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As a "young gamer" what did YOU think of "other" systems?
Sheep
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Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
I hope I make the point of this thread clear. Just, gaming experiences you had when you were young, with a consideration towards system wars, your friends and their systems, etc.
I say "other" in the terms of this:
When I was a kid, and right around the time the NES was on its way out, everyone on the block had upgraded to the Super Nintendo, except for two kids, who each had a Genesis. So, basically, my world was playing Street Fighter 2 on my friend's projector down the road, playing Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger with a buddy that lived right across the street, and playing Earthbound down the opposite way, and Super Metroid with the kid in the neighborhood behind me.
I never really had any negative feelings about the Genesis. I thought it was cool, because it had the bloody Mortal Kombat, and I played the hell out of Sonic 2. Point is, there was no "ill will" towards the system. No fandom, and usually when we got tired of playing whatever on the Super Nintendo, it was always, "Well, you wanna go to my house and play Sega?" And, well. We usually did.
I even envied the system a bit. Me and my SNES owning friends would pool our money together and rent a Genesis along with Streets of Rage 2 and play the hell out of it. I don't think I ever bothered doing that with any other console.
A guy moved to town from, I think, Colorado and I briefly saw a TurboGrafx, but I don't think I played anything outside of Bonk. I do remember thinking that it wasn't quite as smooth or pretty as my Super Nintendo, but I felt the same way towards the Genesis as well. Especially when SNES Mortal Kombat was compared side by side. I remember Scorpion's voice samples distinctly sounding like crap on the Genesis.
Then I became aware of the Neo Geo through a random TV ad, but most through magazines as well (which, as far as I recall, never dedicated much space to the system). I loved me some Samurai Shodown as a kid, and I recall seeing "Samurai Shodown RPG" on an upcoming release list, but it had the Neo Geo logo out next to it.
I knew I had to get one of these machines. Lucky me, I guess. There were none around, and eventually I saw the price in, I think, an EGM advert. Hella expensive, and then there was that "Our games are 200$ because we have triple the space as the SNES." I spent the rest of the year occasionally gazing at that "coming soon" list, looking at the game list for the Neo Geo and running my fingers across the list of games available for the system. Sadly, both Samurai Shodown RPG and my purchase of a Neo Geo never came to be.
I think my point is, there really never was a sense of "fanboydom". Because of the Genesis I eventually bought a Saturn. But I distinctly remember having a fondness over systems I didn't own, and if I ever came across the money, I wouldn't have minded owning them.
Ah well.
EDIT
Oh yeah. I do remember there being a definite change in "speed" when playing Genesis games versus SNES. Like, how Sonic was fast as hell. I remember getting Uniracers a few years later and there being references to Sonic and such. That, coupled with "Sega does what Nintendon't" may have planted the seeds of my blossoming fandom.
I say "other" in the terms of this:
When I was a kid, and right around the time the NES was on its way out, everyone on the block had upgraded to the Super Nintendo, except for two kids, who each had a Genesis. So, basically, my world was playing Street Fighter 2 on my friend's projector down the road, playing Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger with a buddy that lived right across the street, and playing Earthbound down the opposite way, and Super Metroid with the kid in the neighborhood behind me.
I never really had any negative feelings about the Genesis. I thought it was cool, because it had the bloody Mortal Kombat, and I played the hell out of Sonic 2. Point is, there was no "ill will" towards the system. No fandom, and usually when we got tired of playing whatever on the Super Nintendo, it was always, "Well, you wanna go to my house and play Sega?" And, well. We usually did.
I even envied the system a bit. Me and my SNES owning friends would pool our money together and rent a Genesis along with Streets of Rage 2 and play the hell out of it. I don't think I ever bothered doing that with any other console.
A guy moved to town from, I think, Colorado and I briefly saw a TurboGrafx, but I don't think I played anything outside of Bonk. I do remember thinking that it wasn't quite as smooth or pretty as my Super Nintendo, but I felt the same way towards the Genesis as well. Especially when SNES Mortal Kombat was compared side by side. I remember Scorpion's voice samples distinctly sounding like crap on the Genesis.
