30 Days of Video Games - BONUS: Why Do You Play Games Pg. 142

[Solly]

Day 12: Favorite "Next Gen" experience.

I remember back when I first started playing games. I was really young at the time, and I primarily played SEGA Genesis titles with my dad and brother. By the time the N64 came out the medium still felt kind of new to me, but holy shit did Mario 64 blow my mind. When my dad saw it in the store, he thought it was some kind of demo, not something you could actually play.

 

Analog movement, navigating a three dimensional environment, polygonal graphics; it really is a different experience from all of the other games I owned back then. I was playing stuff like The Lion King and Bugs Bunny's Double Trouble, so this was really new. It didn't feel like any game before it; it felt like I really made a connection and that the adventure was real. I played it a lot with my family, who were equally impressed. 

I don't know if there's anything that could happen to this medium that would shake things up so much or create that feeling for me again. 

[Captain Fun]

Day 12: Fondest Next Gen Experience.

 

I want to say it's Mario 64, but to be honest I don't remember what exactly went down when we got that. It's a bit fuzzy. 

 

So my fondest Next Gen Experience is getting to play Luigi's Mansion on the GameCube. The GameCube was the first console I waited for, and Luigi's Mansion was the first game I got to play on it. In terms of graphics and sound, the game pretty much blew me away. I hadn't ever seen anything like it, and the game STILL looks damn good. The lighting, the way the character models animate, the music- everything about the game is memorable. Not to mention, it was bizarre new territory for the Mario franchise. And also this is kind of embarrassing but since I wasn't into survival horror at the time, I thought the game was a bit tense... Just a bit. 

 

don't laugh

 

 

[gato]

Day 12; Fondest Next Gen experience.

 

 

 

*this post is probably going to be image heavy*

 

In retrospective I'm realizing I've almost always followed franchises that have a pretty large gap between games (with a few exceptions) so I've always had generational jumps between the games I've played... For example.

 

 

 

Age of Empires II and III:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starcraft:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phantasy Star Online:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if you only have a PC like me... Sonic could also count since the games jumped from Heroes and Riders to the All-Stars series and Generations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I feel I could keep going, but none of them are my picks for today, my fondest "Next-Gen" experience comes from a few months ago. I was tasked on another forum to make a Pokémon thread while the X/Y hype was still going and I felt a little weird to make a thread for a franchise I never touched and so I started playing from the very first Pokémon Red (ignoring one of my friends request to start with the Gen3 remake).

 

 

 

 

Unsurprisingly, I was a bit underwhelmed, I wasn't really a fan of the music (nor my grinding sessions) and the game felt a little barebones. Understanding this was a very old game I decided to keep going with the series and see if there was a point where it would "click" with me. And I didn't have to look too much.

 

 

Behold! The amazing and mind-blowing jump from a Game Boy to a Game Boy Color!

 

 

Okay maybe it wasn't a graphical revolution... And this one probably might not count since I'm sure both consoles belong to the same generation but hear me out. The more I went along with my Pokémon Silver playthrough the more amazed I was at all the additions this game made over Gen1, More mons for starters, followed by a very large post game (quite weird on the enemy levels tho), day and night cycle, special mons that could only be found when they appear in hordes at certain times and places, a bit more of NPC interaction thanks to the phone calls you could made and receive, the radio (limited as it was). It was a complete upgrade in all fronts over it's predecessor.

 

And while I loved my Ruby playthrough I wouldn't feel like that again until I tried the Gen 5 games.

 

 

Now this is a more noticeable jump!

 

 

Admittedly my amazement with this one was probably helped by the fact I skipped Gen 4, after my Gen 3 playthrough this one offered a lot more things! The graphics looked way better, the Pokemons were very well animated (at least when idle), the soundtrack is so far my favorite in the series (except maybe for the E4 and champion themes) the day/night cycle was back (from gen3, I'm aware it was present in gen4) the amount of mons was (obviously) even larger than the last time I checked and the seasons system (and other time specific events) gave a lot more life to the world... As I'm writing this I'm not done with the games yet (or well, the post games), but that's mostly because of time constraints.

