Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Top 5 More Reasons Why I Prefer an Sega Dreamcast over Nintendo Game Cube

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, today I am making an direct follow up to my most recent blog entry. Where I explain in full detail why I prefer an Sega Dreamcast over Nintendo Game Cube. Guess what I am back with five more reasons. I know if Nintendo fans seen both these blog entries they might be piss. I am not doing this to put salt on an wound or trolling in general. I really just want to get my opinion out there.

5. Better size to collect games overall

Don't get me wrong both in their respective cases can easily fill up shelves. But Game Cube discs are very small compared to most disc game consoles. Thus you are more likely to lose them by accident or break them. Yes Dreamcast discs are similar to most of those consoles. Honestly I prefer my discs for video game consoles this size for such reasons. Plus I could fill shelves two to four rows depending on the shelf unit with Dreamcast cases much easier.

4. Dreamcast has some of the absolute best soundtracks in video game history
Yes Game Cube has more power than PlayStation 2 in terms of graphics. Which was several times than that of Dreamcast. But Game Cube does use small discs that may do an great job with audio in general. Yet Dreamcast has very good in most style of games. Some of these songs are still being listen to today. I am not kidding Dreamcast had some of the best soundtracks ever created on any game console. In fact most genres of games including those not presented on Game Cube really stand out.

3. Light Gun games

As stated before Dreamcast was the first to truly nail the arcade experience at home. I wasn't kidding because Dreamcast also nailed rail shooters like The House of the Dead 2 very well. Of course if you want to play it how you're suppose to then by all means go find that light gun. Also Game Cube lacks rail shooter games altogether. Based on what I seen from other people's videos. Playing with this light gun is actually better than the gun you get in the arcade machine.

2. Cooler disc designs

Yes both does have an few games being multiple discs. But Dreamcast really has some unique disc designs. Usually I don't pay attention to stuff like that even on PlayStation. Honestly a lot of those I did own on Dreamcast were very good for their time. Sorry to hit Game Cube down once again for it's disc size. I'm sure many of you have artistic tastes out there. I'm positive you want more of what you can see more of rather than less. Now that would be like me ripping someone off with an fake game to rob their room of great games. You simply don't do it although I did have some nice looking Game Cube discs. This is very obvious comparing their multiple discs games. Just look at those Shenmue discs above in how all of them stand out more than half the Resident Evil games on GC. More directly about the newer Resident Evil games that has two discs.

1. Better third party controllers

You can get an Sammy de Amigo Maracas Controller to play Sammy de Amigo better. You can get an fishing controller that works very well. Hell for an select few you can own an Dreamcast Keyboard. Which is very similar to an computer keyboard. Obviously both have a lot of third party controllers. Both do have fighting game controllers. Mostly because Dreamcast has some style games Game Cube surprisingly lacks. Some of these controllers may be more expansive now. I seen a couple of videos recommending a lot of them. Dreamcast really was ahead of it's time in just about everything.

I hope you like my follow up as I really enjoy my Dreamcast. I remember first seeing Sonic Adventure at my cousin's house being blown away by it. I knew right there I wanted an Sega Dreamcast & I'm glad I got it. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Top 5 Reasons Why I Prefer an Sega Dreamcast over Nintendo Game Cube

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I still haven't talked much about one of my absolute favorite game consoles. Sega Dreamcast is such an amazing game console for it's time. Even now people are constantly getting more games.

I know most prefer Sony PlayStation 2 over all it's competitors. Most Nintendo fans support Game Cube more. Most Sega fans support Dreamcast more. But this is my opinion on why I prefer Sega Dreamcast over Nintendo Game Cube. I was able to cut most of my reasons down to five simple ones.

5. Import/Homebrew games

Import is always filled with amazing games never released in the United States. Dreamcast is in the top 5 game consoles to have people constantly making homebrew games. Basically they are making both original & unlicensed ports. Yes they do work just like all the games released in it's run. Dreamcast has a lot of great games that never came here. Maybe not as many as Sega Saturn but still worth mentioning. Officially Dreamcast is one of the easily consoles to port games on. More recently Bleemcast an new group making games for Dreamcast ported PlayStation classic Metal Gear Solid. One of the greatest games of all time in it's full glory playing perfectly on Dreamcast.

