The games that made you buy the system

[dartmonkey]

Firewatch is out!

 

And my PC wants it so much that it passes out after the title screen!

 

So, Firewatch is the game that is going to have me googling cheap PS4 bundles everyday until I have one. The Witness is another contributing factor, and I've been curious about MGS5 for a while. I'm sure there are other bits and pieces to check out, but nothing that I'd buy a new console for. I remember holding off from a 360 until Bioshock and The Orange Box (plus the promise of an upcoming Banjo game) tipped the scales for me back in 2007. The atmosphere and art of those games was so interesting and the anachronistic tech/music of Bioshock hooked me immediately. I needed it. I got an N64 not for Mario 64 (though I don't agree with Jake that it's an 'unmitigated, flatulent, polygonal mess' - that was the quote, no?), but for Goldeneye. That Dam level was the greatest thing I'd ever seen as a boy standing in Comet in 1997. And the music... 

 

So, in this thread we can discuss the video games that made us shell out the big dollar for hardware and what it was about them that tipped the scales.

[clyde]

Historically, I've bought consoles without a specific game in mind. I'm very attracted to hyped potential more than realities. The two exceptions are wanting a Super Nintendo for xmas very vocally in a wealthy-enough household because of Super Mario World and when we payed one of my wife's co-workers to make us a Battlefield 3capable pc about a month before it came out iirc.

Oh actually my wife made us get an Xbox 360 after visiting her dad and seeing Oblivion. Our roomate was playing Wind Waker and my wife was like "You guys don't understand, in Oblivion you can't just walk into someone's house and break things; the city-guard will arrest you!"

[Zeusthecat]

I've bought a good number of my consoles based on a game or games I really wanted to play

 

N64 - Super Mario 64, Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey, Star Wars Shadows of the Empire, and Pilotwings 64

Dreamcast - Worms World Party, Shenmue and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Virtual Boy - Wario Land and Mario Tennis

Gamecube - Star Wars Rogue Leader

PS2 - GTA III

Game Boy - Tamagotchi, Pokemon Blue, and Harvest Moon

Xbox - Halo 2 and Conker Live and Reloaded

Xbox 360 - Gears of War and Halo 3 (and really just online multiplayer gaming in general)

Wii - Wii Sports and Twilight Princess

WiiU - Super Mario 3D World

3DS - Animal Crossing New Leaf

 

I've bought plenty of other consoles but never really for a specific game or games. 

[SecretAsianMan]

Gears of War is what made me get a 360.  I have a very distinct memory of going to a gaming club open console night during college.  They had GoW up on the projector screen.  The cover system hadn't yet been copied a billion times so it was new and exciting.  The setting was so gritty and visceral.  The co-op campaign looked fun as hell.  But the part that really won me over was watching two people evade a giant blind monster, lure it outside, then use a satellite laser beam to reduce it to ashes.  I never got a chance that night to give it a try.  Instead I skipped class the next day, went to Best Buy, grabbed a 360 and GoW, then spent the rest of the week chainsawing underground creatures.  Luckily it was the start of the semester so I didn't miss much.

 

In a slightly different sense, Halo 3 is what made me get a second 360.  I went to a midnight launch of the game, got home, put in the disc, and got the dreaded red rings.  I was so angry that I immediately went back to the store where I got the game.  They were just finishing up the last sale and were about to close when I ran in and purchased a Core 360 (the one without the hard drive).  I sent my dead one off to be fixed the next day, then later sold it to a friend.

[sclpls]

I'll get a Playstation if they ever actually do release the Last Guardian.

[Badfinger]

I bought a PS4 and almost exclusively played Destiny on it. I really liked what I played of Destiny, but I regret buying a $350 Destiny Box, even more so in the direction the game appears to be going since the fall.

[Bjorn]

I have bought new computer hardware because of a specific game, usually more RAM or a new video card, but I don't know that I've ever just bought a console because a single game sold me on it. 

[osmosisch]

BLoodborne made me get a PS4, that's about it for me.

[eRonin]

While I specifically held off on buying the 3DS and Wii U until there were enough games I wanted out for them, the games that served as the catalyst for these purchases were:

 

3DS: Pokemon X/Y

Wii U: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

 

I still have relatively few games for these consoles, but I'm happy with my purchase overall, since I'd say I've spent close to 1000 hours on the two consoles combined in the past 2 years.

