AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
I am starting with the third generation because I am not that old and really if you are that old, maybe you shouldn't be on a videogame forum on the internet. I guess you can be. I am just saying that instead of writing stuff on the internet, I would be raising a family, cooking turkey dinners, and driving automobiles to business meetings in my starched suit or something like that. Its your thing, its ok. Maybe I shouldn't judge because I look at weirdo pornography and probably still will even when I finally get a fancy New Yorker sketch of my head on the wall of a Barnes and Noble and just maybe I will still be posting on NeoGaf if another videogame crash hasn't happened. Ok, maybe the 2nd generation isn't that bad but really, if you were like 16 and actually got a Pong Machine, do you even know how to use a computer? Did you think that tray that came out of the computer was for your coffee in the morning? Its a pretty nifty feature. Alright, its still not that bad. Also, I guess maybe some elderly people could have joined the forum because of the Wii and the DS which is possible, I suppose. Give those oldies more WWII games to revive their glory days, I say. Actually, I think most people who served in WWII is dead isn't it something like? I thought I heard that the number of people who served in Vietnam is decreasing but maybe I am just making that up. I doubt people that survived Nam would want to play the Wii. Nam was a shitty time, I heard.
All my picks for favorite games are favorite games at the time from memory actually.
3rd Generation:
MY PICK IS.....
Nintendo Entertainment System!!!
My first game system. First ever videogame I say (hey another good topic probably) was Castlevania and I remember it because I was like 4 or 5 nad had my babysitter ask me if I wanted to watch cartoons. "Hell yeah, I want to watch cartoons," I said. Then she started to play Castlevania. I was like, "What are you doing? This cartoon looks like ass. Wait, are you controlling the ass-toon? Thats awesome." Regardless, I still didn't get to play Castlevania and she kept on dying pretty quickly so it was a pretty shitty cartoon to watch. I finally got one when I was 8 for my birthday and never really got another $50 games except for Super Mario 3 and the first Turtle games. I usually borrowed games from friends for the most part. First Nintendo game I bought with my own money was Maniac Mansion and bought from a grocery store used shelf for $10. I also had an odd knack to rent Bart vs. the World over and over again (along with Yo Noid! which was awesome). If I didn't buy used games, I got $20 games from Toys R Us like Time Lords, Monster Party, Dick Tracy, Back to the Future, Friday the 13th, Double Dragon II, Godzilla, Godzilla 2 (awesome strategy game like Advanced Wars but with motherfucking awesome Godzilla characters), Uninvited, Mission Impossible, StarTropics (fuck yeah!!), Kirby's Adventure (fuck yeah part 2!!), and among others. Favorite games were StarTropics, Kirby's Adventure (replayed so many times by making up stuff like Kirby was a knight and could only use a sword), River City Ransom, Super Mario 2, and Tecmo Super Bowl.
2nd and only place
Sega Master System. I never actually played one. I thought they were an urban myth when I was a kid actually. Like the Sega tards said they had an awesome 8-bit system too. Still not sure if it ever really existed.
4th Generation:
MY PICK IS.......
The motherfucking Super Nintendo.
I got this system too on a birthday but felt bad about it because my dad took me to Toys R Us and asked me if I could pick anything from the store for my birthday present. Last year, he did the same thing and all I got was this Godzilla toy that was like $12. That year, I wanted an expensive ass Super Nintendo and while driving home while I was super happy about getting it, my dad yelled at me, "Now I can't buy those god damn shoes I need." I started to secretly cry and was glad that the system came with a pack-in because it seemed at that time that I was never going to get any other games for it. When I got home, either I got grounded for wanting an expensive ass present or I was so depressed from my dad scolding me for wanting an expensive ass present that I didn't even bother to touch my Super Nintendo for weeks. It wasn't until I think he yelled at me again like "Why the hell aren't you playing your god damn toy?" I replied that I didn't know who to hook it up even though I did. I played Super Mario World for like 2 months before playing any other games. That Christmas though, I got F-Zero, Castlevania IV, and Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past but I was like, "Awesome" but not a real awesome only because I had already rented and beaten all those games beforehand. Regardless, I played them over and over again. I beat my first RPG which was Earthbound and got it on sale at a Best Buy when I moved to Wichita and it was on clearence. First Super Nintendo game I bought with my own cash was the wonderful Legend of the Mystical Ninja but was pissed because it was missing somethings from the manual and thought that maybe they were Japanese exclusives. I rented tons of games for the system but my dad's friend Buzz was an older guy but he had like 120 Super Nintendo games and he let me borrow them (2 at a time) and it was like paradise. My 3 favorites I borrowed from him were Out of this World (all time favorite game too and first videogame to make me cry at the end), Blackthorne, and Bust a Move which was my favorite puzzle game until Chu Chu Rocket probably. I would get more expensive games this gen and most expensive being Mortal Kombat 2 for $70. I got it for my birthday though. I remember wanting to get Doom so bad and when I did, it looked like ass and was pissed because there were no cheats for it. Not even anything cool with the motherfucking Game Genie. I got my first strategy guide for Donkey Kong Country and got it only so that I could sucure me getting DKC for Christmas which I did get but opened it early and rewrapped it without the cartridge so I could keep on playing it. My 5 favorite games at the time were Out of this World, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Kirby's Dream Course, & Stunt Race FX.
