AndrewTS

1. The Micro is out--continuing to support it doesn't hurt. 2. DS plays GBA games, so there an extra incentive for somebody who never picked up a GBA, although I assume most DS owners already had GBAs in some form. 3. Third parties have a wider potential customer base with the GBA than if they make an exclusive DS version. 4. It probably is hard to justify making a game to take advantage of the system if the only thing you're going to do to enhance the experience is stick a map on the 2nd screen. Dawn of Sorrow uses the system's power to make a better looking game with better music, even if the gameplay could be mostly replicated on GBA.

I gave my impressions on the demo in the XML thread. It's not very good, but there are far worse games.

World's greatest plumber...carpenter...yadda yadda...

All of them are, for now, slated for GBA. More retailers should do custom bundles--since you're probably one of 10 people in maybe the entire country who would go for that combo....unless you mean "Mario Kart" when you say MK.

About time. I could only imagine how much he'd ruin the Top 10 consoles thread.

Better question: who do we thank? I skimmed the thread and it isn't exactly clear.

\ I think Million owns it but Atlus publishes for them--but anyway, that's close enough. Thank you very much for the game list.

A new pseudo-review (really import preview, but whatever): http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3145126&did=1 Still looking awesome.

Kind of silly without the ability to give 'em a huge boomarang a fighting style that fits. Does Link's SC2 fighting style appear in any form for a created fighter? Didn't Namco devise that shorthand method, though? Ahhh...how I miss Jab, Strong, Fierce, Short, Forward, Roundhouse...even if it only was accurate for the Shotos.

Where's Yoshi's Island? With virtually all of those games in my collection, I have to say that, yeah, SNES should be up there, but the sheer quantity of quality titles in every genre on the PS2/1 has it beat. Try to name 3 quality racing games on SNES that are worth playing now--and SMK doesn't count. Tough, eh? Meanwhile, PS1 has the Ridges, the GTs, Jet Moto, Wipeout, NFS, the decent Daytona clone Burning Road, *I* like Motor Toon a lot...SNES has SMK and F-Zero but that's about it. PS1/2 has genres that never even existed back then--car combat in TM for instance, 2 platformers as well as good 3D platformers, and naturally 3D fighters. Shooters aren't really any comparison. PS1 has the Ray trilogy, Einhandler, R-Types. PS2 has Gradius V, RT Final, Castle Shikagami, Espgaluda, and more. And while the SNES has several classic RPGs (including some never released in the US), the PS1 and PS2 have much larger and deeper varieties. The fact that SNES stacks up as well as it does back then to today, when the US gaming market has exploded to a much, much larger industry since, is still a testament to it. Not really--it lacks the raw power of the X-Box, it is weaker in some aspects than the PS2--but it's very smartly designed and well made. However, its biggest flaws are 1) lack of internal RAM 2) small storage space on the GC discs. I disagree that it's better than the N64's. The d-pad for GC is too small and placed poorly--I preferred the N64's ability to make flexible use of both. The analog thumbpad on the GC controller may be more versatile than the N64's, it seemed like Mario always responded better on the N64 than on the GC. Plus that C-stick...what the hell is up with that? What? The X-Box controller is a Dreamcast controller clone with extra buttons. Same here, but CMW and I both live in Pennsylvania. I'm not sure that had anything to do with it or not. Okay, thanks for clarifying that--those damn number systems for the Ataris confuse the heck out of me. Yeah--Insomniac (the Spyro folks) and Naughty Dog (the Crash folks) both handed over the licenses to VU, who have been making mediocre-to-utter-crap titles since with them. Meanwhile, they've had a bit of a rivalry going with the R&C/Jak games. However, the original R&C was built upon the engine Jak & Daxter used--there's even a picture of Jak (I believe on R&C's tv screen) in R&C.

I think MikeSC's, likewise, been confining himself to the Pit. Considering he hasn't posted very much in a while and hasn't responded to the G4 console thread. I kinda miss Flik, though.

At the earliest, we're looking at The Ides of March 2K6. That's just speculative at this point, and it hinges greatly on how much of an impact the 360 makes.

I've seen differing game lists, so could you post a full game list please? Also, since you named it, I assume Bubble Bobble is playable right away--that correct? Just the one version of it, or others?

How's King Kong compare to the console versions? The 360 one looks amazing (watched a guy use Kong to break a Rex's jaw just like in the classic version). Except for the animation, the in-game graphics in NBA 2K6 360 smoke the cgi cinemas.

Holy crap--a ton of responses today...damn work, I'd love to comment/complain about a lot of these--hopefully time tomorrow. Quick comment though: "I sometimes wonder exactly how some older games would stack up today. I'm pretty sure Tomb Raider would be a complete bore now. Jumping Flash might be fun, I loved that game. Mario 64 is really the first 3D platformer that stands a chance in this day and age, though. Platformers have made huge leaps and bounds." I've pulled out Tomb Raider 2 and both Jumping Flashes in the past month. Tomb Raider 2 of course feels really clunky, and playing it in the same console generation as one of the new PoPs really makes you appreciate how far we've come. After about a dozen or so deaths caused by traps you have to have died from, memorized, and learned to compensate for the camera for, I felt like never touching the game and traded it in. Jumping Flash 1 and 2 are both awesome still. Despite some pop up issues waaaay in the distance, it still looks pretty good (framerate ain't bad at all) and it's still insanely fun. In fact, a Jumping Flash 2 box cover is my MSN Messenger avatar. I have considered tracking down an import JF3 (which we never got) and getting a modded PS1 to play it and a handful of other quality titles I'd missed.

