Favorite non-Nec system

[AlexKidd]

So i'm assuming the turbo grafx/duo/pc engine is one of everybody's favorites on here. So what other systems are some of your favorites? I'm a big fan of all the 16-bit systems. The snes was great for Rpg's and Nintendo titles and the genesis was good for everything else(though it did have some nice rpg's too). Those two along with the turbo are my all time favorite systems. For pre-16-bit stuff I like the nes and sms. For newer stuff I like the cube and ds.

[lord_cack]

Well, hmmm...I would have to say the SNES...the library of titles is to great to pass up. Then the NES, same as before. Then....PC, gotta say it has to many options add in emulation there you go

The Playstation 1-2 (and probably 3) era has been great. But All those others would come first.

[twor2005]

Turbo Express  

Actually I like the Gamecube for modern gaming, and the PS2 for niche games. And I just picked up a new third party NES the other day on Ebay and I've been playing Batman.

[cozzie]

I could not pick a favourite system as they all have great games the Dreamcast which was way ahead of its time I love plus I think it has the best limited edition variations of all systems.
Megadrive or Genesis as American people call it and pc engine are brilliant machines also and the rather obscure Fm towns Marty a very underated machine which has some awesome arcade conversions and the best home version of Splatterhouse available.
Then their is the Sega Saturn which plays host to some wonderfull shoot em ups and did a lot better in Japan than either America or Europe.
I will always have a soft spot for Sega hardware though.
I just wish that they could release a new machine that would blow everone away and that software developers would embrace.
Wishfull thinking I know!

[OldRover]

Atari 2600. Seriously! When games were games, not visual glory-fests...

[Ninja Spirit]

NES/Famicom
SNES/SFC
Sega Saturn
Neo Geo AES
Playstation 1/2

[JBSpeed]

I won an atari lynx in a contest along time ago, nice little system. actually had a choice of a lynx, gameboy, or game gear, no turbo express though.

The last console I bought was the 3do, a very odd mix of games and with the fz1 model, a duo will sit nicely on top.

[Keranu]

The NES and the Duo systems are easily the best game consoles ever made for me. It's just really hard to say which one is better.

My other favorite systems:

Genesis
Neo Geo
SNES
Neo Geo Pocket Color (best original handheld system in my opinion)
Atari 2600
Sega Master System

[jlued686]

The Dreamcast sits right behind my Turbo Duo as my favorite system ever.  Currently, I play all three of the consoles and both of the major handhelds, but the DS is quickly becoming a favorite since they're finally releasing some worthy titles for it.

[twor2005]

Atari 2600. Seriously! When games were games, not visual glory-fests...

How in the world did the Atari do that sweet special effect with all the color lines? That looked like an awful lot of color. Its on the title screen for one of the Tron games, and a few others like maybe Swordquests.

[twor2005]

The Dreamcast sits right behind my Turbo Duo as my favorite system ever.  Currently, I play all three of the consoles and both of the major handhelds, but the DS is quickly becoming a favorite since they're finally releasing some worthy titles for it.

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I love the DC. Mine has a lot of yellowing though  

[Keranu]

Haha, better start soaking your DC in bleach!

[lord_cack]

And I just picked up a new third party NES the other day on Ebay and I've been playing Batman.

This is a bit off topic do these work well, I mean in comparison to an NES with a new connector is it a similar quality or at least to they have a similar life span? Cause I want an NES (I won an NES on Ebay and the F*&ker never sent it...) and I see alot of these around. Just wondering if I would be wasting my money or not...

[OldRover]

How in the world did the Atari do that sweet special effect with all the color lines? That looked like an awful lot of color. Its on the title screen for one of the Tron games, and a few others like maybe Swordquests.

I know the effect you're talking about...it was in quite a few games, especially in the Swordquest series. Swordquest: Earthworld used it a lot in particular. I've never coded the Atari 2600, but I do know what it involves, and part of what it involves is being responsible for programming every scanline. So who knows what they were able to pull off...although I have noticed that the effect only ever happened horizontally...you never saw vertical lines of multiple colours like that...

[twor2005]

And I just picked up a new third party NES the other day on Ebay and I've been playing Batman.

This is a bit off topic do these work well, I mean in comparison to an NES with a new connector is it a similar quality or at least to they have a similar life span? Cause I want an NES (I won an NES on Ebay and the F*&ker never sent it...) and I see alot of these around. Just wondering if I would be wasting my money or not...

