How would you spend $200 (on gaming)?

[Moniker]

Got a birthday check and I'm'a gonna spend it on games. My primary options:

1. Get a 3DS with SSFIV & Bit.trip Saga (overbudget of about $40)

2. Get a used PSP and load it up with emulators. (Which model is best for emulation? How good is PSP emulation in general?)

3. Eschatos and some controller adapters.

Any advice?

[Elixir]

Eschatos and something like the Etokki adapter won't even come to $100, so I'd suggest doing that. Since you have a 360, use the other $100 to get Galuda II, Futari, Deathsmiles or Deathsmiles II X's Platinum Collections, or something that hasn't been reprinted like DOJBLEX, Ketsui or MMP/PS.

[Bloodreign]

$200 on retrogaming, that's what I would do yep.

[alastair jack]

2. Get a used PSP and load it up with emulators. (Which model is best for emulation? How good is PSP emulation in general?)

The PSP is pretty bad for emulation, maybe wait for the PS Vita which looks a little bit more comfortable and capable. The PSP can emulate a lot of consoles very well, except the SNES which has severe slow down on almost every game I tried. The screen is a bit small so its harder to appreciate the games (yes its larger than other handhelds but still too small to be comfortable), you have to stretch the image by about x1.5 if you don't want large black borders around the games too which is a bit ugly. The PSP 1000 (first model) is what I've used, it has a lot of "ghosting" on the LCD so you'll have a lot of trouble playing dark games especially the NES games which have black backgrounds. I don't know if the PSP 2000/3000/Go have better buttons, but the PSP 1000 D-pad and buttons are pretty bad quality and are not enjoyable to use. The only emulated games I've been able to enjoy on it, are from the GBA and GB/GBC.

[Drum]

Just make a general list of games you want but haven't been able to buy and go through them, knocking off the ones you don't really want until you get to $200.
It's hard to recommend buying new hardware, especially at this point in time, but PSP's an ok system that looks like it won't be immediately made irrelevant by Vita due to no real backwards compatibility. Did you own a DS? If not, 3DS is a good pickup - but I wouldn't buy it for Street Fighter IV.

[Elixir]

I think the 3DS is doomed. And/or will have an inevitable price drop for Christmas, given the Vita comes out December 17th in Japan, February for the rest.

[kernow]

Got a birthday check and I'm'a gonna spend it on games. My primary options:

1. Get a 3DS with SSFIV & Bit.trip Saga (overbudget of about $40)

2. Get a used PSP and load it up with emulators. (Which model is best for emulation? How good is PSP emulation in general?)

3. Eschatos and some controller adapters.

Any advice?

I'm not sure, but those 3 ideas are terrible. How about a supergun or something?

[drauch]

udfjsl;kdfj;lks id buy

SLYPHIA onnnnnnnnnnnnn pc-engine

i think that game makes me feel all GIDDY inside and piss adnsdf;lk

[Gus]

How about a supergun or something?

[Jockel]

I have a PSP Slim with CFW and 8GB to store vidya gaems i want to get rid off, PM me if you like ;P

[Drum]

I think the 3DS is doomed. And/or will have an inevitable price drop for Christmas, given the Vita comes out December 17th in Japan, February for the rest.

Don't be ridiculous, it just had a $70 USD price drop. But I'd still wait for a hardware revision before making any decision like that.

[Kasbe]

SSFIV for 3DS is quite bad, actually. I'm quite happy with my PSP, I use it mainly to play emulators. It doesnt really matter now, but older models tend to be easier to modify (I have the first model so I dont really know about newer versions). There are quite a lot of shmups to play, but it doesnt get any more new releases (well, only in japanese).
If I had $200 I'd most likely wait for the first price drop on the Vita, after summer next year or so I guess.

[Cuilan]

I think the 3DS is doomed. And/or will have an inevitable price drop for Christmas, given the Vita comes out December 17th in Japan, February for the rest.

