So, what console DID get you excited?

[BushMonstar]

Do handhelds count? If so, the last time I was actually excited was for the 3DS (Not as much the library as much as that it was the first thing that I'd truly saved up a lot of money for). If we're not including handhelds, I'd probably have to say the GameCube.

 

[00slash00]

the gamecube, mostly because i was such a nintendo fanboy back then. its ironic because i ended up being so disappointed by the gamecube, but i can remember obsessively looking at videos on IGN and reading all the articles i could find about upcoming games and debating with my friends over with the gamecube was going to be the best system of that console generation (again, ironic).

by the start of the next generation i had also had a ps2 for quite some time and i was excited about the wii and the ps3, but not as much as i had been for the gamecube and im not really sure why. i excitedly watched the e3 coverage but i wasnt spending hours online, reading articles and looking at videos

i honesty dont think i could be as passionate about a console today as i was about the gamecube, no matter how much it blew me away. i dont really have any interest in nintendo anymore but i really like sony. regardless, i feel that so much of the magic of the industry has faded under all the bullshit business strategies that game companies use. or maybe its just what happens as time passes. im much older now and have become jaded and tougher to impress. maybe its partly the fault of pc gaming too. back then the only gaming i did was on consoles so each new generation was like a jump in to the future. but with current pc games already looking better than what we have seen from ps4, xbox one, or the wiiu, its just harder to get that excited. its sad but i cant help feeling like consoles as a whole may reach a point, within the next decade, where they just become obsolete

 

[Squilookle]

I don't think I've been truly excited for a console since the N64. I was happy to acquire consoles that came after that, sure... but I wasn't excited for them.

Same here. the N64 was a whole new frontier. Since then the games are just the same stuff with better paintjobs.

 

[tofulove]

this generation is making me glad im a pc gamer. the console that got me hooked in the most at launch was between the n64.

 

[rosac]

The gameboy advance. I saved up for so freaking long to get that, just for pokemon sapphire. REALLY needs to be remade. then there was yoshis island, golden sun, and my favouritist game evar- final fantasy 4. The only game I'm playing through twice except crisis core.

 

[Saregon]

Probably the N64. Snip, Best September ever.

Gotta agree with that. My birthday is in early september, and I got an N64 and Super Mario 64. Pretty much the best birthday ever. Also the Gamecube, which I bought myself.

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm a Sega/Sony kind of guy. I was excited about the Genesis, the Dreamcast, and the Playstations. Nintendo was alright, but I never got enough exposure. As for X-Box? Hah. I live in America and I'm embarassed because we had to copy Sony.

 

[Drummodino]

Actually, I am fairly excited for the PS4. inFAMOUS: Second Son looks awesome, and the native livestreaming thing is cool. Not terribly psyched about the new controller design, but whatever, I'll just get used to it.

But really, I don't get excited over consoles. I get excited over games. I choose my consoles (and handhelds) based on the games they have.

Though at this point I'm practically a Sony loyalist because of their exclusive franchises.

People who don't like the vita have never played it!

I mean there are exceptions, sure, but it's SUCH a good system. Why can't Sony market it better and get more support from fans and devs?!

I like the Vita, though I've never even seen one in real life. It's got a lot of power, and dual analogs! And I really want to play Persona 4 Golden. But it just doesn't have enough games to make it feel like a worthwhile investment yet. :c

Supporting by purchasing one is the best way to get new games . Speaking as an owner I love my Vita, it is a really elegant, powerful system.

Personally I think it's worth it. Persona 4 Golden, Soul Sacrifice, PS Allstars, Gravity Rush are what I have/want and more and more games are coming with cross-play (Sly 4, Full Frontal Assault etc.). I assume that will continue with the PS4, so I'm optimistic about the Vita's future. Also the PSone and PSP classics are a blast.

 

[OneCatch]

Think you've hit upon it there, I scrimped for my SNES so rewarding.

If you're a certain Age, I think the SNES wins this contest hands down.. myself included, personal anecdote about Sega Saturn notwithstanding.

I was at that age and the Snes didn't interest me in the slightest. Here in Europe, the console wasn't significantly more powerful than the megadrive, and nobody cared for the console simply because you couldn't play Sonic the Hedgehog on it (Sonic was WAY more popular in the UK back in the 90's than Mario ever was). Goes without saying the Snes wasn't a resounding success or anything over here.

Seconded about the Sonic thing. Mario only got really popular in the UK after the 3D one was released on N-64. Before that it was all about sonic. That's not to say that the SNES was particularly unsuccessful, but it was the N-64 that really broke Nintendo into the UK (handhelds aside).

