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Your Console Journey
- Preezy
- Skeletor
- Joined in 2009
- Location: SES Hammer of Vigilance
PostYour Console Journey
by Preezy » Thu Feb 01, 2018 9:40 am
I thought it'd be cool for us all to share our personal console journey up to today, including our thoughts on each system along the way. I'll go first!
Atari 2600 - I'm hesitant to include this, it was a hand-me-down by some family friends that figured it would be enough to keep some young kids quiet. Had a cartridge with about 200 games on it, each one worse than the last We must have only borrowed it (or got bored very quickly) because it disappeared pretty sharpish.
Sega MegaDrive 2 - My first love. This bad boy is the real start (the Genesis, you could say) of my journey into the world of videogames. I would have been about 8 when I got this so it’s pure nostalgia fuel. My sister and I would take it in turns playing Aladdin and Jurassic Park, and of course the Streets of Rage games. Christ I loved this thing
Sony Playstation - This absolutely dominated a big chunk of my childhood, so many classics and I still play on it from time to time. The original controllers were a bit wank but other than that it was the perfect console. Many a happy memory getting whalloped by my dad at FIFA 97, he rarely showed mercy . The startup sound is legit my favourite noise in gaming ever
Sony Playstation 2 - My dad got me a hacked PS2 from Malaysia and a CD-folder with about 200 games in it, so it’s fair to say I spent A LOT of time on this console. Despite that, I don’t really have that much nostalgia for it, I guess that time period was getting further away from my proper “childhood” era. It was a great console though and I spent a lot of time with it.
Nintendo Gamecube - My first Nintendo console. Got this on a whim one year and I didn’t give it the chance it probably deserved. It just couldn't compete with my PS2. Twin Snakes was great on it though and it’s a fantastic looking little thing.
Sony Playstation 3 - This one can be summed up by 2 games - Skyrim and FIFA. I must have put 500 hours into these games, I barely remember playing anything else (although it was also home to RDR and GTA5 ). This console did help me get through uni though, so it has its place in my heart
Microsoft Xbox 360 - Bought this due to the fear of missing out. I saw people who were loving Gears of War, Halo and Fable and I wanted a piece, but like the Gamecube I just didn't give it enough of a chance. I was too entrenched in the PS3 and I hated the fact the controllers needed batteries. I also personally felt that the games were a let-down too. It soon became a dust magnet.
Nintendo Wii – Actually had to add this in just before posting this, I forgot I’d even owned one . Got this for Christmas I think and only had Wii Sports and Mario Kart: Double Dash, it got shelved quicker than any of my other consoles. Motion controls just aren’t my cup of tea.
Sony Playstation 4 – Probably the best all-rounder of all of the consoles I’ve owned, I can’t believe it’s been almost 4 years since I got mine. It really does everything you could want in a console (except for the backwards compatibility, I guess) and the controllers are a dream. I do wonder how I’ll feel about it 15 years from now, I think it’ll go down as a genuine classic.
Nintendo Switch – Ummed and ahhed about including this as I think I’ve played it in docked mode a grand total of twice, but I can’t have just one Nintendo console in my list. It’s a fantastic little thing with some instant classics on it and I’m looking forward to it being a fixture of my gaming life for the next few years. Games are too pricey though, which is definitely going to limit the amount of content I get to experience on it.
I’ve also now got a little retro collection going which includes some of the consoles I missed out on (SNES, N64, Dreamcast…no Saturn yet!) but I’ve not included them as they’re not really a part of my console history.
I'm sure some of you will have a similar story to me, but I know that lots of you (older posters) will have some obscure console in there that no one else has played or owned. Don’t be shy, share your journey!
- Moggy
- "Special"
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Moggy
- captain red dog
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PostRe: Your Console Journey
by captain red dog » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:08 am
I then sold the SNES and got an N64.
Then I got the Dreamcast, PS2, GC and Xbox (selling the DC about 6 months before it got discontinued).
Next up I think was 360 and the following year I got a PS3 and sold the PS2 (hardly touched the PS3 from what I remember).
Then I got the Wii, PS4 and XB1 and now onto the Switch.
I haven't bought any of the pro models as its bad enough having all three consoles without having to upgrade them as well. 1080P is a sacrifice I am willing to make to have the flexibility of being multiform at.
Looking back, I still own all the consoles from the 360 onwards, and still have my Master System, Atari and GC!
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by NickSCFC » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:11 am
MegaDrive - 1994 - begged for this to play Sonic 2, loved it
GameGear - 1995 - car boot sale, meh
Saturn - 1996 - N64 was delayed, loved this, especially Sega's arcade ports
PlayStation - 1998 - got this to fit in, got me into adventure games and the games I'm into now
Dreamcast - 1999 - day one, most hyped launch ever, well worth it
PS2 - 2001 - traded for the above the day Sega left the market, most played console
Gamecube - 2003 - Xmas bonus treat, didn't buy many games
Xbox - 2004- bought purely for Halo 2, first online gaming memories
PSP - 2005 - day one, blown away by Wipeout, as were work mates
DS - 2006 - don't remember playing this much
Xbox 360 - 2006 - bought for Halo 3, collected dust after Kinect era started
PS3 - 2008 - came for MGS4, stayed for the Naughty Dog games
PS4 - 2014 - bought for Bloodborne, my go to console and streaming box
Switch - 2017 - bought to play Mario Kart with the missus, still loving Odyssey
- Moggy
- "Special"
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Moggy
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Moggy » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:23 am
The first proper gaming machine I played on was when I was at a friends house and he had an Amstrad. I remember playing the Ghostbusters game and was amazed at how wonderful it was. Soon after that I saw my uncle playing on a Spectrum and he let me play Daley Thompson’s Decathlon. After those two experiences, I begged my parents for a computer for Christmas and my journey began.
