nesdev.com

I'm sure we have all hear this before. It's not the console or system that matters, it's the games that run on the consoles that matter. Hardware is nothing without software. From my personal gaming and buying experience this has also been true from time to time. I will usually get a system because there is this one must play game that I have to experience. So I thought I would list some games and the consoles that I had to have to play them.

Sega Genesis:
Sonic 2

I got a Genesis way after my SNES, but I got it for one good reason, Sonic 2. In opinion, I think Soinc 2 is the best Sonic game on the Genesis. I don't like Sonic 3 for some reason. A lot of people claim that Sonic 3 was the pinnacle of the original series, but I disagree. I think Sonic 2 is when Sonic was at its prime back in the day. I freaking love the Sonic 2 sound track and love every song and level in the game. I am also super excited about the new Sonic Mania and will most likely buy a PS4 or Xbox Scorpio just for Sonic Mania. So Sonic Mania is literally a system seller for me and I can't wait to play it.

N-64:
Mario 64

I was in 5th grade when the N-64 was getting released and the only system I really owned then was my SNES and even prior my NES (which I lost somehow). I remember seeing the Playstation 1 console and Sega Saturn 32 bit systems during this time too, but they didn't really appeal to me. Since I had been a Nintendo customer for so long it seemed only natural to stay with the same brand and when I say videos and screenshots of Mairo 64, for me, it blew me away. I remember playing Mairo 64 at a blockbuster kiosk one day and my jaw was just laying there on the floor because it dropped so hard. I even got my family to rent an N-64 before I eventually got one.

Dreamcast:
Capcom vs. snk

I've always been a huge Street Fighter fan, but I never got a playstation 1, so I missed out on all the of next Street Fighter games like the Alpha Series. Then one day my friend introduced me to Capcom vs snk at the local mall's arcade and this game really impressed me with its visuals and cross over idea. The only reason I purchased a Dreamcast was to play this one game and this is like one of the only games that I have for the Dreamcast.

Xbox:
Halo

One day I had a friend call me up and said that he was looking for another player in a Halo party. At the time I had no idea what he was talking about and I just said yes. Little did I know that this experience would literally change my life. So I arrive at the house and there are two Xbox systems linked together with one being upstairs and on downstairs so that the 2 teams were separated. It was 4 on 4 and all of a sudden I was shooting and getting shot. I kept on getting killed over and over, but I didn't care because I hadn't play the new game ever before and didn't know the controls, but I was having so much fun that it just didn't matter. The next day I gathered up all my leftover cash and purchased an Xbox so that I would never get owned like that ever again. At the time I had never played with so many other players all at once before and it felt awesome to be part of a team.

Xbox360:
Halo 3, 4

I purchased an Xbox 360 like 10 years after Halo 3 came out and the only reason why I got the Xbox360 was to continue playing the Halo series. I actually have like 8 other games, but I've never even played them and they are just sitting on my shelf collecting dust.


I used to have playstation 1, but it broke somehow. I know a lot of people really love that system, but when I look at the game library I can't seem to find a single game that will force me to buy another playstation to play it. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I got the Playstation mainly for RPGs, but one reason to have a PS1 is Metal Gear Solid. I can't think of many non-RPG or non-Adventure titles for the system though, but I'm sure it got to have tons of titles. I never got too deeply into Playstation gaming.


NES:
Super Mario Bros

I think SMB was the first game I played for it and I was blown away. We had borrowed the NES from a friend of my sister and I took every opurtunity I could to play it. Then when we finally got the NES we never had SMB ironically enough, but we borrowed it many times to the point that I know the game like my own pocket. Of course now I have the game on my Famicom (our NES was thrown out long ago).


PC Engine:
Too many to list.

OK I didn't get this back in the day of course since I'm in Europe, but I read about it in magazines and such and eventually imported one. I don't think I can name one game that sold me though, there where so many.


SNES:
Super Mario World

I think this was the game I played the most in a local mall so this must have been the game that sold the SNES. Although a new Nintendo console in general was probably enough for us back then.


