Do you miss the days of non-universal console case designs?

Nowadays, (unless I'm mistaken) all game consoles sold worldwide are sold in identical casings. That said, the PS2 or XBOX you see for sale in America will feature the same external design as the XBOX sold in Europe or Japan. Same goes for the GC, GBA, N-Gage, etc. Of course, rarities like the occassional limited edition version and color scheme do exist, but overall the shape/design of a console is the same regardless of the country.

I do miss the old days when the SNES, Genesis/MD, NES, TG-16/PCE all feature differences in their casing designs. Some, like the Japanese Super Famicom looked 10 times better than the awful boxy counterpart that we US gamers were stuck with. Same goes for the PCE...compare that to the US TG-16 and you'll see why importing gaming hardware back in the day was so desirable.
The Mega Drive/Genesis sort of looked the same, but I still think the Japanese version looked better with the larger "16-bit" lettering and blue reset switch over the US edition.

Anyone else miss the olden days of console design?

 

I do. Now adays though, you have to look deeper to distinguish you're consoles. If you're hardcore, you shouldn't pansy out and buy a US console because "they look the same"! Remember that their OS doesn't :smt023

 

Who cares? Really, it plays games. I sure as hell didn't buy my Xbox or GC for their "sleek" looks. Those things are fugly as hell. Better to spend more time on the actual specs than on case design.

On the other hand, I would buy a certain DVD player etc. model because it looks sweet.

 

For me it's moreso about the case/image/design moreso than about the specs. Consoles aren't defined by their console's false magazine specs

 

Besides, I think the Gamecube design is lovely :-D

 

I know it's just a different color, but the spice Gamecubes are gorgeous to me :smt023 .

 

Arghh...why did Ninty make the 'Cube so dumb looking? It has a handle! Quite pansy! :smt043

Just kidding, though I must admit the handle is a wee bit fruity. Not to mention completely unnecessary. :smt043

I don't know, but I think they should try to make consoles as small as possible. Look at the new "PStwo"--it's freaking tiny! The 'Cube is small, except Ninty made it like 8 inches tall. :smt009

 

Yeah, it certainly made things more interesting.

The original Famicom & FDS looks very cool. But the US SNES was awful. Sorry you US guys, but that was one awful bit of design on Nintendo's part. And the Super Fami looks cooler than a UK SNES, simply cos of the SF logo.... And again, god knows why NEC thought ppl would want that massive (in comparison) TG16 over the PCEngine.

But the Genesis3 looks damn cool. That was a US exclusive, yes? No SegaCD hook ups either, I beleive?

And the Wondermega and CDX/Multimega are basically the same thing. We all know which is the sexiest of those two designs.....

I suppose you guys with early Japanese PS2s get to have that funky looking external 'HDD' unit.

Gamecube is far too big! The MiniDV drive takes up most of the room. And the ports on the bottom make it an inch(ish) taller.

 

I guess I am the only one here who actually likes the US Super Nintendo design.

 

Probably.

Yakumo

 

I believe it had something to do with complying with our American RF regulations. At least that's what an early issue of EGM noted...

 

TG16 Case

Actually it had to do with perception.

NEC was afraid that US consumers wouldn't think the PC Engine was "powerful enough" if it shipped in the US in the small case so it redesigned the case to make the machine "look" bigger and "more powerful."

That's marketing at work for ya!

-hl718

 

The US NES had to look like a toy/VCR type thing since it debuted only two years out from the COMPLETE IMPLOSION of the console market. Stores wouldn't carry a "game console". Granted it still looks like a gray toaster, but there was at least a good reason for it (unlike, say, the SNES's design where they really only needed to change the cartridge slot from the SFC)

 

Re: Do you miss the days of non-universal console case desig

oh yes!! that was one of the mainreasons why i started to collect japanese-only versions, back in the very early 90s. same for the games!

 

bigger, badder, better? :smt043 in this case definitely not!! :smt043

 

I like the US SNES design too! (and US) SNES controllers, you guys have no clue. They're 100x better than SFC or PAL(-only) controllers. The American SNES and NES actually make a decent looking couple pair, something that can't be said about a PAL SNES/SFC and NES/FC. I do like the SFC design too but I would absolutely adore the SFC if it had the same case as the prototype, I'm attracted to white plastic so I've grown to dislike the SFC colors over time.

Also, if you guys haven't noticed, bigness did (some places still does) sell in the US, duh. We're the land of the "super size." Don't criticize what you don't understand. You could call it a custom of ours. Of course thats changing now that a quarter of this country are Japanophiles, American gamers now want Japanese style everything. From now on, expect legitimate game translations and original artwork because thats what the market now demands.

 

The NEC / TG16 thing was a problem with American people in general, I wouldnt hold it as a bad thing against the company.

 

So is that why half the country is full of "Big" people? :smt043

Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

Yakumo

 

Thats exactly why a good chunk of this country is full of overweight people, people eat crap food and plenty of it. US marketting suggests we need the most "bang for your buck." Better put, we're the land of extremes, we like crap "to the xtreme."

 

What I miss, though, is the cartridges coming in different shapes. Kind of hard to do this with CD based systems - do I do not precisely like my PS2 to look like a car battery... The GameCube and the Dreamcast do look pretty nice.

Don't get me started on how fugly Xbox looks...

But Famicom games, to me, look like from the future. Something about the cartridge's shape and label placement makes them look deliciously retro-futuristic.

Really, the companies should work more in terms of design for their products and /or packaging... and it'll be like the 80's all over again!

Yay!!!