How many systems have you ditched?

[+Gemintronic]

Since this is AtariAge listing the system we own is kind of like typing out what body parts you have: We probably have the same ones and can't even remember all of them.

 

How about the opposite, though? What systems have we ditched over the years - and why?

 

My list:

 

OpenPandora

TV out never came. Battery always came loose.

 

Vectrex

Couldn't find development tools NOT in assembler.

 

Gameboy Color

After market backlight was awful

 

Sega Saturn

Invested alot and never played. No fault of the Saturn here.

 

Tandy CoCo I & II

Neither could play Super Pitfall (the only CoCo game I must have)

 

Apple IIc+

Couldn't bother to figure out PC connectivity or buy a flash disk for it

 

Amiga 500

Couldn't deal with not having a HDD

 

Atari ST

Couldn't deal with lack of internal FDD

[roland p]

The wii is my least played system. I can't stand the controllers. I'm even thinking of getting Zelda Twilight Princess for the gamecube instead.

 

I never 'got into' the playstation, although Resident Evil and Crash Bandicoot where nice games.

 

Gameboy color is a pain indeed.

[NE146]

Ditched? As in sold/given away/gotten rid of? ZERO.

[Hyperboy]

Ditched? As in sold/given away/gotten rid of? ZERO.

I second that..Zero

[+Gemintronic]

Ditched? As in sold/given away/gotten rid of? ZERO.

 

I wish I could follow that policy. Unfortunately, the packrat gene runs in the family. Someday all that shiz becomes a burden on someone else (or at least makes city code inspections a nightmare).

 

I decided to collect what I actually use and ditch what I don't. This topic is obviously not for you guys. I don't mean that in a negative way! Much respect

[Reaperman]

I left a coleco adam, atari 800, and 1040st at home when I left for the Navy. They haven't said so, but I strongly suspect that the parents donated those back to the thrift shops they came from.

They've driven cross country with furniture for me (that I didn't necessarily want) but when I asked them to toss those in too, they couldn't find them.

 

The Adam was boxed--it's not hard to miss.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Reaperman

[Punisher5.0]

Several. The only one I promised myself I would never sell is the SNES and after all these years I'm still sticking to it.

[RJ]

Does ditching a PlayStation count if I still had (& have) a PS2?

 

Lynx: not by choice, but I wouldnt buy one back given the chance. Recently I've come to own a GBC & GBA, & I cant fathom how the Lynx DIDNT tromp all over Nintendo's vastly inferior handhelds. My 6-yr-olds wont even play the awful things & they're...well, 6-yr-olds.

 

Also, Sega Genesis. Gave the base unit & hookups to GW, kept the controllers for my 2600.

 

Incidentally, I've really downsized over the years- games, systems, gaming magazines, etc. & I dont miss a single item.

Edited January 24, 2014 by RJ

[+GoldenWheels]

None so far but I am damn close to thinning the herd...I got a SMS converter from Stone Age Gamer to use on my Genesis. This allowed me to make a spot on the rack where I could put the Coleco from the lot I ordered....a lot which had one PS and THREE Colecos.

 

I gave one Coleco away, so now only have onemore to get rid of, plus the SMS. I don't see a point to that stuff sitting up on a shelf so I'll probably try to trade it for something.

 

I doubt I will ever get rid of a system that is my only way to play those games though.

[Hyperboy]

@theloon The respect is mutual, I could stand to be a little more like you!

Edited January 24, 2014 by Hyperboy

[S1500]

Atari 2600

NES

SMS - complete boxed set

TG 16

Atari Jaguar

Vectrex(sold)

Atari 7800(my first)

2 Virtual Boys

 

Yeah, gave away a lot. I was moving into my first apartment, and had to lighten the load.

[NE146]

I decided to collect what I actually use and ditch what I don't. This topic is obviously not for you guys. I don't mean that in a negative way! Much respect

Didn't take it as a negative.. was a fine enough question. I guess the difference is I'm not really a collector per-se. I've just always wanted the latest video games... and when I get them, I keep them! I'm not one of those guys who has complete collections of anything.. just the games I wanted when the system was active and that's about it.

 

I definitely imagine if I actively went out and sought to get hundreds of VCS carts I never had, it would quickly get unwieldy so I get your point.

[+Gemintronic]

@Goldenwheels: Yep. Not missing anything except 3D and card based games for the SMS. Whenever I get the urge to collect those thin, cool looking cards I just open up the box with TG-16 games and walk away.

