jawa asks... when have you bought a games machine at launch and when have you waited?

Dual wrote:Does anyone play launch games throughout the life of the console?

I played Tetris, Super Mario 64 and Rogue Leader not only throughout the lives of their consoles but also these days

GC, Wii U, PS3 and PS4 at launch, everything else (SNES, N64, DC, Xbox, 360, GB, GBA, DS, Vita) not at launch.

In terms of consoles I've bought during their active lifespan...

Game Boy - Around 8 years after launch
Game Boy Colour - Within 6 months of launch
N64 - 4 years in, when Pokemon Stadium came out
Game Boy Advance - Launch
Gamecube - Launch
Xbox - Within a year of launch
PS2 - Around 5 years after launch, right near the end of its main lifespan
Game Boy Advance SP - Launch
Game Boy Advance Micro - Within a year of launch
Nintendo DS - A few months after launch (basically after trying one and being blown away!)
PSP - Around 2 years after launch
DS Lite - Launch
Xbox 360 - Within a year of launch
PS3 - Within a year of launch
Wii - Launch
3DS - Within a year of launch
PS3 Slim - Within a year of launch
Wii U - Launch
PS Vita - Around 2 years after launch
3DS XL - Within a year of launch
PS4 - Within a year of launch
Xbox One - Within a year of launch
NES Mini - Launch
PS4 Pro - Within a year of launch
Switch - Launch

So yeah, with the exception of N64, Game Boy and PS2 I got most things fairly early on. Particularly with Nintendo consoles where I've nearly always made launch since the Game Boy Advance, with the exceptions of the DS and 3DS. N64 and Game Boy were the first consoles I managed to convince my parents to let me have after them being resolute on not wanting to buy me a Mega Drive or SNES. PS2 I got late on as they were available really cheap and my original Xbox died on me, I'd already played everything I wanted to play on it so replaced it with a cheap PS2 instead.

Some of them I didn't really intend to buy originally, had no real interest in the Game Boy Micro or 3DS but the former I got ridiculously cheap and the latter was bought for me as a Christmas present.

I'm not really very good at waiting for hardware though, I get quite impatient to try it and I love the whole hype of a new piece of hardware so if I have an interest in it money tends to burn a hole in my pocket until I buy it. I do think you get a better experience though, I like being able to pick up the big releases as they come out. Coming to N64 and PS2 late there was an overwhelming amount of software to catch up on.

I still own most of those systems too (and the majority are hooked up to the TV!), with the exception of the original Xbox (RIP), PS2, PS3 (replaced with the slim), PS4 (replaced with the pro) and the Xbox One.

In the years since picking up the above systems I've also bought a NES, SNES, Game Boy Pocket, Master System, Mega Drive, Saturn and Dreamcast but all were long after release (most recent being a master system last October!)

The Gamecube, Wii and Wii U were all launch for me, and Switch will be as well. I've only bought Nintendo systems on launch day.

The GC was bought with painstakingly saved up paper round money and seemed to take an eternity to finally arrive. If I recall correctly it launched on a bank holiday weekend, it was the best.

I flunked a maths exam at uni to get to Game as early as I could to pick up a Wii. Had a fantastic day playing Wii Sports golf with the housemates.

Wii U launch was pretty unmemorable.

I thought never! Then I realised the GBA may have been launch, and if not really close to it. Really cannot remember. I traded in a load of stuff for it at Game, I remember that, but honestly have no idea when, infact I went to check, and I thought I had it in 2000, but it was not launched until 2001! So lets just say the GBA, and I almost preordered the Switch, but stopped myself. I have too many games on PC, and I just keep buying more!

The only console I've ever bought on launch day was the Wii. I really got carried away with the hype train on that one

Everything else I've waited for a decent selection of games to emerge first.

Only console I haven't got at launch was my 360 - got that a couple of years into its life cycle. Wish I hadn't bothered, became a dust magnet pretty quickly.

Launch:

Got a Dreamcast the Christmas after it launched, was convinced by Soul Calibur and the fairly imminent release of Crazy Taxi.

Got a DS on launch day because of Wario Ware: Twisted. It was all a bit of a blur because I hadn't really been following the pre-release hype, but I played a demo unit the morning it launched, was utterly amazed by it, went home and started looking into upcoming games and then went back in the evening to buy one with WW and Mario 64 DS.

Got a PSP on launch day because of Wipeout Pure and Everybody's Golf, along with Burnout Legends and Pro Evolution Soccer 5 coming very soon after.

Got a Wii on launch day because of Wii Sports, Twilight Princess and the Gamecube backwards compatibility.


Later:

Got a PS2 petty much a year after it launched. At the time of the launch I was still convinced the Dreamcast had a longer life in it. I think after that day they announced the Dreamcast was done and Virtua Fighter 4 would be on PS2 I realised I needed to get one. Thankfully, looking into the upcoming games made it quite easy. End of 2001 was crazy for great games.