My 2nd Pick
The Sega Genesis. All my friends had the Genesis while I had the Super. I played Sonic all the time at their houses. I won Sonic 3 from a McDonalds contest and gave it to my friend Adam for his birthday. They would also rent crap games like Star Trek crap that I didn't care for. We also played the shit out of Road Rash. I want a new Road Rash. I remember my friends going crazy over Virtual Racing which cost like $120 and it sucked ass. The most use I got from the Genesis wasn't until like 3 years ago were some friends of mine got crazy with Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Good stuff I say.
My 3rd Pick
Turbo Grafx 16. I never actually played a real one but this was one of the first systems I played with an emulator because I remember wanting to play Bonk a lot because of Nick Arcade. At least I thought it was because of Nick Arcade.
My 4th Pick
My friends rented this once so we could play King of the Monsters and Samurai Showdown. Yeah, it was pretty cool, I suppose but I sucked ass at both of the games. Played a lot more Neo Geo in the arades though so that shouldn't really count.
IN BETWEEN THE 4TH AND 5TH, HONORABLE MENTION GOES TO:
THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS THE PC!!!
We got our first real computer when I was in 8th grade and my sister and I got as many horror point and click adventures games we could like Gabriel Knight II (my pick) and Phantasmagoria (my sister's pick). Sadly, towards the end of our PC the sound went out and games like Blade Runner wouldn't even run properly beforehand.
Fifth Generation
The glory that is the Playstation The game that made me pick the PSX over the N64 wasn't Final Fantasy VII (even though I wanted it so fucking badly), Resident Evil, Twisted Metal, or anything epic like that. It was Parappa the Rapper. The commericials were insanely catchy songs and I was like, "Can there be anything more amazing?" I got a PSX because my mom was bragging about how much money she was going to get from the divorce so I begged her that me and my sister would get $200 each. When we finally got the cash, I didn't have enough money for Parappa which was $35 so I got a Greatest Hits version of Tekken. Didn't know it came with a demo disc when I got home which was suburb and had demos of Parappa on it plus Intellegence Qube and Cool Boarders 2. I played those over and over again like nothing else. Sadly, with the divorce we moved into a trailer so I couldn't make money mowing our lawns so the way of getting extra cash is getting my first real gig as an assistant to someone that hung drywall. I was 14 or 15 at the time I believe. It was to my mom's new boyfriend whom we just moved in with after her knowing him for 2 weeks and he was sort of crazy like he was in the Desert Storm, I think. Does Desert Storm need to be capitalized? Whatever. Crappy thing about the Playstation was that I needed a bloody memory card. I was like, "Why can't I just save the games like normal?" Since I got this job, all I bought were games that summer like Final Fantasy VII, UmJammer Lammy, Gex, Silent Hill (maybe I got this later actually seems like I got it the same time as Parasite Eve actually), The Lost World, Twisted Metal, Twisted Metal 2, Resident Evil: Director's Cut, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, and among others. Jesus, that was awesome. Playing with others with Gran Turismo was so great too but nowhere as much fun as playing with other people on the N64. It wasn't even close actually. First game I camped out for was Final Fantasy VIII. I played it for an hour before screaming "Fuck!!!" real loud and throwing it in a corner. My five favorites at the time were FFVII, Twisted Metal 2, Parappa, Fear Effect, & Resident Evil: Director's Cut.
