/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.8927764]

How expensive is retro gaming compared to other hobbies?

[Anonymous No.8927778]

>>8927764
Any hobby is as expensive as you allow it to get.
I can do jumping jacks + pullups at a park or join a 250usd / month crossfit gym and jump on expensive outfits and gear.
A Flinstones cart for the NES can rid you of almos 4k usd, but I can play it as much as I want on my tube TV that's plugged to my notebook, on a USB NES pad.

[Anonymous No.8927786]

You can find some decent retro games for 10 bucks a pop. The more expensive ones are like 150 tops. And beyond that you get into collector crap.
Books can be anywhere from 25 cents a piece to hundreds of dollars. And worst of all books tend to come in a series. So now you're buying some 20-volume book series at 10 bucks each except for that one volume that's out-of-print and super rare so either you're gonna wait two years to see it for cheap or you're paying 200 bucks for it right now.
Movies are usually pretty cheap. 20 bucks for a lot of 30 blurays, an entire massive cardboard box filled with like 200 DVDs for the price of shipping. Rare discs go for like 50 bucks a pop unless it's something super collectible.
Music is a buck or two per disc. But there's basically an infinite amount of music and albums are like an hour long so you end up buying thousands upon thousands of albums and it all adds up. LPs are a money sink though.
A nice project car can be had for a couple grand and you can spend tens of thousands on tools and parts easily or you can DIY and ghettorig everything for basically loose pocket change.
Drinking costs like 30 bucks a day even if you're a relatively heavy alcoholic if you're drinking cheap crap at home.

[Anonymous No.8927787]

>>8927764
Considering the average cost of a game is $12, I'd say it's pretty cheap. Especially compared to modern gaming, which is $60 for a new release.

[Anonymous No.8927805]

a hobbies expense is directly related to how much autism you have. a used console and a flash cart or stack of cds is relatively cheap. if you're a turbo autist who needs a trinitron, and a sealed copy, it's insanely expensive. emulators of course are free

[Anonymous No.8927817]

I just burn discs on my consoles so it barely costs a dime. I bought a used Saturn and that was about as expensive as it gets. Otherwise it’s like a fiver per console for the CD-Rs. I got into retro gaming cause modern games are expensive and not worth the price tag.

[Anonymous No.8927827]

>>8927764
Depends on how stupid you are.

[Anonymous No.8927838]

>>8927764
Im a wagie dishwasher living pay check to pay check and I can enjoy it fine, but was indeed better years ago.

[Anonymous No.8927840]

>>8927764
well it's like a hundred dollar entry fee for a decent phone or laptop + a controller and then you can play whatever you want for free
easy peasy japanesy.

[Anonymous No.8927852]

>>8927764
It isn't.

Collecting shit is expensive, but collecting shit is expensive in every hobby.

[Anonymous No.8927861]

>>8927805
>a hobbies expense is directly related to how much autism you have.
This. As for me, real hardware + flash cart. Carts are too expensive for me to justify but the real console DOES make a difference over emulation.

[Anonymous No.8927886]

You can buy an original arcade machine + real PCB and the best controls possible and come in under $2000. About the same for a BVM + consoles + "expensive" original cart.

That will get you a decent set of amateur-level golf clubs. Or a used motorcycle. Or a small fishing boat. You can't emulate these things btw.

The top tier of /vr/ is extremely cheap compared to other hobbies.

[Anonymous No.8927890]

>>8927764
It's a free hobby imo thanks to piracy.
it gets expensive depending on how crazy you go, but as long as you pirate, it's still cheap compared to other hobbies

[Anonymous No.8927894]

>>8927764
60 dollars for a good quality controller, and the games are all free

[Anonymous No.8927896]

Playing old or retro games is close to inexpensive.

Collecting cardboard and plastic isn't.

[Anonymous No.8927897]

Collecting retro hardware used to be cheap as fuck, now it's more in line with other collector hobbies.

[Anonymous No.8927903]

>>8927764
It can be free if you just want to emulate on your device you can also spend a lot on it if you want. I just started with an SNES and a copy of Yoshi Island for $120 from a retro game store and an old CRT I found off Craigslist for free. Then I bought a Super Gameboy and Wario Land 2 color for $50. Not sure if I'm gonna get an everdrive or just carts as I go. I know carts are more expensive, but I don't want to be overwhelmed with having the whole library all at once.

[Anonymous No.8927918]

For less than $500 you can get an experience that is 99% the same as the guys who paid $10,000+. In some ways it is better.
If your hobby is driving sports cars then $500 isn't going to get you very far.

[Anonymous No.8928335]

>>8927764
It's free if you play on emulators.

