I vaguely remember the young adult youth pastors trying to engage us by playing the guitar and singing songs and hanging out and offering food, and just thinking to myself "Bruh, can't you tell? This is GOLDENEYE, we've got more important things to deal with than god."
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What were your system sellers?
- Thread starter YangusKhan
- Start date
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- Tags
- consoles video games
Thinking back on it, Smash Bros Melee was absolutely a system seller for me with the Gamecube, even if I ended up being kind of disappointed with it. My friends and I played a lot of Smash Bros. 64 after school and I hoped to keep things going with Melee. We had some good times with it, especially my two brothers closest in age to me, but most of my friends went XBox that generation. Also, I just never liked Melee as much as 64.
Ironically, FFVII turned me off of the PSX. Couldn't stand that game. Still can't.
But the PSX had JRPGs and Resident Evil and SoTN etc.
I buy Nintendo consoles and handhelds for Nintendo games (sans Smash Bros.), anything else is profit. I buy Sony systems for everything else. I bought an Xbox360 for Blue Dragon, but that was the biggest mistake of my console buying career. I bought a Dreamcast cos it had fun games too.
Thought of some more stuff:
PlayStation: This had to have been coverage of FFVII in my Gamepro magazines.
Game Boy Color: I loved the Game Boy my parents got for me, so I absolutely wanted this to follow up Pokémon Blue, so it was Pokémon Silver that got me. Eventually I also acquired the Dragon Warriors and Link's Awakening DX, plus a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting about.
Game Boy Advance: This one I have absolutely no idea if there was a single specific game I wanted. It was most likely brand loyalty and that I loved loved loved all my Game Boys prior.
DS: Same as the GBA I'm pretty sure. I remember having Meteos when I got it, at least.
Wii: Smash Bros. Also that it could play Gamecube games, which I skipped out on in the previous gen.
Wii U: Bayonetta 2. I was a late-ish adopter and only ended up getting like 5 or 6 games for it, of which all of them are now available on the Switch lol.
PlayStation: This had to have been coverage of FFVII in my Gamepro magazines.
Game Boy Color: I loved the Game Boy my parents got for me, so I absolutely wanted this to follow up Pokémon Blue, so it was Pokémon Silver that got me. Eventually I also acquired the Dragon Warriors and Link's Awakening DX, plus a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting about.
Game Boy Advance: This one I have absolutely no idea if there was a single specific game I wanted. It was most likely brand loyalty and that I loved loved loved all my Game Boys prior.
DS: Same as the GBA I'm pretty sure. I remember having Meteos when I got it, at least.
Wii: Smash Bros. Also that it could play Gamecube games, which I skipped out on in the previous gen.
Wii U: Bayonetta 2. I was a late-ish adopter and only ended up getting like 5 or 6 games for it, of which all of them are now available on the Switch lol.
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
@Gaer : Ha, yeah, Blue Dragon was a massive disappointment. And I lost my save when my first 360 went RRoD, so that's 20+ hours I'll never get back. Thankfully, there were some other good JRPGs on there - Eternal Sonata, Infinite Undiscovery, and Tales of Vesperia come to mind. And I still need to play through Lost Odyssey.
jpfriction
(He, Him)
I’ll always give Blue Dragon props for a late game ability that just let you put up a shield that instantly defeated any enemies a certain level below you. I don’t know why that wasn’t an RPG staple from day 1.
Lady
something something robble
I bought a 3DS right before they were discontinued so I could play Theatrhythm
I bought a PSP because they were supposed to be the bee's knees for PS1 games, then never played anything except a couple hours of Jeanne d'Arc.
I asked my parents if they would rent a Playstation 2 because of Final Fantasy V (SNES). I asked them to buy me for one for Christmas because of Final Fantasy X.
I don't remember buying a PS3 for FFXIII but it's probably true xD
I bought a PSP because they were supposed to be the bee's knees for PS1 games, then never played anything except a couple hours of Jeanne d'Arc.
I asked my parents if they would rent a Playstation 2 because of Final Fantasy V (SNES). I asked them to buy me for one for Christmas because of Final Fantasy X.
I don't remember buying a PS3 for FFXIII but it's probably true xD
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Playstation System Sellers
I bought the PS3 for Final Fantasy XIII.
I bought the PS4 for Final Fantasy XV.
I will likely buy a PS5 for Final Fantasy XVI.
Nintendo System Sellers
I bought almost every Nintendo System (ending with the Wii) for Mario Games.
I bought the SNES classic for Super Mario World.
I bought the Super Mario Bros. Game and Watch for Super Mario Bros.
TG16 Mini System Sellers
I bought the TG16 mini for Dungeon Explorer and Splatterhouse.
I bought the PS3 for Final Fantasy XIII.
I bought the PS4 for Final Fantasy XV.
I will likely buy a PS5 for Final Fantasy XVI.
Nintendo System Sellers
I bought almost every Nintendo System (ending with the Wii) for Mario Games.
I bought the SNES classic for Super Mario World.
I bought the Super Mario Bros. Game and Watch for Super Mario Bros.
TG16 Mini System Sellers
I bought the TG16 mini for Dungeon Explorer and Splatterhouse.
I have camped out for a console on launch day once, and that was for a Wii and Twilight Princess. In retrospect it probably wasn't worth doing that for, but I did enjoy the Wii/TP so whatever, plus it was a fun story (my friend and I hung out in line on Thanksgiving, full of turkey and freezing cold till 7 AM or something).
I bought a console for one game specifically once and that was the PS4 and Bloodborne. It was absolutely worth it (I would pay double for a new console and a Bloodborne sequel and that would also be worth it). It was a bundle thing that came with a free copy of The Last of Us, and I have never played it or even booted it up, a fact that makes me chuckle to this day.
