The most exciting time of gaming is...

[Brats]

Be real, its as much a part of importing as anything else, whether it be a game or console you are talking about, having something thats relatively exclusive is always a nice feeling which is also why people buy nice Ltd edition consoles that no-one else has, rare cars or designer sneakers. It may not make you better than anyone else (a stupid, confrontational thing to say that completely misses the point) but if you enjoy the feeling of the unknown then I see nothing wrong in that.

Not me guvnor. I prefer for more people to own consoles than fewer, it makes sharing the experience much better. And as far as being a part of importing, not on your life. The only reason I import is because I want choice and piece of mind. Choice of the software available to me and piece of mind that it won't be butchered like some UK releases. Exclusivity doesn't come into it at all.

Surely, the only enjoyment that can be had from exclusivity is the that fact that others don't have what you have, which by it's very nature is slightly elitist, no? I couldn't give a monkeys though. If people want to spend ?600 plus on a new console that will be available in a few months at half that price then knock yourself out .

I'm the only person that I know who owns a Spice Gamecube. Do I get enjoyment from that? Nope. Do I prefer the colour over the other options which is why I bought it? Yep.

For the record, I don't own any designer trainers, I drive an old Mark 2 Golf.

Previous launches without the internet were expensive - psx 600, sat 650, ps2 - 680, however now with the ability to order from overseas its no longer the case. The reduced cost means that it will be open to more people, and therefore more will take advantage. Does this mean that it will become less exciting for the true early adopter who has always done it, now that the club is less exclusive?

Naaaaah, it'll become much better. I'd like to see all consoles launch as cheaply as possible. That way as many people as possible can enjoy them from the beginning, creating a much friendlier community .

[saif]

Brats, you may not like to admit it but the spice cube and (launch) pearl GBA SP you have are, in your eyes, nicer because they are rarer.
Deny it if you want but I think its pretty obvious.

I would not agree about the launch machine thing personally. For me it is the unwrapping of the package that a new HIGHLY anticipated game comes in.

[JRMacumber]

It may not make you better than anyone else (a stupid, confrontational thing to say that completely misses the point) but if you enjoy the feeling of the unknown then I see nothing wrong in that.

Marcus, I can tell you from my own experience that more than once I've seen the arrogance of people who like to lord over others that they have something someone else doesn't, who enjoy feeling superior because they know or have something that others do not. Now, I don't begrudge people being pleased at being an early adopter, or a buyer of limited edition/rare items. Hell, I do it myself, and I like knowing that I'm at the forefront occasionally on some things. But, when people use that like it's some sort of cudgel that they can hammer people over the head with to show their superiority, as is often this case here, then that's where the issue comes in. There is a difference between personal enjoyment, and "nanna nanna I have it and you don't". You might not see that happening here on this board. That's fine. I do, and I'm not the only one.

[Shez]

Sit in ntsc-uk irc and listen to someone who has gotten a piece of software or hardware before anyone else.

Everything becomes crystal clear then.

[Brats]

Brats, you may not like to admit it but the spice cube and (launch) pearl GBA SP you have are, in your eyes, nicer because they are rarer.
Deny it if you want but I think its pretty obvious.

I have a Spice Gamecube because I prefer the colour. I don't like the Platinum or Black models because they make the machine look more like a piece of AV equipment than a games machine and the purple colour is a bit dull (imo). The Spice GC isn't any rarer than any other machine, it's just that less people have bought them. TBH, I'm surprised that more people don't have Spice cubes, I think they look great .

I bought the Pearl SP because I thought it was the nicest colour at launch and it came with a carry case and other stuff for not much extra money. As it turns out, the carry case was utterly gash, but I didn't know that at the time .

When I bought my PS2, I had the oppurtunity of buying one of the clear red ones for not much more than the original. However, I think it looked horrible so I didn't bother, even though it was much rarer. If I had seen a silver or aqua one, I might have bought it but only because I think they look lovely and not because they are limited or anything. I know quite a few people with silver PS2's anyway.

[MD]

Personally I miss the hype and excitement of the 16bit and 32bit consoles. I remember back in 1987 when the PC Engine was mentioned in C&VG and I got quite excited about it (knowing full well I could never afford one).

Then C&VG got one and show it next to a packet of skips. :O Wooo it's tiny. Then the import scene kicked off big time, now if you thought importiong is expensive now, was nothing compared to the late 80s, early 90s.

