Re: Your Console Journey
Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:53 pm
by Preezy
jawafour wrote:What a fantastic thread! I'm gonna enjoy reading through all the posts . Okay... as an "older" gamer I've been fortunate enough to enjoy using quite a few systems over the years. I've left some out from this post - mainly those that I played as "retro" systems some years after they were popular - but these are the ones that I played during their prime!
Commodore VIC-20 (1984)My first computer system was bought for me by my dad. 3.5K RAM (athough I later bought the Vixen 32K switchable RAM pack), cassette deck (although it also had a cartridge port), 20 character screen width ( )... and it was awesome! Pharoah's Curse, Omega Race, Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time ( ), Jet Pac and Perils of Willy were my favourite games.
Commodore 64 (1985)I sold my VIC and games to raise money to fund this, with the rest of the money being earnt from a paper round before school. I had enough money to get the system in December 1985 and, man, I was so hyped. The step upi from the VIC to the C64 seemed incredible at the time; to put it into context it was like going from, say, the NES to the SNES. I had so much fun with this machine and I still have all my kit (albeit in the loft) today. Lots of great games but, above all, it's that SID sound chip that most strikes memories with me - I still sometimes listen to C64 music tracks on my iMac now (thaks to SID player) .
Sega Master System (1987)This was the first consle that I owned. I had read Computer & Video Games magazine's Go! pages (precursor to the legendary Mean Machines magazine) for months and was usure about getting he NES or the MS. I plumped for the MS on the basis that I could play Space Harrier, OutRun and other Sega hits on the system. Mastertronic / Virgin distributed the system in the UK and Europe and they did a great job. I bought the console on the weekend it launched, whilst on a family day trip to Westgate on the south coast. Strange place to buy it but I was just so excited to get it; Hang-On was built into the machine and I bought My Hero and Ghost House on Sega Cards. Years later, when I moved out of my parents place, I sold all the games for an absolute pittance and almost instantly regretted it. In subsequent years I have bought back most of the games... bar Power Strike I and II which now sell at ridiculous prices. I'm still so fond of the MS .
Atari 520 STe (1989)Oh boy. This came with probably the best ever gaming pack... the legendary Power Pack (v2)! Twenty games and most were pretty decent - incredible! I had placed an order with Evesham Micros for the 520 ST model but, fortunately, they upgraded my order to the "arrived that week" STe model. I loved the ST with its bright green GEM (windows) system! It's the only Atari system that I have bought and it still holds great memories for me. It introduced me to the mighty Kick Off and, man, did I play that a lot. Even so, I only had the machine for a few years as I "side-graded" to an Amiga (see later in my list) as the ST started to die out.
Sega Mega Drive (1990)For delivering the "wow" factor, the MD was incredible. It remains the only system that I ever bought an imported version of; I picked up the Asian model which allowed UK (Europe), Japanese and American cartridges to be used. I bought Sonic the Hedgehog and Alien Storm alonside the console and they were sensational; vibrant, fast and brash! I still have all my MD carts although I did sell my Asian console (plus American and Japanese games) for some crazy reason and I still almost literally cry about this today . I'm lucky enough to have a few MD consoles now, alongside a Mega CD and 32X. That ridiculous-but-lovable tri-force of kit still looks amazing when it is setup!
Nintendo Game Boy (1990)I have a pal who has never been into console gaming but he did like the old portable electronic / LCD game systems, and he helped to get me excited about the launch of the new Game Boy system. Portable gaming with small switchable carts... this was amazing at the time! I got my system alongside Tetris And Super Mario Land and I instantly loved the wee machine. My younger brother was now getting into gaming, too, and he loved playing the games on my machine. My original console has long since died but I have a few Game Boy Color systems so that I can still slam in a GB cart every now and again .
Commodore Amiga 600 (1992)So... after enjoying my Atari STe computer for a few years (see above) I migrated ober to the Amiga. The 600 was a lovely design; it was small, looked slick and was well-made. However, it was soon succeeded by the 1200 model and I swiftly sold on my 600 to raise funds for the 1200. Which is coming up next...
Super Nintendo (1993)...but not before the Super Nintendo arrived on the scene! I was very much a Sega fan but, having seen Starfox running in-store on the SNES, I bought the system in early 1993. I like the SNES and bought a few games for it but, for me, it was always second-choice to the Mega Drive. I do admire the system, though; the console design was wonderful and games like Zelda and Mario Kart were great; Zombies (Ate My Neighbors) even more so!
Commodore Amiga 1200 (1993)And so to my favourite computer; the mighty A1200. Well built, a wonderful catalogue of games and I added in a 200Mb (yep, Mb not Gb or Tb ) hard drive. Great times, especially with stuff like Kick Off 2, Goal! and Championship Manager '93. I was in peak magazine-buying mode as well, picking up Amiga Format, CU Amiga, Amiga Power, Amiga Action and others every month. Great times, wonderful memories .
Sony PlayStation (1995)I struggle to think of any other machine that delivered the same "wow" moment as when I saw Destruction Derby and Ridge Racer running on the PlayStation. For perhaps the first time, this really was like having arcade-quality games in your front room. I was totally onto the PS scene... gaming had previously been pretty un-cool but now it was on the front pages of lifestyle and fasion mags! People at work played on the system and there was - at last! - no social shame in being a gamer! Well, perhaps some, but not like it had been before . Looking back, the gaming catalogue on the PS was incredible; such variety, range and quality. The graphics have aged now but, for me, the system remains a gem.
