Top Consoles of all time?

[PCEngineHell]

Hey,I love my fair share of simple too,Donkey Kong,Pac-Man,Galaga,Joust. But I swear to god the 2600 did none of these justice,not even Defender,and tended to make these games seem worse then what they originally were in the process.... Some people only have the benefit of playing these games on Mame otherwise,or not at all because they dont mess with emulation,I played them in the arcade. ALL the other systems had far better ports. The 2600 was a dead whores dumping ground for bad programming for a quick buck.

I hate when people say these games sucked when the only versions they played were 2600 versions.

[TR0N]

Hey,I love my fair share of simple too,Donkey Kong,Pac-Man,Galaga,Joust. But I swear to god the 2600 did none of these justice,not even Defender,and tended to make these games seem worse then what they originally were in the process.... Some people only have the benefit of playing these games on Mame otherwise,or not at all because they dont mess with emulation,I played them in the arcade. ALL the other systems had far better ports. The 2600 was a dead whores dumping ground for bad programming for a quick buck.

I hate when people say these games sucked when the only versions they played were 2600 versions.

Heck i've found ppl who thought, Pac-Man was only a 2600 game not a arcade one it's werid i'm telling ya.

[Tatsujin]

a possible top 10 list by a PCE fanboy:

1. PCE Core & CD-ROM2 & Arcade Card PRO
2. PCE DUO & DUO Monitor & Arcade Card DUO
3. PCE LT
4. PCE Coregrafx II & Super CD-ROM2
5. Super Grafx
6. Super Grafx via CD-ROM2
7. PCE LT & CD-ROM2 & Arcade Card PRO
8. Super Famicom
9. Mega Drive
10. something else, may be Sega Mark II or so...

 

[Keranu]

Hey,I love my fair share of simple too,Donkey Kong,Pac-Man,Galaga,Joust. But I swear to god the 2600 did none of these justice,not even Defender,and tended to make these games seem worse then what they originally were in the process.... Some people only have the benefit of playing these games on Mame otherwise,or not at all because they dont mess with emulation,I played them in the arcade. ALL the other systems had far better ports. The 2600 was a dead whores dumping ground for bad programming for a quick buck.

I hate when people say these games sucked when the only versions they played were 2600 versions.

I'm sure gamers back then thought that the Atari versions of those arcade games were pretty weak, but were just happy that they had a chance to play it at home since home consoles were fairly new and becomming popular by that time. I actually love some of the arcade ports for the 2600, like Pac-Man which everyone usually dumps. But anyway, Atari offered it's own titles of games as well that blew gamers away, such as Combat, Pitfall (pretty much anything by Activision), River Raid, Kaboom, Frogs and Flies, etc...

[esteban]

I disagree Steve, I think nostalgia has to play a part.  I absolutely love old 40s & 50s movies, but I can't stand playing atari games for more than a minute or so, they're just SO primitive, just like I couldn't stand watching an old silent movie because it would just be way too primitive.  I think the NES was when games first moved into the non-primitive era where they could be considered classics that could actually be enjoyed by future generations like when movies moved into the 30s, and the same with music recording.  Nostalgia must play a part since I can play something lke Pitfall 2 or Video Pinball on Atari and actually enjoy it (since I loved those games as a kid), but I'd rather play Blodia than pretty much every other Atari game ever.

I think you were very revealing when you pointed out that you dig 40's, 50's films . By that point in time, films were very sophisticated and well-polished. For the sake of this discussion, the the 40's in film = NES in video games. I think you are consistent, then, in that you have defined certain "standards" that you look for in films / games. I don't think I can ever change your mind about these benchmarks you've established, but as you probably guessed, we all draw the "line" at a different era.

That is where we differ: For me silent films are beautiful... in fact, some of the greatest films of all time are silent. Now, I think that you'd actually dig any of the classic Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, etc. stuff. But even more serious fare, like Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc, or Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari would get you to think twice about the viability of silent films. Chaplin's Modern Times is probably the best place to start, though . Plus, I think the leading lady is cute .

