Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

I think it all pretty much started with the Intellivision II. The TV
commercials boldly proclaimed: "Intellivision.. it's got the most going
for it". Sure the system was on life support till like 87, but it was
the end.

Then, the Atari 2600 was repackaged as the smaller "2600 JR"... and
then faded away for good.

Well, let's see now.. There was the Top loading NES..

There was the Genesis II and III.

There was the smaller Super Nintendo..

There was the "PS One"..

Did I miss anything?

And now, Ladies and gentlemen, the PLAYSTATION 2 has been repackaged in
a smaller, slimmer, sleeker package... could this be the "big signal"
that it's end is also near?

I won't even mention the Gamecube or X-box in the same breath as the
PS2, as they literally aren't even in the same ball game. Sorry.

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

The Space Boss wrote:
> I think it all pretty much started with the Intellivision II. The TV
> commercials boldly proclaimed: "Intellivision.. it's got the most
going
> for it". Sure the system was on life support till like 87, but it was
> the end.
>
> Then, the Atari 2600 was repackaged as the smaller "2600 JR"... and
> then faded away for good.
>
> Well, let's see now.. There was the Top loading NES..
>
> There was the Genesis II and III.

Genesis III was out after the console was dead, when Majesco took over
the line. There are also two other smaller iterations of the Genesis:
The Cd-X (released when the console was in it's prime) and the Nomad

> There was the smaller Super Nintendo..
>
> There was the "PS One"..

Which was contemporary to the last revision of the full sized
Playstation console (SPCH 9xxx)

> Did I miss anything?

The updated slightly smaller Saturn, GB Pocket, GBA SP

Notable exclusions to the 'smaller' rule: Vectrex, Dreamcast, N64


> And now, Ladies and gentlemen, the PLAYSTATION 2 has been repackaged
in
> a smaller, slimmer, sleeker package... could this be the "big signal"
> that it's end is also near?

How about Sony annoucing the PS3 for mid 2006 being the "big signal"?

Releasing a smaller version of the console later in it's life happens
so often because it becomes cheaper to produce or source consolodated
components, to reduce unnecessary parts (unused video and expansion
ports), and to condence multiple chips into one. There's also the idea
that the console look has gotten stale during it's lifetime -- People
went ga-ga for the PSTWO becuase it seemed 'new'. Nintendo's release
of several colour iterations of the N64 late in it's life is another
good exmaple.


> I won't even mention the Gamecube or X-box in the same breath as the
> PS2, as they literally aren't even in the same ball game. Sorry.

All depends on your needs and criteria. To me, the Xbox has been
overall a better value as an all around *entertainment center* (once
hacked) than the PS2. In comparison I almost couldn't give my
launch-era PS2 away. I find I play less games these days and those I
do play are via emulation on the Xbox.

I daresay there won't be another console as versatile as the Xbox (once
you start to poke around with the innards) because 4 years ago I
couldn't even concieve of such a beast to begin with!

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

On 4 Apr 2005 10:55:29 -0700, rob_ocelot@hotmail.com wrote:

>
>The Space Boss wrote:
>> I think it all pretty much started with the Intellivision II. The TV
>> commercials boldly proclaimed: "Intellivision.. it's got the most
>going
>> for it". Sure the system was on life support till like 87, but it was
>> the end.
>>
>> Then, the Atari 2600 was repackaged as the smaller "2600 JR"... and
>> then faded away for good.
>>
>> Well, let's see now.. There was the Top loading NES..
>>
>> There was the Genesis II and III.
>
>Genesis III was out after the console was dead, when Majesco took over
>the line. There are also two other smaller iterations of the Genesis:
>The Cd-X (released when the console was in it's prime) and the Nomad

I was just thinking...I bought a JVC X'eye back when the Sega CD was
at its peak. The Genesis was still the popular system to have and new
CD's were coming out on a regular basis. How the heck did JVC clone
Sega's systems and sell them legally in the US?

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

Turbo-Torch wrote:
> On 4 Apr 2005 10:55:29 -0700, rob_ocelot@hotmail.com wrote:

> >Genesis III was out after the console was dead, when Majesco took
over
> >the line. There are also two other smaller iterations of the
Genesis:
> >The Cd-X (released when the console was in it's prime) and the Nomad
>
> I was just thinking...I bought a JVC X'eye back when the Sega CD was
> at its peak. The Genesis was still the popular system to have and
new
> CD's were coming out on a regular basis. How the heck did JVC clone
> Sega's systems and sell them legally in the US?

