Did anyone back in the 90s have any of the "luxury consoles"? (Neo-Geo, 3DO, CD-i...)

[Estil | 1,261]

I mean I don't think any one of the luxury consoles is anywhere near worth the money of the combined total for a NES/SNES/GEN.  I'm talking about back in the early-mid 90s when they were active consoles of course.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

19 minutes ago, Estil said:

I mean I don't think any one of the luxury consoles is anywhere near worth the money of the combined total for a NES/SNES/GEN.  I'm talking about back in the early-mid 90s when they were active consoles of course.

Back when Neo Geo was new, you were effectively getting an arcade machine for way less money and way less space commitment.

Way too expensive for kids, though, of course.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

Arch got it.  It really wasn't a console, it was a reboarded/repinned set of 2 arcade chipsets with the same factory files on them.  The BIOS within the AES vs MVS would dictate how they'd work other than in just a couple games that did have a different chipset for some odd reason.  You really were just using the arcade at home without buying the cabinet.  That was my point, it's kind of incomparable to the CDi, 3DO and other luxury priced behemoth things compared to what was there on carts at the time.

[Estil | 1,261]

On 5/19/2020 at 6:31 AM, arch_8ngel said:

Back when Neo Geo was new, you were effectively getting an arcade machine for way less money and way less space commitment.

Way too expensive for kids, though, of course.

Not exactly, you only could get the "arcade machines" from Neo-Geo...you couldn't get any of the other ones like the classic Namco ones.

I'd say it was way too expensive for most everyone!  I miss the days when you could really see the future in gaming tech and such...that is devices that truly are above and beyond what regular consumer electronics can do.  I guess that's why I find retro tech more interesting...I mean think of how revolutionary it was for the Osborne 1 to even be possible for example.  Or the first ever scientific calculator that killed the slide rule.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

49 minutes ago, Estil said:

Not exactly, you only could get the "arcade machines" from Neo-Geo...you couldn't get any of the other ones like the classic Namco ones.

I'd say it was way too expensive for most everyone!  I miss the days when you could really see the future in gaming tech and such...that is devices that truly are above and beyond what regular consumer electronics can do.  I guess that's why I find retro tech more interesting...I mean think of how revolutionary it was for the Osborne 1 to even be possible for example.  Or the first ever scientific calculator that killed the slide rule.

Umm... no, it was EXACTLY what you were getting -- it was a slightly modified Neo Geo arcade machine that played Neo Geo games that were essentially unchanged from their arcade counterparts.  

What does Namco, or any other non-SNK game company have to do with whether or not Neo Geo was a true "at home arcade" experience without owning a cabinet?

 

And while it was definitely "too expensive" for kids -- if you look at other electronics of the time (home PCs) or compare it with an full-up Neo Geo cabinet, they were surprisingly competitively priced for their time.

Edited May 21, 2020 by arch_8ngel

[Estil | 1,261]

Still I think most (and remember this contributed to the '83 Crash?) would say a home computer (even a secondhand one) was a far better deal than a comparably priced machine that "just" played games.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

7 hours ago, Estil said:

Still I think most (and remember this contributed to the '83 Crash?) would say a home computer (even a secondhand one) was a far better deal than a comparably priced machine that "just" played games.

A decent PC was nowhere near comparable price to a Neo Geo.

They were ridiculously expensive.

I am talking actual dedicated PCs (x86 or Macintosh type systems), not C64 or Amiga type systems.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

Yup around 1990-92 you're into a good PC a couple thousand easy if you're getting like everything, screen, accessories, etc.

[DreamCuPS | 18]

Back then, I had not even heard about someone owning any of those systems, all I knew about them I got through magazines, and they seemed kind of odd to me. I once got to play a Neo Geo, and that's all. Years ago I got to see the Neo Geo CD and Jaguar when a friend was starting a game collection. He eventually sold it all.

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by DreamCuPS

[themisfit138 | 523]

A school friend had a Jaguar CD. We rarely played it though. The games weren’t very good. 

[Tanooki | 4,929]

Admittedly about the same here on Neo Geo.  i remember seeing it on the shelves and stacked in the floor space at the old Software Etc/EB Games stores of the time period.  I never saw much of it ever move since it was like insanely expensive, not so much the hardware but the games being as they were to people were a put off.  Even second hand they were often at your Funcos and stuff 1/2 off the sticker making them near/at the $100 mark.  A hard pill to swallow when you had the SNES, TG and Genesis lying about with so much variety and far longer than arcade experience stuff for in most cases $50 a game.  Buy 1 quarter munchers or something far more deep times 2.  Even now having the MVS I do have I'm pretty strict on how far I'll dig on specific games and price wise just in general as I'm not rich or insane.

[PII | 1,883]

I've never had any myself, although I knew a guy who was a rather dedicated gamer and had a 3DO and a Jaguar.  I never played either though.  Never knew anyone with a seedyeye (my limited impression after seeing its Zelda game repertoire) or Neo Geo.  A friend and I have a little thing we like to say about the Neo Geo:  

"Not only did I never have one, or know anyone who had one.  I've never known anyone who knew anyone who had one."

Most people in those days did not have the cabbage for a personal arcade machine with interchangeable $100 cartridges.  I just did a little checking - Assuming you purchased a Neo Geo in 1990 for somewhere in the vicinity of $700 and then bought 3 games at a hundred bucks a pop you'd be around the 1000 dollar mark, which would most likely be over $2000 in today's money.  Now imagine a contemporary company trying to compete with Sony and Nintendo releasing a $2000+ Console Next year.  Even with a pack-in game and some VR gear of some sort that'd be a rough battle, but who knows; stranger things have happened..   ..I believe there was a particular model of PS3 that retailed between $600 - $700....

I remember hearing that NG was 24-bit and even with all those cool fighting games that were all the rage at the time, I was still thinking, "No Way." 

 It's not on my list of consoles to definitely acquire, but rather my maybe list, if circumstances are ideal / fortuitous or just plain acceptable.   ;9