Owning all Game Consoles

[ThinkPad560X]

So I own all the Game consoles except for Atari / Sega.

I dont like using handhelds so I got rid of my GameBoys and PSPs or in the GameBoys games case, I consider them a GameCube game if having the dock. Reason for owning all three company consoles "Nintendo, SONY, Microsoft" is really the exclusive games. I would of settled with probably Sony if all the games came out for all 3 consles or even just PC. I like the Mario worlds/Kart and Donkey Kong series, so have to own a Nintendo. Compared the PlayStation and XBOX they both have their goods and bads. Better graphics on certin games and sometimes better play time "lag" Another is PS3 and XBOX titles will get certin items/maps for a game depending which console it is. The other bad is the cost of the games. For example I have GTA IV for PS3, 360 and PC. I own all the title games for every console I own. Another reason is for PC you can mod the game play aswell. Another bad is not enough Room. I keep all the games in there original cases and even keep the console box so there not laying out when not in use.

So is it worth having all 3 consoles from all genrations for you or do you prefure to just buy the newest console and hope they have the old game title for download from PSN, LIVE, Nintendo Store or Steam? I dont mind digital only, but I still rather have my physical disc copy along with the digital.

OWN:

Nintendo (NES)
Nintendo (NES) TopLoader
Super Nintendo (SNES)
Super Nintendo (SNES) Mini
Nintendo 64 "Black"
Nintendo GameCube "Purple" (GameBoy,GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance Dock for GameCube)
Nintendo Wii "White"
Nintendo Wii Mini "Black/Red"
Nintendo Wii U "White"

PlayStation
PSone
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2 Slim
PlayStation 3 Fat
PlayStation 3 Slim
PlayStation 3 Super Slim

XBOX
XBOX 360 White
XBOX 360 Black Slim

IBM PCs

Next PS4, XBOX 720, Wii U debaiting on getting.

[A31]

I never really was a console kinda guy. I used to own a PS2 and I currently own an Xbox 360. I didn't particularly enjoy playing on the PS2, and I don't really like the Xbox either. I like playing on my PC. Much better platform than any console IMO.

So if I want to buy a game, I always buy it on PC.

[ThinkPad560X]

I'd like to just own PC aswell, save alot of room too "And love to mod the games". But id be losing out on alot of exsclusive titles. Halo 1 & 2 I own on PC but then Microsoft put an end to it and sold only for XBOX. Just another way for them to get you to buy just there console. Hopefully someday I'll be able to just have all my games on PC. including the Mario worlds all on one disc or steam, I do for Sega's Sonic games.

[dr_st]

You can play all the games on the PC, including the exclusive ones, if you are willing to wait for 5-10 years for the emulation to catch up.

I understand that some new consoles are moving towards x86 processors, which should make emulation simpler/faster in the future.

[ZaZ]

I can't see myself picking up any new consoles in the future since I barely use the ones I've got now, though definitely getting GTA5 this summer provided the reviews are decent of course.

[ThinkPad560X]

I thought Emulating/ROMS was illegal? Atleast from what people told me. Cant wait for GTA V, its coming to the current gen and they said to PC aswell.

[dr_st]

I don't want to get into the legal aspect of it, I just said what's possible.

[ThinkPad560X]

Since the new generation is coming out soon or is out now "Wii U" do you think the PlayStation 4 and XBOX One, Wii U are going to be the last gen to use discs?

