My next direction. (Need opinion please!)

[otoko]

I'm not quite sure where to post this.. so if any mods thing ill of where I put it please move. Thanks.

I have been collecting for a good amount of years now. I started with my Dreamcast back in '99 and got hooked into this type of community. Since then I've branched out to include a great many different systems and games within my collection and always seem to keep my collection as a "thought out impulse" thing.

Recently, I've come to a impasse. My favorite thing has always been obtaining new hard ware with a brand new library of games to be discovered. Yet, right now I have no idea what direction I should go. I've thought about neo geo, but I don't have the money to spend. Then I thought about 3D0... Still I can't find one in my price range when I have the money.

I guess my question to the DP community is what system direction do you think would be best in gerenal. My main problem is I cannot think of a system that is (lack of a better word) cheap to collect for.

Here's what I have so far:
Odyssey 2
Atari 2600
Atari 5200
Atari 7800
Atari Lynx
Colecovision
Commodore 64
Tandy
Intellivision
Nintendo
Super Nintendo
N64
Gamecube
Wii
Virtual boy
Gameboy
Gameboy Color
Gameboy Advance
Nintendo DS
Master System
Genesis
32x
Sega CD
Saturn
Dreamcast
GameGear
Playstation
Playstation 2
PSP
CD-I
TurboGrafx 16
Xbox
Xbox 360
NeoGeo Pocket

Could someone think of one I might have not thought of before?

[MrSparkle]

Hmm well i was GOING to say 3d0 until i actually read your post lol. Let me put this one out there though, how about 3d0. Things sell for pretty damned cheap if you just keep checking a few places, i think i got mine for like $20 with a game and a controller. They aren't exactly the most loved systems, infact the only people who buy them anymore really are collectors and maybe a few kids who used to have them. No retroscene behind these things to jack up the price. Other than that maybe something a bit obscure like the supervision, or a bit japanese like the pc-fx.

[aclbandit]

Well, it's certainly not cheap, so it may not qualify, but the MSX or MSX2 are both decent systems, from what I hear.

[Press_Start]

The Gameboy for gaming on the go. ;)

Tons of wonderful titles (i.e. Super Mario Land, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy, TMNT, etc.) Gamestop's selling all their GB and GBC inventory at half price (60% with edge card), so its shouldn't be too hard to find the best games for the right price. Unless I get to them first. ;)

[Porksta]

You should go N64. Even the rarest games are no more than $40 cart only.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

If you're at a roadblock and asking total strangers what to collect next, maybe your next move is to kick back for a while, play what you've got, and come back to it later.

Just my crazy hunch. It's what I'd do. 8-)

[zektor]

Vic-20!

It is a great commodore computer that really does have some great games. Dirt cheap too!

[nate1749]

If you're collecting then an atari system would be cheap, but if you want to play I'd get a cd based system like sega cd or 3d0 and then just burn games. That way you can play games for virtually free and if you like them you can buy them when you find them cheap.

Sure it's piracy, but you're not taking away from the developers now since you can't buy these games new in a store (and a lot of them are out of business anyway) - you'd only be hurting ebay sellers and other resellers. And anyways, this could just be a temporary measure until you can afford the games to buy them.

My vote would go for sega saturn though. You will have to get a modded one or mod it yourself (its like $15 and is a basic 101 solder job) to play burned games, but this system has a very impressive and imo fun library. If you like rpg's (which I could care less about) then this system apparently has some of the best ones ever... but they're expensive (like $200 for one of them) so you'd definitely want to go the burned route for awhile on that one.

If you're just collecting and not playing, then atari carts would be my vote since I always see big lots for really cheap.

Nate

[DinoRiki]

Wow, I am surprised that I do not see N64 on there. I would call that a classic system now. What would the gaming world be without a little WaveRace N64 (http://spiele.hitmeister.de/angebote/kategorien-nintendo-64-12-576/), or Goldeneye?!

Another system that I don't see on your list is the Jaguar. It was a short lived system, but was pretty cool and above it's time from what I remember.

EDIT: Yes, I know N64 is already listed. I can't read.

[tom]

What you have so far is very good, what you NEED is Atari Jaguar, no question.