Everything else I got after it had been out for a while and wasn't for any one thing in particular.
I bought a console for one game specifically once and that was the PS4 and Bloodborne. It was absolutely worth it (I would pay double for a new console and a Bloodborne sequel and that would also be worth it). It was a bundle thing that came with a free copy of The Last of Us, and I have never played it or even booted it up, a fact that makes me chuckle to this day.
Everything else I got after it had been out for a while and wasn't for any one thing in particular.
Oh, boy. I'll only go with systems I got when they were current, because explaining all the reasons why I got a PC Engine in 2010 would be a lot.
NES - I got mine for Christmas in 1987, so there was already a pretty healthy library. I can't say that a particular one nudged me into begging my parents for one, but Super Mario Bros. and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! were probably heavily involved.
Game Boy - Super Mario Land
SNES - Super Mario World
Genesis - The Genesis was at least 3 years old in the US when I finally got one, but Sonic the Hedgehog was probably the tipping point.
Sega CD - I honestly can't remember what sold me on wanting a Sega CD. I'd like to be a hipster and say it was Snatcher, which I did own in the day, but that wasn't the thing that got me. Probably Sonic CD.
Game Gear - Another one that's hard to pinpoint, but I did play a lot of The Terminator on it.
PlayStation - Resident Evil
N64 - Mario 64
Dreamcast - This one is tough, because I got it at launch and it had a fantastic launch line-up. If memory serves, I got Soul Calibur and Power Stone at launch, but a home version of Marvel vs. Capcom being a known quantity at the time was probably just as much of a factor.
PS2 - Another launch pick-up, and it was definitely TimeSplitters that had me at launch.
Game Boy Advance - Got it at launch, a US-released Fire Pro Wrestling game was definitely the push, but Castlevania: Circle of the Moon helped.
GameCube - Clearly, this was my "buying systems at launch phase." Luigi's Mansion, weird as that sounds.
DS (Lite) - New Super Mario Bros.
Wii - This is the last system I went to the trouble of getting on launch. Twilight Princess was absolutely what did it, but all the various Virtual Consoles and whatnot didn't hurt.
PS3 - There honestly wasn't a single game that pushed me to buy one, but that the 60GB backwards compatible ones were about to be discontinued.
360 - Again, not a specific game, more that my friends (most of them from this very message board) were all playing on 360 and not PS3. I definitely did re-buy and play the hell out of The Orange Box right away.
3DS - Super Mario 3D Land
Wii U - Super Mario 3D World
PS4 - Similar to the prior generation, there wasn't a specific game, it just felt like "time," and there was a big Black Friday sale. The first game I bought was Alien: Isolation.
Switch - Super Mario Odyssey
NES - I got mine for Christmas in 1987, so there was already a pretty healthy library. I can't say that a particular one nudged me into begging my parents for one, but Super Mario Bros. and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! were probably heavily involved.
Game Boy - Super Mario Land
SNES - Super Mario World
Genesis - The Genesis was at least 3 years old in the US when I finally got one, but Sonic the Hedgehog was probably the tipping point.
Sega CD - I honestly can't remember what sold me on wanting a Sega CD. I'd like to be a hipster and say it was Snatcher, which I did own in the day, but that wasn't the thing that got me. Probably Sonic CD.
Game Gear - Another one that's hard to pinpoint, but I did play a lot of The Terminator on it.
PlayStation - Resident Evil
N64 - Mario 64
Dreamcast - This one is tough, because I got it at launch and it had a fantastic launch line-up. If memory serves, I got Soul Calibur and Power Stone at launch, but a home version of Marvel vs. Capcom being a known quantity at the time was probably just as much of a factor.
PS2 - Another launch pick-up, and it was definitely TimeSplitters that had me at launch.
Game Boy Advance - Got it at launch, a US-released Fire Pro Wrestling game was definitely the push, but Castlevania: Circle of the Moon helped.
GameCube - Clearly, this was my "buying systems at launch phase." Luigi's Mansion, weird as that sounds.
DS (Lite) - New Super Mario Bros.
Wii - This is the last system I went to the trouble of getting on launch. Twilight Princess was absolutely what did it, but all the various Virtual Consoles and whatnot didn't hurt.
PS3 - There honestly wasn't a single game that pushed me to buy one, but that the 60GB backwards compatible ones were about to be discontinued.
360 - Again, not a specific game, more that my friends (most of them from this very message board) were all playing on 360 and not PS3. I definitely did re-buy and play the hell out of The Orange Box right away.
3DS - Super Mario 3D Land
Wii U - Super Mario 3D World
PS4 - Similar to the prior generation, there wasn't a specific game, it just felt like "time," and there was a big Black Friday sale. The first game I bought was Alien: Isolation.
Switch - Super Mario Odyssey
Like some others have said, I have never gotten a console at or near launch, but a year or two after, so while I can pinpoint a specific game, it's usually because a bunch of other titles have piqued interest as well. At any rate...
NES - I am pretty sure I saw my cousins playing Super Mario Bros and decided I wanted one.
Game Boy - I don't rightly recall. Super Mario Land seems like a safe bet.
Super NES - Final Fantasy 2 (as it was then known).
N64 - A bit of a weird one for me, as I got it because I assumed that all the franchises I loved on the NES and Super NES would continue there. I wasn't really dialed in to gaming-industry news at the time, so it took me a few years to realize that the third parties I was waiting for had moved to...
PS1 - Final Fantasy 7 and Mega Man X4
PS2 - Final Fantasy 10
DS - Some JRPG, no doubt, maybe one of the Dragon Quest remakes?
3DS - Again, I don't really remember, it could have been SMTIV or maybe not.
And with it laid out like that, I see it's been forever since I have owned a home console as I play mostly on PC these days. I have been considering a Switch, but I am most interested in SMTV, which isn't due in English until next year.