 

 

 

So yeah, going on an archive binge (of sorts) and jumping over Gens with the Pokémon series was my pick for this one, you can tell with each installment of the series that you are playing a brand new game in a brand new system... Makes me wonder if this would had a bigger impact on me if I had been with the franchise from the very beginning.

[SuperStingray]

Day 12: Wii U

I'll be the first to admit it.  The Wii U isn't a great game console.  If anything, it's behind the times and poorly thought out in general.  But at the same time, I can't look back on any other console and truly say "This is just what I needed right now."  When I got the GameCube, it wasn't because I was bored with the Nintendo 64, it's because I was growing up and wanted something more novel, more ambitious with more room to grow.  Up through the Wii, that's how I felt about every new system I bought.  By the 7th gen, a whole new world opened up to me as it was the first generation where I owned non-Nintendo systems.  The future looked so open with possibilities.  Motion controls! Photorealisitc graphics!  Online gaming!  But as time went on, I started to get jaded towards it all.

 

The Kinect, this amazing piece of technology that could detect and analyze human movement, didn't provide many substantial gaming experiences.  Downloadable content, a great opportunity for developers to keep new games alive, was abused at almost every opportunity.  Online communities were filled with bickering 12-year olds and overcompetitive assholes that just made it not worth pursuing for the social factor.  For all I enjoyed the games of the 7th generation, it left me cynical.  I really had almost no interest in the next generation and frankly it hasn't gotten much better.

 

But even so, there's something I love about the Wii U.  Not the system itself, but what it represents: the innocent idealism that led me into video games to begin with.  I wouldn't quite call it nostalgia- it's not like a true "return to form" or anything.  It's more like a reminder that for all the shit we deal with in this medium, in this industry, we haven't lost what's important.  It's like buying lemonade from a young kid who doesn't quite know how to make it yet.  It's kinda watery and the store-bought stuff tastes a lot better, but his smile when he watches you drink it makes it ten times more refreshing than anything else you could have had that day.  While Nintendo hasn't really taken that big step forward since Super Mario Galaxy, there's something reinvigorating about knowing in this day and age that the attitude behind it still exists.  And stepping into this new big and estranged world of gaming, it's just what I needed to keep that passion alive.

[Tornado]

There's only really two examples of a system I got around launch, and one of them is the Saturn, so I'm pretty limited in this.

 

 

 

 

 

Where were you 9/9/99? It's insane to say that some SSMB members probably weren't even born yet. Makes me feel old. But that's not the point. What is the point is this:

 

 

I could be one of the cool kids and say what really blew me away was Soul Caliber. Or DoA 2. Or even something more niche like Tokyo Xtreme Racer. But that's a lie. It was all Sonic Adventure. Yeah, I came to accept that Spyro and Spyro II and the like that I was already playing on my PSX were far better games (DK64 was still shit though); and yes there is a considerable amount of embarrassment with how much I put into that game when it was new. And as much time as I still occasionally put into Adventure 2 Battle, I find the first game pretty much unplayable nowadays.

 

 

 

But at the time? Christ, what a ride.

[Lucky]

Day 12: Fondest "Next Gen Experience"

 

This isn't going to be a long post as I don't have time to type a lot right now.

 

I want to say the Dreamcast as it was easily my favourite experience with a new system and there were so many titles that were ahead of their time and that generation which made it quite an experience, but I'm assuming we'll have a favourite console question at some point and I don't want to end up repeating an answer. And I don't have time to talk about just why I loved it right now. So just going to go with one of my other favourites for this one.

 

 

It's-a-me, Mario! Hello!

 

I'd played a couple of 3D games before Mario 64, but I remember being in awe the first time I saw this running in Toys R Us and I think the fact it was such a recognisable character just made it all the more incredible to see. It seemed to vast compared to anything else I'd played before it and I remember just wandering around the grounds of Peach's Castle and the main hub to explore for a while before doing anything else. Think what I loved most about it was that I could just wander around wherever I wanted (at least compared to any console games I'd played before it) and it felt like you had so much freedom.

