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/vr/ - Retro Games

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File: 40 KB, 670x372, pce_tg16_pod.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9698054 No.9698054 [Reply] [Original]

Why do Americans hate small consoles?

>> No.9698062

looks like a toy. and where am i supposed to put my drink on it?

>> No.9698064

>>9698054
Bigger is better. Small console means small heatsink/PCB, which means it's not going to be powerful.

>> No.9698068

>>9698054
Because it's not made by nintendo. Simple as.

>> No.9698069

They made it bigger to accommodate extra RF shielding. Back in the 80s the FCC was paranoid about RF interference so they forced electronics to wrap themselves in a layer of sheet metal. For something as small as the PC-Engine this required increasing the size of the shell.

>> No.9698070

I think by making the console big and black, they were visually communicating the power and satisfaction that the machine could generate. In comparison, the small white one looks pretty weak. Same story with the og Famicom. Good for marketing

>> No.9698073

Big things are strong and I must show I'm the strongest with the strongest things.
*drives away in large truck with fucked up exaust*

>> No.9698085

>>9698054
Because most Americans are crude superficial and insecure, believing if something is larger that signifies more power. Moths to a flame mostly.

>> No.9698108

>>9698069
No, the TurboGrafx 16 designer specifically said they made a bigger case because small electronic doesn't sell in the west.
The FCC are still paranoid about RF interference, but electronics are so well designed now it doesn't matter.

>> No.9698109

>>9698054
Because unlike Europoors and especially unlike Orientals Americans don't live in 2x2 metre apartments, so they can actually fit more shit

>> No.9698126

>>9698108
What was he basing this on? In 1989 I can't think of any small electronics period, let alone ones that flopped. If anything it was some of the largest ones that were the biggest failures like the Atari 5200. And the TG16 hit the same year as the Game Boy which while not small by current standards was fucking tiny for its time.

>> No.9698159

>>9698126
You can't even name them, that's how hard they flopped.
Think about the Jack Sparrow meme. But you've heard of the 5200.

>> No.9698180

>>9698108
>>9698159
>walkman
>gameboy
>tamagochi
>brick phones
>transistor radio
>watches with calendar/calculator/video game
Small electronics sold like hot cakes. Part of the reason Atari 5200 failed was that it's too huge.

>> No.9698191

>>9698180
Did you get that opinion from Zoom Rolfe? It just had shit games. Nobody ever complained about its size until 30 years after the fact.

>> No.9698202

>>9698180
these are all examples of portable electronics meant to be used while out and about.
PC engine / TurboGrafx was a console to be used with a television in your living room.

>> No.9698247

>>9698108
What was his opinion on the thing having only one controller port? Really the whole thing is silly. I can understand the instinct to make it bigger because it came out after the Genesis in America so you didn't want the thing looking dinky in comparison. People would assume (rightly in this case but that's beside the point) that it was less powerful. But if you're going to make it bigger you could at least add another controller port to the thing.

>> No.9698337
File: 101 KB, 684x591, 1675666419036870.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9698337

>>9698070
Okay kek

>> No.9698425
File: 118 KB, 1280x720, shrek.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9698425

Do you think maybe they're compensating for something?

>> No.9698440

>>9698054
Bigger console=MORE POWER

>> No.9698479

The Japanese version simply can't compete with the American one. I mean just take a look at that thing. I will say it seems like it might take a lot of work to fit that thing into a sleek entertainment center. Wouldn't have that problem with the Japanese console lmao

>> No.9698497
File: 1.37 MB, 3658x1966, improvement.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9698497

>>9698108
I worked at a place that used thin film metalization for everything from medical devices to drones. Larger companies DIY. They could have just coated the inside plastic with a few nanometers of nickel/copper and kept the case size small.
Or thinking about the TG16, which should have been released as supergrafx anyway, should have used the space as pic related, with bomberman packed in or maybe battle royale or tv sports, thing would have done really well marketed to college students in dorms with 5 player built in and reasonable cd player solution.
Regardless I think the amount of multiplayer games produced would have been higher at least

>> No.9698589

>>9698054
I generally have an aversion to products that I know I could break over my knee without much force.

>> No.9699583

>>9698497
>reasonable cd player solution.
Impossible if they insisted on the price point they went with. Really the timing of the thing was just completely fucked because the TG16 didn't have the advantage of launching before the Genesis like it did in Japan. Enough Japanese consumers jumped on the PCE as the go-to arcade at home experience but the Genesis served that function in the west. NEC would probably have been better off not releasing the TG16 at all and opening with the Turbo Duo.

>> No.9699590

>>9698054
That's a fairly small console for an average-sized person, I'd say? The main reason japanese consoles load so fast and "last" so short is that there isn't much density to it. I wouldn't WANT to play on a Turbografx16 + CD Add-on in that timeframe, but I could easily.

