What do you think of the newly released classic consoles?

I will say that they have their market. Some execute better than others. I would say Nintendo is doing it decently well, whereas some of the others could use a bit more refinement in their implementation.

I'm a DIY sorta person, and don't have moral issues with some of the greyish areas of emulating classic games. Especially since I do actually still own most of my favorites in their original physical forms (whether I have the systems to play the carts and discs on or not, mostly not at this point). There are also cases where I bought and rebought a particular game so many times, it would be ridiculous to feel bad for keeping an ISO or cart image of it.

So, for me, I find emulators a much more flexible and rewarding approach.

Some people though either have those moral obligations to work 100% within all laws real or implied. Some people don't have the technical skills, patience, etc. to set up an emulator, or specialist hardware like a Pi. Some of these people want to play some of their old favorites, and these retro systems offer that to them. I say that's great. They also serve a certain collector audience, and maybe in some instances I could even see myself picking up one if it had JUST the right mix of games and capabilities. I actually tend to prefer those "higher end" sorts of approaches, like the milled billet aluminum consoles that play the original games. (though most of them are priced out of what I'd want to pay for something like that)

I see nothing at all wrong with making these available. I just wish the quality control and underlying tech was flawless across the board. Some attempts have been pretty pathetic while others pull things off well enough. Whether or not it's worth it to someone is completely down to taste, skill set, and maybe ethical/moral consideration. No reason they shouldn't exist though. I say the more the merrier, but hopefully people vote with their wallets where quality is concerned. Show these companies what you think is done well, and how not to do this.

Now where is my tiny SuperGrafx!?!?!?! That's one that I'd probably pick up despite the fact that I have the system covered. (if it was done right) just because when it really existed it was hard to get and out of my price range))
 
I generally agree with J3RK. I realize that as a "late Millennial" I actually remember - and owned - all of these systems and most of their games during the original releases. I have wonderfully fond memories of titles back then and may want to revisit them at times, but I generally tend toward emulation. These days emulation is overall a fantastic experience especially for classic (but even some recent!) consoles and platforms. Easily available using open source software and capable of running on a wide variety of hardware, emulation projects today allow for someone like me (as J3RK mentioned, technically adroit and interested I'll admit... though RetroArch and the like mean that emulators no longer require great technical expertise compared to previously) to have either a near-perfect time-warped gameplay experience plus gives me the chance to have additional features NOT available on the hardware of the time - ie online multiplayer for instance, graphical improvement, and perhaps most importantly the ability to use out of region and language patched games! From a hardware standpoint, if players don't want to use "modern" gamepads like XboxOne or DualShock 4, there are plenty of classic NES/SNES etc.. styled pads out there instead, not to mention adapters to use official period hardware on PC for emulators (ie SFC/SNES or PSX/PS2 > USB converters ).

While I can see the allure among some other demographics, I admit I'm a little annoyed with some of the choices and limitations the console manufacturers provided. For instance, when Nintendo released the NES and SNES Classics, they did so as "limited" products in such a way that is akin to toy companies marketing for the hottest holiday whatsit, causing tons of scalpers to grab them up and jack the prices through the roof, along with questionable availability. The consoles themselves were pretty much little emulation boxes, but they limited the amount of games on them in order to protect their "VirtualConsole" rom selling businesses elsewhere (ie 3DS, Wii/WiiU, Switch etc), so it wasn't as if users could look forward to being able to update their NES or SNES Classic with new games every so often. Of course, hackers found a way and it turned out very simple to do for those with the inclination; while I'm glad Nintendo was using standard emulation it would have been nice had they actually capitalized on that. Another issue that I realize is probably a niche one is that I really wish they would have taken some of the money going into this project and used it to connect to the (still existing) developers of titles on the system to ask for updates/upgrades. For instance, as I recall the SNES Classic contains Final Fantasy 2 US and Final Fantasy 3 US. Given that SquareEnix is still around, it would have been nice if they would have asked SE to also include the "True" versions of these games (ie FFIV HardType and FFVI Uncensored) - it wouldn't even take very much time/money considering that future releases of the game (ie Final Fantasy Anthology, the PSP versions etc) were based on these, so that players could see the differences. Likewise, the inclusion of previously unreleased Japan only titles - notably Seiken Densetsu 3 (ie the true sequel to Secret of Mana, which WAS released in the US) would have also been nice. I do have to give them kudos for Star Fox 2, though. Sony's Playstation Classic is similar in a lot of ways, positive and negative, and I'd prefer some of the same improvements I described for Nintendo applied there. I expect the same for the Neo Geo Classic perhaps?

Given the prices of the Classic systems (ie between $80 and $100), they're pretty expensive for "emulator boxes" so one has to look at them as art pieces or whatnot. As I mentioned before "late Millennial" like myself owned these originals and many of us have talked up the nostalgia of the experience to younger generations, so I can in a way see the Classics as a link to getting in on that. However, for those who are looking for the perfectly accurate, visceral experience of playing a classic system - ie blowing the dust out of the cart and sliding it into the console with a satisfying "thunk" etc... these Classics don't replicate that, leaving collectors, enthusiasts and "hipsters" looking for authenticity to seek out the real thing which is a totally different "hobby" so to speak. Thus, I do find it that the Classic systems kind of fall into a more narrow userbase than one would originally think. Those who can emulate will probably do that, those who want the full on authentic experience will do that, so those who want a convenient mildly-expensive-but-not-extremely-so pre-packed experience would seem to go towards the Classic systems?
 
Has anyone else found some games don't work? Tried adding DBZ SNES game and it shows up but when I try to play it it just says Loading ...
 
Azureth said:
Has anyone else found some games don't work? Tried adding DBZ SNES game and it shows up but when I try to play it it just says Loading ...
Click to expand...
Check the Google Doc sheet for any fixes that need to be applied.

 
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