HawgWyld

Well, thank goodness there are plenty of games out there from which to choose, huh? Frankly, I was glad to see Nintendo do a little something with Zelda rather than just give us the same ol' same ol' stuff with a little bit of a twist in the storyline (hell, EA's made a career out of updating things time and time again).

Agreed. Rather like playing in a big cartoon -- exactly what a lot of gamers wanted back in the 8-bit days, and obviously what a lot of people still like now.

It may not be an outrageous suggest that, based on the slew of Simpsons games out there. But, considering the fact most Simpsons games are utter and complete dogs, it may be outrageous to encourage someone else to do the same thing to Family Guy.

True. The main problem with the Colecovision was getting past those horrible controllers. A lot of great systems had that same problem (the Atari 5200 is, perhaps, the most infamous example).

Heh, heh, heh! Which flea market? I just moved back home to Benton from Springdale, so I'm in the Little Rock area and ready to see what kind of Atari stuff I can find. By the way, what's the best Game Exchange in these parts? The one in Little Rock stinks (looked more like a closet than a store). I did find some decent Atari commons there (Airlock, Encounter at L-5, and Gangster Alley), but noting terribly rare. Anyway, I'm told Game Exchange in Jacksonville and North Little Rock are great, but I'm not sure which one to hit first. Suggestions?

Geez, I should have gotten to Tulsa more often when I lived in Northwest Arkansas! Oh, well. I guess since I've moved back to Central Arkansas, I'll have to raid some stores in Little Rock and see what I can find.

Hmm. After combing through the responses here, it would seem I have joined the "old fogey" camp. No surprise, really. I figure I'll pick up a PSTwo when the things arrive, and that will pretty much be it. Once that's added, I'll have the following systems to feed: Atari 2600 Atari 7800 Atari Lynx NES Super NES Nintendo 64 Nintendo GameCube Sega Genesis Sega CD Sega Dreamcast Sega GameGear Playstation 1 Playstation 2 I'd wager there are enough titles for those systems to keep me busy (heck, there's still some Atari 2600 stuff I need in my collection, after all). Combine the desire to round out the collections for the aforementioned systems with my job and raising two kids, and I ought to be plenty busy for the next few years without having to worry about online games and such rot.

Hey, if that's what you like, dandy. Things seem to be heading that way, so I'd imagine you're thrilled. And, what's more, that's perfectly fine. Still, why not just get a computer if online play and downloading new levels and such is what you want? I'm of the opinion a game console ought to be a simple beast on which setting up a game involves little more than popping in a disc and hitting the power button. I doubt I'm alone in that. What's more, consider this -- the Internet allowed game publishers to be lazy as hell. Back when I was interested in computer gaming, there was a lot more to playing a game than simply installing it and running it. Indeed, games were often half-baked and full of bugs, so patches had to be downloaded and installed. I'd rather avoid that situation on a game console. Understand, I'm not being critical of folks who enjoy online gaming. I'm merely suggesting there's a pretty good number of people who simply don't care about it, and that suggests a market and opportunity for a console maker. I hope not every console maker out there starts playing the "me, too!" game and shifts the emphasis from stand-alone games to online stuff.

Until, of course, you get to the point where the single-player element is an afterthought. I still maintain there's a pretty good market for a console maker realizing there are a heck of a lot of people who simply yawn when hearing about the latest online service and such.

I feel the same way -- the single-player stuff I enjoy now will still be enjoyable 10 years from now. But, considering how games are becoming much more "disposable" these days, perhaps we're just behind the times I wonder if people will be raving about online-intensive games such as "Halo 2" the way folks carry on about classics such as "StarMaster" or "Adventure" now? I'd wager the market for a console where online gaming isn't really considered is still pretty large. Wonder if Nintendo will recognize that or incorporate some online play into their next console?

After reading about the online appeal of titles like Halo 2, I can't help but wonder -- have the online capabilities of the xbox or PS2 influenced anyone to keep away from those systems? I don't know about anyone else, but online gaming simply doesn't appeal to me, and that went into my thinking when selecting a GameCube (in addition to the fine Nintendo titles available for the system, of course). I can't help but think there are some other gamers out there who either don't give a damn about online gaming or hate the idea of it.

Man, that "Head to Head" football game would be cool. That thing sucked down batteries like crazy, but it was fun, fun.

