Gaming Forums => General Gaming => Topic started by: michaelbaysuperfan616 on November 16, 2015, 02:28:13 PM
Title: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: michaelbaysuperfan616 on November 16, 2015, 02:28:13 PM
Or have ever owned?
I think I have two really obscure retro consoles most people either don't have, or never heard of. The infamous CD-i which I got for well curiosity mostly because the lame emulator is not free and if I have to pay to play the games I am playing them on the real hardware, or something like VC where it's legal all the way around.
The other one is a Sears Super Pong Game that I have had for ages. Pong is a little before my time but we did have an Atari 2600 growimg up so I was exposed to all that weird stuff early on.
I used to have a Panasonic 3DO but that thing was really a nightmare to find good games on.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: lolmonade on November 16, 2015, 02:37:19 PM
Had a virtual boy for the longest time. First the stand snapped on me shortly after I first got it, but i'd still just lay on the ground with it over my eyes & play it that way. It had been in storage for years, so I took it out recently, but after turning it on found only one side worked anymore, and I only saw that half of the screen.
Sad days, no more teleroboxer, Wario, Mario Clash, Mario Tennis, or Galactic Pinball.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Fatty The Hutt on November 16, 2015, 03:40:08 PM
Had a Microvision (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microvision) when we were kids. Loved that thing. Also had Atari 2600 and Colecovision but those are not that obscure. Does Merlin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_%28game%29) count?
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Mop it up on November 16, 2015, 06:11:08 PM
I've been told that we had an Intellivision when I was very little, but it's long gone and I don't remembering having it. I'm not really interested in obscure systems so I don't think I own anything that would quality, I mostly have Nintendo stuff and not a Virtual Boy. I have a Game and Watch if that counts, but it isn't really a "system." In terms of being the least-popular, that would be... Wii U, I s'pose, though that isn't "retro" yet. So I guess it'd be a GameCube, if that's old enough to be retro.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 16, 2015, 06:28:03 PM
This thread made me realize I've never owned anything that obscure. I'm actually pretty disappointed at that now that I think of it.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: BranDonk Kong on November 16, 2015, 06:46:07 PM
ColecoVision...but I wouldn't count that as obscure. Really nothing listed besides the Pong thing would be considered obscure.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Ian Sane on November 16, 2015, 07:23:55 PM
The local used game store once had a Vectrex but it was pretty expensive. I hemmed and hawed about buying it but someone else did before I really made up mind. A month or so later another Vectrex showed up only this one was broken. So I wonder if the person who bought it accidently wrecked it and traded it back in (they had the first one's demo playing so clearly it worked to some extent) or it was broken to begin with and was returned. Surely they must have been the same unit. What are the odds that I've only seen two Vectrex's in my life and they both appeared at the same store within a month of each other? That's my brush with an obscure console.
For anything I own the most obscure thing I have is the second version of the SNES. My SNES from childhood is at my parents (my brothers and I own it together so it stays there) so I decided to buy one just for my place and the opportunity came up to get the second model and I figured that if there were going to be two Super Nintendos in my life I might as well have both models. I regret getting it though as it's cartridge slot is not as snug as the original model. So if you bump the thing the cartridge often loosens from the connector and the game freezes. Switching a controller for example is not an option if the system is on.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: lolmonade on November 17, 2015, 07:57:34 AM
Wait, does an Amiga Commodore count? Probably not, it was my parents' first computer, and probably the first thing in our home we played countless hours of games on. Golden Axe, Bad Dudes, Marble Madness, Defender of the Crown, Lemmings, Turrican, International Karate+ all up in this bitch.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: ejamer on November 17, 2015, 08:13:31 AM
Almost bought a 3DO from a local seller, but he didn't get back to me at the start then sold to someone else (who I assume was offering more money). Was briefly disappointed, then realized I have way more games than I have time to play anyway.
The most "obscure" thing I actually own right now is probably a Anniversary Edition GBA Micro. Really not rare or obscure though.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: michaelbaysuperfan616 on November 17, 2015, 10:07:16 AM
Well obscure to gamers, nothing would count really, I mean obscure to average Joe. I guess I did have a 32X once upon a time to see what it was like but it was a joke and I traded it in for a Game Cube game at a used game store, I paid five bucks for the thing traded it in for a $15 dollar game so I was happy once it was out of my life.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: ShyGuy on November 17, 2015, 10:07:59 AM
TurboGrafx-16
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: ejamer on November 17, 2015, 10:40:34 AM
The PC Engine design is amazing - it's a shame they took the "bigger must be better" approach when introducing to North America and delayed until it was hardly relevant. That said, it was way outside of my family's budget so wouldn't have really mattered either way to me.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: ClexYoshi on November 17, 2015, 10:59:04 AM
I used to have the Goldstar 3DO until it broke, and then my dad got a panasonic one because he couldn't bear to go without wing commander or Return Fire. my personal favorite was the 3DO port of Star Control 2, which... you can pretty much get on PC for free because it's abandonware.