Commodore 64 – I had never heard of the C64, but after begging my parents for a games machine, my dad had spoken with the older lad next door who recommended the C64. This was a good idea as it meant I could borrow games from next door and as they were all on cassettes, it meant my neighbour could just copy them for me. I strawberry floating loved my C64, I think I got it in 1989 (the Light Fantastic pack) and it was still going strong in the mid-90s even though by then I had a Megadrive.
Megadrive – I was happy with my C64 but then I saw Sonic on TV and had to have one! I can’t really remember how I managed to buy one, I didn’t get it for Christmas or my birthday, so I must have had a fair bit of Christmas/birthday money and used that. It was quite a shock to go from buying games for £2.99 to buying them for £40 and it meant I could no longer just copy them from the neighbours. But despite that, the Megadrive was awesome and I soon found a shop that would let you trade games (much better rates than Game and CEX nowadays!) and our local video store would rent them.
SNES – With my C64 and Megadrive my passion for gaming was ignited and I soon wanted to play the games I was missing out on. My parents got me the Mario Allstars SNES pack for Christmas and I felt like a king having all those options for gaming. I actually remember overhearing my parents talking about whether they should buy me a SNES, my mum was saying something like “He already has computers, does he want to collect them all or something?”.
PlayStation – Despite loving my C64, Megadrive and SNES, they soon looked old hat compared to the next gen systems that were coming out. A friend of mine bought one on release and I can remember spending hours around his house playing Destruction Derby and I soon picked one up. I must have spent months if not years of my life playing on the likes of Tekken, Destruction Derby, WipeOut, FIFA and Crash Bandicoot. Eventually my console would only work upside down, but it didn’t matter, I could still game.
Post PlayStation – I have pretty much owned every console since the original PlayStation/N64/Saturn era. As I was a proper adult for the launches of PS2, Xbox and Gamecube they don’t stick in my mind with the fondness that the older machines do. I have had plenty of great gaming experiences on PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbone and Wii, but it’s just not the same when you are grown up.
- Rax
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- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Raxicori
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Rax » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:27 am
Atari 2600 I dont remember this arriving in the house, we just had one, it was under the portable tv in the kitchen and we were allowed play it if it was raining. I was very young at the time but I remember we had a couple of games for it, Centipede and Tennis for sure but there was also some dungeon crawler where I could never work out what to do, it was beyond my tiny mind.
NES This arrived one Christmas and it had everything, pads, light gun, R.O.B and a bunch of games. Asking my parents about it later they got it second hand off a friend of theirs, his son had grown out of it so wanted rid of it. They had planned to drip feed us the games over time, as we get bored they would pull a new one our of thin air but this didnt work when my brother found the stash a couple of weeks after Xmas and suddenly we had all the games we needed. It helped that our cousins had one as well and we could swap games with them, this was the start of the love affair with games.
Mega Drive Another second hand machine, we had wanted a SNES, cos Nintendo, but we had played a Mega Drive and werent gonna say no when Dad found a second hand one for sale in town. This was the first console where we had some input into game selection, it came with a couple but I remember asking for and getting Sonic and Knuckles. Once again one of our cousins had a Mega Drive so some parental coordination made sure we each had seperate libraries and coupld swap games with each other so we got to play just about all the classics.
N64 This was the first big deal console, we had wanted this for months, I had started a summer job so I had a bit of money, I spent it on games mags and they got me hyped for the arrival of the N64 that Xmas. Santa was bringing it as a big present me and my brothers could share, it was an outstanding machine, loved everything about it. It was also the console where we no longer needed parents for everything, my summer job meant I had cash to buy games. Ended up with just about every big release for the console and this was the machine that really cemented the fact I was a "gamer" and it made me a Nintendo fanboy.
Gamecube This was the last console my parents helped to buy and the first we got on launch, parents got the console, me and my brother got the games. As much as I love the Gamecube and the game this was also around the time I started to peek over the fence a bit at Xbox and Playstation, I liked the look of what they were getting and didnt like that the Gamecube was missing out. Dont get me wrong, I was very happy with what was coming out on Gamecube, I just had a lot of free time and I had money from a weekend job and a summer job, I wanted moar!
