PixlBit

Yeah, I am a fan of having physical copies of things as well. This is exactly what I'm afraid of if I ever adopt a new system, and I just might not. My N64, DS and Gamecube (even my phone and not-really-gaming-ready laptop) have tons of stuff I haven't tried, so I'm content now.

Joe:  The digital games I have are mostly PS1classics and then PSN games. I have bought games like God of War digital but then later bought the physical copies. Now Im gonna buy the PS2 copies also. Plus I had spec Ops the Line downloaded and now I have to re-download that!

As much as I like being able to download video games online (since that's a lot of what I review), I do miss the days when I could pop in a SNES cartridge and go right into playing the game without have to enter a dashboard first, then loading screens just for the many different company logos that made whatever game I'm playing.  No quick game fixes for home consoles anymore.

Kids today don't get to experience what made Saturday Morning Cartoons special back then.

Go get Ape Escape 3 for PS2!

Cary:  No quick fix is correct and just imagine how the PS4 will be. while I was just playing Twin Snakes for the GC it reminded me of how simply playing games used to be.

I used to get up as early as possible on Saturdays to watch cartoons...I miss that. And one of the first PS2 games I plan on buying is gonna be Ape Escape 3

Man, I used to never worry about breaking my SNES. i would just slam the cartridge in without a care in the world. Now I'm afraid to even open the drawer on my 360 and I'm terrified of the dust that gathers on my PS3. What if it overheats! Gasp! Consoles were better when they were more like toys. 

I hate errors that screw over a console. I've been lucky for a few years so I wouldn't be surprised if my number is up. And all this because of a download?!

I hate to sound "old" but it seems like consoles really were sturdier back in the day,James. For example, my PS2 still runs perfectly and I've had it FOREVER.

Ben:  For some resaon the system didnt shut down correctly after the download so something went wrong...who knows?  Yeah, older systems were better, less tech stuff inside to screw up, that gamecube will last forever!

I think I would have seen if that PS3 could do 55. With the PS4 you might have to insert your DNA to play a game.

Homeless....  hahahahahah, thanks for the laugh, I sure needed one!

You are welcome. I know that crap an get to you. It has me in the past.

this hasn't happened to me, but I worry about, and I get frustrated with PSN's network quite often.  I've been downloading a lot of games for a while now, I don't know why, I just adopted digital copies pretty easily, and I might get bitten by it.  

I hope your PS3 is okay though.  I'm a big fan of the PS2/Gamecube combination too, and I have both still operational here and I still buy Ps2 games.  Maybe things have gotten too complicated.....

SneeN....my  reply  to you is below..I forgot to use the Reply button

Just think, online gaming has really only got started in a big way this generation. Yea, there was such stuff back in the 90's and early 00's, but it's really gotten to the mainstream now with millions of players online at once. That's not been a lot of time to work out all the problems with this on consoles.

I got to thinking about this listening to E on Major Nelson's podcast talking about the huge growth in numbers of players on Xbox Live all logging into a game on day-one and the problems that creates. 

So yes, this thing called video gaming has gotten very complicated. I agree.

That's a great set up you got. I miss playing games too. There's so much crap with gaming nowadays. I went to play Skyrim earlier, and had to download a 100 something MB file which took 30 minutes on my sucky internet connection. I still have a ps2 in my closet. I think I'll hook that up instead!

Remy:  get that PS2 off and start buying some memory cards and games and we'll show the game world we aint gonna take it!  hahahahah

Sneenlantern:  I wont set it to auto...anything anymore. and so far so good.  I like digital games but I am going to start buying more PS2 games and go back to the glory years of Sony...hahahahah

I do believe things have gotten way to complicated and exspensive!

I was just joking with a friend the other day how games use to be nearly free and now every little bit of content costs something. Once they get your credit card online, it's sell sell sell and they never leave you alone. It's never enough. Of course my joke was that you used to go out and buy a pack of cards or chess set for $20 or less and you were good. That's going back pretty far. It's not quite that bad but it's not too far fetched.

Well let me just say im by any means not a Sony hater I have been a loyal Sony fan since the first playstation but the ps3 was not a good console in my opinion the ps the ps2 were excellent systems the ps2 in my opinion the best console ever I mean you can play ps1 games ps2 games dvds what a great system and when the ps3 first came out I bought the 60 gig and waited in line for two hours for gta 4 got home loaded it up and it would freeze everytime so I called sony rockstar and no one would help the next day i took my ps3 and all my games and got me a 360 and 20 games and other then the red ring once i have had no problems i did research and found out the ps3 was made by someone different then the ps2 and ps1 so now i read the ps4 will be made by the same as the ps2 & ps1 so maybe there wont be anymore issues but Sony will have to earn my loya

Lee:  Had it not been for Metal Gear Solid 4, I would not have been in a hurry to buy a PS3. I still would have bought one but not at the price that i did. I enjoy my PS3...When I can play freaking games on it and not spend half the time updating and other things.  the last new release I bought for the PS3 I bought it on day 1 and when i got home i had to update it...on day one!

