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

>>> ...when have you bought a games machine at launch and when have you waited? <<<

> This question was inspired by GRcadians talking about pre-ordering the Nintendo Switch
> Do you tend to buy a machine at launch or do you hang on for quite a while?
> Have you found any benefits to either approach? How has it worked out for you?

It's time to share your gaming history!

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To start the discussion, here's my console story:

Sega Master System - Launched 1987; bought at launch - 0 years
Sega Mega Drive - Launched 1990; bought at launch (import) - 0 years
Nintendo Game Boy - Launched 1990; bought a launch - 0 years
Super Nintendo - Launched 1992; bought 1993 - 1 year
Sony PlayStation - Launched 1995; bought at launch - 0 years
Nintendo 64 - Launched 1997; bought 1998 - 1 year
Nintendo Game Boy Color - Launched 1998; bought 1999 - 1 year
Microsoft Xbox - Launched 2002; bought 2003 - 1 year
Nintendo DS - Launched 2005; bought 2007 - 2 years
Microsoft Xbox 360 - Launched 2005; bought 2007 - 2 years
Sony PlayStation 3 - Launched 2007; bought 2008 - 1 year
Nintendo Wii - Launched 2006; bought 2009 - 3 years
Nintendo DSi XL - Launched 2010; bought 2011 - 1 year
Nintendo 3DS - Launched 2011; bought later in 2011 - 0.5 years
Nintendo 3DS XL - Launched 2012; bought 2012 - 0 years
Nintendo Wii U - Launched 2012; bought at launch - 0 years
Sony PlayStation 4 - Launched 2013; bought at launch - 0 years
New Nintendo 3DS - Launched 2015; bought at launch - 0 years
Sony PlayStation 4 Pro - Launched 2016; bought at launch - 0 years

Yeah, its probably pretty weird to remember all that :shifty:

. I like the hype and expectation that surrounds a system launch; I find it fun to "be part" of that period. But, to be honest, in recent years where I have reverted back to a "launch day" pickup I have found that game releases have been pretty weak in the first year or so and I would have gotten way more bang for my buck by holding on.

At the moment I feel like I'm moving into a phase of "single format" gaming; I expect to be focusing on my PS4 for the next couple of years*.

* Please don't remind me that I said this when I am playing on a Switch at Christmas ;-)

.

Only system I bought at launch was the Wii. Everything else has been as and when i've fancied it.

The Switch will be my first launch day console :toot:

My GBA, PSP and Wii were all Christmas presents for the first Christmas after launch so they sort-of count

I got Japanese launch stock for my GBA and PSP. Didn't get them release day, obviously, but I did get them pretty sharpish and well in advance of their US/EU launches. I remember the PSP being about 10-11 months before it came out here.

Later I would get the Wii and 3DS on launch as well. But they were just from Game.

EDIT: Oh I did get a PSone the day it came out as well.

Last edited by Ironhide on Tue Feb 14, 2017 3:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Sega Master System - Launched 1987; Received as christmas present 1989 - 2 years
Sega Mega Drive - Launched 1990; Birthday present 1994 - 4 years
Nintendo Game Boy - Launched 1990; bought around 1993 - 3 years
Sega Saturn - Launched 1995; early birthday present 1996 - 1 year
Sony PlayStation - Launched 1995; bought 1998 - 3 years
Nintendo 64 - Launched 1997; christmas present 1998 - 1 year
Sega Dreamcast - Launched 1999; bought at launch - 0 years
Sony PS2 - Launched 2000; bought in 2001 - 1 year
NeoGeo Pocket Color - Launched 1999; bought 2000 - 1 year
Nintendo GBA - Launched 2001; bought a few weeks after launch - 0 years
Nintendo Gamecube -Launched 2002; christmas present 2003 - 1 year
Microsoft Xbox - Launched 2002; bought 2004 - 2 years
Nintendo GBA SP - Launched 2003; bought later in 2003 - 0 years
Nintendo DS - Launched 2005; bought pre launch (Nintendo VIP) - 0 years
Microsoft Xbox 360 - Launched 2005; bought 2006 - 1 year
Sony PSP - Launched 2005; bought 2007 - 2 years
Nintendo DS Lite - Launched 2007; bought at launch - 0 years
Sony PlayStation 3 - Launched 2007; bought 2008 - 1 year
Nintendo 3DS - Launched 2011; bought later in 2011 - 0.5 years

Never buy at launch. Truly a mugs game.

