Justifying the obscure.

[crux]

A two part title, motivated by my recent splurges in obscure consoles; What games are there to motivate someone towards an obscure or niche console, and what games are necessary to justify an obscure console?

Virtual Boy was my first niche console, which was a product of youth coupled with ignorance. At adulthood, however, Atari Jaguar was the catalyst to finding the gems among the obscure, thanks to the brilliant Tempest 2000. Tempest 2000 was purely my primary motivation and other Jaguar games followed behind to try to better justify the system. I was able to justify 3DO similarly, thanks to gems like Star Control II and some superior ports. Sega CD was also easy to justify, with some first rate RPGs and shooters.

Soon after, though, 32X, SuperGrafx, Vectrex, and now PC-FX (and NUON is pending) followed. And I'm considering others. Though I'm still committed to the game - I won't buy a system if I can't justify any games for the system, as would be the case with a lot of the really obscure crap out there - the real motivation towards such consoles is the conquest. It's the goal to experience the best of the obscure that drives me, even if the best of the obscure is often no better than the good among the mainstream.

Anyone else similarly motivated? There are plenty of people around here that collect for a single console or consoles, but anyone trying to simply see it all? If so, what have you found? What are the games that motivated you towards a niche console or the games you found to justify an obscure console?

[UBERTRON777]

I've been writing up lists of games I need to get for each platform and I often thinking about whether I would actually be willing to spend that much money to buy a system just to play a handful of decent games. The 3DO, Jaguar, and 7800 all intrigue me. All of them have at least 5 games that I want to play on the original system but I get worried that the money would probably be better spent on a bunch of games for a good system that I actually own. I doubt there would be anyway to justify getting a CDi though because that is just crap. There are really no good exclusives for that.

[noiseredux]

I have a CIB Bentley Compu-Vision on my tradelist. Obscure.

[crux]

Here are some of my motivations (long read ahead, but feel free to skip to a console):

Virtual Boy needs no introduction. Since half the titles were first party Nintendo titles, it just so happens that the system has an extraordinary ratio of good:bad games, thanks to the extremely small number of games released for it. Add to the fact that I'm a novelty geek and it's an interesting system to plug in once and a while.

Atari Jaguar could be a standalone Tempest 2000 player and I'd be happy. The game is utterly brilliant for anyone with the disposition for it and add a rotary controller and it's arcade bliss. The Jaguar does have other decent games though. It has a few other arcade conversions like Missile Command 3D and Protector (a post-mortem release) and one of my favorite multiplayer games, NBA Jam. NBA Jam was ported to everything, but Jaguar was the only next-gen cartridge version, so it's free from poor loading times. Alien Vs. Predator is the other killer app, which hasn't aged wonderfully but is still just as original as it was when it was released.

3DO's most outstanding title is easily Star Control II, which has an even more superior free port available on PC now. The 3DO is still home to a lot of superior ports, like Flashback, Out of This World, Space Hulk - even Night Trap! There's also Need for Speed and Road Rash, for the inclined, among others.

Sega CD is has a wealth of RPGs and shooters considering it's small library. Robo Aleste and Keiko's Flying Squadron* are some of the best shooters on any console, as well as Android Assault. It has RPGs ranging from Popful Mail, Vay*, Shining Force CD, and two Lunar games (though they received ports elsewhere). Some multiplatform games, however, are better played on other systems, like the aforementioned 3DO. And, of course, Snatcher with a light gun.

From here it starts to get a little more dire.

32X. Well, there's the epitome of a hummingbird shooter, Kolibri (a great title for any Ecco fans), Blackthorne*, uh... Shadow Squadron and Knuckles Chaotix?

SuperGrafx is the essence of obscure. Only five titles and an additional two that can take advantage of the system. Aldynes is one of two shooters and the only one that hasn't been ported elsewhere (1941: Counter Strike is available on Capcom compilations). Ghouls 'N' Ghosts* is the best home version a person can get without ponying up for a X68000 system. Battle Ace and Madouou Granzort are the other two titles, neither of which are killer apps by any means. Darius Alpha* has improved graphics over the PC-Engine version and forget about Darius Plus*. Truthfully, I just got the system because it can also play PC-Engine/Turbografx (via a mod) titles.

Vectrex is pure novelty. Tiny screen, vector graphics, and a whole lot of arcade titles. The pack-in game, Mine Storm, is probably the best game for the system and multicarts can be picked up for those that can live without the overlays. There's no other system like it, which is motivation in and of itself, and anyone familiar with early 80's arcade games will feel right at home.

