Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Retro Gaming 101 part 3 Retro Consoles

When you are talking about getting old consoles you get into some serious work. The problem is you very seldom can go into a store and just buy what you want. EB Games does have some Nintendo games usually but generally your are picking over crap. What you are left with is prowling thrift stores and the internet. Lets take a closer look at both.

The internet is a fantastic resource for retro gaming. eBay makes it all possible really, you can find most anything you are looking for if you check back enough. Also EB games and other online stores often have exactly what you are looking for. The benefit primarily is fast access to tremendous selection. The problem is these are people who know the older games have a value to the burgeoning retro gamer counter culture, so the ream you. Or on eBay you get sniped or bided up should you find a good deal, Though you usually can get by if you are looking for an Atari 2600 or NES. There were so many produced the market is flooded a bit. Popular systems should run you around 30 with shipping and a few games. One deal of note is the EB Games 15 games for 50 dollars. It is an easy way to get yourself started once you have a system, here is the link:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/groups/15games50bucks/nes.asp

When it comes to thrift stores and garage sales I am certainly not an expert. I have hit my local Savers from time to time but seldom found much worth my time. A buddy is a big garage sale shopper and his tips are get out early like 6am and hit as many as you can. Don't get attached to one thing, so if your after NES games and you see a great deal on Genesis at least consider it. HAGGLE. Generally i wouldn't buy anything for more than half the net price, unless it was ultra rare. Remember the people selling on the internet are often buying from Goodwill and garage sales.

Ok when it comes to systems I personally feel the Atari 2600, NES and Sega Genesis are must haves that make up the core of a collection. But certainly concentrate on the system you enjoyed most, go odyessey2 if that's what you had. I kept all my Atari stuff from way back so that is my most solid system, my NES collection is poor at best. I recommend those systems as they were well supported with games and accessories. Also being popular many were made and lots are still out there. Finally classic games which are still inspirational to the industry were created on these systems. If your plan is to get all the old systems then you are going to be spending some money, Fairchild systems sell well above 50 bucks on eBay. I am close to being on this path myself but I don't want my wife to kill me. I would recommend everyone to check out the console museum on Classic Gaming to get an idea of just a few of the systems out there:
http://www.classicgaming.com/museum/

Next time I will take a look at emulation
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