Should I pick up an old SNES?

[Hells Malice]

Why not just emulate.
A lot easier and cheaper.

I have my own perfectly working SNES, but it's just so much easier to load up an emulator.
Only thing you'd need to buy is a gamepad. SNES is a pain to use a keyboard for IMO.

 

[Jamstruth]

Emulation isn't the same as having the games in front of you and playing them how they were originally with no filters etc. on them (no matter how you set up an emulator it looks and feels different).
I love my old SNES, even though i don't play it much. Setting up the RF cable was a damned faff and the video quality isn't too good (I really need to get a Gamecube Scart Cable for it) but its great to sit and play Super Mario World legally on a console and cart I own; that are (possibly) as old as me.

 

[astrangeone]

Exactly. I missed out on a lot of SNES games - I was more of a portable person....

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

I bought one and it stop functioning in just a few months, then I bought another one and it lasted only three months. I stopped after that, but it was worth it.

Either you abused it or you just have really shitty luck....I've had 3 snes's for the past 3 years and all of them work great and have no problems whatsoever. That being said there is a tendency for the picofuse to blow and it may need replacing....if you can solder you can easily open up the snes and desolder the picofuse and resolder a normal bus fuse clip and just use a plain glass cylinder fuse. I believe it must be a 1.5 volt fuse but don't quote me on that, there's a few youtube videos about this.

Also here is a list of some great Snes games:

Spoiler

These are just some of my favorites:
Super Mario World(obvious)
Zelda: A Link to the Past(obvious)
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound
Uncharted Waters 2:New Horizons
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Super Bonk
Zombies Ate my Neighbors
Starfox
Street Fighter 2 Turbo(My favorite game in the series, super street fighter 2 felt different)
Megaman X
Donkey Kong Country
Super Ghouls N' Ghosts

Also not too bad of a price on that one....you should try craigslist if you're looking for a system, but don't buy the first thing you see! I recently got an SNES with Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, 2 Controllers and all the cables for $20, it pays to look around before you buy.

 

[Demonbart]

It's a shame that someone bought it already. I'd have bought it instantly.

 

[Hells Malice]

Emulation isn't the same as having the games in front of you and playing them how they were originally with no filters etc. on them (no matter how you set up an emulator it looks and feels different).
I love my old SNES, even though i don't play it much. Setting up the RF cable was a damned faff and the video quality isn't too good (I really need to get a Gamecube Scart Cable for it) but its great to sit and play Super Mario World legally on a console and cart I own; that are (possibly) as old as me.

I somewhat agree, but only in regards to the controller.
Feels weird and awkward to play Mega Man X (any) with a 360 gamepad compared to the old SNES controller.
I could no-damage run all 3 games on the SNES, but kinda suck on PC.

Buut "effort + cost + bonus oldschool feel vs efficiency" is an obvious choice for me.

 

[PeregrinFig]

I would've bought it. I've been trying to collect retro consoles and games I never owned as a kid (picked up a copy of OoT today, yay), and SNES is on my list. This Christmas I'm going to try to get one along with Link to the Past and hopefully Super Metroid. Sure, I have like five different methods of playing SNES ROMs, but nothing compares to playing a game on its original hardware with its intended controller.

 

[mechagouki]

Emulation isn't the same as having the games in front of you and playing them how they were originally with no filters etc. on them (no matter how you set up an emulator it looks and feels different).
I love my old SNES, even though i don't play it much. Setting up the RF cable was a damned faff and the video quality isn't too good (I really need to get a Gamecube Scart Cable for it) but its great to sit and play Super Mario World legally on a console and cart I own; that are (possibly) as old as me.

I have to disagree, I have owned and played most of the 'classic' SNES games in cartridge form and still own a SNES but I generally use Xsnes9x on my XBOX to play them now, I honestly don't notice the difference (except that some games that used to slow down on the real SNES don't on the emulator).

The one game you do need a real console for is Earthbound - it has AP that makes it impossible to complete on an emulator.

 

[Joktan]

Earthbound has ap?as in anti piracy? And I love my snes so muchI use my iPod touch and blurooth and my wii classic remote to play games and its pretty greatI am goin to bring my snes somewhere this week so I can play it when I'm on break

 

[PeregrinFig]

The one game you do need a real console for is Earthbound - it has AP that makes it impossible to complete on an emulator.

That's not true. Most emulators aren't affected by the AP. and I believe it was only on the v1.1 ROM anyway, meaning if you know for sure it's a 1.0 ROM it has no AP. I could be wrong about that part, but I know ZSNES and SNES9xGX both don't trigger the AP. Neither does the DSTWO's emulator, for that matter. The AP really only affects copied cartridges.