My close 2nd pick
N64. Spending the nights over at friends' houses playing Goldeneye to later Perfect Dark are memories forever. I hated that crappy rail gun that goes through walls in Perfect Dark. That shit shouldn't even be allowed. We also played a lot of Cruisn', Star Wars Episode One Racer, Conker, and Mario Party. I later actually got a real N64 during the 6th generation about a couple of months after I got a Ps2 even and I traded 3 Criterion DVDs for it. I got like 20 games and tried Zelda and Mario 64 for the first times but I couldn't really get into them. I later played Zelda: Ocarnia of Time from getting a disc while pre-ordering Wind Waker and was able to get further but still never finished it. I got pretty far into Mario 64 with the DS version but I mostly play it for Yoshi's picking petals from flowers game sadly. And that physic card game and the one where you hit a shell with other shells and try to get the most points.
My 3rd Pick
3DO. I got a 3DO strictly to play the best version of Out of this World. I got it on Ebay and never played any other games even though I wanted to play the Jurassic Park game when I was a kid but never bothered to really play it.
My 4th Pick
CD-i. I only played this at Costcos but I did have the PC version of Burn:Cycle which was awesome amazing. I remember really wanting this system so I could play that, Lil' Devil, 7th Guest (which I later got for PC), Hotel Mario, and the Zelda games. My parents told me I was a fucking tard for wanting something that was $700. They were right, though.
My Last Pick
The Atari Jaguar. I never touched one but I remember wanting one but thought the controller was a fucking montrosity. I think I am going to borrow my friend Joe's Jaguar for some teenage kicks.
My actually 3rd pick
I totally forgot about the Sega Saturn until writing this. Yeah, it had some good games. I mostly played the Saturn at this one house where my dad was living after the divorce. I remember hating the crap out of the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on it. Bugs was pretty cool at the time. I got a Saturn with 20 games for trading a Dreamcast controller. It didn't include any games that I really liked but I bought NiGHTS which was the only Saturn game I beat. I still have it but I need to get cords and I doubt it still works.
The 6th Generation
The Playstation 2
I got mine used for $120 with Onimusha and a memory card. It wasn't the first one of the new generation I owned (had a Gamecube but got it stolen a week before REmake sadly and still had my trusty Dreamcast). I got so many games for the Ps2 that it was sort of sicking actually (I think I got to a total of 60 games which doesn't seem that much to some people but a lot to me). I think its bulk of software is what made me decide why the Ps2 for my favorite really. I can't even say that I had any real amazing favorites other than Ico which I never finished because my copy had a glitch that caused me to die on the bridge. I played Kessen way more than I should have, I remember that. This generation actually just started to make me think that maybe I am just wasting my time with videogames. All the quirky games didn't feel the same like they used like Mad Maestro (which I still dug regardless), Mister Mosquito, Guitaro Man, among others. I did have an awesome time with Red Faction with a gameshark for unlimted ammo and kept on using missle launchers. Final Fantasy X and Devil May Cry were damn fine games too. I sold my Ps2 about 4 years ago and it was actually the 1st videogame crash for me. I had about 3 with this generation. I decided to spend my time doing better things like listening to records like insane and working on my comic book which I never finished.
The 2nd Pick
I bought the Gamecube a total of 4 times. The first time near the launch and then got stolen, another time like maybe before Wind Waker came out (maybe when Resident Evil Zero came out actually or Metroid Prime) and then sold it during the 1st videogame crash for me, another one about a couple of months after I bought a Xbox which I sold a month later, and finally the 4th time around which only lasted 2 months and had to sell it because of yet another videogame crash. I loved Smash Bros super hardcore and Metroid Prime was actually the only sort of long game I beat for it. I got plenty of others and liked them alot like the REmake, Resident Evil 0, Sega Soccer Slam, and Wind Waker but yeah, I knew that I just had a problem and probably should give up gaming in general.
The 3rd Pick which actually maybe should be the 1st Pick
I had a Xbox for the shortest amount of time but maybe its still my favorite of the last gen. The more I think about it, the more it is actually true. I had the biggest crash actually with the Xbox actually and its possible the reason why I almost became someone that stopped playing games. I started to pick up my habit like I was with the Ps2 but I only got up to like 20 games. I bought one because I had a mentally retarded roommmate who had one and he had Knights of the Old Repulic which was amazing. I kept on playing his so much and it got to the point when he wanted to play his Xbox, I said fuck it and then went out and got my own so he couldn't bother me anymore. I got a lot of FPS but man, I hated Halo. I think it was mostly because I don't like killing aliens which is a really stupid reason. I loved Knights of the Old Republic a lot and there were some other significant games too which I can't remember. I really wanted to get Mercernaries and Brothers to Arms but never got around to it. The only game I got for full price was Halo 3 and it was with the tin and came with Doom 1 and 2. After I beat it, I thought to myself "Yeah, that was fun but so is going out and doing stuff." Once again, I felt like I was wasting my life and sold the Xbox and Gamecube and then dumped my girlfriend because it seemed like she would just allow me to waste my time like that. I got in this dilema (not spelled right) that all videogames were becoming the same and that there were no real artistic merits of it. It was all going to be the same, hitting buttons and finishing a story. It was sort of heartbreaking thats what my life was becoming was just to watch these stories and not really live any of my own (I also had a big movie crash too which was way more serious and didn't watch a single film for like 8 months and a TV crash which actually lasted 5 years).