Then I became aware of the Neo Geo through a random TV ad, but most through magazines as well (which, as far as I recall, never dedicated much space to the system). I loved me some Samurai Shodown as a kid, and I recall seeing "Samurai Shodown RPG" on an upcoming release list, but it had the Neo Geo logo out next to it.
I knew I had to get one of these machines. Lucky me, I guess. There were none around, and eventually I saw the price in, I think, an EGM advert. Hella expensive, and then there was that "Our games are 200$ because we have triple the space as the SNES." I spent the rest of the year occasionally gazing at that "coming soon" list, looking at the game list for the Neo Geo and running my fingers across the list of games available for the system. Sadly, both Samurai Shodown RPG and my purchase of a Neo Geo never came to be.
I think my point is, there really never was a sense of "fanboydom". Because of the Genesis I eventually bought a Saturn. But I distinctly remember having a fondness over systems I didn't own, and if I ever came across the money, I wouldn't have minded owning them.
Ah well.
EDIT
Oh yeah. I do remember there being a definite change in "speed" when playing Genesis games versus SNES. Like, how Sonic was fast as hell. I remember getting Uniracers a few years later and there being references to Sonic and such. That, coupled with "Sega does what Nintendon't" may have planted the seeds of my blossoming fandom.
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I remember playing Mutant League Football at a kiosk in Toys R Us and lovin it, though.
Next, I remember being jealous of the Intellivision - it just seemed so much more advanced and fancy than my 2600 at the time. I'm pretty sure it was the Smurf's game that looked so amazing compared to what the 2600 games looked like. However, I do clearly remember the price being quite high for the console so it was not meant to be.
I remember being terribly jealous of Might and Magic on the IIe, even though I did have the Bard's Tale on the C64. But other than a few select games like M&M, I remember being really happy with the C64 compared to the competition at the time - it was easier to plug and play a joystick, I had a ton of bootleg games, and it was so simple to plug into the TV compared to the monitor his Apple needed. Then, I saw Tass Times in Toneville on a IIgs and immediately felt inferior.
After that, my friends and I all had NES (once I admitted my 7800 wasn't going to survive the console battle) and then Genesis. But yes, I'm am ancient.
I always thought the gamegear and genesis were really cool, sonic games were a blast. Macs, though, haha, no.
This was totally independent of the system I played, though. I never had any money to buy my own games and my parents wouldn't get them for me, but luckily my uncle lent me a Genesis and a NES and a bunch of games for each. (When I finally gave them back I had 40 games per system.) As a result I got an exposure to a lot of stuff on both sides. There was never any console war for me, which was helped by the fact that I didn't know anyone else who played video games.
I missed out on the SNES, Sega CD and all the stuff leading up to Playstation. Finally I saved up and bought the PS1, where I was entrenched for a while (thus I bought a PS2), but the Cube and DS brought me back to Nintendo.
But when the N64 and Playstation came out, I was probably somewhat of Nintendo fanboy and never bothered much with a Playstation. One of my friends had one and I enjoyed a couple RPG's on it when I was at his house, but I would always bring my N64 and we and his siblings would put so much time into the multiplayer games on it. That is one of the main things that turned me off from the Playstation - lack of multiplayer. I never really wanted to play alone.
Quite the wake up call a few years later, when I talked to other people on the net with very different opinions than mine. That was about '96, and it pretty much destroyed any fanboyism I had when, surprise, not every gamer thinks like I do! Some people prefer that sony thing over nintendo! It was a revelation for a secluded, introverted 17 year old. Sad, really.
I got better......:oops:
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Definitely got a few years on me.
It's weird when I hear some of my older friends talk about their first gaming experiences, and I'm always left out of the conversation when it turns to the 2600 and the Intellivision. I was in the midsts of my terrible twos when the NES was released, so it was there when I became "conscious". As in, it was always there.
Funny enough, I was completely oblivious to any Atari system until the Jaguar came out.
Oh lord. I remember the rush to the 3D0, Jaguar, and CDi. Completely uninterested in any of those, save for Aliens vs Predator, but I lost faith in that game when I bought SNES Doom and it gave me motion sickness. I wanted a CDi bad because my young impressionable brain thought it was interesting. Burn Cycle was cool and all, but Chaos Control? It looked amazing back then. Then I checked out vids on YouTube.
Blech!
