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Did you ever back the losing side in a format war?
- Thread starter Kthulhu
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Sad Affleck
Member
I bought a Prescott Pentium 5 instead of an Athlon 64. Big mistake. I also bought a couple of rather problematic AMD graphics cards back in the day and I almost switched to Nvidia just as they were coming up with the FX5xxx series. Thankfully I dodged that bullet.
Oh, does gaming exclusively on PC during the "PC gaming is dying" phase count?
Oh, does gaming exclusively on PC during the "PC gaming is dying" phase count?
Game systems don't really fit into this conversation for me. Unless a console really is utter trash, there's an argument for having each of them, based on a consumer's tastes. Unlike a music player or movie-viewing device, where there is a one-or-two year game of chicken until someone concedes. Also unlike a game console where 4-5 years into a device's lifespan, a publisher puts out an exclusive that everyone who enjoys games should play.
The Chosen One
Member
I had a Zip drive too.
It wasn't writeable CDs or the Internet, it was USB thumb drives that killed off the Zip/Jazz drives before they could really take off.
But Zip drives did have a decent run though. I remember using them from the mid 90s to about the early 2000s. So they were relevant for about 8-10 years. The problem was Zip drives, especially the early versions, weren't quite plug and play. If you had the Zip disks and you wanted to run them on a different computer, you'd have to plug the Zip Drive through the serial port and install all the drivers and files. And it would always require computer restart for the computer to see the Zip Drive even if the drivers were already installed. So Zip drives were good for having essentially Super Floppies to store your own files, but they weren't good if you wanted to easily share the files on another computer.
USB thumb drive and USB external harddrive could easily share files on other computers once most computers started having USB ports. So that pretty much dealt the death blow to the Zip/Jazz drives.
biggersmaller
Banned
I had a Zip drive because the school I attended had them in the computer lab.
I also had a Handspring Visor, which as a PDA was a success - still had a failed cartridge-based expansIon slot:
I also had a Handspring Visor, which as a PDA was a success - still had a failed cartridge-based expansIon slot:
I agree. IMO the 6th generation is probably the best example of this. GNC, Xbox, PS2, and the Dreamcast all had great libraries for the time. Consumers ultimately got a ton of great games, despite Sega's unfortunate exit from the console buissness.
I didn't even know it had a dying phase.
Ray Wonder
Founder of the Wounded Tagless Children
This was worth it for Samurai Showdown alone though
Oppo
Member
i don't think i have backed a total loser format. maybe minidisc? although it was pretty superior until the ipod showed up and i immediately switched to that.
i did own several Amigas. does that count? still bested the Atari ST. until Commodore self-owned and died.
in college i was the "playstation" roommate and my cohabitant was the "N64" guy.
i enjoy how the myth of the Zune grows with each one of these threads.
edit - oh! i have a PSP Go! that probably counts
edit2 - Handspring Visor and Palm V
i did own several Amigas. does that count? still bested the Atari ST. until Commodore self-owned and died.
in college i was the "playstation" roommate and my cohabitant was the "N64" guy.
i enjoy how the myth of the Zune grows with each one of these threads.
edit - oh! i have a PSP Go! that probably counts
edit2 - Handspring Visor and Palm V
Arthr2ShdsJcksn
Banned
Let me echo Zune here, but also add that it still was a better player than the original iPod and the software is superior to iTunes.
outunderthestars
Banned
We had a videodisc player
CaviarMeths
Member
Ironically, the 6th gen ended up being the one with the biggest gap in sales. Dreamcast bombed, Gamecube and Xbox both did poorly, and the PS2 was a colossal runaway success.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
I had a SuperDisk drive for my iMac back in the day, but I only used it for floppy disks. Never actually owned a SuperDisk itself.
Vincent Grayson
Member
I bought the HD DVD add-on for my 360. I wasn't so much "backing" HDDVD as I was interested in HD content, and that was the simplest solution at the time.
I never bought a ton of movies on it, as I mostly got it to watch Planet Earth.
I never bought a ton of movies on it, as I mostly got it to watch Planet Earth.
Sega Saturn is definitely another one for me. I remember getting that out of loyalty to Sega after growing up playing my brother's Genesis. I ended up choosing the Saturn for my birthday instead of the PS1 and regretted it pretty quickly when the games started drying up. Ended up getting a PS1 when THPS released.
Hah, mine didn't, it had anti-skip
. God portable cd players were so fucking cool back in the dayacheron_xl
Member
Never.
I have good instincts when it comes to this stuff.
Unless Vita counts.
I have good instincts when it comes to this stuff.
Unless Vita counts.
D
Deleted member 102362
Unconfirmed Member
I was in a similar situation. I got the HD-DVD player add on for the Xbox 360 so I could watch a high-def version of Blade Runner, even though I didn't actually have an HD TV at that point.
karmaforgotme
Member
HD DVD I swore was going to win just because of the name. I still have a couple of them laying around.
I also purchased 3 Zunes in my life, but I knew that was a a losing battle. The Zune HD plus subscription (which gave you acess to everything and 10 free songs a month) was the best thing going at the time.