4. More innovate controller design

Although I did stated in another blog how much I liked Game Cube's controller. I will be honest to say I really love playing an Dreamcast controller. Not only it fits in your hands more but easier to memorize all the buttons. Some don't like how Dreamcast controllers are wired but it does help them stand out. Yet the biggest reason of all has to be every VMU. Believe it not doesn't just save your games. This thing is it's own handheld console which Sega never made that clear during it's run. A lot of Dreamcast classics secretly had similar companion games you can play.

3. Better Console design

Both Game Cube & Dreamcast has four control slots. Game Cube actually looks like an cube with an handle on the back. To me Game Cube's design is kinda strange for an console. There exist several variations of colors for Dreamcast does come in. Even if I didn't include those, it's regular white design still stands out. Honestly Dreamcast had an unique futuristic design. Also I prefer Dreamcast logo over that of Game Cube's. I really prefer the start up screen for Dreamcast. I will be honest to say I do like Game Cube's. Dreamcast is one of the few to have an perfect start up screen for any console.

2. Online service

It's true an handful of consoles had an online service. Dreamcast was the first to get the process right. All you need was an cable, money & games that supported online. Game Cube barely has any in this category to consider. Dreamcast did this so well that most newer consoles started doing it too. In fact Dreamcast was the first console to do what eventually became known as dlcs. What's crazier is some fans got old shut down servers back up & running.

1. Gems

Dreamcast was the first console to truly nail arcade experience that everyone wanted at home. This makes majority of arcade ports on Dreamcast some of the finest you'll ever play. An great example of this is SoulCalibur often considered superior than the arcade game. Some ports of games presented on other game consoles are considered best on Dreamcast. There's a lot of hidden gems worth mentioning on Dreamcast. I recommend Shenmue for an original unique take on story telling & game play mechanics. Honestly there's games that you won't see on other consoles like Seaman. Dreamcast has an very interesting collection of games for it's time.

I hope everyone enjoys my blog, I will try to do more of these. I am an huge Dreamcast fan since late child hood. Even now still is one of the greatest game consoles to date. Please take some time considering my opinion on this. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Jack Red presents PlayStation 3 vs. Wii vs. Xbox 360

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I officially owned an PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. Possibly the most heated console wars to date. All three has great advantages over each other making this difficult. All of them made a lot more money than most consoles to date. Even today some are still talking about which console is the best of the last generation of video games.

Round 1: Controllers

All three consoles has great controllers. In Wii's case it easily wins in third party controllers. But I'm here to judge their regular controllers. Yes Wii has motion controls that helps feel like you're there. An great number of games doesn't put that to use. Usually I side with PlayStation controllers in this particular category. But I'm making an exception due to the fact those controllers felt too loose in my hands. Especially the back L & R buttons that's suppose to help during FPS games. You need third party to get longer wires & rechargeable batteries. I am an huge fan of Xbox 360 controllers for many reasons. Like PS1 & PS2 controllers, it feels just right in my hands. All the buttons & thumb sticks are in likely spots near my fingers. Not only that an Xbox 360 controller feels tougher made with better trigger buttons. For the record you can play an Game Cube controller on Wii.

Winner: Xbox 360


Round 2: Console

All three consoles has several versions. Not much changed on some later Wii models except you can't play Game Cube games. PlayStation 3 has three variations that doesn't affect much in general. Xbox 360 also has three variation that doesn't affect much either. Except the latest Xbox 360 model can hold more in it's hard drive than Super Slim PS3 model. Earlier Xbox 360 models has their hard drives on top that can be removed easily. Later models are more like it's competitors where all data is saved on the console itself. Obviously all of them have their social service, stores, apps and more. PS3's advantage of playing most online gamers without being an paid member. Both Wii & PS3 through an accessory can play rail shooter similar to those in the arcade. Yet in the end Xbox 360 really held it's ground against it's competition.

Winner: Xbox 360


Round 3: Graphics

Even with the best looking games on Wii. Nintendo knew they can't win against Sony & Microsoft in this area. Both Wii's competitors really brought it with some games looking very realistic. Some are often considered master pieces of art. Although it's debatable which is more powerful out of PS3 & Xbox 360. These two consoles really pushed the envelope for mind blowing graphics for their time. Very close just between these two but in some huge games like GTA series. I noticed Xbox 360 has higher screen ratio overall that yes it does affect graphics. An slight edge in my opinion I'm got to give this to Xbox 360.

