Old Consoles

[monkfromhavana]

Following this excellent read on the Guardian's website about the Sega Saturn:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/14/sega-saturn-how-one-decision-destroyed-playstations-greatest-rival

Did anyone have one? Were they as half-decent as the article makes out? Also, from the comments, what was a Sega Nomad?

[Consignia]

Yeah, I had a Saturn. I got it second hand from a cash convertor for about £15. I then bought a pack of 10 games for another £20. This was towards the end of it's life cycle, so there were still games around, but they extremely difficult to find. The games I did have have weren't too brill, sadly. I eventually traded it in for a Dreamcast, which I regard really highly as a console. Apart from the bizarre controllers, it was everything the Saturn should have been.

[Spiteface]

Also, from the comments, what was a Sega Nomad?

It was a handheld Megadrive/Genesis that was only ever released in the US, as I recall, with a battery life worse than the Game Gear.

[Consignia]

Yeah, the Nomad was really designed to be used on flights, and was more of an after market thing they decided to try and sell on. It was never really a serious attempt to follow up the Game Gear.

[monkfromhavana]

My mate had a Game Gear - I thought it was alright, but you're right, it did always seem to have to be plugged into the mains to play it.

[lazarou]

The Saturn had some great stuff for it, though it's monstrously expensive to collect for these days if you like playing with the original hardware and want some of the better games. Thankfully, a lot of the rarer stuff has since been ported to modern systems which make them a lot easier to get a hold of. Or there's always emulators.

Chronicles of Mystara - Gorgeous side-scrolling brawler with light RPG elements, the pinnacle of its genre if you don't count the one I'm about to mention next. Recently ported to PC and most consoles in an excellent version with lots of modern bells and whistles framing the core game, so get that one.

Guardian Heroes - Arguably the best scrolling beat-em-up ever made, with an satisfying, involved combat system and a planar movement system that takes some getting used to. Only ported to XBLA, but it's a solid job. Has a fairly shitty semi-sequel on GBA.

Radiant Silvergun - Collector-magnet SHMUP that regularly goes for silly money despite not really being that rare. Ported to XBLA.

Elevator Action Returns - A near-perfect update of the original arcade classic to a more '90s design and aesthetic, expanding core elements of the original while keeping all the good stuff intact. One of my favourite arcade games. The MAME version's probably easiest to get hold of.


Saturn emulators are in good shape these days but will need a moderately pokey PC to get the most of of them, any from the last few years that isn't a netbook should do just fine.

My mate had a Game Gear - I thought it was alright, but you're right, it did always seem to have to be plugged into the mains to play it.

Every so often I start getting the urge to grab an old GameBoy or something before I remember how bad the screens were. Blurry, low definition and (this is the crucial one) not even lit for the most part. Even something as simple as a GB is a pain to play in anything other than exactly the right kind of light. Up to as recent as the GBA that was still the case. If you ever feel the need to revisit old GB games on the proper hardware, your best starting point are the backlit Advance SPs. There has also been a bunch of "clone" portables released recently that can play SNES, Megadrive and the like from the original carts, with varying degrees of success.

[Bhazor]

The good thing about Sega getting out of the console manufacturing is the fact most of their first party games are available on everything even the PC.

[Benjaminos]

I've never really had that sense of pure fun that I had with the older consoles since.. probably anything past the PS2. The Wii U maybe comes close, in terms of sheer enjoyment - but I'm either too old, or too jaded, or too something else to re-live those halcyon days. Top three consoles, for me:

1.) Gamecube
The undisputed king of consoles, as far as I'm concerned. Wind Waker, Pikmin, Luigi's Mansion, Eternal Darkness, the best Mario Kart (until 8 came along - and even now, I'm not sure that tops Double Dash), a really fucking good F-Zero.. the list is virtually endless. And, possibly most importantly of all, the birthplace of Team Viewtiful, a.k.a. Clover, a.k.a. Platinum Games. Not only did they make the splendid Viewtiful Joe - but without them, you'd have no Okami, no God Hand, no Revengeance. Life wouldn't be worth living.

