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Posted on Jun 23rd 2012 at 01:24:59 AM by ( SirPsycho) Posted under death |
The topic of todays post has been in the works for quite some time. And the topic of today is When is a console considered dead? Traditional logic would say that a console is dead as soon as official support for it dries up and no new games come out from the big publishers. In the more recent generations those usually consist of watered down sports games or low budget niche titles that last for a handful of years after the console is no longer manufactured or sold. Well take a look at a few cases which turn this easy to grasp idea on its head. First off well take a look at a system which keeps selling, which is still being made despite being over 10 years old and no new official games coming out for it. Im talking of course about the monstrous Playstation 2. Brand new systems can still be purchased directly from Sony and even in retail outlets in larger cities. Why is this? It still sells, slowly sure, but it sells consistently and for a hefty profit. For the budget minded gamer or for collectors the Playstation 2 is the best system out right now because of this reason. Brand new systems are still available and there is a massive library of games that can be found online or in stores for $1-15, a starter set of a brand new system and a dozen games can be had for less than $150 easily. The rest of this post can be read at my offsite blog: http://whydidiplaythis.wordpress.com/
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They live forever imo.
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@Crabmaster2000:
For discussion, how about homebrew? What about the Sega Genesis, which is still receiving official releases in Brazil?
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@Shadow Kisuragi: I center my argument around homebrew on my blog post but never share my answer because there technically is no correct or incorrect. An interesting answer I got on racketboy was that the Vectrex is the only truly dead console because vector graphics are no longer used in gaming.
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@SirPsycho: That is funny the Vectrex came up. As I was reading you post I was thinking about how alive the Vectrex is. The entire library was released to the world as freeware, it enjoys very well done home brews and people still are making things like light pens and modified controllers. Also you could make the argument that vector graphics don't look dated because vector graphics would look the same now as they did back in the day.
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I tend to think homebrew IS what keeps a console alive. The Dreamcast for instance is very much still alive as far as I'm concerned. VCS as well.
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I'm a big fan of NES homebrew. Hardware is just a blank canvas and people can keep painting as long as they want to.
I would suggest that a console is only dead when their are no functioning units of the hardware left.
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@nupoile: Dude, exactly.
I am of the opinion that a console can only truly die when it has been forgotten by the Internet. No shrines, no forum threads, and/or no blog revival posts = dead.
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[Blog title] When Does a Console Die?[/Blog title]
When the FPS Russia guy uses it for shooting practice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWtxs5rl7jk
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@SirPsycho:
On a more serious note: after thinking about it, and taking a look at my own collection, I don't see any previous-gen console as dead. Just... well, retired I guess. It's had its moment to shine, and now the glory days are behind it, the latest generation now bearing the burden and carrying on the legacy.
And when one fires up an old-schoo—errr, I mean, retro game console to play a beloved game from his childhood, it’s like a retiree reminiscing about those great moments in his career. Sorta. A little bit.
I also see the whole homebrew thing as like a retiree taking on a few odd jobs here and there to earn some side money, albeit not o the point where he jeopardizes his pension or social security benefits.
Actually, wouldn’t a better analogy for homebrew be like the retiree taking on a hobby based on what he did during his career? Seeing as how homebrew is more a labor of love than of profit?
You know what, I’m probably overthinking this whole deal. None the less, I found it an interesting question to ponder, and I actually had some fun pondering it. So thank you for throwing it out there, kind sir.
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@Zagnorch: Indeed. I've never considered myself a philosopher mainly because those that would have come before were just so damn brilliant.
But this was one question that I found myself asking ever since I got a PS1 and really stopped getting new SNES games. Over the last few months I've found myself asking this question more.
Much like Theseus' Ship or Locke's Socks I found that this question is more of a Gamer's Philosophical paradox. Although instead of either 'yes' or 'no' or subjective definition of the word 'same'. Instead this question has multiple answers, all of which being plausible. This question is much less properly defined and open to interpretation. There's no such thing as an incorrect answer because we each have our own answer.
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@Duke.Togo:
I would suggest that a console is only dead when their are no functioning units of the hardware left.
So where does that leave "clone" hardware? Are they like Civil War re-enactors after the last Civil War vet passed away?
Actually, that's a weak analogy, seeing as how reenactors only pretend to shoot & kill one another on battlefields, while the originals were killin' and maimin' for real--
You know what-- I'm overthinkin' this whole deal again.
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Vectrex isn't dead. Just got the new Vector Pilot homebrew from Kristof Tufs in the mail on Saturday.  I have to agree with Crabby, they never die.
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A console will never die until you let it. Just like words don't hurt unless you give them weight.
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