Game, Joystick, and Backward Compatibility

[ussexplorer]

This started with the Atari 2600 Jr. console in Sears. I noticed the system sold with no game and one joystick. I noticed the 7800 systems was backward compatible with the 2600 cartridges. For a person who owned an older 2600 system they were in heaven if they wanted to replace it with newer hardware. I tried to save up money but failed to purchase a nice new rainbow unit. For a person looking for a new system the 7800 were packaged with two controllers and a nice new game. What about the people who did not own a system or spend the price for a 7800? So did this hurt console sales or improve them? Sometimes the cost is justified. I passed up a later version Sega Genesis because it didn’t include a game. I laughed at Dream Cast cost. Not knowing that later system would be around that price. Below is a few more things listed in more current consoles though out the years. Yes, I know Nintendo seemed to use their power and really sucker people. Not including a way to hook it up to the television. I guess you are just supposed to set the unit next to the television and have it work. Have you ever turned down a system because it didn’t include something? I would like to know. Hopefully other will too.

 

No Game

One controller

No backward compatibility

Separate RF/AV connector

No expansion unit

No Memory Cartridge

 

Thanks,

 

Josh

[Room 34]

It seems fairly common, when a game system is late in its lifespan, that the manufacturer will try to revive it with a new console design and a new super-low price tag, which is usually achieved by only throwing in one controller and skipping the pack-in game altogether.

 

This was done with the Atari 2600jr, of course, but also most recently with the $50 PSone, a redesigned PlayStation that only has one controller and no pack-in game. I thought about getting one of those last year, until I realized the only games I wanted to get were the Atari and Namco arcade classics compilations. D'oh!

 

(But I must admit, I don't follow modern consoles, so maybe the PlayStation never had a pack-in game... I seem to recall a friend who owned one saying it came with a CD of game demos but no fully-functioning games.)

[MegaManFan]

This was done with the Atari 2600jr, of course, but also most recently with the $50 PSone, a redesigned PlayStation that only has one controller and no pack-in game.  I thought about getting one of those last year, until I realized the only games I wanted to get were the Atari and Namco arcade classics compilations.  D'oh!

 

Don't forget Konami Arcade Classics and Williams Arcade Greatest Hits. I just picked up a very nice copy of the former this weekend for $15 along with a copy of Typing of the Dead for the Dreamcast.

[Xot]

The vast majority of game systems since the 16-bit era have come with only one controller and no pack-in game. Often times you can find special sets *with* pack in games, but at their original release, the PSX, PS2, N64, DC, and GameCube all came with one controller and no pack-in title. And there has NEVER been a console that did not come with the means to hook it up to a television set. Older TV's sometimes required a different means of hook up, but that was true even back in the day of the 2600 (the 300 OHM adapter, or whatever it was called. You can see this in the manual).

 

I, for one, would much rather the console come without a pack-in than cost an extra $20-$50 and come with a pack-in title I didn't want.

[Vic George 2K3]

I personally don't regret buying an Atari 7800 back when it was being sold at the entry-level price of most game systems ($100). I did consider wanting to get the Atari 5200 over the ColecoVision because it had Pac-Man, but at that time I got hooked into arcade games that rarely showed up in an arcade, particularly Ladybug and Mr. Do! (which were also released on the ColecoVision), and also I wanted to play its version of Smurf Rescue In Gargamel's Castle. Good thing, too, that my brother also wanted the ColecoVision for games like Donkey Kong. And I just didn't particularly care for the rather weak non-centering joysticks that the Atari 5200 controllers had.

 

As for buying game systems that had no games packed in with its purchase, I don't have a problem with that if there's games already available that are either cheap enough to buy or at least available to rent. I bought a SNES with no game, a Genesis with no game (though there was an offer for a free Sonic 2 game if you sent in a proof-of-purchase, which I did and got), and some of the various Gameboy units with no games (no Gameboy Advance, though). I honestly don't know if it helps or hurts the sales of such systems on the corporate level. For leaving out important stuff like how to hook up your game system to the TV, though, I think it's just plain stupidity.

[AtariDude]

I remember that my Playstation did not have any games when I bought it. It came with a CD that only have demos of games. When I bought my PS2, I bought the one that came with Grand Turismo.