>> No.9699760

They have a very different aesthetic going on. Not sure which one I like better. Asked the wife and she prefers the black one. Honestly don't think either one is particularly good looking

>> No.9699781
File: 241 KB, 1080x1080, 1659493604427028.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9699781

>>9699590

>> No.9699865

tbqh I still do hate tiny consoles. I don't want some lightweight piece of shit that's gonna get lifted halfway into the air just from the weight of the AV/power cables tugging on it, or something that's going to get instantly yanked off the cabinet from the slightest force.

If I had things my way, ALL consoles would be the same size as standard AV equipment like cassette decks and VCRs. Big metal rectangles that are meant to be stacked and fit neatly in an AV rack.

>> No.9699902

>>9699865
Something like a PC Engine though ends up being more durable, not less. When it has no mass it also doesn't hit with any force if it falls off a shelf. Something to consider when your target audience is little kids.

>> No.9699913

>>9699902
Yeah but heavy = more stuff = more powerful = more quality. I'm explaining why people don't like smol consoles. They feel like weak shitty cheap toys rather than solid equipment.

>b-but they are toys
yeah but they had price tags of proper equipment. And it's your dad who's paying for that shit when you were a kid, so it had to be justified in his eyes.

>> No.9700053
File: 133 KB, 1400x1050, TurboGrafx.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9700053

The real crime was giving the botched PAL release the superior color scheme

>> No.9700145

>>9698054
They have Shantae

>> No.9700163

>>9698054
reminds them of their small penis

>> No.9701689
File: 35 KB, 640x479, 1673382395260657.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9701689

>>9698062
>where am i supposed to put my drink on it?
People aren't THAT retarded are they?

>> No.9701697

>>9698054
Boomers. No really, that's the answer.

>> No.9702392
File: 83 KB, 1024x467, 1024px-ColecoVision-wController-L.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9702392

>>9701697
You may be in a troll thread, but your response is unironically pointing in the right direction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_crash_of_1983

>> No.9702409

>>9702392
I mean really though. It appealed to them.
>lookit this big ol dang appliance here, that's serious business mayn

>> No.9702415
File: 33 KB, 456x672, boomers.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9702415

>that lil ol piece o jap-crap? Git outta here with that

>> No.9702441

>>9702415
It was true at the time, Japan=quality became mainstream after 1990. It was mediocre to crap before then.

>> No.9702452

>>9702441
BullSHIT. Sony was making the best TVs by far in the 80s.

>> No.9702460

>>9702441
I can't speak for the 70s but the boomers feared the samurai in the 80s. People didn't buy jap shit out of pride/xenophobia, not quality concerns.

>> No.9702465

>>9699590
It had nothing to do with "muh fat 'merican" or "muh smol jap pp."
It had to do with parent's viewing video games as a waste of money, after the '83 crash, and so the systems looked more like VCRs etc.

>> No.9702473

>>9702460
I just picked a date, but it was changing in the 1980's. Aspies sperg out. My pappy had a Mitsubishi console that was made in Southern California.

>> No.9702476

>>9702465
My parents definitely brought up the Japs with disdain when I was growing up, and in reference to games/Nintendo. Whether this mentality meaningfully affected their purchasing decisions, I don't know, but it's something to think about.

>> No.9702494

>>9702476
Yeah my mom used to say the Japanese is getting the us back with anime and videogames

>> No.9702565

Because their fat sausage fingers are unable to operate anything smaller than an xxl triple burger

>> No.9702575

>>9699590
>>9699781
kek

>> No.9702580

>>9699781
god those burgers are good

>> No.9703096
File: 112 KB, 683x1024, 8385454193_aa204dec75_b.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9703096

>>9701689
Pssh, no. Most consoles didn't even have a cupholder, had to get a PC for that.

>> No.9703191
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9703191

>>9699865
I remember that was sort of a problem with the Ouya, the thing was such a tiny piece of shit and it came with a really stiff HDMI cable that made it basically impossible to get it to stay still, more often than not it would just get lifted up off your table by it.

To a lesser extent the PSTV/VitaTV, the things as small as a deck of cards it's really tiny and easy to tug around. At least its HDMI cable was pretty flexible so you could get it to behave. I still bought the stand for it anyway back when it was 10$ in bargain bins instead of fucking 200$ on ebay.

>> No.9703229

>>9703191
It's also a problem I have with tiny AV equipment like the retrotinks, OSSC, a lot of those auto SCART switchers, etc. They're so small that the cables end up pulling the fucking things off unless you specifically bolt them down to something. This was never an issue with real mass produced AV equipment because it was designed to be bigger, rather than just the smallest possible footprint for whatever is needed on a PCB.

>> No.9704234
File: 1.01 MB, 719x721, 1673378625375480.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9704234

>>9703096
Why can't you just put your cup on the table or desk at a reasonable distance from electronic devices?