Got a 360 a year after it launched. Oblivion and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter had me interested since that March, and I think I was planning to get one by Christmas 2006 but there was a coupon in one of the papers for something crazy like £50 off the price of the Premium pack so I bit. The huge amount of great games in the pipeline made it another easy choice.

Got a 3DS for Christmas 2012, just over 18 months after it came out. I don't know how, but just like the DS I wasn't really too aware of the machine at all before it came out, and even for quite some time after it I never really gave it much of a look. When I finally did take a look at the library by that point, stuff like Super Mario 3D Land was already out, and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Fire Emblem: Awakening was very close!

Got a PS3 in summer of 2013, well over 6 years after it came out. I always wanted one, but with the 360 I was covered for the multi platform games, so just held off until the near the end. The console was cheap and all the exclusives could be had for very low prices too. In fact, it was doing this that sort of convinced me I should be waiting even longer before jumping into new consoles in the future.

Got a Vita in September 2013, about 18 months after it came out. After not playing my PSP anywhere near as much as I'd expected, I didn't really consider the Vita at launch. It was only seeing people go crazy over Persona 4 Golden, and realising you could play pretty much the whole Persona series on it that I really got interested. I probably bought it more to play PSOne and PSP games on which is a bit dumb.

Got a Wii U in summer of 2014, about 18 months after it came out. Again, I knew I'd want one eventually, especially after E3 2014 with Splatoon being revealed, and a really great deal for a white unit came up. Bundled with Just Dance and Wii Party, I managed to sell them off to make the cost of the console itself about £120.

Got a PS4 at the end of 2016. Prices came right down, and now you can get a load of really good games for great prices.


I can't imagine buying many machines on launch day going forward. I'm not really one that has to have the newest stuff, or be involved in the online discussion when things come out. Quite happy to wait a couple of years going forward.

The Switch is going to be the first console that I buy at launch. My gaming history goes like this:

N64 - I got this for my birthday in May 1999
GameCube - My brother and I got this as a Diwali present in November 2002
PS2 - This was another present for me and my brother as we got it for Christmas in 2003
Wii - My brother was working in GAME and managed to get one during Christmas in 2006 when stock was very limited
DS Lite - An 18th birthday present in 2007
PS3 - One summer between getting the Wii and 360, my cousin brought us a PS3 from America
Xbox 360 - There was a price mistake on Amazon in October 2009 which meant that I picked up the console, an extra controller, Lego Batman and Pure for under £130
PSP - I bought this when I was on holiday in Boston in March 2012 to play PSP games and see what it could do in terms of homebrew
3DS - This was a present in Christmas 2012
Wii U - A graduation present from me to me in October 2013
Vita - Stock of the OLED model was dwindling so I bought on in July 2014 to make sure that I'd have one when I wanted to play it.
PS4 - I bought one of the 20th Anniversary PS4s in December 2014. A month or so later, I won another one
Xbox One - Rare Replay and the backwards compatibility convinced me to pick up an Xbox soon after E3 2015

Good times

GrinWithoutaKat wrote:Got a DS on launch day because of Wario Ware: Twisted. It was all a bit of a blur because I hadn't really been following the pre-release hype, but I played a demo unit the morning it launched, was utterly amazed by it, went home and started looking into upcoming games and then went back in the evening to buy one with WW and Mario 64 DS.

Twisted was a GBA release, Touched! was the DS game.

I got the same two games with my launch DS and barely played M64DS as WarioWare was so addictive.

Ironhide wrote:

GrinWithoutaKat wrote:Got a DS on launch day because of Wario Ware: Twisted. It was all a bit of a blur because I hadn't really been following the pre-release hype, but I played a demo unit the morning it launched, was utterly amazed by it, went home and started looking into upcoming games and then went back in the evening to buy one with WW and Mario 64 DS.

Twisted was a GBA release, Touched! was the DS game.

Twisted was so much better than Touched!, going from one to the other really did the DS game a disservice.

Real shame it never got released over here officially, so glad the GBA was region free.

Mafro wrote:Nintendo 64 - launched March 1997, got one Christmas 1997
Game Boy Color - launched November 1998, got one February 1999 for my birthday

Samesssss

PS2 - launched November 2000, got one maybe 2 years ago?
GBA - Launched June 2001, got one in 2002/2001 for my bday (mightve been a US import)
Gamecube - launched May 2002, got one a few years after?!
Wii - launched December 2006, got one maybe a year after, my sister got one at launch.
Xbox 360 - launched December 2005, got one 2006 when it was relatively new still. Been through about 5.
PS3 - launched March 2007, got one about 2010 then sold it.
3DS - launched March 2011, got one near launch, have been through about 5.

