General Arcade & Retro Chat' Special Championship Edition

dav09 · 22-04-2020 12:27am

Jack burton wrote: »

Just seen a bunch of the 1up Machines in Walmart in America were reduced to $50. Could be worth keeping an eye on sites over here?

A friend of mine got a Space Invaders for €83 from TK Maxx in Limerick (I rushed to the store 50 mins after once work finished and they were gone), that was I'd say a year or two ago, but keep your eyes peeled. The Star Wars, NBA Jam and the Centipede ones are cool for their controls, but probably wouldn't be interested unless they were a real bargain like that. The real deal cabs aren't much more expensive than some.

Retr0gamer · 22-04-2020 9:22am

DaveyDave wrote: »

Probably a stupid question but before I pull the trigger on the PC Engine Mini, am I right in saying all the games apart from Snatcher are English? I see the system language can be set to English just wondering how many games are English.

Edit: From reviews I see the majority of games are PC Engine which I believe are Japanese and some are TG16, but I don't think the language barrier is an issue for most games?

Plenty of the games are in japanese. However the only two where it matters are Snatcher and Neuromancer. All the rest are perfectly playable in english without missing much of anything.

o1s1n · 22-04-2020 11:11am

Snatcher is on the PCE Mini? anyone else find that a bit weird?

Would be like Sega Mega CD Snatcher being on the Megadrive mini. Kind of cool to have but takes away from the authenticity somewhat?

sniper_samurai · 22-04-2020 11:16am

o1s1n wrote: »

Snatcher is on the PCE Mini? anyone else find that a bit weird?

Would be like Sega Mega CD Snatcher being on the Megadrive mini. Kind of cool to have but takes away from the authenticity somewhat?

Quite a few CD games on the PCE Mini, you get a loading animation of the disc upon starting the game.

Retr0gamer · 22-04-2020 11:19am

o1s1n wrote: »

Snatcher is on the PCE Mini? anyone else find that a bit weird?

Would be like Sega Mega CD Snatcher being on the Megadrive mini. Kind of cool to have but takes away from the authenticity somewhat?

I'm all for it. The CD game library is far better than the hucard library and the mini has a load of insanely expensive CD games on it including Sapphire

o1s1n · 22-04-2020 11:23am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I'm all for it. The CD game library is far better than the hucard library and the mini has a load of insanely expensive CD games on it including Sapphire

You're just saying that because Cho Aniki is on it, aren't you?

Retr0gamer · 22-04-2020 11:54am

o1s1n wrote: »

You're just saying that because Cho Aniki is on it, aren't you?

They had me at Cho Aniki.

Atavan-Halen · 22-04-2020 12:41pm

o1s1n wrote: »

You're just saying that because Cho Aniki is on it, aren't you?

I Mean Cho Aniki was on the PS1 and that’s a great system so there’s clearly a correlation between availability of Cho Aniki and how good a system is. Just stating the facts

Retr0gamer · 22-04-2020 1:17pm

Atavan-Halen wrote: »

I Mean Cho Aniki was on the PS1 and that’s a great system so there’s clearly a correlation between availability of Cho Aniki and how good a system is. Just stating the facts

There's truth in this statement. The PS1, PS2 and PSP all had their own unique Cho aniki games. The PS3 could play the PS1 Cho Aniki as a digital download. The PS4 has no Cho Aniki games and it's a terrible console.

Which puts the PS4 up there with other terrible consoles like the Jaguar, CDi and 3DO.

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy · 22-04-2020 1:24pm

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy wrote: »

Ton Ton in Amsterdam used to do a thing twice a year it's a warehouse full of arcade cabs and might be something to keep an eye on maybe? The most popular one there there was BishiBashi, I was there 3 hours, I couldn't get a go of it, Chabudai (table flip) was next to it and if was busy enough so I'd play that and then hang around for Bishi Bashi but it never let up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFrV8jwM3aM

Not really rhythm really though

GDQ just did a run of it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol6ag0vaulI

briany · 22-04-2020 10:28pm

What are some retro gaming channels on YT that are good to watch? Currently, I regularly look at stuff from the following,

- Cinemassacre
- MetalJesusRocks
- LGR
- Larry Bundy Jr.
- N64GlennPlant
- Console Wars

Retr0gamer · 23-04-2020 12:17am

Jeremy Parish has an excellent series going through the catalogues of videogame systems chronologically.

Nerdkiller1991 · 23-04-2020 12:33am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Jeremy Parish has an excellent series going through the catalogues of videogame systems chronologically.

Too bad he won't be able to finish it at the rate he's going and with him adding more systems to cover.

