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Biggest regret buying console or portable hardware?
- Thread starter MercuryLS
- Start date
I wouldn't quite say I regret it and i'll probably buy more VR stuff in the future(almost did with the quest 2 but a couple reviews gave me pause)
but I definitely wouldn't say I used my Rift CV1 enough to really justify the like $1200 I spent on it, it's just too much of a hassle for me to ever want to use it between annoyances i've had setting up the sensors, the wires(and especially their awful tendency to kink up) etc
as far as consoles go I generally only buy them when there's specific things I want them for already out or about to come out so there isn't really a lot of room for regret there
but I definitely wouldn't say I used my Rift CV1 enough to really justify the like $1200 I spent on it, it's just too much of a hassle for me to ever want to use it between annoyances i've had setting up the sensors, the wires(and especially their awful tendency to kink up) etc
as far as consoles go I generally only buy them when there's specific things I want them for already out or about to come out so there isn't really a lot of room for regret there
I suppose there's 2. When the PSP came out, I was convinced home consoles were done. Why would anyone bother with a bulky Xbox or Playstation when they could slide a PSP into the pocket of their cargo shorts, play games, watch movies, listen to music and surf the internet? I sold my original Xbox to buy a PSP, which I do regret doing but that's not the worst of it. I got a DS years later after I blew up my PSP trying to mod it and holy shit it was so much better. It just had such a great library, the PSP had a good library but my God the DS and DS family was amazing. Not only did I trade in my spot as one of the people bringing a console to LAN parties, I did it for the inferior console.
The 2nd would be buying an Open Pandora in college, first high paying job I got I used to buy one, which if you aren't familiar it's a tiny Linux PC with dedicated game controls. It's explicitly designed to be a retro emulation box, and it does it really well to be fair. It was also really expensive at the time and wasn't long before better, cheaper options came along. I mean I enjoyed the thing and I still have it today, it's a neat piece of history and cast off tech, it also makes an appearance in Scott Pilgrim VS the World which is cool, I just could have had so much more fun with that amount of money. I also had some friends that were super into Bitcoin at the time and trying to convince me to build a miner / buy some tokens at the time. No, my money was better spent on playing Megaman X4 during downtime in the lab where I worked.
The 2nd would be buying an Open Pandora in college, first high paying job I got I used to buy one, which if you aren't familiar it's a tiny Linux PC with dedicated game controls. It's explicitly designed to be a retro emulation box, and it does it really well to be fair. It was also really expensive at the time and wasn't long before better, cheaper options came along. I mean I enjoyed the thing and I still have it today, it's a neat piece of history and cast off tech, it also makes an appearance in Scott Pilgrim VS the World which is cool, I just could have had so much more fun with that amount of money. I also had some friends that were super into Bitcoin at the time and trying to convince me to build a miner / buy some tokens at the time. No, my money was better spent on playing Megaman X4 during downtime in the lab where I worked.
Game gear was also the one game console that I pretty much instantly regretted. It was the first portable I owned and it seemed awesome on paper, but the graphics and gameplay paled next to my SNES and the battery life was abysmal. I ended up returning it after a few weeks and got Earthworm Jim on SNES instead and was much happier.
I think the Vectrex is awesome for shooters and provided smooth vector graphics that other consoles couldn't dream of but yeah, it wouldn't be good to have as a primary system. The genre variety of Intellivision is much higher.
I traded with a friend my Intellivision with a couple dozen games for his Vectrex with 4 or 5 titles. After the honeymoon period, I regretted it pretty bad.
The system itself was actually pretty interesting for the time and the vector graphics (think arcade Asteroids) were rad as hell. But the library was shallow as hell and the titles themselves didn't have near the depth of Intellivision releases.
Vectrex games had some cool arcade ports but it felt like that was as far as it went for depth of experience. They were all designed for quick-shot sessions which I quickly grew tired of. Compared to meatier Intellivion software like AD&D Treasure of Tarmin (an actual gd 3D dungeon crawler!), MLB/NFL/PGA sports, legit strat/sim games like Sub Hunt and Utopia. Well, Vectrex offerings felt paper-thin by comparison.
The funny thing is that the Vectrex console is a cool oddity in modern times. And I think it goes for a pretty penny on Ebay. But man, back in the early 80's that damn trade had me full of regrets, lol.
Xbox one Og and an Xbox one X. I barely touched them and I sold both only to win an X again on a charity raffle. Only kept it for it's 4K player.
Time will tell if my Series X purchase was unwise.
Time will tell if my Series X purchase was unwise.
Wii U - Bought at launch with NSMBU and rented ZombiU. Played it for like 3 weeks and than it sat for 6 months untouched before I sold it.
Vita - Picked up a used original model for ps4 remote play. It was always a laggy mess and trying to play Destiny with the limited buttons was less than ideal. Barely touched it for any actual Vita games.
