12th September 2006, 10:58 AM
Quote:Well, even by those standards, the Intellivision was a main entry for five years (79-84), which is a decent run by any standard. Consider also that there was a lot more competition in its era.
Agree here, five years is decent. (That 'continuing support' thing would let you do things like extend the 2600 to ... now? If you count homebrew cart releases... same for the Jaguar, Genesis, and some others... and while noting that support is probably important, like saying that the last US SNES game was in 1998 (Frogger. Yay.), the most important part is the main successful lifespan of the console...
As for which console had the longest lifespan on top... hmm. Game Boy is a good contender, with 9 years as Nintendo's sole handheld and the handheld industry lead (Pocket was just a redesign, not a new system) plus two or three more years of games released which supported it (the black carts)... Neo-Geo too, in its limited market, for 13 years of support... (plus a homebrew release this year that would make it 16 if it counts)... the Famicom wasn't replaced in Japan for eight years... hmm, what else... Playstation? Eight years or so in the US I think... maybe a bit more in Japan...
Quote:I don't think it deserves its bad reputation. Certainly, the contoller is more complicated and less aesthetic than controllers that came later, but in 1979, it was a marvel compared to its competition.
I'd have to try one to say for sure, of course.
I do know that Intellivisions break easily, though... especially the controllers...