Alot of talk for this new gen is about cloud storage/gaming. For me I like both, I like owning the physical copy and a digital, Ive been downloading my PSone games from the PSN so I dont wear out the discs as much. I like to have them for a backup, and just play the digital copy off my PS3, Now when I say I like digital, I mean a digital download, not Stream. I wish there was a rip to the console because I have to rebuy the games again and some titles are not even on the PSN still. Same way for my Nintendo they only have first party titles for the past consoles. For the XBOX I really only own it for the Halo series since Microsoft stopped releasing it for the PC with Halo 2 .
But Im not sure about this next gen for me as they are saying some games will require a internet connection all times to play. I do have internet "How Im typing this" but it is like a step above dialup for me and I only get one service to pick from other then dialup again. When I download games on my PS3 they will take all day to download if not 2 if its a PS3 title and I am unable to go online when the PS3 is downloading since Im guessing its using all the banwith. But my interent even lags playing YouTube videos and hate the adds that freeze for 2min. So if the PS4 / XBOX One do require internet and if its streaming in games, Its not going to workout for me..

I said this in another forum, but I think towrd the middle/end of the PS4/XBOX One life they will be fasing out disc copies. Like some games being released will be digital only depending on the developer.

[AIX]

I've got a PS3 for some exclusives but I'm still finding me playing Fallout (and others) on my laptop. I have mixed feelings regarding my console, I'm playing 10-15 years old games on my laptop (nostalgia), I'm pretty sure I'll not do that on my PS3..

[Medessec]

I'm not huge on consoles-like a few of the guys above, my logic runs with being able to effectively store my games and have the possibility of modding them. However-I was a big Nintendo guy as a fan, and I've also picked up a few consoles I've found interesting over time. I'm pretty impressed by your collection, TP560X. You seem to have the proper knack for collecting eras' worth of fun hardware, I'd love to see your collection in person if it was at all possible.

I own: NES, SNES, N64(Jungle Green with original DK64 kit box), Gamecube(went through three, still have working third ), Wii(unable to read discs), a Saturn and a Dreamcast, a PS1(who doesn't, seriously), a fat PS2, and an XBOX 360 Arcade that I rescued from RROD.

I do want to get a few more consoles at some point, including the original XBOX, a Genesis(I'm quite the Sonic fan) and SPECIFICALLY a working CECH-A01 original PS3 model. That's the one with the hardware-based backwards compatibility(plays PS1 and PS2 games), and was the notorious $600 PS3 on release.

As for Emulating console games on the PC, from what I'm aware, it's illegal to just simply download the software and ROMs (ROMs especially) for free and play them if you don't have actual copies of the games or the actual console on hand. As long as you had paid for the actual games you are playing; Emulators and ROMs are, in a legal sense, "backup" ways of playing the game.

I use Emulators constantly for my really old games, because I don't like taking my older consoles out of their boxes and putting wear and tear on them (despite how awesome and showy it is )

[ThinkPad560X]

So I looked up something Ive been waiting for and asking Nintendo about to bring to the Nintendo Wii and read that its been talked about for the Wii U. A Nintendo DS/3DS Player dock for the Wii U. I guess Nintendo is thinking of making one for the Wii U and that would be great, being I only like playing on consoles then hand held. Hoping its a real docking and not download as I have DS games already.


Talking about games Im thinking of buying a mini or is it a micro ATX board and installing it in my IBM ThinkCentre S50 Ultra Small. From what I saw my Mobo doesnt have a graphics card slot to upgrade and stuck with the Intel Extreme graphics from 2004-2005 and Intel Celeron D with 2GB Max RAM. I was wanting to making my IBM S50 a SteamBox and keep it under my Tv with the consoles to play the PC games. If I get a new Mobo how good are the graphics cards on new mobo that are not upgradable since I dont think they are? And If I bought one now could it last 5 years after keeping up with the new games to come out or longer?

[Medessec]

A dock to play 3DS/DS games on the Wii U? Sounds like an interesting idea... wouldn't mind a feature like that, but I currently don't have a Wii U, and it's not been pressed in my mind that I should get one.

Putting a newer mobo in your old ThinkCentre sounds like a really cool idea... you may need to do some real trickery to get it to work-but yeah, you'd be looking for a Micro-ATX board. Particularly, you could probably shop up an LGA 1155 Micro ATX mobo, as that would give you access to Core i5/i7 Sandy and Ivy Bridge processors, which will give you some pretty beefy graphics and CPU power even if you don't go as far as putting in dedicated graphics. Heatsink/Cooling will be interesting to figure out.