Nintendo 64 (1998)I had spent a few years being engrossed by the PlayStation but, all of a sudden, the N64 caught my attention. I think it ws due to see my brother and his pals playing International Superstar Soccer 64... it looked so good and played so well that I had to get the machine. I picked up the GoldenEye 007 system pack and quickly grew to love the instant-load games and the large, vibrant graphics. This is a machine that I have actually grown fonder of over the years; today I like it even more than I did at the time, I think! On the collecting front I was fortunate to pick things up prior to 2010 i.e. before the crazy pricing that you see today. I have several systems and a nice set of games... even two copies of Bangai-O .
Nintendo Game Boy Color (1999)A Game Boy with a colour screen? I was totally up for that idea and the system remains my favourite GB console. As for color-specific games... Martian Alert! and O'Leary Manager 2000 remain two of my favourite GB titiles.
Microsoft Xbox (2003)I had gone through a relatively long period (around five years) without getting a new home gaming system and, after eyeing up the PS2 and the Gamecube for quite some time, I settled my mnd on getting the Xbox. The deciding factor was the translucent green model that appeared in 2003 - I saw it and just had to get it! It really did feel like a powerful machine; that start-up sequence and the built-in hard drive felt pretty advanced for the time. I hugely enjoyed gaming on the XB and, to me, it remains a shame that it was only really around for three years before being succeeded. Today, I have five Xboxes ... .
Nintendo DS Lite (2007)I was hugely unconvinced by the DS at launch; to me, the console design was clunky and the games pretty unconvincing. However... in 2007 the Lite
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)Again, it took me a while to be convinced by the 360. I stuck with my original Xbox for nearly two years after the launch of the newer machine. Then the black Elite model arrived alongside Bioshock and I jumped on-board. The move to HD (720p) graphics was a big jump and I love the feel of playing on the 360. It remains one of my favourite and, looking at the amazingly long life and fantastic library of the system, it stands out as a classic gaming machine.
Sony PlayStation 3 (2008)Hmmn. Admission time... it took me along time to like the PS3. It was techically more powerful than the 360 but, for me, it seemed to take a long time until the system showed any benefits above the 360's capabilities. Even so, over the years things improved and the later slim model was, for me, a lot more more attractive. In the end I spebt a lot of time playing on the console although that was pretty much solely due to Pro Evolution Soccer. My PS3 was my PES-playing machine and I definitely don't have any regrets about that .
Nintendo Wii (2009)I can now spot a theme. This was another machine that I was very unsure of at launch and I held off for a long time before jumping aboard. Initially I had played a number of terrible party games at friends' houses and it had put me off the console. Then I played Wii Sports and I was drawn in! I still love the compact, svelte shape of the console today and - despite the boatloads of awful shovelware - the game range is wonderful. My Wii is still set up in my living room and I have no plans on putting it away... and I still play Wii Sports Resort weekly at my parents' place .
Nintendo DSi XL (2011)I got this at a cheap price and it is lovely; it is the brown model and, perhaps surprisingly, it looks great! The bigger screens work, I feel, really well on this model.
Nintendo 3DS (2011)What a strange launch this machine had. I held off until the June when I got the console at a discounted price alongside Zelda Ocarina... and then gained the Ambasador GBA and NES games . Which I have still not played . I am one of the seemingly few people who love the design of the original 3DS - the build quality is excellent and, to me, it looks the part. I then made a mistake...
Nintendo 3DS XL (2012)...by selling my original 3DS and "upgrading" to the XL model. I know that most people preferred the XL, but I never got on with it; it felt plasticky and cheap and I wished I still had my original 3DS. So... I sold the XL and reverted back to the original model .
Nintendo Wii U (2012)Pre-ordered. Loved it from launch. Still love it . I got to be a real fan-boy of the Wii U - even more so because so many other folk were disparaging about it... that only bolsted my fanatacism! Even so, I can see that it never really got it its stride and it swiftly became clear that Nintendo were giving up on it. I feel that it is a cult system though... one that will be very collectible in years to come. I will always be a proud member of Club U .
Sony PlayStation 4 (2013)I had a pre-order and cancelled it... before GRcade hype forced me to place a last-minute pre-order! I still remember my controller "speaking" whilst playing my first-ever game of Resogun and I was totally taken by surprise! . The PS4 has grown to become one of my all-time favourite game machines... it's hard to judge right now, but it feels I'll place it mightily close to that top spot. Even so, it had a very slow lauch period and in that first year I continued to play on my 360 far more than on the PS4! It has a huge range of quality titles and it has been the first system for which online has become a major part of my gamiing approach. It feels like it'll be a classic.
New Nintendo 3DS (2015)For me, this model is 3DS perfection. It feels comfortable, looks great, is pleasantly dinky, has excellent 3D and those SNES-coloured buttons . Lovely!
Sony PlayStation 4 Pro (2016)Straight up wanted the power rush . Still not sure what it is doing over a standard PS4 for most games, though . But, yeah, as I said above - this is one of my all-time favourite gaming systems.
Nintendo Switch (2017)I was unsure and still totes in love with the U. I cancelled my launch pre-order. My reservations lasted unti late April. And then I jumped in. Oh, man, that display screen was wonderful and I loved being able to swap between portable and TV play! I still have reservations - no friend comms at all, virtually no "Nintendo-type" apps and incredibly basic system features... but, hey, the machine is still terrific. Early days, but it has so much potential.
So, yeah... gaming systems . And GRcadian memories of them .
Christ you're old, jawa