NOW YOU'RE PLAYING WITH SUPER POWER! (SNES MINI)

author=Dyhalto

author=Feldschlacht IV
Don't underestimate how computer illiterate many people are.

See, there's computer illiteracy and there's laziness. The ability to hook up a computer to a TV today isn't much harder than being able to hook up a VCR to a TV twenty years ago. Even if you struggle on your own, you should at least know a guy.

Also, don't forget that we're only talking SNES emulation vs the Mini. Don't bring modern consoles into the dialogue. I know they don't emulate worth a damn. N64 and PS2 games are still fritzy.

But yeah, we'll have to agree to disagree. I have a PC tower hooked up to a TV from which I do everything, be it oldschool gaming or watching movies/TV/anime. I have gigantic libraries of everything, readily accessible and organized for mine or any guest's taste, and the keyboard, mouse and gamepads are located in practical places because I planned my setup like a proper individual ought to.
That, to me, is convenience.

The entire crux of your argument is missing the factor the fact people give a shit about different things.

Take cooking. I have been cooking all of my life and it's one of the simplest things in the world to me to whip up something (almost anything) to eat. But that's mostly because I really give a shit about cooking and I like doing it. To other people, they can't cook even simple things worth a damn. Why? Because they don't give a shit. To a reasonable degree (I mean as long as you can feed yourself and not eat garbage) that's fine.

This even applies to things that people do know how to do. Example: my father and his father before him were mechanics, and that knowledge was (somewhat) passed down to me. I know how to change my oil in my car. But do I give a shit about how to do it? I mean, most of the time, not really. I don't give a shit enough about the time investment to the point where I'll pay for the convenience to get my oil changed. I know how to change my oil, I just don't fuckin' feel like it, and me being a grown ass man will happily fork over the money I earned to pay for someone else to do it. Is that laziness? I wouldn't say so, as I definitely wasn't lazy when I earned the money I'm using for the service I'm getting.

To many people they simply don't give a shit enough to spend time or mental energy on something that they really don't want to do. For some, it's cooking, for others, it's hooking up their computer to play Super Mario Bros. I mean hell, it isn't even a fundamental life skill like cooking or caring for your vehicle. It's vidya games, bruh. I don't think the word 'laziness' even applies.

And that's fine!

What's this crux of arguments stuff? This philosophical diatribe about life skills and the magnitude of shit giving? Nobody is talking about those sorts of things. Nobody.

Uh, because I am addressing the central point of your argument, hence the 'crux' of your argument, because we're having (a friendly) one? What else do you think I'm saying? And yes, we ARE talking about the magnitude of shit giving because I am saying that plenty of people don't give a shit about setting up a laptop to their TV to play ROMS and would rather buy a console straight up. Are you being obtuse on purpose?

All I'm saying is that there are literally millions of people who don't give a fuck enough about video games to bother with computer gaming or learning anything about it. They want to hook up a game console once and never have to worry about it until their next console purchase, years later (if they ever buy a console again). That's not something you can do with a PC (everything you're saying assumes they have a laptop or want to buy one, and not a desktop or whatever else they'd have to haul around) or something that everyone feels like doing.

There's lots of people who don't give two shits about what kind of gaming is vastly inferior to whatever else. It's not necessarily lazy, or any other fault of character.

Jeez dude. This shit is why nerds get pushed in lockers.

Enough, Feld. I don't want any hard feelings. We'll agree to disagree on this one.

author=Shinan
But don't you know that buying a laptop, USB-controllers (twice after the xbox d-pad was garbage and the cheapo snes clone controller was also terrible), wires and then setting up emulation software and roms every time you're about to do some gaming (unless you buy the laptop only for this purpose) is vastly superior to pushing the power button on the mini console to relive some 90s nostalgia.

Oh, come on. Don't pretend setup is something you would have to do every single time.
And yes, the idea is that you would have a dedicated machine. I erroneously kept saying laptop, but a PC box is the right tool for the job. Once it's done, it's done. It'll have access to the complete library, it'll have replaceable parts (the SNES Mini will eventually die), it's gamepad cord will be as long as you need it to be <.<, and it, too, would be as easy as pressing the power button to relive some 90s nostalgia.
Not to mention it would have versatility to do other things. RM games, for instance.

With a dedicated machine the pricepoint is way over 80€ though.

The best controller solution is the 8bitdo SNES bluetooth controller w/ the bluetooth SNES controller reciver. Who needs any stinkin' cables?

is what I would say if I had this setup and could vouch that it works but I don't have the money to spend $120 for wireless SNES controllers


e: now lemme tell you about that time I spent $250 on Chrono Trigger with some of the feelies included

Oh man the argument hasn't even started! Now let me tell you about CRT TVs...




Or actually how about that Star Fox 2? The version out on the Internet is a beta ROM but SF2 was in fact actually finished and ready for release way back when. Presumably that'll be the version released on the SNES Mini. The beta ROM is described as "90% complete".

They've had emulation boxes that operate exactly like consoles for more than a decade now. You literally plug them into your TV and turn them on. The hardest part is selecting a game.

@MOG:
I'mma reignite this argument!

Like, I absolutely understand the appeal of getting something from Nintendo that just works out of the box without effort. I get it. My brother, a reasonably tech savvy dude who wanted an NES mini for himself (not for his kids) refused to listen to my persuasive arguments about why it was a better idea to get a retropi or some equivalent. He even owns a PS4, meaning he wouldn't have to worry about controllers. I even offered to set it up for him! He wouldn't have it. In the end, he couldn't find an NES mini to buy, and gave up on the whole thing. I understand his logic, and I understand yours, completely.

A lot of people can afford to throw some cash around for convenience. If you can, that's good for you. Lots of people can't, though, but do it anyway rather than bothering to look into alternatives. I wouldn't call it laziness, but it is certainly stubbornness. How many people slide into debt because it's easier to spend money than to climb over that hurdle you mentioned about not giving a shit about certain things?

Like, I'm one of those people who doesn't really cook, because I don't care that much about good food (I am a pleb). But when I moved out of my parents' house and started buying my own groceries you better believe I learned how to sustain myself without relying on expensive, prepackaged shit.

Where do you draw the line between saving yourself an hour of setup? $100? $200? $300? You can get a retropi up and running about an hour, or buy them pre-setup for about $60-$80, with literally every 16 bit and many 32 bit games on them.

I'm willing to bet that if the price of having your oil changed went up 3000% you'd think pretty hard before going to a mechanic and getting it changed. That's what happened with the NES mini, and it'll happen here, too. So yeah, sometimes it's better to not be stubborn.

To reiterate: I get where you're coming from completely, but where do you draw the line, cost-wise?

Also, It's 2017 dude, computers are a fundamental skill now!

Also also, I have never been pushed into a locker :D

On a salient point:
Nintendo doesn't give a shit at all about how many of these things they actually sell. They know they'll see whatever stock they build. They know there are other ways of getting SNES games (like the earlier mentioned virtual console, which runs on an easy-to-use system). This is just marketing for their brand. "Hey, never stop remembering our golden years!"

They are laughing at us squabbling while they count their shiny golden coins! Down with consumerism!