Second Hand SNES

Craig1981

Craig1981

Craig1981

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One of the biggest regrets of my life (yeah I know, first world problems) was letting my mother talk me into selling off my old consoles. She was of the mindset that if I was getting a new console (going from NES to SNES or SNES to N64) then I couldn't possibly want to keep the old console as well. Fool that I was, I just went along with her. Ohhhhh the regret....

Now I've started to have serious cravings for some old school 16 bit gaming. I'd really love to get a second hand SNES for myself, but am unsure if ebay is my best bet or not. I see theres plenty of consoles on there, but I've heard horror stories of people buying stuff off ebay that turned out to be defective or fake.

Anyone else got any second hand consoles from ebay? Anything I should be wary of? Any pro-tips would be appreciated :)
 
I kind of did the opposite. I kept all my old consoles, but then sold them on the bay to collectors.

The reason is the old machines just don't mix well with modern displays. It's far better building a dedicated retro PC and get a USB SNES pad plus other controllers, where you can apply filters and make old games look fantastic on LCDs plus have a complete digital SNES collection not taking up extra space. I have one to cover all the old games machines and it's great.

A modded original XBOX also works well as an emulation machine due to fantastic software support, huge scene back in the day, but they are hard to buy these days. You can get VGA cables for them to look good on LCDs and they apply filters to further improve the picture.

There is nothing like the real thing of course for the full retro nostalgia experience - if you have a good CRT hanging around to hook them up to and have the storage space then I guess it's worth it, but what I found was I kept on going back to emulation as it's just far more convenient and the old systems were gathering dust.

If you do want to get the old machines - nothing really to watch out for apart from being patient to grab a good condition one, just make sure they come with RGB SCART cables or you can buy one at the very least! Other outputs are unlikely to work well on LCD TVs and look poor compared to RGB SCART. Also, carts sometimes need their contacts cleaning with a cotton wool bud to get them working again!
 
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I spray painted my Snes black! Use component to connect it to plasma

I sold a spare not long ago on the bay. I'd look there personally
 
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My only tip is set yourself sensible limits and stick to them, it's too easy to end up spending a fortune. I have been butting together a snes collection as I was a sega child and so missed out on almost all snes classics but when I see something I want I decide my limit and basically place the bid in the last minute if its not enough then tough.

As far as the real thing vs emulation, its always the real thing for me I obviously tried snes emulation but just never got into anything, however an actual snes plugged into a nice CRT has had me hooked, the ps3 has been heavily ignored.
 
Make sure if you are buying one from eBay there are a few decent pics of it, don't want one with lots of yellowing!

Also useful to know is that you can use the scart lead instead of the traditional tuning lead. The same scart lead is/are also used with N64 and Gamecube.
 
I got mine of the bay last month, £20 with a couple of games (yellow and no box though) was a good deal.

You'll find its an interesting game trying to get things of good value off ebay for the snes (especially if you like the boxes) as snes got collectable. I bit my tongue and caved on the expensive link to the past buy along with a few others that were a pricy boxed, but my hope is that when I am bored of the snes I can sell it off for what I paid without any fuss.

Anyway set reasonable limits for what you want and how much you can actually pay and be realistic with what you want to play on the snes :) (same goes for n64 collecting now)
 
Sometimes better to find an old retro games shop locally, that way you can properly inspect the console. That's what I done, they guy set it up and everything in the store. Had a 2 min play around and bought it.
 
To really re-create that nostalgia, you would have to grab an old crt along with the console, and that's where the problem lays for most.

If I tried to pull that *beep* off, by turning up with some 90's monstrosity of a telly to place in a quiet corner of the house, the wife would see to it that it received a healthy dose of watering along with the plants.
 
thedoc46 said:
To really re-create that nostalgia, you would have to grab an old crt along with the console, and that's where the problem lays for most.

If I tried to pull that *beep* off, by turning up with some 90's monstrosity of a telly to place in a quiet corner of the house, the wife would see to it that it received a healthy dose of watering along with the plants.
Click to expand...

That was my initial problem I had a 32" CRT which was absolutely enormous, replaced it with a 21" one which fits perfectly in a spare room without looks ridiculous, a tiny freeview box means people can still use it as a TV if staying over.
 
glen8 said:
They are never as good as you remember them
Click to expand...

Few things in life ever are. But I still want one...

RedStarRiot said:
Sometimes better to find an old retro games shop locally, that way you can properly inspect the console. That's what I done, they guy set it up and everything in the store. Had a 2 min play around and bought it.
Click to expand...

I've seen game stores that have a small selection of retro games, second hand of course, but I've never found one that sold consoles as well.

JonnyCasino said:
That was my initial problem I had a 32" CRT which was absolutely enormous, replaced it with a 21" one which fits perfectly in a spare room without looks ridiculous, a tiny freeview box means people can still use it as a TV if staying over.
Click to expand...

The TV in my bedroom isn't much bigger than yours, only 24". Hopefully that wont be too big.

EDIT: http://www.tesco.com/direct/lg-m2452d-24-full-hd-led-backlit-tv/744-7972.prd?pageLevel=sku&skuId=744-7972

This is the TV I have. Does anyone know if this would be ok for using for playing a SNES with?
 
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i did this and still get the urge too but i found the hunting for a deal for the initial purchase is far more fun then owning the console. i ended up with a SNES, Megadrive, Saturn, Gamecube, Dreamcast, PSOne and a PS2 all sat in a MAME arcade cabinet. unfortunatly once everything was built and setup i lost the urge as i had what i wanted and only ever spent a few hours on each console... in the end they all went back on ebay and i got most of my money back.

i know play more retro games then i ever did thanks to my Xperia play and a collection of emulators meaning when im in the mood my phone is normally on me and i can have a quick blast.

certain games have aged very well but most havent and you will find the controls and AI terrible and most difficult games are due to cheap deaths and bad level design... personally i would stick to emulators and keep an eye out for a bargain at a car boot - this is the only way i will buy any more retro games
 
I bought a second hand snes of ebay. worked for about 10 mins and then wont power up. It had about 20 games so I was a bit stuck.

Managed to find another on a local facebook selling site. So purchased that. Hooked it up to my 50" plasma. great gaming but to me not played it a lot.

Once I have got rid of my 5ft fish tank in my office, I am going to get a 32CRT t.v and get a mega drive, nes, playstation 2 and so on :).
 
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