The Video Game Critic

Hey All,

Just a little background. I am in my mid 40's and have three kids. My oldest is 19 now and needs help occasionally but is pretty much self supportive going to college and working part time. I also have 16 y/o twins, a boy and a girl who are my life outside of God. I make a very modest living but I luv retro gaming. Two years ago I had 2 systems. A PS2 and a 360. I started collecting "affordable" systems about 18 months back. In a year and a half I have gotten the following consoles to add.....

-Atari 2600
-Colecovision Flashback (if that counts)
-Odyssey 2
-Saturn
-Dreamcast
-NES
-Genesis
-SNES
-N64

Not bad for a guy on a limited budget .

Okay, I'm only going to buy one more console in 2016 and then wait until 2017.

Looking at Dave's console list.....

I am interested in....

-Astrocade
-Gamecube
-Sega CDX (man I want this one so bad, but so pricey)
-Jaguar (a little bit)
-Wii

The Astrocade and CDX are probably out of my price range, but I can still dream.

Your suggestions? Esp if I should go with a Wii or Gamecube.

Thanks

There is an Intellivision flashback, which is certainly a budget friendly way of enjoying that console for about $40 on Amazon. You can order the extra overlays for another $8 or so, and then you have a nice little Intellivision experience.

Also, you did not mention any portables. I really think a DS-Lite is an awesome little portable, able to play DS games as well as still having GBA backwards compatibility with a backlight. A used one is about $50.

I enjoy the Sega Master System and the TG-16, but I don't think they qualify as affordable anymore.

Or, maybe its time to shift focus and build that game library for what you already have.

Scotland You are always such a gentleman and know so much about so many systems. I have read many of your posts. Your history of video games astounds me. Outside of Dave I think You know more about gaming history than anyone I have ever talked to. Btw do You live in Scotland? Just curious.

You have a great point. Considering the consoles I have collected I need to focus on games for them rather than getting more consoles. I have a lot of PS2, Ps1 and 360 games. And a good amount of Genesis games (when I was a young adult). Yes I kept a lot of them. But I have very few NES, SNES, N64, Saturn and Dreamcast games. I am going to just pick out quality games that are affordable. Currently looking at Popeye on the NES on Ebay.

BTW I am not into portables. They just don't interest me, but thanks.

If you're going to go with a console to collect for next, and is affordable, I'd recommend the Wii. It is probably the best bang or your buck out of what you listed. Most games are still cheap, the console is cheap second hand, and there are enough games to make it worthwhile. The Genesis would also be a worthwhile pickup but from my own experience the games are very hard to find at stores nowadays. Meaning you would have to buy a lot of the games online.

As cool as it is I don't see much point in the CDX if you have the Genesis. A Sega CD will set you back less.

I'd go for the Wii. The Wii may not have as many great games as other systems(imo) but even if you just use it for GC games it's worth it. The ability to run games with component cables or the wii2hdmi is a big plus. There aren't really any downsides to the backwards compat Wii vs the cube except you can't use the GBA player. The Wii hacks are always a bonus too, DVD playback, emulators for nearly every pre-'99 system etc.

Best consoles for a budget is Wii. It's like the Rodney Dangerfield of gaming "it can't get no respect". While it's true there are a lot of shovelware titles there are also a lot of real classics.

OG Xbox and PS2 are both great budget consoles still.

2600 games are so cheap now that they are great for a budget minded gamer as well.

Also, another thing to keep in mind is that buying the Wii now is probably the best idea as the games will continue to rise at a fairly decent rate. The other consoles may still get a bit pricier but the prices will stay more stable until you get your main Wii games out of the way. From a money standpoint, if you're interested in the Wii get it now.

Don't buy a CDX. Buy a Sega Genesis Model 1 and a Sega CD Model 2. You can get both for $100 (or less), far cheaper than a CDX, and those are the two best models (in my opinion).

I love the GameCube (had mine since launch day, still going strong). You can pick one up for $20-$40 now, but for about the same price, you could buy a Wii with backwards compatibility.

Of the two, I'd say go with the backwards compatible Wii. Games are cheap right now so it's the right choice. I have a large Wii library, don't listen to the haters, there are plenty of great Wii games out there. Plus you get access to the Gamecube library, and oh man, is it great.

Also, while the Wii shop is open, you can download some great rare games like Dracula X for the Turbo CD. You could hack your Wii as well.

Yeah time to get the genesis collection on the 360. That way you can play a lot of the genesis titles and not clog up you basement with the consoles.
I am a big Jaguar fan and I have had two of them. Though probably there are only 4 or 5 really good games on it.
Tempest
Doom
AVP
Iron Soldier
Super Hang on.
AVP is expensive.
For Atari get the 7800 it is backwards compatable. Also if you are thinking of getting an Xegs remember the light gun works with all the 2600 and the 7800.

Hey I am from Scotland but live in London UK.
I just missed my chance to get a SNK CD machine. I was gutted.