[dium]

Gameboy (Color): Both Link's Awakening and Pokemon Red

N64: Ocarina of Time

DS: Pokemon again

Wii: Zelda again

3DS: Once again, Pokemon

 

This makes me seem like a Pokemon/Zelda megafan, which isn't really the case!

 

It's never JUST the Pokemon/Zelda game, of course, but they've repeatedly been the last straw to push me over the mixed-metaphorical hill.

[elmuerte]

Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank made me buy a PS3, and probably also a PS4.

[Dewar]

I was waiting for Oblivion for a year or two and so excited, but I did the math on how much it would cost to get my PC up to snuff and just couldn't justify it. I looked into mods like Old-blivion that would down-clock the visuals to something more manageable, but even then I was on the edge of minimum spec.

 

So I found a cheap deal on an Xbox 360, and my future was decided.

[juv3nal]

PS1: Final Fantasy 7

PS2: Final Fantasy 10

360: Mass Effect

PS3: Uncharted 2/Dragon Age: Origins

PS4: Destiny

3DS: Animal Crossing New Leaf/Bravely Default

 

In retrospect, FF10 was pretty meh (I never even finished it) and I've definitely gotten more enjoyment out of stuff other than Destiny on the PS4, but i still feel pretty positively about most of those.

 

If I'd known Mass Effect was coming to PC I think the only thing I'd regret missing out on for 360 would have been Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts. Fable 2 was ok also (not mindblowing enough that I think I'd miss it), but aside from those 2 titles it was basically a Mass Effect box for me (I mean the Mass Effect sequels were on PS3 but by that point I wasn't going to abandon my finished save from the first one despite preferring the ps3 controller).

[miffy495]

I always buy Nintendo systems because I love Nintendo. Other systems usually have some kind of catalyst game, but I always end up owning all of them eventually.

 

360 - Dead Rising.

Played this at my now-stepdad, then mum's boyfriend's house trading the controller back and forth with him when I was like 17. Went out and got a 360 pretty much as soon as I could afford it to play more.

 

PS3 - LittleBigPlanet

Seriously. That game was so much what I was looking for when it came out. That E3 presentation with everyone on the skateboard was mind-blowing at the time, and sold me on the system. Preordered the game and picked up a refurbished PS3 that fall.

 

Xbone - Sunset Overdrive

I don't care if everything about a game is "meh" except the traversal. If a game has excellent traversal, I will enjoy it. Watching the way that players moved around that game got me hyped, and the fact that I could get a white Xbone with a copy of the game pre-installed for what was actually LESS money than the standard model at the time pushed me over the edge. Game was decent but not amazing, but I have a shiny white Xbone now and really like the system overall, so no regrets.

 

PS4 - Infamous Second Son

I know it's regarded as a B tier Sony franchise, but I love Infamous a lot. Second Son is definitely the weakest of the games, but I still really enjoyed it. The Neon powers were great, and the Fetch-centric DLC was very cool. My first year teaching, I needed a release from how stressed my class was making me REAL bad, and Infamous happened to come out a week before spring break when I had a class from hell. Having a career that paid well for the first time in my life, a week off, and Infamous coming out just in time meant that it was an insta-buy.

[Patrick R]

Closest I ever got was bidding for an NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 at the same time on eBay. I didn't win either.

[Salacious Snake]

A big one for me was the Nuon (Samsung extiva), which I got solely for Tempest 3000. It was a game by a favorite developer that was exclusive to an obscure, stupid system.

 

No regrets.

[Ben X]

These are known as 'killer apps', right? Games that single-handedly sell systems.

[dartmonkey]

I was thinking more of 'personal killer apps', though. Mario 64 wasn't the game that made me get an N64 over a PS1. It was the obvious the 'killer app' for the console but it was Goldeneye that got me on board.

 

I'll get a Playstation if they ever actually do release the Last Guardian.

Thank you for reminding me! Another justification for a PS4. If Firewatch were anounced for Xbone I would be torn now that MS is slowly sorting out backwards compatibility.

