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Plug 'n Play Paradise: The Most 'Mini' Thing About Genesis Mini 2 Is How Many They'll Make

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  • RickRudeRickRude Registered User regular
    Krathoon wrote: »
    I remember watching my friend play Tomb Raider in college. There was that crazy part where you have to dive into a little hole.

    Me and my friends used to swan dive her off cliffs just to watch the rag doll death animatiom which at the time , we're pretty top notch.

  • JOE_1967JOE_1967 Registered User regular
    forty wrote: »
    anoffday wrote: »
    I should give TR another chance sometime, but I remember renting it as a kid and being stuck in one of the early levels, maybe even the first, and it being so damn dark that I could not see anything and shooting a tiger 20 times and it still not dying and even as a kid with all the patience in the world for games and still saying no forget this.
    That was my entire Tomb Raider experience as well. I rented the first one, got confused and frustrated, died a few times, didn't like the controls, then never played another Tomb Raider game in my life.

    I got a long ways into the first one, but ended up with a save file where I had just the tiniest sliver of health and there was one of those skinless centaur things with a bazooka just around the corner from the save point, and that's as far as I ever got.

    (I also have less-than-fond memories of that room where you had to jump from platform to platform, and the platforms would shoot flame jets about two seconds after you landed on them, so you had to basically be running the whole time and execute it perfectly. As I recall, the way I got through that level involved bursting into flame, jumping onto the far end of the room, grabbing the treasure and hurling my flaming body down into the water before my health bar was completely depleted …)

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    anoffday wrote: »
    Yeah, I mean I enjoyed them on the 360 and the new ones are good, but man the first one was rough even back then.

    The third one is the best of the initial release in the same engine, from a mechanical and gameplay standpoint.

  • anoffdayanoffday To be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it. Registered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    anoffday wrote: »
    Yeah, I mean I enjoyed them on the 360 and the new ones are good, but man the first one was rough even back then.

    The third one is the best of the initial release in the same engine, from a mechanical and gameplay standpoint.

    Maybe I'll give that one a shot sometime then.

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  • skeldareskeldare Gresham, ORRegistered User regular
    anoffday wrote: »
    I should give TR another chance sometime, but I remember renting it as a kid and being stuck in one of the early levels, maybe even the first, and it being so damn dark that I could not see anything and shooting a tiger 20 times and it still not dying and even as a kid with all the patience in the world for games and still saying no forget this.

    If you want to play the original, just play the remake Tomb Raider: Anniversary.

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  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    Interview with Reggie. Sounds like this might be the end for the NES and SNES Classics.
    We worked very hard, both for the NES Classic and the SNES Classic, to really have the best games that defined that generation. We’ve said that the current systems are the extent of our classic program. We’ve also been clear that, at least from an Americas perspective, these products are going to be available through the holiday season and once they sell out, they’re gone. And that’s it.

  • baudattitudebaudattitude Registered User regular
    SteevL wrote: »
    Interview with Reggie. Sounds like this might be the end for the NES and SNES Classics.
    We worked very hard, both for the NES Classic and the SNES Classic, to really have the best games that defined that generation. We’ve said that the current systems are the extent of our classic program. We’ve also been clear that, at least from an Americas perspective, these products are going to be available through the holiday season and once they sell out, they’re gone. And that’s it.

    That may be the most straightforward answer I have ever heard him give.

  • RickRudeRickRude Registered User regular
    I still believe they'll revisit the idea down the line. Either with a special edition with different or more games. Or a n64 mini. If done right like Nintendo did it's shown it will sell, and we'll see how sony''s half assed version is received.

  • BetsuniBetsuni UM-R60L Talisker IVRegistered User regular
    edited December 2018
    SteevL wrote: »
    Interview with Reggie. Sounds like this might be the end for the NES and SNES Classics.
    We worked very hard, both for the NES Classic and the SNES Classic, to really have the best games that defined that generation. We’ve said that the current systems are the extent of our classic program. We’ve also been clear that, at least from an Americas perspective, these products are going to be available through the holiday season and once they sell out, they’re gone. And that’s it.

    I'm just glad that they kept their word and had enough of both NES Classics and SNES Classics for everyone to pick one up for retail.

