Which are made better classic game consoles or current ones?

[Msanchez]

Seems to me the classic ones such as NES, Atari, Super NES,even up 5th gens were made better. I can remember the biggest problem having with my atari and NES were it not reading the games. I would just blow in them or clean the game with a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol and game would work again. Now systems have major problems such as, Red Ring of Death, Yellow Ring of Death, disc drive failure, and so on.
In your opinion which were made better the classic or current consoles?

 

[Lilikins]

Hmm, well to be fair...(even though I personally prefer the older games in comparison to the newer ones..but thats just a personal opinion...)

You also have to look at the hardware that is implemented in the systems. Whats being read, whats being processed..etc etc.
The games from the olden days....wouldve fit on a floppy disk so to speak, just in comparison, lets say a game from the NES era had 100 mb (Ive no clue really, just pulling something out of the air) as in comparison to something from nowadays that will have 10gb+. More Technology=more things that can bust/not function as they should.

Edit: Mind you, I was pulling those numbers out of the air, I dont remember how much space a floppy disk etc had hehe^^ I just remember for instance Hexen having 6 floppy disks to install the ruddy thing haha.

 

[Bad Jim]

Hmm, well to be fair...(even though I personally prefer the older games in comparison to the newer ones..but thats just a personal opinion...)

You also have to look at the hardware that is implemented in the systems. Whats being read, whats being processed..etc etc.
The games from the olden days....wouldve fit on a floppy disk so to speak, just in comparison, lets say a game from the NES era had 100 mb (Ive no clue really, just pulling something out of the air) as in comparison to something from nowadays that will have 10gb+. More Technology=more things that can bust/not function as they should.

Edit: Mind you, I was pulling those numbers out of the air, I dont remember how much space a floppy disk etc had hehe^^ I just remember for instance Hexen having 6 floppy disks to install the ruddy thing haha.

To give you some real numbers.

Super Mario Bros came on a 40KB cart. Super Mario Bros 3 came on a 384KB cart. SNES era games could be 1-4MB while Ocarina of Time on the N64 was 32MB.

PC floppies went up to 1.44MB. So the install files for Hexen would be 8-9MB. Amiga disks were 880KB.

A modern 20GB game thus requires half a million times the storage that Super Mario Bros did.

It should be noted though that cartridges aren't quite as bad as this comparison implies, because they are chips, and thus benefit from advances in chip technology. The amount of ROM that was affordable was similar to the amount of RAM most people could afford for a PC, so if a cartridge based console came out out tomorrow we might see 16GB games on it.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Well, it is sometimes joked that Nintendo systems are made from the near indestructible Nintendium, although in truth only the original Game Boy can really make that claim. Sure, from today's standpoint they are large and unwieldy as bricks, but at least they also just as durable. Nintendo does generally make sturdy hardware, which I guess makes sense, since they target a wide audience, including young children.

But in all fairness, the only console that has ever crapped out is the Xbox 360. Oh, and PC's. Had several of those break down on me, despite knowing perfectly well how to maintain one and doing so. Everything else is still going strong. Maybe I'm just lucky or maybe it's because I'm kind of anal about keeping my electronic safe and clean.

 

[Msanchez]

Yea, all Nintendo products I have every owned lasted. I got a Wii for the kids when it first came out. It has been passed down to the youngest now and the disc drive just went out on it. I ordered a new drive off Amazon for 22$ and installed it now it has been running like a champ again. In my opinion the Xbox 360 was the worse made. Everyone I know has had problems with Xbox 360 myself included. With that being said, the original Xbox is pretty tough.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Modern consoles have something older consoles didn't have: Internet scrutiny. With the NES, the only failures you would hear about were those plaguing you or your friends. With the Xbox 360, you had the potential to hear about every single system failure. Hearing complaints on the Internet now doesn't mean that the system is worse than the older ones. It just means you have the potential to learn about all the failures you previously didn't have the ability to learn about.

 

[Lilani]

I think a lot of people forget that for every great classic game, there are 10 or 20 awful ones. Hell the worst game ever made is still considered to be ET on the NES. Things haven't changed much in the way of quality control. There are still great, well crafted games coming out in a sea of mediocrity. It's how things have always been, it's just that we don't remember the shitty games of the past as vividly as the shitty games of the present because they've been washed away by the sands of time.

Edit: oh shit this is about consoles, not games. Never mind, I'm going to bed .

