thaddius' Console Classic 2012 Edition: Round 12

[thaddius]

Well that was an exciting last round! In the end though, GBATemp voted for the Wii. You can find out more info here.

Recap of the rules, as always:

Spoiler

Each week, video game history will be put to the test to see which console or handheld is the greatest. There can only be one!

Vote for your favourite and follow it through to the end as we try to determine GBATemp's favourite console/handheld!

Consoles and handhelds will face off in brackets comprised of their generation. Because there can only be one, in the event of a tie I will cast a tie-breaking vote. Once a winner has been declared for each generation, the console winners and the handheld winners will face off in individual brackets. Once an ultimate console and ultimate handheld have been chosen, they will face off against each other to see who is the greatest!

For a concrete example of the brackets, see the image at the bottom of this post.

So what now? We're done with the consoles, so this thing is over, right? WRONG! This next round will be the completion of the handheld bracket. For our final handheld round we have the young upstarts of what I call the fifth generation of handhelds. They're all still wet behind the ears with a lot yet to prove, but that won't stop us from voting for them! Get ready for it, and enjoy the last round before the Semi-Finals!

This Week's Challengers Are:


The Yinlips YDPG18 and the JXD-S601

Yes. Yes. You're all thinking, "What the hell thaddius? Are you making up handhelds to flesh out your brackets?" To which I say, no I'm not making these up, but I am fleshing out the bracket.

I am still unsure whether or not I should include these because they are Android devices. 'Android device' implies a phone, phone implies the iPhone and all it's friends, and this thing could get ugly. But before you punch me in the internet face, take some time to hear me out: These things aren't phones! They use the Android OS and deliver it in a classic portable gaming package, with no phone capabilities. While they are two distinct consoles that were made by different people, I'm still gonna lump them together.

Both were released last year. While I'm sure most of you have never heard of them, they have made a bit of a splash in the open handheld circle (not as much as the Dingoo, but a splash none the less) because Android handhelds are novel or something.

It's a distinct possibility that these'll get zero votes, I thought I'd add them anyway. I don't own either, but for the sorta reasonable price of ~$140US one could be yours!


The Pandora

"What the hell is this crap? Now you've really done it, thaddius. Do you want an internet riot on your hands?" Well, no, but hear me out once more!

After some GP2X nerds thought about it for a second, they realised, "Hey. The GP2X is a wimpy little machine. We can do better, can't we?" And so they did.

Some Germans (I do believe it's pronounced 'Joy-mens') cobbled together this open handheld to rule all handhelds. Sadly though, production has not been smooth. Originally planned for an 07 release, the first batch didn't make it to preorderers' hands until late 08. People are still waiting on batch 2...

Anyway, this little machine features a touch screen, full QWERTY keyboard, two joysticks and joypads, and a myriad of manufacturing problems!

Again, I don't think anyone here will vote for this, but it deserves an honourable mention in this competition.


The Nintendo 3DS

Yikes. This thing had a rough start, didn't it? Amid rumours of headaches (shoutout to a certain British periodical) and what some consider a lacklustre launch, the 3DS did not fare well upon release. So much so that 5-6 months later, Nintendo dropped the price from ~$250US to ~$170US. Granted early adopters got some NES and GBA games to quell their sense of outrage with value, but it was striking none the less!

You were all there though. You know the pain, had the lesions, felt the turmoil. And now what? The 3DS is doing OK. Nintendo was quick to announce that the thing sold 5 million much faster than the DS ever did. Aren't numbers fun? So are weaselly arguments!

The 3DS' most obvious point of interest is the 3D effect. Not really used much since the red&black incident of 95-96. While people might still complain of headaches when using the 3D, Nintendo still politely says, "Hey, dumbass. You know you can turn the 3D off, right?" Nintendo also included some cameras, accelerometers and a gyroscope, because who would even think of releasing a system that didn't have those?

So far the 3DS's best-selling game is, no surprises here, Super Mario 3D Land with 5.03 million units sold. There are no numbers on how many 3DS' are sold, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's more than 5 million.

Oh, and just to help out the forum a little: The 3DS has not been 'hacked' yet.


The PlayStation Vita

The newly launched Vita! Yay! After the lukewarm-compared-to-the-DS-yet-pretty-impressive-overall sales of the PSP, Sony decided to go back to the drawing board and drop their "revolutionary" UMD.

The Vita seems to be doing well as far as I can tell. The Vita also sports a touch screen and accelerometers, and even boasts a read touch panel.

This thing is too young to have any data on it's sales, so you can use your imagination. This thing hasn't been hacked yet either (wololo's PSP mode homebrew doesn't count).


Housekeeping!!!

So there you have it! The final round before the Semi-finals.

Join me next week as we crown the best of a bracket, where all your favourite winners from consoles or handhelds will return to duke it out for reals! Favourite against favourite. It's gonna be special.

EDIT: Modified poll to include iOS.

EDIT: The poll is now closed. I will post the results soon.

 

[Foxi4]

I'm not sure as to why you introduce the Pandora in this generation. If anything, it should be pitted againts the DSi (which is *not* a DS, the hardware *is* different) and the PSP Go (while it retains nearly the same hardware, it does work on a different firmware and there is internal storage, so it can be treated as a separate entity) but I suppose this is a matter of open discussion.

I don't think I'll be voting in this one - this generation has only just started. There isn't enough reasons to support either side, and since I can't vote twice, I don't think I'll vote at all.

