Console yourself

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:33 pm

To celebrate 3DS launch day, here's an obvious poll for the nerd contingent (i.e. everyone reading this).

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:38 pm

Is the omission of both XBOXes deliberate?

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:39 pm

Michael Wallace wrote:Is the omission of both XBOXes deliberate?

Yeah cos xbox is shite!!

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:49 pm

Michael Wallace wrote:Is the omission of both XBOXes deliberate?

Oops, that's what happens when you change your mind about alphabetical or thematic order halfway through. I've edited the options so you might have to revote.

Adam Gillard · Post by **Adam Gillard** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:25 pm

Eggs Box. £3.60

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:06 pm

Really hard to say on this one. I think the 360 is probably my most played on console ever - it certainly is at the moment, but I played a lot of good games on the Gamecube, original Playstation and on the SNES. Whilst the nostalgia factor is strong, I think it's got to be the 360 - I've put a lot of time into it, and it has some really cracking titles, plus Live coupled with the arcade is super sexy.

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:19 pm

Mine was pretty much a no brainer. Although I loved playing classic games on the Sega Megadrive the only other consoles I had was the Playstation and then the PLaystation 2. Playstation was fun but the games were a bit shit but then the PS2 was just incredible. Mainly because of the GTA games which I spent hours and hours on and the football games too. So I voted PS2.

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:21 pm

Dreamcast for me. So many classics, all of them timeless.

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:22 pm

Ryan Taylor wrote:Mine was pretty much a no brainer. Although I loved playing classic games on the Sega Megadrive the only other consoles I had was the Playstation and then the PLaystation 2. Playstation was fun but the games were a bit shit but then the PS2 was just incredible. Mainly because of the GTA games which I spent hours and hours on and the football games too. So I voted PS2.

This, + nostalgia shout for Sega Master System II which was my first ever console.

Debbi Flack · Post by **Debbi Flack** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:36 pm

XBox kinect

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:44 pm

Dreamcast. Some revolutionary shit right there.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:46 pm

Oh, for the few who might not have seen it, this is why you can't vote for the PS3.

Mark James · Post by **Mark James** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:15 pm

For me games are more important than consoles. The snes probably had my favourite games though so I might go for that but then I remember all the N64 classics like Goldeneye and Blast Corps. Then I think you can get most of the good snes and N64 games on the Wii virtual console so I could say that but then I hate the Wii itself bar the Mario Galaxy games and Zelda. Cuerrently enjoying my PS3 though. So all in all I can't really decide. Definitely not the Xbox 360 though purely because of the red ring of death issue.

Mark James · Post by **Mark James** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:25 pm

Michael Wallace wrote:Oh, for the few who might not have seen it, this is why you can't vote for the PS3.

Actually this has made up my mind, PS3 it is. I mean I'm "not doing geometry, I'm trying play some games". Classic.

JimBentley · Post by **JimBentley** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:08 pm

Other for me - Atari 2600. And I'm not just being contrary or whimsical, it's genuinely the one I've played on and enjoyed the most. Funny to think it's over 30 years ago now.

Rhys Benjamin · Post by **Rhys Benjamin** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:23 pm

PS2 far and away!

Soph K · Post by **Soph K** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:26 pm

Probably DSi or PSP. I might've chosen something else, only, I like fairly small portable things, and in my opinion, the DSi or perhaps the PSP or maybe the DSi XL are probably the best things - well, certainly the best handheld things. To be honest, a lot of the things I hadn't heard of.

Matt Bayfield · Post by **Matt Bayfield** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:22 pm

Favourite console? For sheer enthralling gameplay, I vote for the Atari 2600. When I were a lad, I bought one second-hand for £25 and hooked it up to a tiny black-and-white tv. It had a dodgy power cable, so you had to avoid getting too frantic with your joystick-waggling. If you yanked too hard, the console itself would move which could lead to a loss of power just as you were nearing your high score. Still, with much love and care, I managed to nurse about five years' use from it. By the end of those five years (bearing in mind it was old when I bought it), the Atari 2600 had been discontinued, and the computer supplies shop down the end of Harmer Street was knocking out all its remaining game cartridges for £2 a pop, a deal I took as much advantage of as possible. This drive-em-up was a particular favourite of mine.

In my loft, I think I've still got my list of high scores.

[Edit: when I wrote the above, I hadn't noticed Jim had already voted for the 2600. Cracking.]

