retroUSB AVS or NES Classic Edition?

[spunky_d_99]

Okay, I'll try to keep this as concise as possible. I am one of the many would-be consumers that got burned by this whole fiasco with the release of the NES Classic Edition on 11/11/16. Over the weekend, I started considering the possiblity of getting a retroUSB AVS as a way of getting around (1) Nintendo's supply-and-demand game they love to play and (2) the eBay resellers preying on people's desire to enjoying some old games.

Granted, the AVS would cost me an additional $125 than the NES Classic Edition, but I would at least have the freedom to play other games of my choosing instead of being locked down to 30 games. I have around 50 NES games in my collection so far, and I'm sure they'd look great in HD with the AVS. But there's only one glaring problem...with the exception of Super Mario Bros. & Tecmo Bowl, I have none of the games that are on the NES Classic Edition.

And that's where having Classic Edition would make sense for me. We've all done the math and can easily see that 30 NES games for $60 is a no-brainer. There's just no way I could find the original carts of each game for that price. Not to mention, I would love to play them with wife and friends. So from that standpoint, it feels like purchasing the AVS just wouldn't be a financially smart decision. I mean, as much as I'm not thrilled with Nintendo's business practice of withholding quantities for the sake of hype-building, I don't want to make a brash decision that would ultimately cost me more in the long run just to say that I "stuck it to them". And let's be real, Nintendo will live on with or without my cash.

What do you think? Should I go for the AVS now, or just wait it out and see if the NES Classic Edition become available for it's intended price in the weeks to come?

[PizzaKat]

Wait it out. There should be an evntual restock in December

[Niku-Sama]

I saw the avs in action at PRGE last month in action and it is pretty cool. Remember you can do famicom and disk system games on the AVS. I feel like $180ish bucks is a bit steep though.

[Gameguy]

We've all done the math and can easily see that 30 NES games for $60 is a no-brainer.

I sure have done the math.

http://www.americasmartshop.com/tvgame.html

[Tanooki]

While it's not a strict set of parts reading the game itself and running right from it, you'd be better off with a Retron5 (keep in mind the Classic NES is emulation too) unless you really must have that scoreboard asset to e-peen measure yourself against others for the highest scores. It costs less, supports 10 systems, that is if you want to buy all your cartridges and use them.

I can't recommend the AVS unless you want that competitive edge. Sure it runs the games vanilla and accurately without an android middleman, but you're also digging yourself a big expense unless you intend to snap up some everdrives to run ROMs. I'm not sure what all the games on the Classic NES add up to, but if you figure maybe a $10-15 average you're looking at $300-450 for the games + a console (AVS, Retron 5, or original.)

I think that system Nintendo put up one way or the other is justifiable to own because of the convenience factor, small size, ease of use and transport, and you don't have to drop hundreds to get the games.

[Bratwurst]

I sure have done the math.

You have gotten rather sassy as of late. I approve.

[Aussie2B]

The NES Classic Edition is nice if you want to play all those games on it without hunting down the actual carts. In lieu of that, I personally would just go with a real NES running on a CRT. It's not worth spending a bunch more on an unofficial piece of hardware that's still going to have issues like input lag and looking bad because the games won't be running in their native resolution nor on the kind of screen they were designed for. If you're gonna get something that's less than ideal, it should be cheap, and I'm sure the NES Classic will eventually be easier to come by at its MSRP.

[PreZZ]

I really wanted the nes classic edition, but the cord lenghts and no home button is a deal breaker. You can get a Ouya for a lot cheaper, than buy nostalgia for 1$ on the store, and you will also get all the other systems like ps1, turbo, sega, etc. Even if nes classic is an official product, its still just emulation... Nintendo should have put a 2gb storage in it and wi fi chip, and a virtual console store, they would have made millions more. And so what if it got hacked, its not like you cant play nintendo games on every possible platform today (android, ios , windows , linux, mac, etc.) so the games they would sell on the store would be revenue that they will never see from people who would buy the games legally.

[Graham Mitchell]

@gameguy: Gumshoe or gtfo

[Gameguy]

@gameguy: Gumshoe or gtfo

I don't think I have Gumshoe yet, it's one I've been meaning to get but haven't come across for some reason. I meant to reply to this earlier but got busy and forgot.