[Anonymous No.8928341]

(almost)FREE to RETARDED EXPENSIVE
The widest gamut of any hobby that exists.

[Anonymous No.8928394]

>>8927764
'bout three-fiddy

[Anonymous No.8928398]

>>8927778
imagine what the girl gamers think of you - plugging your thinkpad into your vga>av converter like a somalian

SHAME

[Anonymous No.8928401]

>>8927764

Gaming is cheap as fuck. Collecting is expensive as fuck.

[Anonymous No.8928407]

>>8927764
collecting pristine packaged retro games is expensive as fuck and absolutely pointless.
Retro gaming can be free if on emulators, which is a perfectly valid option, you can even buy a controller just like the one from whatever console you're playing, and use a CRT or CRT shaders.
Or else buy the consoles and cartridges, which depends on the console and games, but it's sorta affordable if you're good at finding second hand stuff

[Anonymous No.8928449]

>>8927764
very cheap
even collecting real carts is pretty cheap

[Anonymous No.8928495]

>>8927886
wrong again
you think once you have all the equipment for arcade shit it just runs smoothly until the end of time?

the only other hobby that has a high upfront cost is getting into cars

[Anonymous No.8928496]

>>8927890
>as long as you pretend you are playing its free

the absolute state of emufags

[Anonymous No.8928516]

>>8927886
Fishing is a pretty inexpensive hobby if you're a skilled fisherman. I could go down to a sporting goods store and get like, a $125 rig that I could do better than most people with no matter how much they spend.

[Anonymous No.8928527]

>>8927786
Doing music can be very expensive when you go down the gear rabbit hole but even that i found was less expensive than video as my complete bass Rig cost me like a 1k all bought used and just 30 video games in my collection is upward of 1500 bucks.

[Anonymous No.8928528]

>>8928495
>you think once you have all the equipment for arcade shit it just runs smoothly until the end of time?
Older electronics are pretty easy to repair anon. The actual hardware is designed to be played for hours a day by all manner of users so yes, it will last your lifetime.
>the only other hobby that has a high upfront cost is getting into cars
Stop being a contrarian just for the sake of arguing. There are countless hobbies that are extremely expensive but [playing] video games is not one of them.

[Anonymous No.8928535]

>>8927764
Depends on what you're after.
>Saudi Prince tier
Collecting one-off or rare meme carts like the NES World Championship stuff, prototype systems, beta carts, etc.
>car collecting tier
Arcade cabinets, complete-in-box sealed or """""""graded"""""""" meme displays. Rarer, niche stuff like the LaserActive or the x68000 fits in this category.
>equestrianism tier
Collecting NEO-GEO or Sega Saturn games. Sega CD not far behind.
>expensive, but attainable tier
Popular "niche" games or "hidden gems" on popular consoles.
>affordable tier
Everything else not listed above.
>free tier
Emulation.

[Anonymous No.8928539]

>>8927764
It can become quite expensive if you go full autism, but perhaps that could be said about pretty much anything. That being said, if you already own a decent pc/laptop and maybe a dualschock 4 or some other controller like that, you can emulate most stuff for free

[Anonymous No.8928569]

>Entry level guitar $200
>Intermediate guitar $700
>Pro guitar $1500
>Special edition pro guitar $2500
>Custom made guitar $2500+++
>One of a kind limited special editions $10,000+++
>eBay auction guitar used by famous musician on stage $100,000+++

[Anonymous No.8928574]

>>8927764
the real question is, how shitty is that d-pad compared to other d-pads

[Anonymous No.8928586]

>>8928574
If you think the SNES dpad is shitty then I guess you haven't found anything good enough

[Anonymous No.8928593]

>>8928586
Not him but for me it's no the SNES D-pad that's bad, it's the lack of any kind of support surrounding it. That lop-sided, thin dog bone design had mostly kids in mind.

[Anonymous No.8928594]

>>8928586
I found this

[Anonymous No.8928604]

>>8928594
it's good, saturn has a better dpad, both are still not as good as the SNES one
>>8928593
OK, might just be that you're used to handles now

[Anonymous No.8928606]

>>8928604
cope

[Anonymous No.8928612]

>>8928604
I think you're right but, even with modern controllers I have problems. Like, I'd like the handles to be even bigger. DS4 is the closest to ideal that I've found. Modern Xbox controllers have handles that are especially thin.

Having smaller hands is definitely more ideal for older consoles.