My Fourth Pick
The Dreamcast. I think technically the 6th generation was pretty much tied for the most part. I had a shit ton of amazing games and maybe overall had the most joyous because I never had a crash while playing this system. Marvel Vs. Capcom II was amazing. I liked Sonic Adventure, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Soul Caliber!!!, Power Stone 2, Jet Grind Radio, Space Channel 5, plus much more. This was a damn fine system. Actually all the systems of this generation were damn fine and it hurts my heart that someone would not think this.
THE NEW GENERATION
I am not going to really pick one but would like to say that I gave up on gaming for quite a while and really did think that I wasn't going to play videogames again. That was until I was reading the news one day and saw a new controller. It was the new Nintendo controller. I was like, "HOLY SHIT!!!" I actually never expected anything like this. Never has anything in videogame history impressed me as much as the idea of moving a controller around to emulate real life. I was like, "Its like I can actually use a sword or cut some lettuce for a stew or sweep a rug or do whatever." I got instantly interested in gaming again and would read article and article about Nintendo's new remote. I started to read gaming blogs like Kotaku and Go Nintendo so that I can follow this mysterious wonderful thing. I got so damn excited about the Revolution that I had to at least play videogames that I had to get a DS Lite at launch (actually Target sold it a couple of days before the real launch) and was so tempted to just get a DS Phat but stopped just because of the brightness of the Lite and couldn't really do portables beforehand because the screens have been too dark for me. I started getting tons of DS games to tide me over till the Wii launch (I got 15 games between June to November). There were some disapointments along the way, Red Steel screens being bullshots to the naming of the Wii which none of them lasting longer than a mere minutes only because I knew that the controller was going to open up a world of oppertunity. The Wii was going to be the first system that I was going to camp out for launch. I was a little afraid of first because of the riots of the Ps3 (which is pretty damn ironic now and was ironic like a month after it came out, it seemed) but I was #17 out of 20 at Walmart for it and got there 25 hours before it launched. I only picked up Zelda which was the first Zelda I beat since Link to the Past and yeah, it was amazing and kept on going through reading the manual at work over and over again which was something I haven't done since I was a little kid. My friend Ryan bought an extra controller and the first thing we did was move the Wiimote around and we made some Miis and played WiiSports. I can understand why the New York Times would call it the game of the year. It might not be really fleshed out but man, the first time you try using the controller it really does feel like something that you have never done before and its really exciting. I felt so many goosebumps of awe.
Now here we are today, with it not even being a year of the Wiis lifespan and I do have a health amount of Wii games which will be 15 but there is still something lacking. The potential of the Wiimote still feels like it isn't fully tapped yet but I am sure that along the way, it will change. This seems like it could be possibly videogames' big chance of making a great artistic change and I wish developers would step up and make something that is more than just a normal game with motion controllers. Its still fun and can improve games like the Godfather but I want something that is completely different and throws everyone offguard and creates a genre that can't be offered by any other medium. I am pretty much asking for videogames to be fully appreciated as art and for artists to want to develop on this medium. I am sad about some indies that are dropping out of making Wii games actually like that one about floating petals.
Yeah, I think the last 2 paragraphs might sound a little fruitbat but whatever. I don't care.
The reason why I didn't pick the Wii as my choice yet is because it still hasn't had its full potential exposed and maybe it never will but also because the 360 is a really great system and offers like bazilliongs of games I want for it. The 360 can produce beautiful games and the amount of detail is getting to the point of as realistic that videogames need to go. I don't think you can be a real hardcore gamer and not own a 360 unless you are waiting for those Falcon chips or whatever to come out. I will probably get one maybe later this year if the ones that don't break come out. Then again, I might not even have the 360 for more than 3 years anyways. I really want Bioshock.
