I have two cutoff points: the oldest I play is the ColecoVision, tho I have a few 2600 games to play with the expansion module. Going forward, my most recent systems are the Duo and SNES. I can't count higher than 16 bits.
jeff d
I have two cutoff points: the oldest I play is the ColecoVision, tho I have a few 2600 games to play with the expansion module. Going forward, my most recent systems are the Duo and SNES. I can't count higher than 16 bits.
jeff d
I don't purposely have a cut-off point, I just find that I tend to focus on the 16-bit onwards.
Being born in 1985 means that I missed out on the Atari/Coleco/Intellvision era. And when I started gaming, it was on a PC. I didn't have much experience 'in the day' with Master System or NES.
The 16-bit is where I got into games.
That said, there are some 8-bit games I enjoy - mainly on the Master System. The NES doesn't hold much interest for me beyond Super Mario Bros.
The Atari 2600 I have gets the occasional thrash. I'm a big fan of old arcade games such as Space Invaders, Ms. Pac-Man, Super Breakout and Asteroids. The pure, twitch gameplay is irresistable!
But yeah for me, the best years are the 90's. Mega Drive, SNES, Saturn, PSX, N64 and Dreamcast. These are the consoles where I spend most of my time.
I find a lot of these responses shocking considering that this is a classic gaming board...
Anything before the NES is unplayable???? x_x
Chris
I have absolutely no "cutoff point" whatsoever. I've got a complete Magnavox Odyssey, so you can't get any older than that (for home systems). I'd be willing to go back "all the way" if I had the money and get tons of old pinball machines, arcade skill games (e.g. shooting games, etc.), even all the way back to bagatelle games! (Somewhat related, I also love board games, and the same goes for them--the older the better.)
I prefer the "retro" stuff far, far more than the modern systems; the older the better. I can't tell you how many times I've gone into a pawn or flea and asked "do you have any video games?" "What kind you looking for?" "Pretty much everything; the older the better." And to them, "vintage, antique" games are NES. Going into a shop and seeing a bunch of PS2 and Xbox games does nothing for me. But when I happen into that very rare place (such as Sean Kelly's store in Norridge) and see actual boxed 2600, 5200, Coleco, and Intellivision games on the shelf, that does do something for me and I feel a powerful tinge of excitement.
In fact, until this past month, I had a "reverse cutoff" point and would collect hardly anything modern; just a smattering of Dreamcast, GBA, and Gamecube games (which I do love, by the way). I fiercely dug in my heels and said I would NEVER get a PS2 or Xbox. However, I'm now eating my words as I just got a PS2 (but only for one game--Katamari Damacy, and possibly Taiko Drum Master in the future) and am now salivating to get an Xbox (but not for any actual Xbox games; I'm solely interested in it for the emulation potential and region-free DVD viewing).
Originally Posted by Jibbajaba
I think alot of this also depends on the age of the person. Guys in their 20's, aren't likely to be big time Atari 2600 junkies. They didn't grow up with it. So for these guys, going back and playing the "really" old school games typically ends in dissapointment.
I actually grew up with an Atari 2600. I got one for XMAS when I was 7 years old. Me and my brother played it for about 4 years or so. Then dad got a Atari 800XL computer, and we played with that for awhile, but then we lost interest in gaming altogether.
Then as a early teenager, I got a NES for XMAS from my Mom. But I still wasn't a big time gamer.
I didn't become a big time gamer till I went to college and bought a TurboGrafx-16 in 1989. I also got a Genesis around the same time, and that is when I became a hardcore game freak.
So when I got into retrogaming, I did go all the way back. I got a Atari 2600 and all the games I used to have, I got a NES, and all the games I had and tons that I didn't have. I also got my old Atari 800XL (still haven't played that cause I don't have the damn power brick!).
For a few weeks I was playing 2600 games, but after awhile, I determined that the 2600 was best left a part of my past, and that I didn't need to revisit it anymore. It was definitely a nice look back into my early childhood and gaming, but not something I would want to do again and again.
As for the NES, at one point I was really into collecting carts for the NES, and I was really hyped on the NES, but after awhile I also grew tired of it. Part of it was all the blinking lights, and blowing on carts, etc, etc. Just got sick of all the hassle after awhile. I still play NES every now and then, but I play it on my XBOX.
In regards to the whole "cutoff" point issue. I decided to make a "cutoff " point just so that I could focus on the systems that I'm truly passionate about. That would be systems from the TG-16 forward. The SNES is my all time favorite, the TG-16 is a close second, and I also love the Saturn and Genesis and early PSX games. I also like messing around with the Jaguar and 32X, and I had a Neo Geo way back in the day, and I'm looking for a Neo Geo CD system at some point. I might also want to get a FM Towns Marty at some point, and a Phillips CD-I.