    Betsuni on
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  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    Betsuni wrote: »
    SteevL wrote: »
    Interview with Reggie. Sounds like this might be the end for the NES and SNES Classics.
    We worked very hard, both for the NES Classic and the SNES Classic, to really have the best games that defined that generation. We’ve said that the current systems are the extent of our classic program. We’ve also been clear that, at least from an Americas perspective, these products are going to be available through the holiday season and once they sell out, they’re gone. And that’s it.

    I'm just glad that they kept their word and had enough of both NES Classics and SNES Classics for everyone to pick one up for retail.

    Yeah, I was at Target a few days ago and it was funny to see 6 SNES Classics just sitting there behind the glass. No NES Classics, though.

    And a single PS Classic too.

  • TubularLuggageTubularLuggage Registered User regular
    I honestly wonder how much the design of the N64 controller factors against an N64 mini, especially since they'd probably want to include at least two with the system. Maybe it wouldn't be an issue, but it just seems bulkier and more unwieldy compared to the systems we've gotten so far.

  • Cameron_TalleyCameron_Talley Registered User regular
    SteevL wrote: »
    Betsuni wrote: »
    SteevL wrote: »
    Interview with Reggie. Sounds like this might be the end for the NES and SNES Classics.
    We worked very hard, both for the NES Classic and the SNES Classic, to really have the best games that defined that generation. We’ve said that the current systems are the extent of our classic program. We’ve also been clear that, at least from an Americas perspective, these products are going to be available through the holiday season and once they sell out, they’re gone. And that’s it.

    I'm just glad that they kept their word and had enough of both NES Classics and SNES Classics for everyone to pick one up for retail.

    Yeah, I was at Target a few days ago and it was funny to see 6 SNES Classics just sitting there behind the glass. No NES Classics, though.

    And a single PS Classic too.

    They may have simply moved the NES Classics. I saw some at my Target on a little pop up display of retro-inspired stuff they are selling for Christmas. They had NES Classics right next to the Cassette players (Yes, that is really a thing).



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  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    I honestly wonder how much the design of the N64 controller factors against an N64 mini, especially since they'd probably want to include at least two with the system. Maybe it wouldn't be an issue, but it just seems bulkier and more unwieldy compared to the systems we've gotten so far.

    I really think there's no way they include more than two. It'd be a safer (if unlikely) bet that they'd include one, reduce the price slightly, and explain, "Just buy as many as you need."

  • LBD_NytetraynLBD_Nytetrayn TorontoRegistered User regular
    Something something hates money, etc.

    But seriously, I still haven't found a second NES controller yet. =\

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  • JavenJaven Registered User regular
    Since I know they're going, I MAY pick up an NES classic, but to be honest I'm more than happy with just my SNES. As someone who never owned one as a kid, there's a lot there to keep me occupied for months.

  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    My NES Classic mostly sits unplayed. It looks cool, at least.

  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    edited December 2018
    Javen wrote: »
    Since I know they're going, I MAY pick up an NES classic, but to be honest I'm more than happy with just my SNES. As someone who never owned one as a kid, there's a lot there to keep me occupied for months.

    Yeah, I'm not super bothered about the NES Classic for more than a couple of games that have already had a zillion re-releases. My 8-bit heart lies elsewhere (which is why I'm waiting on a ZX Spectrum Next when the cased versions are finished, not long now hopefully - I wonder if that will be a topic for this thread?). But there was definitely more than enough on the SNES Classic to make it worth picking up; and I was another one who didn't have one in its heyday (although I've had a couple since). The selection is largely outstanding and, of course, you can fill in the few gaps pretty easily too. It's a great little unit. And throwing two controllers in the box was a masterstroke.

    And my favourite bit of SNES Classic trivia was how it basically doubled Super Metroid's lifetime sales in about a month. It justifies its existence with that alone.

    Jazz on
  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited December 2018
    https://youtu.be/OxQZc5ldMiE

    After watching this, I gave way to the long-time desire to buy a Neo Geo X (well, the docking station anyway), unused from a seller in California, along with $10 in cables from AliExpress.

