Why do you buy consoles at launch???

[Jess Ragan]

I usually don't! My policy has always been that early adopters get the short end of the stick, paying the most money for a console that hasn't yet been established in the marketplace. However, I did purchase the Game Boy Advance and the PSP within a month of their respective releases. I guess I'm just more excited about portables than consoles these days.

 

JR

[joeybastard]

I bought the NES at launch for SMB. Actually I got my first one when it was test marketed in NYC. I wish I still had that one.

 

I bought the SNES at launch for SMW and Street Fighter II

 

I got the N64 at launch for SM64.

 

All of my other systems were bought after launch prices.

[Tickled_Pink]

Never bought a console at launch. Although I have a cousin who used to (don't know if he still does) buy consoles on US launch through specialist importers ... IMO a totally mad idea for those with more money than sense. I remember him telling me that he bought the Jaguar on import for around £400!

 

A friend bought a Jag at or close to its original UK price. He paid £240 for it. Not long after, the price plumetted.

 

As I no longer buy games as soon as they are released (last time I did that was on the ST) I just wait for the price of the consoles to drop to a reasonable level - didn't get my PS2 until last August. Was going to get an X-Box at Christmas but suppliers couldn't deliver on time so it was cancelled.

 

At the end of the day, what's the point of buying a console at launch? Wait until the price drops and by that time you can pick and choose from a wider range of titles to go with it. Otherwise all you're doing is paying extra to help cover the manufacturer's R&D costs.

 

As for the latest batch of consoles, I doubt I'll bother with them. Handhelds just give me a stiff neck. Don't even have a Lynx or GBA (have a GBC I don't bother with and even then I only bought it to program on with a Flash Linker).

[+kisrael]

Well, one reason to get a console at opening is the same reason to watch a movie in the cinema and not wait for the DVD (assuming you have an ok home setup): to see what it's all about when it's still a hot conversation topic.

 

Or maybe you're just afraid the world will end before you get a chance to check it out...

 

Anyway, hmmm...I guess the only console I ever bought opening day was GameCube...couldn't wait to get my hands on Rogue Squadron and I knew Super Smash Brothers Melee was coming down the pike.

 

Usually I wait til I see a killer app for the system..

NES: Metroid

N64: Star Fox 64

PSone (very late): Unholy War, descendent of "Archon"

GC: Rogue Squadron, and then sequels to all those great N64 games

PS2 Amusingly, THundertanks (hoped it would be a next-gen BattleTanx, not a piece of crap) -- thank hevens for GTA:VC to make it worth while

Xbox: Halo

GBA: either Metroid or Advance Wars 2.

[Atarifever]

I might get a next gen system at launch. Its mainly because when the PS2 came out, EB games had a deal where you got like $120 (I think, mght have been a little more) off of the system if you traded in a PSX with 6 games. I easily had six crappy games to get rid of, and with the backwards compatability I could still play the ones I kept. However, I didn't opt for the deal and went back a year later to trade in my PSX and they said they'd give me $5 for it. So, I ended up waiting until the GameCube hit $139.99 to buy a current gen. system. And what would I have lost if I had made the original trade? A PSX that I can buy now for $15 and six games I didn't like that all go for $5 - $10 now. Even if I wanted to rebuild that library over time it wouldn't have been a big loss.

There's a similar deal now with the DS, if you trade a GBA SP and six games you can get the DS for $79.99 (It's $200 new here).

Also, when the next N-Gage comes out I'm getting it at launch just to support the cause.

[chrisbid]

my limit is 200 dollars for a console. so systems like the dreamcast and gamecube were fair play for early adaptation, and i waited to by a PS2 and Xbox. ill treat the next gen of consoles the same way, but i will insist on having at least half a dozen unique and fun games to play on a machine before buying it.

[Shannon]

Just because?

 

Uh oh, well it all started with the N64..

 

Blame mario 64 for that one.

 

GBA (purchased by trading in an extra GBC I had). I was interested in it spec wise, but the non-lit screen sucked. Very dissapointed with it and did not play another GBA game until....

 

DING DING DING the GBA SP which I purchased at launch because I needed something to keep my happy while my job was being transferred out of state.

 

Gamecube to keep my happy while I lived in state working said job by myself. My wife and kid moved down a month later.

 

Xbox because I knew it would be hacked and have all kinds of cool emu's for it.

 

DS as an excuse to give the GBA SP to my son for christmas.

 

PSP because my wife said sure go for it, and I'm not about to pass up an offer like that.

 

Xbox 2??? Unlikely. I'm perfectly happy with my xbox and still think mickeysoft shoulda waited a couple more years.

Edited April 12, 2005 by Shannon

[ClassicBoy]

I used to be an early adopter for most systems I was interested in. I've learned, though, how not to get burned.