JVC had a licence to release their own version of the Megadrive CD in
Japan, called the Wondermega. I believe they also participated in the
deveopment of the Mega CD in partership with Sega. The US X-eye is a
stripped down version of the Japanese Wondermega (notice that it still
has a wider cart slot to take the slightly arger Japanese carts). I
suspect the smaller Multimega (aka the CD-X) was also developed in part
by JVC.

It was not unusual for Sega to parter with other consumer electronics
manufacturers in Japan when they were a console maker. Sega also had a
deal with Aiwa to make a boombox that played Megadrive games. The
Saturn and the Dreamcast are made up of a lot of off-the-shelf Hitachi
parts and Hitachi released their own version of the Saturn in Japan
(aka Hi-Saturn)

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

In article <1112584540.515346.291800@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
"The Space Boss" <drsmith666@aol.com> wrote:

> And now, Ladies and gentlemen, the PLAYSTATION 2 has been repackaged in
> a smaller, slimmer, sleeker package... could this be the "big signal"
> that it's end is also near?

If its drive unit is more reliable, than no. The one thing that puts
sony at it own greatest risk is that the drives don't last, and it
usually proves more cost effective to buy new than repair.

> Did I miss anything?
>
Probably. You seem to miss a lot. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

jt

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

rob_ocelot@hotmail.com wrote:

>
> All depends on your needs and criteria. To me, the Xbox has been
> overall a better value as an all around *entertainment center* (once
> hacked) than the PS2. In comparison I almost couldn't give my
> launch-era PS2 away. I find I play less games these days and those I
> do play are via emulation on the Xbox.

Are you implying you are able to play PS2 games on you Xbox?

>
> I daresay there won't be another console as versatile as the Xbox
(once
> you start to poke around with the innards) because 4 years ago I
> couldn't even concieve of such a beast to begin with!

What are you talking about? I really don't know. I just have a regular
X-box, not "hacked" or anything. What can you do with it? Can you do
any cool thing's without hacking it? THanks

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.classic (More info?)

"The Space Boss" <drsmith666@aol.com> wrote in message news:<1112687576.375195.133130@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>...
> rob_ocelot@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> >
> > All depends on your needs and criteria. To me, the Xbox has been
> > overall a better value as an all around *entertainment center* (once
> > hacked) than the PS2. In comparison I almost couldn't give my
> > launch-era PS2 away. I find I play less games these days and those I
> > do play are via emulation on the Xbox.
>
> Are you implying you are able to play PS2 games on you Xbox?

Nope. Not at all. Just commenting that my gaming dollar was better
stretched with the XBox. For all the mutitudes of games on the PS2, I
found very little to sate my tastes -- and those games that did like I
found were ported over to the Xbox (Beyond Good and Evil, GTA III/Vice
City, etc). The one exception is Rez, though I uually pull out the
Dreamcast to play that these days.


> > I daresay there won't be another console as versatile as the Xbox
> (once
> > you start to poke around with the innards) because 4 years ago I
> > couldn't even concieve of such a beast to begin with!
>
> What are you talking about? I really don't know. I just have a regular
> X-box, not "hacked" or anything. What can you do with it? Can you do
> any cool thing's without hacking it? THanks

You can use a retail Xbox as a Media Center Extender for XP MC
Edition. Basically you can use your computer to serve up all kids of
video and audio content and the Xbox acts as a middleman.

Hacking, either by instlalling a chip or by using a software exploit,
allows you to do pretty much anything you could want with the machine.
You name it, from emulation of PS1 and N64 (and pretty much any
console older than that, Saturn excepted), as a Media player (better
than the legit M$ offering), a full fledged PC running many different
flavors of Linux (and with that the possibilites are endless).

Sure, I guess you could use a PC with a video out card to do this on
your TV, but with a PC I find you lose the intimacy of a console.
Plus, it's nice to just pick up the console and move it to a different
TV in the house, while keeping wirelessly connected to your
video/ROM/music server.

5 years ago people bought a console to PLAY GAMES. I don't know
anyone who used a PS1 or Saturn to play CDs. The release of the PS2
changed things somewhat as many people bought it to be both a game
player and their primary DVD player as well (and in some cases,
primarily as a DVD player). When you hacked a console back then, you
hacked it to play pirated or homebrew games or games from another
region. The Dreamcast was probably the first console to be hacked to
play video in a useful way (the PS1 was alble to play VCD's with an
addon, not really the same thing). The Xbox is pretty much the legacy
of what the Dreamcast started in terms of homebrew applications.