November 17, 2001

7:22 AM

With the gamecube, xbox and ps2all on the market (although ps2 has been around awhile), it seems to be gaming heaven. I've always been a nintendo man, what do you guys/gals think? Can you rate your top five consoles of all time (based purely on joy it brought to you)?
posted by dig_duggler (53 comments total)

pong-1978
commadore-1982
PS1-1999
vulcan orgone box-2356
posted by clavdivs at 7:31 AM on November 17, 2001

Top Five? Have there been that many great consoles? It's hard to rank consoles across generations. I loved my Atari 2600, at the time, as much as I love my PS2, but how can I compare a system that came with Combat! to a system I bought with SSX?

Top Five Chronologically (like something out of High Fidelity):

1. Atari 2600 (beats Coleco because of all those Activision games)
2. Nintendo (duh)
3. Sega Genesis (NHL 94 alone would be enough)
4. PSX
5. PS2 (SSX, GTA3, MGS)
posted by yerfatma at 7:34 AM on November 17, 2001

Intellivision
Nintendo
N64 (super smash brothers)

thats about it.

soon to be...
GameCube (Super Smash Brothers Melee)
posted by howa2396 at 7:37 AM on November 17, 2001

Oh man-- how could I forget the C64? I don't know who to knock out, but put the C64 in there. Ah, Jumpman, Bruce Lee, Crystal Castles, Infiltrator, Ghostbusters, Krateka . . .
posted by yerfatma at 7:37 AM on November 17, 2001

5 - Colecovision
4 - Nintendo
3 - PSX
2 - PSX2
1 - MAME!!!
posted by phalkin at 7:42 AM on November 17, 2001

1- atari
2- nintendo
3- pong
4- matel football 2
5- gameboy color
posted by chokersandwich at 7:46 AM on November 17, 2001

1.Pong (we were so easy to please in those days)
2.Intellivision (Burgertime & Space Invaders)
3.Nintendo (we've got 2 rebuilts running now)
4 Playstation(going to buy Dragon Warrior Vll today)
5.No idea yet
posted by Mack Twain at 7:48 AM on November 17, 2001

1. Amiga500
2. Commodore 64
3. Sega Genisis
4. Sony Playstation
5. Vectrex
posted by Brilliantcrank at 7:50 AM on November 17, 2001

<stupid_question>Okay ... pretend I'm from Mars. Why get a game box when you have a computer?<\stupid_question>
posted by RavinDave at 7:54 AM on November 17, 2001

1. Gemini (Atari 2600 clone)
2. Amiga 500
3. N64
4. PS2 or XBox (haven't decided)
posted by SuperBreakout at 7:54 AM on November 17, 2001

1. Intellivision
2. Coleco vision
3. Atari 2600
4. Odyssey
posted by justgary at 7:54 AM on November 17, 2001

5. Mattel Classic Football
posted by justgary at 7:56 AM on November 17, 2001

vulcan orgone box-2356

Wow, where did you get one of those babies?! I thought that the Vulcan FDA destroyed all of them in 2352 shortly after Wilhelm T'Pok was declared guilty of promoting pleasurable emotions and undermining the sacred traditions of Ponn Farr by the High Council.

Do you sit inside of it naked?
posted by MrBaliHai at 7:57 AM on November 17, 2001

Okay ... pretend I'm from Mars. Why get a game box when you have a computer?

Entirely different games, even entirely different generas of games -- console games tend to be better for quick-pickup 10minutes at a time stuff, or with a couple people. In general, more arcade-y and less complicated (not a bad thing, I like both console and PC games, personally).
posted by malphigian at 8:04 AM on November 17, 2001

In no particular order:

Nintendo
Super Nintendo
Dreamcast
Playstation
Genesis

None of the new consoles have been around long enough to prove themselves, and I honestly can't give my well formed opinion on pre-NES systems.
posted by Fahrenheit at 8:08 AM on November 17, 2001

Okay ... pretend I'm from Mars. Why get a game box when you have a computer?