 

Once I entered the actual first stage, the main thing I remember is reaching the top of the summit and being confused as to why it didn't seem to damage Big Bob-Omb when you threw him off the mountain. Don't think I managed to get any stars before we had to leave the store and seem to remember just heading back to look around the rest of the level instead, which still kept me amused for a while.

 

Had also just got rid of my original Saturn at that point and it made me decide that I needed to get an N64 to replace it, and once I did get one I just played Mario 64 for ages and loved every moment of it.

 

I know that Galaxy was better, but I think this is still my favourite Mario game and Nintendo experience just for the nostalgia value.

[Cola]

DAY DOZEN - BEST NEXT GEN EXPERIENCE - THIS IS IT BOYS, THE FUTURE

 

 

Yeah, it's the god damn 3DS. I've been gaming since the age of 3 or so, and I've had a lot of mind-blowing 'next-gen' experiences. But this?

 

This takes the cake.

 

 

3D has always been fascinating to me. It's tricking your eyes into seeing two images at once, creating the illusion of depth. It's been in video games before, often terribly implemented because the technology wasn't there. Then, it started becoming big in movies once we found out a way to do it without the red and cyan glasses. Soon, we had entire movies in stereoscopic 3D, but there was one thing still there...

 

The Glasses. 

 

Yes, we were forced to wear (admittedly cool-looking) glasses in order to enter the world of the third dimension. But then, at E3 2010, everything changed - the Nintendo 3DS was announced. It was 3D WITHOUT THE GLASSES HAWLY SHET

 

This was mindblowing - 3D without the glasses! I couldn't wait to see it. I bought the console on launch day with Nintendogs+Cats because I couldn't decide whether to get that or Street Fighter and I flipped a coin on it. In retrospect, I probably should've gotten Pilotwings. Oh well.

 

The 3D effect was absolutely incredible. I played for like 3 hours straight with the 3D on full blast and it still stands as one of my all time favorite gaming experiences. I love the 3DS, it's probably my favorite Nintendo console, not counting the GBA. After a rough start, it's become one of the best handheld gaming experiences of all time, and I certainly don't regret buying it day one.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Day 12: Fondest "Next Gen Experience"

 

Ok... so I think I have quite a lot though they're spread out over different consoles. But... these two keep coming to mind.

 

I'm gonna put spoilers in this one because I wanna see if anyone can guess what it is....

 

So here's the story. It was near Christmas, I forget which one, and my mum kept going on about this game which everybody was talking about, I had never heard of it and had no interest. Come Christmas Day I got got the games I wanted and this other game... along with the strategy guide and... a T-Shirt (Clue).

 

And I thought 'this is odd...' 

 

Anyway, like I said, I had no idea what the game was, had no interest in it, hadn't even heard of the series. 

 

In fact I had so little interest it was about 4 days later I decided to try it out... there's a brief cut scene involving a stary sky and then this odd looking girl walking through a city. I think 'wow, this is the best looking cut scene I've ever seen.' Then you notice the detail on the city... It's dirty, there's cars rushing by and then the camera keeps pulling back and back and I think 'it's gotta stop? It's gotta stop... wait its still going!? What is...!? The title screen kicks in followed by the music, then it zooms in and to this day this still looks seamless... I'm playing this!

 

Have you guessed yet? Check the spoiler. (It's not an actual spoiler... everyone on earth knows of this game).

 

It's around now you should picture that music kicking in like it does in the game.

 

 

Final Fantasy VII

 

My reaction to what I was seeing can be explained like the gentlemen in this video....

 

Or like the gif at the end of this post.

 

Up until this moment, there hadn't been a game like this, the whole scale of it, the music, how good the cut scenes looked as well as the ingame models. But the gameplay... I loved it. 

 

Everything I had on the PSX became obsolete by this point, there was just nothing else, this game just destroyed everything that had come before it and set the new standard.