[Graham Mitchell]

[Graham Mitchell]

So I get my avs last night and it's the real deal. My friend and I perceived no lag (doesn't mean it's not there) and there was some audio weirdness, but I think that was the fault of my 5.1 amp. Everything works great. If you have the coin, this plus an everdrive is the way to go.

[XYXZYZ]

I was in a thrift store today and as I walked by the shelf full of cheap CRT TVs the local news was running a story about a line at Toys R Us that stretched around the building, for the NES classic. Apparently it's the Tickle-Me-Elmo this year, for normal people as well as gamers. So, Nintendo may keep the supplies down to get the press. Or not, I don't know how this nonsense works.

[Az]

Beyond the short controller cords I really don't get the hate or the snooty instant dismissal of the NES Classic, especially from people that are supposed to be knowledgeable retro-game enthusiasts. There's a lot of weird comments that are repeated over and over that leave me kind scratching my head.

"It's just a cash grab" - As opposed to charity work? Should Nintendo have went into this hoping to lose money? Cost-wise it's the absolute cheapest these games have ever been offered in the history of their existence. Nintendo has always, always charged out the nose for any of their games in any format and has never de-valued their library by selling them for pennies on the dollar. You couldn't get the real carts cheaper, nor buy them on Virtual Console cheaper, so barring flat out piracy this is as cheap as you'll get. They're actually setting themselves up to lose sales from a casual customer in that it would be much, much cheaper to buy this console versus $5 or $6 bucks per title on any of their Virtual Console storefronts. Short cords aside, you won't find any other retro-game collection system that has either the build quality or care in software/presentation that the NES Classic has. The hardware/software blows any other similar product out of the water while priced at or below those same systems' MSRP.

"I can't wait to sideload game X!" Umm....what? You can emulate pirated NES games on a zillion different platforms with little or no effort right this very second. Why give a moment's thought into getting hyped for this?

"I've already got teh ROMs" Congratulations, you're not the target audience of this system. It's why people pay $2 for a small order of fries rather than $5 for a 10 pound bag of potatoes. Wasting my entire day off isn't worth the $20 I save by changing my own brake calipers and u-joints. Convenience has a price that can only be self measured. It's a closed library, one time sale, fire-and-forget product aimed at people without the time or inclination to run an emulator setup. Every time I've heard this system mentioned in real life conversation it's by people who probably haven't even touched anything but an iPhone game in 20+ years. If you've even heard the word "torrent" or "GoodNES" then this isn't for you, but that doesn't mean you should take an elite shit on other's fun. Some comments approach a tinge of jealousy like they're angry because these precious game experiences shouldn't be seen by a larger audience.

[FieryReign]

^Spare me. I puked through my nose reading that.

[Zthun]

Beyond the short controller cords I really don't get the hate or the snooty instant dismissal of the NES Classic, especially from people that are supposed to be knowledgeable retro-game enthusiasts. There's a lot of weird comments that are repeated over and over that leave me kind scratching my head.

The main problem is the limited supply that Nintendo always puts out. This happens with almost everything Nintendo does. See Amibos when they first got released.

That and some people just love to hate on Nintendo.

[Gameguy]

Beyond the short controller cords I really don't get the hate or the snooty instant dismissal of the NES Classic, especially from people that are supposed to be knowledgeable retro-game enthusiasts.

I suppose it's because I'm knowledgeable that I dismiss it immediately. I know it's not compatible with Duck Hunt or any of the light gun games, and only includes the common games that I've already owned for years, so it's a completely unnecessary piece of junk like the various plug and plays I see at thrift stores for under $5.

"It's just a cash grab" - As opposed to charity work? Should Nintendo have went into this hoping to lose money? Cost-wise it's the absolute cheapest these games have ever been offered in the history of their existence. Nintendo has always, always charged out the nose for any of their games in any format and has never de-valued their library by selling them for pennies on the dollar.

People wouldn't feel as bad if Nintendo were releasing something new, like some brand new games. Selling a collection of common games people into old games already own seems worthless. If this were a portable console with optional TV hookup, it would be more appealing as it's offering something different(besides all the GBA NES releases).

