WORK IN PROGRESS
These are the games that sold me on the system that they're for. They may not be the best game on the system, or the first game on the system, or even good games, but upon seeing these games, I was convinced that the system was a big deal.
(Nintendo 64)
No surprise here. In a time where I thought that better graphics meant better sprites, this game blew my mind. Truly changed the game as far as graphics and more importantly, control. I had no trouble wrapping my head around it. It was second nature immediately.
(Nintendo Entertainment System)
I considered myself a smart kid. I knew the games I was playing were fun within their limits. Replayablilty was a must, since games just weren't long, and multiple sittings for a single play through were unheard of. A neighbor brought this new game over about a boy in green named Zelda and turned my world upside down. I never actually got to play the game, and later I learned that the boy was actually named Link, but one thing that I did know, I was hooked. This game did more than show me the potential of the NES, it made me believe in video games.
(Playstation)
I was one of those kids that the Nintendo 64 appealed to more than the Playstation, mainly because of all the familiar Nintendo franchises that hadn't let me down. I had played Playstation games and for the ones that I enjoyed, wondered "Why don't they just make this game on N64? Then I played Metal Gear Solid. I didn't even have control of the game, all I had seen was cutscenes, and I knew without a doubt that this was special. This was different. This was something that the Nintendo 64 couldn't handle in a million years. This game was so cinematic, so complex but approachable, so realistic, that I couldn't believe that the Playstation could handle it, let alone any other system on the market.
(XBOX 360)
The XBOX 360 launch seemed littered with more shiny, feature barren sports games, and shooters with weird textures or seemingly none at all. I wasn't sold on just having upscaled PS2 games. Then I saw Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, and couldn't believe what all this game had going for it. The graphics were insane, particles were everywhere, the interface was next level. From the second I saw this game, I wanted an XBOX 360.
(XBLA)
Okay, so this isn't a system, but definitely a platform that is very important to video games. We knew about Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console, and knew that Microsoft would also offer game downloads. The problem was that Microsoft didn't have a back catalog of games to profit off my nostalgia with. They would have to rely on new, mini, cheaper games, and quite frankly, I didn't think anyone would put any real effort into it. Along comes Geometry Wars, and I think I played more of it than any other game for months after launch.
I was totally satisfied with my NES and had never seen what PC or arcade gaming was offering, so I didn't see the point in upgrading consoles. I didn't see what else a new system could offer. All that changed when I played Super Mario World. I simply didn't want to play my NES anymore, and wanted a SNES.