Xbox I played Halo for 10 minutes my first day of college, I got my ass handed to me on Blood Gulch when I jumped into the tank, couldnt figure out how to manouver it right and the other guy sniped me from miles away, that didnt leave the best first impression I have to say. However one of the guys in my course had an Xbox and would not shut up about how good it was, he convinced me that even if no other game came out worth playing, Halo was worth it on its own, that was me sold and I became an Xbox owner. I loved my Xbox, I loved Halo, so did just about everyone else I knew, whole weekends were spent playing 16 player Halo over LAN, to this day thats some of my favourite gaming memories. I had no interest in drinking or going out, I wanted to play games, every spare penny I had was plowed into gaming, I played just about everything on Xbox worth playing and a whole bunch of gooseberry fool that wasnt worth playing. It also introduced me to GTA, I was late to the party but it was an absolute revelation.
Xbox 360 The second console I got at launch, I missed a day of college for it, I missed an exam for it, I didnt leave my student apartment for 3 days, I ended up buying 4 of them, I wound up with over 100 games for it, I played everything, I love this console more than any other. But this console made me hate AAA gaming, I had bought Forza, COD, Assassins Creed, Madden etc every year, I remember the moment it happened, I was playing Forza Horizon and I had absolutely no desire to keep going, I had done this all before, there was nothing new here. The game was solid, there was nothing wrong with the game, I just had no desire to see it all, I looked at what was coming, it was all sequels, if it wasnt a sequel it was another shooter, I wanted out. The One had been announced, Microsoft laid out their stall and I had no interest in what they were selling, I wanted to enjoy gaming again, I loved my 360, I still love it but I wanted something different now.
Wii U I wanted Nintendo back in my life, I had skipped the Wii, my brother had one and I played it here and there but I had not played a game from start to finish. Being able to go back and play Wii games I missed, along with playing the new Mario game (3D World), the new Pikmin game, this X game Id been hearing about and so many others, sold me on the fact I needed a Wii U. I have no regrets about getting this console, it helped reignite the love for gaming that had been waining. Yes it only played Nintendo games, yes the gamepad looked like a fisher price toy, I dont care, the games one it are some of the most original and most engaging Ive ever played. Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, Pikmin 3, Super Mario 3D World, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, Xenoblade Chronicles X are the big hitters and grab the headlines but theres plenty smaller titles too, Affordable Space Adventures, Shantae, The Fall, Minecraft and it plays all your old Wii games. I adore this console and I hate that it doesnt get the love it deserves.
Switch Ive only had this for 6 weeks but it is magnificent, I play mostly in handheld mode but I love that I can dock it and carry on playing on the big screen. Theres so much potential in this machine and Im really looking forward to seeing what Nintendo do with it.
Thats my console journey, its been a hell of a ride and one I hope continues for many years to come.
- Preezy
- Skeletor
- Joined in 2009
- Location: SES Hammer of Vigilance
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Preezy » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:34 am
NickSCFC wrote:NES - 1992
MegaDrive - 1994
GameGear - 1995
Saturn - 1996
PlayStation - 1998
Dreamcast - 1999
PS2 - 2001
Gamecube - 2003
Xbox - 2004
PSP - 2005
DS - 2006
Xbox 360 - 2006
PS3 - 2008
PS4 - 2014
Switch - 2017
Come on Nick, this isn't just a list-athon, share your journey with all these consoles. Which did you love, which did you hate, which did you forget about?
- Preezy
- Skeletor
- Joined in 2009
- Location: SES Hammer of Vigilance
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Preezy » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:42 am
Rax wrote:Atari 2600 I dont remember this arriving in the house, we just had one
I reckon most people that had a 2600 in their house would say this, they just magically come into existence in a flurry of wires and cheap wood
Great journey too, Rax, I liked the "peeking over the fence" bit, that's how I felt about the 360.
- D_C
- Member
- Joined in 2011
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by D_C » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:54 am
PS1 - Christmas present, had to share with brothers
PS2 - Same as PS1
N64 - Traded a Gameboy advance for it. Best trade ever.
Gamecube - Loved it, even had one of those screens you could attach to the top. Many car journeys were had playing Smash Bros with my brothers in the back.
Xbox
Xbox 360 - Best gen for me. Met a lot of friends.
Wii
Wii U
Ps4
Xbox One
Switch
Xbox One X
- Rax
- Member
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Raxicori
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Rax » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:56 am
Preezy wrote:Rax wrote:Atari 2600 I dont remember this arriving in the house, we just had one
I reckon most people that had a 2600 in their house would say this, they just magically come into existence in a flurry of wires and cheap wood
Great journey too, Rax, I liked the "peeking over the fence" bit, that's how I felt about the 360.
Yeah I was a huge Nintendo fanboy at the time but I did play the occasional game of Tekken and Gran Turismo and loved them, came close to buying a PS1 but there were always N64 games to buy so I never did take the plunge. I think at the time I had the gamecube and I wanted to be a bit more "grown up" and Xbox were offering exactly that. Its also interesting how I came back to Nintendo, I missed the "fun" in their games and missing out on Mario and Zelda was no good at all. Itll be interesting to see if I go back to other way, if I grow weary of what Nintendo offer and long for the more serious games on other platforms again.
- Moggy
- "Special"
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Moggy
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Moggy » Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:13 am
Preezy wrote:Great journey too, Rax, I
Oh yeah, thank Rax but ignore other people that wrote out a long gaming journey. This is why people just make a list.