Because Its alot easier to crowd four beer drinking guys around a big screen TV and give them each a little handheld controller than it is to haul in four computers and setup a LAN.
posted by howa2396 at 8:10 AM on November 17, 2001

Breakout - I traded a bicycle for my first video game.

Atari 2600 - I loved Activision's Decathlon, but it was a joystick destroyer.

Super Nintendo - I remember being very impressed by the echoes in Super Mario Brothers the first day my family got this system.

Playstation - A great system with tons of games for every interest.

Dreamcast - Vastly underrated console, and it's dirt cheap now. If you have any interest at all in gaming, but don't want to spend the $500 it takes to get into one of the newer systems like Playstation 2, I highly recommend Dreamcast, which has a host of great $10-15 titles.
posted by MegoSteve at 8:20 AM on November 17, 2001

In vulcan tone-"MrBaiHai that is classified like our tractor beam."(must watch that vulcan stuff, got FLAMED once at a bar for comparing a mutual friend to a vulcan "hmmm vulcans are not real" he said "Ok Lord Jim" i sayz (crowd went wild) I forgot one, that hand-held Mr. Quarterback thingie, circa 1979. but computer. from what i hear PSIII is the mack daddy. perhaps 10 gig? processor of the semi-god...cant wait till i cant afford it.
posted by clavdivs at 8:37 AM on November 17, 2001

1. PSX
2. Nintendo
3. Sega Genesis
4. Odyssey2 (Pick Axe Pete!)
5. Dreamcast
posted by jpoulos at 8:47 AM on November 17, 2001

Okay ... pretend I'm from Mars. Why get a game box when you have a computer?

Honestly, because when a new game comes out for PS2 that looks incredible, I don't have to wonder, "Can my hardware support that?" When I buy the game and bring it home, there's no hassle of reconfiguring everything to make one game work. Add to that the 4 player thing, or even two players. The games are different, it's easier and more social.
posted by yerfatma at 8:53 AM on November 17, 2001

its great that xbox and gamecube will more than make up for the ps2's shortcomings like not having hardware based antialaising. oh and lets not mention the lackluster games that have been released for ps2 except for MGS2. im still hearing that a 40gig HD is going to be released for the ps2 lol. the ti 500 came out already (early christmas 4 me) and it really stacks up to the next gen consoles (cost about the same too). but console games are much easier to set up and just play compared to computer games that require configuring. btw Dreamcast is still a great console to own even if sega gave up on it :(
posted by AntonioCr at 9:35 AM on November 17, 2001

Entirely different games, even entirely different generas of games

Yeah, what platformers are there for the PC? I guess American McGee's Alice might count, but Sonic Adventure was still the last good platformer I played.
posted by markpasc at 9:44 AM on November 17, 2001

Dreamcast - Quake 3 arena, Metropolis Street Racer, Soul Caliber, Shenmue, the magic of ChuChu Rocket, Sonic Adenture (both I and II) of and the glorious Jet Set Rocket. The DC was shamefully overlooked.
posted by nedrichards at 9:57 AM on November 17, 2001

My top systems (and the reasons why)

1. Nintendo Entertainment System- The technology was good enough that they could make a wide variety of games and new enough that they were willing to try anything. Will we ever see another power glove, or robot? Nintendo always had the farthest out games.

Will there ever be another game like Narc, where drugs fill the screen and bad guys shoot needles?

2. Sega Genesis- I'm not a big fan of sports but I loved playing them on the Genesis. They didn't have the "sweet spots" that the Nintendo had, making the games a bit more challenging.

3. N64- Some of the funnest games I've played, with incredible levels of depth, and also great for multi-players

4. Sega Dreamcast- Sega was so excited when this came out. It's a shame they didn't stick by it. The system's games were a throwback to the far out games of days gone by... "Crazy Taxi" and "Jet Grind Radio" will always have a place in my heart...

