I’m buying a Nintendo Switch for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — and I’d hazard a guess that I’m not alone. Sure, the long-awaited adventure game is also available for the Wii U at the sunset of that system, but performance will be better on the new hardware — and I’m excited for a new beginning rather than a bittersweet end.
What video game made you fall head over heels and pony up for a whole new hardware system?
2nd generation
The Atari 2600, for me, meant Pac-Man (the disappointing, blocky version) but also The Empire Strikes Back. For that, I have to thank my late spinster aunt who couldn’t abide seeing me upstaged by my other aunt’s children.
3rd generation
The original Nintendo Entertainment System? Super Mario Bros. Duh.
We got a Sega Master System pretty much for Penguin Land for my mom for some reason, but I quickly fell in love with that title’s robust level-building tools, which were years ahead of their time. Super Mario Maker it wasn’t, but I still pine for it from time to time.
4th generation
Before Sonic the Hedgehog arrived, Sega’s Genesis came to us mainly to keep up with those cousins, again. It came with Altered Beast (whatever).
Super NES: Super Mario World was what it was all about. But I was really just killing time waiting for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid.
5th generation
I bought the original PlayStation for Final Fantasy VII. Until this point, Square Enix’s seminal RPG was a Nintendo exclusive, but that’s another story.
N64: Super Mario 64, naturally. The need to play the iconic plumber’s first 3-D adventure right away was a visceral one, and it’s a game I revisit often on the Virtual Console. It’s the first game I remember playing where I was struck by a feeling of a continuous world that was still there when I switched off the power — but not in a creepy way.
6th generation
GameCube? Uh … Luigi’s Mansion for sure, but there was also a little game called Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Oh, yeah …
I bought a PS2 just because it was the thing to do, and it was my first DVD player; it was stolen before I could make much use of it either way.
The original Xbox made its way into my home with a little game called Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. (Meatbags!)
7th generation
We skipped the Xbox 360, and PS3 was an eventual thrift-store purchase for my spawn’s increasing interest in the Madden series and stealth combat games. Not really my thing …
But Wii Sports was all the rage, of course, and was a must-have in our house as with so many others.
8th generation
We haven’t gone for the PS4 yet, but Santa brought an Xbox One late in its life cycle with Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, a favorite of the next generation in my household. The Wii U brought initial thrills with Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two and New Super Mario Bros. U; though it was packaged with Nintendo Land, that just wasn’t enough. Derided by many for low sales, we found plenty on the system to keep us engaged for years. Later, Splatoon would more than justify the system’s purchase for us.
Handheld
Nintendo’s Game Boy was all about Tetris. Let’s call that Russia’s original electronic meddling …
The Nintendo 3DS made its way into our lives due to the Mario Kart series, as did the DS/DSi; at one point, each of the four people in my household had their own, and we linked up frequently for download play. I personally upgraded to 3DS mainly for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
Your turn!
Enough about my problem! What game made you go out and buy a new video game console? What kept you coming back for more?