You couldn't get the real carts cheaper....

I sure could when I bought them used at garage sales and thrift stores, years ago before everything got stupid. I found plenty of games for $1 each. Collectors are used to buying games used, why are you only listing new retail options and pricing?

"I can't wait to sideload game X!" Umm....what? You can emulate pirated NES games on a zillion different platforms with little or no effort right this very second. Why give a moment's thought into getting hyped for this?

Only reason I can really think of is people thinking the hardware is more suited to emulate the games properly compared to other hardware platforms, no idea if this is true or not.

"I've already got teh ROMs" Congratulations, you're not the target audience of this system.

So who is the target audience of the system? Hipsters? Earlier you said you didn't understand the dismissal from "knowledgeable retro-game enthusiasts" yet you're now saying that they're not the target audience, why are you surprised again?

It's like this is aimed at the same people who buy USB turntables. People who think playing vinyl just makes it automatically sound better, while using the cheapest quality turntables possible. Or it's just aimed at kids as this year's must-have toy which will just be forgotten and disposed of within the next year like every other must-have toy once they get bored with it.

Wasting my entire day off isn't worth the $20 I save by changing my own brake calipers and u-joints. Convenience has a price that can only be self measured. It's a closed library, one time sale, fire-and-forget product aimed at people without the time or inclination to run an emulator setup.

So it's less of a waste of time travelling around town trying to find one of these NES Classic systems? Nintendo sends a whole 2 or 3 of these per store per shipment, that's fine assuming nobody wants to buy them, except a ton of people still do. If it's so easy to buy one then why are they selling for $200-$300 on ebay? Nintendo could have made more to fill the demand but they chose not to. Nothing about buying one is convenient at this point.

[Az]

I sure could when I bought them used at garage sales and thrift stores, years ago before everything got stupid. I found plenty of games for $1 each. Collectors are used to buying games used, why are you only listing new retail options and pricing?

That's great you bought them 20 years ago for chickenfeed, but you answered your own question. Can anyone buy these 30 NES carts anywhere in today's market of 2016 for under $60?

So who is the target audience of the system? Hipsters? Earlier you said you didn't understand the dismissal from "knowledgeable retro-game enthusiasts" yet you're now saying that they're not the target audience, why are you surprised again?

So it's less of a waste of time travelling around town trying to find one of these NES Classic systems? Nintendo sends a whole 2 or 3 of these per store per shipment, that's fine assuming nobody wants to buy them, except a ton of people still do. If it's so easy to buy one then why are they selling for $200-$300 on ebay? Nintendo could have made more to fill the demand but they chose not to. Nothing about buying one is convenient at this point.

Let me rephrase. There is a big difference between saying "This item is trash with huge shortcomings and will leave buyers disappointed" versus "This is good quality but just isn't for me and I don't need it".

Again, barring the short cords, all criticisms of this console have either been external qualms and beefs completely divorced from the product performance (low quantities, sky-high scalpers, disgruntled Wii U backlash or misc Nintendo hate) or have been issues that 100% go hand in hand with the very nature of all plug & play consoles (can't add games, no legs so no lifespan, designed as a sub-casual audience impulse buy). Think about this: Nintendo could have easily took this same thing, slapped it on a disc, bundled the NES controller with it and sold it as a Wii or Wii U title 5 or 10 years ago. It would have been well reviewed and sold great. But, would they have reached the huge audience they have now with selling it as a low priced stand-alone console?

Plug & play consoles are by their very definition sold as a kid's gift or gift to someone that is not really hardcore into games. This does the job for them much better than anything else on the market, nothing like the embarassments to gaming that the AT Games Sega products are. A quality retro collection that even non-gamers can get into (even if just for a few months) is not something I view as bad for the hobby.

[Graham Mitchell]

I've generally found that if you're tv has a game mode and you use that setting it's fine. In my experience, this lag thing is a newer problem. My older hdtvs don't have these fancy hdr settings, and the games run fine.

[FoxNtd]

This article does a good job of illustrating the better alternative. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/1...-and-retropie/