    I've never actually used experimented with a Raspberry Pi before...but if the video is any indication...I've done a few more complicated homebrew projects. Plus, the SNES Mini's controllers are fairly terrible for a lot of Neo Geo games. A Raspberry Pi 3--a pair of Xbox One controllers I already own over Bluetooth...some cables, a Neo Geo case, and a cheap 32 GB Micro SD (which is honestly redundant, the entire Neo Geo library is less than the 16 GB of onboard storage, even if those ROMs dwarf SNES ROMs)...

    I think I could do this. Or at the very least, have the swanky Neo Geo X docking case (probably the best part of that unfortunate endeavor) as a personal collectible, even without going on to the next step.

    This is probably very doable.

    Synthesis on
  • BetsuniBetsuni UM-R60L Talisker IVRegistered User regular
    If you can install Windows on a computer you probably can do what you want.

    I'm curious @Jazz is the ZX Spectrum Next real or some fan made thing?

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  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    edited December 2018
    Betsuni wrote: »
    If you can install Windows on a computer you probably can do what you want.

    I'm curious Jazz is the ZX Spectrum Next real or some fan made thing?

    The Next is very real, board-only versions have been out in the wild for months. The team behind it (which included the Spectrum's original designer, the late Rick Dickinson) underestimated the complexity of the case and keyboard, the latter in particular with the need to keep it 100% compatible with the original machines, but they're nearly done (they've been really good about regular updates). But the actual guts of the machine is already out there.

    This article has a good run-down on what it's all about, although it dates from the original announcement. It's had a couple of upgrades from that original spec as well, moving up to two joystick ports and 1MB of RAM. (Not a typo.)

    I'm looking forward to getting mine, although whether I'll stretch its legs much past just playing old Spectrum games on it, I'm not sure yet! But new software has been made for it and some is already out, so we'll see. It's obviously not going to be as mass-market as the Nintendo Classics (it's yet to be confirmed if any more will even be made once the three thousand or so backer units are all shipped, and the price is well out of impulse-buy range EDIT: they are definitely talking about a second run of units now), but I hope it'll have a reasonably bright future.

    Jazz on
  • BetsuniBetsuni UM-R60L Talisker IVRegistered User regular
    Aw that is a shame. Would be funny to buy one of those. But yeah the price is much higher than impulse buy level. Looks really good and will love to hear more when you get yours.

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  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    edited December 2018
    Thankfully it was a good bit cheaper as a backer. Not actually cheap, but definitely more palatable. Still, they went for making it a full fledged new 8-bit computer rather than just something to play old emulated games on. Since it's not emulation-based at all, some of the parts they needed hadn't been in production for years, and others needed designing and building in a very specific fashion, so it was quite an undertaking.

    There have been other attempts at resurrecting the Spectrum, with varying degrees of success. There's straight-up clones like the Harlequin 128, which I've heard good things about but AFAIK only comes as a board but it's a lot cheaper than a Next; the ZX Vega filled the actual plug 'n' play niche a bit, albeit not brilliantly but it exists and works; the Recreated ZX Spectrum was effectively a glorified Bluetooth keyboard but at least brought the old feel back to emulation to a point; and most recently, the portable ZX Vega+ was an utter shambles, an almost Gizmondo-level debacle that still rages on and left the community rather scarred and gunshy. The Next had a lot to prove because of that, and so far it's done pretty well.

    It's just running almost a year late at this point!

    Honestly for me the biggest thing that has me a bit worried is that most of the people who have them or are getting them (read: members of the Facebook group) are very much into the programming aspect of the machine, and I'm no programmer at all - admittedly I was a kid during the Speccy's heyday but I could not wrap my head around programming, and copying out listings from magazines of the era didn't help to educate me on it. So it may turn out that I might be better served by a different solution. Still, selling the thing on for close to what I paid for it shouldn't be too difficult, but I hope it doesn't come to that. Probably depends on what people release for it (there's already a few titles out and they largely look good). Also I sprung for the version with all the bells and whistles, so everything from a real-time clock and wifi (on an 8-bit computer!) to a Raspberry Pi Zero as a slave accelerator board so I'm really curious to see what that can be made to do. We shall see!

