Comments 409

Re: Interview: Former Sega President Tom Kalinske On The Rise And Fall Of A 16-Bit Empire

JayJ

This guy was probably largely responsible for getting me into gaming, some of my fondest memories with video games was the Genesis era and Sega Channel, as that was my first console. Sega Channel was truly something special for it's era, and the games they had back then always stood out to me. His only big mistake was the 32X and the way everything fell apart with the Saturn. Heck I remember how by the time I finally upgraded from my old Genesis I went straight to a PS1 because the Saturn was pretty much dead already. Luckily the Dreamcast was amazing, a last hurrah for Sega, but that was a different era.

Re: The Making Of: Grand Theft Auto, The Start Of The 370-Million-Selling GTA Franchise

JayJ

It's funny how humble the series origins were, because I think GTA 1 and 2 were rather niche/cultish games back in their day. Like I remember playing the GTA2 demo a lot on old PC's back in the day, but outside of that it was a series that hardly anyone seemed to play. GTA3 is what caused it to really blow up, probably because it was essentially the first big ambitious 3D open world action game. Driver 1 and 2 really laid the groundwork for what GTA3 captured, but they were focused simply on driving cars and nothing besides driving around really. GTA3 made the on-foot action as important as anything. I think that's also why Driver 3 had such a poor reception, because it came out after GTA3 so everyone had far higher standards than before, and it's on-foot action couldn't compete.

Re: Hardware: Anbernic RG552 - A Big-Screen Upgrade To The Popular RG351

JayJ

I love the Anbernic handhelds, got 3 of them and the quality has always been excellent. That said I don't think I would pick up this one simply because I think it's size factor competes with the Switch too much, that and I am planning on getting a Steam Deck soon which should be the king of emulation handhelds.

Still, that said these things are just excellent for anything up to the PS1 in my experience, the latest hardware might even be able to play N64 and DC smoothly, platforms that the older hardware used to struggle with emulating. It's hard not to love these things once you get them setup properly.

Re: Hardware: The Taito Egret II Mini Is A Doorway Into True Gaming History

JayJ

The only problem I got with this is how expensive it is. The only sites I can order it from are not exactly ideal, and it's going to cost about $450 for the system shipped with a paddle controller.

One of the appealing things about the NeoGeo Mini and the Sega Astro City Mini were how relatively cheap they were. I thought the NeoGeo was ideal for a little novelty system like this, and the Astro City was about as expensive as I thought it could be worth. Admittedly this is even more sophisticated, but it's still just a mini arcade deal and it's expensive enough to be competing with more full sized arcade cabinets that I can get from companies like Arcade1Up. I mean if I go all out on this Taito system it's about $600, which seems kinda crazy to me considering what it is.

Re: Hands On: The Anbernic R351V Offers A Real 'Game Boy' Vibe

JayJ

Love how you guys keep writing articles about these devices, it's like you just got into the whole retro handheld scene that I was into earlier this year. This is definitely one of the best devices on the market for the money, and a must-have for fans of the original Game Boy design.

Re: Hands On: Retro Handheld Face-Off - Anbernic R351 Vs Retroid Pocket 2

JayJ

@Tedikuma Yeah same, the 351 V and M are easily the best right now, I got both of those, but the P is also great and pretty much a cheaper M.

The Gameforce is also worth looking into, a bit more ergonomic and it sort of blends the advantages of the two different Anbernic 351's, you got the 4:3 screen with a horizontal handheld, but like most things it's got it's own advantages and disadvantages. These are the 3 I got right now, but I also got a 280V which is a cool little mini take on these, it's actually the first one I got that got me into these.

Re: Hands On: Retro Handheld Face-Off - Anbernic R351 Vs Retroid Pocket 2

JayJ

I think the Anbernic is the clear winner here. I actually got into these devices fairly recently and the Anbernics are very impressive, well made and I love how everything feels focused around retro gaming with the 351 interface. The Retroid is cool for people who want Android and a bit more that they can do with it, so it's all on your needs really. I just think the Anbernic 351M is pretty hard to beat though, a real top quality device for the money.

Re: Feature: The Making Of Star Fox Command

JayJ

This just reminds me of the touch screen control method era back when they didn't have an analog stick or slider pad so they had to try and replicate that with a screen... that was a dark era.