Playstation:
Final Fantasy 7

Finally an FF game that came out in Europe, it introduced Europeans to the RPG genre and made the FF series one of the most popular in the world. I just don't see why Europeans was so slow at this. Japan and USA had RPGs since forever but stupid Europeans only wanted simple action games so importing was the only way to play RPGs for us during this time. I had a 64 but got a Playstation because of the lack of good traditional RPGs. But there are also tons of other games for the system that I didn't want to miss out on. Plus the games where much cheaper than on the 64.


Nintendo 64:
Super Mario 64
Star Fox 64
Wave Race 64
Wonder Project J2
Zelda 64

Of course Ocarina of Time wasn't anywhere near getting finished at launch when I bought the 64, but I was really pumped up for a new Zelda in 3D, so it helped selling the system for me. Wonder Project J2 was never officially localized in English though, what a bummer.



For other systems, I can't think of any game that sold me. Gameboy for example only sold me because I wanted to play games on the go, but I gues Super Mario Land might have helped selling it too. For Gamecube it might be Super Smash Bros Melee, and PS2 it was probably Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2.
I borrowed an XBox from my cousin and played Halo to the end. It wasn't bad but I'm not a big fan of FPS so it wasn't really a system seller for me. Plus the horrible controllers was no fun to play with. Especially the huge launch XBox controller that hurt my index fingers because the shoulder buttons was so far away that my fingers was constantly streched (my hands are normal-sized BTW). Then it was the horrible d-pad that made the Dead or Alive games almost impossible to play.

NES:
My parents bought it for me, reasoning that they overcharged for the 'super' prefix to the SNES. With it i got Castlevania 3, which is still my favourite game i can play any day there's time. I also got barker bill's trick shooting, which i haven't played in 17 years, i think.

Between here and the next console phase, i was all Mac shareware scene and then PC.
Console games were played, but over at friends.

Wii:
Metroid Prime trilogy - i had built up some anticipation for the first two titles but never took the plunge for a game cube. When this got released, i bought a Wii for just for the sake of playing these.

Wii U:
Mario kart 8 and Splatoon.

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http://www.frankengraphics.com - personal NES blog

I have always liked RPGs, but the laguage barrier mede them very difficult for me to play back in the day. Here are some games that I really liked/made me try to get the systems most of them I had to do some small works as a kid to be able to afford.
After I became older, I just began a new hobby: try to get the older games I played as a kid.

I ended up getting some newer systems, mostly because my daughters liked to play a lot.
Here is a (not much) short list of games that lead me to the systems (prepare to some personal, long and boring histories of myself):

Atari 2600:
- Pac Man
- Enduro
- Pitfall
- H. E. R. O.
- Chopper Commando

Back in the day I think I was around 5 years old.
I really enjoyed playing specially these 4 games, even if I could not do many things on it.
I wish I had one as my first console, but when finally my parents could buy me one, it was not available on the store. They were on a shortage for them, but I got a famiclone instead, an was happy.

NES:
- Super Mario Bros
- Contra
- Double Dragon 2
- TMNT
- Batman
-Castlevania 3

I really wished an Atari, but got a Famiclone. It was different and much many people had one back on the day. It came with Super Mario Bros, wich I found great! Them I saw the other games and that just impressed me. The turtles' games made me feel in love with the system back them.

Mega Drive:
- Outrun
- Sonic
- El Viento
- Road Rash
- Streets of Rage

I first saw it on a game rental store. The guy was playing Outrun with a loud sound. I found it to be very similar to the arcade's version. Sonic was advertise on TV here, and I tought it just seemed like a cartoon. El Viento impressed me mainly because of the opening. Road Rash vas very cool and competitive, and Streets of Rage had a nice soundtrack. This time I had to do a lot of small works so I could afford a MegaDrive myself.

SNES:
- Turtles 4
- F-Zero
- Super Mario World
- Street Fighter 2
- Contra 3

This just blew my mind!! I was about 13 and just had bought a Mega Drive when it appealed. As a TMNT's fan, it was natural to get my mind blew with this version. The voices wre just too cool!!
F-Zero was an great eyecandy!! SMW was great!! SF2 just made lots of encounters with friens for some head-to-head battle. Contra 3, as a Contra fan just blew my mind!!
It took me lots of time to finally get one SNES. I used to join some friends and rent togeter the system with some games. It was cheaper and very cool!!