I knew a poor bastard back in the day witha Tiger Game.com
I've thougth about trying to do a Hyperscan collection for the lulz, but that thing is the biggest piece of white-hot trash one could own, and possibly the inspiration for Amiibo.
The flea market I like going to strangely had a PC-FX one time, and I had NO clue what it was, and by the time I educated myself and I had gotten enough of a money buffer to buy it, someone had snatched it up. THAT probably would have taken over for my most obscure console. Oh well.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Mop it up on November 17, 2015, 01:29:42 PM
With the Internet existing, I don't think anything really counts as obscure, especially among enthusiasts like us. So when I hear the word "obscure," I just take it to mean the least popular thing that we can think of, which usually relates to its sales.
I never owned a Sega 32X but I did know a friend who had one, and the first time I played DooM was on it. Probably a good thing I didn't know how much better the PC version was, as at the time it seemed like such an amazing game.
When Sega was exiting the console business and the Dreamcast was discounted to like $30-50, I wanted to buy one, but couldn't find one. I guess people bought 'em up fast at that price, hee hee. That was the closest I've come to wanting an "obscure" system, or at least one that wasn't on the market for long. Probably a good thing I didn't get it, as I don't think most of its games appeal to me, and some of its games I could get on GameCube like Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, etc.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: michaelbaysuperfan616 on November 17, 2015, 02:55:55 PM
true, but sometimes the internet gets things wrong. People claim they remember something when they only watched a youtuber rant about how "shitty" it was when in reality it was just different or bad marketing, or whatever.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Shaymin on November 17, 2015, 08:14:47 PM
I had a Dreamcast, but I think my most obscure one is this Nintendo system that only had like, three good 1st party games for it.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Mop it up on November 18, 2015, 04:18:19 PM
I had a Dreamcast, but I think my most obscure one is this Nintendo system that only had like, three good 1st party games for it.
The SNES?
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: NWR_insanolord on November 18, 2015, 04:54:24 PM
Nah, the SNES didn't have three good first party games.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: BranDonk Kong on November 18, 2015, 08:31:12 PM
The Amiga Commode doesn't count because it was the Commodore Amiga.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: ThePerm on November 20, 2015, 01:26:44 AM
I have a sega Nomad. Thas obscure. I bought an Ouya because I knew it would be inevitably obscure. I had an Atari Jaguar in the past, but it broke and it was returned to Tiger Direct for credit. We never used that credit.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: BranDonk Kong on November 20, 2015, 07:59:50 AM
Should have jumped on the deal when Amazon was buying back Ouyas for nearly full price late last year. It was a cool little device, but I got rid of mine and got the Google ADT-1 instead...and now added on the Shield Android TV.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: jvgsjeff on November 21, 2015, 04:16:45 AM
My most obscure system is probably the Atari Lynx. I just got it out last month to play some Dracula: The Undead around Halloween. It's not a bad system.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: ejamer on November 21, 2015, 08:38:02 AM
My most obscure system is probably the Atari Lynx. I just got it out last month to play some Dracula: The Undead around Halloween. It's not a bad system.
Todd's Adventures in Slime World was awesome... or at least it seemed that way based on the limited play time I got. Batteries didn't last long in a Lynx. :)
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: ThePerm on November 21, 2015, 05:16:41 PM
Amazon was buying them back for full price? So it's even more rare? Sweet.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: BranDonk Kong on November 21, 2015, 07:25:32 PM
I kind of wish I had kept mine, but I stopped using it when I got the ADT-1, plus all of the ports in the back were so poorly soldered it felt like it was going to fall apart. At any rate, I don't know if people are buying them, but they're listed at $140-165 on Amazon now. Looks like they're fetching a lot on eBay too.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Stratos on December 03, 2015, 09:53:17 PM
I'd fire up my old Virtual Boy, but I don't have enough batteries lying around. Almost nothing uses them anymore that I use besides my Wavebirds.