Also, Rayman on the Jaguar looked AMAZING. Then I just got Astral on my Saturn a year or two down the road and quickly forgot about it.
There was this one kid who had a Game Gear, Nomad, and eventually a Virtual Boy. He was such a douche and NEVER shared.
Years later he ended up getting busted on one of those "To Catch a Predator" type shows. I chuckled.
Such a douche.
When I finally got one, I didn't stay obsessed with it for too long; I got addicted to the Sega CD when it came out. I rented it like four or five times before I finally was able to get one.
I was good with that until the Saturn came out, and that for a very long time; until I finally got the PSX for FFVII(I tried to ignore it like I did the SNES; same result). I ignored the N64 completely, shy of playing Star Fox 64, Shadows of the Empire, and a few other essentials at a friend's.
(Though I finally got one a few years back just for SF64.)
I pretty much thought Nintendo was the devil during my Sega obsession, even though I eventually backed down. When they assisted the Night Trap/Mortal Kombat debacle, I practically despised them.
Saturn or PS1 owners were worshipped as gods.
But when the Genesis fixed that with the 6 button pad, it arguably had the better controller for fighting games. I loved the Genny 6 button pad.
I didn't actively think one was superior to the other, but I clearly had a bias for one.
Eventually, my parents began to soften their stance on consoles. They allowed our grandparents to buy us a Gameboy which, ostensibly, would only be used on our frequent roadtrips. Yeah, heh. This softening caused us to start a major campaign leading up until Christmas, which required research. My older brother led the charge for a Genesis, because he was a big fan of sports games, and EA was in bed with SEGA. My parents gave no indication that we were making progress, so we gave up hope.
Then, on Christmas morning, perhaps having been replaced by friendly aliens, our parents presented us the last of our presents to open. And yes, it was a SEGA Genesis. We went nuts. You've seen the Nintendo 64 kid? Yeah, he had nothing on us. And we had many good times on that console, but mostly, it was my older brother's. And, while games of my preference were on that system, I never knew about them until years later -- I followed my brother's lead, and, anyway, he was the only one of us two who could afford games. So, we played Earthworm Jim, NBA Jams, Sonic, and suchlike.
Then, oh god, the Nintendo 64. We did extensive research and, somehow through ways unremembered, became huge fanboys of this system way before it was released. Oddly, once we got one, my older brother lost interest and the system was dominated by me -- Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, Ocarina of Time, Blast Corps. Those were my days, and I was very loyal to Nintendo in thanks.
Now, I'm a neutral party, but do feel an extra measure of fondness for Nintendo. Nothing like the take-sides, if-you're-not-for-us-you're-against-us mentality of the early days, though.
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I still do, though. Can't say that's changed, really.
I had consoles before, but it's hard to be a "fanboy" when you don't even know what they're called. Atari 2600 was "the black one" and Intellivision was "the stripey one." Besides, consoles were just for when my dad needed the computer (C64). Space Invaders was just a time-killer until I could get back to my Dr. J vs Bird, Carmen Sandiego, or Epyx Summer Games.
EDIT: VIDEO GAME fanboydom
My local sports team is clearly superior to your local sports team.....
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After we got bored with the Genesis, I kind of moved onto PC gaming so I wasn't really in on the whole PS vs. Saturn thing-- though I did try both. It wasn't until 97 that I got a Playstation (but that was after I got an N64)... and I still mostly stuck with PC games. I tried the Saturn but it never really appealed to me.
Couldn't afford the Dreamcast when that came out (but I certainly wanted one).. I eventually did years later ($50 for 3-4 non-great games, keyboard, controllers, VMU).. but it's just collecting dust. Damn, I need to get some games for it).
I guess I've never really been a fanboy for one system or the other.. in fact, fanboyism kinda irks the hell out of me. I did prefer the Xbox over the PS2 since I was always more of a PC gamer over a console gamer for a while there.. I had lost interest in Japanese style games.
Things are different now since I'm more of a console gamer though I still hold no fanboy preference over PS3 or 360. I do own a 360, and not a PS3, but the reason why I don't (and probably won't for a few years to come) is because I can't justify spending more than $300 for another console JUST for a few exclusive that I can't experience on the 360. I will own one eventually however... and fanboyism will always piss me off.
