Keep Calm And Discuss Retro Generally!

Andrew76

Something slick looking about the GameCube, handle an all. Neat and compact too, great machine. Best controller ever too (known fact :P).

CiDeRmAn

Andrew76 wrote: »

Something slick looking about the Game cube....... Best controller ever too (known fact :P).

Nooooooooooo!

Augmerson

Andrew76 wrote: »

Something slick looking about the GameCube, handle an all. Neat and compact too, great machine. Best controller ever too (known fact :P).

It's in my top 3. I love the design of the Dreamcast, that's no.1 No.2 is the Super Nintendo (PAL version) and then it's the Gamecube.

EDIT: Actually, the Multi-Mega Sega CD is probably my no.1

Danonino.

Gotta agree with Gamecube controller. If they kept the design and added a L1 button and replaced the c stick with the same stick as the left one that... that could be life changing.

OwaynOTT

Augmerson wrote: »

It's in my top 3. I love the design of the Dreamcast, that's no.1 No.2 is the Super Nintendo (PAL version) and then it's the Gamecube.

EDIT: Actually, the Multi-Mega Sega CD is probably my no.1

Much prefer the US Snes. Like the look of the nes top loader as well. Multi mega is cool though, wish I had one.
Ugliest has to be the PS2!

o1s1n

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Much prefer the US Snes. Like the look of the nes top loader as well. Multi mega is cool though, wish I had one.
Ugliest has to be the PS2!

The PS2 is nowhere near as ugly as the US Snes and the NES top loader

You mad!

Mr.Saturn

The original PS2 looks like what'd happen if you asked a man in 1978 what the future would look like.

CiDeRmAn

Given its Monolith like proportions I'd say that it is more like what Clarke and Kubrick thought alien tech would look like!
"My God, it's full of stars (and an emotion engine) "

deathrider

Just found a small handful of GBA games that I didn't know had. Nothing really good buried in there though.

Myrddin

o1s1n wrote: »

The PS2 is nowhere near as ugly as...

Ah man cmon, its soul shakingly ugly no matter what console you compare it against

MrVestek

EnterNow wrote: »

Ah man cmon, its soul shakingly ugly no matter what console you compare it against

Original Xbox?

Myrddin

Achilles wrote: »

Original Xbox?

They're in the same league alright, but the PS2 is still worse looking imo

MrVestek

EnterNow wrote: »

They're in the same league alright, but the PS2 is still worse looking imo

Hrmmm...

How about this console addon orgy?

Myrddin

Had the 32X been left out, the Megadrive 1 & Mega CD 1 is a thing of beauty.

CiDeRmAn

I always liked the design of the PS2
At the time, the black angular look with the "vanes", also the highlights in that blue/purple colour, it all looked pretty good, especially along with the vertical stand.
Flat on it's back it looked pretty nondescript I'll grant you.
I think the desire was to move away from the plaything of the PS and make it something altogether more "serious" and worthy of quotations when describing it!
And, no, not "pug-ugly" or "block of suck ass incarnate"

The Xbox?
Now that was never pretty, but in true Yankee style it was functional and easy to make games for, not to mention easy to mod!

The Virtual Boy is a pretty unlovely device, lacking much of what people wanted from a VR device. Now it is more acceptable, but even then only to those that love it.

The DC, I'm not sure how the device scores above the PS2 in terms of looks, it is a block of off-white plastic, not very interesting at all.

Same goes for the N64, not sure what they were going for, perhaps 2nd place behind the Playstation?
But their 'Cube shows all sorts of smarts and, lousy controller aside, is an amazing looking machine.

As an aside on that, I was lucky enough to have a launch GC from Japan, together with a selection of games, Waverace and Luigis Mansion.
I was asked by the lads in Gamesworld if I'd lend it to a Irish tech magazine so they could review it, in concert with the PS2 and Xbox.
I agreed and dropped it up to them, they were based up in Glasnevin, close to Phibsboro.
The derogatory looks the device got were obvious and when I went to pick i t up a week later it was clear that they just didn't get it.
They were stunned by the Xbox in particular, and the launch line up of Halo and PGR, but the brilliance of Luigis Mansion was completely lost on them and they didn't seem to like the rather good Waverace either.
I tried to explain the great sense of solidity of the environments of Luigis mansion, the sense you are in a Diorama somewhere, the fabric physics, the way Luigi is whistling/humming the in game tune and gets nervous, the lovely mirror under the dust sheet, I tried to explain the great water physics in Waverace, but no, they had no love for it at all and handed it back to me like they had been mistakenly given a V-Tech toy, they thanked me, looked somewhat piteously at the GC and sent me on my way.
Believe me, the Gamecube needed some serious therapy to up it's spirits after that treatment!
Pity they missed the likes of Resident Evil then.

