Future classics?Mar 14 '02 (Updated Mar 28 '02) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Want to get in on the next wave of classic consoles? Some of these systems may very well achieve that status before long.
Amazingly, many folks who were going absolutely crazy about Nintendo 64s and Sony Playstations just two years ago have all but abandoned their consoles in favor of the Sony Playstation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox (excuse me, that's XBOX!!! for the rabid fans of the system). However, a lot of those older systems are still a heck of a lot of fun, and now's the time to pick up a cheap console and build up a library of games for little cash. Here are my observations on those "future classic" systems which I know a bit about: 1. Sega Dreamcast -- Believe it or not, this 128-bit system is now considered yesterday's news since Sega got out of the hardware business around a year ago. Indeed, the last inventories of Dreamcasts were dumped on the market around December 2001 for $50 a console. The funny thing is, the games are now dirt cheap both at retail outlets and at game resellers and Internet auction sites such as eBay. What's funny about that? A good number of Dreamcast games rival what's available on the alleged "next generation" systems, yet cost considerably less. The Dreamcast has fantastic stereo sound, a quick CD drive and enough CPU firepower to maintain a hefty framerate even when polygons are flying all over the screen. Indeed, the Dreamcast is one hell of a system, and I'm not to bothered by the fact it's no longer made (there are something like 250 U.S. titles available for it -- if you can't find something you like for it, I'd be surprised). And, the Dreamcast is good at emulating other consoles and video game systems. While the legality of burning emulators on CD full of arcade games and such downloaded from the Internet is questionable, that ability should be mentioned. Right now, the Dreamcast is probably the cheapest system on the block that features the types of games popular right now. 2. Sony Playstation -- The Playstation just stomped all over the competition upon its release. Games on CD were novel at the time, as was the emphasis on three-dimensional games (the Sega Genesis and Super NES represented the pinnacle of two-dimensional gaming, after all). And, the Playstation is still sold new for around $100. While the 32-bit Playstation is showing its age, there are still a lot of great titles available for it at retail outlets, and games and consoles can be found for cheap at game resellers or over the Internet. I'm not sure how many domestic releases there were for the Playstation, but I don't really care -- tons of software was manufactured for this fine machine, and new titles still show up regularly. I can't imagine retiring this one, in fact, for many years if I ever give it up at all. 3. Nintendo 64 -- I hate this one, but I'm not part of the system's target audience, either. Indeed, Pokemon, Mario and a host of characters aimed squarely at children dominate this cartridge-based console. The graphics are pretty darn good, and the 64-bit CPU seems to handle three-dimensional gaming well enough. This console never approached the level of domination Nintendo achieved with either the NES or the Super NES. While I've bashed the hell out of this system's kid-centric games, weird controller and the like, it's now an inexpensive unit that's well worth exploring if you want to find some popular games for cheap. And, besides, titles like Perfect Dark are fantastic for adults, too. 4. Atari Jaguar -- I loved Atari when I was a kid, and I'm still a fan of that company's fantastic eight-bit consoles and portable Lynx. However, if the Jaguar was the best Atari could do, perhaps the company deserved to die. Oddly, the Jaguar has a small but dedicated following who are convinced that paying $200 or so for Battlemorph (one of the few new titles that have come out in the past few years for the dead system) is a good idea. Don't consider the Jaguar at all unless you have more money than sense. That system was launched around 1993 when two-dimensional games were all the rage, and Atari soon tried to compete with it a market dominated by three-dimensional system. The 64-bit thing doesn't move polygons worth a damn, so the majority of the games either look like ports from the Genesis and Super Nintendo or are choppy, slow three-dimensional things. And, these are expensive. While horrible games can be found for under $10, the ones that are decent cost considerably more money (and aren't any better than similar Playstation or N64 games that cost a lot less). Want a CD add-on? Plan on spending about $100. The system is cartridge-based and the CD was an afterthought. This system stinks. Let it die and choose to remember Atari for the great company it once was. Yuck, yuck on the Jaguar. That system is a money pit, and most of the games for it are truly awful. 5. Sega Genesis -- The Jaguar was so bad that I unloaded it in a trade for a Sega Genesis, CD unit and a few games. I'm much happier as the Genesis is one hell of a good 16-bit system. Platform games, arcade ports, fighters and even a few role playing games are available for the Genesis, and they are cheap. The Genesis is old news, but still has a spot in front of my television set. If you get one of these, make sure to get the composite video cable. That RF adapter is horrible and composite video and stereo sound make all the difference in the world. Also, pick up as many Sonic the Hedgehog titles as you can. While there are a lot of CD titles available, they're generally just rehashes of great cartridge games for the system. The Sega CD unit is slow and clunky, but I like it. 6. Super Nintendo Entertainment System -- Nintendo, upon realizing the Genesis had cut into the dominance of the aging (yet great!) NES, released the SNES. This 16-bit system is fantastic and went toe-to-toe with the Genesis for years. While the Genesis may be a bit faster, the SNES features better graphics, sound and more role playing games. The 16-bit era was fantastic, indeed. Sure, the SNES and Genesis dominated that era, but those were two fantastic machines. The only drawback to the SNES is that it never had the great sports titles that Electronic Arts made for the Genesis. Otherwise, this little system had some of the best two-dimensional games of all time designed for it. And, for around $100, you can pick up a system and more cartridges for it than you can shake a stick at. 7. Sega Saturn -- A good 32-bit system, yet it couldn't keep up with the Playstation. This CD-driven console never really caught on in the U.S. at all, but titles such as Virtua Fighter are still a lot of fun. Sega, however, never really recovered after it angered a lot of fans by dropping support on the 32-bit add-on for the Genesis (that was an expensive little unit and only a few titles were available before Sega pulled the plug on the Genny). So, fans weren't too receptive to Sega's newest system, particularly when the Playstation was so good. The Saturn, however, can be found for cheap these days, and my local Game Xchange has a good supply of titles for around $10 apiece. That's not a bad price. While I realize there were some other systems which competed with the aforementioned consoles, I don't know much about them. I'd argue that any of these systems will achieve "classic" status soon as they are a hell of a lot of fun to play and collecting games is an enjoyable and relatively inexpensive hobby. I don't know if the Jaguar will ever be appealing, however. Even time and warm sentiments won't be able to erase the fact that the Jag pretty much sucked.  |
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