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Recommend me a new (and by 'new' i mean classic) console!


moodorf

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I have an extra hundred bucks laying around, so I'm thinking of picking up yet another console or home computer. I already have:

 

2600 Jr.

NES/SNES clone

PS1

N64

Dreamcast

Wii U

PS4

 

Here's what I want in a console/computer:

 

 

- $100 or less.

 

- Nothing made after the year 2000.

 

- at least 15-20 properly good games that aren't insanely difficult to find.

 

- Uncommon enough to have some novelty, but still not too difficult to acquire through the right channels.

 

- No plug and play consoles or portable consoles.

 

- Reasonably well-built & less prone to malfunction than systems like the say the NES toaster.

 

Thanks guys!

Edited by moodorf
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Odyssey 2: underrated, obscure, and relatively cheap (though it's been climbing in price lately); you could probably get a system and all the best games for $100.

Intellivision II: the controllers are oft-criticized, and a couple of really crappy games don't work on it, but I find the Intellivision II to be the most reliable of the Intellivision consoles.
Commodore 64: TONS of games; if you don't want to shell out for disk drives or cartridges, there are SD options as well.

Commodore VIC-20: it seems less popular than the 64, but this is a great games machine as well, just with worse graphics and less RAM. Not terribly expensive, AFAIK -- I got a minty CIB one for $50 only two years ago.
Atari XEGS (or whichever version of the Atari 400/800/XL/XE platform you can find the cheapest): like the C64, it's got a huge library owing to its compatibility with the Atari 400/800 computers -- in fact, it IS one. Trick it out with disk systems and tape units or pop in a flashcart and call it a day. Any Atari 8-bit computer will do*, but the XEGS gets points for style and obscurity.

I want to recommend the Colecovision but I hesitate because the consoles have gotten pretty spendy and are prone to power issues. Most of the time they're easily fixable if you've got basic soldering skills, but there's a good chance you might have to do a little work on a Coleco to get it running. If that possibility doesn't scare you, then I recommend Colecovision as well. :)

 

Otherwise it seems you have most of the major bases covered!

 

(*Note that the Atari 400 and Atari 600XL only have 16K RAM and will be insufficient to run games requiring more RAM, but most cartridge- and cassette-based games should run fine.)

Edited by BassGuitari
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I wouldn't call any of those systems in the O/P 'uncommon'. If that's all to choose from, I would pick the Dreamcast because it has great games.

 

I also like the call for the Intellivision or the Colecovision. If you just want to play the games cheap, I'd recommend getting the Flashback version, especially the Intellivision: 90% of the experience for $25 or $30.

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Given what is already on your list, I'd agree with the Genesis recommendation.

 

Or, if you wanted to fill in your collection from the oldest going up, then a 5200. If you can deal with the joystick, or get a wico, the 5200 has some seriously fun games from that era. Including some of the best arcade ports of certain games from that era. Get a 2 port and they are incredibly reliable consoles. The sticks have issues, but rebuild kits are easy and cheap.

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I'd get the ColecoVision, Intellivision, or Genesis. If you want more 90s games, go for the Genesis. If you want classic arcade games, go for the ColecoVision. If you'd prefer more unique games from the 80s, go for the Intellivision.

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I second the A8 recommendation. I like the Atari 8-bit line of computers because they have one foot in the early console world, with lots of arcade-style games, and the other foot in the computer world, where games were getting more complex. They're systems that weren't uncommon, but nobody you'll meet on the street today has ever even heard of them.

 

An 800XL, XEGS, or 65XE machine should easily fit in budget and provide a desirable 64k of ram. XEGS is the one packaged as a "console," even though it still has a keyboard. For $100, a decent system, joystick, composite video cable, and a stack of some good games on cart should be easily doable.

 

A variety of modern devices for mounting .atr floppy disk images are available, and are highly recommended, as most of the library is on disk. That equipment won't fit under $100 with a system, so its got to be a later purchase. The floppy disks (and disk images) generally 'autorun,' so there really aren't any commands to learn or memorize just to play a game--they work kind of like cartridges in that way, just plug them in and turn on. That's a feature many other computers of the era don't share, which combined with the larger number of cart games, keeps the a8 line rather accessible. The homebrew community is quite active but there aren't many new cart releases, most new games are released on .atr files.

 

Still, a lot of good games on cart.

For a start, Rescue on Fractalus is a cart that shouldn't be missed, even if it is a bit spendy at ~$20.

 

 

Edited by Reaperman
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Colecovision is awesome but it is kind of pissy to get it working right and sometimes you have to be careful as people will overpay. If you don't mind spending some time hunting I'm sure you can eventually find one through private trading here on AA.