Winner: Xbox 360


Round 4: Games

Easily the hardest category because all three consoles really went all out. Owning all three of them will set anyone for life. Honestly folks there's plenty of good games between all three to go around an ridiculous number of times. Wii has more family friendly games compared to it's competitors. PS3 seems to have more exclusive titles. Xbox 360 does have indie games although that requires both online & being an gold member. Both Xbox 360 & PS3 can play DVDs. Xbox 360 needs an extra hard to get piece to play HD DVDs. PS3 can play BluRays while Wii can only play DVDs from Netflix. Most services is shared between all three of them. Wii can play Game Cube requiring nothing at all to work. PS3 can play PS1 games not requiring anything. At one point PS3 used to play PS2 games but caused major issues. Eventually Sony decided to remove it altogether. Xbox 360 can play Xbox games but that requires being online. Again everyone has their reasons for liking one of these three more than the others. Personally Xbox 360 collection stands out for having an great variety of games.

Winner: Xbox 360


I hope you enjoyed my take on which video game console I think is better. Everyone has different opinions on which they like. I am only looking at it with respect with no bias as much as possible. This was very difficult compared to PS2 vs. Game Cube vs, Xbox debate. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Jack Red presents Cartoon Network Cartoons vs. Nickelodeon Nick Toons

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, today it's time to go back to the past. I remember back when cartoons used to be great for their time. I used to watch several shows on Cartoon Network & Nickelodeon all the time. I still can name a lot of great shows that in some ways had an great impact on me.

Everyone on the internet talks about it all the time. Now I thought covering an few console wars was hard. No nothing can get you ready for something this hard. Considering how crazy some of these shows get that's to be expected.

I won't be comparing every cartoon on both channels because I haven't seen most of the newer ones. Plus it simply would take way too long to compare all of them in one or several blog entries. So I decided to choose my six favorites from both sides to directly compare them together. In order to determine which cartoons I actually like more overall.

I do have an few guide lines to help with my take on which is better out of these two as followed below...

1. I'm covering from early 90s to early 2000s shows
2. I must have seen a couple of episodes to consider it
3. Must be well received shows
4. Obviously has to be an cartoon
5. Other cartoons not originally on either channels like Looney Tunes won't count
6. If shows are still on TV making newer episodes won't count like Spongebob Squarepants

Cartoon Network Cartoons


1. Dexter's Laboratory

2. The Powerpuff Girls (original)

3. Ed, Edd n Eddy

4. Courage the Cowardly Dog

5. Samurai Jack

6. Cow & Chicken



Nickelodeon Nick Toons


1. Rugrats

2. The Ren & Stimpy Show

3. Rocko's Modern Life

4. Aaahh!!! Real Monsters

5. The Angry Beavers

6. CatDog

Round 1: Cow & Chicken vs. The Ren & Stimpy Show
These two cartoons are very similar in many ways. Both involve two unlikely animals living together involved in all kind of situations. A lot of their show's logic is considered crazy to making no sense at all. Both has their ups & lows but only one can take the win to their channel.

Winner: The Ren & Stimpy Show

Overall Ren & Stimpy has better written episodes. Both Ren & Stimpy are more entertaining, interesting & unpredictable. These two really know how to give an great time when it counts. To be fair Boneless Chicken was the best character from Cow & Chicken that rivals both of them. They went the extra mile in some of their stories.

Round 2: Samurai Jack vs. Rugrats
Yes this stands out like an sore thumb for having little to nothing in common. I mostly chosen these two shows together because how their stories pulls you in. Rugrats involves an bunch of babies with a lot of kid stories. Samurai Jack actually comes more off like many action animes. Yet both tells their stories in an interesting way. In an way both shows are the creators reliving fantasies many people have.

Winner: Samurai Jack

There is just something about everything in Samurai Jack. His past was intense as he grew up kept getting trained in many fighting styles. The hell Aku puts Jack in is easily beyond words. Yet somehow on several occasions Jack almost stopped Aku. Yes Rugrats does have imagination like most kids can relate to. But Samurai Jack is something that stands out in most people's minds. This even aired in Japan for an short time. A lot of great characters with very interesting stories & situations. Honestly Samurai Jack still is one of my favorite cartoons of all time.