NES - I am pretty sure I saw my cousins playing Super Mario Bros and decided I wanted one.
Game Boy - I don't rightly recall. Super Mario Land seems like a safe bet.
Super NES - Final Fantasy 2 (as it was then known).
N64 - A bit of a weird one for me, as I got it because I assumed that all the franchises I loved on the NES and Super NES would continue there. I wasn't really dialed in to gaming-industry news at the time, so it took me a few years to realize that the third parties I was waiting for had moved to...
PS1 - Final Fantasy 7 and Mega Man X4
PS2 - Final Fantasy 10
DS - Some JRPG, no doubt, maybe one of the Dragon Quest remakes?
3DS - Again, I don't really remember, it could have been SMTIV or maybe not.
And with it laid out like that, I see it's been forever since I have owned a home console as I play mostly on PC these days. I have been considering a Switch, but I am most interested in SMTV, which isn't due in English until next year.
My brother bought a PS3 to play The Last Guardian. I don't think he regretted it, in the end.
I bought the Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch for The Legend of Zelda. Man, was I ever disappointed.
As a general rule, Nintendo consoles were all purchased with the promise that eventually Nintendo games would appear on them. And I’ve yet to be disappointed on that front.
As for everything else;
PlayStation: Final Fantasy 7
Dreamcast: Marvel vs Capcom 2
PS2 Devil May Cry
Xbox: Halo
Xbox 360: Lost Planet
PSP: Metal Gear AC!D
PS3: Valkyria Chronicles
Vita: Gravity Rush
PS4: inFamous Second Son
Evercade: Piko Interactive Volume 1
As for everything else;
PlayStation: Final Fantasy 7
Dreamcast: Marvel vs Capcom 2
PS2 Devil May Cry
Xbox: Halo
Xbox 360: Lost Planet
PSP: Metal Gear AC!D
PS3: Valkyria Chronicles
Vita: Gravity Rush
PS4: inFamous Second Son
Evercade: Piko Interactive Volume 1
I've always followed a "five-game rule" for systems: I won't buy it until there are five games I'm willing to pay full price for on it.
That said, my Game Boy and Super Nintendo were before I really had the rule in place. I'll note that Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Wanderers from Ys and Final Fantasy II were the first SNES games I bought.
That rule was the reason I never bought an N64 or a GBC. As Square-Enix went, so went my nation.
PlayStation: I actually delayed this purchase for years because Final Fantasy VII was the only game I really wanted, and I could get that on PC. I eventually bought it to play FF8, Suikoden, Legend of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics and Breath of Fire 3.
PlayStation 2: Final Fantasy X was definitely the reason right out of the box, though that was quickly followed by Dynasty Warriors 3. Really, it was backwards compatible with my existing PS2 library, it played DVDs, and it promised a lot of continuing series I loved, like Suikoden, Breath of Fire, Wild ARMS, etc. This ended up being one of my longest-running consoles as I was still clearing games off my backlog in 2017.
Game Boy Advance: This I snagged used when a friend bought the SP. By that point, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Sword of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Golden Sun, and the assorted Final Fantasy ports all appealed to me.
GameCube: I bought this used off a friend when he got a Wii. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Animal Crossing, Baten Kaitos and Paper Mario were all on my original list. For that matter, I eventually got a Wii for free from a friend, and have mostly used it to try games that I'm only middling on.
I've never purchased any generation of Xbox. I considered the 360 for a while, but there wasn't enough that I couldn't get on PS3.
Nintendo DS: The first round of games was Final Fantasy 3 DS, Children of Mana, Wario Ware Touched, Kirby Squeak Squad, and New Super Mario Brothers. I went on to buy SO many DS games.
PlayStation 3: Final Fantasy 13 was the kicker, but Katamari Forever, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Disgaea 3, and Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce were all in the initial run.
PlayStation Portable: I got this for Final Fantasy tie-in, NIS games, and Ys games. Dissidia Final Fantasy, Half-Minute Hero, Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? were in the initial batch. I never bought a Vita because for years Ys Celceta was the only game on the list for it, and I eventually played the Steam version.
Nintendo 3DS: Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, New Super Mario Brothers 2, Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask.
PlayStation 4: I was good with a gaming PC for quite a while; I finally got this for Dragon Quest Heroes (1 and 2), Dragon Quest Builders (1 and 2), and Final Fantasy 15. (And the potential for more Warriors games and S-E stuff.)
Nintendo Switch: Purchased as much for my son as for me; he wanted to play Let's Go Pikachu (and Pokemon Shield, which he'll get this year); I wanted to play Dragon Quest XI S, Octopath Traveler, the Link's Awakening remake and Kirby Star Allies.
That said, my Game Boy and Super Nintendo were before I really had the rule in place. I'll note that Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Wanderers from Ys and Final Fantasy II were the first SNES games I bought.
That rule was the reason I never bought an N64 or a GBC. As Square-Enix went, so went my nation.
PlayStation: I actually delayed this purchase for years because Final Fantasy VII was the only game I really wanted, and I could get that on PC. I eventually bought it to play FF8, Suikoden, Legend of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics and Breath of Fire 3.
PlayStation 2: Final Fantasy X was definitely the reason right out of the box, though that was quickly followed by Dynasty Warriors 3. Really, it was backwards compatible with my existing PS2 library, it played DVDs, and it promised a lot of continuing series I loved, like Suikoden, Breath of Fire, Wild ARMS, etc. This ended up being one of my longest-running consoles as I was still clearing games off my backlog in 2017.
Game Boy Advance: This I snagged used when a friend bought the SP. By that point, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Sword of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Golden Sun, and the assorted Final Fantasy ports all appealed to me.
