For me
1st gen : Simple Pong style console. 2 wired controllers and 6 modes which where nearly all virtually the same game. Monochrome (circa 1978)
2nd gen : Atari 2600 bought in 1982. Played Pitfall and Bezerk to death.
3rd gen : No purchase
4th gen : No purchase
5th gen : Nintendo 64. Loved it. Mario 64 was insane and Zelda remains a classic. Special shout outs to Golden eye and Banjo and Kazooie.
6th gen : PS2 and Gamecube. Actually preferred the GC. I missed Resident Evil first time round and the remake is for me the definitive version. Also Metroid and two Zelda titles made the GC a great machine to own. Sadly the multi plat games sucked terribly and were compromised so the PS2 was a necesary late purchase. Was rewarded with God of War 1 & 2 and the Burnout series.
7th gen : Wii. Xbox 360, PS3 in that purchase order. Wii was cleverly priced and was a simple impulse buy. I enjoyed it but never found it overly compelling. However its still brought out at parties so they must have got something right.
The 350 hooked me with Dead Rising. I remember wanting the game so bad. In the end i got a deal of the console bundled wth Halo plus a spare controller bundled with Forza 2 and they gave me Dead Rising 2nd hand for free.
The PS3 was purchased last primarily due to price and also my being put off by countless shoddy ports. Reminded me of the multiplat situation with the GameCube and I didnt want that again. Eventually the price fell and I got to cut my teeth on the exclusives I missed. The shoddy ports are largely a thing of the past and it has become my main console. Largely due to available space under the TV.
8th gen : I'll probably wait till 2014 unless there are amazing launch titles. I doubt that though. In living memory only the N64 launched with any decent games. Pilotwings and Maro 64.
As for which console I buy, well that depends.
The 360 got so much right Im eager to see its successor.
However Sony seem to have opted for a more mainstream architecture this gen and that can only help them. The C3LL was just that, a prison for Sony and their Devs. Also quite like the new controller and the brave decision to announce first.
Just hope we getmore great games
