Yeah, I'm guessing the seller probably felt brow-beaten from all the other CL tire-kickers looking to get it for nothing and walking up and picking the game apart immediately.

Just a thought. But with a machine like this, and an inexperienced non-collector, try saying a couple positive things about the title itself to break the ice, how you used to play it, the cool features it has (which may be broken), and eventually merge that in with the observations about the condition of his particular machine.

I picked up a gorgeous condition, but broken, EM once from a guy who had this same negative attitude from collectors trying to basically tell him his machine is a hunk of debris. He was immediately ready to usher me to the door as soon I asked him what was wrong with it but I stopped him, "Hang on dude, this is an awesome title... that's why you're getting all the interest. The game is killer! But it will need work. Let me just see what's going on with it for a minute... if it's an easy fix or a fuse, I'll be honest with you... and I can offer you more..." End result is after about 5 minutes of this we were buddies and he basically started venting to me about the other collectors who had stopped by, and I end up getting it for less than he was offered by one of them, and less than I went there ready to offer.

It's about dealing with people, as much as machines, when you go to buy something off CL. And when other collectors have already muddied the water, yet the machine is still there, then you need to not come at him like the typical annoying tire-kicking pinsider trying to get a machine for half its value. I know, I know, in this particular case the seller overreacted and all. But just think of the annoying things buyers do and say when they come to look at something you have for sale, and do the opposite. Just an observation on overall buying tactics with inexperienced machine owners.