Round 3: Ed, Edd n Eddy vs. CatDog
These two shows are very similar in many ways. Ed, Edd n Eddy involves three boys trying to rip off kids to get jawbreakers. Usually using dirty tricks & horrible schemes. CatDog is about an creature half cat & half dog living together. These two act like brothers similar to another Nick Toon classic. Cat is very similar to Eddy as both are greedy & selfish. Edd, Ed & Dog are not too bright but kind that gets along with people. All kind of situations with an interesting story telling.

Winner: CatDog

CatDog stands mostly great in it's entire run. The same can't be said for Ed, Edd n Eddy. As soon as they made newer episodes in school with that movie. All of it went down hill from there. Also having an cat & dog living together is more interesting. In real life most dogs & cats don't like each other. Now throw in they're connected together you got comedy gold.

Round 4: Courage the Cowardly Dog vs. Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
This is obviously Courage was like the next gen Scooby-Doo. Most stories involves an elderly couple is in danger from all kind of things. Their pet dog usually finds an way to keep them safe. Aaahh!!! Real Monsters deals more about student monsters that have trouble fitting in their world. They lack a lot of knowledge about the human world that makes watching them more interesting. Yet the common theme of both shows is people get scared all the time. In fact watching both of them on Halloween is doing the holiday justice.

Winner: Courage the Cowardly Dog

Not an easy decision because both shows has different way of telling their stories. A lot of creative & some of which could actually scare children back in the day. End of the day I must give this to Courage the Cowardly Dog. Don't get me wrong both had original concepts for scary cartoons. What gives the edge to Courage is we have an little dog solving all kind of situations. Sometimes he does it on his own. Some of these episodes are weird for their time. Despite the last season being the weakest, it didn't hold majority of episodes down.

Round 5: The Powerpuff Girls vs. The Angry Beavers
Another strange choice but there are some similarities between these two. The Powerpuff Girls involves three super powered little girls created by an scientist. Very quickly they take on all kind of enemies to keep their city safe. The Angry Beavers deals more about brothers living on their own. Both talks about how it's like living with your siblings. Also all kind of stories happens on both shows.

Winner: The Angry Beavers

Yes The Powerpuff Girls is like a lot of super hero shows & movies today. But having two brother beavers living together gets crazy at times. Especially their first episode explains how they ended up in their new home. I usually prefer more in your face, slap stick comedy. Although I will confess some PPG episodes are very well written. The Angry Beavers is more like many real life families. Both shows has all kind of situations. Mostly because the beavers are more unbelievable in some ways & act more like real people.

Round 6: Dexter's Laboratory vs. Rocko's Modern Life
Very different shows I know but these two were great cartoons for their time. Dexter's Laboratory involves an little boy genius hiding his lab from his parents. Dexter created all kind of inventions including an time machine. Rocko's Modern Life deals more about how the real life is like. Which by itself is unusual for an cartoon to go into that direction. Like other Nick Toons has all kind of stories including an Ghostbusters parody episode. Both shows are really creative with some of the best written characters.

Winner: Rocko's Modern Life

Very difficult decision because I grew up really loving both these shows. Like most classic Nick Toons, Rocko's Modern Life stayed great in it's entire run. Again the same can't be said for Dexter's Laboratory. They decided to make big changes to the show directly affecting stuff I liked about it. Honestly it's difficult to explain but I prefer every episode before that change. Basically both have great stories, very well written characters and some of the craziest situations. Rocko's Modern Life as stated before is very different from most cartoons from it's time. It plays more on being serious with some clever jokes kinda like Beavis & Butt-Head & King of the Hill. Now Dexter's Lab can be funny to an degree but Rocko's show is much funnier. It's amazing an cartoon like this had such an huge impact on me as well as other people. Rocko's Modern Life is an cartoon that changed cartoons forever. They got some surprisingly dirty jokes that I'm amazed didn't canceled the show over. Regardless I do recommend both these classic cartoons. Obviously I do prefer Rocko's Modern Life as I felt more people could relate to it & understand it's clever humor more.


4-2 Nickelodeon Nick Toons takes home the victory. Each cartoons they put out during those years had an huge impact. Even rewatching them now compared to some of Cartoon Network Cartoons. For the most part they stand the test of time better with very creative writing & interesting characters. Honestly Cartoon Network Cartoons isn't bad but Nick Toons are legendary among cartoon fans.