5. (Not certain whether to include portables) The Game Boy- I got mine for christmas in 91(?) while my best friend got a Game Gear. He bragged about having color but would always borrow my GB to play "quarth", 'Revenge of the Gator" or any of the other addictive games made for the Gameboy.
posted by drezdn at 9:58 AM on November 17, 2001

NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
ps2
ps1
sega genesis
atarit

As much as I love my PS2, the nintendo is still alive and kicking. In fact, I just had a rousing game of Super Tecmo Bowl last night.
posted by untuckedshirts at 10:03 AM on November 17, 2001

the nintendo is still alive and kicking. In fact, I just had a rousing game of Super Tecmo Bowl last night.

Where I work, we switch between that, Ice Hockey and super Spike Volleyball... I wonder if any of the newer systems will be as fun to play 13 years from now?
posted by drezdn at 10:07 AM on November 17, 2001

Any machine that I can play the Legend of Zelda series on. Including the GameBoy version. Although I've only beaten the two recent ones, Orcania of Time and Majora's Mask.
posted by Katy Action at 10:11 AM on November 17, 2001

This had me laughing out loud this week.

5. Original GameBoy
4. PS2
3. MAME (even though it's not a console)
2. Atari 2600
1. Sega Dreamcast (there were so many games that were masterpieces just before the flameout.)
posted by eyeballkid at 10:12 AM on November 17, 2001

its great that xbox and gamecube will more than make up for the ps2's shortcomings like not having hardware based antialaising. oh and lets not mention the lackluster games that have been released for ps2 except for MGS2.

Look, I'm sorry the Dreamcast didn't work out. It's a good system. I like it. But the statement above is pure BS. I don't believe anyone playing a game loses interest due to a lack of anti-aliasing.

As for the lackluster games, keep believing that: I'll be in the next room deciding between 2 SSXs, Grand Theft Auto 3, MGS, Tiger Woods, ATV Off-Road, Gran Turismo 3, Tony Hawk 3, etc.
posted by yerfatma at 10:22 AM on November 17, 2001

when i was a kid and had a commodore 64, my mom subscribed to a magazine that would come with a floppy with games. Also in the magazine was the source code to games that you yourself would have to type in and compile. I was eight or ten at the time, and i figured out how to tweak colors and eventually some gameplay. I basically learned how to code.
posted by panopticon at 10:27 AM on November 17, 2001

Where I work, we switch between that, Ice Hockey and super Spike Volleyball... I wonder if any of the newer systems will be as fun to play 13 years from now?

While you have only raised the question, I think you are pointing out a difference in those NES games and today's games. For me, I find a kind of "loss of innocence" in video games, which is the prime reason that I am no longer an active gamer. While I once played games daily on my Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and PlayStation while growing up, I have now reached a point where I just don't see so much fun in many new games. Either I find the game doesn't provide anything new or it is not as simple and addicting as the older games were for me. While I am looking forward to sitting down and playing Metal Gear Solid 2 when I finally get down to the grit and decide to purchase a PS2, I wish new games could return to simplier, old school gameplay. I can always find myself returning to my NES to play Castlevania; I sure was happy when Konami released Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the PlayStation, too. Yet that series has failed to make a successful transition into 3d.

Look, I'm sorry the Dreamcast didn't work out. It's a good system. I like it. But the statement above is pure BS. I don't believe anyone playing a game loses interest due to a lack of anti-aliasing.

The NES sure didn't have anti-aliasing! HAHA Besides that, only the nit-picky gamer will whine about anti-aliasing. While playing some new football game on the PS2: "WHAT?! I would've made that pass if this system had anti-aliasing!" Seriously that is a redundant comment and smash on such a criticism, but its true--anti-aliasing is not vital.
posted by crog at 10:34 AM on November 17, 2001

Anti-aliasing and hardware jabs are seriously better left to the message boards at Gamespot.com. Games are about gameplay.