[Anonymous No.8928616]

>>8928612
what's small?
I have a bit over 8" long hands and they are fine for me

[Anonymous No.8928623]

>>8928569
all you need is the pickups
the rest of the instrument is for aesthetics/comfort preference while playing

the only thing that impacts the sound are the strings and pickups - the rest is meme-magick

[Anonymous No.8928627]

>>8928528
collecting arcade pcb is an endless moneypit
vidya can be quite expensive if you're an autistic cardboard collector

even original hardware has creeped past original MSRP so im not sure what your point is

[Anonymous No.8928630]

>>8928623
>all you need is the pickups
All you need is a laptop and an optional controller.

[Anonymous No.8928634]

>>8928535
i'm dead at car collecting tier
i will never be the prince
i have no rare or prototype carts
but all my gear is for PLAYING not jacking off onto or posting on reddit for updoots

[Anonymous No.8928636]

>>8928616
No I mean, I have large hands and most controllers don't work out all that great for me. A couple that have been alright are like, the DS4 and the gamecube controller. The GC had a controller that was especially smart about being small but keeping your hand separated in such a way that it didn't cause much discomfort. They should try that again.

[Anonymous No.8928639]

>>8928630
kek imagine playing guitar like that
all samples triggered by the thinkpad keyboard

if your vocalist is female and hot enough you can probably pull it off anon

[Anonymous No.8928640]

>>8928627
>even original hardware has creeped past original MSRP so im not sure what your point is
Except it hasn't, unless you're buying new.

[Anonymous No.8928642]

>>8928639
/g/ makes a band with a tranny again?

[Anonymous No.8928646]

>>8928640
what is inflation
what are completed sold neogeo aes listings
what are completed sold atari jaguar listings
what are completed sold atari jaguar cd listings
what are completed sold sega cd listings
what are etc

[Anonymous No.8928649]

>>8928636
Well I do hate it when my thumbs touch when playing on DualShocks

[Anonymous No.8928653]

i hate that the perfectly circle gate of the dualshock controller makes it really hard to commit to a specific direction. im always holding a little bit tilted
i dont understand why we dont have shit like the n64 controller/nunchuck. having all that extra meat under your hand when you're holding an analog stick feels great

[Anonymous No.8928664]

>>8928646
>neogeo aes
Around $530 on eBay
Was $650 new back in the 90s, not adjusted for inflation.

You're a disingenuous idiot who is arguing for the sake of arguing.

[Anonymous No.8928690]

>>8928653
That fin design was actually very comfortable. The problem with the n64 controller is that they put the analogue stick where it was based on a couple launch games and everybody else had to make due.

[Anonymous No.8928693]

>>8928664
*pays 530 for a loose system that has heavy wear while comparing it to NiB 90s prices*


who is disingenuous ?

[Anonymous No.8928702]

>>8928398
>like a somalian
fucking kek

[Anonymous No.8928704]

>>8928693
You because you're straight up ignoring the details of the conversation >>8928640

[Anonymous No.8928728]

>>8928495
Once you have the cab, CRT, and PCB the upkeep costs are very cheap. Even if you had to replace the entire CRT (which you shouldn't have to do more than once in a decade) it's not going to cost over $1000.

[Anonymous No.8928735]

>>8928516
Yes, but that would be a budget option.
With /vr/ you can be at the absolute top of the line can't-buy-anything-better level with only a few thousand dollars invested. Less than $1000 if you're savvy.
Can't say the same for fishing. Or maybe you can? I'd love for an anon to tell me a way to get the $50k fishing experience for $5k.

[Anonymous No.8928738]

>>8928735
>Can't say the same for fishing. Or maybe you can?
Nah, expensive fishing involves boats so it's automatically leagues above gaming in cost.

[Anonymous No.8928743]

>>8927764
I mean I probably spent about $400 on the krikzz everdrives for the SNES, N64, GBA and today the N8 Pro Famicom. Bit investment cost now, but never have to buy games for those systems ever again.

I did get this for pure want.

[Anonymous No.8928749]

>>8928627
Lucky for /vr/ there are options like mult-boards, FPGA, ports, and emulation that can you a 99% identical experience.
Can't say that for a lot of other hobbies.
The PCBs are the least important thing to me in owning a cab. It's all about the form factor.

[Anonymous No.8928757]

Too expensive. I can't buy many games with my neet bux and my collection have been suffering thanks to greedy resellers

[Anonymous No.8928762]

>>8928757
Literally just take any of the half-dozen methods available to play games for free or for pennies each. Some of them are even legal.

[Anonymous No.8928785]

>>8928735
Actually it's funny that you mention that.
I'd actually recommend taking a charter boat off of Resurrection Bay in Seward, Alaska. Say you only want to fish for silver salmon. You'll likely see puffins, maybe seals, and more maybe, whales. Beats your bumfuck tour on the southern atlantic looking for swordfish or whatever. Less money, better.