2.) Dreamcast
Horrible controller, stupid VMU thing where the battery lasted ten minutes (although I sunk a surprising amount of time into the Skies of Arcadia minigame on it), virtually entirely responsible for the downfall of Sega.. I still love it though. Playing Power Stone with my brother, impressing my mates with my mad Ikaruga skills, experiencing Rez for the first time. Buying a used one from Game for £20 in the PS2 era and then studiously pirating and playing a good chunk of the entire back catalogue of games is a very fond memory. I've still got two Dreamcasts tucked away in my Mum's loft, just in case.

3.) PS2
Amplitude. I fucking love Amplitude. If there were no other games made for the PS2, it'd still take the number three spot on the strength of Amplitude alone. Maybe the upcoming remake will be the thing that brings back my childlike delight for console gaming.

[Johnny Textface]

I picked up Revengeance on 360 recently for a couple of quid. It's fantastically mental.

[monkfromhavana]

Did anyone have an Atari Jaguar? I think I had one mate who had one, but he never talked about it.

[NoSleep]

I have a Jaguar and mostly play Tempest 2000 on it, which was the only reason I bought one (and it's one of the best games I've ever played and continue to do so). I have some other games for it; Defender 2000 (not in the same league as Tempest 2000, but playable), Doom (no music, but I hated the music anyway. Good version and makes use of the matrix keyboard thingie on the controller) & Syndicate (yet to really get into this but the game has always intrigued me, and looks like it influenced Deus Ex, although it isn't a FPS).

[monkfromhavana]

I have a Jaguar and mostly play Tempest 2000 on it, which was the only reason I bought one (and it's one of the best games I've ever played and continue to do so). I have some other games for it; Defender 2000 (not in the same league as Tempest 2000, but playable), Doom (no music, but I hated the music anyway. Good version and makes use of the matrix keyboard thingie on the controller) & Syndicate (yet to really get into this but the game has always intrigued me, and looks like it influenced Deus Ex, although it isn't a FPS).

Can you buy them anywhere?

[Consignia]

I don't think they are particularly hard to come by. Ebay seems to have a healthy listing of them, and not too expensive either.

[NoSleep]

Mine was £59 + £14 p&p and Tempest 2000 was £35 + £3 p&p (and it was worth it; still play that game a lot). I've spent a little extra getting a SCART cable (brand new) and a spare (brand new) controller (as a back-up rather than a necessity; plus there are two-player options in Tempest 2000), but even that probably only amounted to £25. The other games came to around £50 (Syndicate was a tenner and was brand new, sealed)

[Johnny Textface]

Tempest X on the Jaguar is fantastic I agree.

I used to have something called a PC Engine. Had some pretty decent games and good graphics for the time. Think I swapped it for a skateboard. Ugh

[NoSleep]

Tempest X on the Jaguar is fantastic I agree.

Wasn't that the name of the PSX version (which somehow didn't set the gaming world alight in the same way)?

[madhair60]

Saturn is a piece of dog's shit

[Consignia]

I used to have something called a PC Engine. Had some pretty decent games and good graphics for the time. Think I swapped it for a skateboard. Ugh

Weren't they really expensive relative to other consoles at the time? Or am I thinking of the Neo Geo? I always get those two mixed up in my head.

Either way, it was probably worth if you went on to become professional skateboarder Tony Hawks.

[Johnny Textface]

Wasn't that the name of the PSX version (which somehow didn't set the gaming world alight in the same way)?

You might be right, the Tempest game on Jaguar anyhow.

[Spiteface]

Weren't they really expensive relative to other consoles at the time? Or am I thinking of the Neo Geo? I always get those two mixed up in my head.

You're thinking of the Neo Geo. The PC Engine wasn't exactly easy to come by though.