 

This was next gen before it was even a phrase. It was amazing how I went from having no interest in this game to it being my favourite at the time. Just those first few seconds did all they had to to get me hooked for hours and hours on end.

 

Just... now looking at it again, it still sends shivers down my spine.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JujtlsiqZ-E

 

There's also another more recent one.

 

 

"Hmmmm this game looks that good on a PS3?"

"Wait until you see the 'next gen'"

 

 

The last major game on the PS3 feels like a next gen title... can't wait to see what the next next gen titles will be like.

[Senator NinjaShark]

Day Numbero 12: Dream Team: Ninja's "Makes Kami's pick look about as Next Gen as E.T. for Atari 2600" Fondest Next Gen Experience Ever!

 

 

 

it was way back, on my 12th Birthday, and as it happens with Birthdays, I got a then new console for it, it looked impressive on the Boxart already and I loved its predecessor game, so I popped it into the console and...well....it was quite Magical

 

 

you know what game I mean, of course

 

 

 

 

 

and from that Moment I fell in love, the Graphics, the Gameplay, the Stages, everything looked beautiful. Everything was such a Huge improvement over Smash 64, it was Great, and it was all set to this Intro.

 

just seeing all the stuff going on, all the characters doing their Funny little thing, Samus Blasting Ridley, it still holds a very special Heart in my Place, and shows why I love this Game so much.

[Your Vest Friend]

Well...this going to be a weird one...

 

 

Seeing the PS2 Screen

 

No, not actually trying out any of the games, seeing this PS2 screen. I'd had my PS1 for three years and was still used to that being the top of the technological pops. One day, I came in from school and my parents were just setting up this PS2 that they'd bought earlier for no particular reason. I was so excited to see it in action, and the first test was without a disc. In comparison to the PS1 logo screen and system screen (which looked outright retro), this was mind-blowing. The animation was smooth as butter and there was actual lovely animation to this menu. Heck, the PS2 memory card menu had little 3D images to represent the games. It was just fantastic.

[Alex2Beta]

DAY 12: Fondest "Next Gen Experience"

 

Jack & Daxter for the PS2

Forgive me for the quality, but this was the only image I could find that could show what I mean*

 

This baby is what truly introduced me to the PS2.

 

One day my Older brother would run home with one hell of a smile, holding a box in his hands, probably even shaking with excitement, and I (as a confused kid) would watch him dig through a box of wires and paper.

 

But little did I know that I would see an unexpected black rectangle emerge from the very box I just mentioned - And it was divine. It would come with a  disc containing some game trailers and even demos, (Klonoa 2, some rally racing game , Dark Cloud, Airboard) but one thing that got stuck in my head was that one trailer of game about a character with blond spiky hair, accompanied by an orange ferret/weasel, together exploring such vast lands that I would drop my jaw at the sight of.

 

That moment I knew, that I needed this game, I needed Jack & Daxter in that PS2s Disc Drive.

And when the game was in my hands, man did I feel good.

 

It felt so open, so colourful and alive -- which is no surprise coming from NaughtyDog, who know how to put some life into those faces, but then there was the whole world, the vast horizon that - as we know is all a clever illusion of hidden loadings - but a good one at that, which still gives you a feel of connection for the world, and honestly the game was just impressive.

 

Sonic Unleashed for PS3/360

 

I remember the time I saw that one teaser for it that had Sonic throwing a ring and then smashing it against a wall as Werehog, and I was fixed on what that meant..

 

And then the game got shown with screenshots and trailers..And damn was I drooling.

Today the whole BOOST gameplay kinda got old for me, but when thinking back to Unleashed, I was just left motionless as I'd watch a trailer of Sonic breaking through his surroundings while side stepping and all that jazz....All of that at amazing speeds.

 

I remember when the possibility of trying the game for the first time came up was when a gaming convention opened somewhere near where my Dad works at, and I'd pester and pull my parents into driving me there just so that I can smoothly walk to that booth and play the demo at the highest speed I could get to. too bad the whole day prevented me of that with traffic and all sorts of bad luck.

