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First off, thanks to whoever is reading this blog, although I can't guarantee I'll be doing a lot of them. There's only a few other subjects I can think of that I'll possibly write about, and that could be it, but who knows  I'm mainly doing this entry for two reasons: one, I couldn't find much under a tags search for "plug and play", and wouldn't mind getting some discussions/comments going about the subject. And two, this is a warning for a certain plug and play brand to stay away from, as many of the games on this unit that I got are still included on many other units years later (which I'll get to).
Now, I REALLY love the...well, idea of plug and play units, due to them being small, compact, easy to use, inexpensive, and have many fun games on them all in one piece of plastic, wiring and buttons. Unfortunately the actual execution of these units can result in being mixed, if not being total garbage as far as results go, due to us old gamers that have been around since commercial video games were in its infancy in the mid 1970s, getting grouchy when manufacturers (who are out just to make a buck, rather than care/try to make us happy, let's face facts) port/reprogram old games and get them wrong (we just want stuff the way they were, dammit!).
I've only played a few modern day units, the best of which is Retro Arcade Featuring Pac-Man, which unfortunately they quit making a little over a year ago at the time of this writing, which is especially a shame due to there being 27 units before it before they came out with this near creme of the crop (ok, so I'm exaggerating, it was only 26!). I've seen YouTube videos of Jakks Pacific's past units (Retro Gold Featuring Pac-Man) where they got sounds, graphics, and/or various other things wrong on the included games. On this unit, though -- and which I give an 8 out of 10 (which you can see on this page, along with a YouTube presentation I also did, which a link will be at the end, although without a video camera, there isn't much video footage to it, which I hope to correct later) -- only Xevious was totally ruined (four way joystick control ONLY and several of the ground targets -- including the mother ship -- were taken out?!), with only minor changes with a few other games (Galaxian attack patterns, steerable shots on Bosconian) not screwing up the rest for the most part (although the joystick could've been better though).
Another one I played is the Star Wars Original Trilogy, with the games being pretty easy (which a review I wrote can be seen here), which I give it a 6 out of 10. I played it for a few weeks, then wrapped it up for a Christmas present for the nephew (had to make sure it worked first though, you know!). That one isn't bad, but it's nothing great either.
[img width=700 height=339]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/darrylb/miscellaneous/25gamesboo_zpse0d597ae.jpg[/img]
And then, there's the 25 Games unit, which is what inspired this blog; baaaaaaarf. Very, very bad. This is a totally different story altogether.
There is very little to like about this one, as games are rip-offs (and not as well done) of the arcade classics of Rally-X, Columns, Clowns, and I believe Depth Charge (if that's not it, it's some old game where you command a battleship and you drop bombs down on ships below), done to death themes of the scrolling shooters and snake games (i. e. avoid walls, and each time you eat something your snake grows in length), games taken (possibly illegally) from the Famicon, and then several bizarre games that no one in their right minds would rip off from the unit, unless they came up with better gameplay elements of, among several other craptastic games.
Now, chances are pretty slim that anyone is going to find or play this piece of junk, as it's a pirated version of the DreamGEAR 25 in 1 unit that came out in 2003 or 2004. However, the reason I'm putting this up as a warning is that, right now, in 2013 that I'm writing this, the DreamGEAR company is up to a 140 games in 1 unit. And that's what you have to beware: I don't know if these units are sold outside of the States here, but upon doing research, many of the games on this 25 Games unit is on the current 140 in 1 unit, along with several of the DreamGEAR's previous ones. Because I first became aware of DreamGEAR about a year and a half ago when I spotted their 50 in 1 unit at a local Walgreens and wondered what it was like. However, it said it was for ages 5 and up, so that means these are for only:
1. Hardcore game collectors
2. 12 to 14 year olds, max
3. And/or people who are terrible at video games, since the games on this 25 Games unit are WAY too easy and boring for the most part
To summarize, I only gave 25 Games a 3 out of 10 rating. A link to my review of this can be seen here, although, with going over every single game (briefly, though), it is a bit lengthy, I'll admit. At least I only paid $2 U. S. for it, as the price tag read $4 at a local resale shop, but luckily everything was half off that day when I got that piece of junk.
I can definitely understand why someone got rid of that junk heap, and got pretty much nothing in return for it. I just feel sorry for whoever bought it and paid full price for it though; luckily when I saw the 50 in 1 unit at Walgreens a couple of times, I only had enough money for whatever it was I was buying on those nights, because I was bored and really needed some new games. So as we should all be thankful for things when we can, I'm glad I only spent $2 on this (plus tax), rather than $10 (again, plus tax) on the 50 in 1, which would've taken even MORE time to play twice as many games, which those might not have been any better than the games on this unit that I ended up with.
I will most definitely welcome comments on this subject, especially for those who have some plug and play units that I haven't really heard much about, such as the Intellivision and Commodore 64 ones and the like.
And who knows, maybe even pirate versions.
(Note: no, this unit's not in the database here, since RF Generation doesn't accept pirated games or consoles, so that's why it's at Stage Select. So don't bother trying to add it here, either.)
Links
(The first four links are the reviews mentioned throughout this blog, with the fifth being a bonus [not! You'll see why!] one)
*Stage Select page for Retro Arcade Pac-Man, with pictures and review
*My YouTube channel, which has a presentation of the above
*Stage Select page for Star Wars Original Trilogy, with pictures and review
*Stage Select page for 25 Games unit (puke), with pictures, a code and review
*YouTube channel (not mine), having many videos on the actual legit 25 in 1 unit, which most of the games on there are on this unit too
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