As much as I wish you were right, I really doubt it. 3DS is getting a Monster Hunter game around that time, and one has yet to be announced for Vita (only a matter of time though). Plus, there's a hand-full of Nintendo games coming out that the masses are going to love. And then there's the new Love Plus.

Though back on topic, I'd wait for a redesign before picking up a 3DS.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

I dont have a 3DS but it looks rather appatising with all the rail shooters getting made for it. The only thing that puts me off is that stupid 2nd analog stick addon. Ninty will probably bring out a revised 3DS at some point.

Atm I plan on grabbing a PSP 3000 with the tv out plus the old Wii since I need a wii mote and nunchucks, and classic controller if I was to emulate it on the PC anyway although it gonna have to wait a while since im tapped out with buying stuff for the 360 atm.

(in your shoes) If I had a check for $200 now ild grab a PSP and eschatos

[Siren2011]

I've got two words for you:

Steel Battalion.

"Line of Contact" online expansion pack is still being used through a program called Xlink Kai, which tricks the Xbox into thinking that the server it's connecting to (The Kai one.) is actually legitimately Microsoft Xbox Live. Games are set up through the forums at steelbattalion.org. Plus, the single player game is incredibly satisfying, so the controller and foot pedals are by no means a gimmick. Seriously, I can think of no greater birthday present.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... Categories

U.S. commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gplr29GI3H8
Japanese commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdBhwSIM4Rs

[Skykid]

I dont have a 3DS but it looks rather appatising with all the rail shooters getting made for it. The only thing that puts me off is that stupid 2nd analog stick addon. Ninty will probably bring out a revised 3DS at some point.

Next year I'd wager. I think the redesign will be their last ditch at resuscitation in light of the Vita. I'm hoping it comes out for £99.99 and region free.

[Moniker]

(in your shoes) If I had a check for $200 now ild grab a PSP and eschatos

Yeah this is what I'm leaning towards. I'll have to see if gamestop or summuch has a return policy so I'll be able to see if the emulation isn't what I want out of it. The controls could be a dealbreaker too. It's hard to justify a crappy PSP dpad when the one for nintendo handhelds is so fantastic.

@Kasbe - what's wrong with SSFIV3D? All of what I've read has been pretty positive.

[xbl0x180]

I dont have a 3DS but it looks rather appatising with all the rail shooters getting made for it. The only thing that puts me off is that stupid 2nd analog stick addon. Ninty will probably bring out a revised 3DS at some point.

Next year I'd wager. I think the redesign will be their last ditch at resuscitation in light of the Vita. I'm hoping it comes out for £99.99 and region free.

Hell, I'd buy it at the current price if it was region-free. I bought a used PSP-3000 for about 100 bucks and I feel it's a good investment just on the ability to play Japanese/import games. I don't care for emulation

[gct]

I would buy a 2nd-hand GTX 460, and add some extra for a motherboard/CPU upgrade if necessary, and switch to PC gaming/emulation, if I hadn't already.

2nd-hand PSP-3000 with CFW/LCFW is also a decent choice, if you can manage to get one for under $80.

[Blackbird]

I would only get a PSP if you are interested in JRPGs and/or Turn-based strategy RPGs. That is the platform's main strength and the real draw of the system - the shooting games are not quite as interesting, in my opinion.

Before getting a 3DS, I would get a DS Lite. Here's why:

DS library + GBA library > 3DS library + DS library.

If you really want a 3DS, wait for the refresh or a steal of a deal.

I have heard that Eschatos is very good and it has a bangin' soundtrack, so it may well be a good investment.

If you don't have Crimzon Clover yet, I would pick it up. It'll set you back very little, and it's terrifically enjoyable. Easily one of my best recent purchases.

Keep in mind that your games are only as good as the hardware that projects them. You could also consider upgrading your display or your sound system with that cash, which would improve all of your existing games. Heck, you could even upgrade your furniture. It's more comfortable playing games on a comfy couch than it is on some rickety chair.