 

Years later, when my family was able to get a PS3, I would be able to-- for the first time, actually play the game. I was blown by the real-time cutscenes looking so good that I'd mistake theme for prerecorded CGI.

I was blown by the feeling of speed as you would see Sonic run just as fast as he would be shown outside of gameplay, which to finally experience with a controller and topped with some slick graphics - felt almost too good to be true.

[Short-Sleeved Nook]

This one had to be from the Wii era for me, since at the time, the Wii was truly a next-gen experience with it's Wii Remote and all sorts of cool new ways to play. Games that come to mind are Super Paper Mario, Wii Sports, Play, and Music, Mario Kart Wii, Super Monkey Ball, and possibly Super Mario Galaxy.

 

Oh yeah, and can't forget this one, lol:

[kalion]

Fondest Next Gen Experience

 

Now I have time again..gonna put some effort back again into this..

This is in conjuction with the Wii system, of course. But since that's been talked about..I'll focus on the game..

I've always adored the warioware series and how it tried to bring new weird ways to control the game even to just the GBA.

Here's looking at you, Twisted.

Anyway, thus this system was the perfect fit for the series..the next is kinda of a disappointment cos' it did'nt build upon that buuut...

This game was great, addictive and had so many zany forms for a simple controller.
Aaaaand oh those form intros, in that oh-so-calming voice with cheesy lines and the things they made you do for the microgames..it was sweet but it's not this moment I speak of.

 

It's the multiplayer..Not only we have the great microgames I spoke of, but there are the great modes for this like bomb, balloon, lifeline to keep my friends and I entertained for ours. The angel mode was the best one since it was hot potato and only required only one wiimote but could accommodate many players. The great thing is that even if you got dropped out, you'd still want to watch for the laughs and to see who wins. Man, the amount of fun I had everytime I had friends over for this game is unforgettable. I use my Wii U so it's Game and Wario now but I still miss this game../=

[Endy]

Day 12: Fonest "Next Gen Experience"

 

My fondest experience with a new-ish console was Brawl. I spent hours playing Melee, and when I heard about the next installment in the series I just couldn't wait. Fortunately the game didn't disapoint. And after that I spent countless hours getting all the characters, unlocking all the secrets and playing on every stage. It was wonderful. I remember not being familiar with a bunch of the cast remembers. I only knew Mario, Metroid, Pokemon, Kirby, Sonic and Zelda. what is a star fox and what is a metal gear solid and whats a warioware and whats a pkmin and earthbound and kid icarus and diddy kong and ROB and f zero and game and watch and ice climbers?

 

The first character I picked was the Pokemon Trainer, the first level I played on was Mario Kart and the first Pokemon I encountered was Groudon.

[-blank-]

Well, this is going to be an easy one for me;

 

 

It was 1996. We had gone to my grandparent's house one day and I learned they had brought a brand new gaming system - the Nintendo 64. I was only (vaguely at best actually) familiar with the 2D-sidescrolling era of the NES and SNES at the time. Hell, I think the closest I had ever come to playing to a '3D' game before that point was Super Mario RPG. That said, when I got a chance to play the N64 and saw this on the tv screen;

 

 

I absolutely floored. Here was something I had never experienced in video game before - actual polygon models. Just the act of playing around with Mario's face gave me great enjoyment. And when when I actually started to play the game proper;

 

 

Oh, I can just feel the nostalgic memories flooding back right now. Let me tell you, being five years old and seeing that for the first time was nothing short of amazing. Just the physical act of being able to move in all directions like you could was something I quickly grew to love. Super Mario 64 started something great in the world of gaming, giving me a feeling that, to this day, nearly eighteen years later, has not yet been replicated.

[Chaos Warp]

Day 12: Fondest Next Gen Experience

 

 

 

Sadly, I'll have to pull the Sonic card again because there's just no right answer for me other then this. Now, this game was the first Xbox 360 game I truly got into, and how pretty the game was and how fast Sonic was moved me at the time. It really hit me in the face with the thought. "This is the next gen". And while I'm not a huge fan of how linear the game is now, back then the speed and graphics blew my mind and gave me lots of fond memories playing it. 