PS1:
- Resident Evil
- Street Fighter Alpha 2
- Crash Bandicoot
- Metal Gear
- Castlevania Symphony of the Night

At the begining I really did not looked at the PS1 too much, I was very busy working, studying, dating... I didn't got this system at all, but played a lot these games on friend's houses and game rental stores.

N64:
- Super Mario 64
- Mario Kart 64
- Goldeneye 007
- F-Zero X
- Starfox

Just as the PS1, I didn't payed much attention on N64 back on the day. But these games were the ones that called most of my attention and I have spent some good time with them.

PS2:
- God of War (both)
- Metal Gear (both)
- Thunder Force 6
- Castlevania (both)

This time I mostly got into videogames because of my beloved daughters and nephews.
Most of the time I saw myself solving problems retated to the PS2's optical units.
This ended when I got to know the Open PS2 Loader project.

Wii:
- New Super Mario Bros
- Metroid Other M
- Resident Evil Dakside Chronicles
- Mario Kart Wii
- Puch Out
- Donkey Koong Returns

Again my older daughter was really tired of the PS2's games. She wanted a Mario game that was cool to play. Initially, I had the oportunity to buy an Used N64 with some games, but she wanted more.
I was willing to buy an XBox360 back in the day, but I left this decision to her. I ended up buying the Wii because she fell in love with the New Super Mario Bros.

My newer daughter just plays a lot Resident Evil DC and loves Donkey Kong.
I'm kind of surprised that a 6 yr old girl likes more these kind of violent games, like RE and GOW (on the PS2) than Hello Kitty and Wii sports. My older daughter loves the Just Dance series.

The only time I bought a console because of specific games was when I got a Dreamcast to play Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 (to this day these are the only original Dreamcast discs I own). Being a huge Sonic fan I was feeling a bit left out for not being able to play the latest games in the series, so I eventually bought a second hand Dreamcast and the 2 games. This was around the year 2001, I think.

I played both games a lot back then and had fun with them, but wasn't nearly as fascinated as when I played the original series or even the 8-bit games. Eventually the Dreamcast games (and the couple of PS2 games that came after, which I didn't even bother buying) would make me realize Sonic wasn't for me anymore. The on-rails scripted gameplay set in realistic (for the time) places with annoying cutscenes and voice acting had nothing of what made me fall in love with Sonic in the first place.

I played a few other games on the console, but never with much enthusiasm. Besides Sonic, the only games I remember finishing were the Shenmue titles, but I don't have any special memories of those either.

GBA : Fire Emblem. FINALLY released in the west ! As well as Golden Sun. I don't know which of the two made me buy the system since both were (and still are) MUST PLAY.

DS : Castlevania - Dawn of Sorrow.

Other systems - either someone else in my family bought them or I bought them used long after they were commercially released. However Final Fantasy X was definitely the only reason my sis bought a PS2 as well as the 1st reason for me to touch the system as well.

I bought a PSP 2000, because I wanted to play FF7 Crisis Core. And a few other games...Star Ocean...Loco Roco.

I got my SNES before I had heard or seen of any SNES games.

I think the only games I had played before I got an NES was Mario and Zelda. I guess Mario was the "killer app".

_________________
nesdoug.com -- blog/tutorial on programming for the NES

Usually it was the other way around for me, get the system, then the games followed.
But I did kinda get a used Playstation long after its years to play Dragon Warrior 7.

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Here come the fortune cookies! Here come the fortune cookies! They're wearing paper hats!

Famicom: Fantasy Zone (didn't disappoint me but could never beat it)
FDS: Bubble Bobble and all the other cart games
PC-Engine Duo: Might and Magic (which I also didn't beat yet), when I was finally sold that the Mega Drive was not a necessarily better system and I didn't need a Super Famicom.

I do not own any other consoles afterwards.

Among the following video gaming platforms that I have owned, the following purchases and hardware upgrades were prompted primarily by a single game:

Game Boy: Super Mario Land
PlayStation: Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
PC with a 3D video card: Dungeon Keeper II
GameCube: Super Smash Bros. Melee
Upgraded video card with TV out: StepMania
PSP: Lumines

"Seriously? Dungeon Keeper II?"
The Bile Demon caught my eye.