Soph K · Post by **Soph K** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:15 am

[quote="Matt Bayfield"]Atari 2600[quote]
Never heard of the 'Atari 2600'. What exactly is it? What's it similar to? A DS? A PS3? A Wii?

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:26 am

Soph K wrote:
Matt Bayfield wrote:Atari 2600
Never heard of the 'Atari 2600'. What exactly is it? What's it similar to? A DS? A PS3? A Wii?

Have you heard of Google?

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:32 am

I've got a Game Gear and a Mega Drive. Both pretty good. Maybe I should dig them out.

Charlie, if your question was a general one, I haven't heard of Google. Is that a console? I'd look it up, but I don't know where.

Rhys Benjamin · Post by **Rhys Benjamin** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:42 am

Soph K wrote:
Matt Bayfield wrote:Atari 2600
Never heard of the 'Atari 2600'. What exactly is it? What's it similar to? A DS? A PS3? A Wii?

Let me google that for you.

Soph K · Post by **Soph K** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:29 pm

Rhys Benjamin wrote:
Soph K wrote:Never heard of the 'Atari 2600'. What exactly is it? What's it similar to? A DS? A PS3? A Wii?

[/quote]
Let me google that for you.[/quote]
Oh so that's what an Atari 2600 is! Thanks.

Liam Tiernan · Post by **Liam Tiernan** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 1:07 am

Charlie Reams wrote:
Soph K wrote:
Matt Bayfield wrote:Atari 2600
Never heard of the 'Atari 2600'. What exactly is it? What's it similar to? A DS? A PS3? A Wii?
Have you heard of Google?

Once a company man, always a company man.

Adam Gillard · Post by **Adam Gillard** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 1:25 am

Gavin Chipper wrote:I haven't heard of Google. Is that a console? I'd look it up, but I don't know where.

Encyclopaedia at your local library?

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:01 am

In retrospect I should probably change my vote to Sinclair Spectrum ZX+3.

Soph K · Post by **Soph K** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:38 am

Charlie Reams wrote:
Soph K wrote:
Matt Bayfield wrote:Atari 2600
Never heard of the 'Atari 2600'. What exactly is it? What's it similar to? A DS? A PS3? A Wii?
Have you heard of Google?

Yes but I couldn't be bothered to look it up.

JimBentley · Post by **JimBentley** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:27 am

Matt Morrison wrote:In retrospect I should probably change my vote to Sinclair Spectrum ZX+3.

I'd have voted for the original 48K Spectrum (with the awesome rubber keyboard), but it wasn't a console by any means.

Craig Beevers · Post by **Craig Beevers** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:33 am

JimBentley wrote:
Matt Morrison wrote:In retrospect I should probably change my vote to Sinclair Spectrum ZX+3.
I'd have voted for the original 48K Spectrum (with the awesome rubber keyboard), but it wasn't a console by any means.

The likes of the X-Brick aren't much more than a console than 48K was. Plus that didn't have Sabre Wulf.

Mark James · Post by **Mark James** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:34 pm

Here's an interesting news story:

http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/games/85947 ... mo-reveals

Lesley Hines · Post by **Lesley Hines** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:16 pm

Soph K wrote:Yes but I couldn't be bothered to look it up.

Bother: it will do you (and everyone else) good.

I had my first love affair with my Commodore 64 - yes it was shit, yes Skool Dayz crashed far too regularly, but the basic programming instructions with the manual gave me loads of fun, and my sisters and I laughed at the gimmick that was the mouse. We all agreed it would never catch on.

I almost cry now when I think about what I paid for some of these things when they first came out. I do love the Wii technology and how versatile it is tho, even if most of the games I've played so far are rubbish (recommendations welcome).

Mark James · Post by **Mark James** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:55 pm

Lesley Hines wrote:I do love the Wii technology and how versatile it is tho, even if most of the games I've played so far are rubbish (recommendations welcome).

Games on the wii where the motion controls are at a minimum or non existent are the best. The Mario Galaxies, New super Mario brothers, Zelda Twilight Princess and the two Wii sports games are the very best. I enjoyed Punchout which has both motion and non motion controls. Mad World is supposed to be excellent but I've not had a chance to play it yet. Same for De Blob and Okami. If you liked Zelda though you will like Okami. The Goldeneye remake has gotten good write-ups too. I personally didn't like it, especially with motion controls, much preferred the classic controller. The bets recommendation for the Wii though is to downlaod stuff from the virtual console. Tons of retro classic that put all but a small minority of today's games to shame.