[Moniker]

Yeah I still have my original grey DS that I bought used. Dollar for dollar the best hardware purchase I've ever made. But at this point I mainly use it for emulation, which it handles somewhat competently. It can only handle 8-bit consoles and a fraction of the PCE library, though. I have this fantasy of playing whatever I want through the 32bit era. I don't really care for using a computer for emulation -- too clunky and crappy controls.

The only thing that's staying my hand with a psp is that indeed I'm not all that interested in its game library. There're import shmups, sure, but beyond that it doesn't really thrill me. I quite like the occasional JRPG & SRPG, but that wouldn't really be why I would get it. My concern would be not getting a 3DS and see its library grow to rock it the way the DS's currently does. But yeah I suppose waiting for a hardware revision would be best there. At this point, I'm fairly decided that if I can get a PSP 3000 with a return policy that I'll go with that.

[Blackbird]

If you're the most interested in emulation, why not get a computer then? I'm going to assume that your current computer is not good for games if you are emulating on DS/PSP.

Clunky - Get a midsized notebook. Modern notebooks have more than enough power to run emulation, and are portable.

Just be wary to get an OS that can run the software you want. Newer 64 bit operating systems don't play nice with a lot of older software.

Crappy Controls - If you don't want to use a keyboard, there are a plethora of excellent gaming controllers that you can use via USB. I personally use a USB classic Saturn pad for all my PC shooting games.

You could probably get an adapter to use most console controllers/arcade sticks with the PC, as well. There are a lot of possibilities there.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

As blackbird says, skip the psp and put the money towards a PC, I prefer deskops but you could always grab a laptop, hook up an desktop monitor. VGA / DVI ports are common on laptops arnt they?

[Observer]

For $200? If you want retail, go to Tokyo Shmups and get yourself Ether Vapor, Hellsinker, Crimzon Mo$·%·$% Clover, Samidare, RefRain (sexiest package in a while) and you are set.

If you don't mind digital, go to Steam and get Beat Hazard Ultra (Mac version now included), Shatter, Chantelise, Recettear, Anomaly Warzone Earth (one of the most polished games I've played in a while!).

Or check the GTA Complete pack for $12.49: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/4466/

[Moniker]

Bought meself a psp y'all. Freaking everything works. The only quibble I have is that the only working NES emulator (NesterP) doesn't seem to have save state support. Or the instructions for using it are in the japanese translated to garble readme. The 16 bit emulation alone is worth the price of admission.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Plus the ability to play Neo-Geo MVS & CPS1/CPS2 emulation is awesome on the PSP. Can't go wrong with playing Progear No Arashi on the PSP indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[alastair jack]

Which model did you get?

[Moniker]

Which model did you get?

A refurbished 3000.

Plus the ability to play Neo-Geo MVS & CPS1/CPS2 emulation is awesome on the PSP. Can't go wrong with playing Progear No Arashi on the PSP indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

You absolutely rock, sir. Progear and Mars Matrix run flawlessly. Giga Wing, Dimahoo and all the others are for tomorrow. The only thing I can't do right now is run japanese region PSX games, but for now I can't say I really care!

PSP Fan X! o_0

[Leader Bee]

No mention of the Dingoo/ Caanoo or GPX2 when he's interested about emulation more than anything?

Too bad I read this thread late, he's already slapped down the moolah.

[professor ganson]

I mostly agree with Elixir (360 stuff might be the way to go) and Blackbird (PSP only if you're into jrpgs and srpgs), but I do want to say that the 3DS has been a really pleasant surprise. The games I have picked up have more going on than I expected.

I don't know about SF in particular, though. I picked it up used, and haven't put the time in. That always happens with fighters-- I don't know why I bother.

I love the 3D graphics of most of the games. Hard on the eyes for any extended session, but very easy on the eyes in the other sense of the phrase.