PC-FX. Nary a playable game for English speakers is even on the console. Only four games exist that require little dialogue, with another two that playable despite the dialogue. Kishin Doji Zenki: Vajura Fight is supposed to be quite good and pretty to look at with loads of CGi. Chip Chan Kick! is in the vain of Bubble Bobble or Parasol Stars, which can't possibly be a bad thing. Battle Heat and Tengai Makyo Karakuri Kakutoden* are oddball titles - FMV fight games. Super God Trooper* is the only shooter for the system, sadly. Welcome to Pia Carrot has been called one of the best hentai games of all time! It's the only game on the system to have received a translation, naturally.

NUON? Should I get a NUON DVD player, it'll become a dedicated Tempest 3000 player, of course.

I'm considering some consoles like CDi, LaserActive, and X68000, among others. CDi... well, there isn't much to justify it, but a few titles pique my interest. It's so hard to find info for LD-ROM2 and Mega LD games that I'm not even sure what to think. X68000 is home to a wealth of pixel perfect arcade ports, but the system isn't cheap.

*The titles I don't actually own... yet.

[fastbilly1]

I agree on the Jaguar front. Having owned one since 95, and having played most of the library, there are about 10 games that are worth the cost of entry. AvP, Iron Soldier, Atari Karts, NBA Jam, FlipOut, and Tempest are definetly the best from when the console was alive. If you like Tempest, give Typhoon2001 a go. Its a pc "homage" that is steller. I would like a dedicated Tempest 2000 cab, but I may go for a Typhoon one instead (cheaper and just as enjoyable).

I want a Vectrex just because it is beautiful looking. I wont pay $200+ for one though.

[Hatta]

Obscurity is its own justification.

[crux]

I'm glad I don't apply myself to that logic completely. There's an asinine amount of systems out there, most of which have no worth whatsoever. But the allure to the systems with some tangible amount of worth is sometimes just too strong for me.

I admit, though, the idea of diamonds in the ruff is always appealing. It's easy for me to justify a system for just one great game. If it doesn't have one great game, though, some times it takes a fair amount of good and decent games to do the trick.

[HellHammer]

Once, back when Yahoo Auctions was around (man I feel old) I dropped over $100 on a GameAxe Color, simply because I wanted to play one of those 51-in-1 Famicom pirate carts on an airplane... (gimme a break, it had Rockman and Castlevania on it)

Probably not a justifiable purchase, but it's a neat little system.

[pepharytheworm]

PC-FX. Playdia,CD-i and the wonderswan are all the most obscure systems I own that don't have many playable or english games. I do enjoy the PC-fx if you can't find the games they are easily burnable. The playdia is for novelty purposes only but I heard that some of the games are good at teaching early japanese. The CD-i does have good interactive titles and if you like those they are much better then the 3DO and Sega cd versions. Now the wonderswan seem like there are some good english friendly game but a lot of them were ported to the GBA.

here is some of the good games on those platforms.
PC-FX:
Zenki
Super God Trooper
Battle Heat
Chip Chan Kick
Last Imperial Prince (A RPG but quite playable its action based)

CD-i
Vouyer
Burn Cycle
the Apperntice
Dimo's Quest
Mutant Rampage ( other dont like it but i think its a pretty good final fight clone)

Playdia:
can't think of any but I heard that one of the DBZ interactives is a pretty good original story.

Wonderswan:
Gunpey
Guilty Gear petit 2 versions
Judgement Silversword( really expensive shooter though)
Kolona
One piece

Some of the obscure system I want are:
Sega Mark I and II
MSX
Laseractive
Nuon
Commodore 64GS
Amstrad GX4000
FM town Marty
Atari Lynx

There is more put these seem like the best obscure system I don't own yet. I usually go to this website to find info and pics on the systems. http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/index.html

[Dakinggamer87]

Anyone else similarly motivated? There are plenty of people around here that collect for a single console or consoles, but anyone trying to simply see it all? If so, what have you found? What are the games that motivated you towards a niche console or the games you found to justify an obscure console?

I was drawn to a lot of obscure consoles when I was older. My requirements for acquiring older obscure gaming consoles are that it has to have a special novelty and at least a certain amount of titles on it that are worth playing like Atari Jaguar for great classics like Tempest 2000. I pick up a Sega CD primarily for Snatcher since Kojima makes incredible games and this gem was worth the system by itself. I also enjoy the great selection of RPG's like Lunar and Shining Soul CD. I got a 32X for Knuckles Chaotix and some other SEGA arcade ports. I picked up a Wonderswan and Wonderswan Color mainly for novelty since it was made by creator of Game Boy. Virtual Boy was novelty and with a small library most being made by Nintendo it had some decent quality titles to go along with it.

I may be interested in getting a Vectrex if I can get one on the cheap just cause it looks cool!!

The other obscure consoles I'm looking into are possibly: PC-FX, Playdia, CD-i (not likely) and TG-16.