3DS and 3DSXL - Bought an OG 3DS used for Mario 3D Land. Played that and that was about it. Sold it a few months later. Bought a used 3DSXL for Zelda ALBW and played that and it's sat in a drawer since then. I just don't use portables, they're all so uncomfortable to play.
Vita - Picked up a used original model for ps4 remote play. It was always a laggy mess and trying to play Destiny with the limited buttons was less than ideal. Barely touched it for any actual Vita games.
3DS and 3DSXL - Bought an OG 3DS used for Mario 3D Land. Played that and that was about it. Sold it a few months later. Bought a used 3DSXL for Zelda ALBW and played that and it's sat in a drawer since then. I just don't use portables, they're all so uncomfortable to play.
I didn't buy it (was a gift from my wife) and don't exactly regret it, but had I known I'd buy my brother's PC in December I would have asked for a 3060ti or 3070 instead of the PS5. Other than that, haven't really regretted a console purchase.
Nintendo Switch and I bought 2....
Got one at launch alongside Zelda, absolutely loved it then after finishing the game didn't touch it for months before selling it.
Bought one again during lockdown (mainly due to boredom I think) played a couple of games and again it's not even been turned on for about 6 months.
Complete waste of money
Got one at launch alongside Zelda, absolutely loved it then after finishing the game didn't touch it for months before selling it.
Bought one again during lockdown (mainly due to boredom I think) played a couple of games and again it's not even been turned on for about 6 months.
Complete waste of money
I stupidly bought a 360 very late in its lifespan at MSRP to play through the Halo games. Had nothing to play after a couple weeks so I sold it for a big loss.
Huge Nintendo fan here, but the Wii U. Nearly every game that I played and enjoyed on that system has been remastered for Switch. The only ones that haven't so far are Xenoblade Chronicles X and the Wind Waker/Twilight Princess remasters, I think.
Had I held out on the Wii U, I just could've played the remastered/enhanced versions when they came to Switch.
Had I held out on the Wii U, I just could've played the remastered/enhanced versions when they came to Switch.
Switch is my biggest gaming mistake. Mario Kart is fun but I don't play it enough to justify having this machine sitting here. I enjoyed odyssey, and I'm about halfway through Luigis mansion... breath of the wild was a nice time waster while is lasted but the lack of dungeons hurt it for me. High time to sell my switch.
xbox one x. got it at launch trading in some now valuable 3ds games. pos hdmi died in me despite being used less than 12 hours over 2 years.
The Vita. I bought it, immediately came to hate aspects of the hardware and OS, and ultimately played it so little that I genuinely forgot I even owned one at times. The Wii U was a far better investment by comparison. Yeah, that console bombed, but at least I actually had games I had fun playing on it regularly.
Probably PS3. I picked up a PS3 Slim around the same time the PS4 came out, played very few games on it, and most of the games I did play on it ended up being ported to PS4 in some way so it just ended up being a redundant purchase anyway.
Vita for me. Cool piece of hardware and a great library, but I just never played it. Ended up with a Vita TV too in the hopes that I'd get more use out of it. Only turned it on once.
The original Xbox One is close behind. Played most multiplatform games on the PS4 and the handful of exclusives only did so much for me. Enjoyed my time with it but definitely didn't get $500 of value out of it. Ironically, the launch of the One X + BC and Gamepass turned the Xbox ecosystem into one of my biggest gaming time sinks. Didn't hesitate to pick up a Series X at launch.
The original Xbox One is close behind. Played most multiplatform games on the PS4 and the handful of exclusives only did so much for me. Enjoyed my time with it but definitely didn't get $500 of value out of it. Ironically, the launch of the One X + BC and Gamepass turned the Xbox ecosystem into one of my biggest gaming time sinks. Didn't hesitate to pick up a Series X at launch.
Yeah, I thought about this same point after posting as I'm not dunking on Vectrex itself as much as lamenting that I gave up an Intellivision with a way bigger library in the trade.
Vectrex would indeed make a great secondary console, but it just didn't have the chops to substitute as a primary one.
Ps4 pro. got it for god of war, completed and a few other games. ps4 collected dust but then i realize i didn't need a ps4 any longer cause there was nothing on that console i wanted, since i had a PC that played these third party games way better.
Near-launch Xbox One. I barely ever used it, until backwards compatibility was a thing, it was mostly used as a Netflix machine. Later I upgraded it to a One X which I now use all the time and will get a series X eventually.
3DS at launch and PS Vita, also at launch lol. Just couldn't get into strictly handheld games.
Atlus, release P4G on PS5 you cowards.
Xbox One S - didn't like one thing about the console. Only had it for a couple of weeks and then luckily got rid of it for good.
PlayStation 4 - not nearly as bad as One S, but I prefer basically every other platform I ever did use and own over the PS4, with the obvious exception of the One S. Heck, the Vita is the better platform in my book, and I even enjoyed my time with the WiiU more than that with the PS4. Overall just a veeery boring console with many boring games, especially on the first party side of things.
