SNES & Mega Drive: never bought them, could play on them at a friend's house or lend them for a few weeks
PS1 & N64: bought them both together in 1996 with two friends, so everyone had only to pay a third of each console and we swapped them around. Eventually both consoles ended in my possession when my friends lost interest in them... so it was a good deal ;)
GameBoy Color: finally wanted a handheld for vacations, never had the monochrome model, the colored games were the tipping point
PS2: never bought it, could play on it at a friend's house or lend it for a few weeks
GBA: skipped it, still had enough older GBC titles to play
GBA SP: loved the new clamshell format (better pocketable and protected display when closed) and the frontlighted LCD screen.
GameCube: the GBA SP came with a voucher, that reduced the already low GC-price for another €50. It was bundled with Metroid Prime, the next games were Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker and Resident Evil Zero
Xbox: got it very late (2004), but couldn't resist the nice crystal edition... bought it for Fable, Silent Hill 2, Halo 2, Burnout 3, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, Jade Empire and some others
DS: skipped it, was more hyped for the more powerful and versatile (games, movies, music) PSP
PSP: got it 5 months before EU-launch as import from Canada for a great price (€150, so €100 less than if I had waited), fell in love with that handheld ;) Started with Ridge Racer, Tiger Woods and Untold Legends, many other (and better) PSP-games followed
360: my first day1-console, loved that Europe hadn't to wait as usual. Had impressive launch titles (Condemned, PGR3, Kameo, King Kong), which smoked my €1500-PC
Wii: my second day1-console, wanted to play Twilight Princess, Wii Sports and Rayman Raving Rabbids
PS3: I intended to wait, but a few month after EU-launch i got an offer I couldn't refuse: I got it practically for free as part of a mobile phone contract. First games: Resistance, Heavenly Sword, R&C: Tools of Destruction and Uncharted
DS lite: the DSi was already available, but the lite-model was much cheaper and I wanted the GBA compatibility. Fell in love with the Ace Attorney and Layton series and the Cing-games (Hotel Dusk, Last Window)
3DS: skipped the first model, most 3DS-titles in the first year didn't appeal to me anyways
PS Vita: day1-purchase together with Rayman Origins and a discounted Escape Plan. I also had preordered Uncharted: Golden Abyss, but I won that great game together with Little Deviants and Modnation Racers in a contest. WipeOut 2048 was another freebie, so despite the steep hardware price it was well worth it... I absolutely adore that device!
3DS XL: day1-purchase together with Super Mario 3D Land, Professor Layton 5 and New Super Mario Bros. 2... most things I didn't like of the first 3DS-model were fixed: bigger screens, enhanced battery life, more comfortable to hold and the redesigned chassis
Wii U: got it 2 months ago for Super Mario 3D Worlds and DK Tropical, the slashed price was okay. Also got Nintendo Land and Zombi U, next will be Bayonetta 2 or Mario Kart 8, I also have to catch up on Lego City Undercover, Pikmin 3 and Wind Waker HD
PS4: day1-purchase, but sold it through, which financed my Killzone-PS4-bundle with camera and second DS4... these extras are also sold, which lowers my investment to a point, that waiting would have made no sense at all. Killzone: Shadow Fall is the only retail game I've played yet, but I had already great fun with the monthly PS+ titles and remote play... inFamous: Second Son should arrive any day and DriveClub is preordered for €20 (special offer for my day1-purchase)
XBO: I will eventually get it for exclusives, but that can wait one or two years