[Rogmeister]

I'm surprised a few people are suggesting systems already on your list (like the N64 and Saturn). I might go along with the Atari Jaguar...it's the only system I own that's not on your list...of course, not every game is real cheap. Some, especially some of the homebrews, are probably still up there in price.

[Trebuken]

I think the Neo Geo MVS would be a good option. You will need to spend a good amount on a consolized unit but many of the games are inexpensive unless you want cases/manuals for them.

You could do the Amiga CD32, I have been looking at that one myself.

I don't think there are any cheap options left except the Microvision.
-Fairchild
-Odyssey 1
-Astrocade
-Laseractive LD's
-Vectrex
-Import SMS games
-Atari 400/800/XE

[kewlrabbit]

The Arcadia 2001's pretty cheap. Not much in the way of games, though.

[DinoRiki]

I'm surprised a few people are suggesting systems already on your list (like the N64 and Saturn).

Yup . . . I looked through the list twice, cuz I couldn't believe the N64 wasn't there, but lo' and behold, third time's the charm! I should get my eyes checked . . .

[Nebagram]

I'm going to have to say either PC-Engine (specifically for the obscurer Japanese shooters) or Jaguar. Personally I'd go with Jaguar first and build up a solid collection with stuff like Tempest 2k and Alien vs Predator, the good, collectable stuff.

Edit: Actually, forget everything I just said and get a Vectrex. :D

[namzep]

Vic-20!

It is a great commodore computer that really does have some great games. Dirt cheap too!
I'm going to second this. The system has some good ports on it (and original games) and no game should run you more than a few $$ for it.

[MrSparkle]

jaguar is an awesome system. I have one have a big CIB library for it approaching the point where i have most of the commercially released carts for it. Yet there are only a few games on it that i find myself playing alot of, tempest 2k (no surprise there), rayman (once again if you own a jaguar this is one of the reasons), zool 2 (just because it doesnt suck not that its great but the high mark of a jaguar game is usually not being complete shit lol). So as much as i love the jaguar its definitely not for everyone.

[nate1749]

Yup . . . I looked through the list twice, cuz I couldn't believe the N64 wasn't there, but lo' and behold, third time's the charm! I should get my eyes checked . . .

Oops, I suggested Saturn, I read his post wrong at the end I thought those were choices of stuff to collect from...

Well if that's the case, then I don't know (if it's for collecting), if it's for playing then something you can burn games for (until you have $ to buy them).

Nate

[theChad]

I wanted to say Vectrex but that's pretty expensive to collect for - it's gotta be one of my favorite systems and I've only got 6 games so far. You could get a Vectrex and then spring about twice what a single CIB game could cost you and buy a multi-cart and be done with it, though.

[ooXxXoo]

I'll say Famicom / Disk Drive or Jaguar as well.....

[MrSparkle]

one of these a bit on the expensive side for the console but not so bad for the games kind of things. how about an FM Towns Marty, the graphics are incredibly lively and cool looking, I've always wanted one of these things, but the price is about in the turbo duo range.

[otoko]

how about an FM Towns Marty, the graphics are incredibly lively and cool looking,

That's exactly why I asked. I never heard of this system. I think I'm going to do some information sleuthing.

[murdoc rose]

n64 or nintendo 64 is on there guys i say go for the vic 20 i got mine for 3 bucks with a game. its a neat little system for the low price. I personally liked to collect anything especially if I hadn't seen it before. If your willing to pay a little more the astrocade is a fun system to collect. If you can't find a new system you like just keep filling holes in your library for the other systems or if you havn't yet branch off into label variations or even video game memorabilia.

add just read the post up above the FM Towns Marty is a very cool system from what i have heard but they have always been more expensive and i really don't collect much imported stuff.

[Steve W]

You didn't have the Atari 8-bit computers on your list. There was a Retro Gamer magazine issue a few months back that did a look back at the Atari computers and games. That will give you a nice glimpse into what to expect. Collecting for it isn't always easy, though. You'll end up doing a lot of eBay purchasing since it's really difficult to find Atari computer carts and games in the wild anymore, at least from my perspective.

[refan]

A complete Game.com collection would be easy and cheap.

[Timstuff]

There's the Wonder Swan. You'd have to import it, but was a decent handheld that was fairly popular in Japan. If you go for the Crystal model, you can get some pretty nice graphics out of the thing. I don't really know much about the system, but I know that it had remakes of the Final Fantasy series along with other Japanese games.