(speaking of which: I'm in the middle of Metal Gear Solid2 right now, and there is no gameplay, just movies seperated by a little maze navigation. The movies are better than anything I've seen on a console, sure, but MGS2 doesn't have the gameplay of Tony Hawk 3 or Grand Theft Auto 3.)
posted by eyeballkid at 10:47 AM on November 17, 2001

Grand Theft Auto 3

Grand Theft Auto,IMHO, (the first one, I haven't played the second two) is the perfect example that if a game has a great crazy idea, it will be fun to play no matter how bad the graphics.
posted by drezdn at 10:54 AM on November 17, 2001

Right now my top games are:

- Oddworld Munch's Oddysee (XBOX)
- Halo (XBOX)
- Tony Hawk 3 (PS2)
- Grand Theft Auto (PS2)

Games of old include Sonics, both Genesis and Dreamcast; Nights on the Saturn; Mario World (SNES); Metroid (SNES).

I have been really disappointed with a lot of transition games that have gone 2D --> 3D. I saw scree shots of Metroid for the GameCube and shuddered. This was one of the best shoot-em-up, adventure style side scrolling platformers ever, and this necessity to make everything appear 3 dimensional, even when it hinders game play has gone too far. Another example of this is Mario 64. It was fairly playable, but would have preferred the older style systems.

As for the new game systems, I'd hedge my bets on Microsoft and Sony. Sony does have an established system, and Nintendo's system just doesn't jump out at me. When I was at the XBox launch the other day where I was buying (not the NYC one, but here in Cincinnati) we were talking about the systems and this and that, and discussing possible GameCube system sellers, and the only one we could really come up with was the new Star Wars game, which while nice looking, isn't the most wonderful thing ever. And Microsoft, well... Bill G rarely loses. And I doubt he is going down this time either.
posted by benjh at 11:04 AM on November 17, 2001

This was my first main page post, I was afraid of getting slammed, but it seemed to go over well. Anyway, thought I'd weigh in w/
1). NES- spawned almost all of the classics that come to mind (at least to people of my generation -mid 20's). Produced the best mario games and made a pseudo-rgp that was actually accessible to people that hate rgp's (zelda). Best gameplay of all time.
2). N64- somewhat questionable ranking, but given the solid games that came out (Mario Kart will probably rank as the best all time drink-beer-and-play-all-night game) Zelda, Goldeneye (best first person shooter as far as I'm concerned) and some great Mario based sports games.
3). Genesis- Sonic was the first non-nintendo franchise to really work. Began the EA revolution, and has the best game ever, the original NHL Hockey. If you played it before all others, you know what I mean.
4). PS- never owned it, but it had some great games and established a new console which raised the bar for everyone. Games now are better b/c of it.
5). 3DO- my brother had one and we got drunk all the time in high school and played it. Purely sentimental, but there was a fighting game for it that rocked (Tam Tam was in it- anybody remember the name of this?)

and I didn't even get to fit in Atari 2600, Super Nintendo, gameboy, dreamcast or a commadore 64.
posted by dig_duggler at 11:11 AM on November 17, 2001

I'm in the middle of Metal Gear Solid2 right now, and there is no gameplay, just movies seperated by a little maze navigation.

If that is true, then I am disappointed. Although I was very happy with Metal Gear Solid Snake for the PlayStation. The gameplay was an easy transition from the MSX and NES classic that preceded it, which emphasized stealth in the game play. I played the MGS2 demo, and I was rather happy to see the way things were going with the series.

I saw scree shots of Metroid for the GameCube and shuddered. This was one of the best shoot-em-up, adventure style side scrolling platformers ever, and this necessity to make everything appear 3 dimensional, even when it hinders game play has gone too far.