Ian Volante · Post by **Ian Volante** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 12:02 pm

I've loved Mario Kart in all its formats, but I've never played it more than on the SNES, interspersed with marathon sessions of Street Fighter II.

The Playstation was wonderful in its time, although I recently (well, over a year ago now) upgraded to a PS2. Not managed to find games on that to surpass anything from the previous incarnation however such as Wipeout, Battle Arena Toshinden (nostalgia win more than anything) and Magic Carpet, not to mention the wonderful Doom. No first-person shooter has surpassed this game for me! But then I'm always a good few years behind the times as you may have noticed. best PS2 game I've come across has been Everybody's Golf.

Recent purchases I need to try: GT3 and something that I can't remember.

Actually, the Wii's got some good stuff too. The sports packages are very good, and Raving Rabbids looks entertaining too - not sat down to have a proper go at it yet though. Just acquired a huge CRT cast-off which should improve things greatly.

Actually, on the Wii, I've been impressed with the sports packages, and Raving Rabbids looks good, need to play it on my newly-acquired huge cast-off CRT.

Also, what was the orange console that had squash/tennis on it around 1980? Had one of those when I was dead young, always had a festering grump at my mother for probably donating it to charity at some point after I was given a ZX Spectrum...

EDIT: Here's the bugger! http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1084 ... -binatone/

Jon O'Neill · Post by **Jon O'Neill** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 12:38 pm

Ian Volante wrote:best PS2 game I've come across has been Everybody's Golf.

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try GTA San Andreas? Also Gran Turismo 4 is pretty wicked I think.

Ian Volante · Post by **Ian Volante** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:13 pm

Jon O'Neill wrote:
Ian Volante wrote:best PS2 game I've come across has been Everybody's Golf.
YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try GTA San Andreas? Also Gran Turismo 4 is pretty wicked I think.

I'm still not sure how high the levels go, although I'm King rated...

As for GTA, I played a demo of possibly the original, and got bored pretty quickly. Maybe even played San Andreas at one point, I seem to remember trying a task where I had to overwrite graffiti tags from another gang. I wasn't enthralled.

I'll keep an eye out for GT4, you can probably guess that I rarely buy games until they cost me about a fiver...!

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:10 pm

Ian Volante wrote:
Jon O'Neill wrote:
Ian Volante wrote:best PS2 game I've come across has been Everybody's Golf.
YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try GTA San Andreas? Also Gran Turismo 4 is pretty wicked I think.
I'm still not sure how high the levels go, although I'm King rated...

As for GTA, I played a demo of possibly the original, and got bored pretty quickly. Maybe even played San Andreas at one point, I seem to remember trying a task where I had to overwrite graffiti tags from another gang. I wasn't enthralled.

I'll keep an eye out for GT4, you can probably guess that I rarely buy games until they cost me about a fiver...!

GTA San Andreas wasn't as good as Vice City (nothing is) but it was still good. And it was longer and cool new additions like getting your hair cut, eating fast food, going to gym and having a girlfriend were all pretty neat at the time! The missions got a lot better and I think San Andreas was the one where you have to kill Big Smoke in the last mission which was good fun. Me and my brother played endlessly on these two GTA's and I bet if I played him Rod Stewart's 'Young Turks' now he will know exactly where I'm coming from (K-DST!!!).

As for Gran Turismo 3. That was class. I was never big on racing games but fuck me this was great. And GT4 unfortunately I never got to have a good go at because the two copies I bought used to always freeze which pissed me off no end.

This thread really does make me want to buy a PS2 and play these games again.

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:35 pm

Ryan Taylor wrote:GTA San Andreas wasn't as good as Vice City (nothing is) but it was still good. And it was longer and cool new additions like getting your hair cut, eating fast food, going to gym and having a girlfriend were all pretty neat at the time! The missions got a lot better and I think San Andreas was the one where you have to kill Big Smoke in the last mission which was good fun. Me and my brother played endlessly on these two GTA's and I bet if I played him Rod Stewart's 'Young Turks' now he will know exactly where I'm coming from (K-DST!!!).

Oh man I loved San Andreas. So much that when they released it as a download for the Xbox 360 I actually bought it again, spent a whole weekend downloading all 2.8GB of it and played it right through start to finish... again, buying all the properties, finishing all the side missions (including that last smegging Zero mission that everyone hated) and getting all the collectibles. And the K-DST DJ was actually Axl Rose, you know.

