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Games Entertainment

If Next-Gen Is Too Pricey Go Retro 109

Posted by Zonk from the so-forward-it-is-backwards dept.
Via RetroGaming with Racketboy, a story in the San Francisco Chronicle suggesting that you go retro if the new consoles are too expensive. They single out the (still excellent) Sega Dreamcast console as the best buy for your money vs. enjoyment. The folks at SF Gate also mention several other older games and consoles that will allow modern gamers their fun without breaking the bank. From the article: "Scenario 4: I'm poorer than any of the characters from 'Angela's Ashes' but not quite as poor as Jim Braddock's family when the heat got shut off in 'Cinderella Man.' (I pulled this newspaper out of the recycling bin at BART.): You've presented a challenge, but not an impossible one. I saw a copy of the PC game Grim Fandango, a complete masterpiece that most people never played, for $6 on eBay. Since it came out in 1998, you can probably find an abandoned computer on the curb that will play it. You'll be experiencing about 98.5 percent of the fun that the Getty heir who bought the PS3 is having, at about 1 percent of the price. "
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If Next-Gen Is Too Pricey Go Retro More

If Next-Gen Is Too Pricey Go Retro

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  • Exactly right (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Kraeloc ( 869412 )
    Indeed, I did exactly that. I rescued an old IBM Aptiva with a K6-2 processor of the side of the road, and played through the entirety of Grim Fandango on it. It was awesome.

    • Re:Exactly right (Score:4, Informative)

      by TrekCycling ( 468080 ) on Wednesday December 13, 2006 @02:13AM (#17219410) Homepage
      The Dreamcast can still be purchased NEW for $100. If you want your vintage in mint condition that's a great deal. Then you can proceed to have fun with Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Chu Chu Rocket, etc.
    • I got an NES with its cables, 2 controllers, the Advantage stick and about 20 games for 30 bucks. Found a Zapper for a quarter. My older brother's SNES died on us, so I got him another one with a controller. Another 30 bucks. "Resistance" can suck it, I'm playing "Dr. Mario" and "Super Metroid."

  • Atari Flashback 2.0 (Score:2, Informative)

    by 7grain ( 583823 )
    From the article:
    The Atari 2600 has come back in several different forms, but the Atari Flashback 2.0 is the only product I've seen that captures the feel of the original late 1970s Atari 2600 console -- including the first Atari Flashback, which is a piece of junk. Among the console's 40 games are the three most important ones: Combat, Pitfall and Yar's Revenge. It's not hard to find a Flashback 2.0 discounted below its $29.82 retail price.

    I was initially going to post that I bought one of these last

  • sad (Score:2, Insightful)

    by grumpygrodyguy ( 603716 )
    How did Slashdot get so incredibly populated with noobs?

    EMULATORS

    I'd ask you to look the word up on wikipedia, but you've probably never heard of that either.

    RIP SD

    • Re:sad (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kestasjk ( 933987 ) * on Wednesday December 13, 2006 @02:50AM (#17219620) Homepage
      Have you ever actually used a Dreamcast emulator? There are always sprites that don't render, polygons which are the wrong color, games which don't load, graphics which were meant to be viewed on the relatively blurry TV looking terrible on a computer screen, etc.

      Also the computers required to run an emulator with any sort of speed will always be more expensive than the console, unless you're talking about an antique console which you can no longer find. That kind of defeats the object of trying to be cheap; who doesn't have the money to buy a modern console but does have the money to buy a PC which can emulate one?

      • Well then, you just need to go really retro and get SNES/Genesis-era games. Just think, you can go back and play all those rare "gems" you missed, like Michael Jackson's Moonwalker for the Genesis (seriously, it's hilarious for at least a couple of minutes)! : )

        Not to mention you could also play actually good games, like Mario Kart and Ecco the Dolphin.

      • Some day, I should try running an emulator program of some sort inside an Amiga emulator. I wonder if it would be possible to run an emulator inside an emulator that's running inside an emulator. That would be really weird, to say the least.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by funfail ( 970288 )
          Years ago I tried running the Sinclair Spectrum emulator (kind of... It only emulated BASIC interpreter) running on a Commodore 64 emulator running on an Amiga. Today it is perfectly possible to run the same setup using an Amiga emulator on PC instead of a real Amiga.

          Even my cell phone (Symbian 60) has a fully functional (with sound) C64 emulator on it. Too bad that you cannot connect a joystick to the phone. I should have bought an NGage...

