Spare consoles for the future?

[Geoff D]

A buddy of mine has announced his intention to buy a new GC, PS2 & XBox, then keep them stored for future use - say, in a few generations time when his current consoles have died.

I scoffed at first, but am gradually coming round to the idea - PS2 lasers are notoriously unreliable, & anyone that's tried to buy new condition N64 pads will tell you how they wished they'd stocked up.

What say you? Overly paranoid or a good idea? Who would consider the idea & who'll settle for emulation?

[JRMacumber]

Ya know, I've actually thought about this myself, and I just might, but only when they have gone down in price. Emulation is good and all, but it misses the magic of playing the games on the systems they were designed for.

[C']

Yep agree with this completely.

I've got a spare Dreamcast under my bed that I bought 18 months ago, just in case.

Similarly, when the new model PAL PS2 was released a few weeks back, the night before, I bought one of the old models so I'd have a spare machine with iLink port intact (I play a lot of Time Crisis 2 and hopefully soon 3, linkup).

[DJ Sack]

Depends on the console really, but best wait till its on deaths door and buy them at an ultra cheap price, but no doubt you'll still be able to buy PS2's second hand in 20 years time for peanuts.

[Geoff D]

no doubt you'll still be able to buy PS2's second hand in 20 years time for peanuts.

I'm sure you will, but there's no telling of the quality. Over the past few months I've been on the hunt for N64 controllers - you can pick them up in any Gamestation, but usually the sticks are trashed & the buttons feel like they've had drinks spilt on them - I finally found some mint ones, but have been cursing myself for not buying spares a few years back when they were readily available.

Emulation is good and all, but it misses the magic of playing the games on the systems they were designed for.

Agreed - I'm left feeling slightly cold when I play emulators; I use them more for convenience than anything else.

[nips]

Well, I got another DC. Mines a bit funny, I'll need to replace some stuff soon me thinks, so before I tinker, I bought another DC with 2 pads, keyboard, 4 games in Soul Calibur and a VMU for ?20!

Not bad!

But, if you're talking about ?80 for a second GC for example, I think not. I'd rather wait and get a cheapo second hand one for a quater of that price.

You know you'll be able to find more consoles and pads... I just got a brand new boxed N64 pad 3 weeks ago as my trusty red one finally went over the edge...

I think getting a back up console is over kill, and anyway, you can take your console to many people and shops etc and get then to replace parts and things anyway... so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[chevkoch]

I went and bought two spare PAL Dreamcasts to back up my JP one just in case it might dissolve. That actually could say something about the design of my phobias.

[Square]

I agree wholeheartedly. But then I am a paranoid android. I have 2 dreamcasts, but I'm going to buy a brand new Japanese one while I still can. Ditto for the Cube.

I won't bother about the PS2 as I imagine that PS6 will be backwards compatible with the previous Playstation consoles.

[Garibaldi Biscuit]

Ditto with the comments about not bothering with PS2 due to later consoles in the Sony line-up going for backwards compatibility, plus I still think the machine itself looks quite ugly.

The Gamecube might be one to keep safe, primarily because of the poor sales figures in the U.K ( relativly ) and the vulnerable C-Stick on said console's control pads. There will be so much surplus stock of the XBox bumping around long after it's demise that I don't think I need to worry about that one either, plus people will keep a hold of theirs due to it's emulation qualities ( hence a slow drip-feed of second hand, chipped XBoxes being sold for years afterward ).

Other consoles I have little interest in so it doesn't look like I'll need to buy any spares, just as well really seeing as I'm broke.

[Salsa Party Animal]

If I am wealthy and when next generation console released I will check the backward compatability before buying a spare GC/XBOX/PS2 and DC.

[Valken]

I've got a few DCs and Saturns and one mint Super Famicom but I dunno if I'd be too arsed about doubling up this generation.

[gIzzE]

My mate has a panasonic Q sitting in his loft because it is not worth selling now and it is brand new so may be worth keeping for a rainy day.
He bought it to combine his dvd and cube but couldnt live with the quality for films so boxed it back up and put it in storage.

I wish I had a few of them kicking round

[wod]

i dont think i need to as i've got a v4 ps2 that works fine, as well as my other consoles. i do have another 2 ps2s but there us and jap for the different games

[ryodi]

My GC's disk drive failed on me so I sent it back and the MKD package that Nintendo are doing (Purple Console and Controller, MKD and the Five Game Zelda Bonus Disk) for ?99.99 makes it very tempting to pick up a spare console.

I have a spare N64 lying around (not that I need it as they are bullet proof) and a GB Player as well as my GBA SP.

[charlaph]

I wouldn't bother just yet. Like DJ Sack said I'm of the opinion that you shuold wait until they hit the lowest possible price point (unless you're rich, obviously)

Plus they keep getting better - I'd be annoyed if I'd bought a PS2 for storage a few months ago, then they release a quiter, more robust version and drop the price.

I do intend to buy another Gamecube, maybe 2 in fact - a UK and NTSC one, but I'm in no rush - I'll wait until they announce they're being discontinued. Remember you could still buy brand new DCs for very low prices months after they'd officially been discontinued as stores tried to shift their stocks - that's the time to buy multiple pieces of hardware.