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Computer games have always been something that I like to participate in, something that has become an industry so great that gaming is now the most popular form of entertainment - more money is spent on gaming than on watching films at the cinema, listening to music, and as far as I can see it looks like it's going to stay that way - but gaming is becoming a blend of music and filming - games are becoming like films - films of games have happened, with new technologies guiding the way for new films like Final Fantasy - looks incredible, and some games are purely about music - Ministry of Sound on the PS2 - Music on the PlayStation and so on.
So, in terms of playing games - what options do you have?
Let's start at the highest price - a PC.
To experience the very latest games you'll need an up to date machine, with a decent spec (at least a Pentium 2 350mhz) and of course you will need a 3D graphics card - yep, PC gaming is very expensive, could cost you around £1000 for a computer, but then the games are less than console games, the PC is a multimedia device and can be used for many things, surfing the net, writing this opinion, and of course using the vast range of software for publications, documents and so forth. Some of the best PC games house online features - games like Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, mostly games of the shoot 'em up genre - most popular online games by far.
The PS2 is the most expensive console, and to be fair it now has some very impressive titles available for it - namely GT3, Onimusha, Red Faction, SSX, Star Wars Star Fighter - but then mine didn't work when I bought it, and so I do not own one at the moment. It's a DVD player too, and did have great sound - I won't be getting one because of my experience with them, but at £270, they are quite expensive! Second hand they will be cheaper - probably £250 for a console and a couple of games and pads.
Next is the Dreamcast - at £98.99 with a game or two. End of the line for the Dreamcast, and titles aren't being released as often as they used to be with hardly any games being brought out over here each month. But it's a very good machine, has a modem for internet access and has a good catalogue of some top games - Soul Calibur, MSR, Virtua Tennis, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, F355 Challenge, Shenmue and Tony Hawks 2, and it does offer great graphics and gameplay, good value, but it doesn't have the best future to be honest, but still good value console.
PSone - £79.99, with some very well priced games - incredible backlogue of games with over 800 games available for it. The PSX has had a long life, and still has games being released for it all the time, although with the PS2 being brought out the PlayStation may not have much life left in it. Good price - new compact size, and loads of great games for it. It's looking dated now, but the PS was the 32bit console to own, it fended off the Saturn and the N64. A success for Sony - you could get a PS2 and play your old PSone games on, but the PSone is good value really.
Nintendo's 64 - simply named to show the number of bits, the N64 has effectively died, but still has some great games available for it - you should be able to get an N64 for around £50 new, although games new, especially newly released, cost an incredible amount - some games like Conker's Bad Fur Day had an RRP of £60! You should be able to get it for less though. Good console, with some great Nintendo games like Mario 64, Mario Kart, Goldeneye, but I really wasn't overkeen on the design.
Handhelds! GBA, Game Boy Advance, has just been released (a month ago) and is one of the best pieces of gaming hardware you can get your money on - superb graphics for something so small, so at £80 it represents good value, can play all your old GB and GBC games, but of course you can buy new GBA games for around £30. It's really small and compact, will have you addicted and make your thumbs sore - it's great though. You could get a normall GBC for around £50, but you may as well get the Advance if you're thinking about a handheld console. Great stuff.
So, there's the options - for the consoles that are currently available as new, but look out for the new Game Cube from Nintendo - out in the UK in the Spring, and of course the mighty X Box from Microsoft, out at a similar time.
Pay your money - make a good choice, and have fun.
So, in terms of playing games - what options do you have?
Let's start at the highest price - a PC.
To experience the very latest games you'll need an up to date machine, with a decent spec (at least a Pentium 2 350mhz) and of course you will need a 3D graphics card - yep, PC gaming is very expensive, could cost you around £1000 for a computer, but then the games are less than console games, the PC is a multimedia device and can be used for many things, surfing the net, writing this opinion, and of course using the vast range of software for publications, documents and so forth. Some of the best PC games house online features - games like Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, mostly games of the shoot 'em up genre - most popular online games by far.
The PS2 is the most expensive console, and to be fair it now has some very impressive titles available for it - namely GT3, Onimusha, Red Faction, SSX, Star Wars Star Fighter - but then mine didn't work when I bought it, and so I do not own one at the moment. It's a DVD player too, and did have great sound - I won't be getting one because of my experience with them, but at £270, they are quite expensive! Second hand they will be cheaper - probably £250 for a console and a couple of games and pads.
