How do you feel about Mini consoles ?

[dr grim]

Mini consoles, replicas of the original ones, boarded with a limited number of games ( sometime with the possibility of extending ).

I personally like collecting them, some have a great attention to detail.

My favorite should be the " Egret 2 mini " , The screen can be rotated to play verticaly or horizontaly, and you've a sd slot to add more official games.

 

[Yousef]

I own the ps1 mini. It’s one of my favorite things ever. I wish there was a ps2 or Dreamcast mini. N64 mini and gamecube mini would’ve been extremely cool too.

 

[RageBurner]

I can't say I care for them much, but at least it is another venue for preservation.

 

[Elwiwi]

I own the SNES mini and it's alright but nothing more , if the companies kept on this trend it would be cool but we know the story

 

[Antilocal123]

I use them as a makeshift plug so they’re cool ig /j

 

[Boscobilly]

I love how they look but I don't like playing games on software emulation anymore due to lag. Original or fpga for me only these days.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

I just wish SEGA and Nintendo would lock in and give us a Saturn, N64, Gamecube and Dreamcast mini already

Actually no, it'd be too late for me, I already enjoy the layout of emulators.

 

[ThatOneLum]

I own a PS1 classic but I also installed a bunch of after-market shit on it so not even sure if that count as enjoying it for what it is. I got it at a ridiculous discount, or I probably wouldn't have bothered.

Yet, for some reason, I still wanna try out a megadrive mini and see if it's worth my time.

 

[Yousef]

I just wish SEGA and Nintendo would lock in and give us a Saturn, N64, Gamecube and Dreamcast mini already

Actually no, it'd be too late for me, I already enjoy the layout of emulators.

Yeahhhhh same.

 

[Aiodensghost]

They really shine once you get the ability to add more games to them, and their plug and play nature is great in certain instances, but I don't see much reason in owning more than 1, personally.

Then again, I've been thinking about getting a SFF PC that still has its disc drive and turning it into a retro console...

 

[DragonMals]

I like the satisfaction of what's already been established, but I don't mind these. These are perfect modded because you're able to put more classics than what the company puts on there, but you're better off just playing them through other means, or, even better, on original hardware.

 

[LaserMoose]

I like the premise, and the consoles look visually appealing in their mini forms.

The games they have on offer while they're unmodded are too safe, while also missing some essentials (any Dragon Warrior on NES, Chrono Trigger on SNES, SotN on PS1). The few curveballs on offer like Star Fox 2 and their modding capabilities are the only reasons to own them in my opinion.

Emulation on PC is generally far easier overall.

 

[DragonMals]

I like the premise, and the consoles look visually appealing in their mini forms.

The games they have on offer while they're unmodded are too safe, while also missing some essentials (any Dragon Warrior on NES, Chrono Trigger on SNES, SotN on PS1). The few curveballs on offer like Star Fox 2 and their modding capabilities are the only reasons to own them in my opinion.

Emulation on PC is generally far easier overall.

100% agree. But for those that want to have a little bit of the experience that the 70s-90s kids had, then this isn't too much of a bad alternative option. I own a NES and a SNES Classic.

 

[LaserMoose]

100% agree. But for those that want to have a little bit of the experience that the 70s-90s kids had, then this isn't too much of a bad alternative option. I own a NES and a SNES Classic.

I own those alongside the PS1 classic and Genesis Mini as well. Wanted to give them a fair shot when they were at a manageable price.

Almost forgot to mention; The NES controller's cord length is far too short. They remedied this problem for the most part with the SNES release, but ouch.

 

[Tonberry]

I really liked hacking my SNES Mini and filling it with all sorts of games because it just felt perfect at the time. I still keep it hooked up if I ever get the urge to play. It sort of entirely replaced my original SNES since it's easier to deal with.

 

[zavbaz]

1 usual realy boarded with a limited number of games and without extend libary (without hacking or often hardware modding).
2 they allways looks cool BUT not so fun for real playing. Just to small controls for comfort play.
3 some can be connected to tv for play on big screen.
So fo me this is a fine gift (but real old console bundled with carts or discs more good gift) but i don't want this stuff in my collection even there some licensed ones.
If these are replicas of the original consoles or arcades, then in theory their target audience is people who actually played in the original, and these are no longer young people, but people with big hands and not very good eyesight.
I mean micro versions of arcade machines and consoles with their own small screens and miniature controls. But just smaller versions of consoles like the Snes mini with full-fledged controllers is really a good thing (especially if you flash and add the games you need) - therefore, in addition to the original versions of the Nes, Snes and PS1, I actually bought these modern replicas.