        • why just last month... (Score:3, Informative)

          by snuf23 ( 182335 )
          I installed AMAME on my Workbench 3.0 desktop running in emulation under WinUAE. I had a bit of a problem because my ROM sets were out of date, but the ones that worked, worked fine. The only bummer was that I had to use full screen mode to get proper color support for MAME - which meant that there was no really good way to get a nice screenshot of the Windows desktop with Amiga desktop in a window running AMAME in a windows.
          I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks about these things.

        • There's an NES emulator for the Gameboy Color called either "nes2gb" or "fcgb2" [pocketheaven.com] (can't remember exact name) which runs a select few NES games (Donkey Kong, Popeye) at a horrible framerate (but with sound!). This GBC image can then be emulated by Goomba Color [dwedit.org], a GBC emulator for the Gameboy Advance. The GBA can then be emulated by the PSP (or by a PC). As far as I'm aware, no PSP emulator for the PC is advanced enough to add another link to the chain here.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Lord Kano ( 13027 )
      How correct you are, Emulators have allowed me to rediscover the joys of the old school games of my youth. At one time, If you had told me that I'd play Below The Root on a 19" LCD, I would have laughed at you.

      You can emulate damned near everything from the Atari 2600 to the Playstation, and in some cases get better results than with the original system.

      LK
      • Playing PS1, N64 and DC games in 1280x960 is pretty damn cool.
        I've recently finished Ocarina Of Time on an emulator and in all honesty, it looked great! Certainly better than on a real N64.
        Soul Calibur also scales well to high res. Even tho the emulation is far from perfect, the gameplay itself is still awesome.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mwvdlee ( 775178 )
      Perhaps it has to do with the fact that it's all a rather "gray" area. Especially with emulators for systems like Playstation and Gameboy Advance, which are still being sold. Even the older titles and systems are still copyrighted; the "gray" being that these are no longer commercially sold.

      Buying an actual retro console, or atleast something properly licensed, comes without any moral qualms and includes controlers and all the other hardware for which these games were designed.

      FYI, I used to have a vast col

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Mattintosh ( 758112 )
        There's no "gray" area if you own the original games, but not the console (except in cases where the console has a BIOS, which started becoming common with the PSX). The games are often easy to find at thrift stores (like Goodwill) or resale shops (there's a good chain called "Slackers" here). Ebay is also decent.

        Once you have the game, the ROM is legal, or at least as close as you need to worry about being. (Technically, the ROM is only fully legal if you rip it yourself. It's just that you could claim to

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dosius ( 230542 )
        Some emulators still exist as labors of love. Like AppleWin, or my own Dapple (which is only sporadically updated). It's only the ones for the newer systems, really, that are done for leetness factor, I'd think.

        -uso.

    • Re:sad (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mgblst ( 80109 ) on Wednesday December 13, 2006 @04:38AM (#17220110) Homepage
      Can you really say that playing Soul Caliber on an emulator is the same experience as playing it on the dreamcast? Two people hunched over each side of the keyboard.

      I mean emulators are great, but they never match the whole experience, how can they? I am sure that a dreamcast wouldn't cost that much. Every heard of ebay?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cafard ( 666342 )
        Two people hunched over each side of the keyboard.

        'Every' heard of joypads?

        I play all emulators with a ps2 controller plugged in with a usb adapter. While i have no idea for Soul Caliber on dreamcast, all variants of Street Fighter II and the entire Mortal Kombat franchise feel as good under mame as they are on arcade.
      • You can buy USB gamepads. It's quite fun, really, especially with the older arcade games like Magic Sword and Golden Axe.

      • Let's see. If people are reading this in /., they most probably already own a computer, so it is hard to say that it will be much more expensive than buying a second-hand console.

        Second, most emulators allow you to use USB joysticks. So there goes the argument of two people crammed in front of a keyboard. Also, most decent (and that doesn't mean expensive) GPUs today sport some sort of TV-OUT capability, so you can just play the games in your TV-set.

        I concede that sometimes emulation isn't up to pair with

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by funfail ( 970288 )
          Correct. But a Dreamcast is really cheap and it is almost as good as a PS2. I always prefer a dedicated gaming machine instead of using my PC. If my PC is turned on, it is most probably doing something cpu intensive. If it is turned off, then it's easier to turn on the Dreamcast.
    • Emulator!!! I hardly knew her!
    • But on Slashdot, the majority of readers use WebTV. They don't make emulators that run on that!
    • Until emulators add a feature where you have to blow into the roms to make them work they won't be able to match the enjoyment of a real console.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by brkello ( 642429 )
      How did you get modded up instead of flamebait?

