This looks interesting...
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/01/ces-2008-retro.html
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/01/ces-2008-retro.html
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Which old Ninendo to buy?
- Thread starter Fenris
- Start date
GlassJaw
Hero
SNES will have the most "nostalgia" value, but that might be lost on a child. You'll also have to get everything on ebay or used.
GameCube is a great system, and you pickup a lot of good games new on the cheap.
I agree that N64 doesn't get the credit it deserves but GC is probably a better choice for someone younger.
GameCube is a great system, and you pickup a lot of good games new on the cheap.
I agree that N64 doesn't get the credit it deserves but GC is probably a better choice for someone younger.
Rl'Halsinor
Explorer
I will also chime in with a vote for Gamecube. You can't beat the price, still a good selection of games and accessories, and the controllers are user friendly.
Alzrius makes some excellent points, though, concerning Wii and its backwards compatible ability. Still, if your son is happy with what GC can offer and isn't pining for the latest and greatest, the GC should suffice.
Alzrius makes some excellent points, though, concerning Wii and its backwards compatible ability. Still, if your son is happy with what GC can offer and isn't pining for the latest and greatest, the GC should suffice.
Fenris
Adventurer
Well he's playing SNES games now I believe. I looked into GC games though and was disappointed. There's no Donkey Kong, or Super Mario Brothers, two games he absolutely loves. Whether or not he'll pine for newer games is moot since he won't be getting them anyway. The GBA adaptor is the only possible saving grace to the GC. Any thoughts on that? Are any SNES still available, and would they still in theory work. If the nostalgia issue arises for SNES and I can't get it cheap enough, GC with a GBA adaptor may may more viable, but I haven't looked into those games. But all he does want would be Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario 3 etc. Hell, he'd be happy that we even got him anything since we have repeatedly told him we'd never buy him a system.
PS: And I don't see us picking up a Wii in the next say, 4 years if ever.
PS: And I don't see us picking up a Wii in the next say, 4 years if ever.
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
Fenris said:
I know you've already spoken in regards to this, so you might want to skip over this paragraph. It may be more worthwhile to get a Wii, because it has the Virtual Console. For a small one-time-only fee ($5 for NES games, $8 for SNES), you can just download games onto the Wii that can then be played whenever you want. They have, IIRC, all of the Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong games on there already, along with a number of others. It's almost certain that the prices you pay for the games there will be cheaper than what you'd pay to buy them used, and they won't have the troubles that a used game might have.
That said, the GameCube did have a Mario game (Super Mario Sunshine, though most agree it isn't as good as most Mario games), but it's only Donkey Kong games that I remember were the ones where you needed the bongos controller to play. :\
However, your idea of a GameCube with a GBA adapter is not a bad idea at all (particularly since, IIRC, the GBA adapter can also play most original GB and GBC games as well). Many classic games were re-released for the GBA (including most of the Mario and Donkey Kong games), and since the DS can still play GBA games, most stores will still have these games for sale (quite possibly new, as well as used).
It's also true that a SNES will probably run you more than a GameCube - given that the SNES is now over a decade gone, it's nostalgia value is driving its price back up, whereas the GameCube is still dirt-cheap now (this goes for the games on each system, also). I still think the SNES has a much better catalogue of games, but the gap is significantly narrowed if you avail yourself of the GBA adapter.
One thing I recommend is that, if you buy the systems used at a store, ask to try it out right there in the store. You definitely don't want to find out that something's wrong with the system or the controllers after you bring it home and set it up for you son. Also, ask the clerk about the cables you should use depending on what kind of TV you have. I think the GameCube had a special cable (not included with the system) that you could use to get a better picture if you had a 480p television.
GoodKingJayIII
First Post
Fenris said:
Basically, the Wii has wi-fi capability. When you log into the Wii's menu screen, you can go to the Shop Channel and download a variety of old games for the Virtual Console. Each game is anywhere from $5 to $10. You pay the fee by picking up Wii points, which you can purchase by either 1) going to the store, picking up a Wii points card and redeeming the value on your console, or 2) putting in your credit card info and buying them directly from the store. The Virtual Console have a very strong selection, and they add to that selection on a weekly basis.
It's really the best way to go if you want to play old games, IMO. These programs won't run out of batteries, don't require a memory card (the Wii comes with one plenty large enough for these games), won't get lost, and won't break until your Wii does (and the Wii is probably the most stable piece of gaming hardware out there).
I have a Wii and it's great. I play some the newer games, sure, but my girlfriend and I love to break out Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda, and others.
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
As Jay said, the system is based around a pay-for-download model.
The Wii has wi-fi capability, and looks for a wireless connection (it can also be connected with a wire connection, like a computer). The Wii's main interface is a series of "channels" for the main screen. One channel is the one you select to play a Wii or GameCube game, another is the channel you choose to get the news off the internet, etc. (more info on this can be found on Wikipedia's page for the Wii Menu).
The Shop Channel is where you look for games. It currently has a selection of almost 200 games for download, from the NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx, and Neo-Geo (games from other systems, such as the Sega Master System, are coming later this year). New games are added, in North America, every Monday. Games cost different amounts based on what system they're from, but they range from $5 to $10 (there's one game that costs, IIRC, $12, because it was a Japanese N64 game translated into English, "Sin and Punishment").
You purchase these with "Wii Points," and 1 point is worth $0.01. Wii Points are either bought directly as cards in a store (you enter the card's information when you're on the Shop Channel), or you simply buy them directly from the Shop Channel on a 1-for-1 basis - IIRC in blocks of 2000, (plus sales tax).
