Entertainment/Gaming Consoles

I'm kinda getting back into game consoles, so I figure I'll open up a discussion here.

First of all, what's your favorite of all time?

Currently I have a PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Dreamcast and N64 all set up and functioning. I also own a Gameboy Advance (sorta - I bought it mainly for Jenni but I play it sometimes too), Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800 and a Sega Genesis (original).

I really really <b>really</b> want to get a Super Nintendo and a Sega Saturn. A lot of people dissed the Saturn, but I liked it a lot - I thought it was pretty good overall. The most fun I ever had on that system was at my friend Victor's house, playing Dead or Alive all night with Tory. Man those were good days. As far as Super Nintendo, there was a bass fishing game on there that was really good, and the nostalgia of Street Fighter 2 (my favorite fighting game ever) is pretty strong. So I'd like to get it just for those few games.

PlayStation is arguably the best console ever, simply because it lasted so long (games are <b>still</b> coming out for it 8 years later), it had real 3D, it was far ahead of its time (okay, Saturn looked like shit beside it), and it had <b>so many games</b>. I just got one two years ago (Christmas of '99) and I've had a blast playing it. It's also got the best game ever (Metal Gear Solid). The controllers were (are) great. And now you can get games for like $10.

Dreamcast was a great console, and it still is. At only $50, game enthusiasts shouldn't be without one. Controllers are dirt cheap now too, and the games aren't usually very expensive either. I was really sad to see Sega fail, but somehow they managed to mess everything up. I only got a Dreamcast about a year ago and I've definitely had fun on it. Soul Calibur is <b>awesome</b>. It's probably the best fighting game ever (though not quite my favorite - see above). Crazy Taxi is good fun. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater really makes Dreamcast a great console to own - that game is beyond fun, and the Dreamcast made it look great before any other console did. Sonic Adventure is pretty fun too. Dreamcast is what Saturn <b>should</b> have been, but it was also ahead of its time. PlayStation2 came out six months afterward and even after its supposedly amazing graphics hardware, the games look about the same as Dreamcast games. Two years later and PlayStation2 still hasn't been "tapped" to its potential - the closest that comes to it is Gran Turismo 3. It's hard to compare a fighter to a racer, but Soul Calibur is easily just as good, graphics-wise, as Gran Turismo 3. Dreamcast is a great console.

All that having been said, my favorite console of all time is probably Sega Genesis. I think that it looked better than the Super Nintendo, and its games were hella fun. NBA Jam was one of the funnest basketball games ever released. There were some great WWF Wrestling titles available as well. Genesis had just about everything that I enjoyed playing.

Atari 2600 was simply a great console too. It didn't look as good as the 7800, but it had a ton of games. The controllers were so simple compared to what we have nowadays. A joystick and a button. But what made it, and what makes every console, were the games. Barnstorming. Combat. Pitfall! Carnival. Frogger. The Empire Strikes Back. Spiderman. They were all great. There were so many carts and they were <b>all</b> great! God that was a great console.

My favorite console that I currently have up and running is probably the Xbox. I have to say, it beats the pants off PlayStation2 for graphics, and Xbox hasn't even been tapped yet. Second generation games are going to be amazing. The harddrive is cool because I'm never going to run out of game-save space. The controllers are nice. The sound is good too. Everything about it is good. It seriously is a great console, despite what many Microsoft bashers say. But, as I said above, software makes the console. It needs to have games you're interested in. I have (and enjoy) Dead or Alive 3, Halo, Project Gotham Racing, Rallisport Challenge (wow!), Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Silent Hill 2 is also sitting at my house, but it's Andrea's. Anyway, all of these titles are pretty tight. It's good.

To buy: a new Genesis, Saturn, GameCube, Super Nintendo, in that order.

What's your favorite console? Why? Which ones do you have? What do you enjoy most now? What are your favorite games?

Let's get talking about these

[perth]

you know, im in the minority amongst my gaming 'friends', but i really dig the dreamcast. breaks my heart sega got out of the hardware business.

i have had nothing but fun on that console. if you havent tried sega bass fishing (the first one, i dont like the second as much), you really need to give that a shot. especially if you can get your hands on a fishing controller. and some beer.

the console im playing the most right now would be the gba tho. i picked up golden sun so i could survive one of my wifes 'drag-james-along-shopping' trips, and that game has been a heck of a lot of fun. i also picked up zelda oracle of ages and oracle of seasons. almost as much fun as the snes zelda.

i have a gamecube, and its a little light on 'must-own' titles right now, but super smash bros melee is a fantastic, rogue squadron rules, and its easily the cutest box on my entertainment center.

