What classic game consoles do you plan on getting?

[Reinako666]

I was planning on getting a Sega Saturn and a Wii U in the sometime future, but I want to know what classic game consoles you guys would get in the future.

You guys can answer down below.

[Leo656]

Pre-pandemic I was all set to get a Sega Master System and a Dreamcast, but I think I need to wait until things stabilize a bit. As it is I could maybe get either or both consoles but I would have a hard time building a library of games to play. They're definitely on the list, though.

Aside from that, I've needed a new PS2 and original XBox for over 10 years but I keep putting them off for whatever reason even though they're not even that expensive.

[Shark_Blade]

I already got a Dreamcast last year. Plus a hdmi cable converter and it looks stunning on hdtv.

I don’t really know much about other classic consoles. They’re kinda on classic arcades like Switch and pc already.

[Leo656]

Looks like either a Dreamcast or Master System in decent shape is gonna run me around $200 either way. I guess that's not altogether unreasonable but I definitely had several chances to get either one for a lot less and I'm really kicking myself for passing on them now.

Fact is I once actually had a Dreamcast that I only paid $50 for. Then I let someone borrow it and now whenever anyone asks if they can borrow anything I just slash their throat with a sawed-off, file-sharpened zipper hook and stash them in the goddamn crawlspace.

But yeah, I still gotta get these systems but it's gonna cost more than I wanna spend.

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

Probably a Super Nintendo

[Discogod]

I recently sold my Master System II with half a dozen games for the equivalent of $80, they're so common over here that they're dirt cheap. I got almost double that for my Outrun 3D cart when I sold that a few years back.

I'm tempted to get a Gamecube, but I doubt I'd play it much. Between my partner and I, we have every Nintendo console bar the GC and Wii U, plus Xbox 360/One, PS 2, 3 and 4 and a ton of handhelds. Only the Switch and Xbox One get any regular play.

I'd love to get a couple of upright cabs next. I've always wanted a Neo Geo MVS, and I'd like to refurbish an old cab and get MAME running, but we just don't have any space.

[Leo656]

Dammit boy. Although to be fair, living where I do, and checking around, even if I got that kind of a deal the shipping from over there would kill me.

Can't tell ya how many times I'm about to buy an action figure or whatever and it's like "Whoooo, only ten bucks! Sweet! What a steal, and only $85 shipping what the #$%^&*()#%^&*...

I'll figure it out. Sadly, the Master System was about as successful in America as Sex Ed was in the West Nile region. So they're really hard to find over here anymore; most people who want one have one and ain't getting rid of it.

I'll figure it out. Or, more aptly, "I'll eventually break down and pay stupid money for something I can easily live without" but god dammit if I ain't gonna enjoy life then I don't see any point in livin' it.

[Reinako666]

I found a Sega Saturn for $199 on Amazon and another for even less on EBay, which one should I get?

[Ninjinister]

idk I just got a game.com a few months ago. It sucks ass

Kinda want a Gamate next but those are pricey as balls.

[Andrew NDB]

Another one of these threads? The amount of classic consoles I plan on getting remains 0. Emulation has been on point since about 2000. The people oogling these "classic consoles" or mini classic consoles or whatever don't seem too dissimilar from the hipsters crazy about vinyl again.

[Leo656]

Video Game Emulators = Sex Robots.

Same basic experience. Possibly better in some very minor and inconsequential ways (like no conversation or cuddling required). Still completely misses the entire point of the exercise.

Just admit you're a graphics snob who hates switching plug wires, bruh. That's all you need to say and it's patently obvious, so just own it, man. I'm just razzing, but seriously, no need to throw shade at people who actually do this stuff the "real" way, that's their prerogative.

Among my real-life friends, the only people I know who "prefer" emulation are the ones who barely, if ever, play their older games, anyway. So it's easier for them to stash something like Panzer Dragoon on a hard drive, play it once for a few hours and then never look at it again. And that's fine. Makes sense, even. No sense having a Saturn hookup and a stack of discs taking up space that you're never going to bother with. But anyone I know who actually plays their older games frequently, they almost always opt for Authenticity over mere convenience. The authenticity is a big part of the draw.