If you opt for dedicated graphics, be sure the board has a PCI-E 16x port. You'll only be able to get a small-form factor graphics card with power draw only from the slot, and speaking of power draw, you'll also need to make sure the ThinkCentre's PSU can handle whatever new CPU you have in the board. If you do go through with it, it'd be quite the project, but it would be the coolest-looking SteamBox in my opinion.

[Medessec]

Changing it up-because of dupe post:

Quite off-topic... I've always wanted to buy an Intellistation Z Pro, JUST for the case: http://images.geeksimages.com/imageshar ... B-unit.jpg

That thing is just so epic looking.

[ThinkPad560X]

It looks like my IBM System x3200 Server: http://projectdream.org/wordpress/wp-co ... /tower.JPG It has lots of room because its long and its actually wider then a basic tower too. holds I think 4-5 HDDs.

That Intellistation looks just like my IBM ThinkCentre M51 witch I think my tower came in a Intellistation version too, the ThinkCentre logo pops out to put in the Intellistation logo too. http://www.ctsestore.com/sites/default/ ... 143_03.jpg Its a really tall tower too.

The bad thing is its a BTX tower and cant upgrade, its a mirror version of the ATX.

[Medessec]

Yeah... these IBM desktop machines all look amazing imo. I'd love to have one as my desktop machine or media box, but I kinda have enough working computers as it is that can do the same tasks. Your x3200 and M51 are all younger, newer versions of the Intellistation, manufactured by Lenovo. I think the Intellistation's a pretty old machine... all IBM. The newest ones use these Opteron processors, not sure which gen... but the others use Pentium 4-based Socket 604 Xeon processors, to give you an idea of how old they are.

BTX? Wow. Yeah... that's got to be strange. But OEM workstations are always epic in design, but non-standard.

I really hope that S-series Thinkcentre mediabox project works out, and you should see if you can make it into an N64/Gamecube/Wii box by installing Dolphin and PJ64, and constantly having controllers hooked up. Dunno if you're into playing old games that much though...

[Saucey]

I would love to own a Neo Geo system or arcade stand for one of my favorite games made by SNK, King of Fighters 2002. I started gaming as a little kid since '93, I still own my Genesis console w/ ten or so games but the power needs some soldering to the main board. My brother and I have the 360/PS3/Wii but I got burnt out on console gaming after I had built my first PC... I've bought seven games on clearance and I just have gotten tired of playing em.

I have to say the Wii is a pretty sturdy console because it has been dropped by me twice from 5 feet on my TV... Still can read games and play online.

[Medessec]

My big childhood console was by far the N64. I played all sorts of awesome Rareware games on that, and I think any console of that generation earns top scores for reliability. And yes, I can completely relate with your sudden taking to PC after getting a proper one put together. The reason most people opt for console gaming is because of the ease of use... but PC gaming has extreme benefits, only encountered by those who've genuinely tried PC gaming on a machine made for it.

The Wii... is alright, but my white one(one of the first ones) has long since developed issues reading discs. However mine has probably gone through some additional abuse, due to it being a sort of family console. Having repaired both XBOX 360s and PS3 Fats(the originals) I can tell you right now, the XBOX is a cheap piece of junk. The PS3 fat is probably one of the most well-engineered, best equipped and most fantastically packaged machine ever made versus the amount of computing power it is capable of. I've recently brought back a CECH-A01 Fat PS3 from a death to YLOD, which is the original model released with the $600 list price. It's the one with Hardware-based backwards-compatibility, so along with it being a PS3 game and Blu-Ray player, it can also play PS2 and PS1 games. Absolutely extraordinary machine.

[Saucey]

Having repaired both XBOX 360s and PS3 Fats(the originals) I can tell you right now, the XBOX is a cheap piece of junk.