Basically, I really like early and mid 90's video gaming, and I've decided to just focus on that. So I made my "cutoff " point the TG-16, just so I can stop buying games and accessories and systems, if I know that I'm not really going to every play them very much.
One thing that I've learned, is that there is only so much damn time in the day to be able to play games, and I have so many freaking games that I would like to play, that it really isn't that bad a thing to narrow my focus a little bit.
Why limit yourself?
Do you only eat certain types of food because it's too complicated to eat the others? Do you travel only within a certain radius because there's too big of a world beyond it?
Gaming has a rich history and there are games from EVERY era that you'll be missing because you're putting up barriers. You're doing yourself an incredible disservice to limit what you will and will not play.
Even if you don't really enjoy pre-NES titles (and there's a few everybody should be able to), it's fun to see how the first designers pushed the hardware in pursuit of better gameplay...they didn't always succeed, but there are enough awesome games from back then to make up for that.
That's exactly it for me. All that pixelly-ness just annoys the shit out of me. Maybe because I didn't grow up in that era. I grew up in the slightly pre-NES era, where games for systems like the SMS were played.
I definitely wouldn't say that I have any fixed cutoff.
Thus far, the focus of my collecting has definitely been on NES-and-later gaming, simply because I'm 23 years old, so that's what I know.
I've dabbled with 2600 and some early arcade stuff, I'm particularly a fan of Battlezone and Zaxxon.
One big reason I haven't done much gaming in the pre-NES era however is because most of my favorite genres simply didn't exist then. There weren't really any RPG's, certainly no platformers, etc...
I was never terribly into playing for a high score, I sorta missed that era.
It simply comes down to the issue of time. If I had the ability to stop time, and while time is stopped, to be able to play all the games I would like to play at some point, then sure, I wouldn't limit myself, but the reality is that I don't have this super power, and I'm looking at over 1,000 games that I would like to play at some point. I know that I'm never going to be able to actually play all 1,000 of those games, but still I hope to play them. And that is just TG-16 forward.
So, it's not like I'm limiting myself, I'm just choosing to narrow my focus.
I played some 2600, and it didn't excite me very much. The initial Nostalgia factor was there, but it faded away pretty quick.
I will still occasionally play the NES via a emulator on my XBOX, but I just don't have much time to mess with the NES.
Plus, remember, I'm a graphics and sound whore. I'm also a HDTV whore and a RGB whore, and a Surround Sound Dolby Pro Logic IIx whore.
So the TG-16 is a perfect cutoff for me. The TG-16 has true stereo sound, it can put 512 colors on the screen (like the SNES). It's RGB compatible. It has that 8 bit flavor to it. It's a perfect cutoff for me.
Also, part of this is the fact that I'm running out of space in my house to store all this crap. My Wife is on my ass about how many cabinets in the Garage I'm using to store this stuff when I'm not using it. I have to draw the line somwhere.
(Noting that the post goes on much further than that) Well, Anthony, if it all came down to time, then surely you'd be able to play more games on old systems than new, all other things being equal...but they ain't, are they?
You say potato, and I say you're limiting yourself
AHA! Finally an answer that makes some sense to me. To this I have no argument.Also, part of this is the fact that I'm running out of space in my house to store all this crap. My Wife is on my ass about how many cabinets in the Garage I'm using to store this stuff when I'm not using it. I have to draw the line somwhere.
Oh come on Joe, of course you do. We all know you get rid of the wife in that case. :PAHA! Finally an answer that makes some sense to me. To this I have no argument.
Haha, I missed that the first time through. I KNEW Anthony was hiding something in that post..!
So you wouldn't play a twitch game like Kaboom which lasts literally a couple of minutes at most?
right now for stuff i have it's NES, but i can absolutely see myself get an Atari 2600 soon, and i'm not afraid of buying earlier stuff
-Jan
VCS/2600, though I hate Intellivision games.
i do'nt own or play anything before SNES and the 16-bit era. i started gaming on a Genny 3, so i don't really truly enjoy anything before that. okay, i do play a lot of NES stuff on emulators like super mario bros, legend of zelda, and excitebike, but in terms of actually owning/playing the real thing, i've never owned anything before genny/SNES. i've never even played an atari.
im with you there Anthony
at first i considered the NES, but after getting most of the games i loved during my childhood (not that many, maybe 20), going farther into games everyone says are the shiznit is very difficult, i find it hard to play nes zelda, final fantasy double dragon etc etc.
i can play the marios any day, and kirby and a couple other select games. but thats basically it.
i tried earlier systems but found that i have never turned on my O2 since after testing it.
so im there with you, select games from NES, other than that, TG16 and up (and i show much tg16 lots of love)
if however i had to choose my favorite era of games that i prefer to play, it would be the psone. simply because it had everything from snes and then some. it has all of snes' awesome megaman games, rpgs, fighting and shooters. but instead of torturing us with crappy driving/sim games, we get playstation's greatly upgraded ones.
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