 

[Hero of Lime]

I would say yes, primarily because the old systems feel so much sturdier and were made with tougher materials. Even the Gamecube could apparently take a savage beating and still play games just fine. Now that systems are made to look stylish, their durability is less important.

 

[Kyrian007]

I think a lot of people forget that for every great classic game, there are 10 or 20 awful ones. Hell the worst game ever made is still considered to be ET on the NES. Things haven't changed much in the way of quality control. There are still great, well crafted games coming out in a sea of mediocrity. It's how things have always been, it's just that we don't remember the shitty games of the past as vividly as the shitty games of the present because they've been washed away by the sands of time.

Edit: oh shit this is about consoles, not games. Never mind, I'm going to bed .

That's actually ET for the Atari 2600, not the NES.

Anyhow, older consoles were indeed built to last. My Atari and NES actually still work. Every Nintendo product I've ever owned still works. They are the only console still making quality products. Sega started well, but after the mostly stable Genesis, they made the 32x and CD add-ons that would break it. I'll give them credit though, the dreamcast was pretty durable.

Better than PS products, built to last about as long as its warranty. Just long enough to have several games and have to get a new one or just give up on them. Still, makes more sense than...

Microsoft XBreakbeforetheyearisoutOX. There is really no good reason to even make a product that crappy. I've never had one last more than a few months. I actually have had more XBOX CONSOLES than games I would ever buy for that POS. My original bricked, got a replacement, 3 games and it failed after 6 months... didn't bother for 3 games to replace. Then my 360, rrod after a week. Replaced, rrod after 3 DAYS. Replaced, this one lasted a month, then bricked. Replaced... and shelved. Still own it, have never powered it on. Only own 2 360 games anyway.

 

[stroopwafel]

Modern consoles definitely break more easily but that is mostly b/c they have a lot more moving parts than old pre-optical drive consoles. Another important factor is that manufacturers use cheaper materials to lower production costs. It's a trend in general though that consumer electronics have become much more disposable than in the past. Manufacture and materials costs only a fraction of what it used to be and if it weren't for the long supply lines with China/Far East the price would be cut even further(not that you or I would notice it. ).

But anyways, I think on average I replace my consoles about twice before I played all the games I wanted during a system's run. That's acceptable to me though considering most consoles have an 'update' in the form of a slim version or whatever. I remember my Super Nintendo or Megadrive(Genesis) of never ever breaking though. Despite being lend to friends and falling on the ground and all that. Those things were indeed built to last.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I can't speak for the XBone or PS4 but my PS3 is still doing well after 5 years of service. My Wii U was a day-one purchase and is also doing fine. My 360 however is my second; the original one died, was repaired and then died a second time. My GF has the slim 360 and it functions well enough to play games but could never connect to the internet.

The main problem I have is with the generation of consoles before the PS360. My PS2 and Gamecube seem to be fine, the PS2 having been in a storage unit for untold months or years and the Gamecube was bought used, 'refurbished' by Gamestop. The problem is the media though since it's kind of a crap-shoot if you'll find a game that will or won't play. There are a couple of games that I have on both consoles that refuse to be played but most of what I want to play, new or used, on either of those two consoles are perfectly fine. The Xbox is the one that I can't trust. I've owned 4 or 5 of those suckers and I haven't had one that was reliable since the first one I got as an X-mas gift in the earliest of the 2000's.

My best working consoles are my cartridge-eating Nintendo ones. I may have to swab a cart with a q-tip but 99% of the time I'm able to play what I want when I want.

 

[Something Amyss]

Technology that was barely a step up from the electric toaster is more solid than those with more advanced technology and more moving parts.

In other news, water is wet.

Modern consoles have something older consoles didn't have: Internet scrutiny. With the NES, the only failures you would hear about were those plaguing you or your friends. With the Xbox 360, you had the potential to hear about every single system failure. Hearing complaints on the Internet now doesn't mean that the system is worse than the older ones. It just means you have the potential to learn about all the failures you previously didn't have the ability to learn about.

In fairness, we actually had consumer watchdog groups and consumer awareness in the 80s and 90s.

Then again we did know about a bunch of problems with the NES. Especially the original model. The top-loader, less so. But systemic failure? I'd be surprised to find any console had a reasonable time-frame failure rate that came even close to that of the PS2 or the 360.

 

[The White Hunter]

My Mega Drive and Master System have never let me down yet.

My PS3 on the other hand...