GameCube: I bought this used off a friend when he got a Wii. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Animal Crossing, Baten Kaitos and Paper Mario were all on my original list. For that matter, I eventually got a Wii for free from a friend, and have mostly used it to try games that I'm only middling on.
I've never purchased any generation of Xbox. I considered the 360 for a while, but there wasn't enough that I couldn't get on PS3.
Nintendo DS: The first round of games was Final Fantasy 3 DS, Children of Mana, Wario Ware Touched, Kirby Squeak Squad, and New Super Mario Brothers. I went on to buy SO many DS games.
PlayStation 3: Final Fantasy 13 was the kicker, but Katamari Forever, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Disgaea 3, and Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce were all in the initial run.
PlayStation Portable: I got this for Final Fantasy tie-in, NIS games, and Ys games. Dissidia Final Fantasy, Half-Minute Hero, Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? were in the initial batch. I never bought a Vita because for years Ys Celceta was the only game on the list for it, and I eventually played the Steam version.
Nintendo 3DS: Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, New Super Mario Brothers 2, Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask.
PlayStation 4: I was good with a gaming PC for quite a while; I finally got this for Dragon Quest Heroes (1 and 2), Dragon Quest Builders (1 and 2), and Final Fantasy 15. (And the potential for more Warriors games and S-E stuff.)
Nintendo Switch: Purchased as much for my son as for me; he wanted to play Let's Go Pikachu (and Pokemon Shield, which he'll get this year); I wanted to play Dragon Quest XI S, Octopath Traveler, the Link's Awakening remake and Kirby Star Allies.
SNES: Mario Paint
In my childhood I drew a lot. When we got the Apple IIGS I spent many hours on Paintworks Plus, but time was passing and there had to be a new way to draw without spending $3,000 on a new computer (plus it saved files to floppy disks, which meant I would never see them again). So we saw TV ads for the Video Painter (by VTech!) and I had to get one. It had animation! But a few weeks after Christmas of 1991 I was done with it. The "animation" was a letdown, it was just a few cliparts that would do a little 2-frame animation, the lag on it was unbearable, plus it looked and played like it was intended for a much younger age of children.
I rented a SNES from the video store a few times with Mario Paint (and other games, Street Fighter II was a mind-blowing conversion) and my parents were impressed enough to get me one for my birthday in 1993. And all my masterpieces are safely recorded on VHS.
In my childhood I drew a lot. When we got the Apple IIGS I spent many hours on Paintworks Plus, but time was passing and there had to be a new way to draw without spending $3,000 on a new computer (plus it saved files to floppy disks, which meant I would never see them again). So we saw TV ads for the Video Painter (by VTech!) and I had to get one. It had animation! But a few weeks after Christmas of 1991 I was done with it. The "animation" was a letdown, it was just a few cliparts that would do a little 2-frame animation, the lag on it was unbearable, plus it looked and played like it was intended for a much younger age of children.
I rented a SNES from the video store a few times with Mario Paint (and other games, Street Fighter II was a mind-blowing conversion) and my parents were impressed enough to get me one for my birthday in 1993. And all my masterpieces are safely recorded on VHS.
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
Make sure to get those transferred to digital when you can if you want them to hold up! VHS will degrade over time.
So many of my Nintendo consoles were Xmas presents throughout my youth (SNES, N64, Gamecube... dang, even the DS). I guess I'll omit them?
PSX: Final Fantasy VII - I had mostly Nintendo consoles back then, but one of my best friends since elementary had a PSX and FFVII; after we had bonded over the likes of Secret of Mana/Evermore, Chrono Trigger, & Final Fantasy VI, it was all he could talk about. My only understanding of these characters up to that point were the ways he role-played as them when we were acting out our imaginations... and the Final Fantasy VII Extra Knights figures (whose heads we would gleefully swap around if we got bored)
PS2: Final Fantasy X - saw a friend's older brother playing it and knew. But I was so into Squaresoft then it was inevitable. Anyway, a close friend from middle school joined me on the bike ride (all downhill) to Blockbuster to pick it up with saved up allowance dollars. The bike ride back up was mortifying as the plastic bag was jangling around and tearing lol. I really love the game still.
Saturn: NiGHTS into Dreams - had this game on a pedestal since it was first being demo'd in stores. My experience with it was brief, minutes even, but the fluidity and the art and the colors enchanted me, and I remember seeing the Christmas NiGHTS disc getting "gifted" out with holiday issues of GamePro or something and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. I still do, pretty much.
Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia & Phantasy Star Online - Can't quite remember which came first.
PSP: Crisis Core? Tactics Ogre? One of those.
PS3: Demon's Souls - pretty sure I saw YangusKhan play for some minutes and was sold.
3DS: Pokemon Y - friend was goin' through a hard time so we chipped in to get him a 3DS and Pokemon X while we picked up our own consoles & copies in tandem. Things didn't actually get better for his circumstances, but it was really really nice for us to pretend like stuff was kind of okay for the while.
Switch: Breath of the Wild & Octopath Traveler - news of the latter incited me to purchase, but darn if BotW isn't one of the best games I've ever played...
PSX: Final Fantasy VII - I had mostly Nintendo consoles back then, but one of my best friends since elementary had a PSX and FFVII; after we had bonded over the likes of Secret of Mana/Evermore, Chrono Trigger, & Final Fantasy VI, it was all he could talk about. My only understanding of these characters up to that point were the ways he role-played as them when we were acting out our imaginations... and the Final Fantasy VII Extra Knights figures (whose heads we would gleefully swap around if we got bored)
PS2: Final Fantasy X - saw a friend's older brother playing it and knew. But I was so into Squaresoft then it was inevitable. Anyway, a close friend from middle school joined me on the bike ride (all downhill) to Blockbuster to pick it up with saved up allowance dollars. The bike ride back up was mortifying as the plastic bag was jangling around and tearing lol. I really love the game still.