[Anonymous No.8928793]

>>8928785
Also very important to go in summer during the salmon run. The salmon run is not important, it's the time of year that is. It mostly rains, but this is when you're likely to see the most wildlife. If you can deal with a lot of rain, but about 73-75F all the time, you're good. Just remember to have mosquito repellent on land, those giant fucks will be at you if it stops raining and they're hatching.

[Anonymous No.8928805]

>>8928785
Speaking of boats, I would love to go on a two week cruise and just stay on the boat eating and playing games on my Vita TV. The only real issue is just that too much third world shit occurs on cruises to warrent paying for the trip.

>t. blog

[Anonymous No.8928823]

>>8928805
forgot I wasn't on /int/ or /out/

[Anonymous No.8928825]

Really not that bad.. literally get a consumer CRT on the side of the road or craigslist, buy your favorite console, and buy an everdrive. Don't collect its fucking dumb right, it would be like buying a house right now lul

[Anonymous No.8928830]

>>8928805
Cruises are garbage.
Staying at home gives you more freedom than going on a cruise. I have no idea why people want to do it. It's like adult daycare on the open sea. It's fucking horrible.

[Anonymous No.8928841]

>>8928805
Cruising is a hobby all to its own and according to what I've heard there are a lot of good ways to cut costs with it.

[Anonymous No.8928854]

>>8928825
why shouldnt i buy a house?
>bro just wait
people been saying this shit for nearly a decade now. its not coming. its just going to keep getting more expensive. there will always be someone willing to pay the price

[Anonymous No.8928858]

>>8927764
extremely cheap and you get to cash out when you're done

[Anonymous No.8928932]

The social cost is the highest cost in retro gaming.
It's a niche hobby that is mostly relegated to online discussion and netplay. This is not talking about a casual gamer taking a spin every once in a while in a Switch Online title. This is referring to people who consider it one of their primary hobbies and that they plan to spend considerable time and energy with it.
With other hobbies like playing and watching football or basketball you've probably got people in your own family who share that interest and you can quickly create some good social outings and memories associated with it. Cars, fishing, modern gaming, film+television are similar cases.
When you invest time in retro gaming you're making a decision to choose something that will narrow your opportunities for in-person social contact.

[Anonymous No.8928958]

>>8927805
I have a lot of autism. I have my original carts and consoles, then I've got flashcarts and different mod setups for most of my consoles too. Then I've got clone consoles and a decent PC for emulating. Could have settled for one option, but for some reason I feel compelled to make sure I can play as many games on as many devices in as many ways as possible.

[Anonymous No.8928959]

>>8927786
>books tend to come in a series
Uh, yeah, maybe if you read shitty genre fiction.

[P. Sevenleaf No.8928994]

>>8928841
>Cruising is a hobby all to its own and according to what I've heard there are a lot of good ways to cut costs with it.
lol it's a hobby that pays for itself if you know what you're doing

[P. Sevenleaf No.8928996]

>>8928994
>>8928994
nm, I just realized you're talking about boats

[Anonymous No.8929004]

>>8927764
Start restoring old cars and we'll talk

[Anonymous No.8929013]

Not bad, other hobbies can be cheaper and/or generate/save money, others can be horrendously expensive. This is only in regards of actually buying shit and not emulation.

[Anonymous No.8930007]

>>8927778
You'd seriously spend 4k on a cart and not bother to buy a console and controller ??

[Anonymous No.8930012]

>>8927764
porn is free, so infinitely more expensive compared to other things you could be doing

[Anonymous No.8930014]

>>8927764
You can choose your level of investment. Emulators are basically free, coomlecting isn't.

[Anonymous No.8930057]

>>8928623
https://youtu.be/0Y_tyUjkkhA
the material and mass between the points the strings are connected to make an audible difference to the vibration
the entry level guitar or intermediate is really all you 'need'. though.

[Anonymous No.8930058]

>>8927764
It's definitely not a poorfag-friendly hobby like it used to be.
I loved collecting games and kinda miss that but I came back in late and it's really hard to justify current prices when I remember how much this shit was years ago. I pretty much quit when I noticed how much PS2 and even some PS3 & 360 games were going for now.
I ended up saving for a really good gaymin PC and monitor upgrade, I just emulate everything and while not always perfect, it works for me. Closest I come to collecting retro anymore are old controllers and joysticks, it's really fun and I can get more use out of them with adapters for emulation.
Collecting retro games isn't fun anymore, too many fakes floating around and prices got even higher. I just use my spare cash to commission fetish porn these days, it's also an expensive hobby but it's easier to justify than spending 200-400 bones on a single SNES game that I can play in Higan for fucking free.
>Captcha- POSTY