Just sitting here looking around at some of my games, I started to think; "what was the first game I even played on these things?" You know, when you first get a new game console and pop in that first game, it leaves a lasting impression on you. It gives you an idea of what you can expect from that console, and it is also the game you'll most likely spend quite awhile playing. It'll be the game you'll show to your friends when showing off your new piece of hardware, and it'll also be the game you'll gain a lot of memories for. In some cases, that game may have also been the deciding factor in buying that console in the first place. So, I want all of you right now to think back on the first game you played on each console you own, and think back on how it effected you. Did it make you love that console? Or maybe it actually made you get your money back! Whatever the case is, just think back, and if you feel like it, leave your memories here in the comments!
As for me, well, thinking back really isn't that easy for me... But I'll try to recall as much as I can.
NES:
The first NES game I played was Super Mario Bros. My cousins had just given me their NES after buying a new SNES, and from the get go I was hooked... Sort of. Really I was too young to make it very far at the time, but that didn't keep me from trying. The game was like a whole new world to me, and I couldn't wait to see what it had to offer, but I kept dying before I could even make it out of world one. Even so I kept practicing at it, and sooner I was getting farther and farther. Really though, this wasn't the only game I had memories of that night, mainly because my cousin gave me all 20 something of his games to go with that NES. Mario just happened to be the first one I put in! (And fought with! Darn blue and pink screens....)
SNES:
I actually didn't play a SNES until a year or so that it was out, but when I did, I was blown away. Super Mario World was the first game I played, and everything about it amazed me. Mario had a cape, Yoshi was there, the graphics looked amazing, the world were huge with a lot of places to explore, and the game soon became the reason I looked forward to visiting my cousins. That is until I got one myself as well as Super Mario World + Mario All Stars!
N64:
Although I had played one from time to time in stores (small store demos of Mario 64), I really didn't get to play a N64 until I went to my cousin's house (just like with the SNES). That was where I got my first shot at really playing Mario 64, and I was amazed. I'm sure everyone else who saw them 3D graphics back then felt the same way, and for the first time I really felt like I "was" Mario! While I did get Mario 64 for my birthday that year, I got a N64 a few weeks early along with Rampage (I loved Rampage on the NES) after returning from vacation. I have a lot of memories playing that game that night, and it ended up being one of my all time favorites. Then I got Mario 64 myself and spent the next few years of my life playing it almost everyday!
PlayStation:
First PlayStation game.... Well at the time my uncle was still living with my grandparents, and his girlfriend bought him a PlayStation 1 right before they got married. Since I was over at my grandparent's house a lot, I actually got to play the thing a lot as well! The first game I ever tried out was Crash 1, and I remember really liking it. Sure it was no Mario, but it put its own spin on the platforming genre, and before I knew it I was playing every Crash game that came out. I guess it was the game that really got me into playing the PlayStation, but the main reason I wanted one was for that Rugrats game. I was still pretty young at the time, and Rugrats was my favorite TV show, so when I got a PSOne for Christmas, I was extremely excited. Rugrats, Crash, Spyro, Megaman X, Megaman Legends, and so on. I loved that PlayStation; too bad it got destroyed a few christmases later when hot chocolate fell on it.... It wasn't until 2 years later that I got it replaced.
DreamCast:
Skipping around to the order I actually owned the consoles.... The DC came next. I had always wanted a DC since I was a huge Sonic fan, and I used to wonder what the 3D games were like all the time. I had somewhat of an idea from seeing demos at Walmart, but I never really got to play much of one. When I got that DC and put in Sonic Adventure, just.... Wow. It was everything I could have hopped for plus more! Still to this day, it is one of the few games I've bought a few different versions of, and 100%ed every time. The game made owning a DC worth it, and it is why I still turn it on from time to time.