- Preezy
- Skeletor
- Joined in 2009
- Location: SES Hammer of Vigilance
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Preezy » Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:15 am
Moggy wrote:Post PlayStation – it’s just not the same when you are grown up.
I know them feels Moggy
edit: Moggy, forgive me
- Drumstick
- Member ♥
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Vampbuster
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Drumstick » Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:15 am
SNES - This the one that properly got me into gaming. I had a number of the classics, including but not limited to: Mario All-stars, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, F-Zero, Mortal Kombat...
PC - My Dad had got into PC gaming and whilst I played Bubble Bobble he played Descent, Hexen, Quake, Half Life... Eventually I got to play too!
N64 - Perhaps the most important console of my lifetime. So much time invested in games like Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, 1080 Snowboarding, F-Zero X, ISS 64, Donkey Kong 64, Pokémon Stadium, multiple Mario Parties and lots of others. Multiplayer is also a staple of this period of my life. Sadly the N64 collection is traded in to make funds available for its successor...
GameCube - I probably loved the GC more than most. I still think it is massively underrated and have in the past few years enlarged my portfolio of games for it, which I've mentioned in the retro gaming thread a few times. Currently I've got just over 40 games for it. It introduced me to Resident Evil, Metroid, Zelda and Metal Gear Solid. I spent hundreds of hours on first party successes like F-Zero GX, 1080 Avalanche, Pikmin, Wario Ware, SSBM, Super Mario Sunshine.
The GC was the first console where I was at an age to properly appreciate it.
Xbox - Didn't have too much on this. Picked up the console quite late in its lifespan on the cheap and got stuck into the GTA trilogy, PGR2 and Half Life 2. It also very importantly gave me my first experience of online gaming when I hooked up with some GR folks for some online PGR2.
PC - I missed most of the PS3/360/Wii era but toward the end of it I drifted back toward the PC and found Steam. Through Steam I was able to play BioShock, Football Manager (2000+ hours!!), Trackmania, Borderlands co-op with Sykes and Johnny Ryall. Also enjoyed Half Life 2 Eps 1 & 2, Worms, GTA IV, indie titles like Blur and a few more.
Switch - It's brilliant so far. Love all the functionality, genuinely didn't think I'd use the handheld mode too much but I've used it a fair amount so far, mostly for FIFA. Got Mario, Zelda and Rabbids so far and I haven't even started the latter two. It's good to be a member of the #switchsquad
One man should not have this much power in this game. Luckily I'm not an ordinary man.
- Moggy
- "Special"
- Joined in 2008
- AKA: Moggy
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Moggy » Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:17 am
Preezy wrote:Moggy wrote:Post PlayStation – it’s just not the same when you are grown up.
I know them feels Moggy
It’s weird, I enjoy gaming as much as I did as a kid, but the memories are just not the same. My memory of Micro Machines on the Megadrive is just whereas Forza Horizon on the Xbone is just nowhere near. Nostalgia is powerful.
edit: Moggy, forgive me
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PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Ste » Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:27 pm
Atari 7800 - This came with Asteroids which I liked but my Dad had enjoyed playing on the XE and realised this was shite in comparison so was quickly swopped for.
C64 GS - This came with a 4 in 1 cartridge. The best game on it was Flimbo's Quest which I also completed. Later on I got Navy Seals and Batman which were completed. Toki was a high point. The last game I got was Pang which was good but came at the same time I got a
Game Boy - Got this Xmas first year senior school (1991) with Super Mario Land. It was the first console I had that I knew other people who had it which was great. I loved this. Must have spent hours on it. By the end I must have had a collection of at least 50 games, maybe as many as 80 and load of accessories. Use to buy the GB Power mag every month. Game highlights were Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Wario Land and Link's Awakening. I eventually traded most of these games in for about £1 each at some local independent Cash Converter type shop so I could buy a Personal CD player. Between this and my next console I played lots of SNES, Mega Drive and Playstation but never actually owned any of them. The next console I owned was:
N64 - Bought this just after Xmas in my first year a Uni. First console I bought myself with my student loan. Came with Lylat Wars, Star Wars (I'd been dreaming of playing the Hoth level since seeing the trailer about 2 years before) and Goldeneye. I loved Goldeneye, first game I replayed on all the different difficultly levels. Also loved F-Zero (thought the idea of having 40 vehicles on track was amazing), Rogue Squadron. Mario Golf & Tennis, Smash Bros. It was a great local multiplayer console.
Dreamcast - My girlfriend bought this for me our first Xmas together (this is a recurring theme). Had some fun with MSR, Ready 2 Rumble, and Crazy Taxi in particular. Also had my first taste of online game with Quake 3. It was already clear at this point it was on it's way out though so never really got into it.
PS2 - was the following years Xmas console. Apart from spells with Hitman 2 and Burnout it was pretty much a PES machine. It came with FIFA which wasn't very good so after seeing a review for PES and playing the demo it was exchanged. I'd not played a football game for a few years so the improvement was very noticeable. It was tough at first but in a good way. I still remember my Master League team - 3-2-3-2 - Buffon - Maldini-Stam-Thuram-Davids-Veron-Figo-Zidane-Rivaldo-Batistuta-Ronaldo.