[AtariLeaf]

Sold a few systems back around the end of 2010 that either weren't working properly or I wasn't playing

 

Vic-20 (not fully working) funny I was just typing this minutes ago in the Vic-20 vs Dragon thread

Intellivision - wasn't playing it, don't like the controllers

Dreamcast - wasn't playing it, wasn't a whole lot of games I had for it or many that intrigued me

ZX Spectrum - only had two or three cassette games but no way to load them and no joystick adapter and it was a pain to get it running on an NTSC tv

Odyssey 2 - wasn't playing it, not many games that I liked for it

Model 2 Genesis - had a few but was only interested in Model 1's and wanted to clear some space

N64 - wasn't playing it and not many games I cared for (although I wouldn't mind getting one again JUST for Robotron 64, love that game. Just have no desire to collect for it)

PS1 - got rid of it more for space than anything, had some games I kind of liked although they just didn't hold up as well over the years to me

PS2 - hardly ever played it

xbox - same as ps2

 

Had a 5200 about 15 years ago or so but guess what? broken controllers, no way to fix (didn't have internet yet, this was back in the 90's) and went with the 800xl instead

 

Probably others, can't remember, getting old

Edited January 24, 2014 by AtariLeaf

[mbd30]

Atari 7800

NES

Model 1 Genesis and SNES

Playstation (but only after losing the AC adapter after a move)

N64

Dreamcast

XBOX

 

I later bought another Genesis (model 2) and SNES. Now I have a SNES, Genesis and Playstation 2.

[Algus]

I gave away a Sega Genesis 2 that I didn't need (already had an HD Graphics Genesis 1). I've since acquired a new Genesis 2 that belonged to a friend who moved away.

 

So...nothing lol

[AtariLeaf]

 

I wish I could follow that policy. Unfortunately, the packrat gene runs in the family. Someday all that shiz becomes a burden on someone else (or at least makes city code inspections a nightmare).

 

I decided to collect what I actually use and ditch what I don't. This topic is obviously not for you guys. I don't mean that in a negative way! Much respect

 

That's the main reason I got rid of a lot of stuff in my list, I was getting overwhelmed with too much stuff. In addition to my list I got rid of 1/3rd of my 2600 games, probably 80% of my genesis, master system, nes, and snes games - way too much shelf filler. I HATE shelf filler now.

[+Gemintronic]

Yeah. It seems I keep buying and swapping and ditching Genesis systems as a natural cycle of life. Right now I have 2 first generation (and an X'Eye) but have owned all the models at one time or another. Weird.

[jaybird3rd]

I haven't gotten rid of that many systems. I did decide to refocus and tighten up my collection some years ago, so I got rid of some ancillary systems that I wasn't especially interested in: my Atari ST computers, all my C64 stuff, some Apple II clone hardware, etc. These were mostly systems that I acquired in lots along with other stuff, and as I recall, I just sent most of them to other collectors for the cost of shipping. I also sold my Nintendo DS Lite after a few months: I just wasn't getting as much play out of it as I thought I would, and with the DSi on the horizon, I thought I'd better sell the DS before it lost its value.

 

I used to have several boxed Genesis 3 consoles, and I wish I had kept one of those, and I wish I still had my original 99/4A and my brother's old Sega Saturn and Sega Master System. But in general, when I acquire a console or computer, it's because I intend to keep it long-term.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

I recently ditched all vintage computers.

 

Nintendo Virtual Boy : due to lack of games, interest and money.

 

Sega Game Gear : same as above (needs caps anyways)

 

Thinking about bailing on the Intellivision but it's just not worth it right now. It's actually a great time to collect for and everything is pretty cheap compared to my beloved ColecoVision. The CV and NES are the only 2 systems I'm truly passionate about at the moment. Always have been, always will be.

[ls650]

I sometimes get a system, play the crap out of it for a year, then sell it to make space for a new system.

 

A good example is the Virtual Boy. It is an interesting system and I like the 3D effect, but there were only about 14 games released for it, and only about 5 games that I really enjoyed. You can emulate it quite accurately now, so after a year or so I sold it for about what I'd paid.

 

Every now and then I wish I still had it, but I just wouldn't play it enough to justify tying that much money up in it.

[BydoEmpire]

2600 - at one point I think I had 4 or 5. I eventually gave them all away to spread the Atari love. Now I use my 7800, but also have a 2600jr just in case.

Colecovision - acquired, sold, acquired again, sold again... I have one or two now, but not hooked up.

Turbografx-16 - bought one back in college, but sold it a few years later. Kind of regret that one.

Saturn - had a nice library of games, but sold it to finance something else. I already played the games on it I wanted to, so I don't miss it.

Gameboy - had one of the original ones, sold it to someone at school for some reason

GBA SP - my original GBA got stolen, so I got an SP. Sold that to get a DS.