I am depressed that the Ps3 is not that great of a system at a moment. The only game I have played so far on it is Motorstorm or whatever that truck game is on it but it felt choppy and I couldn't get it to control well. I want to play Final Fantasy XIII which looks beautiful, Kilzone looks cool I suppose and Little Big Planet sounds loads of fun but man, this thing is expensive and I don't really see that its worth it at all. You can hate me all you want if you are a Sony fanboy but really, my favorite system of the past 2 were both of the Playstations but I don't see Sony really getting themselves out of this hole. Why does all the 360 games that are multi-platform with the Ps3 look better when the 360 is supposed to be a weaker system? I don't understand that at all. I will still be fair to the Ps3 and give its final judgement after next holiday but Sony really needs to change its strategy.
So uh yeah, this took me way longer than it should have. What are your guys' picks?
All my picks for favorite games are favorite games at the time from memory actually.
3rd Generation:
MY PICK IS.....
Nintendo Entertainment System!!!
My first game system. First ever videogame I say (hey another good topic probably) was Castlevania and I remember it because I was like 4 or 5 nad had my babysitter ask me if I wanted to watch cartoons. "Hell yeah, I want to watch cartoons," I said. Then she started to play Castlevania. I was like, "What are you doing? This cartoon looks like ass. Wait, are you controlling the ass-toon? Thats awesome." Regardless, I still didn't get to play Castlevania and she kept on dying pretty quickly so it was a pretty shitty cartoon to watch. I finally got one when I was 8 for my birthday and never really got another $50 games except for Super Mario 3 and the first Turtle games. I usually borrowed games from friends for the most part. First Nintendo game I bought with my own money was Maniac Mansion and bought from a grocery store used shelf for $10. I also had an odd knack to rent Bart vs. the World over and over again (along with Yo Noid! which was awesome). If I didn't buy used games, I got $20 games from Toys R Us like Time Lords, Monster Party, Dick Tracy, Back to the Future, Friday the 13th, Double Dragon II, Godzilla, Godzilla 2 (awesome strategy game like Advanced Wars but with motherfucking awesome Godzilla characters), Uninvited, Mission Impossible, StarTropics (fuck yeah!!), Kirby's Adventure (fuck yeah part 2!!), and among others. Favorite games were StarTropics, Kirby's Adventure (replayed so many times by making up stuff like Kirby was a knight and could only use a sword), River City Ransom, Super Mario 2, and Tecmo Super Bowl.
2nd and only place
Sega Master System. I never actually played one. I thought they were an urban myth when I was a kid actually. Like the Sega tards said they had an awesome 8-bit system too. Still not sure if it ever really existed.
4th Generation:
MY PICK IS.......
The motherfucking Super Nintendo.
I got this system too on a birthday but felt bad about it because my dad took me to Toys R Us and asked me if I could pick anything from the store for my birthday present. Last year, he did the same thing and all I got was this Godzilla toy that was like $12. That year, I wanted an expensive ass Super Nintendo and while driving home while I was super happy about getting it, my dad yelled at me, "Now I can't buy those god damn shoes I need." I started to secretly cry and was glad that the system came with a pack-in because it seemed at that time that I was never going to get any other games for it. When I got home, either I got grounded for wanting an expensive ass present or I was so depressed from my dad scolding me for wanting an expensive ass present that I didn't even bother to touch my Super Nintendo for weeks. It wasn't until I think he yelled at me again like "Why the hell aren't you playing your god damn toy?" I replied that I didn't know who to hook it up even though I did. I played Super Mario World for like 2 months before playing any other games. That Christmas though, I got F-Zero, Castlevania IV, and Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past but I was like, "Awesome" but not a real awesome only because I had already rented and beaten all those games beforehand. Regardless, I played them over and over again. I beat my first RPG which was Earthbound and got it on sale at a Best Buy when I moved to Wichita and it was on clearence. First Super Nintendo game I bought with my own cash was the wonderful Legend of the Mystical Ninja but was pissed because it was missing somethings from the manual and thought that maybe they were Japanese exclusives. I rented tons of games for the system but my dad's friend Buzz was an older guy but he had like 120 Super Nintendo games and he let me borrow them (2 at a time) and it was like paradise. My 3 favorites I borrowed from him were Out of this World (all time favorite game too and first videogame to make me cry at the end), Blackthorne, and Bust a Move which was my favorite puzzle game until Chu Chu Rocket probably. I would get more expensive games this gen and most expensive being Mortal Kombat 2 for $70. I got it for my birthday though. I remember wanting to get Doom so bad and when I did, it looked like ass and was pissed because there were no cheats for it. Not even anything cool with the motherfucking Game Genie. I got my first strategy guide for Donkey Kong Country and got it only so that I could sucure me getting DKC for Christmas which I did get but opened it early and rewrapped it without the cartridge so I could keep on playing it. My 5 favorite games at the time were Out of this World, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Kirby's Dream Course, & Stunt Race FX.