Next is the Dreamcast - at £98.99 with a game or two. End of the line for the Dreamcast, and titles aren't being released as often as they used to be with hardly any games being brought out over here each month. But it's a very good machine, has a modem for internet access and has a good catalogue of some top games - Soul Calibur, MSR, Virtua Tennis, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, F355 Challenge, Shenmue and Tony Hawks 2, and it does offer great graphics and gameplay, good value, but it doesn't have the best future to be honest, but still good value console.
PSone - £79.99, with some very well priced games - incredible backlogue of games with over 800 games available for it. The PSX has had a long life, and still has games being released for it all the time, although with the PS2 being brought out the PlayStation may not have much life left in it. Good price - new compact size, and loads of great games for it. It's looking dated now, but the PS was the 32bit console to own, it fended off the Saturn and the N64. A success for Sony - you could get a PS2 and play your old PSone games on, but the PSone is good value really.
Nintendo's 64 - simply named to show the number of bits, the N64 has effectively died, but still has some great games available for it - you should be able to get an N64 for around £50 new, although games new, especially newly released, cost an incredible amount - some games like Conker's Bad Fur Day had an RRP of £60! You should be able to get it for less though. Good console, with some great Nintendo games like Mario 64, Mario Kart, Goldeneye, but I really wasn't overkeen on the design.
Handhelds! GBA, Game Boy Advance, has just been released (a month ago) and is one of the best pieces of gaming hardware you can get your money on - superb graphics for something so small, so at £80 it represents good value, can play all your old GB and GBC games, but of course you can buy new GBA games for around £30. It's really small and compact, will have you addicted and make your thumbs sore - it's great though. You could get a normall GBC for around £50, but you may as well get the Advance if you're thinking about a handheld console. Great stuff.
So, there's the options - for the consoles that are currently available as new, but look out for the new Game Cube from Nintendo - out in the UK in the Spring, and of course the mighty X Box from Microsoft, out at a similar time.
Pay your money - make a good choice, and have fun.
What?
What?
Computer games have always been something that I like to participate in, something that has become an industry so great that gaming is now the most popular form of entertainment - more money is spent on gaming than on watching films at the cinema, listening to music, and as far as I can see it looks like it's going to stay that way - but gaming is becoming a blend of music and filming - games are becoming like films - films of games have happened, with new technologies guiding the way for new films like Final Fantasy - looks incredible, and some games are purely about music - Ministry of Sound on the PS2 - Music on the PlayStation and so on.
So, in terms of playing games - what options do you have?
Let's start at the highest price - a PC.
To experience the very latest games you'll need an up to date machine, with a decent spec (at least a Pentium 2 350mhz) and of course you will need a 3D graphics card - yep, PC gaming is very expensive, could cost you around £1000 for a computer, but then the games are less than console games, the PC is a multimedia device and can be used for many things, surfing the net, writing this opinion, and of course using the vast range of software for publications, documents and so forth. Some of the best PC games house online features - games like Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, mostly games of the shoot 'em up genre - most popular online games by far.
The PS2 is the most expensive console, and to be fair it now has some very impressive titles available for it - namely GT3, Onimusha, Red Faction, SSX, Star Wars Star Fighter - but then mine didn't work when I bought it, and so I do not own one at the moment. It's a DVD player too, and did have great sound - I won't be getting one because of my experience with them, but at £270, they are quite expensive! Second hand they will be cheaper - probably £250 for a console and a couple of games and pads.
Next is the Dreamcast - at £98.99 with a game or two. End of the line for the Dreamcast, and titles aren't being released as often as they used to be with hardly any games being brought out over here each month. But it's a very good machine, has a modem for internet access and has a good catalogue of some top games - Soul Calibur, MSR, Virtua Tennis, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, F355 Challenge, Shenmue and Tony Hawks 2, and it does offer great graphics and gameplay, good value, but it doesn't have the best future to be honest, but still good value console.