I bought a brand new PS2 in the fall of 2011 and i havent played it much, I bought it in anticpation of not being able to find one when I did decide to start playing the PS2 again...which is now. I will continue to play my PS3 but I am also going to start building me a PS2 collection, thanks in part to your blogs!

earn my loyalty back and the ps2 is a great system andni have never had a single problem with it since it released and its still running strong today.

I am a sony fanboy but I seriously doubt  I will buy a PS4,  one reason because i plan on retiring in 10 years and i need to get my finances in order. a new video game console is last in my list of priorities

yea I have a family of six and im the sole provider so a new console for me will be next tax timenI usually get around 8 k so its feasable for me to get for me during that time but the rest of the year its about the family an bills And again im not knocking Sony I like Sony just not the ps3 although i do love the rpgs and srpgs sony has vrs the 360.

Man, and I thought the current gen was treating me bad. I'm rediscovering the GBA and PS2 myself, and I'm certain I'll crank up the gamecube soon as well. I even beat Summon Night: Swordcraft Story! Woo! 

Serraxor:  I need to buy  some more  GC games, I only have three? and I plan on buying quite a few PS2 games, our local wal mart still has factory sealed releases for sale.

I got a nice silver Gamecube and PS2 slim a while back. I love that they are so small and easy to hook up. I'm always scared to death of jostling my 360 and making it red ring. My PS3 is so bulky too. I need a huge case to move it anywhere.

I find good dealsnon amazon for hard to find ps2 titles and i do have a local gamestop only one in fifteennbut it buys andnsells ps2 games so im lucky in that reguard but amazon really does have some good buys i just got River King and Phantom brave for under $20 with shipping so not bad at all.

Lee:  I plan on using amazon because I like them better than ebay and it's easier to make payments with an amazon gift card, yeah, amazon is the way to go.

Kind of weird, the more technology progresses, the more it tends to fail in complete stupid ways. My PS3 occasionally decides it hasn't been properly shut off, but it hasn't given any headaches like that.

Give it some resting time and enjoy those PS2 and GameCube. They are both awesome consoles with awesome games.

JD:  yes, I need to spend way more time with my GC...Twin Snakes!

Sorry to hear about your PS3 troubles, I had one bad thing happen years ago when I had my first PS3, the big bulky one. I after that experiance switched to the Slim verisons and havent had any probs since then. Its cool ur building GC and PS2 collection though. Ive thought about getting me a N64 if I can find one for a decent price and buy a few games for it. I miss my N64 days.

Nicole:  I've always wanted an N64, and you may have read that I was gonna buy an N64 until I saw and played a demo for Metal Gear...and the rest is history!

I like the gaming setup. That looks like my bedroom setup, only the tv is a 27" and an SNES is hooked up. My PS2/Gamecube collection is around the same number as well (it used to be bigger).

Is the German Cooking book a placeholder?

avidacridjam: Sometimes smaller is better. The German cookbook is because my Mother is from Germany and I am intersted in anything German....I dont know why everything is in bold?

Every so often I boot up the last gen systems or older and yea, it's nice to not have to worry about whether you're connected to the internet and have to log into your ID to play a game. But I guess that's the price we pay to be connected to other people online. It's both good and a pain sometimes.

Also, I got that screen once on the PS3 and I just ignored it and restarted the system. So far no problems. 

KnightDriver:  I've gotten that screen before also, but this time everytime I tried to play a digital game it would say it was crorupt...so I just re-installed it...I've done it before and it really doesnt bother me...I get to replay LittleBigPlanet all over again!

Oh man, I would be so distraught over deleting all my games, but I guess it's not so bad these days. All your purchases are still valid through your account and even saves can be put on the cloud.

I had to redownload everything a few years ago when my 360 red ringed and I got a new one. It was mostly painless.

I really want to pull out my ps2 and play some of those games.  There is just one tiny problem...  my ps2 is 1800 miles away.

Transmet;  Oh no!  You should hit the yard sales, I bought that Gamecube and two controllers and a memory card for $10.00! 

I've received that same error twice, both times when the system locked up and I was forced to use the power switch on the back. However in both cases the system rebooted fine.

Since you've already lost information, did you try using the format utility to wipe the drive completely. It will also wipe out your user id so be prepared to set that up again. You don't need to create a new id. Just use the old one.