GameCube:
Mario 64 was my favorite game at that point, and I just couldn't wait to finally play Sunshine. I used to play the demo at Walmart every chance I got, but it really wasn't that long. Now by this time the GCN had been out for a year, so I did play a Batman game on it once before, as well as the demo for Luigi's Mansion, but my first real experience with it was playing Sunshine on Christmas day. I can still picture myself sitting on my bed in my room, playing with a WIRELESS controller, and I still remember how shocked I was that Mario went to jail! The game just had me hooked from the start, and I found myself playing it non stop over the next few days. I also had gotten Animal Crossing as well, so whenever I wasn't playing Mario, I was living my virtual life! Whenever I got bored with that, I simply jumped over to my Sonic collection and relived some old childhood memories.
PlayStation 2:
The first time I played a PS2 it was actually the Ico demo, but I did play a Casper game my cousins had as well... Really, my experience with the PS2 was quite limited up until I bought one myself for the Megaman X games. Originally that was the only reason I wanted to own a PS2, and it made it worth owning! I love the X series, and I still love playing X8, but after awhile I did start to find MANY other series that I enjoyed. Still putting in Megaman X, and finally playing it after waiting all them years just felt so great.
Nintendo Wii:
I'll admit it, I was one of them Nintendo fanboys freaking out over the release of the Wii, but then again, who wasn't? It showed so much promise with its motion controls, and if you didn't go for that sort of thing, the PS3 and 360 were coming out as well! Still the Wii just really stood out, and after seeing that video from E3, I was freaking out! The first time I actually played a Wii was at the mall, which I went to just to play the Wii! They had Excite Truck set up, and I remember playing it with one of my friends who just happened to show up as well. It was fun, and that was why I decided to ask for the game for Christmas. That Christmas I was given a Wii as a gift, and after waiting an hour and a half for the update to finish (I had bad internet back then), I was on my way to playing Wii Sports. Overall I really did like the Wii as well as its motion controls, but as you know, it was something we all got used to pretty fast.... The few games I had made the Wii worth owning, but it wasn't till much later that the good games actually started to come out.
Xbox 360:
When I bought an Xbox 360, I bought Sonic 06 along with it. Now I had heard how bad the game was, but I really didn't care. I had waited for a Sonic Adventure 3 for many years at that point, and I wasn't going to let SEGA's mess up stop me from playing it. I knew about what happened with the game, how SEGA forced Sonic Team to release an unfinished game (with more than half the content cut), and I understood why the game was going to have these problems; however I decided to enjoy it as much as possible.... And I did. Really the game isn't as bad as people make it out to be. There are some simple glitches that can be easily avoided (such as the loop in stage one, all you have to do is run on the inside and not the outside of it), and the loading times really weren't that big of an issue for me either. Overall I did like a few of Sonic's stages, I liked Shadow's, and I had a blast with Silver! Yeah the game is filled with problems, and Sonic's story was the worst part of it, but I didn't let it stop me.
Sure not too long after I did get other games for the 360 as well, in fact I bought Lost Planet almost right away and ended up loving it! So yeah, Sonic 06 wasn't the game that showed me what the 360 was really about, it was the 100 + games I bought after it lol
PlayStation 3:
I bought the PS3 for one reason, and one reason only; VALKYRIA CHRONICLES! When it was announced, and I saw that the Xbox logo wasn't at the end of the Japanese trailer, I was sad. I didn't have a PS3, and I knew I wouldn't be getting one anytime soon; although I wanted one. Still that didn't stop me from watching parts of the game on youtube, and it sure didn't stop me from watching the anime as it aired in Japan! I quickly fell in love with the characters, and the story, so that's when I made up my mind. I was going to save up for a PS3 and buy VC as soon as possible, and that is what I did! The game didn't let me down at all, in fact it was a lot better than I expected. It is the game that turned me into a PS3 gamer, and before I knew it I was buying all of the PS3 exclusives I could get my hands on! Man, just talking about VC makes me want to play it right now.....
Wii U:
And now we are back to Nintendo. The first game I played on the Wii U was the Rayman Legend's demo in the store, but that wasn't much to go on. I already knew what to expect from the Wii U, and from a sequel to Rayman Origins, so it didn't really impress me; even so I still wanted one. The first game I actually played with my Wii U was Nintendo Land, and once again It really didn't impress me that much. Sure I really liked the game, but it wasn't anything that new. It was a game running on a system basically on par with the 360 and PS3, and I had been using the touch screen since 2004 on the DS. I guess, the Wii U was the least impressive console for me; especially since I had to return two of them that got bricked by the day one update.... Still once I got a working one, and popped in Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge (one of the main reasons I wanted it), I soon found myself enjoying the tablet screen! Above all, I guess that's what stood out to me the most!