Saturn: NiGHTS into Dreams - had this game on a pedestal since it was first being demo'd in stores. My experience with it was brief, minutes even, but the fluidity and the art and the colors enchanted me, and I remember seeing the Christmas NiGHTS disc getting "gifted" out with holiday issues of GamePro or something and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. I still do, pretty much.
Dreamcast: Skies of Arcadia & Phantasy Star Online - Can't quite remember which came first.
PSP: Crisis Core? Tactics Ogre? One of those.
PS3: Demon's Souls - pretty sure I saw YangusKhan play for some minutes and was sold.
3DS: Pokemon Y - friend was goin' through a hard time so we chipped in to get him a 3DS and Pokemon X while we picked up our own consoles & copies in tandem. Things didn't actually get better for his circumstances, but it was really really nice for us to pretend like stuff was kind of okay for the while.
Switch: Breath of the Wild & Octopath Traveler - news of the latter incited me to purchase, but darn if BotW isn't one of the best games I've ever played...
PC - Prince of Persia, MS DOS version. I'd seen games before and not cared at all. They were garish, ugly, limited, boring, repetitive, empty things. PoP was different. The instant I saw it in motion on my cousin's new family computer I couldn't look away from the fluid animation and atmospheric dungeon. Then came the first sword-fight; by the time I requested a go I was already in love. Once the obsession proved lasting my parents decided to get me a basic PC, in part because they could tell computers were the future and I'd need to learn, in part from sheer gratitude that I was interested in something aside from books for a change.
Mega Drive - shortly after I got into gaming I had a couple of friends who owned Mega Drives, so mostly I wanted one to play the games which I liked best in their collections. I suppose Lion King and Ecco the Dolphin 2 would have been the most important.
N64 - Shadows of the Empire. On the UK launch day no less, purchased with my own hard-saved money. Thanks to my PC experience I knew that Lucas Arts and Star Wars were a gold seal of quality, and gosh darn it look at those screenshots of the Hoth battle! My parents were kind enough to buy me Mario 64 the next day and it was fun and all, but did it have snow speeders taking down AT-ATs? It did not. I was happy with my N64 throughout that generation and still have fondness for the library. A lot of the PS1's froggy-suitable games either had PC ports, didn't come out in Europe, or passed by my awareness until years later.
Gameboy Advance - it was rather cheap at launch, I liked the graphics and found the concept of the 16bit consoles reduced to portability by tech advancements fascinating, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon sounded fab with its mix of platforming exploration and RPG character systems, and Kuru kuru kururin was sufficiently odd to appeal strongly to me. I remember playing a lot of Konami Crazy Racers and F Zero at launch too.
Gamecube - after weeks of internal debate I purchased an imported American 'Cube for Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, with Monkey Ball and Luigi's Mansion as strong secondary interests. This is the last console where I remember being absolutely stunned by how big of a leap the graphics were; things like the environmental interactions with Samus' visor in Metroid Prime floored me, and I swear Rogue Leader looked exactly like the film. I loved this odd little console and wish companies would make more effort to bring the library in from the cold. The £/$ exchange rate was heavily in our favour back then so I got my games cheaper, earlier, and without the frequently bad PAL conversions. Good times.
PS2 - Kingdom Hearts. You can have Donald toast your enemies with fireballs, while meeting characters from FFVII and FFVIII? Sold. I requested system and game for my next birthday. I was surprised to discover my PS2 gradually usurped the Gamecube as my favourite that generation. What a library for the RPG and action-adventure gamer!
Xbox - Knights of the Old Republic. I was deeply unhappy when Microsoft splashed the cash and 'stole' this from PC. I'd been following it avidly since the day it was first revealed in PC Gamer UK. I waited and waited for that PC release which had no date and never seemed to happen. Then a nearby supermarket decided to clear its gaming section and I encountered a cut-price system and discounted copy of KOTOR; it felt like destiny. Later I played KOTORII, Jade Empire, Ninja Gaiden Black, and some others which leave me with a fond feeling towards the console despite that grudging start.
Wii - Twilight Princess thanks to the lasting power of the N64 Zeldas, but also the hype around the console and the fact I lucked into getting a preorder for launch by virtue of having a day off when Amazon got extra stock. I remember hooking the system up, and the sinking feeling that I might have made a mistake. I didn't like the controls. At all. I started Zelda. I didn't like the slow, verbose intro, and hated the controls. I went to ultra-hype to "I'm ... I'm going to play something else now" in the space of 2 hours. I never did fall in love with the Wii, despite eventually finding some games which I enjoyed without reservations. Mostly Metroid Prime 3 and Metroid Prime Trilogy.
360 - Blue Dragon. That's what I purchased with it and I liked it a lot despite the blah cast. I also had my eye on Lost Odyssey, Oblivion, and atmospheric older titles like Condemned. For a few years this thing was amazing and I played so many games on it. Then kinect arrived, marketing perceptions shifted, and everyone ignored my market segment to focus on the casual, multiplayer, and dudebro markets. I went from having everything to play to nothing, right at the point the PS3 finally found its feet. Took Xbox years to become relevant again.
PS3 - freak circumstances. A refund on a credit card went odd and double-credited, and the card company would not believe they'd made a mistake. The money must be spent immediately as it's against the terms and conditions to be in credit, they insisted. The already limited backwards compatibility of the EU model was about to be stripped out, and it was the only useful thing of the right value which I could think of to buy. I used it to play my PS2 library until Demon's Souls became a thing, at which point I imported a US copy as we still had no publisher here. It took the console a long time to sort itself out but it got there in its final years, and they were good years indeed.