God help me! I agree with Adrian on something

Uh, didn't you just say Primal Rage looked "interesting?" Man, talk about a horrible game...

Dig that big ol' ugly lightgun. Check out the fellow on the front of the package playing tennis (no doubt to illustrate the realistic gaming available through the system). Great score, indeed!

TRS-80 Color Computer had a cartridge slot and a heck of a lot of stuff -- from games to financial programs -- were released in cartridge form. The cart slot was also added to add peripherals, such as a floppy drive.

Good points. Hell, if we want to gripe about topics around here, then let's talk about some of these which have popped up in the past: 1. Microsoft just released a special-edition case! 2. Sega got bought. Hah, hah, hah! 3. Threads which pops up everytime a new game is released for the xbox. 4. Threads which start out, "Which console is better...?" Those just degenerate into flame wars and tend to drag on for pages. 5. Any thread which starts out with, "(insert console/handheld name here) sucks." We get treated to more whining from someone who decided Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo or whatever has treated them badly. More flame wars result. I could post some more examples, but the point is made. If we start complaining about people new to classic gaming and are just looking for a little advice, let's talk about some of the posters around here who seem to have no mission but to irritate people as often as possible. Or, we could just decide to be a little less anal retentive about what goes on in the forums, huh?

GameCube and Dreamcast, but a PS2 will be added when I get around to it. And, that raises another point, I think -- it's very likely that I'll soon be done for quite some time in terms of buying new consoles (unless Nintendo comes out with something extremely dandy). That's right, the PS2 will probably be the last one I'll fool with for a few years. If the console manufacturers want to hype up a new system ever three years, that's fine, but I'm not terribly interested. I'll let my seven-year-old son worry about the latest and greatest (he's got a GameCube, too, by the way), while I'll probably concentrate on the thousands of great Atari 2600/7800, NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, PS1, Dreamcast and Gamecube titles I'm lacking.

Ah, yes. The new Paper Mario. Can't wait to pick up a copy!

I'm inclined to agree. The argument seems to be a burnt disc somehow makes the DC "work" harder, thus shortening the life of the CD rom drive. But, some people have always been odd about electronics. I still remember back in the days of eight-bit computing when some TRS-80 Color Computer owners swore that cutting of the RF shielding around the CPU was essential to keep it from overheating if the processor was sped up through the use of a "poke" command. Such advice should be taken with a grain of salt.

Hadn't had a problem with mine. DC chugs along just fine, and that's even with the "questionable" practice of burning emulators and using them in the DC (I've been told that can hurt the machine, but haven't seen any evidence of that). The machine seems very well-built, but other folks may have had different experiences. By the way, I haven't been around much lately, but I'm glad to see Adrian's still around to piss all over any parade that's not being led by Microsoft. Some things never change, I suppose.

Now, that's funny! By the way, I can only guess that the PS2s sold here in Arkansas were somehow superior to the ones sold elsewhere. Why? Most people I know that have a PS2 (and, there are a lot of them) haven't had a problem with them. Perhaps Sony just likes us Arkies, or maybe it has something to do with the fine electric power provided by SWEPCO generators and the nuke plant down in Russellville. It could even be that Sony wants to impress Wal-Mart because it's a huge distributor and is headquartered in Bentonville, Ark. Maybe Sony is afraid of our consumer-friendly attorney general and makes sure only systems which have burned in for 100 hours are sold in Arkansas and even those are shipped here in velvet-lined, shock-proof cases. Who knows?

Could be you're using the Nero Wizard and it's trying to do something funky with your image. You just want to burn the image straight to the disk. In my Nero program, I have to exit out of the window, open the image to be burned and slap it directly on the disc. Works everytime.

Oh, my. The bi-weekly "which system is better question," huh? Rather than picking throught the standard fanboy rants, do yourself a favor and head over to http://www.videogamecritic.net and read some game reviews for each system to kind of get a feel for what's out there. It really just comes down to the kinds of games you like, doesn't it? The ol' Video Game Critic is pretty neutral and will give you a fair idea of a lot of available titles in nice, bite-sized reviews. And, he seems more interested in actual gameplay than getting hung up on obsessing over graphics and such. Just my two cents... [/url]

Yeah, Jesse. You'd better start planning on next year's show. I plan on being there, but without a camera and notepad