They work beautifully; you can see it in the pic above on the left. There are a couple of different models available but I recommend that one because its compatible with the original controllers; the other main version you see on ebay is not. Unless you want to play Famicom games, in which case I'm not sure which is best. They might not be compatible with the unlicensed Tengen games but I've never tried. I have no idea about the life span since I've only had it a month or so and only use it once in a while, but it probably compares with other top loading systems.

I also installed a new 72 pin connector in my old NES, as you mentioned. It too works perfectly (for the first time I can remember) but its about 4x the size and not nearly as cool looking. Its an easy install, took about an hour and no skill/soldering etc necessary.


All this is legit because Nintendo's patent on the NES expired in case you didn't know.

[twor2005]

How in the world did the Atari do that sweet special effect with all the color lines? That looked like an awful lot of color. Its on the title screen for one of the Tron games, and a few others like maybe Swordquests.

I know the effect you're talking about...it was in quite a few games, especially in the Swordquest series. Swordquest: Earthworld used it a lot in particular. I've never coded the Atari 2600, but I do know what it involves, and part of what it involves is being responsible for programming every scanline. So who knows what they were able to pull off...although I have noticed that the effect only ever happened horizontally...you never saw vertical lines of multiple colours like that...

Just out of curiosity, does that show up on any other system? Even when Atari was laughably trying to pit the 2600 against the NES I don't remember seeing a single NES game that did that, for example. What about collections of Atari games on current systems? Though I'm sure the PS2 could pull it off of course, I wonder if its achieved through the same trick via emulation or just simulated?

[Keranu]

I always loved that effect in Atari 2600 games as well.

[TJ]

This is a bit off topic do these work well, I mean in comparison to an NES with a new connector is it a similar quality or at least to they have a similar life span? Cause I want an NES (I won an NES on Ebay and the F*&ker never sent it...) and I see alot of these around. Just wondering if I would be wasting my money or not...

I've got one of those "FC Game Consoles" (or Neo-Fami, as it was called in Japan) and I like it. The construction of the console itself feels a little lightweight, but it works very nicely for both NES games as well as Famicom games with a Honeybee or similar convertor. It's got A/V out, so it's actually better than a top-loading NES in that respect, and it accepts original NES controllers so you can use your favorite old pad or NES Advantage if you don't like the pads provided (the Neo-Fami version had its own proprietary controller ports so you were stuck with the ones they gave you).

I do have two minor gripes about it -- 1) occasionally it'll seem like a sound effect or some music doesn't sound quite right, like it doesn't exactly match the output of an original NES, and 2) they REALLY should have put an eject button on it, like a Famicom or Super Famicom, because you gotta put one hand down on the console and pull HARD to get your cartridge out!

But all in all it's a nice little system and definitely worth the $30-$40 if you're in need of a functioning NES.

[OldRover]

Just out of curiosity, does that show up on any other system? Even when Atari was laughably trying to pit the 2600 against the NES I don't remember seeing a single NES game that did that, for example. What about collections of Atari games on current systems? Though I'm sure the PS2 could pull it off of course, I wonder if its achieved through the same trick via emulation or just simulated?

I've never seen it done on any other consoles...about the closest I've seen is the traditional palette rotation (anyone remember "The Edge" in Phantasy Star 4 for the Genesis? That's one of the most insane palette-rotation areas I've ever seen in ANY video game) which can be done on any console that uses a palette index. The NES can't do the effect for sure...its video hardware is too lacking. Using palette rotation though, even a system as crippled as the Genesis would be able to simulate the effect, although you'd see better results on the PCE and far better results on the SNES with its expanded palette...Faceball 2000 anyone?

[Keranu]

Didn't AMIGA games use this effect quite often as well?

[OldRover]

Palette rotation. That technique was made a household name on the Amiga.

[Ninja Spirit]

Regarding the Neo Fami, I don't know whether to get one because I happen to own 4 Famicom games that have extra chips in them to enhance the sound (Akmajou Densetsu, Madara, Lagrange Point, DDS Megami Tensei II) I'm kinda in the dark about whether Neo Famis support those chips or not.

[dj898]

saturn was and is my fav console...