Gamecube - This was the one I was really looking forward to. Didn't arrive in time for Xmas so got it end of Jan 03. Rogue Leader blew my away. I'm sure if I played that Death Star level now I'd still enjoy it. Monkey Ball was also great. I preferred Double Dash to MK64 but preferred F-Zero, Mario Tennis, Golf & Smash Bros on N64 - to be fair with Smash Bros I didn't have anyone to play it with. Metroid Prime and Resi 4 are in my top 3 favourite games of all time. Also loved Wave Race and 1080 (loved the music) having only played the former a little on N64 and the latter not at all.
Xbox - Was a birthday present that only really interested me so I could play Champ Manager. Then I played Halo. I loved the idea of online gaming. I've been on Xbox Live since July 04. 2004 was a great year for Xbox. I ended up enjoying the Xbox more than the Gamecube.
Wii - It just wasn't for me. Soon traded for an Xbox 360 which didn't impress the GF as she had paid over the odds to get it that first Xmas it was out.
Xbox 360 - Got off to an enjoyable start but I think I'd just got game fatigue so for the last few years just played FIFA.
Xbox One - Upgraded to just play FIFA but although I'm well aware of the negativity around it I only get a few hours to game these days and I'm at the age now where I don't care if I don't play "the best game eva!" because it's on PS4, I've enjoyed gaming more the last couple of years than what I have for a long time.
Nintendo 2DS - I get my Nintendo fix from this. I've never really been a 3D Mario or 3D Zelda fan but really enjoyed Super Mario 3D land and am enjoying Zelda LBW. Recently got Mario Golf which I think is amazing.
- Jazzem
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PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Jazzem » Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:44 pm
Mega Drive - 1995 or 1996 I think?
N64 - 1997
Dreamcast - 1999
Gamecube - 2002
Xbox - 2002 (though more my brother's system)
PS2 - 2004 (ditto)
Wii - 2006
Xbox 360 - 2011
Wii U - 2012
PS3 - 2014 (wanted a cheap blu ray player )
Switch - 2017
Also throw in a few retro systems, like SNES in 2002, NES I think in 2003 and a Saturn around 2012. Wish I had a CRT for those...even got the MD/SNES/SAT 60hz modded.
Got a gaming PC in 2016, settling on a PC + Nintendo combo I probably should've gone to years before. So I've been primarily a Nintendo fellow with an extra dose of Sega adoration. Much respect for MS + Sony for adding so much to the industry too, speaking personally I loved XBLA and got much use out of my PSP + Vita. Not super fussed on getting an Xbone or PS4 due to having PC, though I'm currently envious of the SotC remake...
Funny side note: I remember debating with my brothers (including Tomous on here) on what to get for Xmas 1997...we settled on 64, but for a while I was arguing for PS1 for...the Space Jam game, yes really D: Quite happy in retrospect that Xmas '97 was instead for Mario 64 and Diddy Kong Racing! Obviously PS1 was an excellent system, still it is hard to imagine my childhood without blinding Nintendo fanaticism.
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PostRe: Your Console Journey
by mark9 » Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:20 pm
For a period my only real game playing was going round friends houses and playing Donkey Kong Country for SNES and Crash Bandicoot.
Playstation (1998). The console that properly got me into gaming. I loved the sheer variety of the console, even if I was mainly into platformers then anything else. My favourite game on it was Crash Bandicoot 3 although Crash Team Racing and Spyro 2 came very close.
Game Boy Color 2000 Got this almost exclusively for Pokemon Blue which in February 2000, was incredibly hard to find anywhere. After weeks of searching my dad managed to find it in a WHSMiths and bought on the spot. I must have got through hundreds of batteries in that first month and played it religiously. The only Game Boy color exclusive game I really got was Croc.
Nintendo 64 (2001) I got into this pretty late in the day, I'd been playing Super Smash Bros round my friends for years and I just decided to take the plunge. I loved Smash Bros and Conkers Bad Fur Day was played almost religiously.
Gamecube (May 2002) To date the only console I got on launch day. I loved my gamecube and looking back, that launch period was magic. Luigi, Monkey Ball, Star Wars, Wave Race, Smash Bros and finally Pikmin coming out on my birthday was the icing on the cake. I still look back fondly on those times. Favourite game by far was Smash Melee although Pikmin was probably the game I completed the most amount of times. I remember having 1080 snowboarding time trial competitions on the former Gamesradar forums and was never that good. It's the attempt that counts right?
Nintendo DS (2005) Great console, bought from Blockbuster (RIP in peace) and probably lived the longest of all consoles I've owned. Pokemon Diamond is my favourite. Big shout outs to Warioware touched as well.
At this point I fell out with gaming. University, falling in love, having heart broken etc all got in the way. Luckily my fiancé is a big Nintendo gamer so shortly..
Wii U (2013) I love my WiiU and whilst its games are getting a second attempt with the Switch, I feel a bit sad for the old black breeze block. So many games that I absolutely adore like Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Toads Treasure Tracker, Smash bros, Tropical Freeze.
Nintendo 2DS(2014)
I bought this solely for Pokemon X and I have no regrets. I finally completed my Pokedex last year and as I know I'll never be doing that for Sun/Moon, I feel content.
