A console that you missed

[replicashooter]

I totally skipped the PS2 era mainly due to the Dreamcast. Visually so many of the games looked so dull and washed out with crappy textures and lashings of fog that I couldn't bring myself to buy the machine at all during its prime and even when I picked one up eventually at the end of the era I got rid of it quick as it didn't feel a patch on the OG Xbox.

Thankfully the best of the best got PS3 remasters so alls good in that respect but what about thee? What did you skip and why?

[_SD_]

Yeah, I completely skipped the PS2 as well. At the time I had a Gamecube and a modded Xbox that I was constantly fiddling with, back at the birth of XBMC.

[replicashooter]

Yeah, I completely skipped the PS2 as well. At the time I had a Gamecube and a modded Xbox that I was constantly fiddling with, back at the birth of XBMC.

Same here, the modded Xbox easily took the crown not only as a time sink for tweaking and emulation but also its astounding library of games whilst the GC nearly scratched my DC itch with its quirky catalogue yet all around me everyone was hammering the PS2. 360 was another one I skipped.

Back to the OG Xbox it was mindblowing for folks visiting to see XBMC wirelessly streaming episodes and shows on demand from such a slick looking interface, especially as my Xbox looked like this:

[_SD_]

Cool, you did the slim mod. I had a small PCB in mine that allowed me to turn the system on and off with the DVD remote. I modded the DVD dongle to be internal, along with one for a remote pad. The front panel just had one controller socket for P2, a normal USB socket and an LCD screen as it was mostly used for XBMC. Oh, and I sprayed it silver to match my 32” Panasonic widescreen CRT and VCR I had at the time.

I also generally skipped the 360 too. So that’d be two of the most popular consoles in history then... at least I had a NES.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I did the reverse. I had a PS2 and at the end of its life I got a Dreamcast with shenmue, powerstone & sonic. I found it to be a really well built bit of kit and no way deserving of its criticism.

[Mayhem]

Had a GameCube, and didn't get the PS2 until around about halfway through its lifespan.

[replicashooter]

Cool, you did the slim mod. I had a small PCB in mine that allowed me to turn the system on and off with the DVD remote. I modded the DVD dongle to be internal, along with one for a remote pad. The front panel just had one controller socket for P2, a normal USB socket and an LCD screen as it was mostly used for XBMC. Oh, and I sprayed it silver to match my 32” Panasonic widescreen CRT and VCR I had at the time.

I also generally skipped the 360 too. So that’d be two of the most popular consoles in history then... at least I had a NES.

Man was mine pimped. Off top it had:

128mb ram.
Dual switchable TSOP.
Remote power on off integrated into a switch on the memory card.
Hd and network activity LEDs mounted inside controller port 2 and 3.
Built in wireless adapter.
Abxy buttons illuminated on controller.
Silent running dual fan mod.
Laptop hard drive.

Was so much fun to tinker around with that machine. Funny to see what it did 20 years ago thanks to modders has became the current wave.

What a scene!

Back on topic:

I didn't have a NES so that's 3 for 3

[Asura]

I certainly agree that the PS2 had a "look" to its video output which after the DC, I found somewhat offputting. Back then, I just used to think it was me remembering it better than it was, until I saw them side-by-side on good, contemporary TVs years later.

It's a real shame the PS2 looked like that. Does anyone know why?

That being said, I believe the PS2 pulled through as a wonderful machine with one of the widest varieties of quality games of any machine.

[_SD_]

The Dreamcast did have good video out. RGB scart looked fantastic but I was blown away by how good Under Defeat looked the first time I ran it through VGA. The PS2 just couldn’t compare in comparison.

[replicashooter]

I certainly agree that the PS2 had a "look" to its video output which after the DC, I found somewhat offputting. Back then, I just used to think it was me remembering it better than it was, until I saw them side-by-side on good, contemporary TVs years later.

It's a real shame the PS2 looked like that. Does anyone know why?

This article says its due to the 4MB bottleneck in its VRAM processing as thats all that was available for textures:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/853/14

This article however, like a lone candle on a dark night, says otherwise:

https://www.psu.com/forums/threads/found-this-while-researching-the-ps2-graphics-synthesizer.11162/

My own experience tends to agree with the former perspective as it definitely seemed like some kind of hardware limitation due to how widespread it was across the breadth of titles looking dull and or foggy. This video sums it up nicely:

Whilst this one highlights how the GC was such a capable little machine:

But the Dreamcast though as it pumped out such "pure" graphics which really popped on screen. Wonder how they'd look now via HDMI on a new screen or even an OLED?

[Asura]

But the Dreamcast though as it pumped out such "pure" graphics which really popped on screen. Wonder how they'd look now via HDMI on a new screen or even an OLED?

Some great examples, guys. Interesting videos.

Admittedly though, the Dreamcast has a greater number of titles which lend themselves to getting the best from the bright output the machine was capable of - Virtua Tennis, Crazy Taxi, Phantasy Star Online and such - "Sega Blue" skies, sundrenched visuals, arcade-centric eye-catching use of colour... The PS2 suffers a bit in retrospect as there was an undercurrent of visual design running through much of its life (which became very prevalent towards its end) of having games where the entire colour palette was derived from a picture of some autumn leaves; everything was brown, rusting, with orange skies and haze.

[charlesr]

I didn't start with consoles till the N64. Got a DC and a PS1 and later borrowed a Saturn. Got an OG xbox modded and an import GC. I almost skipped the ps2 but Adam Stone hooked me up with a region free one.

After being completely underwhelmed by most of the PS2 (apart from Ico and SoTC and Katamari) and not liking the pad, I decided to skip the PS3 and went Wii and 360. So the PS3 was my first miss. Also missed the Wii-U and PS4. Doubt I'll get a switch either.

[nonny]

I never got an N64 or a Dreamcast.

I came close with a Dreamcast as we had one setup in the work break area running Soul Calibur which was astounding at the time. But as I was moving country in a few months I had other priorities.

[dataDave]

Master System, GameGear, Game Boy, Virtual Boy, PCE, 32X, 64DD, DS, PS3, Vita, PS4, XB1.

Those are the only consoles, add-ons and handhelds I've missed, I think. I don't see myself ever buying into a current gen machine again until maybe a second generation of VR is offered.

[beecee]

Another one here that skipped the ps2, I had the gamecube and was more than happy with it, steady stream of great games, and when the xbox dropped in price I picked up one of those and got it modded.

My kid got a ps2 from her gran, and I picked up a few games for it.