plug in play trend phasing out?

[jonnyutah]

I' notived that the whole plug in play winding is down a bit in terms of market. I like this topic because I think the mini consoles are a briliant idea and have some nice potetial. you have sega, atari, coleco ,namco etc. on the bandwagaon ut they could expand even more imo. I have ot admit it is really nice having a simple controler with your favoite classics built inside. :) what do you guys think? any plug in play fans on dp?

on the more hardcore potential of plug in play... capcom could capitalize and releace a super comfy fighter stick with half a dozen fighters :) can you imagine if snk playmore jumped on the plug in play trend? with metal slug, smauai shodown, king of fighters and of course they could tap into the early neogeo catalog as well, built right into a updated cheaper neogeo controller.

some of the plug in play games are branded by some unknown companies korean/taiwan generic or knock off versions that copy the the real deal. just out of curiosity, I wonder what the cost would be involded in licening these retro games for these cheap plug in play devices... cos it seems like there all kinds of generic versions that don't seem like they have full licenes of the games that are included. like for instance the once that come with like 100 or more games for a very cheap price. what's the deal with all that?

[ssjlance]

I never liked the Plug and Play craze. Only one I ever had was a Pac-Man one I found at a yard sale for $1.50, and I gave it to my dad.

Although, the idea of all those hard to find AES games in a joystick would have me excited to say the least.

[Videogamerdaryll]

I like them for a quick gaming fix and to take with me when traveling.

...
But I have a ton of them and I can't even sell them sealed-new for $1.00

[j_factor]

I wish there'd been plug n' plays with cartridge slots on them. I know some of them are easy to mod, but still.

The only plug n' play I'd really want would be a 5200 clone with non-shitty controllers. Actually, Colecovision would be good too, if the controllers are nice enough. And compatible with the original system. I'd buy one for the controllers, obviously.

[DigitalSpace]

I'd say so. They're not quite littering the thrifts yet but it's not uncommon to stumble across one every now and then, new and used. I'll still see a Namco stick or an Atari Flashback hooked up to a TV at a few Fred Meyer stores around here but otherwise there's little to no promotion for them anymore.

[Xian042]

But they need more games on each one, and the one I have has a very lousy joystick, its almost impossible to play a good game of Ms. PacMan. I think a complete Namco Museum version with updated remakes as well as the classic versions would be nice.
A Capcom fighter compilation would rock too.

[Tommy]

My buddy at work has the atari 2600 paddle and when we get some downtime we usually play that. Can't complain, quick gaming fix 8-)

[CosmicMonkey]

I think that Nintendo should have capitalized on the whole PnP thing, and released the iQue in the west.

They could have put Cubicles in Toys R Us stores across the US and UK and maybe even allowed the iQue someway to access the online Wii Virtual Console NES/SNES/N64 content with secure payment/prepaid points cards.

Not everyone wants a Wii: some people only want to play the VC games, and others simply can't afford one (and a new TV after they put the Wiimote through the screen). Nintendo could have released the iQue as an £80 unit, included 5 games and the PSU.

So I ask you all: Would you have purchased an iQue for $150/£80 if it included 5 games and there was a decent amount of easily available games?

By included games I mean Zelda: OoT, Mario 64, Waverace 64, Starfox 64 and Doctor Mario.

[smork]

So I ask you all: Would you have purchased an iQue for $150/£80 if it included 5 games and there was a decent amount of easily available games?

Nope, not when they actually sold for a hell of alot less. Mine was something like $80 with 5 games, including Sin & Punishment.

I do like Plug-n-Plays, though the one Intellivision one I have is virtually unplayable.

[Jorpho]

Remember the promotional Fantastic Four P&P? I thought that was the start of a trend, but I guess not.

(I imagine the reportedly craptacular DS Fantastic Four game could have been partially salvaged from earlier development on a P&P game.)

[fishsandwich]

I was at Target yesterday and they had on the Coleco's on clearance

[KingCobra]

I like the concept, but their always made to cheap and the emulation is off on 99% all of theim.

What I always thought would be cool is a Plug'N Play Hori arcade stick! They would have to bring down the cost somehow to $49.95 and under range and stuff it full of good games, not dumping off some junk titles.

Metal Slug Plug'N Play Hori stick with a linkable port for 2 player action anyone? or a Street Fighter II/Alpha/III Plug'N play Stick :o

Never will happen, but it'd be cool.

[dcescott]

Ya know I see more and more of the plug n plays at garage sales and flea markets when I go hunting. They are phasing out for sure.

[Neil Koch]

They've been phasing out for a while. I think part of the problem was that there were too many of them put out and the market got a bit flooded - it also didn't help that a lot of them had pretty awful original games on them.

And, like was said before, they need to put more games on them. Only 5 or 6 doesn't cut it.

I've put most of my plug and play stuff into storage. I was thinking of trying to sell them, but there's no market at all for them. I still do play the Mortal Kombat, Arcade Advanced (for Rush N Attack), and the blue Genesis one (for Goden Axe, which is a better version than the one on the PS2 Genesis Collection).

