Poll: In your lifetime , how many consoles have you owned at launch?

[Auninteligentname]

I've never gotten myself a console at launch. The closest to launch, might be PS1 and PS2, tho I have really no idea how long after launch they were bought. I tend to be rather late to the party, really. I just got myself a Gameboy, which makes me 24 years late to the party.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

None. I'm only 19 though, so its obvious money was an issue. Now it's not much of a problem with jobs, but I already spent about $600 on a new gaming PC, so I won't be buying a PS4 at launch. Not that I would anyway. I usually wait because there are so many games on the last console generation that I haven't played yet.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Snip

None, near maybe, but not at launch. Reason:

First off, I don't quite remember when my family got a NES and then the SNES when they were out.

But, the NES through to the N64 were joint consoles of my brother and I. Then during the Christmas 2001, I got a Gamecube and my brother got a PS2(The numb-nut sold it to one of my mom's friends a few years later for no good reason).

Now the Wii would have been my first at launch console, but to find it, that damn thing in my area was like chasing down the elusive Sasquatch. You'd hear it would be one place, then you'd hear it wasn't there or that they had all been taken. Then on December 20, 2006 came the night of stupidity as I now call it.

I heard that there was going to be a good shipment of them at a Best Buy near me. So, I when to Best Buy in the wee-hours and got in the back of an already long line, of course it was hours early before they opened, and it was the dead of winter and it was below freezing. So after freezing for a couple hours, they opened and said they only had 19 of them, I was 20th in line.

The rest of the people that were behind me heard that one of the stores in the mall nearby would have some. So we all raced over there and waited for the mall to open up. Then when it did, it was a mad dash, and people good at sprinting were at an advantage, I, being short was at a disadvantage. I got to the store everybody was talking about. I was 10th in line, and they had 9, so they told us the other game store in the mall had some, so it was off to that one. I was 7th in line at that one, and that one only had 5.
Because it came to mad dash running, and I'm not a runner, I didn't get one.
That was the end of it and I decided to wait till Nintendo got their shipment act together. Wasn't able to get one until April of 2007.
I also got a Xbox 360, but that was midway through its life in 2009 and what I got was an Elite.

I won't have the money when XBox One or PS4 launch, so again I won't get one at launch. If I had the money I would get one at launch, if I definitely had the money I get both at launch. It doesn't matter if the console doesn't have a powerful launch library(no system truly ever has), I know that the console will be around for awhile and something I'm interest in will come along. Besides for me, a console is even worth it for me if it only has 5 games I'm interested in during it's life span, though I've never had that happen before. I had 8 Wii games and several downloadable games from the virtual console, and with my 360 I have 30 disc games and around 20 or so XBLA titles. Back in the day, I had around 25 Gamecube games; that was around the time I started buying my own games, and it helped that Nintendo "Best-seller" games were 20 dollars a pop at Wal-Mart.

My libraries for the other systems NES to N64 have grown in part because of E-Bay of late and new group of retro gaming stores that have set up in my town, went from having around 18 NES titles to over 55. From 10 original Gameboy games to over 30. Etc, etc for SNES and N64.

I probably would have the money for a next-gen console if I hadn't done that, but I still think was worth getting over 60 retro titles and making myself have to wait to get the next-gen.
Okay, that's enough rambling.

 

[Adept Mechanicus]

The only consoles I ever owned were handhelds, but I never bought them at launch because of the price and the lack of games. It's better to wait for a price drop, then buy up all the games that looked interesting when the thing came out plus whatever looks good when you buy it.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Bought the CD attachment thingy for mega drive/Genesis and later a Saturn. And that was pretty much it with the consoles for me.

Aawww, you got to experience part of the Sega Genesis life support system. Really, Sega tried its darnedest to keep that system going without creating an entirely new stand alone system.

I think that was one of the wounding blows that lead to the death of Sega console development. After Genesis, they didn't seem to know how to move forward, and started turning Genesis into the console equivalent of Frankenstein's monster. Then, at least in the US, and my area of it, the Saturn was like some mythical thing, because people knew it existed, but literally nobody had one.

And finally, Sega got their act together and made the Dreamcast, but they just jump too far head too fast with it, and lost everybody in the process. Microsoft filled void they left.

 

[Imre Csete]

None.

I was a kid when I got a Gameboy, but I'm pretty sure it was after launch. Loved me some Pac Man and Bubble Bubble!

 

[Poetic Nova]

None actually, I always wait at least a year before buying a new console. And even then I most likely gett them at a discount.

 

[N3squ1ck]

I never bought a console right at launch, but that is mainly because of money reasons. The closest I bought it to coming out was like 3 years, and that was with the PS3, which I got around the launch of Bad Company 2, after my PC died on me and I decided that I should get into console gaming from there on in.

I will probably get the PS4 on launch though, since I will work for a store which is selling those, so I will get quite a discount on it.

 

[Whoracle]

None. I own/ed the following (Those in brackets I don't have anymore):

Colecovision
NES
GameBoy
SNES
GameBoy Advance SP
(N64)
(Gamecube)
Wii
(PSX)
PS2
PS3
PSP
(Master System)
(GameGear)
MegaDrive/Genesis

I have bought them when they had enough games I wanted, since I couldn't care less about the console by itself, unless it has some absolute No Buy Reasons(tm) for me. And at launch there are almost NEVER enough games that I'm interested in. That said I'll most likely rebuy the ones that have gone missing with the years.

FYI: My personal Threshold for buying a system is 5 games that I really want to play, and that are and will stay exclusives to the system. Which, incidentally, is why I've never owned any Xbox. All games that interested me came to the PC, with the exception of Deadly Premonition, which is on PS3 now.