It isn't super retro yet, but I wish I had bought a GBA Player when I had the chance. Same with GC Broadband Adapters. Saw plenty at Frys when the Wii launched and knew I should have grabbed them but decided to wait too long.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: UncleBob on December 03, 2015, 11:09:51 PM
Does my Panasonic Q with Game Boy Player, Broadband Adapter and Component video cables count? :D
I have a Magnavox Odyssey 2, but no power cord, so I can't play it.
I own an Intellivision, but that's not really that rare. I love that thing. :D
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: BranDonk Kong on December 04, 2015, 12:20:05 AM
Q would probably be the most obscure - and if it works, then it would be obscure and rare.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: lolmonade on January 22, 2016, 08:40:29 AM
Does my Panasonic Q with Game Boy Player, Broadband Adapter and Component video cables count? :D
I have a Magnavox Odyssey 2, but no power cord, so I can't play it.
I own an Intellivision, but that's not really that rare. I love that thing. :D
Q doesn't count for what I was saying just like Xeye or CDX, those are just rare variants of a non-rare console.
But if you broaden the terms to most obscure retro gaming machine then sure, except Game Cube and Retro doesn't really fit in my head. Wow, has it really been that long?
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: nickmitch on January 22, 2016, 03:18:04 PM
But if you broaden the terms to most obscure retro gaming machine then sure, except Game Cube and Retro doesn't really fit in my head. Wow, has it really been that long?
Not if you're still using the same controller for Smash Bros. ;)
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: pokepal148 on January 22, 2016, 05:19:10 PM
A PS2 Slim... Mock me as you wish.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Stratos on January 22, 2016, 08:05:15 PM
Its a good console. I traded my old PS2 in for a PS2 Slim when it first released and have always been very happy with the final product.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Mop it up on January 22, 2016, 10:17:09 PM
GameCube will be 15 years old this year, and when the GameCube was released the NES was around 15 years old. I viewed the NES as "retro" when GameCube came out, so it'd probably make sense to view GameCube as retro... but it does feel weird to do that. It's probably because I still remember buying a GameCube at launch and have had one since then, most of which was in my adult life, whereas the NES was released before I was born and any game I bought myself was used after the fact. Therefore, the NES felt a lot older after 15 years than the GameCube has.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Ian Sane on January 25, 2016, 07:05:56 PM
I figure the formula for determining if something is retro is if it is two generations removed. The Wii U is current, the Wii was last generation, Gamecube is now two back along with the Xbox and PS2 so they're retro. One generation back is obviously too soon since you'll still see games available new in bargain bins at major stores. But where are you going to get Gamecube games? You have to go some retro gaming store or go online to find anything like that now. And when the Cube came out it made SNES games two generations back and they didn't merely seem like games that were a few years old by that point.
And a lot has changed in videogames since then. Case in point the Cube/XB/PS2 generation was designed for SD televisions so if you wanted a good setup for them you would seek out a CRT. There was essentially no DLC then (aside from I think some Xbox Live stuff) and no patches so if you find an old disc it's the same version of the game as every other one. Patches will be something difficult to work with years from now but the GC/XB/PS2 generation is the last one where what you bought in store was what you got. It's also a generation that relied on proprietary memory cards (except the Xbox) so that's a complication that seems archaic now. Hell aside from the Wavebird it's also corded controllers all the way! To an 8 year old kid this stuff might as well be a home Pong console for all the out-of-date stuff it has.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: michaelbaysuperfan616 on January 26, 2016, 11:53:00 AM
Well damn when you paint a crystal clear picture like that you destroy any chance I had at maintaining the illusion. :@ :(
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: riftzzz on January 29, 2016, 04:39:42 PM
I don't own any :(
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Mop it up on January 29, 2016, 05:18:54 PM
I figure the formula for determining if something is retro is if it is two generations removed. The Wii U is current, the Wii was last generation, Gamecube is now two back along with the Xbox and PS2 so they're retro...
Coincidentally, that actually is the way I look at it, and you explained it pretty well.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: pokepal148 on January 29, 2016, 05:22:18 PM
If you want to get somewhat obscure I do have one of those Logitech Cordless Action Controllers for the PS2 that are considered the PS2's version of the wavebird and actually have rumble so there's that.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Spak-Spang on February 01, 2016, 09:38:49 PM
Retro is like oldies.
You can't just go by decades to determine if something is an oldie, just like you can't go by console generations to determine if something is Retro.