 

The first system I bought at release was the Colecovision. I had a paper route for $$ and just couldn't wait to get my hands on a version of Donkey Kong that actually looked and sounded like Donkey Kong. For a fourteen year old...heaven.

 

I bought the Genesis about a year into it's life cycle but made the mistake of buying the 32x add-on for $160 (without a game, no less) when it first hit shelves. Star Wars arcade and Doom sold me. The lack of quality titles over the next few months lost me.

 

Having learned nothing from buying the 32x, I bought the Sega Saturn the first week for $400 ...and then watched it's price drop rapidly as the Playstation became available. Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA were games I had to have immediately. I love the Saturn to this day but wish I had waited a bit for the price to come down. In retrospect, though, I probably would have bought a PS instead and missed out on all the amazing Saturn exlusives.

 

I also bought a Dreamcast at launch. Went in at midnight at Gamestop and the whole works. Actually, no regrets there. It was a decent price for an amazing system...a system that should have had "more legs." I still love the Dreamcast. So many exclusives that no other system had. Gotta love the Dreamcast.

 

I then bought a Gamecube at launch. Star Wars Rebel Strike sold me. Probably should have waited since the price dropped not too long after.

 

I waited for both the PS2 and the Xbox to come down to $150. I'm more and more convinced that this is the way to go. Great systems at a reasonable price with a multitude of A-list games available for $20 or under. With technology having reached a point where games can look and play fantastic on any system, I think it's wise to stay a year or so behind the curve.

 

Some good things can come out of waiting on a system as well. I held off on the Sega Nomad until the end of it's lifecycle and picked one up MIB from ToysRus for $30. I now wish I had bought several of them after seeing current Nomad prices on Ebay.

 

I'm waiting on the PSP and will most likely wait on both Xbox2 and PS3. There are plenty of great games to keep me busy on the "older" systems to keep me from rushing out and buying systems at launch.

[shep]

Yes we early adopters typically get the shaft but I can't help but buy one of the consoles at launch...only one. I like getting to play the new stuff when its first out and see its growth by the time the console is discontinued.

[NE146]

Why do I buy consoles at launch? Because I'm OLD SCHOOL

 

See, to us old schoolers, Video Games are about the NEW and CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY. Star Wars did that to us. So it was from the beginning, so it is now for me. It's only a recent thing with people picking up this 'retrogaming' concept that the idea of getting old outdated consoles for cheap really came into play. I mean sure you could have waited until 1988 to buy an Atari 2600 instead of a newfangled SMS or NES system.. but what the heck is that? I enjoy systems in their time.. and then never let them go. That's how I do it.

 

I guess you could also wait for the inevitable $100 price drop after a year or two on a console. But then that's also a year or two of you not being able to goof off on that console. Personally, if I can afford it. I'm paying it. That $100 is for those 2 years of getting intimate with it

[Lord Helmet]

I guess with the next wave of systems I will have to see whether or not there is a game that I feel I just can't wait to play (like Rogue Leader was for me on the GC).

[Flojomojo]

See, to us old schoolers, Video Games are about the NEW and CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY. Star Wars did that to us. So it was from the beginning, so it is now for me. It's only a recent thing with people picking up this 'retrogaming' concept that the idea of getting old outdated consoles for cheap really came into play. I mean sure you could have waited until 1988 to buy an Atari 2600 instead of a newfangled SMS or NES system.. but what the heck is that? I enjoy systems in their time.. and then never let them go.

God, that's like poetry. I agree with ya 10000%.

[shep]

I enjoy systems in their time.. and then never let them go. That's how I do it. 

 

 

I live by that too, well said

[sega saturn x]

Oh wait i did buy another system at launch the gab sp but that was for a very specific reason. I had broken in the screen of my regular old gba because i rolled off the couch while taking a nap and landed on it.

[dalton4life]

I only bought 2 systems at launch. I bought a PS1 at launch because I thought SNES and Sega Genesis game were really starting to look dated next to the pseudo next gen systems of the time (3DO, Neo Geo and even the Jaguar on some games). It was kind of the same thing with the Dreamcast. I was tired of PS1 at the time and Soul Caliber was amazing so I went for it. I didn't buy current system at launch and I probably won't buy the next gen system at launch, but it's possible though if they are impressive enough. I'm still pretty happy with what out right now.

[Room 34]

Well, since I put up with the Atari 2600 being my only console until 1997... when I "upgraded" to a 7800, I'm probably not one to talk. By the time I "upgraded" to an NES it was 2003, and even though I now have a GameCube and a GBA SP, I didn't get them until they were $100 and $80 respectively.

 

I guess I've just lived too many years of not caring, plus being too old now to get excited about the latest and greatest (not to mention having been burned multiple times in the last decade buying L&G from Apple only to see precipitous price drops within months, or even worse, the dread curse of inconsistent first-gen parts/reliability).

