Super Nintendo Love/Hate Relationship

[tz101]

The NES looks like a VCR that doesn't have the mechanism for loading its own media.

Everything I have read says that Nintendo attempted for a front-loading VCR appearance as a 'Trojan horse' to get it into retail stores. They feared that many retailers would see a top loader as another game system and were trying to position the NES as an 'entertainment system', hence ROB and Stack 'Em game. Ever notice how much wasted space inside a NES game cartridge? They wanted noticeably larger 'cassettes' than previous generation 2600 and Colecovision game cartridges. Everything about the NES was meant to fool retailers into selling it. I still don't get why people call a front loading device a toaster though.

[A Black Falcon]

It's probably because of the large, boxlike size... but yeah, it doesn't actually look like a toaster, just a VCR.

[Greg2600]

Only problem I ever had with SNES has been the yellowing.

[Drakon]

How so? If Secret of Mana or any SNES RPG was on cd, it could have had voice acting, FMV cutscenes, and good sound quality at the cost of load times. It would have worked out for the better that way.

I hate fmv and voice acting. Also the snes has one of my favourite audio chipsets so it would be a shame to have all that music converted into cd audio.

I didnt care for the looks of the snes model 1 but I did like the looks of the mini snes model 2.

Agreed, and ironically the snes mini is the best version for modding.

As for the n64...that thing is fugly too. My favourite looking nintendo machines are the av famicom, the super famicom, and the snes mini / super famicom jr. The model 1 nes does look like a toaster just point the cartridge slot upward. I agree with notalgicmachine the n64 is one of my least favourite nintendo consoles (okay the virtualboy is worse), that stupid controller and the ugly look of it....bleh.

[NostalgicMachine]

NES looks like a VCR that doesn't have the mechanism for loading its own media.

I definitely agree with this!

Everything I have read says that Nintendo attempted for a front-loading VCR appearance as a 'Trojan horse' to get it into retail stores. They feared that many retailers would see a top loader as another game system and were trying to position the NES as an 'entertainment system', hence ROB and Stack 'Em game. Ever notice how much wasted space inside a NES game cartridge? They wanted noticeably larger 'cassettes' than previous generation 2600 and Colecovision game cartridges. Everything about the NES was meant to fool retailers into selling it. I still don't get why people call a front loading device a toaster though.

And I never knew this, but it makes complete sense.

[j_factor]

I hate fmv and voice acting. Also the snes has one of my favourite audio chipsets so it would be a shame to have all that music converted into cd audio.

It's hard to say that any of those things would necessarily have been in Secret of Mana for SNES-CD. Look at Squaresoft's Playstation output. Hardly any of their games have significant voice acting, hardly anything has redbook audio (they want you to buy the OST), and most have minimal FMV apart from FF 7-9.

[NostalgicMachine]

I hate fmv and voice acting. Also the snes has one of my favourite audio chipsets so it would be a shame to have all that music converted into cd audio.



Agreed, and ironically the snes mini is the best version for modding.

As for the n64...that thing is fugly too. My favourite looking nintendo machines are the av famicom, the super famicom, and the snes mini / super famicom jr. The model 1 nes does look like a toaster just point the cartridge slot upward. I agree with notalgicmachine the n64 is one of my least favourite nintendo consoles (okay the virtualboy is worse), that stupid controller and the ugly look of it....bleh.

The N64 was literally the most insane looking thing I'd ever seen when it came out in 1996. When my buddy showed me the controller, I couldn't believe that we were expected to play with the thing lol.

I have a soft spot for the top-loading NES, and prefer it over the original with each passing day. The SNES model 2 is rather sharp, too.

[Drakon]

The N64 was literally the most insane looking thing I'd ever seen when it came out in 1996. When my buddy showed me the controller, I couldn't believe that we were expected to play with the thing lol.

I have a soft spot for the top-loading NES, and prefer it over the original with each passing day. The SNES model 2 is rather sharp, too.

Yup I agree with everything here. I can't stand people who're like "I wanna play my fugly disfunctional toaster with fugly rectangular controllers because that's what I grew up with"

[NostalgicMachine]

Yup I agree with everything here. I can't stand people who're like "I wanna play my fugly disfunctional toaster with fugly rectangular controllers because that's what I grew up with"

Now that I think about it, I'm realizing that all cart based media should be top loading.

[sheath]

Yes, by all accounts the NES was redesigned to compensate for insane American expectations that cartridges must be physically bigger to be better and retailer expectations that a toy would sell but a game console would not.

Also, I found my solution to the puke yellow SNES about ten years ago now.



Looks nice on the shelf too.

[Moirai]

If the SNES CD had been released, the games would be even more collectable and two and a half times more expensive than Sega CD games today due to crazy Nintendo collectors and fans. It would be littered with RPG's and the few actually good ones would cost like 50-70 bucks on eBay. Except for Earthbound. The CD version of Earthbound would be even more expensive than the real-life cart version, like 400-500 bucks for the US version.




Also, sheath... Get that vile action replay out of your Saturn ASAP! APE on assemblergames will install a region free BIOS for $25. the AR will wreck your cart slot and is an eyesore anyway. It doesn't deserve that kind of abuse.

[Thierry Henry]

^^
did I just spot a PC Engine Duo-R? Yeah baby!

[sheath]

Also, sheath... Get that vile action replay out of your Saturn ASAP! APE on assemblergames will install a region free BIOS for $25. the AR will wreck your cart slot and is an eyesore anyway. It doesn't deserve that kind of abuse.

I've had that PAR since my Gameshark died in 2001, no damage to my cart slot has ever occurred and this is my 1995 model Saturn. If I ever have a mod installed it will include CDR functionality, but my Saturn was literally glued together at the factory because the screws were over torqued and snapped the inside of the plastic in several holes. So I'd have to find a way to replace the CD drive in my model 2 Saturn because it doesn't work and mod it at the same time.

^^
did I just spot a PC Engine Duo-R? Yeah baby!

Yes it is, that baby cost me $450 when all was said and done. Fun story, shipping DUOs back to Japan is expensive and CDRs actually can kill the laser in a single play.

[Moirai]

I've had that PAR since my Gameshark died in 2001, no damage to my cart slot has ever occurred and this is my 1995 model Saturn. If I ever have a mod installed it will include CDR functionality, but my Saturn was literally glued together at the factory because the screws were over torqued and snapped the inside of the plastic in several holes. So I'd have to find a way to replace the CD drive in my model 2 Saturn because it doesn't work and mod it at the same time.



Yes it is, that baby cost me $450 when all was said and done. Fun story, shipping DUOs back to Japan is expensive and CDRs actually can kill the laser in a single play.

So whats wrong with your model 2 saturn? is it the motor or laser?

also, what is it about the DUO that causes it to die from CD-R's? what kind of laser does it use?

[sheath]

So whats wrong with your model 2 saturn? is it the motor or laser?

also, what is it about the DUO that causes it to die from CD-R's? what kind of laser does it use?

I found replacements online shortly after my expensive lesson. I think they're just standard hitachi lasers, I have no idea why DUOs are so delicate. Some people told me that the laser must have been breaking anyway, but both times I tested real CDs for over a week, sometimes leaving the thing on for hours and it worked fine. The first time I loaded a CDR the game froze and it never read a CD again. The laser was dead.

I think my model 2 Saturn's laser is dead also.