"EDIT: Man in Blak, have you played Valkyrie Profile? If not, you might want to consider picking it up. I don't think it's ludicrously expensive like Suikoden II. It's fan-fucking-tastic." I think we're talking in the 60-80 dollar range, rather than triple digits, but variable depending on those damn snipers and pure lucky.

This is incorrect. Atari did it first (remember that the newer Atari systems tended to all play the older systems' games, except for I *think* the 7800 (and Jag didn't support the older games either)--moot by this point in time, but don't credit Sony for some innovative idea they didn't come up with first. Plus, Sega did it also, because there was the Power Base converter and the Game-Gear-to-Master-System converter. Don't forget about Super Game Boy, either.

Pikmin 1 and 2, MGS: TS, and Mario Sunshine are all fine games as well.

Well, you've got: a Zelda that was the most lambasted by critics and fans since Zelda 2 plus TP isn't out yet Resident Evil 4 and VJ aren't exclusives anymore Mario Kart Double Dash is considered to be inferior to SNES MK and MK64 by most Paper Mario 2 is a good game, but easy and more "kid friendly" than the other major RPG franchises. BK and ToS are fine but comparing them and PM2 to the PS2's RPG library is a no-contest. The controller is different for the sake of being different. There is not one practical, sensible reason that its design is the way it is, and it isn't superior to the Dual Shock, IMO. And yes, it's comfortable, but that doesn't excuse the silly button layout. I like the DC's stick and button layout more, and it's less comfortable then the GC controller.

But you sure did a good job of it though. And I could see putting the SNES at # 1. I really don't have a problem with that, but to me the 4 player ability of the 64 pushes it past the SNES. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Naw, more like attacking that other guy's anti-N64 points. The SNES may have less good games than the PS1, but as mentioned, how many of the PS1 games hold up? Also not mentioned--the SNES games are easier to go back to and play. OTOH, any 3D PS1 game that's less than 30 FPS can give you a headache to play. Pull out Soul Blade and see what I mean--even at 30 fps it takes some getting used to (fortunately a lot of the later 3D fighters are 40+ fps, and I think the Tekkens and VF2 were 60).

4hart's blatant fanboyism (or delusional opinions) is undefendable...but... uz spl chk plz. A silly thing to say, because virtually every system in existence has at least one good game, and the N64 isn't exactly in VB/32x territory or lacking quality titles, or in 2600 areas of obsolescence, either. It was *the* game that made the critics eat crow 10 years ago, and yes, it has been since surpassed, but so has SMB, and it's still considered a timeless classic. Nostalgia can make it seem better than it really is, but the actual tasks to obtain the stars involved plenty of fun missions, rather than pointlessly collecting 1000 baubles per stage. It does plenty of things right that its progeny have missed out on. If you want to argue the Banjos, CVs, Conker, etc are virtually indistinguishable from Mario 64, there's no point trying to argue with you, because you're utterly clueless. But you're also presenting a very skewed viewpoint of the system's library. I wonder if F-Zero X counts as a kart racer indistinguishable from Mario Kart? How about the best version of Ridge Racer out until the PSP version? You forget it had the greatest number of quality First Person Shooters at the same save for PCs. Goldeneye, TWINE, the Turoks, Perfect Dark, the Doom upgrade, and the obligatory Quake and Hexen as well (which were superior to the PS1 versions graphically, IIRC). Plus there's the two Zelda games, and several excellent wrestling games, which several people in these forums had gotten the system at least partially for. "Original" would be used somewhat liberally with Paper Mario, Smash Bros, and VERY MUCH SO with Star Fox 64. There are other original games worth playing, though, although I admit most of the best N64 games are sequels/upgrades, but so are most of GBA's and GC's--that's par for the course with Nintendo. So you admit there *are* *at least* 5 good reasons, presumably more. Your arguments could use some work. Objectively, the N64 is a good system system, but the SNES has the most depth out of any of the Nintendo game libraries. The NES benefits quite a bit from nostalgia; the N64 may have just as many or more better games, but just about everyone here can name a dozen or more NES classics, which may be more difficult to cull from memory on N64. However, I do think it is somewhat silly to put it at number one over other Nintendo systems, and certainly it shouldn't be in the top 5 overall. Much better, but SFA3 can't really be directly compared to SSB. However, SFA3 was a technically limited port with tons and tons of extras. SSB has its tournament community, one that's pretty large from my understanding. I'm sure more ROMs are used for NES and SNES games, because they're a less difficult to obtain than N64 ones, honestly. However, I know I play my SNES more than the N64 overall.

Demo units are available already--and I think graphically they're not that big of a leap right now, but they're 1st gen titles. So I guess I'm not alone on that opinion. Every other launch title is a pretty rehash of something else, while Kameo's demo is good enough to make me want to try the full game. Kameo and Rumble Roses XX are the only titles I'm really hyped for right now.

You *can't* be serious.... Play it on normal, foo. Seriously, though, try it. I'm having a bit of a rough time of it, but it's just the right mix of fun and frustration. Out of what I've played, I'd say it's about 1/3 new, 1/3 familiar but heavily remixed, and 1/3 VERY close to the original. The game looks better than most DS titles--I would love to see how well Treasure could work their magic on a DS game. I noticed someone who looks just like him on the train right before you fight Seven Force. 1up has a feature on Treasure up, which subtly pisses on Gamefan (which is funny because they're barely on par with them most of the time). Truly the reviewers who hyped up Stretch Panic deserve mocking, but stuff like Gunstar and Yoshi's Island they tended to be on the money with.

More specifically...?

Surprising. I'd assume a panel completely made of Nintendo fanboys would be about equally split between NES and SNES, with N64 behind them.