Not buying at launch is only a clever strategy because you can rely on others to buy the console at launch though

So really you should be actively encouraging others to buy at launch

NickSCFC · Last edited by NickSCFC on Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

NES - Present in 1993
MD - Present in 1994
Saturn - Present in 1996
PS1 - Present in 1998
Dreamcast - Bought on launch day, my most hyped console ever, just played demos while waiting for Soul Calibur
PS2 - Would've waited longer but traded Dreamcast for it the day after Sega announced discontinuation
GameCube - Bought for Mario Sunshine
Xbox - Bought for Halo 2, Microsoft dropped support after a year

PSP - Bought on launch day with WipEout, so futuristic I had to buy
DS - Bought for New Super Mario Bros launch
Xbox 360 - Bought for Gears launch
PS3 - Bought for MGS 4 launch
PS4 - Bought for MGS 5 launch

Nintendo 64 - launched March 1997, got one Christmas 1997
Game Boy Color - launched November 1998, got one February 1999 for my birthday
PS2 - launched November 2000, got one Christmas 2000
GBA - Launched June 2001, got one at launch
Gamecube - launched May 2002, got one at launch
Wii - launched December 2006, got one at launch
Xbox 360 - launched December 2005, got one January 2007
PS3 - launched March 2007, got one April 2008
3DS - launched March 2011, got one at launch
Wii U - launched November 2012, got one March 2013
PS4 - launched November 2013, got one at launch
Xbox One- launched November 2013, got one April 2014

Can't remember when I got my DS, PSP and Vita but none of them were at launch.

I've only ever bought the n64 at launch. Switch will be number 2...

Only launch day console has been the PS4; it arrived at a point when I was genuinely flush, so there wasn't much to take into consideration. Just got sucked into the hype (on here) and couldn't think of a reason to cancel my pre-order.

There was a launch PS2 in my (mum's) house, but that was my brother's.

Dual wrote:Never buy at launch. Truly a mugs game.

This, really. The PS4 launch was rescued by Resogun, FFS :lol:

I don't regret the purchase for a second, but all consoles take a while to get into their stride and I rarely feel like I'm missing out while I'm waiting.

Having said that, I think I can make a case with Nintendo consoles, because they hold their value so well. I waited the length of the Wii U's life waiting for a meaningful price drop that never came.

N64, GBA, DS, GC, PS4 at launch.

Does anyone play launch games throughout the life of the console?

SNES - can't remember don't think it was at launch.
Nintendo 64 - Launch
PS1 - about a year after its launch
Gamecube - Launch
Dreamcast - Launch
PS2 - again about a year after.
Original Xbox - 6months or so after it launched.
Xbox 360 - Launch
Wii - a couple of weeks after launch
3DS - 2 Months after launch - traded Wii in for it - best decision I ever made.
Xbox One - Launch

(Xbox Scorpio - Launch)

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

I didn't get a WiiU at launch, but I still play Nintendoland to this day.

Wii Sports is probably a good example too, I last played that this Christmas at a family gathering

Ad7 wrote:Only system I bought at launch was the Wii. Everything else has been as and when i've fancied it.

Literally me - after that I've waited for prices to fall and the library of exclusives to develop.

Last edited by Cumberdanes on Mon Feb 13, 2017 5:54 pm, edited 4 times in total.

The only console I bought at launch was the PS3 Slim so not a new console as it were rather a hardware revision.

I did have the Vita pre-ordered but had to cancel as it launched about a week before I got paid and I was skint but I bought one elsewhere not long after launch.

As for other systems I've bought myself, I bought my first GameCube when I got my first student loan payment and waited for REmake to launch here so that would be September 2002 so around 3-4 months after UK launch.

I bought my first 360 in August of 2006 so about 8 months after launch. That was at the time easily the most extravagant purchase I had ever made as I was only working part time then and spent just short of a months pay to buy one.

I bought my PS4 in October 2014 so not quite a year after launch.

I have owned various other home consoles most of which were hand me downs or bought second hand and a multitude of handhelds including probably every iteration of GameBoy, DS and PSP certainly far too many to remember when I bought them so I'll just leave it at that.

First console I bought at launch (my first home console) was the Nintendo Gamecube. It was awesome and since then I've bought every major console at launch.

Never bought a console at launch. I've never been that excited/impatient and it's always made more sense to me to wait for it to fall in price, wait for a wider library of games to be available and wait for any system quirks or issues to be ironed out (or wait for revised models, etc).

I think GC has had probably the best launch lineup for me of any console I've had at launch.

I bought it for Super Monkey Ball and Star Wars Rogue Leader, neither of which disappointed. Wave Race and Luigi's Mansion were just the icing on the cake. Strange to think that the best games at the launch of a Nintendo console weren't published by Nintendo.

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

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