 

[roushutsu]

None, and it's usually one of two reasons: the launch lineup didn't have games that I really wanted to play, or I didn't have the money for it at the time. The lineup is pretty much why I haven't invested in a Wii U yet, but that's gonna change relatively soon. Sony's launch line-up will probably determine whether I get a PS4 or Wii U for the holidays.

 

[ultrabiome]

never owned a console at launch. probably the closest was the original DS (and i still like that form factor better than the DSlite) - i can't remember how far after launch but it was months. why? i grew up on second hand consoles, and only had a current gen as a surprise gift from my grandparents (my brother had asked for a star wars game for xmas, my grandpa bought rogue squadron, checked with my parents if we could play it, and surprised us with the system as well). i almost never buy the first version of anything, too many bugs and failures, and the launch titles are both too expensive, too few, and generally too lackluster to warrant such an expense. instead, wait for the console price to drop and then get the good games for cheap and wait out on any of the current good games for a price drop. i don't usually play multiplayer so i have little intensive to purchase games at launch either.

PS2 - i was in college, can't remember but i remember i had waited to buy it (although it was Enter the Matrix that i purchased it for XD) - and got a lot of use with soul calibur 2 & 3 and guilty gear
DS - a few months after launch, metroid prime hunters was one of the reasons
Wii - i was in grad school, bought a year after launch
PS3 - waited until i finally bought a good HDTV (40" 120 Hz 1080p), i think 3 years after launch when it dropped to $250
3DS - birthday gift from the wife, but after the price drop and used a ruse to ask me questions about it ($40 for a portable game though blows. thank goodness for backwards compatibility).

no way in hell would i buy a PS4 at launch, but might if there are enough exclusives and after a price drop - until then my new PC should be handle any cross-platform 'next-gen' games with ease. Wii U i might get eventually, but i like the gamecube support of the Wii and Nintendo hasn't done a good job with accounts and cross-buying (i have a decent number of VC titles and i don't want to lose by saves for a meager increase in graphical fidelity) and a general lack of good games hasn't helped. and i have despised Xbox since it first game out, and no exclusives or features have ever made me think twice about it or it's iterations (and i have small hands so screw the controller).

 

[Chemical Alia]

None, I think. The only console I had growing up was the Sega Genesis my parents got me for Christmas in 5th grade, and everything else I played was at friends' houses. I didn't even get another console until the Gamecube after I got out of the army, and it was already out for a year by then. I completely skipped over the N64 (with the exception of Mariokart)/Dreamcast/PS1, and when I bought the 360, it was already out about six months. And my boyfriend bought the wii, so nope.

I guess part of the reason is I usually just hate launch titles. The Wii U STILL hasn't given me anything that I'm the slightest bit interested in playing, yet I'd probably buy that thing just for one promising game because I'm made of money and it's burning holes in my money pockets.

 

[Mikeyfell]

Absolutely zero.

I got an N64 from a neighbor who bought a PS2 at launch
A couple years later I got a PS2 (2003)
after that I got an Xbox to play Ninja Gaiden(2004)
And then I picked up a Game Cube refurbished (2004)
It wasn't until early 2007 I got my Xbox 360
And finally I bought a PS3 at 2012's black Friday

I don't plan to pick up a next generation console (99% sure it'll be a PS4) until Mirror's Edge 2 comes out (Possibly 2014?)

 

[Bomberman4000]

None for me. Generally it takes time for me to 1. develop enough interest to move to a new device, and 2. save up the money to be able to afford it. I generally come in on things a little later either when the price drops or I can get it with some kind of bundled sale.

The closest one for me was probably the Xbox 360. I don't remember exactly when I got it, but I know it was within a year of its initial release, but more than 3 months after.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I've owned:

Gameboy
Gameboy Color
Gameboy Advance
Gameboy Advance SP
Nintendo DS (still own by proxy of 3DS)
Nintendo DS Lite (still own by proxy of 3DS)
Nintendo 3DS (still own)
Nintendo 64 (still own)
Nintendo Gamecube (still own)
Nintendo Wii (still own by proxy of Wii U)
Nintendo Wii U (still own)
Sega Genesis
Sega CD
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3 (still own)
PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Vita
Xbox 360

I didn't get a single one of them on launch day, or within 3 months of launch.

 

[teqrevisited]

I got a launch-day PS2 for my birthday. The Mega Drive & Gameboy we/I had was already out before I was born and I think we got a PS1 a year after release.

 

[samwise970]

I remember buying a PS2 when I was a kid. I don't know if it was quite at launch, but Best Buy was still selling N64s new, and the Xbox wasn't out yet.

 

[Flamb3Nobunaga]

I got a SNES in 1999, a PS2 in Sept. 2001, an original DS in 2006, a 360 in Dec. 2007, and a PS3 a week ago. So 0. I usually wait until there's a few good games worth playing before I shell out the money for an entire console. This might change with the PS4 because Destiny and Infamous:SS look friggin amazing. The Xbone also looks OK but I might skip on that if DR3 comes to PS4.

 

[Raikazu]

The only 'console' I've ever bought for myself was the 3DS, but that was in November last year. I've had all GameBoy consoles (original, Pocket, Color, Advance, SP), MegaDrive, SNES, N64, PS1, PS2, and X360 but all of them have been gifts at least a year after launch.

Even my newest console (ignoring 3DS) the 360 wasn't bought for me until Chrismas 2008. I currently have a vague preorder at my local GAME but I may just use that against other products. Especially with the problems the original 360 model has with the red rings. I've owned three 360s (an standard white one, and two of the new models after the disc tray on the first one jammed) and have never had them cripple.