[TJ]

Regarding the Neo Fami, I don't know whether to get one because I happen to own 4 Famicom games that have extra chips in them to enhance the sound (Akmajou Densetsu, Madara, Lagrange Point, DDS Megami Tensei II) I'm kinda in the dark about whether Neo Famis support those chips or not.

I don't see why it wouldn't. It's not like the original Famicom was made especially to support them...in other words, you can play 1988's Akumajou Densetsu on a 1983 Famicom, so I would think you could play it on a NeoFami or FC Game Console. Unfortunately I don't have any of those games to test it out with...why don't you send me your copy of Dracula III so we can find out? ;P

[TurboHuC6280]

I've gotta say that the Dreamcast is one of my favorites.  I've got 60-70 games for that system...  Though I also have the same amount for the PSX which doesn't really hold a special place in my heart all that much.

[Josep_BV]

My favourite console is NeoGeo (sorry everybody)  in first position, Pc-Engine the second and Super Famicom the third.

[PC Gaijin]

Atari 2600. Seriously! When games were games, not visual glory-fests...

How in the world did the Atari do that sweet special effect with all the color lines? That looked like an awful lot of color. Its on the title screen for one of the Tron games, and a few others like maybe Swordquests.

I don't know how it was done on the 2600, but on the Atari 8-bit computer line (which has basically the same hardware as the 5200) you could change the color registers during the interval between the end of drawing one scanline, and the beginning of the next (the time when the electron gun in your CRT was being repositioned). I assume this was how the 2600 worked as well. Using this technique every color in the system's palette could displayed onscreen at one time, although you were limited to changes per scanline (which is why the color changes were always horizontal) and however many color registers you had to play with for the graphics mode that particular scanline was being displayed in. The ANTIC/GTIA chip combo was really awesome for the time: hardware scrolling, sprites, mixing and matching of various graphics modes on a per scanline basis, large color palette (256 colors), etc. Amazing for hardware designed in '78 and released in 79-80. Check out some of the later Atari games like the '88 Mario Bros. remake, the (unfortunately unreleased) port of Commando, Airball, Rescue on Fractulus, Alternate Reality, etc. to see what this system was really capable of. I always used to laugh at the dorks who wrote Gamefan raving about things like multiple layers of parallax and "line scrolls" (per scanline scrolling) on Genesis games like that was something new. The Atari 8-bit hardware could do all that and it was 10 years older than the Genesis

Well, as you can tell I'm a bit of an Atari fan . Not so much the 2600, more a fan of the Atari 8-bit home computer line. My Atari 800XL, which I received in 1983, was my main gaming system up until '89 when I got a Turbografx-16 (I only owned an NES briefly during 1989, but I sold it to buy the Turbo). I still have tons of fond memories of that machine even though it doesn't work anymore.

However, besides the Turbo my next most favorite system would have to be the Sega Saturn. The Saturn is the spiritual successor to the PC Engine in my eyes. Just like the Turbo/PC Engine, it was decently popular in Japan while bombing over here in the US. And the Saturn got more of the "core" games like the PC Engine and had sort of the same vibe (to me anyway) as that system.

Super NES rounds out my top three console systems. Just too many fantastically good games on the SNES to ignore. The SNES really was the best of both worlds: all of Nintendo's games (and some of their all-time best IMO) combined with tremendous third party support.

As for this gen: everything except the Dreamcast has left me cold (the DC just misses out on a spot amongst my top systems, it just wasn't around long enough to make it). Good games here and there, but I'm just not into console gaming much anymore (more a PC gamer nowadays).

[rolins]

Regarding the Neo Fami, I don't know whether to get one because I happen to own 4 Famicom games that have extra chips in them to enhance the sound (Akmajou Densetsu, Madara, Lagrange Point, DDS Megami Tensei II) I'm kinda in the dark about whether Neo Famis support those chips or not.

No, the Neo Fami and the Messiah's Nes are just clones. Those famicom games with special sound chips, like Akmajou Densetsu, is not supported on any clone available. You can play them but the custom sound chip won't be used, so sound will be inaccurate.

Your better off getting a real Famicom. The ultimate Famicom setup is a AV Famicom with 72pin->60pin converter. So you can play games from any region. Here is what I'm talking about...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NES-FAMICOM-New-Famicom-HVC-101-FULL-SET-JAPAN_W0QQitemZ8208757825QQcategoryZ62054QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know they're expensive, but these models are the most sought after.