 

Genesis is a dime and dozen and many of the best games are also very cheap. it is about as enjoyable to collect for as the NES with many similar games (but better graphics obviously). The systems and carts are quite reliable.

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I'll pile on the Genesis bandwagon as well. Although I'm indifferent to it personally, lots of people really love it, and there's a good chance you will too. And as others have stated, it's cheap and generally reliable.

Plus if you want to get adventurous, you have the option of adding the Sega CD and 32X as well. They both get a bad rap for being ill-conceived, clunky add-ons, but both have some very good games (and some not so good games :P ).

Edited by BassGuitari
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Good suggestions all over.

 

I think "15-20 good games that are easy to find" and "uncommon enough to have some novelty" are mutually exclusive. It is true that the more uncommon systems may have 2-5 highly playable games that won't take you years to look up, but you probably want to choose one of those criteria. Also the $100 or less usually puts you out of most of the novelty systems.

 

Try most of the suggested systems through emulation to get a feeling what they have to offer, before going out to look for real hardware. Are you looking for a system (Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 8-bit, C64) to lie inbetween the 2600 and the NES, or another system (Genesis, PC Engine) beyond SNES that lies inbetween the NES and PS1?

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Super methane bros,Alien breed,Alien breed 3D,Alien breed 2,Alien breed tower assault,Akira,Qwak,Seek and Destroy,James Pond,James Pond 2,James Pong 3,Jungle strike,Bump N' Burn,Soccer Kid,spellbound Dizzy,Shadow fighter,Cannon fodder,Chuck Rock,Chuck Rock 2,Brutal sports Football,Lamborghini american challenge,Dragonstone,Lemmings,Litil Divil,Battletoads,Battle chess,Kid chaos,Super Street Fighter 2,Street turbo racer,Theme park,treasure island Dizzy,Dizzy prince of the Yolk folk,Magic land Dizzy,Crystal Kingdom Dizzy,Fantastic Dizzy,Microcosm,Total carnage,Top gear 2,Pinball fantasies,UFO enemy unknown,Fire and ice,Zool,Zool 2,Wing commander,Worms,Universe,Out to lunch,

Dare I say more?

 

/THREAD

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Edited by TheObscureGamer
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Take a look at:

http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/

 

Especially the 70s and 80s so you can get yourself an idea.

I believe a Sega Saturn would also make a nice addition to your library.

But Genesis/MD is never a bad idea and they are dirt cheap and they get your SMS fix as well

Edited by phoenixdownita
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I would go for the XEGS. It's like a mix of an Atari 5200 and an 800XL. They seem to be reliable, have av out without having to mod it or use a special cable, and use atari/genesis controllers and joysticks. There are many great games on cart that are relatively cheap.

 

If not, a Genesis or Intellivision would be a good choice. However, you could probably get by with the Intellivision Flashback (it's like $20 on clearance).

 

If you are looking for reliability, you might want to avoid the Colecovision. I like it for it's nostalgia and quirky charm. You could probably go with the flashback version of this as well (although definitely not as cool as having the original). Also, stay away from the 5200 since the controllers are supremely unreliable and there are no cheap alternatives.

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I've been trying to get one of those for $100 for at least a full decade...

Might be hard to find at that price yeah but it's worth that price that it commands as it has alot of good games that are not on the Genesis or Super Nintendo(although some of the games are on the Amiga computer if not all so that may be a cheap alternative).

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Might be hard to find at that price yeah but it's worth that price that it commands

My point was more that CD32's are priced well out of the thread's $100 scope. They're up there with Neo Geos and Turbo Duos. Purchasing a controller for the thing would pretty well eat the $100 on its own.

Edited by Reaperman
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How much patience would you have with a computer, where you might even have to type in commands to load games every now and then, rather than just auto booting or inserting a cartridge? I'm not asking in order to mock you, rather I have understood that a lot of people who are exclusively used to playing on consoles, sometimes find the earlier 8-bit home computers a bit cumbersome and primitive to handle. It could affect your choice where to go next with your collection, in particular if you already "know" the Genesis enough to not be thrilled about getting the real iron.

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My point was more that CD32's are priced well out of the thread's $100 scope. They're up there with Neo Geos and Turbo Duos. Purchasing a controller for the thing would pretty well eat the $100 on its own.

Oops my bad and also the controllers are expensive? There's one at my local Play N trade for $10.I'm asking because It might be worth it to pick it up

Edited by TheObscureGamer
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To be honest...."Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection" for 360/ps3 ruined the idea of collecting for the Genesis for me. I would have one by now if not for this game.

 

There are many other classics on the system that aren't on that collection.. like, many. Just food for thought.

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