Wii U - Monster Hunter. I'd been trying to get into the series for ages and couldn't get on with them due to tech and control factors. A HD version with a normal controller? That's literally what I kept wishing for. They even made a convenient official bundle for me. The game was everything I'd hoped for. I liked this system better than the Wii despite the flaws and droughts.
DS - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and the Lite redesign. One of my colleagues let me try his original model DS one lunchbreak, and I found the system intriguing if ugly. I saw a write-up of Phoenix Wright shortly after; a combination of the point and click games I'd loved in my childhood and an excellent translation, it was all but designed to capture my attention. At that time I got promoted at work, and took a trip to the nearby Game to buy a handsome black Lite and copy of the game several days later. It was a wise decision: this little thing had so many good and great games I still have a sizeable number left to play today.
PSP - Locoroco and Patapon. Another "I am flush with cash thanks to my promotion" purchase. I liked a lot of the library, especially the quirky stuff and JRPGs, but never did like the hardware itself.
3DS - Tales of the Abyss, Tom Clancy's Shadow Wars. The former never came out in Europe on PS2 and I'd heard about how fantastic it was for years. As a JRPG fan I had to get it. Immediately. The Tom Clancy was purely due to it being a solid turn-based tactics game by Mr Gallop of X-COM fame. While not quite the library powerhouse that is the DS, I still own a drawer full of games which I want to play.
Vita - Persona 4 Golden, PSP games on a better screen and form factor, and it'll definitely have a lot more quality JRPGs and stuff just like the PSP, right?? My main memory of this one is "That looks interesti - no, it's boobs again. Pass." This might be the most disappointing console I've owned purely thanks to the way otaku-baiting poisoned so much of the well. Parts of P4G were already pushing hard on the limits of what I'd eye-roll through.
PS4 - I can't remember. I got it a few months after my father died from a lengthy illness so perhaps it was more of a reminder that I must look forwards and try to resume my life. Great library once it got going.
One X - backwards compatibility. I like to revisit my games, and that PS360 generation has a lot of favourites. Sony didn't care; Microsoft did, and the X enhancement stuff was revealed right around the time I was experiencing a run of faulty old controllers. I played my original copy of KOTOR on it first as I liked the symmetry that gave with my original xbox. Game pass has given the console a much bigger role than I originally expected.
Switch - a mix of sustained proof of concept, the upcoming games slate, the fact it had become easily available, an improved version of Breath of the Wild, and the need to name a gift to a mother who felt she'd spent one year too many with the book lists. This might be Nintendo's best console and own-brand library for my money.
Mega Drive - shortly after I got into gaming I had a couple of friends who owned Mega Drives, so mostly I wanted one to play the games which I liked best in their collections. I suppose Lion King and Ecco the Dolphin 2 would have been the most important.
N64 - Shadows of the Empire. On the UK launch day no less, purchased with my own hard-saved money. Thanks to my PC experience I knew that Lucas Arts and Star Wars were a gold seal of quality, and gosh darn it look at those screenshots of the Hoth battle! My parents were kind enough to buy me Mario 64 the next day and it was fun and all, but did it have snow speeders taking down AT-ATs? It did not. I was happy with my N64 throughout that generation and still have fondness for the library. A lot of the PS1's froggy-suitable games either had PC ports, didn't come out in Europe, or passed by my awareness until years later.
Gameboy Advance - it was rather cheap at launch, I liked the graphics and found the concept of the 16bit consoles reduced to portability by tech advancements fascinating, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon sounded fab with its mix of platforming exploration and RPG character systems, and Kuru kuru kururin was sufficiently odd to appeal strongly to me. I remember playing a lot of Konami Crazy Racers and F Zero at launch too.
Gamecube - after weeks of internal debate I purchased an imported American 'Cube for Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, with Monkey Ball and Luigi's Mansion as strong secondary interests. This is the last console where I remember being absolutely stunned by how big of a leap the graphics were; things like the environmental interactions with Samus' visor in Metroid Prime floored me, and I swear Rogue Leader looked exactly like the film. I loved this odd little console and wish companies would make more effort to bring the library in from the cold. The £/$ exchange rate was heavily in our favour back then so I got my games cheaper, earlier, and without the frequently bad PAL conversions. Good times.
PS2 - Kingdom Hearts. You can have Donald toast your enemies with fireballs, while meeting characters from FFVII and FFVIII? Sold. I requested system and game for my next birthday. I was surprised to discover my PS2 gradually usurped the Gamecube as my favourite that generation. What a library for the RPG and action-adventure gamer!
Xbox - Knights of the Old Republic. I was deeply unhappy when Microsoft splashed the cash and 'stole' this from PC. I'd been following it avidly since the day it was first revealed in PC Gamer UK. I waited and waited for that PC release which had no date and never seemed to happen. Then a nearby supermarket decided to clear its gaming section and I encountered a cut-price system and discounted copy of KOTOR; it felt like destiny. Later I played KOTORII, Jade Empire, Ninja Gaiden Black, and some others which leave me with a fond feeling towards the console despite that grudging start.
Wii - Twilight Princess thanks to the lasting power of the N64 Zeldas, but also the hype around the console and the fact I lucked into getting a preorder for launch by virtue of having a day off when Amazon got extra stock. I remember hooking the system up, and the sinking feeling that I might have made a mistake. I didn't like the controls. At all. I started Zelda. I didn't like the slow, verbose intro, and hated the controls. I went to ultra-hype to "I'm ... I'm going to play something else now" in the space of 2 hours. I never did fall in love with the Wii, despite eventually finding some games which I enjoyed without reservations. Mostly Metroid Prime 3 and Metroid Prime Trilogy.