      Of course the majority of Slashdotters know about emulators. Some people would rather play legally. Some people would rather play on consoles.

      I am sure the majority of people on here know about wikipedia too. Instead of insulting people who are probably vastly smarter than you and more humble, you could try to present your thoughts in a way that doesn't make you look like a jerk. Just say something like "Another great way to experience classic games is em

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by xtieburn ( 906792 )
      Got emulators. Got them for just about every console you can think of. Have quite literally tens of thousands of games.
      Played on about 10 of them for a fairly short period of time and that was only when we had hooked an X-Box in to a jamma cabinet.

      Getting every game in existence usually means you play none of them. On the other hand my megadrive stack (MegaCD, megadrive, master system adaptor.) has us playing while drinking, chatting and generally relaxing.

      Why this is is probably for various reasons. Easier
  • You'll be experiencing about 98.5 percent of the fun that the Getty heir who bought the PS3 is having, at about 1 percent of the price.

    Boy am I glad they are finally measuring these things with properly calibrated Fun-O-Meters so we can get an objective read of the situation.

    Hang on, '1% of the price?' He got a Dreamcast for $6.50? Nice.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Gothic_Walrus ( 692125 )
      I'm going to take a wild guess and assume you didn't even read the full summary.

      I saw a copy of the PC game Grim Fandango, a complete masterpiece that most people never played, for $6 on eBay. Since it came out in 1998, you can probably find an abandoned computer on the curb that will play it. You'll be experiencing about 98.5 percent of the fun that the Getty heir who bought the PS3 is having, at about 1 percent of the price.

      $6 game + $0 computer = $6. No Dreamcast involved there.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by $1uck ( 710826 )
      Read the summary... PC found on the roadside = 0. Game on ebay = 6. Thats a total of $6 bucks.
      So yeah.

  • A new spin on it (Score:2, Interesting)

    by ILuvRamen ( 1026668 )
    I was in the Sega Genesis and N64 generation and now that I have emulators and N64 controller to USB adapter, it's not only fun to go back to my favorite games (Phantasy Star 3 Generations of doom w00t!) but now there's universal forced pause and forced save state options that can make for some extra interesting situations as well as a fully integrated game genie/shark system that's way more efficient than the original. It's like playing the old games and then some! The best part is it was all cheap or fr

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by crankyspice ( 63953 )

      I do still actually own the cartridges so it's legal too!

      Really? You sure about that? Which part of Title 17 of the United States Code do you read as permitting reproduction into a different media for the purpose of playing (private performance)? 117 might apply, but you didn't reproduce the contents as an archival step, you made a transformation into a different media. Space-shifting as a fair use was built atop the Audio Home Recording Act's carveout, so I don't think RIAA v. Diamond helps you he

      • ROM sites put it on and don't get shut down. That's all the proof I need. Btw don't copyrights run out after 10 years anyway? And wtf, the RIAA has nothing to do with games at all. If they got into games, people would storm their HQ with pitchforks and torches.

        • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward

          ROM sites put it on and don't get shut down

          There is absolutely nothing legal about ROM sites hosted in the US (or in any country that has signed the Berne Convention or any similar international treaty). Even if you own the original game, you most certainly do not have the right to distribute that game.

          Btw don't copyrights run out after 10 years anyway?

          If you insist on being misinformed, then at least abstain from spewing your nonsense all over Slashdot. There's enough of that here as it is.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by crankyspice ( 63953 )

          ROM sites put it on and don't get shut down. That's all the proof I need.

          I was in a car going 95 mph, and I didn't get a ticket! It must be legal!

          Btw don't copyrights run out after 10 years anyway?

          At least in the U.S. (with most of Europe being similar, IIRC; part of the Berne Convention), for "corporate" works like most console video games, it's 95 years from date of first release.

          And wtf, the RIAA has nothing to do with games at all.

          There's this thing called stare decisis, you might know

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Jackmn ( 895532 )
            Wow, what a blatant misuse of mod points. Hopefully metamoderation will catch that.