[Ninja Spirit]

There's another Famicom system which is rightfully even higher than the AV FC.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Twin-Famicom-AN-5008B-16-game-Super-
Twin Famicom aka The "Famicom Duo"

[akamichi]

No, the Neo Fami and the Messiah's Nes are just clones. Those famicom games with special sound chips, like Akmajou Densetsu, is not supported on any clone available. You can play them but the custom sound chip won't be used, so sound will be inaccurate.

Hmm... I have a Famicon clone and I thought Akumajou Densetsu sounded the way it was supposed to.  I'll have to compare it to a real Famicon and listen to music again.
 

Your better off getting a real Famicom. The ultimate Famicom setup is a AV Famicom with 72pin->60pin converter. So you can play games from any region. Here is what I'm talking about...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NES-FAMICOM-New-Famicom-HVC-101-FULL-SET-JAPAN_W0QQitemZ8208757825QQcategoryZ62054QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know they're expensive, but these models are the most sought after.

I agree.  It's best to get the real thing.  However, the price in that auction is just ridiculous!  Heck, I bought my brand new AV Fami for about $55-$60 last year and I thought that was expensive.  I see them going for roughly $70 new and $60 used now.

[Ninja Spirit]

I'ma save up for a Twin Famicom. After all I always wanted to get into Famicom Disk System.

My Famiclone worked with that chip too, but the control pins became brittle and fell apart. So I just threw it in the trash.

[rolins]

I'ma save up for a Twin Famicom. After all I always wanted to get into Famicom Disk System.

Twin Faimcoms are great. My neighbor just recently bought his a few months ago off ebay. They're not cheap, and the only problem you should be worried about is the floppy disk drive. Original FDD used rubber belts and are prone to tear after 10 years of use. This also applies to the Famicom Disk System attachement. The only way to repair them is to get a replacement belt which are hard to find. Not to mention that FDS games also require maintaince because they get very dirty.

[Blasta_Mazta]

my nes is really pissing me off right now. i started playing it again a few weeks ago and games keep on messing up. it's twenty years, should be expected, right?

as for best console other than turbo grafx, i'd have to say SNES simply because of FF III and Chrono Trigger, which set the bar for all other rpg's. chrono trigger was definately one of the best, if not the best 16 bit game ever made.

[rolins]

my nes is really pissing me off right now. i started playing it again a few weeks ago and games keep on messing up.

How is it getting "messed up"? Are getting a blinking screen? Because that can be easily fixed by replacing the 72-pin connector. You also might want to clean the contacts of your cartridges because they get dirty easily.

[Blasta_Mazta]

whoa! i mentioned my nes messing up simply because people brought it as a favorite. i wasn't expecting any help, lol. let me explain exactly what's happening: at first i thought their was no hope, but i cleaned out the game(s) i wanted to play and after repeatedly and annoyingly blowing into the cartridge and positioning the game in numerous positions, i got it to kind of work. this brought back memories of why i used to hate this system.

but eventually, i got it to work, but when i play it for around 2, 3 hours flashing lines start to appear on the screen and the game is more difficult to see. shortly after that, the game will reset or my man will get stuckin like the middle of a mountain, no way to escape.

i don't know what a 72-pin connector is.

as for the blank screen, that always appears, but i manage to take that away by adjusting the way in which the video game is positioned.

[GUTS]

Do a search for "NES 72 pin connector" on ebay, they're like $6 shipped.  The 72 pin connector is the thingy that the cartridges plug into and is the part on every NES that goes bad.  Replace that bad boy and it'll work like brand new for 5-6 more years!  Plus they're ultra easy to install, you just unscrew the top of the system, unscrew the metal shielding, slide the old connector off, then slide the new one on and put everything back together.

[rolins]

First off, please do not blow in nes carts or any other video game carts. The moisture in a person's breath will damage the game if you continue to do that.

In order to clean a nes game you only need two things. A Q-tip and some generic Windex. Wet the Q-Tip with some windex and clean the gold contacts of the cartridge. You don't need to take apart the cartridge to do this.

