5 Classic Consoles That Should Get The Mini Rebirth Treatment
Following Nintendo’s massively successful run of 'Classic Edition’ retro console reboots, it got me thinking about what other consoles I’d love to see reborn…
Because while Nintendo may have a stranglehold on this current market, it wouldn’t take a genius to see a golden opportunity for any other legacy hardware makers to take advantage of.
There is a whole landscape of classics out there that, with the correctly placed level of hype, would work incredibly well with the soon-to-be grown up gamers who were raised in the “good old days” of gaming history.
So, without further ado, here are five consoles I’d give the ‘Classic Edition’ treatment to.
1. PlayStation
The one that started it all for Sony and their world-beating gaming brand. It had a tumultuous history for sure - released after the controversy of being dropped as Nintendo’s hardware partner to produce a CD add-on for the SNES for Phillips (look where that got them).
But seriously, these games were my childhood and were for many millions of other players too. Sure, some of these games are currently available on the Playstation store, but that requires the high entry barrier of buying a PS4. Bring back the original - from the polygonal graphics to the D-pad gameplay - and be proud of your routes.
Or you could buy one for dirt cheap now.
Some games I would include: Heart of Darkness, Gex: Deep Cover Gecko, Rugrats: Search for Reptar, GTA: London and Final Fantasy VII. Pop a CD drive on there too for expansion.
2. PlayStation 2
And hell, why stop there? Much in the same vein as Nintendo’s annual release strategy of classic consoles, just bring back the PS2 after. This is the one and only console to break the 100 million sales barrier, making it the most popular of all time. And with the quality of games churned out for it, you can see why!
Some games I would include: Ico, SSX Tricky, Final Fantasy X, Timesplitters 2, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, God of War, SOCOM and Silent Hill 2.
3. Sega Dreamcast
While this incredible machine was buried under all the hype of the aforementioned PS2, leading to an early death of Sega’s hardware ambitions, the library is substantial enough to warrant a mini classic edition of the console. The world misses VMUs!
There are plenty on sale now...
Some games I would include: Shenmue, Sonic Adventure 2, Jet Set Radio, Seaman, Typing of The Dead and Skies of Arcadia.
4. Xbox
The beginning of Microsoft’s claimed stake in the gaming market. Xbox didn’t have the same level of adoption as the PlayStation 2, but it still was a well-loved machine with a great catalogue of games.
While the Xbox One is already beginning to support backward compatibility with original Xbox games, the price to get this may be too steep for the general consumer and they probably don’t want to traipse around eBay to find these classic titles. Make it simple, make it cheap and make some serious money.
Yup, you can get one here!
Some games I would include: Fable, Conker: Live & Reloaded, Full Spectrum Warrior, Crimson Skies, Project Gotham Racing and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.
5. Nintendo Virtual Boy
Smartly, Nintendo is already going the route of the Gameboy classic - patenting the design recently. And chances are they already have a Nintendo 64 classic in the pipeline. That means this failed headset-based console is going to be a tough sell for me to get over to you.
But let me explain… The concept of this was years ahead of its time, to the point that the hardware designers ran into many cost-based issues before when trying to execute it.
For example, they downgraded from full colour and motion tracking accelerometers to one colour (a searing red) and the headset on a stand for better comfort. Now is their chance to go back, make a far better VR headset, upgrade some of these games and give it a better chance.
Your retro fans will love you for it, and the games will also pull in the casual crowd who want the next cool Virtual Reality experience.
Bag yourself a classic Virtual Boy now!
Some games I would include: Teleroboxer, Wario Land, Mario Clash, 3D Tetris and Mario Tennis (with Wii controller support).