360 - Blue Dragon. That's what I purchased with it and I liked it a lot despite the blah cast. I also had my eye on Lost Odyssey, Oblivion, and atmospheric older titles like Condemned. For a few years this thing was amazing and I played so many games on it. Then kinect arrived, marketing perceptions shifted, and everyone ignored my market segment to focus on the casual, multiplayer, and dudebro markets. I went from having everything to play to nothing, right at the point the PS3 finally found its feet. Took Xbox years to become relevant again.
PS3 - freak circumstances. A refund on a credit card went odd and double-credited, and the card company would not believe they'd made a mistake. The money must be spent immediately as it's against the terms and conditions to be in credit, they insisted. The already limited backwards compatibility of the EU model was about to be stripped out, and it was the only useful thing of the right value which I could think of to buy. I used it to play my PS2 library until Demon's Souls became a thing, at which point I imported a US copy as we still had no publisher here. It took the console a long time to sort itself out but it got there in its final years, and they were good years indeed.
Wii U - Monster Hunter. I'd been trying to get into the series for ages and couldn't get on with them due to tech and control factors. A HD version with a normal controller? That's literally what I kept wishing for. They even made a convenient official bundle for me. The game was everything I'd hoped for. I liked this system better than the Wii despite the flaws and droughts.
DS - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and the Lite redesign. One of my colleagues let me try his original model DS one lunchbreak, and I found the system intriguing if ugly. I saw a write-up of Phoenix Wright shortly after; a combination of the point and click games I'd loved in my childhood and an excellent translation, it was all but designed to capture my attention. At that time I got promoted at work, and took a trip to the nearby Game to buy a handsome black Lite and copy of the game several days later. It was a wise decision: this little thing had so many good and great games I still have a sizeable number left to play today.
PSP - Locoroco and Patapon. Another "I am flush with cash thanks to my promotion" purchase. I liked a lot of the library, especially the quirky stuff and JRPGs, but never did like the hardware itself.
3DS - Tales of the Abyss, Tom Clancy's Shadow Wars. The former never came out in Europe on PS2 and I'd heard about how fantastic it was for years. As a JRPG fan I had to get it. Immediately. The Tom Clancy was purely due to it being a solid turn-based tactics game by Mr Gallop of X-COM fame. While not quite the library powerhouse that is the DS, I still own a drawer full of games which I want to play.
Vita - Persona 4 Golden, PSP games on a better screen and form factor, and it'll definitely have a lot more quality JRPGs and stuff just like the PSP, right?? My main memory of this one is "That looks interesti - no, it's boobs again. Pass." This might be the most disappointing console I've owned purely thanks to the way otaku-baiting poisoned so much of the well. Parts of P4G were already pushing hard on the limits of what I'd eye-roll through.
PS4 - I can't remember. I got it a few months after my father died from a lengthy illness so perhaps it was more of a reminder that I must look forwards and try to resume my life. Great library once it got going.
One X - backwards compatibility. I like to revisit my games, and that PS360 generation has a lot of favourites. Sony didn't care; Microsoft did, and the X enhancement stuff was revealed right around the time I was experiencing a run of faulty old controllers. I played my original copy of KOTOR on it first as I liked the symmetry that gave with my original xbox. Game pass has given the console a much bigger role than I originally expected.
Switch - a mix of sustained proof of concept, the upcoming games slate, the fact it had become easily available, an improved version of Breath of the Wild, and the need to name a gift to a mother who felt she'd spent one year too many with the book lists. This might be Nintendo's best console and own-brand library for my money.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Ha, I'm glad someone else got a PS3 due to weird shenanigans.
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
But if you wanted them for particular games, they're definitely legitimate. My NES and PSX were Christmas gifts, and I wanted those for Zelda II and FFVII.
Also, how did you enjoy Tales of the Abyss? I played on PS2, and once I got past the fact that it wasn't Symphonia, it became one of my favorites in the series.
Oh, we haven't started into Tales of the Abyss yet, but spines' copy is over here and just waiting for the right moment haha! I look forward to playing through it together, though my only comparison will be my playthrough of Tales of Phantasia on the SNES earlier this year. Anyway, per your first point, I will add:
Gameboy Advance: Castlevania Circle of the Moon - my friend from middle school got a GBA first, we would beeline it to his house (his parents were never home til later), fix popcorn and easymac, then take turns on CotM all evening in whatever room had the best lighting for it lol.
Nintendo DS: Children of Mana - It wasn't quite the game I was hoping it would be but I still had a good time with it!
Gameboy Advance: Castlevania Circle of the Moon - my friend from middle school got a GBA first, we would beeline it to his house (his parents were never home til later), fix popcorn and easymac, then take turns on CotM all evening in whatever room had the best lighting for it lol.
Nintendo DS: Children of Mana - It wasn't quite the game I was hoping it would be but I still had a good time with it!
I had the NES since as far back as I can remember, I basically grew up playing it. I feel like my dad probably got it from someone because there was also like a dozen random games for it but I don't know for sure. Then we got an N64 for Christmas one year with Mario 64 and Shadow of the Empire. We also got Gameboy Colors somewhat around the same time? The year the Pokemon games came out, and my sister and I proceeded to race for two straight days to see who could beat it first (she did).
The first time I went in for a system myself was the Playstation 2, and I did it for Final Fantasy IX because I didn't understand why I would want a Playstation when the Playstation 2 exists. My sister caused an unfortunate accident that killed our PS2, as it started burning circles into discs it read afterward and we couldn't afford a new one. So I went for a PS1 just to at least access half of my Playstation library until Toys R Us started closing here a couple years later and we got a thin PS2 super cheap (which also died extremely fast).