 

[RageBurner]

I like the premise, and the consoles look visually appealing in their mini forms.

The games they have on offer while they're unmodded are too safe, while also missing some essentials (any Dragon Warrior on NES, Chrono Trigger on SNES, SotN on PS1). The few curveballs on offer like Star Fox 2 and their modding capabilities are the only reasons to own them in my opinion.

Emulation on PC is generally far easier overall.

Not to mention a lot exclusive games can be found, if you know where to look.

 

[zavbaz]

Not to mention a lot exclusive games can be found, if you know where to look.

He wrote "and their modding capabilities" so he KNOW where to look :)

Post automatically merged: Saturday at 8:17 PM

They really shine once you get the ability to add more games to them, and their plug and play nature is great in certain instances, but I don't see much reason in owning more than 1, personally.

Then again, I've been thinking about getting a SFF PC that still has its disc drive and turning it into a retro console...

I made some such things for me and for friends from SFF PC (Compaq/HP etc) from OLD ones (P3-P4) cheap variant. And there many custom OSes special for emufans. But if you want emu some "modern" (not last generation but never then PS2) consoles you need expensive modern small PC thats usually costs MORE then original console.
Other cheap variant - convert android (or Linux) stick or tv-box or mini PC to emumachine. With good hands you can make custom case look like yours favorite console for that things. Or use REAL case borrowed from broken console.
And if you have original console and want MORE games why not just buy flash-cartrige or hardware CD-emulator?
Some prefer authenticity and play games from original media on the original hardware, while for others the games themselves are more important than the method of launching them. Well, for many on THIS site, the ability to play modified games (translation, hacks, cheats, etc.) is important, which is sometimes difficult to access on the original hardware.

 

[TotzOnGaming]

I think the highly moddable ones are a good thing to have and you can put more game in and get more beyond the price.

 

[Advil Lavs]

They look cool, and if you don't like what's on them but you have more technical knowledge you can load more games and pretend you're playing on the real deal.

 

[Scum Of Orion]

I didn't get much out of the psx or nes classics when I owned them as a teen, too deep into pc emulation to apre4ciate them. But they made fantastic gifts for younger cousins and some untech-savy classmates. They're a good intro tool I think to oldschool gaming.
Also the controllers are surprisingly nice on on some.

 

[zavbaz]

I didn't get much out of the psx or nes classics when I owned them as a teen, too deep into pc emulation to apre4ciate them. But they made fantastic gifts for younger cousins and some untech-savy classmates. They're a good intro tool I think to oldschool gaming.
Also the controllers are surprisingly nice on on some.

my younglings prefer playing on mobile not consoles at all (newer too).
At some new oficial replicas really good controllers BUT usual they are NOT compitable with original SADSADSAD. and not so good as original but better then many cheap modern cloned controllers.
BUT The Snes Classic Mini controller compitable with Wii (like Wii Classic Controller) and vice versa as i remember.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I think they were cute! Very nice. Had a teacher who was excited by her SNES Mini.

My issue, generally, was that they didn’t have systems that may be more intensive to emulate. It’s a sad catch-22, where they’re overpriced because of the licenses for good games that are included as well as the emulation they use, but they also are using more popular systems that are easier to emulate. It’s been said, but it must be said again: they’re best for kids, nostalgic adults, modding, and display. Anybody looking for a great place/way to play these systems is better off with computer emulation or the original systems with some kind of flashcart or ODE/the actual original games.

 

[J.B’s rabbit den]

There're a fun and interesting concept. I specifically like small handheld emulation consoles like the rg350 if anyone has ever heard of the Rg mini game consoles

 

[dr grim]

I just wish SEGA and Nintendo would lock in and give us a Saturn, N64, Gamecube and Dreamcast mini already

Actually no, it'd be too late for me, I already enjoy the layout of emulators.

A saturn mini with a really good software for emulation would be nice