 

[Hawkmoon269]

Definitely the N64. Before it came out, I couldn't even visualise what 3D gaming would be like. Then my local Toys R Us got an N64 for the customers to play, and it had Mario 64 on it. It blew me away.

 

[Casual Shinji]

PS2

I remember buying a games magazine that came with a video tape (yeah, I know), which had loads of PS2 footage on it. Not the least of which being Metal Gear Solid 2. And at the time it looked fucking groundbreaking. So that already had me hyped. But then later on I saw the first footage of Silent Hill 2 and I was utterly gobsmacked, and I couldn't wait to buy that big black monolith.

Plus, you could make it stand up vertically... How fucking cool was that!?

 

[Yopaz]

I was giddy as a schoolgirl when I bought my N64. My family's NES, SNES, and Genesis were gifts from relatives or friends for the whole family, but my N64 was mine! Sure, I bought it with birthday money, but dammit, it still counts! Still have the bastard, too. Works perfectly, though the analog sticks on the controllers(the original controllers I bought with it) are shot to hell. Not bad, to be quite honest, for stuff bought about twelve years ago.

Captcha: Live long + prosper. Indeed Captcha. Indeed.

Giddy as a schoolgirl... I love that sentence in combination with your avatar.

OT: I've had all Nintendo systems from NES to Wii U. The NES always was there so it was commonplace. I didn't know about the SNES until we got one, I loved the Nintendo 64 and I wanted one for so long, but the one to make the most excited was the GameCube. I was old enough to be an adept reader so for the first time I followed news prior to a release, I also had better access to information than prior to our Nintendo 64 through game magazines and the internet.

However I guess that what really made this the big one for me was that it was the very first time I paid for a console in full by myself. I remember being very excited when we were going to the city (2-3 hours away) and I was going to get to buy it. It was massively disappointing that I got sick that day and had to stay home. I was really looking forward to picking it off the shelf, picking the game (Super Smash Bros.) and paying for it. I still got the thing though and I have to say I loved it. That or the SNES is my favourite console.

 

[Feraswondervahnn]

My N64. I spent ages making sure I'd be able to get one on release day, then forgot to go and get it ha ha! I was devastated as hell when I realised. It's a shame... The poor thing packed up last year, so I removed the expansion pack and got a new one.

I remember desperately wanting a Gamecube, saving all my money, going to pick one up and our car broke down on the way into town. I was so upset it was unreal ha ha. Still have the Gamecube I got though and it still works fine.

I highly I'll ever feel that excitement for a console again though.

 

[AuronFtw]

None of the above, I am a proud and long time PC Master Race member.

This. I deviated from the fold long enough to pick up and enjoy a PS2, with its MASSIVE and impressive library of games (quite possibly the most massive list of "good" games any single console has ever had). Backwards compatibility with a large chunk of PS1 games let me pick up even more amazing titles that never got a PC port (like FFT and some early squaresoft RPGs).

Aside from that, nothing. The gen after ps2 just looked terrible - lack of backwards compatibility was a huge turnoff, insanely limited selection of games on ps3 + RROD on 360 + forced pay for online services + terrible motion control on wii just blew. PCs had better online play, had both kb/m + usb controllers as input options, better modding options (or modding options period, as most console releases lack them entirely), and a bigger library than the 360/ps3 gen.

The worst bit? It's looking like history is about to repeat itself with even less focus on "games" in the next generation of "video game consoles." I'm fully expecting anyone that identifies as a "gamer" will return to PC gaming for the best experience this gen.

 

[karma9308]

Ps2. Final fantasy X . Nuff said . The beautiful score at the begining ( To zanarkand ) , the graphics , the story . Truely the pinnacle of final fantasy .

I couldn't agree more! I was so excited to get a ps2 and wanted one every day. Then my cousin showed me FFX and how beautiful it looked and how awesome it was and I had to have it. (Twice in fact!)

 

[Olas]

The Wii definitely got me excited, it was this whole new thing nobody knew what to make of, that promised to totally change videogames. Being a Nintendo fan during the launch of the Wii was incredibly exciting. While it seemed Microsoft and Sony were just rehashing the same designs and concepts they had been using the previous gen, with nothing but bigger numbers attached, Nintendo was saying 'fuck it' to the graphics war and going in a radically different direction with technology never before used in a mainstream gaming device.

While I did get excited for the WiiU I knew it wasn't going to be big deal the Wii was, and it's hard to imagine Nintendo ever replicating that level of forward energy. Then again you should never doubt Nintendo.