    Jazz on
  • RickRudeRickRude Registered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    https://youtu.be/OxQZc5ldMiE

    After watching this, I gave way to the long-time desire to buy a Neo Geo X (well, the docking station anyway), unused from a seller in California, along with $10 in cables from AliExpress.

    I've never actually used experimented with a Raspberry Pi before...but if the video is any indication...I've done a few more complicated homebrew projects. Plus, the SNES Mini's controllers are fairly terrible for a lot of Neo Geo games. A Raspberry Pi 3--a pair of Xbox One controllers I already own over Bluetooth...some cables, a Neo Geo case, and a cheap 32 GB Micro SD (which is honestly redundant, the entire Neo Geo library is less than the 16 GB of onboard storage, even if those ROMs dwarf SNES ROMs)...

    I think I could do this. Or at the very least, have the swanky Neo Geo X docking case (probably the best part of that unfortunate endeavor) as a personal collectible, even without going on to the next step.

    This is probably very doable.

    I thought about going down the pi hole but it seemed the SNES mini was close to the same power and with hakchi pretty easy to use.

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited December 2018
    RickRude wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    https://youtu.be/OxQZc5ldMiE

    After watching this, I gave way to the long-time desire to buy a Neo Geo X (well, the docking station anyway), unused from a seller in California, along with $10 in cables from AliExpress.

    I've never actually used experimented with a Raspberry Pi before...but if the video is any indication...I've done a few more complicated homebrew projects. Plus, the SNES Mini's controllers are fairly terrible for a lot of Neo Geo games. A Raspberry Pi 3--a pair of Xbox One controllers I already own over Bluetooth...some cables, a Neo Geo case, and a cheap 32 GB Micro SD (which is honestly redundant, the entire Neo Geo library is less than the 16 GB of onboard storage, even if those ROMs dwarf SNES ROMs)...

    I think I could do this. Or at the very least, have the swanky Neo Geo X docking case (probably the best part of that unfortunate endeavor) as a personal collectible, even without going on to the next step.

    This is probably very doable.

    I thought about going down the pi hole but it seemed the SNES mini was close to the same power and with hakchi pretty easy to use.

    That was my sense too. I definitely don't want to try and become some sort of aficionado the way I am for, I don't know, Bethesda game modding.

    But the SNES controller is...kind of bad for these sort of games. Compared to the default AES gamepads, much less the sticks. And I don't own any other Nintendo peripherals that you can plug into that proprietary slot.

    Also, while the SNES Mini has the power for every Neo Geo game (that I've tried so far), it definitely doesn't have the space, especially if I want to actually use it for an expanded SNES/Sega library. That's even before considering a wider arcade library. Soldering a MicroSD card reader, or hacking the firmware to allow a bypass via the Micro-USB, sort of defeats the convenience in my mind.

    And then I think the Neo Geo AES is the best-looking console hardware of the 16-bit "generation", on top of the most powerful (which is less up to debate). I would really like a similar approach, but obviously that's not what the current Neo Geo mini does, with its strengths and various flaws.

    zqc3f2v70y40.png

    If I can do all of this for less than the cost of an Playstation Classic (using Xbox gamepads in lieu of Neo Geo controllers, which I personally think is the best accessible gamepad option), that's really attractive. On top of learning something, I guess.

    Not the most impassioned reasons, but that's how I went from "I don't really give a crap about Raspberry Pi, unless I maybe installed Windows 10 on it and then what?" to "Wait...I could do this. And it wouldn't cost that much."

    Synthesis on
  • StormwatcherStormwatcher Blegh BlughRegistered User regular
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  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular

    I've kind of stopped paying attention to the PS Classic chatter in the Discord channel I'm in, but I remember that someone said the emulator they're using on the PS Classic is actually an older version of it compared to what you can download for the NES/SNES Classic.

  • KrathoonKrathoon Registered User regular
    Can the PlayStation Classic be upgraded?

  • StormwatcherStormwatcher Blegh BlughRegistered User regular
    Krathoon wrote: »
    Can the PlayStation Classic be upgraded?

    it can be hacked.

