gotten is people asking for Little Samson. Although it's hard to tell if it's an honest request, or if the person might not know it's actually a $1000 game. As far as silly games, we've gotten everything from Shaq-Fu, Superman 64, since we announced Atari, we've gotten a bunch of requests for E.T., and again, you never know if it's something the person wants just to have in their collection or if it's more of a "I wonder if this game really is that bad".
I wanna take a second to thank Joe for taking some time to talk with me, I had a lot of fun chatting with him, learning a bit more about VGM and reminiscing about some of our old favorite games. As you can see, VGM centers itself almost entirely around their communities happiness, making sure that each month, each person gets the most they can out of their boxes. Something I can personally vouch for. So again, thanks Joe for talking with me, and thanks VGM as a whole for all the great stuff I've gotten this year so far.
Now, on to the last section of this post. The unboxing of my September Power Pack!
So like I mentioned before, I subscribe to the Power Pack which is a box of 10 games every month with the chance for more in power-ups. This month I got a 2-up (2 extra games for free). I'm going to go through them by console.
First up, NES
Opening my box I was stoked for my NES titles that I got. WWF Wrestlemania I used to own as a kid and had a ton of fun playing it growing up, and even though it wasn't on my wishlist, it was a great addition to my box.
Tecmo Bowl was on my initial NES list when I started hunting down retro games, and it was the only game I was missing from that list. I've heard it talked about as a fun NES football game and I'm hoping it lives up to the hype.
Excitebike is pretty much a must in any NES library. You can race around over jumps and puddles trying to beat your opponents, but I think what everyone remembers most about this game is the fact that you could create your own tracks in it. However due to the game's lack of a save battery, if you wanted your friends to see your creation you'd have to leave your system on all day until they could come over after school.
Goonies II is another one that I had heard a lot about. It's a sequel to the famed movie, and supposed to be an amazing platformer. Out of these four NES titles I'm probably most excited for this one and it will probably find it's way on the blog in the near future.
Next up, Sega Genesis
Who doesn't love a Mortal Kombat game. These were a staple growing up for the gore factor with the bloody fatalities. The Sega version didn't come with the blood standard but you can unlock the blood and uncensored versions of the fatalities with a cheat code which is the first thing I'll be doing when this game gets docked.
Next, N64
Superman 64. Anyone who knows gaming knows that this game is touted as one of the worst/hardest in gaming history, right up there with Shaq-Fu and the Atari's E.T. AVGN is one of the one's who's famous for making this fact well known. But I wanted to find out for myself personally if this one's really as bad as the hype. There's been a decent amount of games that I've come across that were "known to be horrible" that I really enjoyed, like Top Gun on NES for example. You can definitely expect this one to make an appearance on the blog.
On to PS1
Battlestations on PS1 is a naval combat game, essentially Mortal Kombat with boats. I've only ever seen this game, never looked into it much, but it seems like it will be a lot of fun and I can't wait to try it out.
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is based off the animated TV show of the same name, and obviously a Toy Story spin off. In it you play as Buzz, racing villains through various levels on different planets to face down a boss at the end. This one is actually one I hadn't heard of/come across until pulling it out of my box, but it looks like it will be a great play.
Now for PS2
Final Fantasy X-2 is the first actual sequel in the FF series. This was a great pull from my box as I just picked up Final Fantasy X not too long ago, and I've been playing the HD remaster of X on the PS Vita, so this was great timing.
Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith. I used to own this one on Xbox. At the time, I used to avoid any video game that was made off of a movie as they're notorious for being either really bad for their gameplay, or really bad for ruining the story portrayed in the movie it's based on. However this one was an exception to both rules. I had a lot of fun with this one and I get to again thanks to VGM!
Almost done, our next stop is Xbox
From Russia with Love. As a kid, I lived for this movie. Every year when TBS ran their Bond marathon, I'd always be at my dad's for the beginning of said marathon, so every year I got familiar with Dr. No and From Russia with Love. For years I've been hoping to come across a copy of this game, but whenever I did it was always massively over-priced. Now, I have it in my collection, and it's going to be one of the first one's I dive into.
Our last stop is GameCube
Soul Calibur II. I was never a huge fan of fighting games, but in the last few years I've come back into them. This game was one I have wanted even during my times of hating fighting games. The Soul Calibur games are great fighting games, and generally with each release they've graced the players with the presence of a new character. Soul Calibur IV saw Darth Vader (PS3) and Yoda (Xbox 360) While Soul Calibur V saw Ezio from Assassin's Creed. But right there on the cover you can see (hopefully) the reason why this one is a must have in the Soul Calibur series. You get to fight as Link!
So that's the box, in all of it's glory. I can't thank VGM enough for the awesome games I got not only this month, but every month since I signed up. So if you love gaming, definitely give these guys a try because I guarantee you will never regret it. You can sign up on there website and start receiving gaming goodies as soon as October!