I am not expecting much from Metroid. The brains behind the Metroid series, Gunpei Yokoi died in a car accident in 1997. Now Retro Studios, a game developing company based in Austin, TX, is working on Metroid Prime for the Game Cube. While the graphics look slick, you'll never know where the series might've continued if Gunpei Yokoi was still working on it.
posted by crog at 11:57 AM on November 17, 2001

Nintendo Entertainment System will always be my favorite system, for the sheer amount of classics, memories and gameplay. Getting sloshed and playing Super Mario Bros. or Duck Hunt is one of life's pleasures. I am determined to repair my control deck someday.

SNES was fun too; the original Mario Kart is one of the greats and I loved Super Metroid.

N64 I don't regert buying, but I don't play many of the games anymore. Mario 64 and Zelda: The Ocarina of Time were fantastic games, but I basically beat them and put them on the bottom shelf. Not much replay value there. Goldeneye, however, is a godsend. We can play that game over and over and over and over, it's 4-player mode never loses it's replay value. I also still play a lot of NFL Blitz.

I've never strayed from the Nintendo brand, and nowadays I don't really play video games anymore. I don't see myself throwing a few hundred dollars at an XBox or PS2 when I've still got my NES.
posted by tomorama at 12:00 PM on November 17, 2001

Seems like I've had them all at one time or another but my five consoles would be (in the order that I owned them):

-- Atari 2600
-- Colecovision
-- Nintendo Entertainment System
-- Sega Genesis
-- Sony Playstation

I have a GameCube on order.

As much as I've played video games, I've never become that good at them. But they're great time-wasters!
posted by BoyCaught at 12:01 PM on November 17, 2001

Mario Party on the N64 owns.

But my faves were Coleco Vision, particularly the Smurf game. Of course the numero uno is Atari, bringing back hours of Yar's Revenge and Air-Sea Battle...Oh and Indy 500 with the special racing paddles! But the best game for that is Combat! by far. I still attest that every other game is just Combat! in disguise. Invisible tanks! bouncy bullets! You can't beat it.

When I was a sprout we had the console version of pong which was a little box that had about 32 Pong games on it including hockey...we also got the Video Pinball box thingy at the same time which I was hooked on for years. It had flipper buttons on the side of the box and a paddle on top for playing Breakout...Breakthru? We could only DREAM of Breakthru. But we were happy dammit!

And I remember playing my friend's Fairchild system when I was about 9 or 10 or so...that would have been 1980-81 or so. Now I am havng flashes of this thing called M-Channel. What was that?

Oh and those Atari games with the triangular cartridges from Imagic...Space Ark where you had to save all the species.

AAAigh! I'm freaking out! Too much nostalgia!

But the best console is the empathy box from Blade Runner. What was the guy's name?
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:16 PM on November 17, 2001

I always dug my 64, but it mostly gathers dust these days.

Nintendo made a huge mistake by going with the carts instead of CD for the 64.

They got better quality but less game development, so PS was able to pass them by offering an avalanche of games.

When given the choice of quality or conveinence, the consumer will usually pick the latter.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet at 1:20 PM on November 17, 2001

Look, I'm sorry the Dreamcast didn't work out. It's a good system. I like it. But the statement above is pure BS. I don't believe anyone playing a game loses interest due to a lack of anti-aliasing.

Just a little warning while your in the other room: i bought Gran turismo 3 and when you see the prerendered cinemas it makes the actual game look bad (understatement). i understood this in the case of ps1 but its time that the cinemas and game engine look more alike. < rant> and i dont think their controller with pressure sensitive buttons has impressed anyone or the backwards compatibility which hasnt worked out for me on more than one occasion. the dvd playback requires you to open a menu to change angles and if you get the remote you should notice that IT HAS NO OFF BUTTON so you still have to get up to turn off the vertical dvd player. and oh yeah seeing as though i got one of the first from the lot it makes this blender noise when i play a blue disc whereas the newer ones dont. and lets not forget about sonys habit of using cheap parts (remember the ps1 motors that overheated and crashed the system?) < /rant> whew

i dont think anti aliasing is the most important thing in a game (it nice to have though) i value gameplay above image quaity.
posted by AntonioCr at 1:21 PM on November 17, 2001

