Now normally when you look at anything in life such as anything split into categories the term 'OTHER' usually indicates a selection or collection of things that have no real sense of their own identity hence why they are thrown together into a big jumble and labelled as such.
This could not be any further from the truth regarding retro games, even more so for a site like RetroGameGeeks where this particular set of computers and consoles in many ways are the most important section of all. From the ones that started it all to one hit wonders, to incredible failures this is where you will find out all about what made them tick, succeed or in several cases fall flat on their face.
So why place them into an 'OTHER' folder at all, why not place them into their own company sections like Sega/Nintendo etc, well that’s easy, simply put we didn’t want row upon row of headers on the top of the page making everything seem all overloaded and busy. It’s also a way of maybe, just maybe making people investigate them further as with so many of the parent companies such as Atari there’s a negative stigma attached to them and we think people would just pass that complete section by and move on. Having everything in a section like this in a sub conscious way makes the brain think…..Ooooh I think I’ll have a read of that.
As of now a lot of folk oh here may be thinking that we are very much console biased and that also could not be further from the reality of it all, all three of the site admins have huge love for machines such as the Spectrum and the Amiga and it’s here that your going to really get to know their history, impact and legacy.
Companies such as SNK, Amstrad, Commodore and of course the grand daddy of them all Atari have machines here such as the ultra expensive and highly sought after NEO GEO AES, the completely mis-understood and way ahead of it's time 3DO and the retarded member of the family the total failure known only as the Atari Jaguar, many of the what if’s and could have been’s live here and personally this is the section I will hope creates the most debates over on the FORUM.
Not every console or computer can be a sales success or be it’s generations winner however that absolutely does not mean it cannot be an absolute essential addition to the history of the hobby we all love, in fact if im allowed for one second to get all romantic about the situation there is something wonderful in finding an absolute gem hidden under a mountain of trash. I will go one stage further and say a lot of my favourite games of all time will be mentioned in this section, games that I grew up with and that defined a huge part of my life.
So what kind of games are you going to find here I hear you ask, well how about stuff like…. Star control 2, Gex, Metal slug, Samurai showdown, Dizzy, Head over heels, Turrican, Shadow of the beast, Space invaders, pac-man, Jet set willy, Zool, Another World, Cruise for a corpse, Monkey Island, King of fighters, Tempest 2000, Rick Dangerous, Asteroids, Defender, Wing commander 3 and literally hundreds of others.
From games so bad you simply must play them this collection of cult machines also includes such hideous creations such as…… Club drive, Fight for life, E.T, Samantha fox’s strip poker, S.A.S combat simulator and about 95% of the Atari Jaguar software library. You won’t ever be bored and that’s a promise you can take to the bank my fellow retro lovers I cannot be the only person who delights in the bad games as much as the good ones....Or am I?
It’s also worth noting that some of these consoles, especially the hand held ones have some truly amazing cross over titles and stand out killer apps, sonic on the Neo Geo Pocket springs instantly to mind and on the flip side I like to call “what on earth where they thinking?” you get Resident Evil 2 for the Tiger Com, a console so bad it’s nearly criminal although saying that given the opportunity I would gladly add one to my collection and I would advise that you all do the same.
Whilst an evening of playing classics may be your idea of retro nirvana both Myself and the rest of the RetroGameGeeks crew absolutely suggest you sometimes allow yourself to stray from the popular path and give some of these systems a go. For the younger crowd on here who maybe had something like the Megadrive or even a PS1 as their first machine this is a perfect opportunity to read up on the stuff that paved the way for those wonder consoles. At the same time get immersed with the systems that fell by the wayside as the winners took the podium because for some of them not being a success was sometimes mind baffling considering what they did and the games they had.
Before we all fell in love with Mario & Sonic, Crash Bandicoot or Spyro, Metal Gear Solid or Gran Turismo, Zelda, Metroid or Streets of rage the older crowd were rocking out with Hungry Horace, Jet Set Willy and simple blocks making another block move around the screen trying to convince us we were playing tennis..... and people let me tell you, it was great.
This is however not just a collection of vintage consoles and computers, it’s also not a group of the failures that didn’t sell it’s some of one and some of the other and some of completely different things such as the all conquering Amiga and the never officially released in parts of the world machines like the PC ENGINE a series of consoles that contain absolutely essential games that simply must be played, BC KID, Bonks revenge, Batman and Gunhead... I rest my case!
So to finish we come back to the description of ’OTHER’ and suddenly that term no longer seems pointless or boring does it? After reading these paragraphs if you don’t feel the urge to delve further into the systems on offer here with excited and curious eyes then all I can say is “are you sure your on the right website?”
If all you can think of when the subject of retro is brought up are the games from the Golden era of gaming then welcome to the fountain of change, it is our absolute hope that from this moment on the smile on your face gets bigger and bigger and who knows maybe your new favourite game or system is just round the corner waiting for you, how cool would that be eh?
- Megatron's_Fury