This model, in my opinion, is a great one. Each game comes with a digital reproduction of the instruction booklet, and is faithfully adapted from the original game (in some cases, there are unavoidable changes, such as some N64 games that used the rumble feature). You don't have to worry that there'll be problems with the game the way a used game might have, and you can effectively always save your game wherever you are by pressing the "home" button on the Wii Remote while playing. Between these downloadable games, and the fact that the Wii plays GameCube games, you essentially have access to every Nintendo console ever on your Wii, plus games from other consoles (such as the Sega Genesis and the Neo-Geo). I personally love the fact that I can potentially play Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3 and The Lost Levels (all for the NES; The Lost Levels was the Japanese-only sequel to the first SMB game, now translated and on the VC), Super Mario World (SNES), Super Mario 64 (N64), Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube), and Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) all on the Wii by itself.
To be fair, the system does have some minor drawbacks. First, while NES and some other games can be played simply by holding the Wii Remote horizontally, other games require that you use either a GameCube Controller (sold separately), or that you use the Wii Classic Controller (also sold separately) - personally, I recommend the Classic Controller for this, as it closely follows the layout of a Super NES controller, and is guaranteed to work with all Virtual Console games that can't use a horizontally-held Wii Remote (whereas a GameCube controller will only work with some downloaded games, and the button arrangement can be a bit frustrating).
There's also a limit to how many Virtual Console games you can have on the Wii at a time. The Wii has a grand total of 48 channels displayed (with 4 being used from the start, and somewhere around another six available for free download). Once your channels are filled, you need to basically delete Virtual Console games in order to load new ones. You don't lose games you've already downloaded - you can redownload games you've already bought for free at any time, but it can be something of a hassle. Also, you can only play games you've download on your own Wii; they can't be transfered to any other Wii system, even temporarily. Finally, the Wii's internal memory is roughly 500 megabytes in size; while most Virtual Console games barely make a dent in this, very large ones (such as most N64 games) can eat up a lot of size by themselves.
Bear in mind, also, that if you want to play GameCube games on the Wii, you can, but doing so will require both a GameCube controller, and a GameCube memory card. While the Wii does have internal memory, it only holds data for Wii and Virtual Console games. Also, the Game Boy Advance Adapter (which lets you play GBA games on a GameCube) does not work with the Wii.
For more information, check out Wikipedia's articles on the Virtual Console and the list of Virtual Console Games for North America.
The Wii has wi-fi capability, and looks for a wireless connection (it can also be connected with a wire connection, like a computer). The Wii's main interface is a series of "channels" for the main screen. One channel is the one you select to play a Wii or GameCube game, another is the channel you choose to get the news off the internet, etc. (more info on this can be found on Wikipedia's page for the Wii Menu).
The Shop Channel is where you look for games. It currently has a selection of almost 200 games for download, from the NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx, and Neo-Geo (games from other systems, such as the Sega Master System, are coming later this year). New games are added, in North America, every Monday. Games cost different amounts based on what system they're from, but they range from $5 to $10 (there's one game that costs, IIRC, $12, because it was a Japanese N64 game translated into English, "Sin and Punishment").
You purchase these with "Wii Points," and 1 point is worth $0.01. Wii Points are either bought directly as cards in a store (you enter the card's information when you're on the Shop Channel), or you simply buy them directly from the Shop Channel on a 1-for-1 basis - IIRC in blocks of 2000, (plus sales tax).
This model, in my opinion, is a great one. Each game comes with a digital reproduction of the instruction booklet, and is faithfully adapted from the original game (in some cases, there are unavoidable changes, such as some N64 games that used the rumble feature). You don't have to worry that there'll be problems with the game the way a used game might have, and you can effectively always save your game wherever you are by pressing the "home" button on the Wii Remote while playing. Between these downloadable games, and the fact that the Wii plays GameCube games, you essentially have access to every Nintendo console ever on your Wii, plus games from other consoles (such as the Sega Genesis and the Neo-Geo). I personally love the fact that I can potentially play Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3 and The Lost Levels (all for the NES; The Lost Levels was the Japanese-only sequel to the first SMB game, now translated and on the VC), Super Mario World (SNES), Super Mario 64 (N64), Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube), and Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) all on the Wii by itself.
To be fair, the system does have some minor drawbacks. First, while NES and some other games can be played simply by holding the Wii Remote horizontally, other games require that you use either a GameCube Controller (sold separately), or that you use the Wii Classic Controller (also sold separately) - personally, I recommend the Classic Controller for this, as it closely follows the layout of a Super NES controller, and is guaranteed to work with all Virtual Console games that can't use a horizontally-held Wii Remote (whereas a GameCube controller will only work with some downloaded games, and the button arrangement can be a bit frustrating).
There's also a limit to how many Virtual Console games you can have on the Wii at a time. The Wii has a grand total of 48 channels displayed (with 4 being used from the start, and somewhere around another six available for free download). Once your channels are filled, you need to basically delete Virtual Console games in order to load new ones. You don't lose games you've already downloaded - you can redownload games you've already bought for free at any time, but it can be something of a hassle. Also, you can only play games you've download on your own Wii; they can't be transfered to any other Wii system, even temporarily. Finally, the Wii's internal memory is roughly 500 megabytes in size; while most Virtual Console games barely make a dent in this, very large ones (such as most N64 games) can eat up a lot of size by themselves.
Bear in mind, also, that if you want to play GameCube games on the Wii, you can, but doing so will require both a GameCube controller, and a GameCube memory card. While the Wii does have internal memory, it only holds data for Wii and Virtual Console games. Also, the Game Boy Advance Adapter (which lets you play GBA games on a GameCube) does not work with the Wii.
For more information, check out Wikipedia's articles on the Virtual Console and the list of Virtual Console Games for North America.
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