Retr0gamer · 23-04-2020 1:09am

I don't think he ever fooled himself with being able to finish but what is there is comprehensive and he gets one out a week mostly.

I do wish he would stick to Gameboy more as its a very under reported on system and his videos have uncovered some fascinating stuff and some real hidden gems.

Inviere · 23-04-2020 7:37am

briany wrote: »

What are some retro gaming channels on YT that are good to watch? Currently, I regularly look at stuff from the following,

- Cinemassacre
- MetalJesusRocks
- LGR
- Larry Bundy Jr.
- N64GlennPlant
- Console Wars

Digital Foundry (for their RetroDF content, regular channel for gaming hardware)
Kim Justice (just fantastic content)
Modern Vintage Gamer (mostly retro hardware pieces)
Stop Skeletons from Fighting (formerly the Happy Video Game Nerd)
The 8-bit Guy
Ahoy
Chris Chapman
Clan of the Grey Wolf (for the 16bit Gems content, seems sadly to be ceased now)
The Gaming Historian (really love this channel)
Sharopolis
strafefox
Summoning Salt (solid world record progression docs)
Tech Rules

Tom Mann Centuria · 23-04-2020 8:01am

Happy Birthday ZX Spectrum, 38 today. Made it easier for people with limited money to get a computer, for their school work.

CiDeRmAn · 23-04-2020 8:25am

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Happy Birthday ZX Spectrum, 38 today. Made it easier for people with limited money to get a computer, for their school work.

Wow!
I got one for Christmas in '84, it was a part of my gaming life for only three years but so very important.
I know the C64 is the "better" device, but bloody hell did the speccy programmers manage some incredible feats on that little machine, with it's dead flesh keyboard.

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy · 23-04-2020 1:30pm

Inviere wrote: »

Kim Justice (just fantastic content)
Stop Skeletons from Fighting (formerly the Happy Video Game Nerd)

+1 on these and Jeremy Parish
love Kim's videos, sad some of the Wrestling ones had to be moved to Patreon but understandable.

briany · 23-04-2020 3:07pm

The ZX Spectrum sounds like it was a complete pain in the arse. I don't remember ever using that particular machine, but I do remember my family had a lend of a Commodore 64 and a bag of tapes, and if the experience of trying to load some of those was anything to go by, a Saturday night on the Speccy was probably a slow one.

Retr0gamer · 23-04-2020 3:09pm

Discovered Summoning Salt recently as well. Never thought hour long documentaries about the history of a games speed running scene could be so compelling.

Games Done Quick is worth following as well. They so speed runs of a lot of old games in their speed running event which can be fascinating in their own right.

o1s1n · 23-04-2020 7:30pm

briany wrote: »

The ZX Spectrum sounds like it was a complete pain in the arse. I don't remember ever using that particular machine, but I do remember my family had a lend of a Commodore 64 and a bag of tapes, and if the experience of trying to load some of those was anything to go by, a Saturday night on the Speccy was probably a slow one.

I suppose we had nothing to really compare it to at the time so knew no different!

I played a lot of Speccy in the late 80s/early 90s when I was about 6 or 7 before we got our hands on a NES. So to us that was just the videogame experience.

hellsing101 · 23-04-2020 7:35pm

o1s1n wrote: »

I suppose we had nothing to really compare it to at the time so knew no different!

I played a lot of Speccy in the late 80s/early 90s when I was about 6 or 7 before we got our hands on a NES. So to us that was just the videogame experience.

With a lot of the older consoles nostalgia plays a massive part, personally I find anything older than SNES/Megadrive almost unplayable, SNES/Megadrive I could sit and play for ages but I know my younger cousins cant see the appeal at all as PS1 was their first console. My girlfriends father gave me a C64 but I couldnt play it as was no appeal.

o1s1n · 23-04-2020 7:37pm

hellsing101 wrote: »

With a lot of the older consoles nostalgia plays a massive part, personally I find anything older than SNES/Megadrive almost unplayable, SNES/Megadrive I could sit and play for ages but I know my younger cousins cant see the appeal at all as PS1 was their first console. My girlfriends father gave me a C64 but I couldnt play it as was no appeal.

I've always been a firm opponent of the 'nostalgia' arguement

A good game is a good game. Some people might play for nostalgia reasons, however if something was a good game it should have stood the test of time.

If something was a crap game then it's still going to be crap.

Lots of the 8 bit catalogue on the likes of the Atari 2600 and Spectrum are absolute rubbish now alright. However other 8 bit machines like the NES still have some absolute crackers.

hellsing101 · 23-04-2020 7:46pm

o1s1n wrote: »

I've always been a firm opponent of the 'nostalgia' arguement

A good game is a good game. Some people might play for nostalgia reasons, however if something was a good game it should have stood the test of time.