I had to do that once when I was stupid and thought I could use the format utility to format the USB external drive. Didn't work and lost all my saves and data. LOL

Peter:  yeah, believe me, ( or ask Tami)  I've done this more than once, Hence the name...down to zero!  hahahahah

GH likes to reinvent himself every couple of months. I've become quite the detective when it come to tracking him down.

GH! I usually just cancel out when that corrupt message pops up lol. I've already had one PS3 die on me. If this one goes out than I'm done. Screw the PS4! All those extra features are nice, but in the end I just want a system that plays games. 

Aaron:  Im just not gonna buy a PS4...I have no need for one, unless... they really do make another Metal Gear!!!!  Snaaaaaaake!

What I mostly hate about modern gaming is DRM and day-one patches. I remember spending countless hours with Maxis games like Sim City and Sim Ant when I was younger. Now I feel like I can't buy the new SimCity or any other EA game withouy my lawyer present to review the EULA. Final Fantasy VI had a few big bugs and glitches, like Relm's Sketch and the Evasion stat not working, but it was nothing compared to how buggy a Bethesda game is at launch, and even how buggy they are months after launch.

However, I will also say that the SNES never had games quite like Valkyria Chronicles, Ni no Kuni, or - yes - Fallout 3 or New Vegas. I just wish there was a way to keep everything good we've seen and throw out the bad. But then again, Ni no Kuni wasn't even saddled with all the bad stuff I associate with some modern games, so there is some hope.

One thing I will say in defense of the PS3 is that it's the best-built non-Nintendo console I've ever seen. The PS1 and PS2 were prone to the disc laser failing after a couple of years of heavy use - I know I went through 3 PS2s before I jumped into seventh-gen gaming with the Wii and 360, and two PS1s before that - and don't even get me started on the 360 unless you want to hear a bunch of ranting and swearing that make Gamemaster 4747 proud. And on the subject of Nintendo, even the NES wasn't the best-made piece of electronics out there. Some days I spent more time trying to get the NES cartridge to work without the screen flashing than I did playing the game!

But yeah, I definitely feel your pain. I will be definitely watching the next generation of consoles to make sure all the bugs are ironed out before I jump in. And I worry that EA's shady DRM practices of always online and all the other crooked stuff they put in their EULAs will become industry standard.

andrew x2:   I understand things are gonna happen, and I was really mad at the time at wrote this blog, I will still use the PS3 as my main console, but I do want to rebuild my PS2 and GC library. I fear I may have waited too late for the PS2, wal mart has always had PS2 games for sale, I went there tonight and they were all gone....even the bargain bins PS2 games...all gone

Do you have used game stores in Mississippi? Here in Oklahoma there are two different chains - Game X-Change and Vintage Stock. They carry everything from the Atari to the Wii U. Vintage Stock also carries movies, CDs, vinyl records, and toys. I've found some very rare PS1 and PS2 games at very reasonable prices at those, and definitely better than what I could get the same games for on eBay or Amazon.

The PS2 and the Cube were, and still are, wonderful systems, and I'm always discovering new goodies on them. Now that I've upgraded from a Wii to a Wii U - the Wii U plays Wii games but not GC games - I want to buy a GC to replace the one that was stolen, and I want to get a Game Boy Player for it like the one I had on my old Gamecube.

KnightDriver....thanks for all the comments, i just got home from work and I am tired or I would reply to all of them.

I like your new gaming rig! Beauty is in simplicity. I know how you feel on this subject. I'm a bit of a tech nerd. I ooh and ahhh over new technology. Have to get the latest consoles and devices that come along. But lately I've been feeling very retro. Missing the games I grew up with a lot. That's one reason I bought a Wii. To get the Virtual Console titles. But it is not the same. I want carts,even if they are a pain in the butt!

PS2 has a pretty robust liabrary of games and you can get most pretty cheap. Cube smaller selection but has some real gems. I'm old school and don't realy like digital copies of anything but I have downloaded my share of old PS1 games I missed the first time round. Speaking of heartier machines, I still have my first PS1 I got back in 97 when I graduated highschool and it still works. When PS3 and the 360 came out seemed like most people were lucky if the damn thing lasted a year. One of the reasons I waited so long to get a PS3. Yeah, sometimes simple is better.

That really sucks. Seems like worst case scenerio. And I agree with you. I hate that it takes the PS3 so long just to freaking play something. It will only be worse with the PS4. Gonna take a step back with the new generation myself.

I understand your frustration.  With the new consoles, I have a feeling it's going to get worse. 

That sucks!!!  I think along those same lines at least once every couple weeks.  It would be nice just to plug in and play like  the old days.  I broke down and got Zombi U system package last night and had issues with my internet and system update stuff.......

welcome to our brave new gaming world.

glad we still can use our old systems. now is a good time to get PS2/GC games. prices couldn't be cheaper!