I hope this brought a lot of fond memories as it did for me. For me watching all these cartoons in those few years was one of the greatest things to ever happen to me. Words can't truly describe how much both means to so many people out there. Easily this could go either way even if you were new to all these amazing cartoons. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Why Sixth Generation of Handheld Video Game Console Wars Boring?

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, mostly console wars gets very heated. Usually this includes their portable competition as well. But as it turns out most of Game Boy Advance's competitors didn't even make an million dollars. Only Nokia's N-Gage got a few million dollars in it's short run. I officially haven't owned any of it's competition. I did own two different models of Game Boy Advance that I put several hours in.

Before I go on I'm not an Nintendo fanboy but I did like some of their consoles. You know me I would rather be talking about Sega consoles. I did look a lot into N-Gage to see why it stands as GBA's biggest competition. I actually got a lot to cover in this & I'm not related to Video Game Historian. Without further delays let's get on with it.

Nokia is widely known for making cell phones. They decided out of the clear blue to make their then new cell phone N-Gage. Which also lets you to play video games on small cartridges. However there exist two different models of N-Gage with one major difference. Originally you had to remove the back of it to put in your cartridges. This affects battery life as well as pissing people off that wanted to play it. An major issue fixed in N-Gage QD model.

Another major issue not fixed at all is the controls. Back then the idea of playing games on your cell phones was new. Thus they didn't try to fix what they could simply by waiting a bit longer. Now most newer cell phones & tablets can easily play games. Plus having the pause button in the direct path of your fingers doesn't help much.

Also keep in mind this is an cell phone first, an handheld console second. To play it, you must get your service up on it before anything else. Otherwise you won't be doing much with it. Like many cell phones N-Gage did have a lot of features even Game Boy Advance didn't have. Now PS Vita & 3DS are using those features & more. N-Gage was the original handheld console that started it all folks.

What people really didn't like is how to hold it while making calls. Often stated by many to look stupid as you're holding an taco shaped cell phone to your left or right side of your face. Unfortunately you can't talk directly looking at it during your calls. Another issue not fixed that cost them big in this console wars.

Of course I got to talk about the games with a few surprising facts. Usually successful handheld game consoles has hundreds of games. There is no average for failed handheld game consoles. N-Gage got close to sixty games with only two released outside the United States. Which is rare among most consoles in general.

N-Gage had some impressive graphics for it's time. Before Sony PSP, Nokia N-Gage had the best graphics. Although as I stated in an recent blog, having more power doesn't usually mean is better. In fact N-Gage requires of  power to run the games that cut it's battery life down a lot. What's sadder is not only GBA has an much better battery life in all models. This includes with or without using light that was originally an accessories for original GBA models. Which does reduce your battery life by roughly half but that's still more than playing N-Gage two times on full charge.

GBA also has two additional game libraries at it's disposal requiring nothing to work. Game Boy & Game Boy Color games added support alone guarantees GBA to win. All three of them easily won all their handheld console wars. Hell there's really impressive games on GBA that's worth noting. N-Gage got more support from it's company than most of it's other competitors.

Regardless N-Gage is now an interesting piece of history. Most gamers either ignored or simply doesn't know of it. It's difficult to believe an cell phone was GBA's biggest competition. But Nokia really did try to compete against Nintendo getting an interesting library of games. Surprisingly it wasn't crushed as bad as those competing Game Boy & Game Boy Color. A lot of it's features later got reused by Sony & Nintendo over the years.

To sum all up N-Gage was an flawed handheld game console. However it did inspired several companies to go into an similar direction. One of the few sections among all video game console wars to be this one sided. No body is debating this ever since support stopped on both GBA & N-Gage. Barely anything major happened between the two companies making it just boring altogether to talk about it.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Top 5 Reasons Why I Want to Own an Sega Saturn

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I remember briefly as an kid I really wanted to own an Sega Saturn. Sadly I never got to officially own one but I have played games ported from it on other consoles.

1. Nights into Dreams
2. Guardian Heroes

Everyone knows late 90s PlayStation and Nintendo 64 were going at it. Which I also did an recent blog related to that. Not many people got Sega Saturn for many reasons at the time. Especially this was the successor to Sega Genesis the same console rivaling Nintendo's SNES. I really wanted to do my personal Top 5 Reasons Why I Want to Own an Sega Saturn. There are a lot of pros & cons owning one of these. Many still consider it an gem console for many reasons.