Since it's Halloween season, I suggest Murnau's Nosferatu!  I've seen this many times in L.A. (there's a silent movie theatre and they have a live organ accompianist). It's really neat to hear how folks achieved special sound effects with an organ alone (i.e. like the wind howling)! Back in the day, some fancy theatres had a special, expensive  mulit-instrument behemoth that actually had drums, horns, piano, organ and noisemakers (all played by one person!), but "1 lone dude playing piano/organ" is more than sufficient.

Anyway, the point is that it is not "nostalgia" that makes these films enjoyable today. It is simply where you "draw the line" about what you can appreciate. I don't blame anyone for drawing the line at "sound films", or NES-era games, etc.

I'm not trying to change your opinion on this stuff, but I am trying to illustrate that nostalgia is NOT the reason why folks can appreciate stuff from yesteryear. All of us create arbitrary rules. Some folks could argue that it wasn't until the 16-bit era that console games were truly, and consitently, offered the minimum standard of 2D gaming.

Lest we forget, there are entire generations of folks who think that 3D gaming is the standard by which all video games should be judged and evaluated. For them, 2D is ancient, and even the early 3D pioneers are ancient (witness folks complaining about early polygons slowly chugging around, jagged edges and all).

[esteban]

Hey,I love my fair share of simple too,Donkey Kong,Pac-Man,Galaga,Joust. But I swear to god the 2600 did none of these justice,not even Defender,and tended to make these games seem worse then what they originally were in the process.... Some people only have the benefit of playing these games on Mame otherwise,or not at all because they dont mess with emulation,I played them in the arcade. ALL the other systems had far better ports. The 2600 was a dead whores dumping ground for bad programming for a quick buck.

I hate when people say these games sucked when the only versions they played were 2600 versions.

I'm sure gamers back then thought that the Atari versions of those arcade games were pretty weak, but were just happy that they had a chance to play it at home since home consoles were fairly new and becomming popular by that time. I actually love some of the arcade ports for the 2600, like Pac-Man which everyone usually dumps. But anyway, Atari offered it's own titles of games as well that blew gamers away, such as Combat, Pitfall (pretty much anything by Activision), River Raid, Kaboom, Frogs and Flies, etc...

Indeed. Michael, you'll have to concede that the very notion of "arcade perfect" ports available for home consoles as a criterion for judging Atari, Colecovision, etc. is pretty darn silly! Plus, Atari's Pac Man was one of the biggest crimes ... but it was rushed to market for money, not because the Atari 2600 couldn't handle it (gee, it seems times haven't changed that much as far as publishers are concerned). There is actually a great backstory behind this! But I digress....

[Keranu]

Great points Steve and now I could go for a silent movie. I haven't seen many of them, but Charlie Chaplin and some other silent movies from then can really amaze me sometimes because of the creative thinking it took to make the movie.

Am I the only person who enjoys the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man ? What attracts me to it so much is the weird sound effects and controls. I just really like how the sound effects came out, they just have a good feel to them for me. It may seem strange that Pac Man's body doesn't actually turn when you move up or down in this version, but that also just "feels" good to me also, I can't really explain. Making turns in the Atari version feels smooth to me while sometimes in the arcade version I tend to get Pac Man stuck when trying to turn. Not saying I prefer the the Atari version of Pac Man over the original Namco arcade game, but I do love it a lot.

[GUTS]

I've actually seen a few silent films like Nosferatu & Metropolis, I just didn't like them enough to want to see more (Metropolis was cool looking, but I kept thinking how much better it would have been if the people could f'n talk, haha), I appreciate what they did for the medium but man they are so damned boring.  Dialogue is my favorite part of a movie, if I can't hear the people talking then I just can't get into it at all.