I also purchased 3 Zunes in my life, but I knew that was a a losing battle. The Zune HD plus subscription (which gave you acess to everything and 10 free songs a month) was the best thing going at the time.
sixteen-bit
Member
now, but after the format dies sometimes i search for deals
acheron_xl
Member
Because you can't afford to buy every available format?
E-Cat
Banned
Because you believe it to be superior, thus leading to a better future?
s_mirage
Member
I supported HD DVD back in the day, but to be fair, the HD DVD camp was trying the same thing. I doubt Paramount's exclusivity was free, and while I can't seem to find a lot about it, it was heavily rumoured back in the day that there was a backfired attempt at buying Warner's exclusivity before they decided to go Blu.
PHOENIXZERO
Member
Not really, my brother though, before I was born, convinced my mother that Betamax was the way to go though. Though to be fair it was technically superior to VHS.
Auto-Reply
Member
Same, at the time it made more sense to buy minidisc than the costly and small MP3 players (not anymore of course)
Johnny Cage In The Shower
Member
I must say, when it came to buying into and adapting new formats in technology, I was very careful and wise as a youngen.
Never once felt that I spent too much money on an obsolete format or joined the losing side.
Having said that,
1) I was forced to buy a zip disc or two in college. That's the format we saved our projects on, even though we could've easily burned shit on CD/RW if not DVD/RW?? (Guess burning disc would've taken more time) So that Zip disc was a waste at around 45-50 bucks??
2) I won a shitty little Sony camera in a lottery. So I had to buy a memory stick for that. Wasn't that expensive.
3) Also bought one or two SD cards, Due to it being the most common and popular memoery card for cameras throughout early 2000s.
I did have a friend though who was hard core into Xbox. Very loyal Microsoft and Xbox fan, so he did purchase the HD DVD add-on below along with buncha Hddvd movies and he even had a few Zunes and a weird Microsoft "ball" mouse, that didn't catch on.
Never once felt that I spent too much money on an obsolete format or joined the losing side.
Having said that,
1) I was forced to buy a zip disc or two in college. That's the format we saved our projects on, even though we could've easily burned shit on CD/RW if not DVD/RW?? (Guess burning disc would've taken more time) So that Zip disc was a waste at around 45-50 bucks??
2) I won a shitty little Sony camera in a lottery. So I had to buy a memory stick for that. Wasn't that expensive.
3) Also bought one or two SD cards, Due to it being the most common and popular memoery card for cameras throughout early 2000s.
I did have a friend though who was hard core into Xbox. Very loyal Microsoft and Xbox fan, so he did purchase the HD DVD add-on below along with buncha Hddvd movies and he even had a few Zunes and a weird Microsoft "ball" mouse, that didn't catch on.
WTH? I didn't even know this was a thing.
Edit:
That thing is hideous.
Stiflers Mom
Banned
Reading this thread, I think I dodged most of the bigger bullets.
And for the other ones, I guess I just always decided the invest was worth it.
Bought a used Dreamcast for some pennies, for instance, when the platform was already dying.
And with the Vita I was always in the know that I really wanted that kind of games that were released on the platform. So, while the 3DS is probably the incredibly more successful platform, I never regretted buying a Vita. There is simply not much on the 3DS that I want to play.
And for the other ones, I guess I just always decided the invest was worth it.
Bought a used Dreamcast for some pennies, for instance, when the platform was already dying.
And with the Vita I was always in the know that I really wanted that kind of games that were released on the platform. So, while the 3DS is probably the incredibly more successful platform, I never regretted buying a Vita. There is simply not much on the 3DS that I want to play.
SlipperyFishes
Banned
It had DVD in the name
moffattron9000
Member
I don't know if it counts, but I think that I was on the wrong side of the DVD+R/DVD-R "War". That being said, I have no clue who actually won that.
NinjaMouse
Member
I thought for sure these two things would have given it the upper hand against Bluray, honestly. Also, many of the HD-DVD movies were HD/SD hybrids, which had the SD version on the other side of the disc for those with other non-HD players in the house. I couldn't figure out the advantage BD would have over it, but I was clearly wrong in my prediction.
It kinda has become one lol. I see the Zune as a format as much as Burger King is a format. It's just a product that lost against it's competitor.
Aeriscloud
Banned
Bragging about buying a lesser product.
outunderthestars
Banned
The Zune had much, much better sound quality.
Not me, but my father got a Betamax player in the 80s and refused to go VHS for a couple of years. It really sucked when the home video market started growing and video rental places got big. He finally gave in and got one when the Betamax player broke, IIRC.
Peter Ian Staker
Member
Well I have a Vita...
Does having Windows ME on my first PC count?
Not really. Started getting serious about PC gaming around 2007 and it was still pretty good back then and has got better nearly every year since.
Does having Windows ME on my first PC count?
Not really. Started getting serious about PC gaming around 2007 and it was still pretty good back then and has got better nearly every year since.
Wut. Trackballs are common. Or were rather. Not some wierd 'lol MS' thing. Every mouse manufacturer made them.
2007 isn't 'pc is dying' - that's when PC was reviving itself. Early stages but still. The half decade prior to that is the real 'pcs are dying' era.
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