5. Exclusive Features

This era had some mind blowing exclusive features for several games. An great example of this was Resident Evil on Sega Saturn. They added an new costume for both Chris & Jill with two ways to get them. Also included is an mini game called Battle Mode. An new variation of Hunters called Ticks, an Wesker zombie & gold Tyrant-002 were added. Some games got amazing exclusive features making those worth playing. Some games like Mega Man 8 on Saturn are considered one of the best of it's franchise.

4. Gems

Sega Saturn is loaded with gems for many genres mostly RPGs, shoot em ups, fighting & rail shooters. an Saturn exclusive called Enemy Zero may be mixed experience. I still couldn't help noticing it does an great job keeping you on the edge. Saturn does have a lot of good games often underrated & over looked due to it's competitors. Guardian Heroes allows six people playing it at once. More recently in it's Xbox 360 port double that now being twelve people can play it. Saturn has one of the best video game collections in history.

3. Imports

Not many consoles are known for it's imports. Sega Saturn didn't get an good number of games in the United States. More recently video game collectors are paying good money to get Japanese games. An great number of these are not only some of the absolute best Saturn has to offer. Some are considered as some of the greatest video games of all time. Yes doing this with & without translations can be expansive. But Saturn will make sure it's all well worth every penny.

2. Close to Arcade Quality

Sega made Saturn's hardware very similar to those of arcade machines. In fact several parts of it originally were from them. Saturn is capable of doing something that most thought was impossible at the time. Which was an game console fully bringing arcade games into your homes. Before Saturn, most consoles had to make several changes to have it playable on their respective platforms. Sega decided to go the distance for an true arcade to home console experience. Most fighting games are near arcade perfect in every sense of the world. Even Sega nailed rail shooters better than most companies at the time.

1. Successor to Sega Genesis

I am an huge fan of Sega Genesis since my child hood. I became an gamer I am today because of my passion for that console. Of course I wanted to play it's successor as much as many Sega fans wanted to. Although it didn't do as close as well as Sega Genesis & Dreamcast. I always respected what Saturn brings to the table. An truly unique console that's often over looked by many people. Saturn has surprisingly a lot of potential for an video game console. Sega Saturn was the third best console during it's era which isn't bad to say the least.

I hope you guys enjoy why I really would love to have an Sega Saturn. It sucks I finally briefly played it at Otakon several years ago. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Top 5 Reasons Why I Want to Own an Sega Master System

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, ever since my child hood I always been an Sega fan at heart. I only owned three consoles from them in my entire life. Although I have an very strong connection to both Genesis & Dreamcast. I still want to play an Sega Master System. I grew up with it's competitor Nintendo Entertainment System aka NES. Officially I played an handful of games from it on my Xbox 360.

Today I want to throw out my Top 5 Reasons Why I Want to Own an Sega Master System. Of course a lot of Sega fans still haven't played much from this console. The closest most people played to it is Sega Game Gear which I also did own. Sega's 8bit console is still by today's standards one of the most underrated consoles as well as one of the over looked. Simply because I'm an passionate Sega fan I'm doing this.

5. Despite an late entry in the video game market, SMS held it's own against NES
Shortly after the release of Super Mario Brothers on NES. Nintendo was starting to get use to making consoles. Before that they made an couple of famous arcade games such as Donkey Kong. After the lawsuit with Universal Studios, Nintendo took serious charge. In fact they had an strong holding on third party companies to not allow most of them to release games on other consoles. By the time Sega made their move by bringing Sega Master System to the market. Over ninety period of the market Nintendo got in such an short amount of time. Most third party companies wouldn't put their games on Sega's console. Although it's true Sega at first didn't allow third party games on their console. Eventually they did with some games actually better than those on NES. I'll name two famous examples of this for the sake of argument.

1. Ghostbusters
2. Rampage

SMS may not made an notable difference in both Japan & the United States. However it did in Europe & Brazil. In fact an world record for the longest video game run in the world is currently held by SMS in Brazil for over thirty years.

4. Sega kept the spirit of the games alive through Sega Genesis & Game Gear
Unlike NES, Sega made two similar accessories for Genesis & Game Gear. Which allows the consumers to play SMS games on both consoles. An great alternate way to get the experience of playing an SMS. Back then these were a little pricey but now they're dirt cheap with some newer companies variations. There are an handful of games on both Xbox 360 & PS3. Just two amazing SMS games are in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. Also Game Gear has similar designs to those of SMS. It's widely stated that companies easily can port games from SMS to Game Gear because of it. AtGames also made an handheld console playing fifteen SMS & Game Gear for an total of thirty games.