Nintendo DS - sold to get in an iPod touch. The DS was the only handheld I ever really enjoyed, but I still didn't use it enough.

SNES - sold to finance something else.

N64 - sold along w/ my Saturn to finance something else.

Xbox - I sold or traded my original Xboxes at some point, I don't remember. Still have a bunch of games, though.

Multiple computers - all sold to finance something else.

 

I haven't regretted getting rid of most of my consoles because I did so for a specific purpose (financing something else I wanted). The one I regret (TG-16) I don't even remember why I sold it. When I did a first-round of purging, it was actually nice because I decided to focus on more games for fewer systems and pretty much kept what I played.

 

There are some like the SMS & Genesis that I sold but reacquired later and have enjoyed since. I didn't really count those since I have one.

Edited January 24, 2014 by BydoEmpire

[carlsson]

Since I began collecting in 2006, I have sold, swapped or in rare cases donated systems. Some of those I don't regret getting rid of include:

 

Intellivision, first model. Kept overheating, good for max 30 min of gaming before it needed to cool off. I replaced the 7805 and even transformer part from another dead Intellivision, no difference. Rumour says the motherboard was installed upside down, not sure if that is the truth. Also, out of nearly a dozen common games, I only found one or two playable.

 

Tandy CoCo 1. Apart from being NTSC antenna output so I could only receive it in B&W, the keyboard was absolutely awful, worse than the cheapest calculator to type on. Maybe I got a very worn unit, or they all are so terrible. I'd rather use a ZX-81 (Timex Sinclair 1000) to type a long message than the CoCo.

 

Atari 1040ST. Got this CIB for $6, but as it was a model without built-in floppy drive, I had about zero use of it unless I added a drive, which I never got to. At least it was fully functional.

 

Nintendo 64. Owned this for about 90 minutes before I resold it with profit. I'm not sure if I ever intended to keep it, but someone else wanted it more than me so I never even got to plug it in...

 

Back in the mid 1990's, I managed to sell a Commodore MPS-801 printer for good money, about $100 back then which still is something I cherish as old matrix printers usually can't even be donated at vintage computer fairs, virtually no collector wants them for free even complete in box. Possibly this will change in a few years time when the majority of remaining printers have been recycled, but I don't feel nostalgic about printers in the same way as I do about the computers, floppy drives, even tape recorders etc.

Edited January 24, 2014 by carlsson

[+GoldenWheels]

@Goldenwheels: Yep. Not missing anything except 3D and card based games for the SMS. Whenever I get the urge to collect those thin, cool looking cards I just open up the box with TG-16 games and walk away.

 

Yeah I don't feel like I am missing much with those. Card games are meh--though I admit I might break the 3D out once a year if I had it. I've never tried it but it I hear its far better than NES 3-D. The converter works flawlessly on the games I have so I am pretty happy with it.

 

I wish I had hopped back on the TG-16 train earlier....the system looks awesome sitting there and then you see my MEGA 6 GAME LIBRARY, all sports except Alien Crush. Even medicore non-sports commons are killer prices IMO.

 

My last want is an Intellivision II...not sure how I can make space for it though! I guess that's me...I only ditch by necesity!

Edited January 24, 2014 by GoldenWheels

[Christophero Sly]

Odyssey 2 - I actually enjoyed this system, but not enough to justify the space it was taking. And the sticks were unreliable. Sold/traded about 40 games. I believe I gave the console away for the cost of shipping.

 

NES - Built a decent collection, but there were few games I really enjoyed. The NES generation is not my era, and without a sense of nostalgia, and little interest in most japanese games, I couldn't get into this system. Sold/traded everything I had.

 

SMS - See NES. Sold/traded 2 consoles and games.

 

Atari STf - Interesting to play around with, but not a system I spent any time with in its day, so again, without nostalgia, this was merely a curiosity for me. Sold with monitor and disks.

 

Atari 800XL - Ultimately, a space-saving decision, with a side of insufficient nostalgia. I didn't use this platform much in its day, but I do have enormous nostalgia for this era, so it was a tough decision to let this one go. I had a decent-sized library, but I kept this system around for years simply to be able to play my copy of Boulder Dash. Once I decided to let that particular game go, the whole system went to the chopping block. Sold in pieces; financed my PS3.

 

N64 - No real nostalgia, and couldn't find more than a half-dozen games I enjoyed. Its whole generation has aged poorly, IMO. Easy decision.

 

I've also trimmed my PS1, SNES, and Genesis collections down to about two dozen core games for each system. I'll reevaluate these in the next year or two, and dump them when they can no longer be justified.

 

Nostalgia will probably be enough to keep them in my collection, but my 5200 and CV collections are also under scrutiny.