What is Video Games Monthly?
By now, a lot of you have probably heard of LootCrate, it's a monthly nerd-subscription that sends you things localized to a specific theme every month, with a new theme each month. Since then, a lot of different variances have been born that follow the same box-of-goodies monthly subscription, and Video Games Monthly is of the same variety.
VGM caters specifically to gamers. You can subscribe on their website for a box of either 3, 4, 5, or 10 video games to be sent to you every month. The only difference between these guys and the others is that the theme is the best theme of them all, and it's the same every month. The theme is you. Each box is put together with you in mind, and trying to give you the games that you used to love, or new ones just like them that you may not have played or even heard of before. On their site, once you subscribe, you are given the ability to pick from any of the consoles that they offer, and choose only those ones to be in your box.
As of writing this, they offer the following game systems : Atari, NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Sega Genesis, Playstation 1, Playstation 2, Original Xbox, and the most recent addition is the Super Famicom. They even offer handheld systems such as Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Game Gear. And like I said above, you can choose which ones pop into your box. So if you don't own a PS2, you don't have to be stuck with getting games for a console you don't even own.
What's more, is each console comes with it's own sub-list of video games so you can even go in and check off what you do already own, and you won't receive any duplicates. Like I said, the theme every month is you, and it shows. These guys put a lot of hard work and dedication into making each box as personalized as possible (obviously within reason), so each month when you open yours, you get excited and go "Oh my God, I remember this game from when I was a kid...".
They even created their own 8-bit hero to be the face of the company, Floyd.
The Honest Opinion
So, what do I think of VGM? It's amazing. I first signed up back in the spring (March or April). My fiancee had found an ad for it and I decided to check it out. At first glance, I was a bit weary of it. It seemed almost too good to be true. Retro games shipped right to my door, every month, that i can KEEP? There has to be a catch. So I played it safe and signed up for the 3-game box.
After subscribing, I hopped on YouTube, the almighty review board of all things unknown, right? I figured, I'll search for Video Games Monthly and try to see how everything works and peoples thoughts on it all. In the first video I watched, my jaw dropped. This guy (who had just received his first subscription box) pulled out an NES cart of Final Fantasy. I couldn't believe it! And as he pulled out the rest of his games, my jaw got lower, and lower. So I clicked on to another video, and then another after that. I couldn't believe what these people were getting. I saw all these great games being pulled out of these boxes. I saw GoldenEye on N64, Castle of Illusion on Sega Genesis, Castlevania games, all of these really great games. So before I even got my first box, I upgraded it from 3 games to 5.
Since then, I've upgraded to what's known as the Power Pack, 10-games every month. And what's even cooler is you get random chances at Game-Ups. Every box comes with a card that reminds you to update your list on the website with the things inside the box, but some boxes come with anything from a 1-up to a 5-up. These are additional games, FREE, in your box. So you could potentially pay for a 3-game box and get up to 8!
Here's a snapshot of some of the great games I've received from VGM ever since I signed up. So trust me when I say that this is one monthly subscription that is MORE than worth it. I've gotten 5 or 6 boxes by now and I honestly have loved every single one. My only wish is that I had found out about it sooner.
Every box I've gotten has felt like it was catered to me. Not once have I taken a game out and gone "Ugh...this?!" For the first day or two after receiving my games, I'm stuck with the awful decision of "Which one do I play?" I'll pick one up and then set it back down to grab another one, and it takes me forever to decide.
So whether or not you've heard of them, VGM is truly amazing. Head to their Facebook page and check em out, along with tons of photos of people's boxes that they've received.
My Interview With VGM
Around the second week of August, I sent an email to one of the partners of VGM, asking if I'd be able to ask them a few questions and do this blog post about them. I was surprised when they not only said yes, but asked if they could talk with me on the phone too instead of just typing out a bunch of answers. So I got to talk to one of the partners, Joe, and here's a bit of what he had to say.
HG: When did VGM start and how did the idea for it come up?
Joe : The idea started a few years ago from a simple conversation. A bunch of local gamers had been talking about how hard it was to find retro games and stores around here, and one of them said "Wouldn't it be easier if you could just get them delivered to your door every month?" and from that, VGM pretty much got it's start.
HG: So did it gain popularity right away? Or did it start slow and then "boom" out of nowhere?
Joe : It honestly grew a lot faster than we expected it to. The first month we did it, we started it towards the end around the 25th of the month. By the end of the month in just those few days, we'd gotten almost ten subscribers to ship out to. The next month we got a few dozen more, and the month after that it started growing by 50 and then 100 each month until now, a few years later, when it's blossomed into something really good. We've let the community speak for itself and all of our fans and the pictures they post or the unboxing videos they do. Everything we've gotten to do has pretty much all been through word of mouth for the most part.