While my PS2 is the coolest console I've ever had, my Bally Astrocade certainly caused more in the way of wonderment.
posted by O Boingo at 1:41 PM on November 17, 2001

The Genesis was a great system for its time. My friends and I spent way too many hours honing our skillz on the original EA Hockey. And I loved Wipeout on the PS -- great gameplay (the walls were a little too sticky) combined with beautiful design and graphics.

I embarked upon sort of a half assed search for an Xbox the other day, and was able to find one without much of a problem. But as I began to check out the game boxes and play around with the display unit a bit, my months of enthusiasm just evaporated. Granted, Halo looks pretty kick ass (but I'd rather play it on my PC anyway), but the rest of the games seem like first generation PS games slathered in a high resolution, antialiased, fluffy frosting. I think I'll put the money into a MAME cabinet instead.

sweet sweet dual sticked Robotron, you'll soon be mine...
posted by crumbly at 1:51 PM on November 17, 2001

actually, can I put in my vote for "antialiasing is important"? it's not eye candy for me, it lets me play longer. I loved the n64's vaseline-glasses smeary look because for some reason (please don't make me justify this medically) the playstation's pixely edges made me need to rest my eyes every half hour or so.

the ps2 is even worse, because it puts fake fuzzy highlights OVER the jagged edges, which makes my brain go "woooogh." or something.

can anyone give me an explanation for this? I'd love to hear it. Why I can tolerate (and love) jagged edges in 2D but not on polygons I have no idea.
posted by kevspace at 3:44 PM on November 17, 2001

... its time that the cinemas and game engine look more alike.

Cinemas are always going to look better than the game engine, unless they are being rendered by the game engine. Cinemas are always being pre-rendered on computers with more strength and might. Until the day when computer graphics cannot get any better, cinemas are always going to look better than the game engine.

... the backwards compatibility which hasnt worked out for me on more than one occasion.

Give me the name a console system that offers backwards compatibility that that does work. The Gameboy Color or the Super Gameboy for the SNES, both of which can play regular Gameboy games comes to my mind. Yet even in that case, the system was not radically different. Unless you want to talk about PCs, you won't find backwards compatibility on any video game system besides the PS2.

the dvd playback requires you to open a menu to change angles and if you get the remote you should notice that IT HAS NO OFF BUTTON so you still have to get up to turn off the vertical dvd player.

And playing DVDs on a PC is any easier? This is like complaining about the quality of the Sony PlayStation's CD player. The PS2 was not made to play movies; Sony is not selling the PS2 so you can watch the Matrix. The PS2 is a game machine that happens to play DVDs.
posted by crog at 3:57 PM on November 17, 2001

The PS2 is a game machine that happens to play DVDs.

If this were competely true, I doubt they would sell a remote control for the thing. And while the menu thing doesn't bother me too much, the damn power button does. It always bugged me the light stayed lit (goes red) even when you are not using it, keeping the machine in some kind of stand by mode. The fact that there is no off button on the remote control peeves me off. If I am laying in bed watching a movie, and after the movie will go to sleep, I should be able to turn it off from there.

(Side Note Off Topic) The lights that stay on from my various equipment has gotten so bad in recent years I can almost light my room from these indicators.
posted by benjh at 6:45 PM on November 17, 2001

...the ps2's shortcomings like not having hardware based antialaising.

Myth. It has edge antialiasing and full screen antialiasing (edge antialiasing is what I believe N64 used). The problem is, a lot of developers didn't know how to implement it, and so many of the early games were released without it. One example of an antialiased game is Red Faction (I've played it, so I'm 100% sure). This was settled back in 2000.