 

[The White Hunter]

I think a lot of people forget that for every great classic game, there are 10 or 20 awful ones. Hell the worst game ever made is still considered to be ET on the NES. Things haven't changed much in the way of quality control. There are still great, well crafted games coming out in a sea of mediocrity. It's how things have always been, it's just that we don't remember the shitty games of the past as vividly as the shitty games of the present because they've been washed away by the sands of time.

Edit: oh shit this is about consoles, not games. Never mind, I'm going to bed .

That's actually ET for the Atari 2600, not the NES.

Anyhow, older consoles were indeed built to last. My Atari and NES actually still work. Every Nintendo product I've ever owned still works. They are the only console still making quality products. Sega started well, but after the mostly stable Genesis, they made the 32x and CD add-ons that would break it. I'll give them credit though, the dreamcast was pretty durable.

The Dreamcast is rock solid apart from very common issues with the optical drive that can cause reading issues. That said almost every case of that I've ever dealt with has been a simple adjustment easily found on the net and then it's good as new.

Also;

The Dreamcast is fucking awesome sauce.

Except the controller, that thing sucks.

 

[Mithcha]

The old consoles weren't flawless - the blowing for a start was a fucking nuisance. Reliance of external memory cards (if they had any at all)which made it VERY easy to lose progress, as you'd lose the actual card, and those cards were nowhere near as durable as the consoles themselves. And as technical wonders the modern consoles blow the old ways away, as expected really. You tell 9 or even 13 year old me about the PS4 and what it can show, you show me watchdogs at that age way back when and I'll call you a dullisional fucking liar! The progress of the technology is amazing, remembering the PS1 and the games for it - tech has moved so far on that playing those games now actually hurts my eyes, it is literally painful to watch.

Unfortunately the games themselves, in terms of gameplay, are for me much, much worse. The focus on making everything look pretty has led to the gameplay itself being a watered down shell of what it was - or maybe it's because more people play games now so they have to be easy to be marketable, I don't know. I just know something has changed which to my mind makes them worse. They're not bad...I mean I still play them but they don't have the same IT FACTOR as the old titles, or indeed the old consoles.

Though I have little doubt that in 20 years or so some dorky fuck in his room will be typing something similar whilst praising the PS4/XBONE as the 'pinical of gaming perfection' - simply because that's what they played as a kid. "Man, mass effect 3 was so sooooo hard - games nowadays are too easy!" just as I'd say Pitfall was hard and mass effect 3 was so piss easy you could do it your sleep. "man my old ps3 still totally works, this 670DELTA is a fucking piece of crap"

 

[Silvanus]

The newer consoles themselves are superior, it's difficult to deny. It's the games available for them that were so brilliant and memorable.

Of course, it's all a bit obscured in a cloud of nostalgia, making flawed games seem super-shiny-perfect. Kids who grew up with Super Mario Sunshine and Twilight Princess may feel the same away about those. It's just that they'd be wrong.

 

[mizushinzui]

I think it really depends on how you define 'better', it's certainly true that older consoles have a tendency to stay together better, but this is because the technology that was around at the time was durable due to it's large size and relative lack of complexity.

Newer consoles may be more prone to breaking down but that's because the technology inside of them is tiny, all those small components that the systems depends on to run can be easily shaken loose with the tiniest provocation. There are certain elements of this that are really just not excusable in my opinion, like the RROD for instance, something that happens so often should have been easy to figure out before release really.

Either way it's basically a case of complexity against durability, you may enjoy your new-fangled next gen console sonny Jim but the likelihood is that there will be very few remaining PS3's an Xbox 360s running correctly in the next 30 years.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Which are better is total personal preference. Which are better made is a little harder to sort out. On first glance, I'd say older consoles are better made without any doubt. But, after a second thought, I don't know if it's that clear cut. Todays consoles may seen to be shoddier built but they also have more advanced technology with more points of potential failure. Also, as others have said, the newer consoles are under much more scrutiny than the older consoles. One failure back then combined with generally more relaxed return policies at stores meant that it wasn't a big deal. One failure now means a huge internet story with lurid screenshots/videos of failure messages splashed over every website and forum.

Overall, I would say it's likely that older consoles were better made but I'm not sure the gap is necessarily quite as wide as you may think it is.

 

[BarkBarker]

I dropped old consoles and they still work fine....my new consoles make growling noises when I move them sometimes, you figure it out.

 

[babinro]

Classic ones without question.

This is simply because of the medium. Cartridges are more durable and long lasting than disc media both from a game and console point of view. Note: I miss the days of extra long NES controller cords. I'd happily use them today given the option.