This is merely an observation, of course, but it's a thing I notice. Casual Gamers emulate. Hardcore Gamers buy The Real Stuff. I guess it's like wine-tasting; if you're not a connoiseur and you just want a quick buzz, any $10 bottle or even a box will suffice. But anyone who's "serious" will turn up their nose at such things.

I'm not even crazy about the mini "Retro" consoles, generally speaking. Altogether the emulation isn't always great, it's usually from PAL copies so the games run slower, the music and sound effects are generally subpar to the originals, along with other stuff that people who don't play the original games often would notice or care about, but if you DO play them a lot, it's jarring and annoying to come across such hiccups in a supposedly "superior" modern recreation. Part of why there's been like 87 Genesis "mini-consoles" is because the emulation is almost universally poor, to a certain degree even in the most recent release. Again, if you barely play, you may not care, but again, to a "connoisseur"... ugh. A lot of the issues are very noticeable.

At the end of the day, if a person's a "casual" - and nobody is obviously under any obligation to be a "hardcore" gamer, they can do what they wanna do - then no, there's probably not much point in going "legit". But there's a lot of reasons why most people who are "hardcore" prefer a more authentic experience. The games themselves generally are only one part of the overall "experience"; everything from the feel of the controller to simply seeing the console on the shelf to just recapturing the feeling of being 6 years old, also factors in to those preferences. It's really not very complicated.

For me, I never owned a Master System, but my uncle did. Nobody around here sold them back then. I like the look of the console, the feel of the controller... actually having one of my own, would in a sense be "making up" for something I mostly missed out on as a kid. The games themselves are only part of it; the "experience" is what I'm after.

Likewise, I've spent most of the last decade playing Genesis games on any of the numerous collections for Xbox and whatever, and that's fine. But I recently found and hooked up my old Genesis for the first time in almost 20 years, and good lord, not the same at all. Playing the exact same games on an Xbox disc felt so "shallow" by comparison to playing the "real" carts, with the "real" controller (although my "real" controller soon broke and I've had to make do with a modern repro but it gets the job done). Sure, it's "easier" to just pop in the Xbox disc and flip through a few menus... but I don't feel the same engagement, not even a little bit. Same games, totally different experience. Going forward I seriously only plan to use the disc to play games I don't yet own on cart. I can't stress enough how totally more satisfying it felt to play those exact same games "The Right Way" again. I never stopped playing the games in the interim years, the interface was the only thing different... but it does change the entire experience significantly.

Obviously it's good that there's emulation, however, but I mostly only care about it for stuff like licensed arcade games that can never be officially re-released (or is highly unlikely to ever be), like WWF WrestleFest or the old Punisher game and stuff like that. Or stuff like "Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder" which only came out in certain parts of the world but really deserves to be preserved and played by everyone. But aside from that, obviously the market for actual hardware and software is very real and very passionate, or else the prices wouldn't keep going up.

Really makes me kick myself for not taking advantage of the very brief late-90s window when "retro gaming" really wasn't even a thing yet, or was just starting to be. FuncoLand was just getting started and you could get an Atari 2600 and a stack of games for like $50, because "nobody wanted them" anymore. NES and Genesis carts that go for $50+ now were like $3, because the PS1 and N64 were out and "nobody wants that old stuff". If I knew then what I know now, I would've gone in and cleaned them the f*ck out. But no... I had to buy Star Wars toys instead. What I could'a bought with $200 back in 1997 would easily cost me around $700+, now, depending on what's what. That's a real kick in the teeth.

Some stuff I'm just not likely to ever bother with, though. Some of my friends need a "full" collection of every single major console ever released, but I'unno, I can probably live without the CDi or the Neo-Geo and stuff like that, personally. If I have all the major Nintendo, Sega, Playstation and Xbox consoles, I'd have to be pretty happy. You can't have everything. But the TurboGrafx, for example, I'd be interested in at a good price. I'm not a hardline completionist who needs absolutely everything, but I'm definitely interested in whatever I can get my hands on, put it like that.