Nintendo Switch (2017) This is my favourite console. It has so many games that are just right up my alley and with Splatoon 2, I think I have a new favourite gaming series.
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Gemini73 » Thu Feb 01, 2018 1:30 pm
Commodore +4
Not a great system and support was minimal. That said it came with a stack of games, such as Treasure Island and Fire Ant, that I played to death. Such fond memories.
Spectrum 128k+2
Seeing that the old +4 was becoming obsolete, the following Christmas my parents bought me this beauty with a copy of Gauntlet. Like the +4 I played on the +2 to death and over the next few years I amassed hundreds of games; some new, some crammed on to Memorex C90 cassette tapes ( ). Good times.
Sega Master System
The first proper console I owned. By this time being interested in other things I wasn't gaming as much, but I did enjoy a few classics on the system.
Commodore Amiga 500+
I was heavily into my table top RPGs by this point and the Amiga was the perfect platform to accommodate that passion with classics such as Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder and Ishtar 2. Being such a versatile platform, the Amiga also allowed me to experiment with Deluxe Paint and music programs like Octamed. While emulation has allowed me to revisit the Amiga it's the one system I regret selling on.
Sega Megadrive 2
Bought one of these during my Amiga ownership days. Had a small handful of quality games, but in truth I didn't use it all that much.
SNES
As above, although I used this even less having original bought it from Woolworths just to play StarFox. The only other games I owned for the platform was Lost Vikings and Super Star Wars. Again, by this time my gaming was very much taking a back seat to everything else.
Playstation
Picked one up with a copy of Doom and Battle Arena Toshinden. This was the system that really got me back into my gaming - and I haven't looked back since. The sheer breadth and depth of the PSone's game catalogue over the course of its life time was and remains astounding and as such has made Sony's first console my personal favourite gaming platform of all time.
Sega Saturn
Bought one second hand. While it did have some great games available for it, it just wasn't as good as Playstation. Sorry.
N64
My second Nintendo system, and what a system it was. Home to Goldeneye, Turok, Banjo, Jet Force Gemini, and was the first time I ever sat down and properly played a Mario or Zelda game. OOT.
Sega Dreamcast
By this point I'd amassed quite a collection of games, retro systems and gaming memorabilia. With a superb selection of games in its catalogue the Dreamcast was an easy buy. Picking up a 'Boot Disc' the DC, most memorably, allowed me to import - and at an affordable price - titles from one of my favourite fighting series "The King of Fighters".
PS2
Were there genuinely gamers out there who didn't own one of these at the height of the systems popularity? No longer have my original fat ps2, but I do still have a slim. Like the first Playstation, the PS2 had an incredible line up of games that appealed to a whole array of different gamers, new and old. That, I feel, was its real strength. Oh, and GTA III happened.
Nintendo Gamecube
Went to the pub, got drunk, strolled into GAME on the midnight launch of Nintendo's new system and bought one along with Rogue Squadron. Regretted the state of my bank balance in the morning, but not owning the GC. Later on REmake, Mario Sunshine, Rogue Squadron, Metroid Prime etc = great system. Still have one hooked up to a Panasonic CRT.
Xbox
Bought Microsoft's first console at another GAME midnight launch along with Halo, DOA 3 and PGR, although I was sober this time. I'd never seen such power in a home console before and it just blew me away. Amazing system with some outstanding games to its name.
Xbox 360
RROD aside the 360 was and remains a superb system, (currently own two). I didn't actually buy one until a year after launch and by then the whole RROD debacle was in full swing. While a suffered I few 360 failures myself the pure gaming joy this system dished out was immense.
PS3
As with the 360 I waited before taking the plunge, which given the consoles rather lacklustre first year was a wise decision. While the PS3 failed to have the same impact on me as its predecessors it still is home to some quality titles. I currently own two 250gb slim models.
Nintendo Wii
Mainly bought for the family and we had some fun with it. Ultimately though the novelty for me grew thin and so I stopped using it. My daughters, however, played on it all the time with various dancing and singing games and the Lego Harry Potter titles.
PC
I had dabbled in PC gaming in the past and on visiting my wife, (before she was my wife), in Bristol where she was at Uni, I would play the likes of Might & Magic and Age of Empires on her Laptop. Up to this point, though, consoles had been my primary gaming platforms. My current PC, which I bought just over 4 years ago and have upgraded once, is perhaps the best gaming investment I've ever made. The sheer breadth, depth, versatility and freedom PC gaming provides me, as a gamer, is without equal. PC gaming has certainly put the brakes on me investing in console buying - with the next two platforms probably being my last for a while.
PS4
This is my second PS4, I sold the last toward funding said PC. I am glad I bought another unit, however as it has some superb exclusives and I do use it quite regularly. Yeah, a very good console.
Nintendo Wii U
Bought this second hand from a work colleague to play just one game - TLoZ: Breath of the Wild. Unfortunately some 60+ hours in the console refused to recognise the external HD and the only option it would give me was to format said drive. I sold the console and BotW a few days later.