Personally, I like the sharper image of GT3, AC2, etc. Kesses was absolutely horrible. It was a bad game, in my opinion, but the visuals literally hurt my eyes. (Anyone want to buy it? Email me.)

My top 5 systems:
1. PSX (favorite game: Final Fantasy Tactics)
2. Nintendo (fg: Final Fantasy)
3. PS2 (fg: AC2: AA and GT3...I haven't played many more games, though.)
4. Super Nintendo (fg: Chrono Trigger, EarthBound, FF II/III, and many others)
5. Gameboy (fg: FF Legend II and III)

I've also owned a Sega Genesis, Gameboy, Gameboy color (green!), some old Atari (Drelbs!), Virtual Boy (poor system), and I've played the Dreamcast and N64 (my older brother has them both). The Dreamcast I never liked. N64 had two games I loved (Star Wars Rogue Squadron and the first Legend of Zelda game), but never tempted me to buy the system. I hated the controller. We have three PS2s in our house now. It's a nice little system, in my opinion. Glad I have it, even though I hardly ever use it. (I also got it to replace my incredibly old PSX, which I had broken a month before.)

Regarding the console versus PC argument, my computer is a K5 233 MHz, 64 MB, 1 MB of integrated video, 2 GB, Win95, 33600 bps, etc., POS. I can do a lot, but I certainly can't play games (except NES and some SNES, emulated, e.g.). When I do get a nice computer (and decent Internet connection), I plan to play Counter-Strike until my eyes burn.
posted by gleemax at 7:03 PM on November 17, 2001

I meant Kessen, for those of you scratching your heads.
posted by gleemax at 7:06 PM on November 17, 2001

Kafka...that'd be a Fairchild Channel F. Very few games came out for that one.
posted by Kevs at 8:29 PM on November 17, 2001

1.)the game cinemas in the next gen (xbox, game cube) systems look much more like the game engine .

2.)My gameboy advance plays regular GB games pretty well.

3.)playing dvds on a computer? its not much easier (especially because of drivers and such) but lack of an off button is just too much for me to bear (can you smell my lazyness?)

4.)the ps2 has software based anti-aliasing which is harder to develop for than hardware based.

5.)i notice that the cars in GT3 have disspearing antennas and jagged edges. it just hurts to watch after shelling out 50 bucks expecting to get something like the beautiful cinemas. it just looks like the DC could of done the same job.

6.)antialiasing usually kills framerates but it depends on how powerful the hardware is and how well its ablilities are implemented.
posted by AntonioCr at 9:46 PM on November 17, 2001

Thank you Kevs, that's right! All I remember is weird dogfighting biplane game.

And as far as DVDs on PCs go, I had DVD software that was just pure evil...called Xing DVD Player. You'd be happily watching The Matrix with the volume cranked, when all of a sudden it would cut out and make the system error noise at earbleeding pitch. The best way we found to watch DVDs on PC was my wife's laptop running Media Bar hooked to a projector she would bring home from work. Quite nice.
posted by Kafkaesque at 9:55 PM on November 17, 2001

1 - Atari (because I was young and everything looked cool and new back then, even the lamest games -- sorry I'm 31)
2 - PSX
3 - PS2
4 - Intellivision

The Winning Eleven series for PlayStation (1 and 2) is my favorite -- but I'm partial to soccer anyway, and it's so difficult to get soccer games right, they usually suck so bad -- the players look like they're sliding or something. Winning Eleven is about as good as it gets.
Hockey games for PlayStation are pretty cool, too.
posted by matteo at 7:06 AM on November 18, 2001

The PSX was my first console after a series of computers: ZX81, Spectrum, Atari ST, PC. I've had so much use out of it, it was one of the best £80 I've ever spent. I always refused to buy games at the full price, so I'm picking my way through all the old classics which have now been re-released on a budget label. There's life in the old dog yet..
posted by salmacis at 2:34 AM on November 19, 2001