            • Re: (Score:1)

              by Jackmn ( 895532 )
              Err, that was sitting at -1:Troll when I posted that.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Endo13 ( 1000782 )
            I was in a car going 95 mph, and I didn't get a ticket! It must be legal!Depending on where your hypothetical situation happened, yes it was legal. But I'll play along with you, and assume you're implying USA public roads where all speed limits are less than 95MPH. So with that assumption, driving 95MPH is neither more nor less legal than driving .0000001 MPH over the speed limit. But you've never done that either, have you? However, the one might actually get you thrown in jail while the other they'll just
      • Which part of Title 17 of the United States Code do you read as permitting reproduction into a different media for the purpose of playing (private performance)?

        Oh, well of course that would be subsection 42, paragraph Q, clause IV, entitled "Common Fucking Sense!" It's a little known clause, especially among those involved in the legal system...

        • Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)

          by crankyspice ( 63953 )

          Oh, well of course that would be subsection 42, paragraph Q, clause IV, entitled "Common Fucking Sense!" It's a little known clause, especially among those involved in the legal system...

          Tell that one to the judge, you'll all get a good chuckle before he enters judgment against you. :)

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by sesshomaru ( 173381 )
        I don't understand, does this guy keep getting modded down because he's explaining what the actual laws say and not what people on Slashdot wish they would say?

        The mods today remind me of my girlfriend when I tell her we can't afford something...

      • The AHRA certainly puts a lot of pressure on other forms of media to conform to the same measure of "fair use". RIAA v. Diamond sets a strong precedent, and not just for audio.

        It could also be argued that, as the hardware used to play older games is no longer produced, space-shifting is in itself a form of archival preservation, and use of archival copies is simply fair use.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by crankyspice ( 63953 )

          The AHRA certainly puts a lot of pressure on other forms of media to conform to the same measure of "fair use". RIAA v. Diamond sets a strong precedent, and not just for audio.

          The AHRA was a legislative construct where the 'private copying' exemption was (at least in theory) offset by the tariff [for lack of a better word] placed on blank media. The (c) industry as a whole is pretty strongly opposed to such "taking" and, representing our single largest export and ~5% of our GDP, has some pretty strong

    • You've got to be the only person I know that likes Phantasy Star III, with a w007 even.
      • Now you know two. :-)

        It wasn't the series' best (IMHO, that was part 4), and the pacing was rather slow, but it still pulled off a neat fusion of fantasy and sci-fi with easily the most medieval feel of the series. Plus the soundtrack was quite memorable for the resources they had to compose it.

  • ONLY "98.5%"?!! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MuNansen ( 833037 ) on Wednesday December 13, 2006 @02:44AM (#17219576)
    Believe me...anyone playing Grim Fandango is having a great deal more fun than someone playing anything currently available for the PS3.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tsa ( 15680 )
      Not my father. The poor man tried so hard, but he just can't get his head around adventure games. He has more fun playing card games on his PC.

  • Indie Games (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ith(4mor3) ( 989845 ) on Wednesday December 13, 2006 @03:09AM (#17219714) Homepage
    There are so many freeware and shareware games that have been released online by independent developers and programming hobbyists.

    The Independent Games Festival [igf.com] is a good start. And to make things easier, there are a many sites and blogs that review indie games and make recommendations: the2bears [the2bears.com] and Shoot the Core [moonpod.com] cover shoot-em ups/STGs; Jay is Games [jayisgames.com] handles flash and casual games; and TIGSource [tigsource.com] (for which I'm an editor), Independent Gaming [blogspot.com], and Game Tunnel [gametunnel.com] cover all genres of games. You can expect to find some overlapping, but they each have plenty to search through.
    • I meant to say there are other alternatives such as indie games for the PC. I'd have to agree with the SF Gate article that the Dreamcast is the best bet for the $ to fun ratio (I'd say the Sega Saturn and N64 tie for second), but I'm more of a fan of the pricier Turbo Grafx CD and Turbo Duo.

      As for really retro and cheap gaming, Atari Age [atariage.com] has ROMs (including homebrews and prototypes) and emulators for the Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, and Lynx. One of my favorites is a prototype for the 5200 Blaster [atariage.com], which is

  • C64 (Score:2)

    by tsa ( 15680 )
    You can of course also buy an old Commodore 64. And if you want something new, you can also buy a joystick that looks like Spongebob, which has a C64 plus a lot of games built in. I'm thinking about picking up one of these. They're only around 20 euros or so.