PSone - £79.99, with some very well priced games - incredible backlogue of games with over 800 games available for it. The PSX has had a long life, and still has games being released for it all the time, although with the PS2 being brought out the PlayStation may not have much life left in it. Good price - new compact size, and loads of great games for it. It's looking dated now, but the PS was the 32bit console to own, it fended off the Saturn and the N64. A success for Sony - you could get a PS2 and play your old PSone games on, but the PSone is good value really.
Nintendo's 64 - simply named to show the number of bits, the N64 has effectively died, but still has some great games available for it - you should be able to get an N64 for around £50 new, although games new, especially newly released, cost an incredible amount - some games like Conker's Bad Fur Day had an RRP of £60! You should be able to get it for less though. Good console, with some great Nintendo games like Mario 64, Mario Kart, Goldeneye, but I really wasn't overkeen on the design.
Handhelds! GBA, Game Boy Advance, has just been released (a month ago) and is one of the best pieces of gaming hardware you can get your money on - superb graphics for something so small, so at £80 it represents good value, can play all your old GB and GBC games, but of course you can buy new GBA games for around £30. It's really small and compact, will have you addicted and make your thumbs sore - it's great though. You could get a normall GBC for around £50, but you may as well get the Advance if you're thinking about a handheld console. Great stuff.
So, there's the options - for the consoles that are currently available as new, but look out for the new Game Cube from Nintendo - out in the UK in the Spring, and of course the mighty X Box from Microsoft, out at a similar time.
Pay your money - make a good choice, and have fun.
So, in terms of playing games - what options do you have?
Let's start at the highest price - a PC.
To experience the very latest games you'll need an up to date machine, with a decent spec (at least a Pentium 2 350mhz) and of course you will need a 3D graphics card - yep, PC gaming is very expensive, could cost you around £1000 for a computer, but then the games are less than console games, the PC is a multimedia device and can be used for many things, surfing the net, writing this opinion, and of course using the vast range of software for publications, documents and so forth. Some of the best PC games house online features - games like Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, mostly games of the shoot 'em up genre - most popular online games by far.
The PS2 is the most expensive console, and to be fair it now has some very impressive titles available for it - namely GT3, Onimusha, Red Faction, SSX, Star Wars Star Fighter - but then mine didn't work when I bought it, and so I do not own one at the moment. It's a DVD player too, and did have great sound - I won't be getting one because of my experience with them, but at £270, they are quite expensive! Second hand they will be cheaper - probably £250 for a console and a couple of games and pads.
Next is the Dreamcast - at £98.99 with a game or two. End of the line for the Dreamcast, and titles aren't being released as often as they used to be with hardly any games being brought out over here each month. But it's a very good machine, has a modem for internet access and has a good catalogue of some top games - Soul Calibur, MSR, Virtua Tennis, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, F355 Challenge, Shenmue and Tony Hawks 2, and it does offer great graphics and gameplay, good value, but it doesn't have the best future to be honest, but still good value console.
PSone - £79.99, with some very well priced games - incredible backlogue of games with over 800 games available for it. The PSX has had a long life, and still has games being released for it all the time, although with the PS2 being brought out the PlayStation may not have much life left in it. Good price - new compact size, and loads of great games for it. It's looking dated now, but the PS was the 32bit console to own, it fended off the Saturn and the N64. A success for Sony - you could get a PS2 and play your old PSone games on, but the PSone is good value really.
Nintendo's 64 - simply named to show the number of bits, the N64 has effectively died, but still has some great games available for it - you should be able to get an N64 for around £50 new, although games new, especially newly released, cost an incredible amount - some games like Conker's Bad Fur Day had an RRP of £60! You should be able to get it for less though. Good console, with some great Nintendo games like Mario 64, Mario Kart, Goldeneye, but I really wasn't overkeen on the design.
Handhelds! GBA, Game Boy Advance, has just been released (a month ago) and is one of the best pieces of gaming hardware you can get your money on - superb graphics for something so small, so at £80 it represents good value, can play all your old GB and GBC games, but of course you can buy new GBA games for around £30. It's really small and compact, will have you addicted and make your thumbs sore - it's great though. You could get a normall GBC for around £50, but you may as well get the Advance if you're thinking about a handheld console. Great stuff.
So, there's the options - for the consoles that are currently available as new, but look out for the new Game Cube from Nintendo - out in the UK in the Spring, and of course the mighty X Box from Microsoft, out at a similar time.
Pay your money - make a good choice, and have fun.