3. One of the select few game consoles to play cards
Back in the day some companies tried everything to make video games. SMS plays both cartridge & card versions of several games. If I heard correctly card versions pack more direct power but it plays better in cartridge versions. Not many companies made card versions of SMS. Which is why back then they're expansive. Now you could get some for dirt cheap. Regardless for that feature not present in model 2 SMS console. Interesting enough in model 1 SMS there's a card slot for those games. Honestly is worth checking out for any newer fan.

2. SMS has an big reputation for some of the absolute worst video game covers

Some third parties like Midway excluded, majority of SMS games has very bad video game covers. Regularly both before & after SMS, most video game covers are great. Let me explain they're mostly white grid with horrible pictures. Yet some gamers are still referencing those covers. Sega took an huge chance by doing this. For both nostalgia & seeing how bad a lot of them are. I wouldn't mind collecting SMS games. In an weird way it helped got their games noticed & people knew which console it was. Plus if someone is feeling down & you need to get them to laugh these should help.

1. If NES & SMS was never made, some amazing possibilities would never happen
Just imagine NES & SMS never existed. We wouldn't get an very exciting video game debate between Genesis & SNES. Which many are still talking about today. We also wouldn't get consoles close to rail shooter arcade games or more realistic driving games. The entire video game industry would be no more. NES vs. SMS was the beginning of many things in the gaming world. Both consoles completely changed gaming to the way it is now. Although some company lawsuits indirectly played in Sega's favor to help even things out. Near the end of it's run SMS really went out with some great games. Both consoles really pushed the envelope how gaming should be instead of how back then it was going. Although majority of the world prefers NES. I think many would agree SMS wasn't just an great competitor. It also one of Sega's best consoles as well as one in the between consoles. Many didn't know it existed due to playing on Genesis, SNES and some of it's competitors. Others seen SMS as an terrible console for it's time or simply preferring NES in general. SMS made some weird decisions with the weirdest two being bad video game covers & pause button. Unlike most consoles, SMS pause button is actually located on the console itself that got mixed feedback. Regardless SMS made sure to stand out in many ways. A lot of people more recently preferring SMS controllers over those of NES. The impact of Sega vs. Nintendo before the big showdown forever changed the world.

I hope you guys enjoy my blog, I really would love to own an Sega Master System myself. Hell I would love to actually play one some day. Until then I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.

Jack Red presents PSP vs. DS

Hi everyone I'm Jack Red, I will be honest to say I didn't care for handheld consoles growing up. But I still respect Sega Game Gear, Game Boy Color & Game Boy Advance a lot. However I'm here to talk about the most exciting handheld showdown in video game history. I'm talking Sony PlayStation Portable aka PSP vs. Nintendo DS which was the better handheld console? I did play more of PSP as I still own one but I have played an few times on DS.

Considering I'm comparing handheld consoles I'm adding two new categories. First will be battery life that usually an selling point. The other will be backward compatibility for an great reason. To clarify I usually put this in game play category. After looking deeper into both console's backward compatibility I have to make it an separate category. Trust me you will thank me later by doing this.

Round 1: Controls

PSP's controls are similar button layout to most PlayStation controls. DS's controls are more similar to those of an SNES. I did noticed several differences between the two handheld consoles. Similar to Sega Game Gear, PSP not only has an bigger, wider screen. It also has a similar design with everything considered. Both are wider requiring more of both your hands to hold as well as play it. Yet some buttons are farther away than most Sony consoles. Thankfully it's still likely where you will press them. DS has two screens which is unusual for any game console to have. Along with the buttons which are much closer together is an pen. Some games requires you to use it making more innovation. What's even crazier is some games like Contra 4 has game play for both upper & lower parts of the levels on each screen. Some games has one screen being stats, inventory or maps. This is very close & usually I side with Sony consoles on controls. This is one exception because DS has all buttons close together, both screens serve an purpose & creative controls. I still don't like where DS has it's power button in comparison to PSP but that wasn't enough to change my mind.