My 2nd Pick
The Sega Genesis. All my friends had the Genesis while I had the Super. I played Sonic all the time at their houses. I won Sonic 3 from a McDonalds contest and gave it to my friend Adam for his birthday. They would also rent crap games like Star Trek crap that I didn't care for. We also played the shit out of Road Rash. I want a new Road Rash. I remember my friends going crazy over Virtual Racing which cost like $120 and it sucked ass. The most use I got from the Genesis wasn't until like 3 years ago were some friends of mine got crazy with Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Good stuff I say.
My 3rd Pick
Turbo Grafx 16. I never actually played a real one but this was one of the first systems I played with an emulator because I remember wanting to play Bonk a lot because of Nick Arcade. At least I thought it was because of Nick Arcade.
My 4th Pick
My friends rented this once so we could play King of the Monsters and Samurai Showdown. Yeah, it was pretty cool, I suppose but I sucked ass at both of the games. Played a lot more Neo Geo in the arades though so that shouldn't really count.
IN BETWEEN THE 4TH AND 5TH, HONORABLE MENTION GOES TO:
THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS THE PC!!!
We got our first real computer when I was in 8th grade and my sister and I got as many horror point and click adventures games we could like Gabriel Knight II (my pick) and Phantasmagoria (my sister's pick). Sadly, towards the end of our PC the sound went out and games like Blade Runner wouldn't even run properly beforehand.
Fifth Generation
The glory that is the Playstation The game that made me pick the PSX over the N64 wasn't Final Fantasy VII (even though I wanted it so fucking badly), Resident Evil, Twisted Metal, or anything epic like that. It was Parappa the Rapper. The commericials were insanely catchy songs and I was like, "Can there be anything more amazing?" I got a PSX because my mom was bragging about how much money she was going to get from the divorce so I begged her that me and my sister would get $200 each. When we finally got the cash, I didn't have enough money for Parappa which was $35 so I got a Greatest Hits version of Tekken. Didn't know it came with a demo disc when I got home which was suburb and had demos of Parappa on it plus Intellegence Qube and Cool Boarders 2. I played those over and over again like nothing else. Sadly, with the divorce we moved into a trailer so I couldn't make money mowing our lawns so the way of getting extra cash is getting my first real gig as an assistant to someone that hung drywall. I was 14 or 15 at the time I believe. It was to my mom's new boyfriend whom we just moved in with after her knowing him for 2 weeks and he was sort of crazy like he was in the Desert Storm, I think. Does Desert Storm need to be capitalized? Whatever. Crappy thing about the Playstation was that I needed a bloody memory card. I was like, "Why can't I just save the games like normal?" Since I got this job, all I bought were games that summer like Final Fantasy VII, UmJammer Lammy, Gex, Silent Hill (maybe I got this later actually seems like I got it the same time as Parasite Eve actually), The Lost World, Twisted Metal, Twisted Metal 2, Resident Evil: Director's Cut, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, and among others. Jesus, that was awesome. Playing with others with Gran Turismo was so great too but nowhere as much fun as playing with other people on the N64. It wasn't even close actually. First game I camped out for was Final Fantasy VIII. I played it for an hour before screaming "Fuck!!!" real loud and throwing it in a corner. My five favorites at the time were FFVII, Twisted Metal 2, Parappa, Fear Effect, & Resident Evil: Director's Cut.
My close 2nd pick
N64. Spending the nights over at friends' houses playing Goldeneye to later Perfect Dark are memories forever. I hated that crappy rail gun that goes through walls in Perfect Dark. That shit shouldn't even be allowed. We also played a lot of Cruisn', Star Wars Episode One Racer, Conker, and Mario Party. I later actually got a real N64 during the 6th generation about a couple of months after I got a Ps2 even and I traded 3 Criterion DVDs for it. I got like 20 games and tried Zelda and Mario 64 for the first times but I couldn't really get into them. I later played Zelda: Ocarnia of Time from getting a disc while pre-ordering Wind Waker and was able to get further but still never finished it. I got pretty far into Mario 64 with the DS version but I mostly play it for Yoshi's picking petals from flowers game sadly. And that physic card game and the one where you hit a shell with other shells and try to get the most points.
My 3rd Pick
3DO. I got a 3DO strictly to play the best version of Out of this World. I got it on Ebay and never played any other games even though I wanted to play the Jurassic Park game when I was a kid but never bothered to really play it.