Craig Beevers · Post by **Craig Beevers** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:25 pm

Never got the fuss with GTA 3+. I probably played 1 & 2 more. Just a bit of novelty value fun and that's about it. The controls are tiresome and it's pretty boring most of the time.

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:23 am

Craig Beevers wrote:Never got the fuss with GTA 3+. I probably played 1 & 2 more. Just a bit of novelty value fun and that's about it. The controls are tiresome and it's pretty boring most of the time.

I liked how you could accessorise the guy though. Surely you found fun in that? Like giving him curly hair and putting on ridiculous sunglasses?

Ian Volante · Post by **Ian Volante** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:04 am

Ryan Taylor wrote:
Craig Beevers wrote:Never got the fuss with GTA 3+. I probably played 1 & 2 more. Just a bit of novelty value fun and that's about it. The controls are tiresome and it's pretty boring most of the time.
I liked how you could accessorise the guy though. Surely you found fun in that? Like giving him curly hair and putting on ridiculous sunglasses?

Not really the height of gameplay though is it?

Craig Beevers · Post by **Craig Beevers** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 3:27 pm

Ryan Taylor wrote:
Craig Beevers wrote:Never got the fuss with GTA 3+. I probably played 1 & 2 more. Just a bit of novelty value fun and that's about it. The controls are tiresome and it's pretty boring most of the time.
I liked how you could accessorise the guy though. Surely you found fun in that? Like giving him curly hair and putting on ridiculous sunglasses?

Guess I didn't get that far in the game, did they have an option to have your hair cut by a drunk with a spirit level?

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 4:12 pm

Craig Beevers attempts a joke! Surely the end times are near.

Mark James · Post by **Mark James** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 4:15 pm

The 3DS doesn't work if you've only got one eye. It's Nintendo's way of trying to stop pirates.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 4:27 pm

Mark James wrote:The 3DS doesn't work if you've only got one eye. It's Nintendo's way of trying to stop pirates.

Mark James · Post by **Mark James** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:42 pm

Michael Wallace wrote:
Mark James wrote:The 3DS doesn't work if you've only got one eye. It's Nintendo's way of trying to stop pirates.
© S. Parkin?

I was quite disappointed to find that out though, what about my human right to 3D gaming?!?!!

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that two people can come up with the same joke. Although not in this case. I saw it on the letters page of an online video game magazine.

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:05 pm

Craig Beevers wrote:
Ryan Taylor wrote:
Craig Beevers wrote:Never got the fuss with GTA 3+. I probably played 1 & 2 more. Just a bit of novelty value fun and that's about it. The controls are tiresome and it's pretty boring most of the time.
I liked how you could accessorise the guy though. Surely you found fun in that? Like giving him curly hair and putting on ridiculous sunglasses?
Guess I didn't get that far in the game, did they have an option to have your hair cut by a drunk with a spirit level?

That joke has pretty much already been made. You probably didn't see it though.

Craig Beevers · Post by **Craig Beevers** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:37 pm

Guess you hear them all being ginger. Reminds me of becoming a pirate in The Secret of Monkey Island.

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:42 pm

Craig Beevers wrote:
Ryan Taylor wrote:That joke has pretty much already been made.
Guess you hear them all being ginger.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 10:34 pm

Mark James wrote:
Michael Wallace wrote:
Mark James wrote:The 3DS doesn't work if you've only got one eye. It's Nintendo's way of trying to stop pirates.
© S. Parkin?

I was quite disappointed to find that out though, what about my human right to 3D gaming?!?!!
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that two people can come up with the same joke.

Yep, that's why I put a question mark.

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:25 am

Good to see I provoked a reaction from someone with the passion of a python.

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:31 am

Lesley Hines wrote:I had my first love affair with my Commodore 64

I'm sure most of you picked up on this news a couple days ago, but if you didn't it's worth posting. Pretty mad:

http://www.geekologie.com/2011/04/bring ... e_64_t.php
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/0 ... d-exterior

Steve Balog · Post by **Steve Balog** » Thu May 26, 2011 10:47 pm

Pfffft, no respect for your elders*. For shame.

No consoles since have been nearly as good as the NES/SNES/Genesis generation.

*in before "I was playing my Atari 2600 before you were born" ... which is probably true for some of you. I grew up with NES/SNES.

What is your favourite video games console?