My mate the new Retro Gamer

[Sherringford Hovis]

Afternoon all! Been a long time!

So one of my oldest chums has got into the retro gaming habit and started a collection of games consoles. As with everything, he has gone a bit mental with it. He is an old BBC/Archie man but was exposed to basically everything (he is a games coder by trade).

So far he has accumulated:
BBC B
Electron
Speccy (dead flesh)
C64
NES
Master System
SNES
Megadrive
Amiga
ST
Archie
N64
Gamecube

Now, it's his B'Day this month and I was thinking of getting him a PC Engine. So, is this a good idea? I know there are a myriad of flavours of these beasts. How hard are they to come by? Should I get the hand held jobby? Should I get something else?

All suggestions welcome.

[DPrinny]

The machine its self isnt that rare, the games go from pocket change to bloody expensive

almost all are shooters

[paranoid marvin]

Why not get him a Vega?

[DPrinny]

Why not get him a Vega?

Because Vega is a Spanish prick

[davyK]

A Japanese Saturn.

[kiwimike]

PC engine is all I have left from me retro collecting days- So I'm obviously biased- But I think that's a terrific idea for a retro mates birthday. They aren't hard to find, aren't too expensive, have a massive range of games that are really good quality, and the range of games go from easy and cheap to get...to hard to find and $$$ for the hardcore.
This is the reason I decided to collect for it, when making the decision to collect for just one machine. For me it isn't about investment, or keeping things immaculate on a shelf. It's about playing it, having fun, and not being precious so anyone wanting to play can come around and have fun too.

May I ask if your mate is a retro man who is into for the gameplay, and a 'hands on' collector, or is it about storing museum style, and collecting as mint as possible and keeping it that way? I think whichever style he is will give you a better answer on the ideal gift. Anyway, yes I think a PC Engine is a great idea.

I'd also suggest the core model myself. It still has that gorgeous style of the original, but a few enhancements to make to easier for plug n play

[DPrinny]

Self collectors are cancer.............

Theres is a few bad PCE games, mostly the ones that came out in the US, its in there with the Neo Geo in terms of quality

[RodimusPrime]

Self collectors are cancer.............

Theres is a few bad PCE games, mostly the ones that came out in the US, its in there with the Neo Geo in terms of quality

Depends on what you mean by shelf collector.

world of difference between someone buying more games than they can possibly buy and just buying as many as they can just to put on shelves and never planning on playing them.

or

someone who buys games they want to play, plays through them and then adds them to shelf.

[DPrinny]

Shelf collector = Buys games and puts them on the shelf will probaliy never play them and is likely to buy sealed games.

[kiwimike]

Yeah, it aint my cup of tea...the whole point is to enjoy them, games are supposed to be entertainment. But each to their own of course. I suppose it is the same as toy collectors who want mint/sealed in packs soley to display and tick off the list.
The reason I culled my game collection is exactly that. I was buying any system(s) I could, and then the titles for said system. From there, they weren't even displayed, after a quick look at them, they were piled into storage to not see the light of day again. So I opted to decide to pick one retro machine to collect for, which ultimately ended the PCE. It looks cool design wise (both the system and the HU cards). The games are great. And I always wanted one as a kid and never had one

[Sherringford Hovis]

Hi chaps, thanks for the recommendations.
He is very much into playing the games (doesn't care about boxes and so on, just that they work).

Currently he is writing machine code for his BBC B. Like I said, he's a games coder so a bit mental.

Will have a look at the Neogeo as well. To be honest, a quick look through pricing for the PC Engine put me off a bit, a lot of high priced stuff out there. I will keep looking though.

[kiwimike]

If you were thinking along the lines of the Handheld PCE, perhaps you might want to check out the Atari Lynx for a good quality retro handheld, with reasonable prices and good range of quality titles

[General Opulence]

Shelf collector = Buys games and puts them on the shelf will probaliy never play them and is likely to buy sealed games.

They have just as much right to anyone to buy retro games and see fit to do what they want with their property, if they want to play it, keep on a shelf, or smash the game into smithereens its up to them, don't be bitter against them, blame the arsewipe on ebay that has priced a game out of your reach.

[gman72]

Self collectors are cancer.............

Are you on drugs? That is insanely offensive and unnecessary.

[DPrinny]

Self collectors are cancer.............

Are you on drugs? That is insanely offensive and unnecessary.

I LIKE CAKE!!