Xbox One S
For my money this, in its standard white, is the best looking console ever produced. It just looks so neat and tidy under the tele and the control pad is simply marvellous. I only have a handful of games for it as it was originally bought because I was fed up with Windows Store being so janky. But yeah, it's a good system and the BC feature is superbly implemented
Aside from a handful of portable systems, (PSP, DS, DS Lite and a couple of Neo Geo Pockets), that's your lot.
- Cheeky Devlin
- Member
- Joined in 2008
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by Cheeky Devlin » Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:08 pm
BBC Micro Model B - Came home from my first day at primary school to find my Mum and Dad had bought this beige and Black monstrosity. What it lacked in looks it made up for in software though. My first ever taste of some arcade classics came through this (Usually in the form of clones - Killer Gorilla was Donkey Kong) as well as some other 8-Bit classics. My dad would occasionally come home with floppy discs containing multiple games and I played it for at least a few years. Classic machine that often gets forgotten when compared to the other 8-Bit computers of the time. Genuinely considering picking up one again.
Game Boy - Family holiday to France and again my parents bought me this to keep me occupied. Spent the trip playing Tetris, Super Mario Land and Golf and it started my eternal love affair for Nintendo and Nintendo games. It's where I would play my first Zelda game (Properly play, I had seen Zelda 2 and LTTP, but didn't own them at the time) and it's where I would first encounter Samus Aran.
PC (486 DX66 - 8Mb RAM) - My first PC and it was revelatory. Came with a load of pirated software (Arr) from my Dad's friends and was utterly bewitching. It was such a leap from the BBC that I would spend hours just messing about with Windows, navigating directories and doing daft stuff. It was also where I found a small shareware game called Wolfenstein 3D and discovered just how much fun it was to shoot Nazi's in the face. I'd probably be around 8/9 years old at this point. To this day I remember having an argument in the school playground about Wolfenstein being amazing and one guy saying some new game called Doom was better. He might have been right about that one.
Super Nintendo - Not long after getting my Game Boy I started reading Total! magazine. It was amazing seeing all the cool NES games and upcoming Game Boy games, but as soon as they started showing off the SNES I knew I had to get one. So Christmas that year I woke up to a new SNES with Street Fighter II and Lemmings. My mates also got them as well, but they got the Super Mario World pack. Absolutely adored the machine and to this day it's still probably my favourite console. Biggest thrill was getting Super Metroid which, for me, is the best game ever made. I find it utterly flawless.
Nintendo 64 - Another Christmas present and arguably the best one I ever had. Goldeneye and Super Mario 64 dominated my life for months afterwards and with Ocarina of Time the next year it was clearly the choice over the PlayStation. It's home to what I believe are some of the best and most influential games ever made and I still hold a lot of those games as the gold standard. It might not have had the expansive library or support of the PlayStation, but it more than made up for it with the proportion of amazing titles.
Game Boy Color - Picked it up on a family holiday to the US, primarily to play Pokémon which had been getting a ton of exposure in the various Nintendo mags at the time. This was a good few months before the games launched in the UK, so beyond the anime few people knew what it was yet. Again a fantastic little handheld and some of the tricks developers pulled with it were astounding. Seeing FMV sequences on Cannon Fodder was mind-blowing. It's last hurrah for me would be when I skipped Uni for a week to play my imported copy of Pokémon Silver start to finish. Planked myself on the couch with my power adaptor and hammered my way through it. Utter joy.
PSone - Moving away for Uni in 2000 finally gave me some proper exposure to the non-Nintendo systems. While I'd played other consoles like the Mega Drive or Master System at cousins or friends houses over the years, I'd some how managed to miss PlayStation almost entirely. So finally getting a chance to see these games in action convinced me that I'd (Unfairly) been dismissing the system. Used my student loan to buy a PSone the day it launched and took it home with Final Fantasy VIII, Marvel Vs Capcom and Tenchu 2. I would go on to spend hundreds of hours on the Final Fantasy games and Metal Gear Solid would soon find it's place amongst my all-time favourite games.
Game Boy Advance - Continuing the trend of my portables being non-UK versions, I imported a GBA on it's Japanese launch along with F-Zero. It was a fantastic wee machine despite it's screen being shite and without it I'd never have developed my well documented love for the Advance Wars series. It also had a pretty damn good conversion of Doom as well.
Dreamcast - Picked one up new not long after Sega dropped their bombshell (I think). Came in a pack with MSR, Jet Set Radio and Virtua Fighter 3TB. So many fantastic, niche games and it's loss was a massive blow. Great system with some phenomenal games.
GameCube - Managed to snag an invite to Nintendo's "CubeClub" promotional tour when it came to Glasgow (Even pinched a poster from the wall) and was blown away by the system. Rogue Leader was (And still is) revelatory in how fast and good it looked. Eventually picked up the system with Rogue Leader and then Smash Bros a week or so later. It was a great system and had so many games I loved. So it was a nice surprise when my girlfriend bought me one for my Christmas this year. Currently re-exploring Metroid Prime and Starfox Adventures!
PlayStation 2 - I'd been visiting cousins in Canada when I was 20 (So around 2003) and spent a decent amount of time on their PS2. So when my 21st came around I went out and spent my birthday money on one of these.