 

Rogue Leader made me get a Gamecube, too. Stretching my budget to the limit, I couldn't afford a memory card for a month. Probably not the best way to start with a new console but, man, that game (and console) was pretty. It still is actually - I rebought the game before Force Awakens came out. I LOVE squeezing the trigger in to accelerate and finally clicking it to lock the s-foils into er..non-attack position. Speedy position? Yep, let's go with that.

[Griddlelol]

N64: Ocarina of Time

Gameboy: Pokemon Blue

Gameboy Colour/Advance/whatever iteration: The latest Pokemon game.

Gamecube: Rogue Squadron 2

Xbox: KOTOR and Halo and GTA3

360: Nothing in particular, it was the whole package.

PS3: Nothing in particular again, I was just sick of red rings.

N3DS: Fire Emblem Awakening

VIta: Gravity Rush and Tearaway (plus all the indies).

PS4: Bloodborne and Destiny

[Vainamoinen]

*sighhhh*.

 

This isn't actually easy.

 

I was in the US in 1985, and they were nuts about Super Mario Bros.; I shared in the hype, being 7 at the time, and that was probably the reason I got my mother to give us an NES for Christmas in 1986. However, games like Faxanadu and Battle of Olympus were much more up my alley, and I didn't even know about those when I first got the system.

 

I didn't buy the original GameBoy for any particular game, though importing the Final Fantasy Legend parts from English speaking countries was about the most hardcore gamer thing I did back then.

 

Seeing The Secret of Monkey Island at a friend's house in 1992 was definitely a driving force in buying an AMIGA 600.

 

Which, of course, wouldn't run any more modern games. I played the Wing Commander (I) port on the Amiga – which, at this framerate, me and my friends considered turn based – and was furious when the rest of the series didn't get a release there.

 

So Wing Commander III and IV were actually my arguments to buy a PSX in 1996.

 

Naturally, I bought Final Fantasy VII when it came out and that was the hottest shit I had ever seen. Final Fantasy VIII and finally Final Fantasy IX. Then they announced the price of the PS2 and I abandonned consoles instantly. Thanks, Sony!

 

I bought an entirely new PC for Angel of Darkness in 2003, which turned out to be the then worst of the Tomb Raider series.

 

 

One year later, I actually did get a PS2 slim after all to finally play Final Fantasy X. It was a pure protest and frustration purchase after I experienced the worst game I had ever played on PC ("The Fall - Last Days of Gaia"). Well, I didn't care for FFX in particular, so that evidently backfired.

 

Nowadays, I always think about buying a PS4, but I just can't find games that would really sell it. Particularly not the utter crap SQE puts out today. I was pretty damn hyped about the FFVII Remake, but whenever they announce new details about that venture, it puts me off completely.

[manny_c44]

I guess I'll just include the game systems I bought with my own coin:

 

Gameboy Color: Metal Gear Solid (this is the first thing I ever purchased on Amazon.com)

Gameboy Advance: Golden Sun (really didn't enjoy it, system in general was too dark to play)

PSone: Metal Gear Solid (the real one this time)

Dreamcast: Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Shenmue

PS2: Metal Gear Solid II, Zone of the Enders

Gamecube: Metroid Prime, Zelda Windwaker, Pikmin (what a wonderful time!)

NDS: Zelda Phantom Hourglass

PSP: Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, My Summer Vacation 4 (the second time I bought one)

PS3: MGS4, My Summer Vacation 3 

PS Vita: MGS HD collection

 

So far that's it. If last Guardian is good I will get a PS4 I guess...

 

Woah, Kojima moves hardware.

 

This list of course doesn't include the half dozen computers purchased during this time.

[Bjorn]

PS1: Final Fantasy 7

 

Oh yeah, I totally bought a PS1 after playing Final Fantasy 7 at a friend's apartment.  Totally forgot about that.

[osmosisch]

Oh man, I forgot: I bought a PC because of Doom, and a Megadrive because of Streets of Rage 2.

[Cordeos]

My current PC was originally built around the Skyrim Recommended specs. My laptop couldn't run it and I realized I wanted to be able to use mods, so I didn't get the PS3 version. Best decision ever.

[Badfinger]

I definitely saved up my pennies and bought a genesis with "my" money, but I don't actually remember if I had a game in mind that made me get it. I got sonic and I played an awful lot of sports games. It was totally worth the decision, although to this day I've never played more than a tiny bit of Mario World and my gaming life probably suffers for that.