I'm not one to buy a system for a single game, but there are two instances where I have:

Xbox 360: Halo 3. Probably the last great non shit-for-health, non-loadout, non-sprint with your weapon down, and can hit something a yard in front of you without using the scope shooter, and one of the best (It's my favorite Halo game). Forge was always the great to mess around in; One of my best memories with the game is when I shot my friend's older brother with the Spartan Laser while he was screwing with me as the monitor. I first played it in 2009, (I would have been 10 then) and got it along with the redesigned Xbox 360 when it came out. Unfortunately at that point, the Xbox 360 entered what I am going to call the "dark" half of its life, where many of the tropes of modern video games started to appear like DLC. I ended up buying all the older games I missed, like Skate and Fallout 3, and really didn't get much released past then.

Wii U: Splatoon. Ironically, this has most everything I dislike about modern shooters and isn't at all similar to Halo 3, which is why I wasn't at all impressed with this initially (and the commercials certainly didn't help). I got interested in it when I played it at my friend's house, who actually got it in the Best Buy bundle (which I got later that year), in the summer of 2015. I found the game was much better than I thought it would be, and although definitely still a modern shooter, many problems were negated, like bullshit artificially decreased accuracy when not using the sights (there are none, for the most part) and no camping or cross-map kills where the victor is determined as the one less interested in progressing the game. I found you walk slow as shit, but the run speed powerup, along with choosing a weapon that has little effect on running speed when firing (which is a really stupid mechanic), greatly negates this. The squid could be compared to sprinting, but it's actually useful in a combat situation, as you can go down and pop up from the side unlike most games where sprinting restricts your range of motion to that of an automobile.

I got a Nintendo 64 just so I could play Pokémon Puzzle League.

Atari 2600: Smurfs
NES: Super Mario Bros
SNES: Mortal Kombat
GENESIS: Sonic
N64: Goldeneye
Gamecube: Mario Sunshine
Wii: Zelda TP
PS4: Trials Fusion

SNES (family gift): Super Mario World, F-Zero and Sim City, with the promise of Zelda 3. Very first rental was Gradius III from a grocery store. All so good.

Gameboy (allowance): Super Mario Land 2!

Super Gameboy (gift): Donkey Kong '94, Wario Land.

N64 (family gift): Pilotwings 64 and Blast Corps, because they were experiences that just weren't possible before. As I look back it's weird but Super Mario 64 wasn't that amazing because Bob-omb Battlefield and Cool, Cool Mountain are actually pretty shitty levels and I got super-frustrated at the in-store kiosk.

PS2 (family gift): Dunno, my younger brother wanted it more than me. DVD player I guess??? That being said there are a ton of very fun games on the PS2. Before this, the first game I played on my roommate's PS2 was Chrono Cross, and I hate myself for ever getting invested in it. I hate EA, I feel almost "violated" in a way that my favorite 3rd party game company (Square) thought to intertwine with Electronic Arts and shovel out this half-baked game under pressure of "The Summer of Adventure 2000" promotion.

GBA: Bought from open box return at Best Buy, back when the employees had more say in markdown prices and I was in the right place at the right time. Tried F-Zero but it was too dim and hard, but WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! became THE GAME that got me up in the morning sun.

Nintendo DS: I was tricked. I hate this system. Mario Kart DS was okay but can't even configure controls to be comfortable. Most games have ergonomic issues. Want to play Wario Ware Touched with a ballpoint pen, and I'm sure my DS will try to short out and kill me in my sleep one night.

PSP Slim: ~Emulators~ LOL . Best portable NES at the time with rewind and savestates. I've never actually completed a native UMD game on the system.

Wii: No More Heroes and Super Mario Galaxy. Great that both had sequels on the same system. Both used the wiimote to great effect.

3DS: Star Fox 64 remake and Petit Computer. Super Mario Land 3D was fun on 5 airplane round trips to California, I guess.

WiiU: Super Mario Maker. Still a fun diversion on a sucky winter evening.