My 4th Pick
CD-i. I only played this at Costcos but I did have the PC version of Burn:Cycle which was awesome amazing. I remember really wanting this system so I could play that, Lil' Devil, 7th Guest (which I later got for PC), Hotel Mario, and the Zelda games. My parents told me I was a fucking tard for wanting something that was $700. They were right, though.
My Last Pick
The Atari Jaguar. I never touched one but I remember wanting one but thought the controller was a fucking montrosity. I think I am going to borrow my friend Joe's Jaguar for some teenage kicks.
My actually 3rd pick
I totally forgot about the Sega Saturn until writing this. Yeah, it had some good games. I mostly played the Saturn at this one house where my dad was living after the divorce. I remember hating the crap out of the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on it. Bugs was pretty cool at the time. I got a Saturn with 20 games for trading a Dreamcast controller. It didn't include any games that I really liked but I bought NiGHTS which was the only Saturn game I beat. I still have it but I need to get cords and I doubt it still works.
The 6th Generation
The Playstation 2
I got mine used for $120 with Onimusha and a memory card. It wasn't the first one of the new generation I owned (had a Gamecube but got it stolen a week before REmake sadly and still had my trusty Dreamcast). I got so many games for the Ps2 that it was sort of sicking actually (I think I got to a total of 60 games which doesn't seem that much to some people but a lot to me). I think its bulk of software is what made me decide why the Ps2 for my favorite really. I can't even say that I had any real amazing favorites other than Ico which I never finished because my copy had a glitch that caused me to die on the bridge. I played Kessen way more than I should have, I remember that. This generation actually just started to make me think that maybe I am just wasting my time with videogames. All the quirky games didn't feel the same like they used like Mad Maestro (which I still dug regardless), Mister Mosquito, Guitaro Man, among others. I did have an awesome time with Red Faction with a gameshark for unlimted ammo and kept on using missle launchers. Final Fantasy X and Devil May Cry were damn fine games too. I sold my Ps2 about 4 years ago and it was actually the 1st videogame crash for me. I had about 3 with this generation. I decided to spend my time doing better things like listening to records like insane and working on my comic book which I never finished.
The 2nd Pick
I bought the Gamecube a total of 4 times. The first time near the launch and then got stolen, another time like maybe before Wind Waker came out (maybe when Resident Evil Zero came out actually or Metroid Prime) and then sold it during the 1st videogame crash for me, another one about a couple of months after I bought a Xbox which I sold a month later, and finally the 4th time around which only lasted 2 months and had to sell it because of yet another videogame crash. I loved Smash Bros super hardcore and Metroid Prime was actually the only sort of long game I beat for it. I got plenty of others and liked them alot like the REmake, Resident Evil 0, Sega Soccer Slam, and Wind Waker but yeah, I knew that I just had a problem and probably should give up gaming in general.
The 3rd Pick which actually maybe should be the 1st Pick
I had a Xbox for the shortest amount of time but maybe its still my favorite of the last gen. The more I think about it, the more it is actually true. I had the biggest crash actually with the Xbox actually and its possible the reason why I almost became someone that stopped playing games. I started to pick up my habit like I was with the Ps2 but I only got up to like 20 games. I bought one because I had a mentally retarded roommmate who had one and he had Knights of the Old Repulic which was amazing. I kept on playing his so much and it got to the point when he wanted to play his Xbox, I said fuck it and then went out and got my own so he couldn't bother me anymore. I got a lot of FPS but man, I hated Halo. I think it was mostly because I don't like killing aliens which is a really stupid reason. I loved Knights of the Old Republic a lot and there were some other significant games too which I can't remember. I really wanted to get Mercernaries and Brothers to Arms but never got around to it. The only game I got for full price was Halo 3 and it was with the tin and came with Doom 1 and 2. After I beat it, I thought to myself "Yeah, that was fun but so is going out and doing stuff." Once again, I felt like I was wasting my life and sold the Xbox and Gamecube and then dumped my girlfriend because it seemed like she would just allow me to waste my time like that. I got in this dilema (not spelled right) that all videogames were becoming the same and that there were no real artistic merits of it. It was all going to be the same, hitting buttons and finishing a story. It was sort of heartbreaking thats what my life was becoming was just to watch these stories and not really live any of my own (I also had a big movie crash too which was way more serious and didn't watch a single film for like 8 months and a TV crash which actually lasted 5 years).