Soooo, the only console I got at launch proper was the Nintendo DS. When I turned nerd-phase and imported the DS from America before anyone in my school had one, DS is super hype.

Gamecube, GBA:SP and NDS at launch, everything else least 2 years later.

I bought about 3 games for the DS then sold it after I got my 3DS that has redeemed me.

I guess maybe the new generation of graphics cards when half life 2 and doom 3 came out counts..

Always got most consoles on launch but I won't bother with next gen . This was one of the dullest gens ever . No creativity at all.

Acorn Electron - Not at launch. Approx. 1 year after release (gift).
Amiga 500 - Not at launch. Approx. 1 year after release (gift).
Megadrive - Not at launch. 1 month after launch (gift).
SNES - At launch (gift).
PlayStation - 1 year after launch.
N64 - At launch.
Dreamcast - 6 months after launch.
PlayStation 2 - 6 months after launch.
Xbox - At launch.
Gamecube - At launch.
Xbox 360 - At launch.
PlayStation 3 - At launch.
Wii - At launch.
3DS - 3 months after launch.
Wii U - At launch.
New 3DS - 2 months after launch.
Xbox One - At launch.
PlayStation 4 - At launch.
Xbox One S - 1 month after launch.
PlayStation 4 Pro - At launch.
Switch - Pre-ordered for launch.

Pretty much all at launch. My favourite launches would be SNES (for F-Zero and Mario World), N64 (Mario 64 anyone?), Xbox 360 (just seemed like such a step forward). I enjoy a new console nearly as much as any game.

The only console I’ve bought at launch was the Gamecube and it was glorious.

I raced into town on launch day, after school (!), with the Mother in tow and headed straight to GAME where my in-store pre-order was waiting. I got the console (with controller), one 59 block memory card, Luigi’s Mansion and Sonic Adventure 2. Later that evening, as had been arranged many weeks beforehand, my friend came over and we played through LM, almost finishing it before conking out.

I got an N64 about 18 months after release. I had pre-ordered a Wii but decided to cancel it as I wasn’t convinced about the control scheme (something that was later vindicated).

Dreamcast Entire months wages went on that bad boy.
Cube
Xbox 360
Xbox one

Thats pretty much it.

PS1 after four years, after many years away from gaming. PS2, 3 and 4 at launch. Had a Gamecube, Xbox and Dreamcast at various points near the end of their cycle, but realised I didn't have enough time and have been a single brand person since.

Drumstick wrote:The only console I’ve bought at launch was the Gamecube and it was glorious.

I raced into town on launch day, after school (!), with the Mother in tow and headed straight to GAME where my in-store pre-order was waiting. I got the console (with controller), one 59 block memory card, Luigi’s Mansion and Sonic Adventure 2. Later that evening, as had been arranged many weeks beforehand, my friend came over and we played through LM, almost finishing it before conking out.

I got an N64 about 18 months after release. I had pre-ordered a Wii but decided to cancel it as I wasn’t convinced about the control scheme (something that was later vindicated).

I remember heading down to Dixons after withdrawing about £220 with my cash card and shitting myself because I was half convinced just carrying that much cash would get me robbed. I met up with friends too, we briefly boot up Luigi's Mansion and then watched me play Burnout for half and hour or so. Both were brilliant, but smash bros melee, Pikmin really picked the console up and my god Metroid Prime and Resident Evil, these were bloody amazing games for the time. I remember actually being on my summer holiday reading about Mario Sunshine in NGC in a hammock. And Wind Waker at some point in the same year I think. It was tremendous, really great. The GC and NGC together were just the best things to come home to after school and to always have something to look forward to, otherwise I wasn't a very happy kid unfortunately.

I think the only thing that has compared for me is half life 2 on my brand new self built PC. Which is why I sort of consider that a "launch". It was also the launch of Steam which is an interesting viewpoint in retrospect, as it's pretty much a platform itself.

NES - Launched 1985; received 1988 Christmas Present - 3 years
Sega Master System - Launched 1987; Birthday Present 1989 - 2 years
Sega Mega Drive - Launched 1990; birthday 1991- 1 years
Nintendo Game Boy - Launched 1990; Christmas 1990 - 0 years
Sega Game Gear - Launched 1991; Birthday 1992 - 1 year
Super Nintendo - Launched 1992; bought at car boot sale 1993 - 1 year
Sega Mega CD - Launched 1993; received Christmas 1993 - 0 years
Sega Saturn - Launched 1994; received Christmas 1994 - 0 years
Sony PlayStation - Launched 1995; birthday 1996 - 1 years

Since N64, I've bought every home and handheld console on launch day.

I've bought almost all Slim/facelifts too. Exceptions being the third PSP, third PS3, third 360 and PS4 Pro (which I'm going to get in the next few weeks).