Game Boy Color:
Now onto handhelds! The first game I played on my GBC was Pokemon Red, and I didn't know how to save! Man I was so excited to finally be playing a Pokemon game (was a fan of the anime), and I couldn't wait to set out on my adventure, but at the time I didn't realize it was an adventure meant to be non stop. I figured you just turned the game on, played as far as you could, then turned it off, but then I discovered that magical save button! Sure the game was hard to see unless you were in sunlight, but I loved that game, and it was my first full experience with a standard RPG. You know, I think playing Pokemon might have helped me more with reading than the Reading class in grade school did!
Game Boy Advance:
While I did play a few of my cousin's GBA games (a Tony Hawk game?) I really didn't play much of one till I got one for Christmas. The first game I played was a Lego Bionicle game (which picked up right after that free adventure PC game), and I remember being amazed at how nice everything looked! The 2D sprites were nice and sharp, there was a lot of detail put into the games, and things were no longer made out of blocks! The GBA soon became one of my favorite handhelds of all time (still to this day), and before I knew it I was playing a LOT of amazing games. Man when Pokemon finally came around, I didn't know what to think! That game just shocked me so much lol (Later on I got an SP which shocked me because it had a built in light! Made playing games at night a lot easier!)
Nintendo DS:
The Nintendo DS was, well, the N64 allover again! When I was young I used to always wish I could play Mario 64 in the car, but I knew the Game Boy couldn't do anything like that. In my mind, tech wouldn't become that advance, and it was just an impossible dream. Then came along the Nintendo DS! While the touch screen, and online play really got me excited, what excited me the most was that it could play 3D games! That Christmas I was given it as a gift was one of the best in memory, and I am still happy to know that I can put Mario 64 in at anytime and play it on the go!
PlayStation Portable:
Just like with the PS2, the main reason I got this was for Maverick Hunter X. Megaman X1 is one of my favorite games of all time, and when I heard they were remaking it on the PSP in the X8 style I was completely shocked! Sadly I wasn't able to get a PSP until a few years later, but it was worth the wait. The first game I actually played for it was Megaman Powered Up (since Walmart was sold out of MHX), but that was still such a fun game! Although originally my plan was to get it just for them two games, I soon found myself getting into many other series, and overall I am glad I got a PSP.
Nintendo 3DS:
The main reason I got a 3DS was for the games that were announced. Megaman Legends 3 (FINALLY.... not coming out.....), Kingdom Hearts 3D, Paper Mario "3," and so on. I knew what to expect from it (it was basically a handheld GameCube), and I wasn't expecting to be shocked by it. Overall I wasn't, but when I popped in Pilot Wings I was amazed! "The 3D actually works!?" About sums up how I felt. I mean I knew it worked, but I didn't know it was that good! Really I love my 3DS, as well as the games for it, but I guess by this point in time I'm really not as shocked by video games. I mean look how far we've come, so it is only natural things would keep on advancing!
PlayStation Vita:
I'll flat out say it, I wasn't shocked by the Vita either since I knew what to expect from it, but I was shocked at how many nice features the thing had. My first game I actually played was Gravity Rush, and it was one of them games that really made full use of what the Vita had to offer. I like how the screen acted as a window to the world, and could be moved around as such, I liked the multitouch touch screen, and I loved all of the apps and online features as well. Personally the Vita is one of my favorite consoles (not just handhelds) of all time, and it is actually the first thing I'm going to pick up as soon as I finish typing this blog.
So, overall I have a LOT of gaming memories, but I guess getting the consoles themselves always will be what stood out to me at most. I'd be shocked at the new features each console had to offer, and I remember always looking forward to them new games that would come out sooner or later. That part hasn't changed for me, and I'm sure it never will! I'm still looking forward to the future PS4 and "720" games more than the systems themselves!