And hell, it gives me something to do when I'm bored. For those who are going to PAX, feel free to give me an earful in person; I'll be carrying a vid'ya camera, we can put it on YouTube
We're talking about video games/systems.
In the N64 era I never really wanted a PS1 either -- though I got a Dreamcast as I viewed it as next-gen. It wasn't until the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube came out that I wanted multiple consoles from a single generation, and ended up buying all 3
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The original Genesis. It had a volume knob and that just struck me as queer.
Incidentally, it was during the 16 bit era that I learned just how much more gameplay was important than graphics; I rented the game 'Rise of the Robots,' because I wanted to see how a game with such great production values can really be so terrible, based on reviews (gamepro). Wow. It was easily one of the worst videogames I had played on the SNES, and from then on, I threw graphics as a major consideration to the back burner.
In the beginning of the N64/PS1 era, I really thought that the PS1 didn't have much of a chance. In reading about the games coming out for it, stuff like Bushido Blade or Jumping Flash or Warhawk, I didn't think many people would be enticed by these things when compared to something like Super Mario 64 or Shadows of the Empire or what have you.
I loved that N64, and defended the virtues of no loading times and 4 player multi. But my interest in 'defending' the cart-based system over the kinda ugly and long-load-time PS1 started to wane. I started to realize that I was hardly ever buying N64 games, but magazines that I read constantly mentioned exciting games on the PS1. I started to realize that I was coughing up $70 for games at times, still, especially when 'Greatest Hits' were announced for the PS1.
Shortly thereafter, I gave up caring about consoles for who built them or made them, and based my console-purchasing decisions soley on what games each could provide. And how many/good games it would require to justify the purchasing price.
I became a PC gamer for a long time after the N64. I felt like I had 'chosen' the wrong system in the last gen, for my tastes, and decided to look into FPSs, RTSs, adventure games, and whatever console ports that I got (many of which were PS1 games that I missed out on). I felt like a gaming rig was all that I needed, with it customizability in hardware and controls, I could upgrade hardware when I wanted to rather than relying on 'generations', that I could live without consoles...
..until I realized how many genres I was missing out, so I bought a PS2 and that day I bought King of Fighters 00/01. Man, I played the hell out of that. Shortly thereafter I bought a ton of classic PS2 games, used, for cheap. Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Onimusha, DMC, Virtua Fighter, Klonoa 2, timesplitters, Guilty gear, beyond good/evil, etc.
It didn't cost much, and my PS2 kept me gaming for many many years. I kept my PC up to relatively average standards until just before Doom 3 hit, then I realized I had only bought 3 PC games over the course of 2 years.
I pretty much only play consoles now, and I appreciate all of them for their respective game libraries and beneficial features. I like the idea of PC gaming (with respect to FPSs especially), but I feel that it has become prohibitively expensive considering the minimum requirements of many games, and the near 'generation-esque' nature of DirectX.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
No kidding? Huh.....
I still don't agree with your assertion. Console fanboydom doesn't only exist online, unless you're using a very specific definition that I'm not aware of. I mentioned earlier that I used to be somewhat of a fanboy, some 6 years before I even knew what the internet was. You can say that most people probably don't care about a given person's fanaticism, and I would agree, but I think most of us have known someone in our own lives that's displayed fanboyish qualities.
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Then genesis came out and there ad campaign made me want to punch them in the dick. Remember Sega can what nintendon't, and all that viterol that they spewed. Played the genesis and it was the controller that felt like it was a piece of shit. Too lightweight, too big. The novelty was there they had some good games but I stuck with nintendo because they had the RPGs. Then SNES came out and that did it for me.
While Sega had its hits Shining Force, Phantasy Star, the SNES had everything else I wanted. The Mortal Kombat fiasco kinda sucked.. tho the game looked far better on the SNES than the genesis despite the "Sweat"
anyways I am rambling.. short and sweet was I liked Nintendo because they didnt seem like pricks.
Especially considering that Mortal Kombat 1 was such a piece of crap of a fighting game.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
wii Number 0648 2052 0203 3154
I may be the only person in the world that enjoyed some of the recreated fatalities for the SNES.
Especially Sub Zeros.