I'd say your best bet though is the 3DO. You are really running out of systems to obtain, unless you want to start looking for old computers like the ones from Atari or Commodor Amigas (the Amiga CD32 might be a good investment, if you can find games for it).

The Neo Geo is the holy grail of game systems for many people (as are its games), so if you really, really want a new system that would be your best bet if it weren't so friggin' expensive to collect games for. Also, there's the question of wether to go with the cart version or the CD version. I'm no Neo Geo expert, but from what I can tell the cart system is easier to come by, but the games are far more expensive since they all were very limited run. The CD system seems to be rarer, but it looks like software is cheaper since the disc format made it more readily availible (although I hear the load times for it are a bit of a drag sometimes).

Also, there's the Atari Jaguar, which usually goes for fairly cheap because when it came out everyone hated it. It was certainly a logical place for Atari's career with hardware to end, although it did have some decent games like Tempest 2000 and Alien vs. Predator. I'm pretty sure there's a homebrew community for the system as well, but I haven't looked into it so I don't know what kinds of new games have popped up for it. Also, for homebrew I'm guessing you'll need a CD drive in most instances, which can get a bit costly since it was a fairly short-lived product thus making it rare.

[MrSparkle]

A complete Game.com collection would be easy and cheap.

and ALMOST as fun as watching paint dry lol. Go for a hyperscan over this thing :) or hell even an r-zone at least that looks badass (kind of)

[otoko]

or hell even an r-zone at least that looks badass (kind of)
That is about as cool as dry paint!

[MachineGex]

I will suggest the Gamewave. ;)
I have an extra one(complete in box) along with 5 or 6 games. wink wink...nudge nudge

[savageone]

Well I'm going to recommend against the 3DO. I had a large Sega CD library prior to getting my 3DO and was a little disappointed at just how much overlap there was, sure the 3DO versions of the games were vastly superior but at the core they were still the same games. That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other games worth checking out though.

I'd recommend a Neo Geo, though the AES is obviously not what you're looking for. The only way to get those games cheap is if they are cart only or something which is pretty uncommon, and even then they aren't exactly "cheap". Just cheap by Neo Geo AES standards. Your best bet is probably the Neo Geo CD, a large portion of the Neo Geo library is on it and there are even a few CD exclusives. Many of these games are plentiful and run only $10-15. In the CD form almost all the early Neo Geo games have very little loading and many of the later releases can still be pretty good assuming they are NOT a 1on1 fighter. The NGCD really is a gateway drug for the AES though, so be warned.

[MrSparkle]

if you go the neo geo cd route can i recommend the cdz i have one and i love it. Only problem is youll need a voltage step down transformer (well you dont need but its a damned good idea to have one).

[nate1749]

Did you decide yet on which direction you're going in?



if you go the neo geo cd route can i recommend the cdz i have one and i love it. Only problem is youll need a voltage step down transformer (well you dont need but its a damned good idea to have one).

Also - MrSparkle, why would you need that and where would you get one?

[otoko]

Did you decide yet on which direction you're going in?

Right now I'm deciding between the Jaguar and dipping my hands more into Neo Geo. Also 8-bit Atari computers are a viable option. I still have time until I get my next paycheck and I see what it left over.


I will suggest the Gamewave. ;)
I have an extra one(complete in box) along with 5 or 6 games. wink wink...nudge nudge

The problem I see is that I do not know anything about this system, nor do I know what it may be worth.

[Steve W]

I will suggest the Gamewave. ;)
I have an extra one(complete in box) along with 5 or 6 games. wink wink...nudge nudge

Heh, I've got one that I bought in a thrift, and I managed to find a Toys R' Us that still had games in their clearance bin (what are the odds!). Too many trivia games, but Letter Zap has become really addictive for me.

You could always start a Xavix GamePort collection. It's still available in some stores, although the Nintendo Wii took most of it's thunder and relegated it to obscurity. Still, Xavix Bowling is pretty fun with the miniature transluscent green bowling ball, but it's accuracy isn't as good as Wii Bowling.

[MrSparkle]

i've never actually seen a gamewave in person is it worth getting they seem pretty damned cheap, but i tend to stray away from things that arent decidedly game consoles.