Nerdy Thrift Store Finds



Okay, so I'm not gonna lie. I totally have LGR (LazyGameReviewer) to thank for all this because had I not seen his video LGRThrifts, I would have never been inspired to stop by my local SPCA thrift store to see what kind of nerdy goodies and video games I was able to find. But I am really glad I did, so because of that I would just like to say, thanks, LGR, and please don't stop posting your awesome vids any time soon. 

By now, I bet you're wondering what it is I actually found at the thrift store, aren't you?
No, not really?
Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway. 

One of the coolest things I found at the store was a copy of The Sims Deluxe Edition priced down to $3.00 because it's an old game. In case you guys haven't noticed, in some of my previous posts I sort of made it obvious that I have a weird sort of love affair with The Sims franchise and the truth is, I kind of don't. Don't get me wrong, The Sims is a great game. But after a long bout of video game addiction involving The Sims 3, I just got tired of giving EA Games my money. Seriously, I was one of those suckers who gave them $10, so I could have a cow plant in my game. Then when I downloaded it, I was too afraid of it eating my Sims to actually play with it.

Yeah, it was bad.
However, that doesn't change the fact that the games hold a special place in my heart and since I already have a growing collection of The Sims games, I'm usually pretty quick to pick this stuff up when I see it. Especially when it only costs $3.

Plus, one of the really cool things about The Sims Deluxe Edition -- that I'm sure any hardcore Simmer could tell you -- is that it actually comes with a free copy of The Sims Livin' Large Expansion Pack, The Sims Creator, and also exclusive "deluxe" content. So essentially when I bought this, I was really getting two games and a much needed upgrade for the original Create-A-Sim. Who can say no to that? 

The next thing I managed to find was a copy of The Sims Makin' Magic Expansion Pack, priced down to $4. Yes, I know, I know. More Sims stuff?

Well, I almost got a copy of the Toy Story 2 PC game, but the disc was all scratched up. Plus, The Sims 3 Supernatural is my favorite Expansion Pack and this actually came with a pretty cool surprise.

The surprise turned out to be a second disc that included a The Sims 2 Sneak Preview. Say what you will about this franchise, but it is widely known that The Sims 2 set the bar for high graphics standards in video games. If nothing else, the game is worth playing simply because of how beautiful it is. So this is something I thought was really cool.

Total, my copy of The Sims Deluxe Edition and The Sims Makin' Magic cost me $7. Was it the Playstation2 I was actually hoping to see up for sale?
No, but it's still freaking awesome, and I still have one last find to tell you guys about.

 

Alright, alright. 

This last find isn't nerdy and if I'm being honest with myself, it's probably not all that interesting unless you're huge fan of the author's work like I am. Like, for real, this chick is one of my writing idols.

And her name is Laurie Halse Anderson. She's probably best known for writing the controversial YA novel Speak, which has since found it's way onto The Banned Book List in several states and counties across the US. Because people in this country need to read less in order to get smarter. That'll help the stereotypes, alright -_-

Anyway, when I stopped by the thrift store it looked like a book store had just thrown up in there. There were two huge crates of books along with the regularly stocked shelves full of books, and my husband and I had a lot fun just looking through all of them. And as you can see, I was lucky enough to find two of Laurie Halse Anderson's best sellers. What made finding these even more enjoyable is that they're hardcovers and had I bought them at bookstore, they'd have cost me about $15 each. 

Now, I haven't actually read these books yet, so I don't actually know what they're about, but the first book is Fever 1793, which I do know is a historical fiction novel. The other one I managed to find is called Catalyst, and honestly, I've only ever heard it mentioned in passing. 

I'm more than likely going to do reviews on these books sometime in the near future, but I've got a lot of stuff going on. So until then, if you haven't picked up a book by Laurie Halse Anderson, I would highly recommend doing so.