Anyway my point is that I see what you're saying Steve, I was just assuming that since old shit like Pac Man is lame in my opinion that it must be nostalgia that lets other people enjoy it.  Good points.  It's also interesting how age doesn't play a huge part, even though most kids won't play old stuff we have people like Keranu's little brother who love it.

[Keranu]

My youngest brother is the coolest person on Earth.

[esteban]

I've actually seen a few silent films like Nosferatu & Metropolis, I just didn't like them enough to want to see more (Metropolis was cool looking, but I kept thinking how much better it would have been if the people could f'n talk, haha), I appreciate what they did for the medium but man they are so damned boring.  Dialogue is my favorite part of a movie, if I can't hear the people talking then I just can't get into it at all.

Anyway my point is that I see what you're saying Steve, I was just assuming that since old shit like Pac Man is lame in my opinion that it must be nostalgia that lets other people enjoy it.  Good points.  It's also interesting how age doesn't play a huge part, even though most kids won't play old stuff we have people like Keranu's little brother who love it.

Well, Metropolis is not the easiest film to sit through , but give Modern Times (Chaplin) or The General (Keaton) a chance. They rule

[PCEngineHell]

I've actually seen a few silent films like Nosferatu & Metropolis, I just didn't like them enough to want to see more (Metropolis was cool looking, but I kept thinking how much better it would have been if the people could f'n talk, haha), I appreciate what they did for the medium but man they are so damned boring.  Dialogue is my favorite part of a movie, if I can't hear the people talking then I just can't get into it at all.

Anyway my point is that I see what you're saying Steve, I was just assuming that since old shit like Pac Man is lame in my opinion that it must be nostalgia that lets other people enjoy it.  Good points.  It's also interesting how age doesn't play a huge part, even though most kids won't play old stuff we have people like Keranu's little brother who love it.

Long ago I had took a copy of Metropolis and rerecorded it with certain NIN music tracks. I totally agree,if th emovie had audio it would have been better off,but by the time audio was commonplace Fritz Lang was running from Hitler. If the movie was done in audio,it would have still been way ahead of its time no matter what.

[PCEngineHell]

Hey,I love my fair share of simple too,Donkey Kong,Pac-Man,Galaga,Joust. But I swear to god the 2600 did none of these justice,not even Defender,and tended to make these games seem worse then what they originally were in the process.... Some people only have the benefit of playing these games on Mame otherwise,or not at all because they dont mess with emulation,I played them in the arcade. ALL the other systems had far better ports. The 2600 was a dead whores dumping ground for bad programming for a quick buck.

I hate when people say these games sucked when the only versions they played were 2600 versions.

I'm sure gamers back then thought that the Atari versions of those arcade games were pretty weak, but were just happy that they had a chance to play it at home since home consoles were fairly new and becomming popular by that time. I actually love some of the arcade ports for the 2600, like Pac-Man which everyone usually dumps. But anyway, Atari offered it's own titles of games as well that blew gamers away, such as Combat, Pitfall (pretty much anything by Activision), River Raid, Kaboom, Frogs and Flies, etc...

Indeed. Michael, you'll have to concede that the very notion of "arcade perfect" ports available for home consoles as a criterion for judging Atari, Colecovision, etc. is pretty darn silly! Plus, Atari's Pac Man was one of the biggest crimes ... but it was rushed to market for money, not because the Atari 2600 couldn't handle it (gee, it seems times haven't changed that much as far as publishers are concerned). There is actually a great backstory behind this! But I digress....

Yea,the programmer blackmailed the company to give him more cash before hed finish the project,and he was limited as to how much memory to use,ect...
These things didnt affect Ms.Pac-Man however,and that port sucked too,flicker man or not. Ehh the Coleco did have very near perfect arcade ports,esp of Donkey Kong and Jungle Hunt. Zaxxon was pretty close for the time as were about all the other ports. No,not 100 percent perfect,but a close 90-95 percent most times.