The 72-pin is usually the source of the blinking/blank screen problem. Most often the contacts are worn out and dirty and the only way to fix it is to replace it. 72-pin connectors are cheap and can be bought on ebay for like $2 - $5. You do need to take apart your nes so you can replace the 72pin connector, but its easy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NINTENDO-72-PIN-NES-CONNECTOR-Best-Connectors-on-eBay_W0QQitemZ8215522447QQcategoryZ41046QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Keranu]

I never knew about replacing the 72 pin connector! I'll have to get one sometime and try it out!

[Blasta_Mazta]

yo gutz, you're probly right. that's definately the problem. thanx alot, that's definately what i'll do. it's really annoying hoping the game doesn't mess up.

[esteban]

Not too long ago Nintendo of America was providing free (you may have had to pay for shipping) 72-pin connectors to folks who requested them. Pretty kool, if NOA actually did that.

[Keranu]

That's sweet!

[PCEngineHell]

My Athlon 64 gaming computer is my favorite non NEC game system I own. I built it from the ground up as I do all my gaming computers.
I have a gig of ram,a Radeon 9700 Pro with a Cooler Master copper heat pipe cooler installed onto it,and a 60 gig and 80 gig hd.

[khyrox]

My Saturn is my favorite non-NEC system. Love it love it love it!

I'm glad I bought most of the games I wanted to play on that system when they first came out... I can't believe how much it costs to buy some of them off eBay nowadays!!

[TR0N]

However, besides the Turbo my next most favorite system would have to be the Sega Saturn. The Saturn is the spiritual successor to the PC Engine in my eyes. Just like the Turbo/PC Engine, it was decently popular in Japan while bombing over here in the US. And the Saturn got more of the "core" games like the PC Engine and had sort of the same vibe (to me anyway) as that system.

Agreed

[Keranu]

The Saturn is pretty much a PC Engine with better hardware, they are like brothers.

[khyrox]

The Saturn was sorely underrated. It's too bad that by the time Saturn really started to strut its stuff, it was too late to make any real impact.

I posted this on another forum, but here's a link to footage of Shenmue running on Saturn:

http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_commercial.asp?ID=178

I thought it was really impressive!

[mamonohunter]

I choose snes as my favorite non-pc engine console. One of my alltime favorite games Super Metroid is featured and lots of other classics I like such as Super Turrican, Contra III, Street Fighter 2, Ganbare Goemon, Ultimate Parodious, Axelay etc. Im also very impressed by the powerful quality on Hardware and Software, I was very violent on my SNES stuff when I was a kid but still it never failed working no matter how much violence I gave it.

After that I add Sega Genesis, Saturn and Neo Geo as my other favorite non-NEC consoles.

[RCduck7]

The Saturn was sorely underrated. It's too bad that by the time Saturn really started to strut its stuff, it was too late to make any real impact.

I posted this on another forum, but here's a link to footage of Shenmue running on Saturn:

http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_commercial.asp?ID=178

I thought it was really impressive!

Very amazing what the developers could do with the saturn wich was actually more of a 2D machine.  

[khyrox]

The Saturn was sorely underrated. It's too bad that by the time Saturn really started to strut its stuff, it was too late to make any real impact.

I posted this on another forum, but here's a link to footage of Shenmue running on Saturn:

http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_commercial.asp?ID=178

I thought it was really impressive!

Very amazing what the developers could do with the saturn wich was actually more of a 2D machine.  

The Saturn was a capable machine, it just took a lot more effort to produce quality 3D visuals. Effort that many developers didn't think was worth it given the beating Sony was giving Sega at the time.

[RCduck7]

The Saturn was sorely underrated. It's too bad that by the time Saturn really started to strut its stuff, it was too late to make any real impact.

I posted this on another forum, but here's a link to footage of Shenmue running on Saturn:

http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_commercial.asp?ID=178

I thought it was really impressive!

Very amazing what the developers could do with the saturn wich was actually more of a 2D machine.  

The Saturn was a capable machine, it just took a lot more effort to produce quality 3D visuals. Effort that many developers didn't think was worth it given the beating Sony was giving Sega at the time.

i suppose it was due not giving it the effort.
Sega Rally was a good conversion while daytona and touring car were utter crap compared to the coin op.
I think it made many wonder if the saturn was capable.
Sony was without a doubt an other nail in sega's coffin.
For instance Tomb Raider was first released on the saturn, still it was sony getting all the credit and succes with the tomb raider name.