XYZ computing has a great nostalgic article on the SNES and why the writer feels it was the best console ever. He doesn’t bash current games and consoles so much, only he reflects on just how good the games really were back then. (SNES Games List)
Do you agree with the writer? If not, which Nintendo, or any console for that matter, has been your favorite and why?
[Source: XYZ Computing]
Anonymous
1. SNES, best games, best controllers
2. GC, ugly, comfortable but crap controller, good games
3. NES, crap controllers, crap gfx, crap sound, many good memories
4. N64, bah
Anonymous
1. GC, better controller than snes, great limited number of games.
Anonymous
I agree with the writer. Although I don’t think that it’s the specific consoles’ faults (not that he said that). If it were up to me, I would prefer to have less technologically advanced games, that may not look as nice, and are cheaper to make, so that companies can take chances and make more varied genres and new series. It’s not really a problem with the consoles, it’s just that since technology for games have become more and more complex and more of a demand, it’s more neccesary for people to put it into games, which makes it more expensive so they have to go with things they know/think will work. In conclusion: A small amount of really good games along with a bunch of average to below average games < A fair amount of great games, some good games, some avergae games, small amount of bad games. Instead of making games and trying to make sure they’ll fit into a certain demographic, they should make them inexpensively enough so that they can easily make a profit and find out what new ideas are good. In the long run it seems like a better profit than what most game companies are doing now, but I suppose not many people are too keen on the idea.
Spud Crowley
Yes, the SNES did have better technology backing it, but by that logic, the XBox would be the greatest game system of all time. Technology, cotrollers, and the system’s case are all non-issues. Software drives hardware. The SNES had a better good-game-to-bad-game ratio than the NES, but the good games on the NES more than make up for all the crap that polluted the system. Right off the top of my head, I can think of about twelve games on the NES that still, to this day, captivate me in ways that no people, city, crime, dog, town, farming, or anthill sim could ever dream of. And, with few exceptions, all of these games had sequels on the SNES that, while usually good in their own respect, sucked compared to the origional. In particular, I got the same nauseous feeling in my gut from playing Super Punch-Out!! that I did when watching Episode I for the first time. Well, to each their own, I guess.
DeathEater
i’m going to have to agree that SNES was the best.
James
SNES was king. While there were amazing NES games, many of them (ie all the Marios) were available for the SNES, and the controllers were top notch.. the system was just plain class.
Getting on towards the last couple of years there was alot of crappy games, I can remember about 12 million movie-based games for instance, but the quality games made up for them and then some.
I also think the SNES (European and Japanese) was the best looking console ever (although Revo is looking slick).. the industrial design is near perfect on that machine.
James
Anonymous
Hey, while the SNES was a great console, it isn’t our best. The Revolution is much better than anything we’ve put out before, think about it. The Virtual Console, all our past games, downloadable, through the Revolution.
Hey, September 19th
Be Ready
R
Anonymous
fanboy
Anonymous
… TGS is from the 16th to the 18th Nintendo will Have a Keynote speach on the 16th around lunchtime in Japan time. So… why in the HELL would the 19th be important?!
I will be attending TGS on the 17th the day after what ever Nintendo has to say. Nothing will be announced on the 19th what so ever.
Dont claim to be part of something you are not that would be lying and as we all know lying is bad.
Jack
Come now, keep your cool.
Anyway, maybe it was because I was younger, but that Xmas when I opened up SNES and immediately threw in Super Mario World still hasn’t been beat in terms of fun factor.
That controller? The 16-bit graphics and jump to stereo sound from what was available on the NES? It still hasn’t been matched to this date, and that’s including all the full motion video and the like that was experienced when CD-ROMs first hit the radar.
Just think of the innovation (innovation? what’s that these days?) that went into the SNES … if it hadn’t come out, think of how dull or delayed all the features of today’s systems would have been, Nintendo or otherwise.
As part of a larger trend that I’m noticing, this article shows that there is now a distinct (and independent from Nintendo) feeling out there that these “next gen” systems haven’t delivered — and they aren’t even out yet! For more info check out the post below about the “death to the games industry” article.
This feeling has been intensified in my opinion by the PSP, which has yet to deliver on the hype it promised back at launch. Add in the fact that Sony is actively squashing “homebrew” applications on the PSP and you can see where innovation sits in relation to the dollar; not a good trend for great games in the future by far. Hopefully gamers have wised up and are seeing all the eye candy for what it is.
Sure it may sound fanboy — but the Revolution as an idea is sounding more and more like a, well, ‘revolution’ every day. Sony and MS have obviously bet on their technology and little else, why do you think they’re pitching the specs of their systems? The head of Sony’s PS3 efforts has repeated spoken about the units high price to the point of bragging … this is not something, in the wake of a tanking US economy and events like killer hurricanes, that is very intelligent, but maybe they know something about Americans wallets that we don’t.
It’s becoming more and more clear that if you want an entertainment system that plays HD movies, go with Sony or MS. If you want to play games (given, how you are going to play them is hopefully going to be revealed mid-month), then continue to go with Nintendo.
Fiskemannen
I agree with JB, it seems that every system released after the SNES has followed its basic design principles, four angled face buttons, shoulder pads etc. Even the PSP follows the same basic design elements. It was an extremely well designed machine, and it had a lot (a LOT) of top quality, fun games, far more than the follow-up consoles have had. The best five games on the N64 may have matched the best games on the SNES for pure quality and that ‘new’ feeling, where you’re playing something fun that hasn’t been done before, but it didn’t have the sheer amount of quality. The GBA has been a very good console for me, reliving SNES memories and it, too, has a large amount of quality games.
I also thonk the DS is doing well, I’m having fun, and the touch screen has been a revelation for me, it’s great fun!
I am excited about the Rev, I think nintendo are on the right track, and the success of the DS is heartening, I think there is a genuine market for innovation, if it is supported by quality games (The VB’s stumbling block.)
Anonymous
Why would the 19th be important?
That’s the million dollar question isn’t it?
R
R
So, I decided at getting an account and a blog, no big deal.
Anyway, I don’t personally care one way or another if anyone calls me a fanboy. Just look forward to the 19th, that’s all I can say. Really, believe.
SEPTEMBER 19TH 2005
R
Sturek
I LOVE the SNES for several reasons.
BUT I don’t think it’s the best console ever. I DO think it had most of the best games ever made….
Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana ( and SoM 2 ), Harvest Moon, Mario Kart, Lufia, Zelda and so on.
I’d love to get some games that live up to the standard of those SNES games. I don’t care about the graphics, I only want nice graphics be it 2D or 3D. Just look at Illusion of Time/Gaia, this game is so beautiful!
For me it’s always the games and not the console that makes me buy a console. (Otherwise, honestly, I would’ve bought a PSP )
That’s why I look forward to the Rev.
Maybe Nintendo will allow small third party companys to create new SNES games and to sell them via the Back Catalogue….
Ahhh can’t wait….