  • I'm going to have to agree with the article (Score:5, Interesting)

    by AbRASiON ( 589899 ) * on Wednesday December 13, 2006 @03:55AM (#17219900) Journal
    There is a mammoth amount of games out right now for the PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox 1.

    If you (like I) am a nostalgia style gamer there's so much fun to be had.
    Graphics and online aren't everything, for those of us who enjoy a good single player experience with a good storyline - graphics help but aren't the be all and end all.

    I could go into naming all the games but I don't see much point, it's opinion which counts - the fact is the PS2 and Xbox are cheap, a PC which will run games from 1985 (yes 85) to 2000 is dirt cheap and that's 15 years of gaming right there.

    Now, some of it is despicably bad and just unplayable (example, X-Wing 1, fantastic game but I re-tried it recently and sorry but 320x200 is no good - it's just TOO blocky, specially on the big screens we all own now)
    However Monkey Island 1, Loom, even the 256 colour version of Zak McCracken are all perfectly good games despite being dead old.
    There's No one Lives forever a nice FPS with, frankly a fucking great storyline - awesome camp humour and good gameplay - it's seriously like they packed about 15 bond movies into one game.

    The PS1 games will work on the PS2 and well the Xbox may have the least games for it but it can be used for NES / SNES / other old console emulation and a media centre (plus KOTOR, Fable, Psychonauts, Beyond good and Evil, Jade Empire)

    I for one intend to finish Wing Commander 3 soon - it's a great game also and yet any old crappy PC can run it now.

    I would recommend people go to Metacritic and pull up their listing of top games on the platforms - then pick and chose what you like.
    Also be sure to get a modified PS2 or Xbox and load the games to the hard disk, if you've purchased a second hand unit of either the laser assembly could be somewhat worn and the faster load times are the ONLY way to play games in my opinion, screw noisy, slow, seeking discs

    Here's the blog of a chap I know who focuses primarily on older games for the cheap price.
    (excellent game on the main page at the moment too)
    http://roushimsx.livejournal.com/ [livejournal.com]

    Oh and the final good bulletpoint for you guys, the PS3, Xbox 360 and even the Wii will ALL still be there after you submerse yourself in a land of nostalgia for 6 months - only there will be MORE games, and CHEAPER games plus the systems could be cheaper too.
    Personally, I'm hoping to hold out a good 12 - > 18 months.

    Good luck.
    • However Monkey Island 1, Loom, even the 256 colour version of Zak McCracken are all perfectly good games despite being dead old.

      Play it in ScummVM and you can get them with nice antialiasing, too.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sigma 7 ( 266129 )

      Now, some of it is despicably bad and just unplayable (example, X-Wing 1, fantastic game but I re-tried it recently and sorry but 320x200 is no good - it's just TOO blocky, specially on the big screens we all own now)

      There's a "collectors" edition which is a Windows-native copy. It runs at 640x480 - although that is still on the blocky side, it is much more comfortable than playing at the original resolution.

      As for blockyness, try playing the game in a windowed mode - it may cause some other quirks, but it

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Rhys ( 96510 )
      Lucasarts (* or whatever they are now) really needs to put out another good game in the X-Wing series. TIE-Fighter was great back in the mid 90s. And X-Wing Alliance was great. It looks reasonably nice these days if a bit old. Too bad your wingmen are still stupid as ever in it.
    • Interesting concept... PS3 = $600+ (realistically a lot more on the open market)

      Xbox 1 = $100 + $50
      PS2 = $100
      Gamecube = $50

      With a PS2, Gamecube, and modified Xbox 1 you'll have the equipment to play:
      • Atari 2600
      • Atari Jaguar
      • Commodore 64
      • DOS x86 (yes there is an Xbox emulator for that)
      • Sega Genesis
      • Sega Master System
      • Gamecube
      • Gameboy
      • Gameboy Color
      • Gameboy Advance
      • GameGear
      • NES
      • SNES
      • N64
      • Playstation 1
      • Playstation 2
      • Virtual Boy
      • Xbox

      All for about HALF the price of a PS3, cheaper if you can find those

      • I wouldn't list "Virtual Boy" as a platform that you're able to play on your GC/PS2/modded Xbox combo, even if for some reason you WANTED to play exciting VB titles like Red Eyestrain.