~james

I'm looking to get a GameCube. The titles I really want are Rogue Squadron, Super Smash Brothers Melee and Super Monkey Ball. All of those games are pretty tight.

The game I <b>really</b> want is <b>Soul Calibur 2</b>. Guaranteed to look <b>incredible</b> on the Xbox. Yum.

I absolutely adore my Dreamcast. I don't know anyone that thinks lowly of it. It's awesome.

[perth]

soul calibur 2 looks excellent. between that and the new toejam and earl game, i may just break down and buy an xbox. especially if someone manages to port some decent emulators to it. i was ecstatic when nesterdc got good enough that i could start using my dreamcast for nes games and i could set my nes in a place of honor in my office. i still pull it down for certain games; dragon warrior and guardian legend, but the fact that i can save wear and tear on it is nice.

there are some really good homebrew games and ports for the dreamcast. check out consolevision.com.

~james

[juju]

I've really tried to get into console games, but I just don't like them. In my opinion, computer games are always nearly 1000 times better. I'm not really sure why I feel this way. It just seems like you can do so much more with them.. perhaps because you have 101 buttons instead of just 4 or 5. :]


I mean, honestly.. can you really compare a racing, fishing, or fighting game to Diablo II or Starcraft??

Plus, you've got multiplayer online.


Anway, every time i've tried to get into a console game, all I could think of was how lame it was.

Well, when you have friends and they come over to your house, trash talking and eating Pringles while playing Dead or Alive 3 is a lot of fun. When you have no friends and therefore spend all of your time on your computer playing Diablo II or Starcraft, the prospect of actually meeting people and playing games with them is probably pretty scary, therefore making one of the major allures of a game console a detriment instead..

Plus, you've obviously never played Metal Gear Solid. MGS makes Diablo II and Starcraft and Quake 3 and every other computer game obsolete. It may not look like much (it was on the PlayStation, for christ's sake), but it's got it where it counts - story and gameplay and depth. You'd be hard pressed to beat it on any platform.

Besides, I want to play games on a big screen, not a 19" monitor.

[perth]

computer games are great (ive been messing with the freedom force demo, definitely picking that up). but i agree with dhamsaic. having a bunch of friends over and and playing some soul calibur, super puzzle fighter or even mario party is great. the trash talk is classic.

the thing is, for the most part computer games have more depth. civ3, diablo 2, heroes or might and magic, etc. all have very deep and involving gameplay. but im a pac-man kind of guy. i like my gratification instant. crazy taxi on the dreamcast provides that. i can play a game for 5 minutes and enjoy it. lots of console games provide that. playing a computer game sometimes feels like work to me. i love simcity, but sometimes i cant play it because its too much thinking.

~james

i think it's all about mood and environment. what do you expect from a game?

for something that's very involved, i have turned to clan play online with quake3. i've been doing it for almost two and a half years now and it's been very rewarding long term. i have a lot of fun in matches. but it's taken a lot of time to build up the teamwork and whatnot that we have. it wasn't as fun a year ago.

on the other hand, you can definitely get that on the console. take a look at "halo", "metal gear solid" and "metal gear solid 2: sons of liberty". all three of them are very involved, have good stories (metal gear solid more than the other two) and provide satisfaction equivalent to that of diablo ii and the like.

however, console games are also good for quick fun. like perth mentioned, "crazy taxi" is a great example of a game you can pick up and have fun with in 5 or 10 minutes. you pop it in, it just <b>works</b> first time (and every time thereafter), and you play. controls are simple and easy to learn.

i definitely enjoy computer gaming (or i wouldn't play quake3 so much), but console gaming has its place as well, and i think that dismissing consoles straight-out simply because you haven't been impressed with what you've seen is based largely on ignorance. there's much more out there.

[juju]

Well, i'm not dismissing them outright. The majority of the population likes console games -- i'm just saying that i'm not one of them. I am stating my minority opinion.

If a game is designed to be played in 5-10 minutes, then I usually lose interest in about 5-10 minutes. The type of games I like are those that consume your life for 3-5 months and require a sacrifice of 4-8 hours a day. Oh yeah, baby. B^)

Also, I haven't played Metal Gear Solid yet. If it's as good as you say i'll definitely have to check it out. Still, if i was limited to under 10 buttons i'd just get annoyed.

(ah.. excellent.. it looks like it has been ported to the PC)

[juju]

Also, I can definitely see the point as far as friends coming over goes. I have LAN at home so it's not really an issue for me.. but I suppose most people only have 1 computer.

