Good list. Mario used to be such a major system seller back in the day.

Dynasy Warriors 2 definitely caught me by surprise.

@viking_funeral said:

While it may seem crazy now, Dynasty Warriors 2 was a pretty big deal at the time. When I was in college, my suitemates had a PS2 in the common room. Of all the titles they had that year, the one game they had that made me freak out and want to play it was DW 2. Even FF X was something I kind of watched others play and didn't have much interest in playing. At the time, it felt like magic that they could fit that many enemies on the screen at once. DW 2 also birthed the musou genre (remember DW 1 is a 3D fighting game, not a musou), so it was actually fresh and original at the time.

My grades suffered first Semester that year thanks to that damn game.

Great list duder! I gotta say Sonic did get me when it came out.

Nice list Slag! Looking over your entries made me realize I don't think I've ever bought a system for a single game! When I was younger and got consoles/handhelds it was always because I wanted something to play video games on and less so that I wanted to play that game. Recently though, it's always been a case of never having enough money to justify spending on a single system. Otherwise I would have 'em all!

Although, I actually bought a 2DS a couple of days ago because it was pretty cheap and I couldn't find a place near me where I could buy a Vita. I don't really know what the "killer apps" for it are so seeing Fire Emblem here is pretty helpful for me! Also, I had no idea this thing could play DS games so thanks for that info!

Thanks man! Yeah every Mario really was. It used to be such an event, before the Mario brand got seemingly diluted into every aspect of Nintendo. Kinda like what Halo was awhile.

I personally suspect that's partially many old timer gamers like myself sometimes tend to be so curmudgeonly about the New Super series instead of appreciating that series on its merits. Because we had gotten used to ever new Mario being a radically innovative new experience, so it was deeply upsetting to some to his series kinda go the Mega Man route of just being solid iterative platformers.

or for that matter why Jeff has a such a kneejerk distaste for Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

I don't feel that way (after Sunshine I realized I was ok with Mario just being another great game and not the game that that was going to blow my mind every 5 years), but I know plenty who do and I can sympathize with the feeling.

Hah I believe it Cav!

I'm totally with you, it was the showpiece of a pretty solid launch lineup. The one you only had to see 60 seconds of gameplay to realize, holy cow I've never seen anything like this before.

Fantavision might have been the prettiest but it was kinda boring. Summoner was the one I thought I was going to love, but hated it. Madden, DOA2 and Timesplitters were very impressive, but their improvements seemed mainly limited to graphics on existing ideas. And Ridge Racer was the obligatory car game (but Midnight Club was the one people actually wanted to play).

I will say I never got see SSX at the time, so that one might have grabbed me more if I had. But I doubt it.

Thanks man! Yeah Sonic grabbed a lot of ppl I knew and justifiably so. The Genesis was a quality system, there wasn't a wrong choice to be made there. I just didn't have my own income back then so I could only get one system. And I wasn't going to leave my three favorite series behind to see what Sega had to offer.

Thanks blzzzrrttt!

I definitely don't buy a system these days for a single game anymore, but when I was a kid that was all it took for me to really want one, which I'm sure is common with most young kids. Fortunately for me I had parents who liked game and were willing to spring for systems for us. Given the price of games back then, most of what I played was rentals. The games were short anyway so 3 days was often enough to power though a bunch of them.

Once I started having my own income I started being more systematically selective eventhough it probably doesn't like it up there.

These days I don't have a hard number or formula that makes me pull the trigger. Now that I tend to own multiple platforms to get anything other than a new primary usually needs to have a dozen exclusives or so that interest me of which 5-6 need to games I consider "must plays". Or in the PS TV's cases, just be cheap enough to make it a nonissue. Even today gaming is still a pretty expensive hobby, I got a budget and I tend to stick close to it. I can be patient and wait for a game to get super cheap before buying it.

I was thinking about this the other day to decide whether or not Uncharted 4 was worth the purchase of a PS4 for me personally. At least for me there still isn't enough. I can only think of 3 games I'd really need a PS4 for at this point and a bunch of maybes. Bloodborne (which realistically I probably wouldn't play given how many Souls games I still have backlogged), Until Dawn (which I've already seen/played), Uncharted 4 (and I haven't played the first three yet, that's on my todo list for the summer. The rest is pretty undetermined right now

Horizon: Zero Dawn (probably), Final Fantasy XV (if it doesn't come to PC), Wild (maybe), Persona 5 (only if the PS3 version gets cancelled), FF Vii remake (if it doesn't come to PC), Hellblade (maybe), David cage's new game (probably), Deep Down (if it still exists), Ni-Oh (maybe), Ni No kuni 2 (maybe), Nier: automata (maybe if it really doesn't come to PC)

If all those hit and are quality, I may need to start saving money. But we'll see. My backlog is huge as it is. I'm in no rush.

Re:2DS - Hey man congrats! I hope you enjoy it! I don't know if the 2DS version can or cannot play DS games (I think it does). If it does though, the DS library is incredibly incredibly deep. I'm still chewing through DS games, what 12 years after the system first launched? Enough so that to the point I've barely scratched thee surface of the 3DS itself. You won't find it hard to find dozens of great games if you like Platformers, RPGs, rhythm games, puzzle games, Visual Novels and SRPGs. The lineup on handhelds can be bit a thin on things that are more 3d action oriented like sports games, action adventure and shooters, but the sheer depth in the others more than compensates imo.

Plus now that DS games are getting older, Gamestop etc tends to be purging their inventory out at decent prices. So you can build a quality library fairly inexpensively even if you aren't buying new releases.

If it helps this is a list I sporadically update of 3DS games I want to purchase. It doesn't have the games I already own on their for self explanatory reason, but might help as a starting point if you are new to the ecosystem

http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/slag/lists/3ds/81666/

If you want more tailored recommendations I'd be happy to throw some out if you give me some direction. Just let me know!

Great list. I might have to steal this idea from you...

@devoureroftime: Thanks man!

Go for it! I'd love to see what did it for other people as well.

It is done.

I only remember a few for me, i got GTA3 on PC and at the time i couldn't run it, which depressed me, so my mother bought me a PS2 which was amazingly sweet of her, i really wanted an N64 for Goldeneye, and i bought a PS3 for Tokyo Jungle.

That was super awesome of your mom! My mom was always the source of support in gaming life as a kid as well. My old man had zero interest in video games.

Tokyo Jungle eh? Now that's a surprise, pretty inexpensive game on perhaps the most expensive system. There's got to be a good story behind that one. What compelled you with that one? Fwiw I enjoyed that game too, but man I stink at it.