        Even apart from the inability to do true 3D, Virtual Boy emulation is not very advanced yet. Games run slowly with a lot of lag, and sound emulation is mostly unlistenable.
        • Actually they've got a really cool addition to the latest VB emulator that lets you use the Red/Blue 3D glasses to actually play the game in 3D [xbox-scene.com]. I've actually tried it, it's quite cool. It sill runs a little slow, but it's playable, I also didn't experience any of the sound issues you cite.
  • I just got myself a PS2 with a few games such as God of War and ICO. I also picked up Tony Hawk Project 8 and Call of Duty 3 which is brand new for only £20 (good price considering how new it is) at the moment in some shops. I am having a blast playing these games. The console cost me £100 with an official memory card and a joytech RGB scart cable (im in the UK so RGB is the best picture I can get). For under £150 I have got myself a great gaming system with some stunning games. I thought

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hurfy ( 735314 )
      Right on, i just bought a Xbox off my buddy to help support his Xbox360 habit :) $80 with 2 games and 2 controllers plus $45 for 5 more games off ebay. Now i just add the couple specific games i wanted and i'll still be under $200.
    • Please get a copies of GTA 3, VC and SA. A gamer that has not played GTA is a (culturally) poorer gamer.
  • If you go to www.customtf.com you can download everything you need to play the original Team Fortress for Quake1, which came out 10 years ago but still has tons of players.

    Essentially, CustomTF is Team Fortress, but you can build your own classes, using a cost based system. It's a lot of fun, and I'm not just saying that since I wrote the mod myself. =)
    • I've never done Custom Team Fortress, so I might be comparing apples and oranges, but the open source game Tremulous (http://tremulous.net/) based on the Quake3 engine also has a cost-based upgrade and construction basis. Plus, you can play as an opposing alien race very different from other FPSs.
      • Looks different, somewhat. Building structures, etc. But as in CustomTF, you get stronger as you kill people (though in CuTF it is capped at 50% over the base starting point, so people can't get too out of balance). We have tesla sentries, too, and I'm reasonably sure we did 'em first. =)
  • And you can have the best of a lot of worlds .. SEGA, MAME, Nintendo, Playstation .. all platforms being emulated, quite well, on a handy, inexpensive, portable, 100% open, Linux box... [gbax.com]
  • Oh how I miss the PC adventure games...
  • lovely Dreamcast of yore, the last "real" console, not the overhyped "entertainment center"(handicapped PC), we get to see today... Soul Calibur, Jet Grind Radio, Skies of Arcadia, Guilty Gear X, those were the games my friend... Even more retro: NesterDc, especial Edition, the BEST Nes emulator for consoles out there: http://www.sch3rz0.com/nesterdcse/ [sch3rz0.com] shame the old sega we knew is as dead as the moon...

  • Finally someone pointing out what I've always considered obvious. You don't need the latest and greatest to enjoy gaming.

    Think about it. By the time you've acquired the latest game platform (PS3,Wii, X-Box360), the accessories, and bought the games, you've invested almost $1000. Are you really enjoying those games so much more than the old ones? Is the gaming experience so much better? Yeah, the graphics are cooler, but after that?

    I can remember spending many hours working my way through "Crysta

    • More to your point. When Doom was just released, it was the top of the line fun. Everyone played it and said it's great.
      Pick it up now in the form of jDoom, it's still great and ages well due to the added high res and mouse look.

      The only things that really make newer games better is technical things like unlimited save points (instead of checkpoints), more customization of UI/tweaks, increased resolution or good scaling, and generally more refined controls.
      For example, I really can't think of playing an FPS
  • Why make the decision between next-gen and retro when you can have both at the same time [decalgirl.com]?
  • Retro gaming's good for those who remember older games and want to play them again, but for young kids born in a generation where graphics alone define the quality of gaming experience, they're a lot less likely to be satisfactory.
  • I wish those rat bastards at lucasarts would take a time out from making crappy starwars games and at least port some of these games to new consoles. There was a time when I would buy any game that had their logo on it. How much would it cost them to port Grim on PSP or Xbox Live Arcade. The whole game is done, they just have to port it? It looks like they're making a new Indiana Jones game too. Looks like it has lots of very nicely rendered hand to hand combat. Makes me wish i still had my copy of Fat
  • The best game that I've played lately is Counter Strike Surfing [youtube.com]. Same old modified Quake 2 engine, same old sprites, textures, and models, entirely new game. Get Counter Strike classic off Steam and give it a try... the learning curve [wikihow.com] is steep but it's worth the climb. Begs for a dedicated game to be coded.

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