Re: The SNK Neo Geo MVSX Home Arcade Is Packed With 50 Games, Costs 500 Bucks

JayJ

@stevep Yeah most of the SNK fighting games haven't really aged that well IMO, they might be more fun if you play them vs local multiplayer but I never really seem to play them that way. In single player the computer is usually too difficult/cheap and they usually have the unbeatable boss syndrome, a thing that was really common with their fighting games. It's pretty much everything else that I really enjoy the most on the platform which is why it's a real shame how they seemed to focus so heavily on the fighting games for this.

Re: The SNK Neo Geo MVSX Home Arcade Is Packed With 50 Games, Costs 500 Bucks

JayJ

@SuperKMx Yeah the game selection feels like the only thing that could be a real deal breaker for me. I was fine with the limited game selection on the Neo Geo Mini since it was just a cheap and small novelty item, but this is a far bigger and far more expensive item so I would want it to have some more essential games. If it had the entire Neo Geo catalog it would be an instant buy for me, but as it stands it's a tough thing for me to convince myself to buy.

Re: The SNK Neo Geo MVSX Home Arcade Is Packed With 50 Games, Costs 500 Bucks

JayJ

Got some mixed feelings on this. I think it's ridiculously cool how it looks like the old arcade cabinets, and I love the arcade controls, this is far more appealing to me than the Arcade Stick Pro ever was, but it's also really expensive for what I'm getting and the game selection is nothing special. I already got all these games and more on my Switch and I have the Hori arcade stick for that so this really isn't adding anything that I don't already have. I would just be getting it for the novelty really and I think it's a cool novelty item but there's also numerous arcade cabinet deals for the same price range or less and it's just not the type of thing I really need.

Re: Hardware Review: Evercade - Can A 100% Physical Media Console Really Work In 2020?

JayJ

@TheWingedAvenger Yeah this is one of those things where I see it having a niche market with aging retro gaming enthusiasts who are nostalgic for old games from the 80's and early 90's. Can't say that I could see anyone else wanting it though unless it gets really cheap with a bunch of game collections included. Most kids who are interested in classics will just play them on their Switch or mobile phone with an emulator. They don't exactly have the money to be going out and buying a handheld and lots of games like this when it doesn't have anything else to offer really. A Switch is more expensive but it's got far more to offer kids who are likely to be desiring Fortnite over old Atari games.

Re: Hardware Review: Evercade - Can A 100% Physical Media Console Really Work In 2020?

JayJ

Yeah this never really appealed to me because it is basically just an emulation machine, new and original content isn't really a thing. When it comes to retro games I have no shortage of them in the form of ACA games, and then there's the NES and SNES apps and other classic game collections. This just doesn't really have much to offer me and I am definitely in no need of more handheld game consoles. I have multiple 3DS's, an old DS XL, GBA SP, old Vita and a Vita slim, as well as a PSP Go and a Switch and Switch Lite. At a certain point I need to admit how something like the Evercade is just completely unnecessary and unlikely to get much use.

Re: Hardware Review: Capcom Home Arcade Is The Most Ludicrous Micro-Console Yet, And We're In Love

JayJ

Honestly the problem I got with this is the size. This is no longer a micro console, this is a giant twin arcade stick that will take up a lot of room. While it is pretty easy for me to just put a SNES Mini somewhere discreet this would standout like a sore thump. That and I am not too big on the design, since this is such a large device the fact that it is essentially just a massive Capcom logo make it looks a bit over the top. It's like you gotta be a massive Capcom fan to want something like this in your house. I like how they have finally included some arcade games that never got a home release, but I would rather just buy them in a collection for my Switch.

Re: Hardware Review: Should You Import The Japanese Mega Drive Mini?

JayJ

Honestly I much prefer the 3 button Genesis controller. The problem with the 6 button Genesis controller is how the other 3 buttons are useless for about 99% of the Genesis library, and the controller is notably smaller and less comfortable to hold. That and I always thought the 6 button controllers felt cheaper.

Re: Pre-Orders Go Live For The Evercade Retro Handheld System

JayJ

@SyFyTy People post about what they don't want because this is a promotion article for a product that has been heavily promoted around here for very questionable reasons. Obviously the more often people see something being promoted the more likely they are to comment on it even if those comments are negative.