[sploit]

Day 12 - Fondest Next Gen Experience.

 

For me this has to be the transition from Mega Drive to Saturn. Having a full 3D home console for the first time. I Love my Saturn and when I first played Saturn it was just mind blowing for the 9/10 year old me. Playing Virtua Fighter 1 and 2, Daytona USA, Sonic R, NiGHTS etc. The graphics were such a jump and still ove that blocky, flat colored, polygonal early 3D look, holds a lot of nostalgia for me does that era.

 

A close second would be seeing a Japanese Dreamcast hooked up with Sonic Adventure attract demo playing in a local games shop, that had me in a sheer state of awe. Insane moment.

[Sonictrainer]

 

Day 12 - Fondest "Next Gen Experience"

 

While my dad was overseas, he had bought and sent me a Nintendo GameCube, that came with a copy of Super Smash Bros Melee.

 

I had already bought Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and a GBA-GC Link Cable and started the game.

 

It was awesome…..until I realized I didn't have a Memory Card….

 

Overtime I bought more games such as Super Mario Sunshine, Sonic Adventure DX, Pokémon Colosseum/XD, Paper Mario 2, and some other games as well as the Game Boy Player, which allowed me to play GBA games on the big screen.

 

Even though I have a Wii, I'm still keeping my GameCube.

[Shane]

Super Mario 64 was amazing in 1996. Once I figured out I was supposed to use the analog stick, I quickly got the hang of the game. At the time, it was really cool to have huge worlds to explore and learn about. Remember that star behind the cage in the first level? Stuff like that reminded me just how much there was to do in this game, and I loved it.

 

The game hasn't aged well and I prefer my Mario experiences to be more linear and classic-style, but Super Mario 64 changed the way the industry sees games forever and it's a very important part of our legacy as gamers.

[Komodin]

Day 12 - Fondest "Next Gen Experience"

 

My fondest “next gen” experience, huh…

 

 

Like what most people here have already said, mine’s is experiencing the wonder that was Super Mario 64. I know it’s a bit predictable at this point, but honestly, as a person who grew up on 2D games for all of my life at the time, seeing it with its use of fully 3D graphics just blew my mind. I mean, when I first heard the intro with Peach’s voiced letter, I was like, “Mama, you heard that? People are speaking here! In a video game!” It was literally unlike anything that I’ve ever experienced, especially from a Mario game. There was no defined goal flag in this game-- you had to go explore the different worlds and get stars. In stead of mushrooms and flowers, you used caps to go invisible, turn into a metal man and fly! To a then-6 year old Komodin, that was barely comprehensible! Also, I’d be lying if I said that exploring places like the Hazy Maze Cave and the Downtown section of Wet-Dry World weren’t pure nightmare fuel to me at the time. Bowser? One scary mofo, he was, especially in the last battle.

 

To this very day, while better Mario games have been released since then, 2D and 3D alike, I still treasure Super Mario 64 very dearly for what it represented to me as a gamer: a gateway to a wholly new way to play and love video games.

 

Related: Playing Super Mario 64 DS and Mario Kart DS for the first time, because of the whole “oh my goodness I’m actually playing what is practically a console game on a handheld!” appeal. While I lost my original copy of MKDS over time, I still got my copy of 64 DS from way back then.

[Jimbo]

Day 12: Fondest Next-Gen Experience

 

 

Going over to my best friend's house and seeing this for the first time. He fired up Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and let me try it out. My first reaction was something along the lines of:

 

"Wow! I've never played a game where I could move in so many directions! In all of the games I own, I can only move left and right."

 

Up to this point, I had only ever owned the SEGA Genesis. All of the games I had with it were side-scrollers. The Nintendo 64 was my first true experience with a console that had 3D capabilities. After that, I would always bug my parents about getting a system like my friend's, which eventually led to us purchasing the Playstation 1.