Winner: DS


Round 2: Handheld Console

I already talked a little on how the screens worked on DS. This is an similar case to an previous video debate I covered recently. DS plays cartridges while PSP plays Universal Media Disc aka UMD. Some share similar features involving online. You can play online for free but still have to pay for games on the service. Both does have Netflix (requires payment), social service and internet browser. PSP has a lot more power to play impressive 2D to 3D games. Most DS games are done in 2D but there are exceptions. Both are really popular having several accessories over the years. In terms of which handheld console impresses me more. I have to give this to PSP because the level of graphics, sound & animation alone is miles beyond most handheld consoles. Also having saves of the same games on both PS3 & PSP. You can transfer your saves between the two with no problem at all. PSP is widely known for both main & online menus are simply done better. An bonus is some movies are made to be played on PSPs. Thus giving you an alternative if you don't' own an account on Netflix. It's highly recommended not to get Netflix on DS you have be warned.

Winner: PSP


Round 3: Graphics

Even if I took the time to compare the best looking DS games. PSP simply knocks it out of the park. As stated before Sony put a lot of power into PSP. This allowed for amazing looking & sounding for it's time. An perfect example of this would be if I compared Mario Kart DS to any driving game on PSP. An huge difference in presentation that shouldn't be ignored.

Winner: PSP


Round 4: Battery Life

An huge reason I wasn't an fan of them growing up was these used to eat up your batteries up & allows an few hours of game play. Thank god both PSP & DS doesn't require batteries with rechargers. Most DS games doesn't take much power from the console in comparison to PSP it does. Let me explain I already stated twice now how impressive PSP graphics & sounds are. Sadly this comes an cost because majority of it's games requires more energy to play. Thus it reduces the amount of time you can play it. Recharging both of them is simple but PSP takes several hours. What's sad is not even half an hour DS will be ready to play. An easy win for Nintendo DS because more handheld consoles should be like this.

Winner: DS


Round 5: Backward Compatibility

This is an close one to call for many reasons. DS allows Game Boy Advance games to be played on it. PSP allows PlayStation 1 games to be on it. Yet both has it's fair share of pros & cons. On DS side it requires nothing at all to work with GBA games. On PSP side you need an memory stick & an account on PlayStation Network. Oh wait I'm not done yet after getting both of those. You have to download PS1 games directly onto your memory stick. There should be an extra section on your menu of PSP to allow you to play those games. Yes this means I could have more PlayStation games than those of GBA games. But PS1 games are big in size & you can't get more than an handful of games at best. Especially some Final Fantasy games being several discs. Also GBA games are a lot cheaper & easier to find both in person as well as online. DS requires nothing to work GBA games & those games are much easier to collect.

Winner: DS


Round 6: Games

I already covered many aspects of this but there's plenty more to cover more. PSP has an solid collection of games possibly one of the best among handheld consoles. The same can be said for DS, both are amazing for their time. PSP has over eight hundred games to DS having close to two thousand games. Of course I'm not judging which has more games. What I am judging is which game collection would I rather have. Just any good consoles, both have it's good & bad games. Obviously DS is more first party while PSP has more third party support. Which makes this category really hard to pick an winner. Once again anyone has their own opinions which handheld is better. With everything considered DS has an longer battery life & more innovate controls. In vice versa PSP has some serious power with better menus overall & transfers saves both way to PS3. I got to give this to DS for not having an long recharge time & easier to collect GBA games. Some of those games are still amazing to this game. Some games makes both screens worth playing both with & without pen. In other games having pen allows you to do things you can't do in most handhelds. Such as play with dogs or play strange game better or art style. There's so much you can do with those screens, pen and it's controls.

Winner: DS


4-2 Nintendo DS is the better handheld most of it's flaws aren't directly affecting game play. It's a lot easier to collect GBA games than getting PS1 games on PSP. An longer battery life with very short recharge time. Innovate controls with creative usage of both screens. DS may lack the level of power PSP has but DS is still being supported today. You can get more personalize stuff for your DS with great online play. An huge bonus is I can pack DS into an DS case with accessories & games easier. I also can keep an DS in my pockets which PSP is simply too long & smooth. Basically you are more at risk getting stolen or having your PSP broken because of it's design. To sum it up DS really brings it in areas PSP falls short. To be fair I highly recommend people to own both handheld consoles.

Winner: DS


I hope you guys enjoyed that because I might be able to do another classic style. Until next time I'm Jack Red & I'll see all of you later.