[syntaxerror]

If you never had the hardware the first time round, don't bother. Dodgy disc reading, loose ports, dirty drives, memory cards (ugh), mostly awful controllers, outdated standards and funny connections. I mean, even if you do get one of these museum pieces working on your new 50" HD TV, its going to look awful. The other thing is a lot of old games simply weren't very good. Most systems have only a handful of games that still hold up today (i.e. not games that were just good for their time).

[NoSleep]

The other thing is a lot of old games simply weren't very good. Most systems have only a handful of games that still hold up today (i.e. not games that were just good for their time).

That seems a little sweeping. I'd say games today tend to be much easier (to market to a broad audience); the older games are tougher, generally, because the market was more niche. As to whether that makes "new" games "better" is another issue.

[Johnny Textface]

There are tonnes of old games that are still great today. Nothing I've seen on either xbone or ps4 has made me want to part cash at any rate. Still got my N64 and Goldeneye hooked up.

[biggytitbo]

I had a C64, an Amstrad, a Mega Drive, a Snes, an Amiga, a PS1, a PS2, a gamecube, and finally a PS3.


The gamcube was the best imho. Not just was it magical to use, the games were all amazing, culminting in one of the best games of all time - Resident Evil 4

[Mr_Simnock]

Some usefull early console links

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp?st=2

http://www.pong-picture-page.de/catalog/index.php?cPath=54

http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/

https://archive.org/details/consolelivingroom

[Johnny Textface]

one of the best games of all time - Resident Evil 4

Yes definitely - although it's even better on the Wii - controls just work really well for that one.

[Johnny Textface]

I've got half a mind to try and get hold of one of those spectrum 48k remakes. Are there two separate ones?.. I'm not sure about the 'Vega' as it just looks like a pad - but I was sure there was a proper one with the full keyboard, hdmi etc.. Anyway I would probably play Manic Miner for a few hours and get utterly pissed off with it again - so hard it's untrue.

I really enjoy James and Mike Mondays, James Rolfe (AVGN - but just being himself - seems like a decent guy) and his mate play the games from the olden dates. The Batman (Nes) one is a two parter and extremely fucking tense.

[Mr_Simnock]

hdmi

On a spectrum remake? That'l help a lot won't it, really make those early graphics look better[nb]not[/nb]

[Johnny Textface]

On a spectrum remake? That'l help a lot won't it, really make those early graphics look better[nb]not[/nb]

Do new TV's have scart? Do they have coax interfaces? I dunno..

I know what you mean - but it's just a simple solution.[nb]And while we're at it.. Party on Wayne![/nb]

[Ian Benson]

I had/have 4 x Nintendo Entertainment Systems, 2 x Gameboys, 1 x Megadrive, 1 x PC Engine, 1 x Gamegear, 2 x Super Nintendos, 1 x 32x, 1 x Saturn, 3 x N64, 1 x Gameboy Color, 1 x Gamecube, 2 x Gameboy Advances (original and then the better one), 1 x Playstation 2, 1 x Nintendo DS, 2 x Nintendo Wiis, 1 x Nintendo DS Lite, 1 x Nintendo 3DS, 1 x Wii U.

Gamecube is my fave. I would often spend days just wandering around doing fuck-all in Wind Waker. Was very into the PC Engine until a lot of the games ended up in a much more convenient format on the Wii's Virtual Console. The 32x was fucking dire. Ended up swapping it + Star Wars Arcade for a packet of fags. The Sega Saturn was pretty shit too. Megadrive and Super Nintendo were great (esp. Bomberman multiplayer). Nearly bought a Master System when they dropped in price but didn't, a decision I later regretted after playing a bunch of Master System games on the Virtual Console. Really liked the second iteration of the Gameboy Advance. Have had a lot of laughs with the Wii and Wii U when pals/family members have been around. Was talked into getting a PS 2 by just about everyone I knew at the time but could never really get into it. And obvs the NES was my first console and that was just magical.

Every now and again I think about buying a Dreamcast. I don't know why.