I don't remember exactly when, how, or why but the next thing I got was a Gameboy Advance. I lost track of it at my a childhood friend's house, who had an identical one. I'm fairly certain he just stole it outright out of some kind of jealousy. So some time later when the GBA SP models came out I had a bunch of money somehow and saw the special ones with a weird tribal-looking design on them and picked that up and got Fire Emblem 7 with it for no real reason but I loved it (and I was the coolest kid who cared about videogames that year). Years down the road I found two identical GBAs in his house which his mother had no recollection of buying, so I stole the extra one, and then he lost track of his (mine) somehow. Until he found it under a bed a few months later, so I just exchanged them back because I wanted the one that was originally mine.
The Xbox I got for Fable and wow that was simultaneously really cool and really disappointing. Until I got Morrowind and then it was JUST really cool. Never really got much else on it besides Halo 1 and 2.
I picked up a 360 for Oblivion and only picked up a couple more games for it too, and it RROD'd on me a couple months after the last one I got for it (until the last couple years I got another 360 for super cheap so I could get some games I missed in the years since like Lost Odyssey).
Around the same time as the 360 we got a Gamecube but I can't remember how for that either. But the reason was Animal Crossing and Smash Melee.
Eventually I picked up a PS3 for Final Fantasy XIII (and to my own shame God of War 3). This wasn't until the Slim model came out so I never had any trouble with the console itself, and this was the first console in like 6 years that I got a bunch of games for over time.
Then I got a DSi for Pokemon White/Black because I'd missed an entire generation of Pokemon and wasn't happy about it. Big mistake. I could've just got a DSXL for way cheaper, or waited juuuuuust a little longer to get a 3DS for not really much more than I spent on the DSi. But I still didn't really pay attention to when new hardware was on its way so that's on me.
I picked up a Wii U for ZombiU and Monster Hunter 3U. Skipped the Wii entirely because I just didn't like the Wiimote and wasn't aware that there was an actual controller for it separately.
Got a PS4 for Bloodborne and the rest is history, loved it.
I finally got a 3DS when the Majora's Mask special edition XL came out with the 3DS version of the game. Fought real hard to get it because I didn't have the money to pre-order it in time. Waited outside a store launch day, but missed it by exactly one because an employee who got fired for it sold one to their friend the moment the shipment arrived before the store actually opened somehow. Gamestop's shady bullshit saved me on it because they put some extra stock back up for online orders after being sold out of pre-orders and most of launch morning.
Then last year on Black Friday I picked up a discounted PS4Pro for the extra storage space because I didn't want to hassle with external drives, and the Pro makes it a lot more convenient to install an SSD. And then just this year I gave away my old PS4 to an acquaintance who never got to play PT because none of my close friends or my sister wanted it.
And now I'm here, wanting to get a PS5 for several reasons but unable to do so.
The first time I went in for a system myself was the Playstation 2, and I did it for Final Fantasy IX because I didn't understand why I would want a Playstation when the Playstation 2 exists. My sister caused an unfortunate accident that killed our PS2, as it started burning circles into discs it read afterward and we couldn't afford a new one. So I went for a PS1 just to at least access half of my Playstation library until Toys R Us started closing here a couple years later and we got a thin PS2 super cheap (which also died extremely fast).
I don't remember exactly when, how, or why but the next thing I got was a Gameboy Advance. I lost track of it at my a childhood friend's house, who had an identical one. I'm fairly certain he just stole it outright out of some kind of jealousy. So some time later when the GBA SP models came out I had a bunch of money somehow and saw the special ones with a weird tribal-looking design on them and picked that up and got Fire Emblem 7 with it for no real reason but I loved it (and I was the coolest kid who cared about videogames that year). Years down the road I found two identical GBAs in his house which his mother had no recollection of buying, so I stole the extra one, and then he lost track of his (mine) somehow. Until he found it under a bed a few months later, so I just exchanged them back because I wanted the one that was originally mine.
The Xbox I got for Fable and wow that was simultaneously really cool and really disappointing. Until I got Morrowind and then it was JUST really cool. Never really got much else on it besides Halo 1 and 2.
I picked up a 360 for Oblivion and only picked up a couple more games for it too, and it RROD'd on me a couple months after the last one I got for it (until the last couple years I got another 360 for super cheap so I could get some games I missed in the years since like Lost Odyssey).
Around the same time as the 360 we got a Gamecube but I can't remember how for that either. But the reason was Animal Crossing and Smash Melee.
Eventually I picked up a PS3 for Final Fantasy XIII (and to my own shame God of War 3). This wasn't until the Slim model came out so I never had any trouble with the console itself, and this was the first console in like 6 years that I got a bunch of games for over time.
Then I got a DSi for Pokemon White/Black because I'd missed an entire generation of Pokemon and wasn't happy about it. Big mistake. I could've just got a DSXL for way cheaper, or waited juuuuuust a little longer to get a 3DS for not really much more than I spent on the DSi. But I still didn't really pay attention to when new hardware was on its way so that's on me.
I picked up a Wii U for ZombiU and Monster Hunter 3U. Skipped the Wii entirely because I just didn't like the Wiimote and wasn't aware that there was an actual controller for it separately.
Got a PS4 for Bloodborne and the rest is history, loved it.
I finally got a 3DS when the Majora's Mask special edition XL came out with the 3DS version of the game. Fought real hard to get it because I didn't have the money to pre-order it in time. Waited outside a store launch day, but missed it by exactly one because an employee who got fired for it sold one to their friend the moment the shipment arrived before the store actually opened somehow. Gamestop's shady bullshit saved me on it because they put some extra stock back up for online orders after being sold out of pre-orders and most of launch morning.
Then last year on Black Friday I picked up a discounted PS4Pro for the extra storage space because I didn't want to hassle with external drives, and the Pro makes it a lot more convenient to install an SSD. And then just this year I gave away my old PS4 to an acquaintance who never got to play PT because none of my close friends or my sister wanted it.
And now I'm here, wanting to get a PS5 for several reasons but unable to do so.