Within the five years of having that Xbox I've had two RROD from both early and late models original models and when it came to the 360 slim it didn't get an RROD like advertised, it got a red dot instead and was unusable. Such a letdown, when the 360 had gotten released our local Gamestop had a unit that stopped working after a week. The display case they had wasn't well ventilated but I believe it was just rushed into production.

I agree, the PS3 is a better developed system, no bulky external power brick, but it is huge though.
Its fault was the initial steep price and I've heard its "cell" technology was difficult for developers to make games, a reason why some X360 games play better than their PS3 counterparts.

That being said, I do enjoy both systems equally and had a lot of fun on them when I did use them consistently.

[Medessec]

Its fault was the initial steep price and I've heard its "cell" technology was difficult for developers to make games, a reason why some X360 games play better than their PS3 counterparts.

YES. This is probably the PS3's biggest pitfall. The XBOX is a super-basic, Tri-Core PowerPC CPU with a traditionally separate Graphics chip, while the PS3's Cell is basically one normal processor with several smaller processors combined into one unit, AND a GPU called the "Reality Synthesizer" on top of that. Reading the article on Wikipedia just makes my brain go all weird. AND the CECH-A01 original fat PS3 has a whole Emotion Engine chip on the motherboard for the PS1/PS2 backwards compatibility.

I had a Wii first, and it was definitely awesome, because a lot of my friend's families had Wiis too. So we were definitely using the message board and Online features. Here at college, we have both an XBOX 360 and a PS3 handy, but we definitely use the PS3 more.

[ThinkPad560X]

@Medessec: I was always hoping Nintendo would bring out a cartridge USB connector of NES,SNES,N64 and even make USB controllers of all of their console gens. And even release a Disc drive to play all Nintendo disc with official Nintendo software for PC. From what I read, Sony is wanting to bring all Sony games to diffrent platforms and maybe PS4 will be the last hardware console. Even Nintendo isnt doing to well with Wii U, But it would be nice if all 3 companys would release a OEM Emulator software for PC along with hardware. They could Make more money off old non profit consoles by doing this.

[Medessec]

Meh. I doubt they'd engage in that level of business. Despite the inevitable profit that would come from such a work of genius, the whole point of a console is to develop a monopoly. It's like Macintosh computers-it makes something that would normally be a slight chore to execute(i.e, PC gaming) a "seamless" press-and-go solution for lazy people. New consoles anyway. Pre-N64 and N64 gamers, you're in the clear.

Which is why no company that's made a console, at least... as far as I can make out, has released an Emulator for their own console games on the PC. It defeats the point of them manufacturing the console. The closest thing that comes to your idea is the Wii's Wiiware and Virtual Console, where you can digital-download some old N64 and even Gamecube games as "applications", instead of cartridges or disks, on the Wii's internal memory.

Even if Sony takes steps to move their games to PC software, and ditch the console as a gaming solution, it'll still be very limited in function and capability. You'll probably need to download Gigabytes' worth of emulation and client-based software from Sony just to play these "special Sony Games", as well as PSN software(security antsyness...?) it'll basically be a more totalitarian, and... worse, version of Steam for the PC. Even if they gave that software the ability to play PS3/PS4 games on your PC, I would rather have my CECH-A01 PS3 and PS4 consoles, instead of having a beast machine PC that's terribly cluttered.

Nintendo will probably never make emulation hardware/software for the PC, because that's just not how they tick. Their consoles have always been geared the farthest away from PCs. The Wii's disc drive is PERFECTLY capable of reading movie DVDs, but Nintendo didn't add the feature. Why? Why did they do that? Nintendo's always been more about making the gaming scene about being interactive and easy for families as well, their original console was called the "Family Computer" for crying out loud. But times have changed, computers are becoming easier and easier for your Grandma and Great Aunt to operate, they're slowly but surely filling the gap.