[perth]

when 5-10 minutes is all youve got, you learn to appreciate the games that can be played in that precious amount of time.

i was so much more into computer games before i had my son. but diablo II gets hard to play when you have a geek-in-training on your lap trying to reach the keyboard. and nothing calms that kid down like seeing the dreamcast swirl.

actually, hes fascinated by bejeweled (bejeweled). i think its the 'plonk' noises. i just hope hes old enough to entertain himself when 'worlds of warcraft' comes out.

~james

Metal Gear Solid is really great the first 10 times around. What's awesome about it is that it consumes you. It sucks you in. Watch the cut scenes. Every single one of them. The first time, anyway. Try different things. There are a lot of things to figure out. What's better, it's actually challenging.

Now... if I skip the cut scenes, I can beat it in probably 3-4 hours... but that's a really quick run through, doing nothing extra, and it definitely is a waste of the game.

When I first started playing it back in early 2000, it had me drawn in for probably 2 weeks straight. That's how long it took me to beat it the first time (and *really* beat it). After that, there's lots of reasons to go back and beat it again - the stealth suit, the bandana... submit to the torture... don't submit to the torture... it's all good.

As for longer games that take 3-5 months at 4-8 hours a day... I simply don't have the time. Full time woman, full time job, part time Quake... and I actually find time to sleep in there.

[elSicomoro]

Got my first console in 1983...the Atari 2600. Wound up getting 40 or so games for it in the end. Went through 5 or so joysticks and a couple of power adapters. My brother still has it in St. Louis.

I got an Intellivision in 1984. Now that was a sweet console. Very state-of-the-art for its time. My brother also has that back home.

My brother got a Sega Master System, but by the time he got it, it was going the way of the 'saurs. I think he still has that too.

I had an NES all of 3 months. My brother broke it. Bastard. We wound up getting another one years later.

He got a Genesis in the early '90s. I have it here in Philadelphia. Great system. You could still rent the games at Blockbuster until a few years ago. I always did like it.

I got a PSX 2 Xmases ago. Another great system. I enjoy it to no end, and it was especially useful during my periods of unemployment. Just got new games for it at Xmas time. In fact, I will be using it for a Sharon vs. Arafat match. (More on that later.)

I played X-Box at dham's place in January. It IS nice...fantastic graphics. I still lean towards PS2 though...I may buy one this Xmas.

[cornelius]

Personally, my favorite system of all time is the SNES. It had some of the best games ever on that thing, and every type of game imaginable. Short, instant gratification games, and long, in-depth games, and of course, RPGs out the whazoo. Final Fantasy 3, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Earthbound, Super Metroid, all SNES games, and quite easily my favorite games of all time.

Final Fantasy 3 was the first and only game to ever make me go "WOW" with the graphics, sound, and even the story. Every FF game since has disappointed me (although they are still good games) and no other game has made me do the same thing with them.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Earthbound were just plain fun. Games like those are really lacking nowadays. Not instant gratification, but fun, really really really fun.

Right now though, I guess my PS2 is my fav, mainly because the GameCube doesn't have many titles out on it yet, as those will all be coming out at the end of the year.

Oh yeah, and to the comment earlier about buttons and keys; console games don't NEED 101 keys. The developers have managed to get everything done with only 4-8 buttons. Personaly, I think that's more impressive then spreading it out across 101 keys and possibly confusing the crap out of players (I still haven't learned what all the keys do in Asherons Call)

I just got Grand Theft Auto 3 and a memory card (from EBGames - Thanks Chris!) for my PS2, and I plan to get some play time in today. Jenni wouldn't let me last night. "Oh, let's go eat dinner, I'm hungry" - "Oh, I'm tired, let's go to bed." Sheesh. Food and sleep can wait.

Seriously though, I was playing Tony Hawk 3 (Xbox) last night and it is <b>hard</b>! Gravity has much more an effect on me now than it did in 1 and 2. Dammit! Balancing on rails seems much more difficult now too.

MGS2 on my PS2 is pretty fun so far. The one thing I don't like is that it's not quite the same feel as MGS on PlayStation. For instance, it's zoomed in more - Snake appears larger than he did in PlayStation. The controls are different as well, but I'll get used to that - they're probably for the better or Hideo wouldn't have changed 'em. Anyway, with Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grand Theft Auto III, PS2 may just turn out to be my favorite console.

SNES was definitely pretty cool, but I never had one so I never really got to get into it. I rented one a few times and all my friends had one, but I was on the Genesis side from day one. It just seemed a cooler console to me.