[jonnyutah]

I thought they were headed out the back door too, sadly. I mean I 'm glad to see the cheap low quality one's go but I'd like to see plug n play stick around in higher quality form. I may pick up the atari flashback 2 or maybe the coleco/sega handheld.

I hope the coleco brand releases new volumes of the coleco/sega handheld.

[cyberfluxor]

I only bought one P&P for $2, and quite frankly it feels like a waste of $2. It was the Coleco sports one and although it entertained me for around 20 minutes there's nothing else about it. The requirement of 2 AA batteries isn't a plus either considering they were about dead and I realise it's used, just two batteries I can power my GBC with nicer games. I'll stay away from these things and doubt I'd be able to even give this one away.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

On the big companies missing out on the whole classic game craze... and instead of Plug and Plays, one would wish they would release some updated versions of classic consoles... maybe small runs for game stores and stuff, but come on, the demand is there... look how much NES systems are going for on Ebay.. I just paid more for a SNES than I did a used Gamecube... And look at the Popularity of knockoff F/C systems... But I guess as long as they're charging 8 friggin dollars for VC downloads, who could blame them... Come on Nintendo please release a Wii with a Hard drive. People would pay a little more I'm sure and it could boost VC downloads, only if for the convenience of not having to download and delete games to play new ones. But I guess Nintendo is just waiting for another infamous double-dip. Sorry about the Tangent, but it is a little relevant. Right?

[diskoboy]

My nephews bought one of the Star Wars P&P's - The one that has the controller like the Millenium Falcon.

For some reason, it felt like I was playing with Atari 5200 controllers. They had that heavy analog feel, the big rubber boot that made the controller center weird, and they felt kind floppy when moving the stick in any direction.

The only good P&P's have been the Atari Flashbacks. Preferably, the second one. The others, especially the ones From Jakk's just feel poorly made, and the emulation is poorly done.

[PentiumMMX]

I hate the Plug-n-Play games, and how frequintly I find them at garage sales instead of real video games (Ask for video games at a sale, and roughly 50% of the time I'm told that all they have are "those joysticks that have Pac-Man and other games in them").

[dgdgagdae]

I'll agree completely with the Intellivision P&P being completely unplayable. And the emulation was horrible. But I have to say, that's what made me get into collecting and pick up a real Intellivision.

I liked the whole P&P fad, although I only picked up 2 myself - wireless Ms. Pac Man and one with C64 games (that one was loaded with quite a few). I thought the Atari Flashback was a great idea in particular.

[jonnyutah]

do you think there is a market for a pnp device to include indie games. well made indie games? done very much like the retro pnp games. thouhg some small device like a retro joystick? Threre is a ton of high quality indie games that many people never get to play. and most of em are retro/atari-ish in naute with ofcourse much higher resolutions ofcourse. and are very casual too. very pick up and play. perfect for the generation that grow up on atari/coleco/intelivision/c64.

sure there are virtual consoles..... in wii,ps3 and 360 but still, there will always remain people who just don't buy consoles. people who think of sitting in a computer chair is like work. people who are too busy to think about that. if indie games were delivered on a very simple pick up and play controler "pnp style" with a selection of games at a cheap price, how would it fair in the curent market?

[Mattiekrome]

... Ugh, time for bed...

[kedawa]

I hope the PnP fad is over.
Bring on the custom handhelds.

I bought a 'PlayPal' handheld game at walmart before xmas. It has 20 SMS games, a big, backlit LCD screen, a decent dpad, and also supports AV out. The emulation isn't perfect and the selection of games is a bit disappointing, but it's still good for a quick bit of fun. It was $20, which is a steal compared to the $25 PnP shitsticks with 5 games that need to be tethered to a TV.

[Steve W]

I saw a bunch of wrestling and Batman plug and plays at a Big Lots yesterday. They had heaps of them cheap. I see the concept winding down.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I hope the PnP fad is over.
Bring on the custom handhelds.

I bought a 'PlayPal' handheld game at walmart before xmas. It has 20 SMS games, a big, backlit LCD screen, a decent dpad, and also supports AV out. The emulation isn't perfect and the selection of games is a bit disappointing, but it's still good for a quick bit of fun. It was $20, which is a steal compared to the $25 PnP shitsticks with 5 games that need to be tethered to a TV.
Yeah, for a while I thought the plug'n'play thing was just gonna morph into full handhelds like that since the Tablet and Capsule systems form JungleTac and the Coleco Sega one and that system from Takara were all coming out around the same time. Plus the OneStation. But none of those ever really seemed to catch on, so I don't think it's gonna happen. I really like the idea of those system, especially, like you say, the fact that they all have TV-out in addition to their built in screens.

The "emulation" on the Sega handheld should be perfect since it's not really emulation at all. Those systems just feature an all-in-one SMS-on-a-chip and I haven't even heard of people complaining about imperfection like they do with NES-on-a-chip systems. I still haven't picked one up myself, though.


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