As for The Yinlips YDPG18 and the JXD-S601, I don't think they should be included at all as they're just a standard Android board in a console case. If we call that a console, we should also include POP-Stations and other crap. There are numerous "unofficial" consoles, but they're really interesting for a really small crowd and pitting them againts the likes of the Vita and the 3DS is simply unfair. These are just cheep Chinese knock-off's.

 

[thaddius]

To address most of your concerns, Foxi4, the logistics of a poll constrained me a little. I could have had the 4th gen have 30 systems in it and the 5th have 2, or I could add some token ones in to flesh things out. I chose the latter.

 

[Foxi4]

To address most of your concerns, Foxi4, the logistics of a poll constrained me a little. I could have had the 4th gen have 30 systems in it and the 5th have 2, or I could add some token ones in to flesh things out. I chose the latter.

Oh, I see what you mean. Well, that makes sense.

 

[emigre]

I vote ios.

 

[prowler]

lol pandora, did anyone actually buy that

 

[thaddius]

I don't think anyone would admit to it.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

lol pandora, did anyone actually buy that

No, people bought something called the "PSP" instead.

Seriously, it had almost equal emulation capabilities, it was a third of the price, and it had a whole library of original games.

The Pandora was just... redundant.

 

[Foxi4]

lol pandora, did anyone actually buy that

No, people bought something called the "PSP" instead.

Seriously, it had almost equal emulation capabilities, it was a third of the price, and it had a whole library of original games.

The Pandora was just... redundant.

Wat?

Overclockable OMAP3530 (ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessor inside) CPU running at 600Mhz, a DSP co-processor running at 430Mhz, a PowerVR SGX530 110Mhz GPU and 512 RAM offers "a tad more" capabilities then the PSP, not to mention dual SDHC slots, WEP-WPA2 WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth, a touchscreen, dual analog, full keyboard, the 800x600 resolution and a full-blown Linux distribution for the OS. It wasn't redundant, it isn't redundant, it's expensive.

 

[Gahars]

Yeah, it's kind of difficult to judge a generation that's only just begun. I'll throw my vote towards the Vita seems to have the library best suited for my tastes.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I'll vote for the Vita since I have a good taste in gaming.

 

[Foxi4]

I'll vote for the Vita since I have a good taste in gaming.

Now you're just sounding bias - are you voting for it because you have some basis as to why this choice is "the only correct one for someone who has taste in games" or are you just picking it because it's the beefiest out of the lot?

I must say, it does give the most promise, but I don't think that either handheld did enough to really earn a non-bias vote.

 

[EyeZ]

3DS for me, maybe if i had bought the Vita i may of voted differently but i am happy at the mo with the 3DS.

 

[prowler]

I'll vote for the Vita since I have a good taste in gaming.

@3DS and fans

 

[thaddius]

I imagine it is difficult to choose between two systems that haven't proved themselves (much), but what kind of a poller would I be if I just left out the current gen? A terrible one, that's what.

 

[Smuff]

After previously voting for the Saturn and the Dreamcast I felt the need to continue the "underdog" motif, so I voted for the Pandora



{EDIT} Obviously, if i wasn't fucking about I would have voted for the 3DS


{EDIT EDIT} because Sony suck cock.

 

[Foxi4]

I imagine it is difficult to choose between two systems that haven't proved themselves (much), but what kind of a poller would I be if I just left out the current gen? A terrible one, that's what.

Oh, by no means am I (or anyone else for that matter from what I'm reading) criticizing the poll. What I'm saying is that the choices in this generation are made not due to experience or even personal preference but more due to support of certain companies or the hardware capabilities of the consoles themselves, which are only two out of many factors that influence such a decision.

To me it's too early to choose, for others the choice may be obvious no matter what. At the end of the day, this is all fun, but what I don't like is people saying that one is better than the other due to their "good taste" - neither really has a library as of today, only a handful of titles are out, definatelly not enough to judge. Not to even mention that both are getting similar titles, too. I mean, MGS3D vs MGS HD Collection, for one. The 3DS definatelly isn't free of "hardcore" titles like Resident Evil Revelations, Ace Combat or BlazBlue, so I can't see why anyone would complain. I still stand by my little saying of "Portendo 3DS", as it's specifically apparent on the system, but I'm definatelly not crossing it out as "lacking tasteful games". As of today, the 3DS and the Vita go head to head, even if I'd personally choose a Vita since I'm such a hardware whore.

 

[thaddius]

I'm not feeling criticized, don't worry. Just want people to vote for whatever and to hell with what people think. I do want to have the Vita and 3DS at least considered before I move on to semi-finals.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I'll vote for the Vita since I have a good taste in gaming.

Now you're just sounding bias - are you voting for it because you have some basis as to why this choice is "the only correct one for someone who has taste in games" or are you just picking it because it's the beefiest out of the lot?

I must say, it does give the most promise, but I don't think that either handheld did enough to really earn a non-bias vote.

Well it was also my attempt at humor (I guess that part flopped) and it's also the only one of the consoles I own. And I'm certainly loving it so far.

As for The Yinlips YDPG18 and the JXD-S601, I don't think they should be included at all as they're just a standard Android board in a console case. If we call that a console, we should also include POP-Stations and other crap. There are numerous "unofficial" consoles, but they're really interesting for a really small crowd and pitting them againts the likes of the Vita and the 3DS is simply unfair. These are just cheep Chinese knock-off's.

I agree because I've also never heard of these things. Although if they run Android we may as well count iPhones, iPads, iPods, and the bagillion different Android/Windows Phone devices out there. I mean they do play games after all.

 

[Valwin]

i Voted 3DS is clearly the better system right now hopefully the vita will get some games down the line but right now is a joke