PlayStation 4 - not nearly as bad as One S, but I prefer basically every other platform I ever did use and own over the PS4, with the obvious exception of the One S. Heck, the Vita is the better platform in my book, and I even enjoyed my time with the WiiU more than that with the PS4. Overall just a veeery boring console with many boring games, especially on the first party side of things.
Original Xbox One - So few exclusives, ran third party games worse. I should have waited for the XB1X or Series X.
New 3DS XL - I've barely used it.
PS Vita - support for it died so quickly.
Kinda sorta - the Switch. It's basically and a Mario and Zelda machine with a bunch of older third party ports I've already played on other consoles.
New 3DS XL - I've barely used it.
PS Vita - support for it died so quickly.
Kinda sorta - the Switch. It's basically and a Mario and Zelda machine with a bunch of older third party ports I've already played on other consoles.
WiiU. Bough it because of Xenoblade X... And I despised that game.
Still had a great moment with Mario 3D world and Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze though.
Still had a great moment with Mario 3D world and Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze though.
I don't know if i regret it or not, but Xbox One. I bought it for Halo 5 and then played the few exclusives that interested me and was done with it.
Another console I wouldn't say I regret but I wasn't a huge fan of was PS4. Games were great but it felt a step backwards compared to PS3 for me 1st party wise. It was just always missing something for me
The 3ds might be it for me. The DS is my favorite console of all time as of yet (the Switch might surpass it within time), yet I haven't really used the 3ds as much. Beat A Link Between Worlds and 3D Land and nothing else. Maybe I should dive into its library a bit more...
The DS felt like such an amazing experimental console with lots of weird gimmicky amazing games that I enjoyed yet the 3DS didn't feel as experimental not as good.
The DS felt like such an amazing experimental console with lots of weird gimmicky amazing games that I enjoyed yet the 3DS didn't feel as experimental not as good.
The PS4 pro wasn't worth it in hindsight. I still don't have a 4K tv and the thing sounds like a fucking jet engine.
Right now I am still torn on wether jumping through hoops and all the stress was worth it to get the PS5 on day one. I still haven't been able to play a game exclusively made for PS5 on it (Demon's Souls and Destruction Allstars are not my types of games and Astrobot is a fun little demo, but imo doesn't really count), so I wasn't able to witness its true power yet. More importantly, several PS4 games that I wanted to play on it and that are even patched for it, like Genshin Impact and Mortal Kombat 11, don't feature supersampling on 1080p displays anymore. I'm on PS5 stuck with games looking worse than on my PS4 Pro.That's a big step back by Sony that I frankly find unacceptable. Why can Microsoft always get that right and they just cannot?
The only time I ever regretted buying a piece of hardware was when I bought the Turbo Grafx 16. The console was fine but when I saw the Genesis and SNES I immediately regretted it. I did get a SNES next and later on a Genesis for next to nothing at the end of the generation, but at the time it was a mistake.
Otherwise I have never regretted buying a console. They are just boxes you buy for the games. If the games are good I am always satisfied.
Otherwise I have never regretted buying a console. They are just boxes you buy for the games. If the games are good I am always satisfied.
Probably the Xbox. Bought it the summer before the Xbox 360 launch, though it might've been good that I didn't have the money for that anyway. Project Gotham Racing 2 was great and ruined the Xbox 360's soundtrack feature for me since no game on that system came close to the greatness of PGR2's soundtrack radio.
3DS for me. I think I have a grand total of 3 games for it. Pokemon Omega Ruby, Pokemon Moon and Monster Hunter 4G.
I don't actually regret buying it but I definitely heavily dislike using it so I only used it for games I really wanted to play which came down to those 3. Didn't even like Pokemon Moon, like at all.
MonHun's sick though I had a lot of hours powering through that shitty second analog nub (I have the limited N3DS MonHun edition).
I don't actually regret buying it but I definitely heavily dislike using it so I only used it for games I really wanted to play which came down to those 3. Didn't even like Pokemon Moon, like at all.
MonHun's sick though I had a lot of hours powering through that shitty second analog nub (I have the limited N3DS MonHun edition).
Honestly the XBOX 360 S, I bought it thinking I might get back into the XBOX ecosystem with a more quieter console but at this point I was pretty much already cemented on PC + Nintendo and Sony for the JRPGs and exclusives. I sold it for cheap to a friend not long after.
the retroid pocket. I was super hype for it and wanted to use it as a cheap retro handheld that I can carry with me on trips and not too worry about losing. However, the UI is super slow, setting up stuff is a lot more of a hassle than I thought. I spent hours on retroarch and can't even get snes or genesis to play properly with correct audio. It's been collecting dust after my first week with it.
3DS. Hands down the worst handheld I've ever owned. At least with the PS Vita, I got more use out of it unlike the 3DS with those awful screens.