For instance, the NES and Gameboy had a much longer life span than games have now. So when calculating retro status you must include that in the equation. Also, you must include what type of games are being made and the depth.
For me, all the classic 2D consoles are Retro, and only the first generation 3D consoles are Retro now. So that means we are 3 console generations out for 3D systems. Nintendo 64, Playstation, and Saturn are 3D retro systems.
I will add the Gamecube, Playstation 2 and Xbox systems next generation though honestly that seems too early even. So when PS5 and Xbox 4 comes out, I think we can consider looking at the second generation of 3D games are Retro.
Afterall, I would not consider music from the 80s and 90s as classic oldies. Now that I think about it, the thing that really pushes the oldies music and retro gaming status is the shift from 2D games to 3D games and the the changes in Rock and Alternative system of music. Those changes really pushed the recognition of a change in gaming and thus Retro was born.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: michaelbaysuperfan616 on February 02, 2016, 08:52:36 AM
I guess by Mop It Ups post in the other thread, we could all say Wii U is retro, and it is pretty obscure for all intents and purposes.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Ian Sane on February 02, 2016, 04:48:17 PM
You can't just go by decades to determine if something is an oldie, just like you can't go by console generations to determine if something is Retro.
For instance, the NES and Gameboy had a much longer life span than games have now. So when calculating retro status you must include that in the equation. Also, you must include what type of games are being made and the depth.
For me, all the classic 2D consoles are Retro, and only the first generation 3D consoles are Retro now. So that means we are 3 console generations out for 3D systems. Nintendo 64, Playstation, and Saturn are 3D retro systems.
I will add the Gamecube, Playstation 2 and Xbox systems next generation though honestly that seems too early even. So when PS5 and Xbox 4 comes out, I think we can consider looking at the second generation of 3D games are Retro.
Afterall, I would not consider music from the 80s and 90s as classic oldies. Now that I think about it, the thing that really pushes the oldies music and retro gaming status is the shift from 2D games to 3D games and the the changes in Rock and Alternative system of music. Those changes really pushed the recognition of a change in gaming and thus Retro was born.
I wonder if your definition of oldies is based too much on your personal life. For example I always thought music from the 70s was old, even in like 1988. The reason being that I wasn't born yet so anything before I was born was super old. It was easier for me to accept 80s music as oldies because of the speed of which my life was changing. I remember watching an 80s weekend on Muchmusic in like 1996 and it all seemed so ancient and why wouldn't it? I was a teenager and that was stuff from my childhood. My life was totally different then so this music was from another era. It took longer for me to see 90s music as old because the difference between teen Ian and adult Ian is not as extreme as kid Ian and teen Ian. Now that stuff does seem old but if you play a song from like 2003 I'll say "what's the new ****?" which is pretty idiotic since that's over 10 years ago and it isn't "new" at all. But I've been an adult pretty much this whole century with my life changing very slowly compared to my childhood so it all blurs together.
So a videogame from the N64 era? Yeah that's high school. Totally retro. A Gamecube game? That's adult Ian so is it that different from now? Doesn't really feel like it until I go looking for Gamecube games and realize there aren't any in any store but ones that specialize in retro games. It was as a collector that I realized that generation is now retro because you can't find any trace of it in stores anymore, while my local Wal-Mart still has Wii and DS games.
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Mop it up on February 02, 2016, 05:11:55 PM
I guess by Mop it up's post in the other thread, we could all say Wii U is retro, and it is pretty obscure for all intents and purposes.
Huh? Which post is that? How do you have the impression I think Wii U could count as retro?
Title: Re: What is the most obscure, retro console you own?
Post by: Spak-Spang on February 02, 2016, 09:15:14 PM
Ian Sane: Great Question.
I used my definition of oldies based on what was playing on oldies stations when I was in high school. So that would be 60s and 70s music. But you mention the 80s and it reminds me that there was a significant music shift in the 80s and later the 90s...basically the 80s and 90s to music is much like the shift from 2D to 3D gaming. I think honestly I could never truly consider 80s and 90s music as oldies. Perhaps that is because I have already defined what oldies are...and perhaps a younger generation could redefine it...but then if they do what does that make the music of the 60s and 70s? Golden Oldies is a term I here now. To me, I just can't get behind a classic retro or golden retro label for gaming yet...but perhaps that is where we are going...or we will become more specific 8-bit classics, 16-bit classics, and then 3D classics. To me this is messy, because I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around any 3D game being considered Retro...or classic. I guess Retro gaming is almost a genre to me.