HG: As of right now, you guys offer just about everything from Atari up through PS2/Xbox/GameCube, and you just recently announced you'll be shipping out Super Famicom games. Are there any plans to go into newer or other consoles, or are you nearing a sort of stopping point?
Joe : We really don't have a stopping point per-se. It all has to do with what everyone wants to see from us. That's why we added the Atari and Super Famicom, we'd been getting lots of questions about them. So if the demand goes up for something else, sure, we'll be adding it!
HG: You guys have Partner Pack's and Joke Boxes that you send out now, how did those ideas get started?
Joe : The Partner Pack's started right away. We thought it would be a cool personal touch if we had each one of the partner's for VGM personally pick out one of their favorite games to include in a box. The Joke Boxes actually got started on Facebook. We had a person put Shaq-Fu on their wishlist, and so we sent it to them in their box one month. After they got it, they posted a picture of it on our Facebook page (with their whole box) and someone else was like "Shaq-Fu? That has to be a joke!" So the next month, we sent them an entire box of just Shaq-Fu's and ever since then it's become kind of a tradition every month.
HG: Anything you guys try to avoid doing with the boxes?
Joe : Our big thing is we try to not ship out any of the yeared sports games (Madden 2001, NHL 94, etc,) unless someone actually requests them. These games are sort of recycles that get released every single year, so there's not a whole lot of value to them. So we try to not ship them out unless it's either requested or our Joke Boxes (which get sent in addition to the persons regular box). The other thing we try to avoid is shipping out games that require an accessory of some sort, like the light-gun for NES, or the mouse for SNES unless, again, someone requests them. But if we do send them out, we try to send them with the accessory too.
HG: So what are the craziest and silliest game requests you've gotten from people?
Joe : Oh boy. Well, by far the craziest one we've gotten is people asking for Little Samson. Although it's hard to tell if it's an honest request, or if the person might not know it's actually a $1000 game. As far as silly games, we've gotten everything from Shaq-Fu, Superman 64, since we announced Atari, we've gotten a bunch of requests for E.T., and again, you never know if it's something the person wants just to have in their collection or if it's more of a "I wonder if this game really is that bad".
I wanna take a second to thank Joe for taking some time to talk with me, I had a lot of fun chatting with him, learning a bit more about VGM and reminiscing about some of our old favorite games. As you can see, VGM centers itself almost entirely around their communities happiness, making sure that each month, each person gets the most they can out of their boxes. Something I can personally vouch for. So again, thanks Joe for talking with me, and thanks VGM as a whole for all the great stuff I've gotten this year so far.
Now, on to the last section of this post. The unboxing of my September Power Pack!
So like I mentioned before, I subscribe to the Power Pack which is a box of 10 games every month with the chance for more in power-ups. This month I got a 2-up (2 extra games for free). I'm going to go through them by console.
First up, NES
Tecmo Bowl was on my initial NES list when I started hunting down retro games, and it was the only game I was missing from that list. I've heard it talked about as a fun NES football game and I'm hoping it lives up to the hype.
Excitebike is pretty much a must in any NES library. You can race around over jumps and puddles trying to beat your opponents, but I think what everyone remembers most about this game is the fact that you could create your own tracks in it. However due to the game's lack of a save battery, if you wanted your friends to see your creation you'd have to leave your system on all day until they could come over after school.
Goonies II is another one that I had heard a lot about. It's a sequel to the famed movie, and supposed to be an amazing platformer. Out of these four NES titles I'm probably most excited for this one and it will probably find it's way on the blog in the near future.
Next up, Sega Genesis
Who doesn't love a Mortal Kombat game. These were a staple growing up for the gore factor with the bloody fatalities. The Sega version didn't come with the blood standard but you can unlock the blood and uncensored versions of the fatalities with a cheat code which is the first thing I'll be doing when this game gets docked.
Next, N64
On to PS1
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is based off the animated TV show of the same name, and obviously a Toy Story spin off. In it you play as Buzz, racing villains through various levels on different planets to face down a boss at the end. This one is actually one I hadn't heard of/come across until pulling it out of my box, but it looks like it will be a great play.
Now for PS2
Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith. I used to own this one on Xbox. At the time, I used to avoid any video game that was made off of a movie as they're notorious for being either really bad for their gameplay, or really bad for ruining the story portrayed in the movie it's based on. However this one was an exception to both rules. I had a lot of fun with this one and I get to again thanks to VGM!
Almost done, our next stop is Xbox
Our last stop is GameCube
So that's the box, in all of it's glory. I can't thank VGM enough for the awesome games I got not only this month, but every month since I signed up. So if you love gaming, definitely give these guys a try because I guarantee you will never regret it. You can sign up on there website and start receiving gaming goodies as soon as October!
