confessions of a fanboy...and why it paid off (LONG)

[chess]

I was a fanboy...I admit it. In the days of PS1 vs. Saturn vs. N64, I chose the playstation and would hear nothing about merits of the other systems. I stereotyped the Saturn as another doomed Sega console...wait, I guess I was sort of right about that one...and I dismissed the N64 because...well, choose between 1) cartridges are antiquated and expensive to produce 2) games are aimed at the youth market 3) weak development tools. I had both speeches pretty well memorized.

I suppose I never considered the merits of owning more than one system at the time, and figured you sort of had to stick by whichever one you chose. Then the DC came out and I dismissed it as another doomed Sega console (right again). Missing Soul Calibur hurt me, but being a fanboy, I had already set my sights on a PS2. I had the whole speech memorized...backwards compatible, upteen million PPS, DVD....

I was comfortable with the fact that I had picked the best (or at least safest) of the 3 (or 4) platforms. I still don't think the software for the other consoles ever really came close to the cream of the PSX crop, and I have no regrets in that regard...BUT...

a funny thing happened when the PS2 came out. I just couldn't justify buying it. 300 bucks...for what? I already had a DVD player, and loads of good games for PSX. Hi res graphics on essentially the same games just didn't do it for me for some reason. Then came the X-box and the GC and I'm finding that I still feel the same way. There's nothing new about Halo or Rogue Squadron other than the way they look.

Then another funny thing happened...

The DC failed (surprised?) and was suddenly dirt-cheap...and I figured why not? $300 and 20 or so games later, I'm realizing that I had missed out on some great stuff.

So I'm playing Rayman 2 and an emulation of Dr. Mario on my DC and I start thinking about all those first party Nintendo and Rare titles that I missed on N64. As a fanboy, I had MGS, FF, GT, RE, Syphon Filter etc. to make me feel better about missing those great titles, but as a gamer just rediscovering the strengths of Nintendo (Platformers) and Sega (Arcade) I just felt sick for my fanboy rationalizing.

So that's the bad news...sort of...

The good news is that I'm catching up now and got some great games at really low prices. I have a DC, peripherals and 15+ title library for about $300 and an N64, peripherals and 12 title library for under $200.

Should keep me busy till the PS2 and GC are cheap enough that I can just buy both...along with a bunch of terrific (and cheap) games. I figure I'll probably be a generation behind for a while, and I'm surprisingly OK with that because now I won't be missing anything.

[DVD Lamer]

Going retro-gaming is an excellent way to do gaming without draining your wallet.

[Gunshy]

don't feel bad (OK, I know you don't), as I'm still thinking about picking up a used SNES just because they put out Mr. Do! for it - and a lot of other cool carts! Talk about being behind ;)

-Gunshy

http://www.mohawk.net/~stuart/img/MrDoFreeGuy.gif

[gcribbs]

good for you :)

To be honest I was a fan of Sega and owned the genesis and almost bought the Saturn. however a few friends that worked for sega told me it was having problems so i stayed away. then i waited two years after the PS1 launch before buying it.

I think right now the DC is a steal. Although I have too much to play right now if i did not I would think about getting one.

Those who buy at launch take all the risks and frankly i will not waste my money. I wait till i have enough games. then I buy. I figure in a few months or a year the two new systems might have enough games for me.

Enjoy your gaming :D

then when the PS2 drops in price figure the money you saved paid for your DC :)

[xmiyux]

I actually was really craving a new pc game the other day and started looking around and just wasn't interested in most of the newer games - especially at new game prices. So i considered picking up ST:Elite Force but eventually fell back to an old DOS game i loved so much - Master of Magic. Man, for once i was glad i had win 98 since i can't get it to run in win2k - but that was just a darn fine game.

[IC_Freeze]

we have a traitor among us :)

[chess]

Originally posted by Gunshy
don't feel bad (OK, I know you don't), as I'm still thinking about picking up a used SNES just because they put out Mr. Do! for it - and a lot of other cool carts! Talk about being behind ;)

-Gunshy

http://www.mohawk.net/~stuart/img/MrDoFreeGuy.gif

i actually did that a few years ago for 3 games (mario world, mario all-stars, zelda).

i think i invested about $40 in the whole thing. :)

[chess]

Originally posted by IC_Freeze
we have a traitor among us :)

nah...if i were forced to open my wallet and buy one system today, it would without question be a PS2. i'm just not in a "one system" frame of mind anymore. nintendo just happens to be really really good at making games...on the other hand, i can't think of a single compelling reason to buy a Cube right now (software-wise).

give it a year and i'll probably own both.