Battle of the 90's consoles!

[Jeff O'Connor]

I've been using Grand Theft Auto IV as excellent stress relief lately, actually. I'm sure I don't need to bother going into detail as to why.

I'll have to check out that ultimate sandbox game. Sounds really fun. I noticed you also like the TIE Fighter franchise. Man, they don't make Star Wars cockpit action games like they used to, eh? X-Wing versus TIE Fighter: Balance of Power still gets my brain goin'.

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

The PS1 never appealed to me. Like the Mega Drive/Genesis, all the games seemed interchangable (endless shooters, fighters and racing games) wheras Nintendo's output seemed more unique (although that could be due to far less games, and only a few per genre).

The PS1's blocky, glitchy graphics always reminded me of a 3D NES. Blurry, non-glitchy N64 worlds seemed more real (in a cartoony way) to young me.

The N64 games I grew up with, and'll never forget are: Mario 64 (still my all-time fabourite game), Zelda, Goldeneye, Mystical Ninja, Zelda 2 (the one about the masks - I'll never forget the postman who refused to leave his post, and the music at the end of the countdown), Lylat Wars (Starfox in the US, the rumble gimmick was really novel back then), Perfect Dark (great graphics and the expense of a good framerate, really horrible acting), Pilotwings (before Carmageddon and GTA relaxed me with violence, this did it with flying) and endless WWF games (creating freaky wrestlers was hilarious)

[Angel4576]

The megadrive/genesis pwned everything else in that generation. EA Hockey, Madden, Fifa FTW!

[Alidar Jarok]

KingDaniel, Majora's Mask

[Jeff O'Connor]

I think a big part of the PSX's appeal can be summarized as follows: if you like 'golden age' JRPGs, you'll understand. If you don't, then there are still plenty of good games for it, but a lot of the shine is taken out of it.

[BillJ]

Sega Genesis, great sports games.

[TheGodBen]

Jeff O'Connor wrote:

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I've been using Grand Theft Auto IV as excellent stress relief lately, actually. I'm sure I don't need to bother going into detail as to why.

Because you love Roman calling you and asking you to go bowling?

I'll have to check out that ultimate sandbox game. Sounds really fun.

It is. I heard a lot of hype about Minecraft on Kotaku, but thought it was just another one of those artistic indie games that I'm usually not interested in. But then I learned that it wasn't just an advanced version of Lego, there's monsters and resource gathering and exploration and construction... it's a true sandbox game with absolutely no goals. I gave it a shot, and for a game that only costs €10, it's possibly the best value for money I've gotten from a game to date. If you're interested, search for a series on YouTube called X's Adventures in Minecraft, it's a 40 part series that will give you a good idea of what the game is like.

I noticed you also like the TIE Fighter franchise. Man, they don't make Star Wars cockpit action games like they used to, eh? X-Wing versus TIE Fighter: Balance of Power still gets my brain goin'.

I never played X-Wing Versus TIE Figther because I couldn't get it to work on my PC, and when I got a new PC I couldn't find the game on sale any more. Well, I saw it on sale in a game store in Paris once, but I didn't buy because the box was in French and I didn't want to risk it. But I absolutely loved TIE Fighter, there's a franchise that needs to return with modern graphics.

[Jeff O'Connor]

TheGodBen wrote:

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Because you love Roman calling you and asking you to go bowling?

Oh yeah, that's exactly it.

"Kauh-zeen, let us go to a streep club!"

It is. I heard a lot of hype about Minecraft on Kotaku, but thought it was just another one of those artistic indie games that I'm usually not interested in. But then I learned that it wasn't just an advanced version of Lego, there's monsters and resource gathering and exploration and construction... it's a true sandbox game with absolutely no goals. I gave it a shot, and for a game that only costs €10, it's possibly the best value for money I've gotten from a game to date. If you're interested, search for a series on YouTube called X's Adventures in Minecraft, it's a 40 part series that will give you a good idea of what the game is like.

You know, that's exactly what I thought, too. I saw it all over Kotaku and didn't pay any attention to it for the same reasoning. I'll check out that series.

I never played X-Wing Versus TIE Figther because I couldn't get it to work on my PC, and when I got a new PC I couldn't find the game on sale any more. Well, I saw it on sale in a game store in Paris once, but I didn't buy because the box was in French and I didn't want to risk it. But I absolutely loved TIE Fighter, there's a franchise that needs to return with modern graphics.

Man, I had a badass Logitech Wingman joystick back in the day, and I used to rock it out with those games and just have an absolute blast for hours on end.

That franchise really needs to return. I never disliked the more well-known Star Wars space fighters like Rogue Squadron and such, but the more arcade-y feel to them didn't do it for me as much as the... refined? Qualities of X-Wing and TIE Fighter. I loved, loved, loved flying around doing everything short of escort duty. And even escort duty didn't totally suck, especially in a maneuverable TIE Interceptor or lightning-fast A-Wing.

[Jeff O'Connor]

I just watched the first few YouTube videos you suggested I check out. I'm super-intrigued. I think I will pick this up sometime.

