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Vintage console requirements?

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NathanAllan

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Does the 10-year rule apply? Consoles as far as I can tell are updated just as fast as computers. Please forgive if this has already been discussed. It would be nice to have a clarification of this point.

How about new games that are ports to older consoles (ala Guitar Hero on the C64?)

Or consoles that people have cobbled together from parts of newer things (like this person that "upgraded" their Genesis 3 using '06 released clone parts?)

It's all interesting and neat, but is it considered on-topic?

Nathan
 
Interesting, especially when one takes into consideration new games are still being distributed for the Atari 2600.
 
There's Albert, the moderator for Atariage that has the store there. There are a few other places, but only a handful are legit and not illegal hacks of roms. Atariage store is the best place to go for new games.

There are also new games out for Genesis, 5200, 7800 and Atari Lynx, as well as special requests that can get you games on cart and disk, though they're mostly homebrews by people with the hardware to transfer to carts and nice-looking fdd's.
 
Old hardware doesn't get more updated just because somebody still uses it. As for what we call vintage, I think the 15-year rule of thumb should apply here as well. Perhaps even a fixed year, like anything newer than 1992 will never gain the vintage status, but I'd rather not want to start another fight over what is on and off topic.

Basically, the 16-bit generation around Genesis and SNES is the newest I'd consider vintage. Anything newer is just obsolete: PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, N64, Saturn.. you name it.
 
Just to add to what Nathan said, nearly every classic system has new games still being made for it, be it on cartridge or otherwise. Only a select few of the most obscure or irrelevant, like the RCA Studio II, don't receive much interest.
 
.. although Paul Robson (?) programmed at least two or three new games for the Studio II in the early 2000's. None released on a physical cartridge though.
 
A popular programming competition in the Minigame competition in more recent times as brought people out writing games for the Atari 2600. There's been some interest from people writing games for the Atari 5200 as well - however I was told that in order for games to be successfully written for the 7800 mean't understanding the encryption system - which when I last heard nobody was able to crack. Perhaps it's been archieved?

Clearly like Computers with deserve to be vintage - because there's 16bit computers which are over 25 years old, consoles which are out-of-date deserve to be Vintage - which is the way I see it when anyone is talking about something which isn't the product of anyone making any money from it - a hobbyists machine at best. It's for this reason systems like the Sega Gamegear, Amiga CD32(?) & Atari Jaguar should be vintage consoles. However these systems were the machines to supersede things like Nintendo Gameboy, NES & Atari 2600/5200/7800 & Sega Master System - 1 & 2. So there needs to be more structure in this forum to allocate Systems based on their abilities.
Consoles which are still currently selling games on the shelf at your local retail shops are the kinds of systems which aren't vintage yet.
Once a machine or console has lots it's appeal and it's the subject of support from hobbisysts is when something becomes a vintage machine ;-)
 
I have several game consoles I bought over the years. Funny thing is I have a friend who thinks selling old games would be profitable if he bought them at $5 each from a single store's limited stock or even digging from garbage heaps....
 
facattack said:
I have several game consoles I bought over the years. Funny thing is I have a friend who thinks selling old games would be profitable if he bought them at $5 each from a single store's limited stock or even digging from garbage heaps....
Click to expand...
Since this is what I'm trying to do lately, I can say this isn't the way to do it. Five bucks a game is good for an end price, but not if they are gonna go back up for sale (presumably after cleaning and testing). Best way ios to get them in lots and at the flea markets and yard sales. Being totally a hobby and the only monetary value is how much someone is willing to pay it kind of limits the buying and selling of games, so I do more, like parts ordering and repairs, just like a computer store would. And community type activites, like gaming tournaments and high-score boards, and calling lists(as yet to be implemented).

But it really is a great hobby.
 
And NOS game cartridges are still turning up from time to time. I bought new still sealed Solaris, Galaxian, Dig Dug, and Ms. Pac-Man 2600 cartridges a couple of years back.
 
Wow, it's been since January that this thread was last posted in??

There's a place here, Jack Berg, that has a bunch of NOS 2600 games, and lots of sealed games turn up from time to time. Especially Genesis games. There were just so many of them! I found a Sealed (might be a re-seal, but who cares) Tommy Lasorda Baseball at the local grocery store. I snagged it on general principal.

That Jack Berg place is hard to work with, though, you can only buy stuff from them on appointment when they feel like it very early in the mornign at their warehgouse downtown (always a LOT of traffic) so I have yet to go there (been three years since I first called them).
 
just to add my $0.02, the SegaCD has also had a few new games deveolped recently. The Sonic Megamix is an excellent fan made game. I was surprised to hear remixes of even the NeoGeo Pocket Color Sonic Game's music tracks in it.
 
Starshadow said:
just to add my $0.02, the SegaCD has also had a few new games deveolped recently. The Sonic Megamix is an excellent fan made game. I was surprised to hear remixes of even the NeoGeo Pocket Color Sonic Game's music tracks in it.
Click to expand...
EXCELLENT game! I have people coming in to play that one exclusively, namely this little girl that whips serious tail at it, she even beats me up playing it. I call her the Sonic Girl, she loves that game.
 
Generally speaking, most people in my generation (I'm 19) consider the PSX and N64 the last of the "classic" or "retro" consoles. That could be considered a stretch for "vintage", but I'd say that the generation before that definitely qualifies.

You have to keep in mind that unlike computers, the console industry didn't start quite as soon. While computers have technically been around since the 50s and 60s, and started to exist properly in the 70s, consoles didn't really take off until the mid-80s, with most of the classic systems that define console gaming coming out in the early 90s. I think that the cutoff should be at the PSX/N64, but as I said, that's stretching it a tiny bit.
 
Err.. well kinda winding this thread into OT ville, I recently found (I always look for shiggles) a PSX copy of Battle Arena Toshinden 3. I tried it on my regular CRT TV and slim ps2 and it looked like complete crap. I honestly don't think it looked that bad originally so I'm kinda intrigued about trying it other places sometime. I need to check it out on my ps3 although I'd imagine it'd probably be worse but maybe the upscale conversion will do something neat.

Anyway we have a few used game stores in Austin like Gamefellas and GameOver who still sell games and systems for vintage systems (even Intellivision and Coleco etc not just the major players). Their prices are unfortunately usually based on ebay and they tend to get higher for more desirable titles. Still I check it out once and a while when bored.
 
And to steer things a little more on topic... ;-)

I think we can all agree that 16-bit/4th generation console are a pretty safe bet - at least I hope so, or I'll have to move at least one of my own posts! Coincidentally, the first 5th generation machines were released in the same year as the Pentium CPU, which is the cut-off for PCs on this forum. Seems like a convenient place to draw the line for vintage gaming.
 
The N64 is kind of borderline, maybe, it uses a lot of 3D so I would have to agree that there are only some vintage titles on it. Definitely the Saturn is vintage in my book.

The forum may not agree, but I go with the 10-year rule on pretty much all technology. Unless it's cars or appliances. My blender is definitely older than 10 years, but it's nothing vintage.

As for the Saturn, can you believe not too many peoiple want to buy them at $40?? I'm finding myself at a loss. That's a great price if I were looking for one!
 
Yeah, i can. a store in VA Beach sells 'em for $25. As for there being only some vintage titles on the 64, I think some 3-d games like super mario 64 and Zelda Oot are vintage, but definitely not Majora's mask.
 
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