 

A close runner up is the Playstation 4, which has absolutely blown me away in the few days that I've owned it. I didn't pick it simply because of the reason that I just got it. I only have one game for it right now, but the experience with it has been fantastic.

[RustyRick]

Day 12: Most fondest Next-Gen experience?

I'm going to go with the flow with many other people's responses here, and say Mario 64.


Sure, it may be very dated by today's standards, and as I grew older, the game lost it's charm and appeal to me to the point where I barely even pick up the darn game anymore to play it, but back then I really enjoyed the gameplay, and being able to move in all directions filled me with joy, moreso than any new technology or features they can implement in today's consoles to appeal to gamers.


And tugging around with Mario's face was just the silliest thing ever.

[azoo]

Day 12: Fondest 'Next-Gen' Experience

 

The N64 was a massive part of my childhood and it is easily one of my favorite consoles, if not my favorite altogether. Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time are the pioneers of 3D gaming and they deserve every bit of praise they get, but there's one console that actually wowed me into the idea of 3D..

 

"It's thinking.."

 

The Sega Dreamcast is my pick. I remember getting an N64 and enjoying Pokemon Snap, but for a solid several months that was the only game I really had for it. It was around late 1999 / early 2000 when I went to a friend's house and saw.. this..

 

Holy shit.

 

Even today, I still get a flood of nostalgia shooting through my veins when I watch this. There's nothing about this opening I can't say I love to pieces. It blew me away as a kid, and now it's still both badass and endearing. Needless to say, my friend's copy of Sonic Adventure and his Dreamcast introduced me properly to 3D games, and I was never the same. (I had to buy both of them off of him later on after he was ready to get rid of them, heheheheheh.)

[Mania Pipe]

Day 12: Fondest Next Gen Experience

 

The only the next gen experience I've ever experienced were the Xbox (original) and the Nintendo Gamecube, but I'm gonna split those into three sections.

 

Xbox (original):

Back in mid of 2002, I got into playing games on Microsoft's new console, the Xbox, thanks to watching my dad play some of the games, especially Halo: Combat Evolved. I decided to give a crack at the game and I had so much fun, I eventually did Co-op missions with my dad and we were having a blast with Halo. That's how I was introduced to the Xbox original, the next gen console and its games, I eventually decided to exploring the collection my dad had on my own.

 

GameCube:

In the same year as getting into the Xbox. This was a console I was begging to get ever since I saw the commercials for Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. I finally got the Gamecube that even along with a game to keep my entertainment going, Spider-Man the Movie Game and then later Super Mario Sunshine and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. I also did play on multiplayer games with my friends.

 

Gameboy Advance:

In 2001, the first game I actually owned for the Gameboy Advance was Sonic Advance, which I really loved playing the hell out of, and then later down the line; Super Mario Advance (Advance port of Super Mario Bros. 2) and Pokemon Ruby. For me, it was quite a solid next gen experience from the original Gameboy system.

[Strickerx5]

Day 12: Fondest "Next Gen (So you're telling me I don't need to always have s controller plugged into my console!?!) Experience"

 

I think my greatest realization of going into a new generation of gaming came on a winter night at a Gamestop. My mother had to go get something done in a store close to it so I decided to go in and just see what they had. This also happened to be the season most of the new consoles were coming out (winter 2006) so the first thing I see going in is a shiny new Wii demo unit. This immediately caught my attention but as I went over to it I found that it was missing the controller. Apparently Nintendo hadn't sent a proper demo unit with a wired/locked controller yet so the employees had to keep the controller behind the counter where people had to rent it out to use it (not with money but with their IDs so no one could steal it). I remember instantly running out and convincing my mom to go in with me so I could play it and just being blown away with what I played.

 

 

It was a demo of Excite Truck that they were showing off at the time and I just remember spending the longest time playing it and not wanting to give up the controller. I was actually quite fond of motion controls back then. Not to mention having a blast with Excite Truck as a game as well.... Come to think of it, I should really look into getting that game back from my friend. I let him borrow it a while back (like 3 years ago). I hope he hasn't tried to trade it in or something yet. XD