If something was a crap game then it's still going to be crap.

Lots of the 8 bit catalogue on the likes of the Atari 2600 and Spectrum are absolute rubbish now alright. However other 8 bit machines like the NES still have some absolute crackers.

I agree to an extent but I think if you have the nostalgia goggles on you are more likely to put up with the drawbacks of of retro games vs modern games e.g the load times on ZX.

There was a Hook game on Megadrive that I absolutely love but when my friends played it they hated it, objectively I know its not a good game but subjectively I love it and nostalgia plays a large part in that.

Quandary · 23-04-2020 7:47pm

I remember playing Alex Kid on the Sega Master System for the first time in the late 80s/early 90s. It absolutely blew my mind not having to wait for your game to load. The control pad was a joy to use as well.

Fast forward a year and Myself and the brother saved for what felt like years and eventually saved enough(along with parents help) to get a mega drive with sonic. Probably the happiest Christmas memories of my life!

Seriously nostalgic

o1s1n · 23-04-2020 7:55pm

hellsing101 wrote: »

I agree to an extent but I think if you have the nostalgia goggles on you are more likely to put up with the drawbacks of of retro games vs modern games e.g the load times on ZX.

There was a Hook game on Megadrive that I absolutely love but when my friends played it they hated it, objectively I know its not a good game but subjectively I love it and nostalgia plays a large part in that.

Nostalgia can make a crap game a good game in your eyes, I totally agree. Such is the side effect of spending 50 Irish punts on a bad game back in the day and forcing yourself to like it due to not having any other choice (Ballz 3d I'm looking at you!)

However, it was always a crap game. There are definitely objectively good games that were always and will always be good games.

The people who are blind to that on older systems and would rather spend all their time on PUBG instead would probably watch something like Citizen Kane or Metropolis and think theyre crap films - these people's opinions can be by and large ignored

briany · 23-04-2020 8:13pm

o1s1n wrote: »

I suppose we had nothing to really compare it to at the time so knew no different!

I played a lot of Speccy in the late 80s/early 90s when I was about 6 or 7 before we got our hands on a NES. So to us that was just the videogame experience.

Yeah, I can appreciate not knowing any different, but at the same time I remember the first games I played were Atari 2600 ones - specifically Pole Position and Pele's Soccer, and even then those games just did not grab me whatsoever. It wasn't until I got to play the Atari Lynx and Sega Megadrive that I realised a video game could be engrossing.

hellsing101 · 23-04-2020 8:18pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Nostalgia can make a crap game a good game in your eyes, I totally agree. Such is the side effect of spending 50 Irish punts on a bad game back in the day and forcing yourself to like it due to not having any other choice (Ballz 3d I'm looking at you!)

However, it was always a crap game. There are definitely objectively good games that were always and will always be good games.

The people who are blind to that on older systems and would rather spend all their time on PUBG instead would probably watch something like Citizen Kane or Metropolis and think theyre crap films - these people's opinions can be by and large ignored

Yeah I can appreciate the likes of Pong as its objectively good, I think some of the older games on C64 and ZX that maybe my generation just cant get enjoyment in as its "too old" (not sure how to better describe it), if a games has good mechanics then its a good game but its easier to like a game that is closer to the generation you started gaming than something older.

I never had 50 punt to buy games but I know the pain of renting a game for a weekend and it being ****e, Bubsy 2 on Megradrive is one that comes to mind lol.

briany · 24-04-2020 12:54am

It's mad that games used to cost 50 pounds. No, I understand that the big games are still 50 euros, but back when 50 pounds could go quite far, that's still what games cost. And with inflation over time, that means games must have been even larger an investment.

And even then you wouldn't have necessarily known what was decent unless you were also buying the magazines every month.

It may be fair to say that it is overall cheaper for the modern gamer.

CiDeRmAn · 24-04-2020 10:10am

It's definitely cheaper, I bought Virtua Racing for my MD and it was something like £60, worth it but very expensive.
The games I played on my Spectrum don't always impress now, but there is enough content that still shines that makes my having a Spectrum still a necessity in my modest collection.
The C64 I have very little nostalgia for, as I didn't own one the first time, but the likes of Uridium and all those games with great music make it a decent format to still own.
It must be odd for those of you who came to many consoles as formats that have existed longer than you have, that you never had the chance to own a Megadrive in its first flourish and, instead, came to it much later, and loved it anyway.

General Arcade & Retro Chat' Special Championship Edition

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