 

Considering that I got my GameCube only a few months after I got my very first NES, it was a quantum leap! Who cares if the 'Cube itself was a couple years old by then?

 

[BeerGnome]

All my computers are very stable hobbled together parts fromthe trash.. a good deal of my consoles are hand me downs.. I never stood in line for anything..

I did have halo2 the day after release, and that was becouse I had reserved it months in advance and wasn't worried about it..

 

so .. I think I must run it up a bit.. I'm gonna get an Xbox2 on launch just becouse I love my current box, and I want to experience the upgrade.. in its time as NE so eloquently pointed out.

for gaming I perfer the elegance of games designed for a specific console than constantly upgrading my computers just to play a game.thats why I so perfer the box to any of the others.. and while I'm willing to wait for big blockbusters to be ported over to it becouse I know what I'm going to get on the box is going to be the same game but..so much better.

it still about the game play.. but..diffren't yknow?

 

hmm...maybe I'l actually set up a tent outside the store this time, just for the experience...

[PuddWakkr]

Wait a year and save $100?? What is that like $8.50 a month? Shoot I spend more than that a month on McDonalds coffee. For 9 bucks a month savings you better believe I'm there on launch day. I love my PSP. Sure in a year I could have saved a few bucks. Crap man I'm playing Lumines and Mercury NOW.

[Zonie]

I bought 2600 Space Invaders and Pac Man at launch.

 

I also got my son a DS at launch for Christmas, But that's it.

 

I'm patiently awaiting the new Xbox so I can finally grab a current Xbox for peanuts. Preferably already modded. I only want the Xbox for emulation.

 

Something about getting a system for $10 or $20 that everyone else paid $200 or more for. I got my DC for $10.

[moycon]

I think PS2 was the only console I waited in line for the morning it came out.

N64 I may have got on the launch date but I just happened to be in a ToysRus (Close to closing time as I remember) That had 2 units left so I picked it up.

 

In any case, I will never pre-order and wait in a line for a console again.

[shep]

I bought 2600 Space Invaders and Pac Man at launch. 

 

I also got my son a DS at launch for Christmas, But that's it.

 

I'm patiently awaiting the new Xbox so I can finally grab a current Xbox for peanuts. Preferably already modded. I only want the Xbox for emulation.

 

Something about getting a system for $10 or $20 that everyone else paid $200 or more for.  I got my DC for $10.

836141[/snapback]

 

I bought the DC when it died and overall has paid off majorly...and just got an Xbox so I'm picking up a lot of games for pretty cheap.

[MegaManFan]

The funny thing is, despite having the disposable income to do so, I don't always buy at launch. I actually waited until the GameCube dropped to $180 as a bundle with a free memory card and Mario Sunshine 'til I bought mine, and I got my X-Box over a year after release as a bundle with 3 free games (Tetris/Star Wars on one disc, and MechAssault packed with).

 

I do however buy some things on launch date, so the reason why I actually do eludes me. The only thing I can come up with is "sheer curiosity." When the Advance was new, there was nothing else like it in a handheld, so I bought one. Same goes for the PSP I suppose, and when the PS2 came out, it was "cutting edge" plus it could play all the old PS1 games to boot. Come to think of it that goes for the Advance as well - I didn't have to give up my GB or GBC games.

[128bytes]

I have never bought a console on launch, but I did get my Atari VCS right after Space Invaders came out. One of these days I will, I'm sure. I looked at the DS right after it came out but decided that it was too big to fit in my pocket, so I bought an SP for $79 instead.

 

Yesterday, I just bought 2 Game Boy Advances (not SP!) at Wal-Mart for $30 each and will get a 4-way link cable so that I can bring a few on the road for some multi-player fun. It will also let me play Activision Advance for the GBA with 2 players. I guess that's not cutting edge - I'm probably around the last person on earth to buy a new GBA from a store

 

I still don't own any non-handheld consoles newer that an Atari 7800 - but am thinking of buying my first modern console. GameCube game prices are really dropping, and I understand that Nintendo will make their new console compatible with GameCube games, so I'm thinking of buying a GameCube now (new or used - PM me if you want to sell) as my first choice, and maybe a Game Boy player to go along with it.

[liquid_sky]

I always wait until the first price drop and the first 'bundled software' set comes out. Why pay 200 dollars for something without a game? So yeah, when the JSRF/Sega GT xbox came out at 199.99, I caved and purchased.

[Shannon]

I must be like MMF were I get some things outta sheer curiosity. Although I tend to WAIT for the price to drop on software titles.

 

So here comes the big question.

 

How many of you buy consoles at launch?

and

How many of you buy new games on release day?