I was never biased to one system or another though, usually it just meant convincing a friend to get the other systems available so we were able to enjoy the best of both worlds. I didn't actually take the plunge to own an SNES until the Donkey Kong Country bundles came out.
The definition of a fanboy is somebody who prefers on console over another and frowns upon all other consoles. I mean, everyone prefers one console, but very very few people frown upon others because of it. I love playing my friends Wiis, Ps3's, and DS's. The case is the same with almost everyone I know, except for people who have no friends.
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We all have preferences though.
I preferred the NES's library over the Master System's (besides Double Dragon, oh how I loved thee).
I preferred the SNES controller over the Genesis' (More buttons and more comfortable).
During the first 3D generation I didn't think much of the N64, but that was mostly due to an awkward controller and a lack of games that really appealed to me. At this point though I look back on the N64 as the only playable remnant of the era. It was just smoother and nicer looking by a mile. I can't stand PS1 games anymore, besides the 2D stuff.
I had no bias last generation, but I never threw down and bought an X-Box because it didn't have the library of exclusives to warrant spending the money. These days though, I wouldn't hesitate. I'm much better off having a job and not living at home.
This generation my bias is leaning toward the 360 (despite it's failure rate, which is pathetic) just because of it's library. The PS3 hasn't gotten anywhere close to 'hitting stride' and I don't like the idea of having to partially load things onto the hard drive. The motion control Sony ripped from Nintendo (they've been good at that) could be used for some fantastic things. It's different than the Wii simply because it's a traditional controller and not a wand. Driving and flying games are what I'm thinking mostly.
The Wii has some potential but I'm disappointed with the way it's been handled so far. Most of the games I've played just don't feel up to par. The controls are flaky and not precise in anything but the AAA titles (this'll change) and we all know it really comes down to the Wiis new controls needing to impress.
I feel bad for the Wii's situation. No developer attention until now...
It's getting such a shitty start compared to what it could have been if some developers had had enough confidence to work an exclusive blockbuster out of the gate.
Part of all that is of course the limited developer kits before the system was actually complete.
I've got really really high hopes for all of the current consoles.
I still remember the first time I saw the genesis. I was in a movie shack (a local video rental store) and they had this huge box behind the counter, with a TV hooked up to it and a demo of Sonic the Hedgehog playing. Prior to this moment, Fantasy Zone II had been the most colorful game I'd ever seen, and sonic blew me the fuck away. I needed it, and I needed it then. Unfortunately I was 6 years old, so no money for me. I'd have to wait till christmas to get it, and dammit that was one of my favorite Christmases ever.
Then I got a game gear. Then a sega CD. then a 32X. Then a saturn. I had never even considered another company's system until much later after I got the saturn, probably around 96. I was walking around the neighborhood and I saw that someone had thrown away an NES and some 20-odd games. I scooped it up and took it home. I used my SMS power brick and some A/V cables and hooked that shit up, and damned if it didn't work. Summer of 96 or 97, I started mowing lawns and got a ton of extra cash. I saved up $85 and went to funcoland and bought a SNES. Christmas of 97 I asked for, and got, an N64. Someone gave me a Gameboy. I saved up and bought a PSX, Turbo Grafx, and Jaguar.
Now it was 99. Sega had pretty much been on the back burner for nearly 3 years now. That all changed in january. My mom had struck a deal that if I'd have gotten straight A's the previous semester and could save up $100, she'd pay the rest of the dreamcast for me come september. I went to EB games and plopped down $100 for a dreamcast reservation after getting my report card. To this day, the dreamcast is the only system I've ever preordered, and the only system I've ever picked up on launch day. I popped in Sonic Adventure on 9/9/99 after purposely going through a media blackout (no screenshots, no reviews, no impressions, nothing) and by fucking god, I was hooked on sega again. I'd always been hooked, but this turned my burning sega fire into a raging inferno again. Since then I haven't really had a chance to go fanatical about sega hardware, but even today, if Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sega all came out with Next Gen systems at the same time, I'd still happily flock to the Sega crowd, no questions asked.
So that's how it was. There was animosity between me and the SNES crowd, but not too much. For the most part I ignored nintendo. I was too drunk on sega's wine to care, and I still am to a very large degree.