My Fourth Pick
The Dreamcast. I think technically the 6th generation was pretty much tied for the most part. I had a shit ton of amazing games and maybe overall had the most joyous because I never had a crash while playing this system. Marvel Vs. Capcom II was amazing. I liked Sonic Adventure, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Soul Caliber!!!, Power Stone 2, Jet Grind Radio, Space Channel 5, plus much more. This was a damn fine system. Actually all the systems of this generation were damn fine and it hurts my heart that someone would not think this.
THE NEW GENERATION
I am not going to really pick one but would like to say that I gave up on gaming for quite a while and really did think that I wasn't going to play videogames again. That was until I was reading the news one day and saw a new controller. It was the new Nintendo controller. I was like, "HOLY SHIT!!!" I actually never expected anything like this. Never has anything in videogame history impressed me as much as the idea of moving a controller around to emulate real life. I was like, "Its like I can actually use a sword or cut some lettuce for a stew or sweep a rug or do whatever." I got instantly interested in gaming again and would read article and article about Nintendo's new remote. I started to read gaming blogs like Kotaku and Go Nintendo so that I can follow this mysterious wonderful thing. I got so damn excited about the Revolution that I had to at least play videogames that I had to get a DS Lite at launch (actually Target sold it a couple of days before the real launch) and was so tempted to just get a DS Phat but stopped just because of the brightness of the Lite and couldn't really do portables beforehand because the screens have been too dark for me. I started getting tons of DS games to tide me over till the Wii launch (I got 15 games between June to November). There were some disapointments along the way, Red Steel screens being bullshots to the naming of the Wii which none of them lasting longer than a mere minutes only because I knew that the controller was going to open up a world of oppertunity. The Wii was going to be the first system that I was going to camp out for launch. I was a little afraid of first because of the riots of the Ps3 (which is pretty damn ironic now and was ironic like a month after it came out, it seemed) but I was #17 out of 20 at Walmart for it and got there 25 hours before it launched. I only picked up Zelda which was the first Zelda I beat since Link to the Past and yeah, it was amazing and kept on going through reading the manual at work over and over again which was something I haven't done since I was a little kid. My friend Ryan bought an extra controller and the first thing we did was move the Wiimote around and we made some Miis and played WiiSports. I can understand why the New York Times would call it the game of the year. It might not be really fleshed out but man, the first time you try using the controller it really does feel like something that you have never done before and its really exciting. I felt so many goosebumps of awe.
Now here we are today, with it not even being a year of the Wiis lifespan and I do have a health amount of Wii games which will be 15 but there is still something lacking. The potential of the Wiimote still feels like it isn't fully tapped yet but I am sure that along the way, it will change. This seems like it could be possibly videogames' big chance of making a great artistic change and I wish developers would step up and make something that is more than just a normal game with motion controllers. Its still fun and can improve games like the Godfather but I want something that is completely different and throws everyone offguard and creates a genre that can't be offered by any other medium. I am pretty much asking for videogames to be fully appreciated as art and for artists to want to develop on this medium. I am sad about some indies that are dropping out of making Wii games actually like that one about floating petals.
Yeah, I think the last 2 paragraphs might sound a little fruitbat but whatever. I don't care.
The reason why I didn't pick the Wii as my choice yet is because it still hasn't had its full potential exposed and maybe it never will but also because the 360 is a really great system and offers like bazilliongs of games I want for it. The 360 can produce beautiful games and the amount of detail is getting to the point of as realistic that videogames need to go. I don't think you can be a real hardcore gamer and not own a 360 unless you are waiting for those Falcon chips or whatever to come out. I will probably get one maybe later this year if the ones that don't break come out. Then again, I might not even have the 360 for more than 3 years anyways. I really want Bioshock.
I am depressed that the Ps3 is not that great of a system at a moment. The only game I have played so far on it is Motorstorm or whatever that truck game is on it but it felt choppy and I couldn't get it to control well. I want to play Final Fantasy XIII which looks beautiful, Kilzone looks cool I suppose and Little Big Planet sounds loads of fun but man, this thing is expensive and I don't really see that its worth it at all. You can hate me all you want if you are a Sony fanboy but really, my favorite system of the past 2 were both of the Playstations but I don't see Sony really getting themselves out of this hole. Why does all the 360 games that are multi-platform with the Ps3 look better when the 360 is supposed to be a weaker system? I don't understand that at all. I will still be fair to the Ps3 and give its final judgement after next holiday but Sony really needs to change its strategy.
So uh yeah, this took me way longer than it should have. What are your guys' picks?
I love my Saturn, but.. it didn't have Pilotwings 64! Oh and man, so many hilarious multiplayer GoldenEye/Mario Kart sessions.