Thankfully, my wife's the exact same way and encourages this behavior. Might even be a little worse than me, even. Which isn't a bad "problem" to have, don't get me wrong!

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Reinako666

I found a Sega Saturn for $199 on Amazon and another for even less on EBay, which one should I get?

Depends, what condition? That's altogether not a bad price, really, but again, depends on the condition. We got our Saturn a couple years ago for around $100 or something, BUT there were a few issues the seller failed to mention. Firstly, the battery was old and wouldn't save any data; no big deal, you can just swap a new one in and you really need Memory Carts for the Saturn to hold your saves, anyway, which are cheap enough, no problem. But another, more annoying thing, is that a lot of used Saturns have a problem where the lid doesn't fully close properly on the inside, and in turn the system refuses to read the disc because it thinks the lid's open, and we got "lucky" in that regard (and immediately figured out why we got such a "great deal" on the price). It works fine IF you stick a little piece of paper in a certain spot between the lid, but sometimes you have to put something with a small amount of weight on top of the console to "force" it to register as being closed, like a book or something. So it's kind of annoying. But once it finally reads as being closed it works perfectly fine. Just have to fidget with it first, usually.

Before actually putting money down, I would definitely ask the seller about those two issues, specifically. Although not so much the battery one, the internal batteries almost always need replacing anyway. But definitely, definitely ask about the lid-closing issue. It's not the end of the world, most consoles with the issue still play just fine if you screw with it... but it's easier to not have to screw with it. They don't ALL have that problem, but I find that Saturn sellers generally will not mention if theirs has it unless you ask them straight-out.

I kind of just assume that most used Saturns being sold probably do have the issue because it pops up so often, so it's definitely worth asking about upfront. And the Saturn is becoming a fairly "rare" console nowadays, the games being even more so, to the point where, again, most people who want one have one. So if someone is selling theirs, especially "cheap"... it's not a bad idea to assume that it might have some kind of issue, and ask as many questions as you can. People usually don't sell in-demand products below the general asking price unless there's something not quite right, so it's just good sense to protect yourself.

Good luck! Hope you get a good one. I wish ours was 100% but it still plays games just fine so I'm not gonna replace the whole system, I'll just stick a book on it. It's cheaper.

[frank_one]

For 8/16 bit systems emulation is the way to go for me, unless you're a collector and I'm not. Not sure about Playstation1/2 era emulation, but I guess at this point emulators are pretty good and don't require a powerful pc.

[Roseangelo]

Oh, you silly kids. I've owned all the game consoles I've wanted to own since when they were still shiny and new.

[neatoman]

Well... I have most of the big consoles already and most of the old games that I'm interested have digital rereleases for new systems, plus I'm broke... Soooooooooooo... Not unless I happen to come across something in a thrift shop..

[sdp]

I'm selling all the classic consoles I own, I'm only keeping my NES and debating if I should keep a Game Boy. My fav. console is the n64 but I just like the look of the NES more and I don't have the space or time to have more than 1 retro console, for anything else I'll just emulate it.

Originally Posted by Leo656

Sega Master System and a Dreamcast, but I think I need to wait until things stabilize a bit. As it is I could maybe get either or both consoles but I would have a hard time building a library of games to play. T

Just by a flash cart for the Genesis and play every game now and it's no different than the actual game and you can build your library slowly but still being able to play what you want now. Dreamcast games can be burned on CD-Rs so it's even easier.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by sdp

Just by a flash cart for the Genesis and play every game now and it's no different than the actual game and you can build your library slowly but still being able to play what you want now. Dreamcast games can be burned on CD-Rs so it's even easier.

Nope!

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

Oh, you silly kids. I've owned all the game consoles I've wanted to own since when they were still shiny and new.

So I'mma need your address and the time of day at which you're not home. It's, uh, a Census thing. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Reinako666]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Depends, what condition?

I don't know, it doesn't tell me the condition it's in.