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  • anoffdayanoffday To be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it. Registered User regular
    So the SNES classic is better at running PS games than the PS classic? Is it going to get any worse for this thing?

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  • LBD_NytetraynLBD_Nytetrayn TorontoRegistered User regular
    anoffday wrote: »
    So the SNES classic is better at running PS games than the PS classic? Is it going to get any worse for this thing?

    People thought that it would end up facing off against a Nintendo 64 Classic, effectively reigniting/reenacting that Console war.

    With that in mind, PlayStation is losing a battle in which the other side didn't even show up.

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  • StormwatcherStormwatcher Blegh BlughRegistered User regular
    Yeah, especially considering how everything Reggie's been saying points to no more nintendo classic devices.

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  • RickRudeRickRude Registered User regular

    I usually have a hard time with these, but I can tell something is off with the playstation version. Is this due to the pal version, the emulator, or both?

  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    Yeah, especially considering how everything Reggie's been saying points to no more nintendo classic devices.

    I want Microsoft to jump in with an Xbox classic. 20 games from the original Xbox.

    But it's the same size as the original.

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  • furlionfurlion Riskbreaker Lea MondeRegistered User regular
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Yeah, especially considering how everything Reggie's been saying points to no more nintendo classic devices.

    I want Microsoft to jump in with an Xbox classic. 20 games from the original Xbox.

    But it's the same size as the original.

    But Microsoft is actually enabling backwards compatibility, albeit very slowly.

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  • Dark Raven XDark Raven X Laugh hard, run fast, be kindRegistered User regular
    Microsoft's got the best backwards compatibility record at the moment, IMO.

    Oh brilliant
  • SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    Nintendo is taking legal action against a guy who was selling modified NES Classics with 800 added games. I've been wondering for a while now if they were going to crack down on people doing stuff like that.
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    Yeah, especially considering how everything Reggie's been saying points to no more nintendo classic devices.

    I want Microsoft to jump in with an Xbox classic. 20 games from the original Xbox.

    But it's the same size as the original.

    I say they should go the other way and call it the Xbox Jumbo; 3x the original size.

  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    Current gen, sure. But the straight line of backwards compatibility from the GBA SP backwards was pretty damned impressive.

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  • urahonkyurahonky Registered User regular
    SteevL wrote: »
    Nintendo is taking legal action against a guy who was selling modified NES Classics with 800 added games. I've been wondering for a while now if they were going to crack down on people doing stuff like that.

    Not surprised, why would you sell something like that? That's very clearly illegal. The mod itself is in a gray area but the ROMs pre-installed is a bad idea.

  • DirtyDirty Registered User regular
    Athenor wrote: »
    Current gen, sure. But the straight line of backwards compatibility from the GBA SP backwards was pretty damned impressive.

    Yeah, XBO is best buy default if we're only talking current gen. They've always just done select compatibility though, never full compatibility like Nintendo and Sony have done in the past. They've also never had BC with accessories (even though the XBO pad added literally nothing over the 360 pad).

  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    Athenor wrote: »
    Current gen, sure. But the straight line of backwards compatibility from the GBA SP backwards was pretty damned impressive.

    "Was" being the operative word. Just like it was pretty impressive that the early model PS3 could play both PS2 and PS1 games as well... before PS2 support started getting dropped, but it happened piecemeal. Which was a very weird way of doing it, in hindsight.

    Fast forward to now. The PS4 is a fine console, obviously, but that thing can't so much as play audio CDs. Go on, try it.

    Nintendo and Sony had clear shifts in their philosophy regarding backwards compatibility since the GBA SP (arguably the first-gen DS too) and PS3 launch respectively, which of course were,only two years apart so it may well not be coincidental. Nintendo basically want to sell you the same games over and over each generation (although the Classic Minis represented an entirely different value proposition considering their included libraries, the SNES in particular; one of the reasons they've done so well). This isn't actually new; remember the NES Classic line of GBA games, for example, since they didn't have digital distribution yet. Sony I assume want to not have to bother trying to get an x86-based machine to behave with software written for esoteric and difficult hardware like the Cell processor and Emotion Engine, while these days also trying to flog a streaming service as an alternative.

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