Pokemon X/Y: The Pokemon-Amie Blues

As someone with social anxiety, I am already prone to attachment issues. So I think some people may say that I've always had a bit of an odd relationship with Pokemon, specifically the ones in the video games. Whenever I got to play a Pokemon game, which wasn't often, I would treat the Pokemon in my battle party as my pets. I mean, sure, I would never actually confine my pets to small, plastic balls with who-knows-what inside of them and then force them to beat the crap out of other animals until they fainted, but let's not get technical, right?
I firmly believed and still do believe that battling with my Pokemon would bring me closer to them and help me to develop a special bond of friendship with them. I would always buy way too many Potions, give them nicknames, and whenever we went to the Pokemon Center, I would pretend that we had stopped there so I could feed them and see they were given proper medical care. I believed the Pokemon in the games were my friends and that they should be treated as such, and got into many an argument because of it. In other words, I got really attached to them and basically had to learn to remind myself that they weren't real animals.
As I got older, it became easier and easier not to get emotionally invested in my Pokemon. I mean, I liked them, I cheered for them in battles, and I always gave them their own nicknames. I understand now that they aren't real, but then Pokemon-Amie came around and made it a lot harder for me to view them as just little blocks of data or whatever. 

Don't get me wrong. I love Pokemon-Amie. It's probably my favorite feature in the Generation 6 games, but essentially what Nintendo is telling us to do with that feature is to treat our Pokemon the way we treat our pets. They want us to feed them, pet them, play them, and essentially love them. And, seriously, how could we not?
Pokemon are some of the most adorable creatures ever to come into existence. Sure, not all of them are cute and cuddly like, say, Charizard. Most people would probably fall down in tears if they ever saw a Charizard in real life, especially a wild one. But still we put all this time into training them and teaching them how to battle, so that they can carry us to victory against the Elite Four and, in my opinion, Pokemon definitely deserve our love for that.
Taking all that into consideration, it's really, really hard not just to melt into a puddle of freaking goo when you see your prized Pokemon eat a cake with chocolate on top of it, basically, out of the palm of your hand. Or when they turn to you in battle and ask you what to do "with trust in their eyes". Who can't love that?
With all the cuteness and love and trust involved, it's hard to think that there could possibly be a downside to Pokemon-Amie, but believe me, there is. The bad part about Pokemon-Amie is that no matter how much you love a Pokemon, sometimes you just can't them with you throughout the entire game. That means that there are some Pokemon you might end up having to box in the Pokemon Center PC.
Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "But, MJ, that's nothing new. We've all had to box our favorite Pokemon in previous games."
That's true. It's not a new feature, but it is so much worse than it was previous Pokemon Generations. I mean, think about it: You have this Pokemon that you love and play with every day, that you tried all the way up to level 20-something. Then suddenly you realize, your party is full and no one can learn the new TM that is essential for completing the game. That means someone in your party needs to replaced with a Pokemon that can learn the TM. As if to make things worse, you start off on the road to the nearest Pokemon Center when suddenly you get into a battle and out pops your favorite Pokemon -- the one you know needs to be boxed -- and the text box on the screen says, "So-and-So looks at its Trainer with trust in its eyes."
It trusts you -- it knows you love it and you know it loves you because you just checked its affection level, and you HAVE to box it!
Get the idea?
Now, I know this may not seem like a big deal to some people, but really that's only because those people are heartless jerks with no real concept of love and friendship. And I used to be one them. Originally, I'd planned on keeping a Furfrou named Paris in my party simply I liked the Pokemon and via Pokemon-Amie, I managed to get pretty attached to it. I knew eventually I might have to box it because Furfrou is a Normal-type that doesn't learn any spectacular moves except maybe Surf, but, honestly, I didn't know what was going to happen when I did. I just thought it'd be like when I was a kid and I'd be all happy and smiling and like, "Bye, Furfrou. See you later." 

Uh, no.
I was so depressed I had to stop playing my game until I managed to forget about Fufrou. I'm not going to say that my social anxiety has nothing to do with it. It probably does, but that doesn't make me special. I know there are other people out there who get depressed over the simple action of boxing a Pokemon now, and not just because my post about it on the Miiverse got five Yeahs!
It's because Nintendo reminded us that we have feelings and that if Pokemon were real, they'd have 'em to. So I guess what I'm really trying to say here is thank you, Nintendo, for emotionally comprising an entire generation of Pokemon Trainers.