Oh, the magazine folded not too long after that as far as I know, and good enough for them!



And my favourite console design is between the Famicom, even with the short controller cables, and the Megadrive.

Atavan-Halen

EnterNow wrote: »

Had the 32X been left out, the Megadrive 1 & Mega CD 1 is a thing of beauty.

It's probably my favourite looking machine ever. None of that segacd logo sh*te though, has to be a mega cd. Preferably NTSC-J

MrVestek

EnterNow wrote: »

Had the 32X been left out, the Megadrive 1 & Mega CD 1 is a thing of beauty.

I was going to post the model 2 version but I actually thought it looked better than the pic I posted.

Meh.

Myrddin

Achilles wrote: »

I was going to post the model 2 version but I actually thought it looked better than the pic I posted.

Meh.

There's no accounting for taste really is there

When talking about the Megadrive/CD 1 combo...never before has failure looked so impressive.

Myrddin

atavan-halen wrote: »

It's probably my favourite looking machine ever. None of that segacd logo sh*te though, has to be a mega cd. Preferably NTSC-J

Agreed, the Sega CD branding takes away from it. When its a Mega CD it looks proper

deathrider

The old PS2 was never too pretty, but the PS3 looks like a complete mutant.

CiDeRmAn

The original PS3 had the naff Spiderman font and looked like a closed sandwich toaster.
Then all they did was make it worse, by removing the backward compatibility and the extra card slots, as well, as the other OS capability.
Ok, so they made it more reliable, but then chased their tail trying to produce console exclusives with little success outside of a couple of IP's.
Ok, Killzone may have sold a lot but it was creatively void, and the less said about the brown-fest that is Resistance the better.

johnny_ultimate

The curved design of the PS3 is the worst thing about the exterior design of the console itself.

Being able to balance stuff on top of it if you so wish should be a perquisite design choice for all modern consoles

CiDeRmAn

You can feel the exterior drawing your fingers to it, to receive your prints like some sort of a trophy in a serial killers home decor.....
The WiiU gamepad and pro controller finish is similar, not sure what they were going for but I fear what second hand WiiU controllers are going to look like, sold on Adverts in a couple of years, the accumulated encrustation of grubby gamer mitts all over them..... pass the alcohol wipes!

Dr Bob

ah , sure its all been downhill since the Mastersystem 1, now there was a lovely machine

CiDeRmAn

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I always liked the design of the PS2...

I have a phat one and a slim one. The phat one has been used for thousands of hours, has been chipped, and has had it's laser severely tested by reading "backup" copies of many a game, and it's still going strong (fingers crossed).

The slim one was barely ever used and only ever played legit, store bought discs. I plugged it in a while ago and it went pop, lights out.:mad:

The phat ugly square one will have to be prized from my cold dead hands, but if anyone wants the slim for parts or a repair or whatever just PM me. I'm sure it's just a fuse or some mad technical thing i don't really understand, probably an easy fix for anyone who knows about that stuff...

The Last Bandit

And just when people start liking Sony (or at least fond memories of the PS2), they go and do this...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-01-03-sony-patents-tech-to-block-use-of-second-hand-games

Myrddin

The Last Bandit wrote: »

And just when people start liking Sony (or at least fond memories of the PS2), they go and do this...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-01-03-sony-patents-tech-to-block-use-of-second-hand-games

I really can't see that being legal in the EU.

o1s1n

The Last Bandit wrote: »

And just when people start liking Sony (or at least fond memories of the PS2), they go and do this...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-01-03-sony-patents-tech-to-block-use-of-second-hand-games

Wow. Do they not realize that the more they try to lock down machines, the worse they do?

If they go ahead with this, I can see the ps4 being their last console.

Myrddin

Damn noscripts, got the chat working - am in the queue

johnny_ultimate

TBH, I do think some sort of second-hand block is necessary. But a temporary one, on newer titles that are still commercially viable / in-print. The ridiculous Gamestop racket needs to be halted - taking money away from publishers & developers, while actually negatively effecting the games themselves through superfluous, bloated content aimed at persuading players not to trade in.

When a game does go out of print or becomes 'hard to find', that's when there should be some way of removing the block. Hopefully some thought will be put into the technology if indeed it goes ahead, rather than a blanket implementation - there's more to it than just point-blank blocking second-hand titles, but its easy to see why they want to do it. And given Gamestop's profiteering over other people's work, I think there is a problem that needs to be solved or at least sensibly addressed. Draconian solutions are not the answer, naturally.