PSP - Once more I imported a Japanese launch unit, getting the system about 8-9 months before it launched here. Being able to play games that looked almost as good as the PS2 on the move was insane. Sadly I bought very few games for it. Ridge Racers, Metal Gear AC!D and Wipeout Pure were the only ones I bought. I followed the homebrew scene very closely and when I was able to download games for free it killed my desire to buy them. Not proud of it as the system deserved so much more. I did play a lot of emulators on it as well though and it was very well suited to it. I also identified a game breaking bug in the ScummVM Monkey Island code which they managed to fix after I pointed it out to them.
Xbox 360 - The last new home console I received as a Christmas present. I had an idea it was coming as my mum had asked me previously what the big games for it were (Not something that she would normally do), so I got it along with Gears of War. On Boxing Day I went out and picked up Hitman Blood Money and Ridge Racer 6. Loved the system dearly and I didn't really drift away from it until Kinect started to make an appearance and my interest in the system waned.
Wii - I was day one for Wii and it was one of only two midnight launches I've gone to. Great system, which I have a lot of fondness for, even if it never quite lived up to the hype I had for it.
DS - Loved it. Got it for Christmas one year with Mario Kart DS and had some really interesting and inventive games. Eventually traded it in after I got a DS Lite with a phone contract. I still play it to this day and finally picked up a legitimate copy of it's best game "Puzzle Collection 5: Slitherlink" for my girlfriend to play (She's demolished every Picross game I've got in less than 2 months).
PlayStation 3 - After initially being put off the PS3 by it's high-price I eventually picked it up on a whim. My local Woolworths had a bundle that included a 60Gb PS3, 2 Sixaxis pads, Two Blu Ray movies and two games for £400 (Ridge Racer 7 and something else). I was initially annoyed that it didn't come with an HDMI cable as standard, but picking one up the next day fixed that. Initially it was an even mix between my Wii, 360 and PS3, but as time wore on and 360 started getting a bit less appealing I spent more and more time with my PS3. The Uncharted games, TLOU and Metal Gear Solid made it more than worth the purchase. Currently own two of them. My original one which I kept for BC purposes and the Super Slim which I keep under the TV just now for general use.
3DS - The second, and last, midnight launch I attended. 3DS never quite lived up to it's predecessor for me. I felt there was to much reliance on JRPGs for my taste. Still a great system though and I've recently revisited it for the Metroid II remake.
Wii U - Picked it up about 6 months after launch. Easily the black sheep of Nintendo's output for me. Some phenomenal games, but the spotty release schedule and poor third party support meant that I've only ever bought a handful of titles for it. It deserved better.
PlayStation 4 - Again I picked this up about 5-6 months after launch. Probably the best PlayStation system I've owned. PS+ combined with PSN sales mean I've accumulated a library of games that rivals what I have on Steam. Some stellar games. Combined with picking up a PSVR last July make the PS4 easily the best PlayStation ever and potentially the best console I've ever owned. I'm just hoping they can carry that on with PS5.
Nintendo Switch - This was a day one purchase for me. Even before details were released I knew that Nintendo were going to come out with something special and that I was going to be on the ground floor with it. So far it's not disappointed and I'm loving every minute of it. Easily the best system Nintendo have put out since the GameCube, perhaps even the N64.
Xbox One X - Which brings me to the One X, which I've currently had for about 5 weeks now. I'm not convinced by the UI, which is bloated and messy to the point of annoyance. The exclusives are decent, but not quite as good as PS4's. However it's where I'll be playing all my multi-platform releases going forward. Gamepass is a great addition and I can see me making great use out of the system over the next few years.
MISC
I also own a Mega Drive, Saturn and NES.I didn't include these ones as I never owned them at the time they were active and they've generally been dip-in dip-out systems for me. All are fantastic systems and they're all a joy to play with even now.
Additionally my PC has been upgraded and improved multiple times over the past 20 years so there's obviously a lot more to that.
-
- Member
- Joined in 2012
PostRe: Your Console Journey
by jawafour » Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:46 pm
Commodore VIC-20 (1984)
Commodore 64 (1985)
Sega Master System (1987)
Atari 520 STe (1989)
Sega Mega Drive (1990)
Nintendo Game Boy (1990)
Commodore Amiga 600 (1992)
Super Nintendo (1993)
Commodore Amiga 1200 (1993)
Sony PlayStation (1995)
Nintendo 64 (1998)
Nintendo Game Boy Color (1999)
Microsoft Xbox (2003)
Nintendo DS Lite (2007)
model appeared alongside some great new games and I became hooked! I still love the dsign of the Lite model - it's so slick and swish. Even now I can still enjoy using the machine and playing the games.
Microsoft Xbox 360 (2007)
Sony PlayStation 3 (2008)
Nintendo Wii (2009)
Nintendo DSi XL (2011)
Nintendo 3DS (2011)
Nintendo 3DS XL (2012)
Nintendo Wii U (2012)
Sony PlayStation 4 (2013)
New Nintendo 3DS (2015)
Sony PlayStation 4 Pro (2016)
Nintendo Switch (2017)
So, yeah... gaming systems . And GRcadian memories of them .
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