Sega Genesis = Less Friction

[VideoGameCritic]

I've noticed that when I'm left to my own devices in my game room, I tend to gravitate towards my Sega Genesis. It's kind of my default system. After some thought, I realize why. It's "less friction" than most other consoles.

1. You just open the clam shell case and pop in the cartridge. No cardboard boxes or inserts to mess around with or delicate discs to handle.

2. There's practically zero load time, unlike just about every post-16-bit system.

3. For the most part, you just press Start to play. With the Atari 2600 you might have to mess around with the select and difficulty switches first.

4. The three-button controls are typically very intuitive. I would say with most SNES games I usually have to reference the instructions or the options screen to make sure I know what all of the buttons do.

5. Finally, the system library is immense, with so many pick-up-and-play titles.

I'm not sure any other console can match the Sega Genesis when it comes to the points I've outlined. I'd like to hear your take.

[Stalvern]

And it's ribbed, for her pleasure.

One more detail for point 1 is that, on top of having a simpler controller than the SNES, it has a simpler cartridge slot than the NES (at least the original model). No door or pop-up mechanism to deal with, although I guess you complicate things a bit by keeping the games in their cases instead of just having them out on the shelf (which I assume is how your NES games are stored) – but at that degree of hair-splitting over the labor involved in loading a video game into a console, the level of willful laziness it would take for someone to begin to care is probably beyond human capacity.

[jon]

I’ve really pinned down what I like and I can’t stand controllers with more than 4 buttons. So many people loved turbo buttons and all this 3d junk. There’s even people that say the Genesis has too few buttons. But it’s an Arcade like system for the most part and you don’t need many buttons.

I’ll try not to make it a SNES smash fest but it was my brother’s decision which one to get and he chose SNES. I wanted a Genesis so bad. The SNES controller was praised for having turbo buttons but looking back in hindsight decades later I could give a darn. And On the topic of you think about the PS1 controller, when it came out it didn’t seem that complicated. But if you really think about it that’s a lot of buttons. Yuck.

I know I’ve mentioned load times before. And I was under the impression that load times was just a PS1 5th gen thing and that eventually there wouldn’t be load times in future generations. The PS1 is practically unplayable because of the load times. But yea I feel like it’s a sick joke there’s still agonizing load times on modern consoles.

[matmico399]

I agree with everything the VGC has said about the Genesis. That and the PS2 are my go-to consoles mostly. The reason I chose the Genesis over the SNES is because I've never been into those cute games with childlike graphics. When I saw the Genesis which showed much more realistic characters like soldiers and such, my mind was easily made up.

[Matchstick]

I'll just quote myself from Retro STrife's "My theories about YOU" thread:

...the Genesis & Sega CD combo is my favorite console that I own, and the one I hold the most near and dear. It is absolutely my "anchor," and the first console I began actively shopping for and building a collection around.

This is in spite of owning a SNES console at the time. Nearly every friend of mine had a Genesis, and I would always be floored playing games at their houses. OutRun. Quackshot. Aladdin. NHL Hockey. Mutant League Football. Road Rash. Hell, even Jurassic Park. And let's not forget Sonic!

I would often try to find the SNES versions of these games, only to discover they tended to be significantly altered from their Genesis counterparts. Jurassic Park, in particular, was so hard to figure out on the SNES, versus the "Hey, you're a dinosaur! Now go eat people!!" setup from the Genesis version.

And, of course, there was no SNES version of Road Rash. I made do with having it for Game Boy.

To quote myself again, I felt dearly misled by the magazines I had been reading at the time:

I also spent much of that time drinking the Kool-Aid from Nintendo Power and whatnot, that the Super NES versions of games were *always* better than their Genesis counterparts. And they always looked better, performed better, controlled better, and sounded better than anything made by Sega.... Years later [I realized] that much of what I had heard about Genesis titles, in relation to their SNES counterparts, were straight-up lies.

I even prefer Hyperstone Heist to Turtles in Time. Those "Mode 7" stages just get in the way. Sue me.

And it's ribbed, for her pleasure.

[Breaker]

The Genesis is absolutely my go-to console. I love everything about it. It also helps that in my life today, most of my gaming is done in 45 minute (or less) increments. No modern console can handle that type of gaming, with startup, update, and load times. I actually play about 18 minutes if I fire up my PS4. I play about 44 minutes with the Genny.

Although I have complete NTSC game catalogs for a couple of systems, the one I *wish* I had a complete catalog for is the Genesis. Someday, man. Someday. There are so many great games out there for the system. Lots of filler, too, but so many great games.

[Voor]

And it's ribbed, for her pleasure.

One more detail for point 1 is that, on top of having a simpler controller than the SNES, it has a simpler cartridge slot than the NES (at least the original model). No door or pop-up mechanism to deal with, although I guess you complicate things a bit by keeping the games in their cases instead of just having them out on the shelf (which I assume is how your NES games are stored) – but at that degree of hair-splitting over the labor involved in loading a video game into a console, the level of willful laziness it would take for someone to begin to care is probably beyond human capacity.

Lol. Amen. Seriously, “start up friction” sounds like clever marketing. “Now with 50% less start up friction!”

It’s all relative. You want to play a “quick fix”, of course you’re going to want to choose a system with quick or minimal load times. If you’re in the mood for a AAA game, you’re cool with load times, assuming they’re within reason. You really want some 2600, the switches aren’t a big deal.

The details of which boxes are easier to remove games from is nerdom talk at its peak. Lol, but it’s OK—that’s what these forums are for, and for what it’s worth, the VGC is right. But again, it only matters if you want it to.

*side question: did anyone EVER use the SNES’ Eject button?? Because it was flush with the rest of the system, i didn’t know it existed for a long time.

[Matchstick]

The details of which boxes are easier to remove games from is nerdom talk at its peak.

Who keeps their game cartridges in their original boxes, anyway? Asking for a friend...

*side question: did anyone EVER use the SNES’ Eject button??

I did, religiously - because I was a total dweeb. Then, one day, my Dad is playing StarFox, and when he's done, he gets up and pulls the game out of the console by hand - and with the console still on, no less!

I thought for sure he'd fried the system and / or game, but nope, when I powered it down and popped the game back in, everything still worked juuuuuust fine. An early lesson on, "You worry too much."

[DocHix]

Great topic, nice to see everyone's posts, several excellent points. My Genesis has been in continuous use since 1989. I know that no console is perfect, but the SG is close. From a build stand point, the Genesis is a tank (and easy to maintain). The first party controllers (both 3 and 6 button versions) have just the right feel in my opinion and seem incredibly durable. The clamshell boxes make finding CIB copes of games at least a possibility in the wild. But most importantly, it makes it possible for me to play "Herzog Zwei"!

[ThePixelatedGenocide]

My zero friction console is the Nintendo DS.

Some of the best 2d pixel art ever seen.

Some of the simplest 3d to perform at a decent frame rate, which means never worrying about getting lost because a developer can't bother to spell out what you can and can't interact with.

Plus, if I want to play Arkanoid or Dragon Quest IX, I don't even need to worry about joint pain, because it's all touch screen. Then there's New Super Mario Bros DS, Great Giana Sisters, the Lego series, the Castlevania games - all games I can play on autopilot, while mediating on other things.

It helps that they give me ways to challenge myself, but don't demand that I play that way. They're only ever what I want to get out of them.

I never intend to play the system for as long as I do.