RetroCade asks?

PostRetroCade asks? by **Christopher** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:04 am

So we are putting together a monthly Retro gaming podcast \o/

Like the main podcast we want to have involvement from the GR community as again this is a podcast for you.

So for our first show we want to ask "What is your favourite gaming machine of all time and why?"

As this is a retro show you can only choose a gaming machine launched before 1999.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Commander Jameson** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:07 am

I only owned two consoles before 1999, so have no opinion on this particular subject. I did most of my gaming on home computers. For the record Spectrum >>>>>> Amstrad.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Christopher** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:08 am

Commander Jameson wrote:I only owned two consoles before 1999, so have no opinion on this particular subject. I did most of my gaming on home computers. For the record Spectrum >>>>>> Amstrad.

Changed the question slightly.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Commander Jameson** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:10 am

Nice one, chap.

In that case, its a tie between the Speccy 48 and the C64.

No help at all, prolly, but there you go.

As for reasons, mainly for the vast (albeit, similar) catalogues of games for both machines. They were the machines I grew up with (I got my Speccy when I was 9) and had untold hours of fun with them. Looking back, it is also quite amazing how good some of the games were, given the very limited power of the hardware.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Cropolite** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:58 am

PSone, it was my first console that I could talk to people at school about as everybody had one. Almost every game I got was a classic in it's own right; Fighting Force, Porsche Challenge, Worms Armageddon, Ridge Racer Type 4, Final Fantasy VII, Total Drivin, Crash 2, Spyro - It never ends.

I remember the lunchtime talks of how to beat parts of MGS1, I couldn't wait to get it. It's probably the game that made me a proper gamer, I know it's why I got a PS2 for MGS2 anyway.

N64.

For (local) multiplayer purposes it still hasn't been beaten in my opinion. Mario Kart 64 is still the greatest game in the MK series and I must have spent so many hours playing it with friends/brothers. Same with Perfect Dark, Goldeneye, Snowboard Kids and Smash Bros. While the latter has had two good sequels, for quick multiplayer games I still think it's the best out of the three. Even games like Mario Party and Pokemon Stadium were fun for multiplayer.

That's not to say the console only had good multiplayer games. It is also home to the finest platformer game (Mario 64 - shut it Banjo lovers) and the two best Zelda games.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **TheTurnipKing** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:22 pm

From a retro perspective, I'd say that the games are far more important than the hardware they run on.

I mean, we all love Outrun, right? But the odds are good we all played it on very different hardware.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Christopher** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:28 pm

TheTurnipKing wrote:From a retro perspective, I'd say that the games are far more important than the hardware they run on.

I mean, we all love Outrun, right? But the odds are good we all played it on very different hardware.

Games are for another time.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **HailToTheKingBaby!** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 6:07 pm

I guess the Dreamcast was too late to the party for this so I'm going to go for the poor old Saturn.

It might not be as fondly remembered by many as the Mega Drive/SNES etc.. but looking back at the hours I spent playing Virtua Figher 1/2, Daytona, Panzer Dragoon, House Of The Dead, Sega Rally, Virtua Cop, Nights, Fighters Megamix and even some of the crappier games llike International Victory Goal it was truly a great machine that offered Sega arcade gaming heaven and I'm sure if it had lasted a bit longer it could've been home to many more classics - watching the Shenmue Saturn footage on youtube makes you wonder how much untapped power it had left hiding under it's hood before its early demise.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Uppa** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 6:08 pm

N64. Not just for the quality of the games--which others are sure to laud in abundance--but also for the brilliance of the journalism covering it. (N64 Magazine, namely.) The enthusiasm surrounding a shocking and innovative console, coupled with the experience of games journalists who had written about previous machines. It was a generation where magazines were the one source of information, and the sheer quality of that journalism--bolstered by a machine rife with possibility and that continued to deliver timeless experiences, evoking a child-like gusto--cemented a period in time where it felt like anything was possible, and where excitement was never short in supply.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **SEP** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:35 pm

N64, easily. It is telling that 12 years on, it's best games are still considered to be the best in the world. Couple that with an innovative controller, and a virtually indestructable machine, and the best offline multiplayer ever (still), and you have a winner that was criminally ignored by many in it's lifetime. The only thing it had going against it was the fact that cartridges were expensive and had comparatively limited storage capacity.

YouTube · PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Jazzem** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:22 pm

SNES

If I can be a pretentious git for a moment, I'd consider the 16-bit generation to be the golden age of video games, and this is really evident on the SNES. There's such a great mix of creative and well designed games on that system, and many have lasting appeal most of today's games could only dream of. The controller is easily my favourite for 2D games as well, and SNES games have a charm no other format can quite replicate for me.

*Goes to play Donkey Kong Country*

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **TheTurnipKing** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:25 pm

MCN wrote:N64, easily. It is telling that 12 years on, it's best games are still considered to be the best in the world. Couple that with an innovative controller, and a virtually indestructable machine, and the best offline multiplayer ever (still), and you have a winner that was criminally ignored by many in it's lifetime. The only thing it had going against it was the fact that cartridges were expensive and had comparatively limited storage capacity.

Though that has interesting benefits today, since the games are usually surprisingly competitive in terms of features, and definitely tiny, which makes them exceptional download titles.

You'll struggle to find a better game at the filesize of a VC download.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Oh Teh Noes** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:48 pm

PSone. I had hours of fun during the summers playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and its sequel at the local youth club and then at home with my mates. The controller was perfect (back then) and the library of games was amazing.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **SEP** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:37 pm

Oh Teh Noes wrote:PSone. I had hours of fun during the summers playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and its sequel at the local youth club and then at home with my mates. The controller was perfect (back then) and the library of games was amazing.

That comes a very close second for me, especially for the Tony Hawk's games.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **plaido** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:42 pm

It would have to be the MD. There were loads of standout games for it - I can still remember being blown away by John Madden 92 and it was the console I spent the most time playing games on pre 1999.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **consolegaming** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:45 am

Probably the N64 because it gave us some real 10/10 games and that waiting for a new release was more exciting than it is today, largely due to the Internet not being there to spoil everything!

We had Super Mario 64, Zelda OOT and MM, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and Mario Kart 64, plus loads of others.

Who can forget waiting for Zelda OOT, the excitement at the time was unmatched and the first time I played it was so magical, only some games have even come close to that magic Nintendo conjured up in this very special game.

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **The Grassy knoll** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 1:09 pm

Amiga

YouTube · PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **Jazzem** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:08 pm

This podcast still going ahead?

PostRe: RetroCade asks? by **TheTurnipKing** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:37 pm

Brerlappins little hat wrote:ATARI ST.

strawberry float the Amiga

Actually, the two machines are inextricably interwined. The Amiga was designed by ex Atai engineers, and the ST designed by ex Commodore engineers.

Historically, the ST really marks the beginning of the 16 bit era and during the while the Amiga marks it's end. You'll notice that a lot of games in the ST's heyday were upgraded versions of 8-bit games, and significantly improved arcade ports, and during that same period, the Amiga tended to recieve more or less direct ports of the ST games, with miniscule improvements. However, the Amiga persisted in the marketplace much longer than the ST and particuarly with the introduction of the (actually 32bit) Amiga 1200, started to really carve a niche of it's own.

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