[TheGodBen]

I had better not derail this thread talking about Minecraft, so I'll start a new thread about it.

Jeff O'Connor wrote:

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That franchise really needs to return. I never disliked the more well-known Star Wars space fighters like Rogue Squadron and such, but the more arcade-y feel to them didn't do it for me as much as the... refined? Qualities of X-Wing and TIE Fighter. I loved, loved, loved flying around doing everything short of escort duty. And even escort duty didn't totally suck, especially in a maneuverable TIE Interceptor or lightning-fast A-Wing.

I hated Escort duty. I got stuck in a mission towards the end of TIE Fighter where I was supposed to protect Darth Vader in his TIE Defender, and he was faster than me, so he kept running off and getting killed. I never got past that mission so I never completed the game.

[DigificWriter]

Even though my family owned an N64, our game library wasn't that extensive; however, the games that we did own - and/or the ones that I was able to borrow from friends - are still memorable enough to earn the console a spot on my 'retro purchase 'list - as I mentioned - along with the SNES and original NES. I still remember the hours upon hours I spent trying to beat games like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Donkey Kong 64, Super Mario 64, Rogue Squadron, and Banjo-Kazooie, and the countless hours that I spent playing co-op/multiplayer games like WrestleMania 2000, No Mercy (which, IMO, is still to this day the greatest wrestling video game ever made), and Super Smash Bros. I also have fond memories of Goldeneye 007 (even though I didn't actually own it) and a futuristic 'car wars' (no, that's not a typo) game whose name I can't remember right now.

[Jeff O'Connor]

TheGodBen wrote:

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I hated Escort duty. I got stuck in a mission towards the end of TIE Fighter where I was supposed to protect Darth Vader in his TIE Defender, and he was faster than me, so he kept running off and getting killed. I never got past that mission so I never completed the game.

I think I remember that mission. Escort is the bane of many a game.

[Sparky]

BillJ wrote:

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Sega Genesis, great sports games.

The Genesis absolutely stomped on the SNES in this genre. Even versions of the Madden and NHL series were far superior on the Genesis.

The SNES destroyed the Genesis when it came to RPG's. As much as I love the Phantasy Star series the Genesis just didn't have the massive depth of RPGs that the SNES had.

Beyond that both systems had excellent titles in other genres. Some were better on the SNES (Street Fighter 2, TMNT) others were better on the Genesis (Mortal Kombat 1, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim)

The PS1/N64 debate is even bigger IMO. never before had there been such a technical or stylistic difference between the same generation of consoles. CD vs Cart, completely different style of controllers. (If I remember correctly the capabilities of the N64 and the controller design were centered around Mario 64). The specific graphical strengths and weaknesses between the 2 systems were quite different as well. There were games on the N64 that the PS1 just wouldn't be able to do. (Mario 64, Zelda, Goldeneye, Wave Race, Perfect Dark etc) The N64 was quite superior in the 3D geometry department but the extreme anti-aliasing and small cart sizes led to some pretty blurry textures sometimes.

The CD format allowed the PS1 to do things that the N64 just didn't have the room to do. CD's were cheaper to manufacture than carts and a lot of developers and publishers were fed up with the arrogance and control that Nintendo exhibited since the NES days. They bolted from Nintendo to Sony faster than you can say Final Fantasy 7 on the N64 is going to be awesome!

Both systems have some great games but I think the the N64 classics hold up better today then the PS1 classics. I still play Ocarina of Time, Waverace and Mario 64 to this day. The problem is once you get past the classics there is a whole lot of crap. The PS1 wins just in terms of sheer library size however. They had a lot of good games. It's just that the best games on the PS1 were not as good as the best games on the N64 IMO.

[Starbreaker]

N64

Super Mario 64
Mario Kart
Banjo-Kazooie
Donkey Kong 64
Diddy Kong Racing
Goldeneye
Rogue Squadron
Shadows of the Empire
Pod Racer
StarFox64
Bomberman 64
Madden 64
Mario Party

[SPCTRE]

Jeff O'Connor wrote:

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It happened with increased regularity especially after the release of the PSOne, the smaller variation.

The original PlayStation was always abbreviated as PSX among console "experts"

Actually, the story behind it being called PSX is quite interesting (if you're into console history, that is ).

A larger sticking point, however, was PlayStation branding. SCEA hated the name and wanted to change it to PSX, a contraction of the project’s codename. “This was actually a huge internal battle, to the point where there was research done among consumer groups,” says Harrison, who, having seen various youth groups reacting badly to the name PlayStation, had his own fears about it. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, the name is bombing and everyone is going to hate it’. I shared the information with Tokunaka-san, and he said, ‘Oh, that’s nothing, you should have heard what people said about Walkman’. And that pretty much ended the debate.” In Europe, at least: the US nevertheless went ahead with early trade promotion, calling it PSX, and had even come up with its own mascot, Polygon Man.

The Making Of: PlayStation [EDGE Magazine]

As for the whole N64 vs PSX debate: I don't think you can be a serious gamer and not own both. Unless you're really, really poor or something.