Then whats this, wooo it's looks better then the PC Engine. It's the Megadrive, wow those sprites a big. *Dies* thats when I wanted a Megadrive, but could never afford one. :'( I got really excited about the launch and went to lots of importers down Tottenham Court Road (the days when there were importers down TCR...) to see this wonderful machine running. Curse being 14 and poor.

Then Hamleys, worlds biggest toy shop, early one evening in the autumn and whats this? Its a deep crowd around a machine... it's it's it'ssss a PC Engine with the CD-ROM and Fighting Street. It looks so arcade perfect and there is a huge crowd (can't remember seeing a crowd around any console ever again).

Then C&VG show pictures of the Super Famicom, the prototype with the extra button, headphone soclet and a game called Dragonfly. The pictures were grainy and looked stolen from a Japanese magazine but again I got excited. Counting the months down until Super Mario World and Final Fight. It just looked so nice and so desirable, but ?600 for a import console using a new fangled thing called SCART???? Again trips down TCR and various other shops was exciting, as there was no internet, game either just appeared and looked lovely or you got a tiny review in C&VG (back in the days when the console reviews were at the back of the magazine and computer games were still most of the magazine).

The Mega CD came and went, although it was exciting with games like Final Fight CD and Sonic CD, it just seemed like nothing, came out and disappeared.

Scroll forward to 1994, weeks before the release of the Sega Saturn and the Sony Playstation and people are bringing hundreds of games and consoles (including Neo Geos, PC Engines, Atari Jaugars, 3DOs, Megadrives, Super Famicoms) to exchange to get enough for a Playstation / Saturn and a game. The cost being around ?1000!!!

Still I was excited and couldn't wait for the first machines to arrive. Then early one evening the machines came and people who had preordered them were waiting feverishly for their machine and the staff were poised around these boxes, I opened the Sony Playstation box, waaah, I wish it were mine, taking the grey slab of plastic out, connecting it up to a Step Down and AV, then switch on and the Sony logo comes on. I really really want to run home with this machine.. then Ridge Racer and wooow, it can't be, it's near arcade perfect and in real 3D. Silence comes over the shop. Then some one connects the Saturn and the CD player screen comes on and they load Virtua Fighter and wooo it looks even better. Then the frenzy of game selling goes on. Staff beg to stay a little while longer to play RR and VF. It comes to 11:30 and after several alcoholic drinks and lots of gaming we are finally kicked out. :O

Even the rest of the week was brilliant. Still enjoyed every day of seeing the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation.

After the hype of the N64, it was a let down when it came out. Same with the PS2 and the Xbox just slide in under the door, largely ignored by everyone. And I really couldn't get excited over these consoles or even the Gamecube release it was like, its another multimedia device. Very few people get excited over a release of a TV, so why should these new consoles be any different?

I still get excited when I open boxes up of games and enjoy reading the manuals (well looking at the pictures) and loading new games up, one of the reasons I try to ignore emulators as I rather play a new game in real life then on an emulator as there is more buzz. I still get excited when I get a new console of some description, esp rare ones of older machines. Like I'm hoping to get a Terradrive and an Aiwa GSM-CD1 and I hope I will, may cost me the best part of $2000 but by george I'm going to enjoy the excitment of recieving them.

The only game I'm really excited about is Outrun 2, I really hope it captures the magic of the original, every other game is like... well I'll get it for a ?10 later.

[2 Point]

....when you pick up a console at japanese launch..[yadda yadda yadda...]

Great to see we still have a place for elitism on the forums.

God forbid we'd have learned our lesson by now, and just realised that gaming is gaming, and people enjoy playing games and new consoles no matter when they encounter them.

Pathetic

I think that sums the argument up nicely.

I must say that I enjoyed the XBox launch, I bought 3, sold within a week for a profit of around ?850. Sweet.

[Kieran76]

The most exciting part of gaming is the games . Not the opening of them or the first play, but when you began to show real class or understaning of them. That first headed goal in WE6: FE, the time you destroyed M Bison, blitz the the first bit on board The Truth and Reconciliation on Legendary. These arew the moments that make gaimg great, not the ordering of consoles from thousands of miles away. I've yet to play Joe but reading about how cool it is and some of the ace moves you guys are pulling off makes me want the game.

[Henning]

...however now with the ability to order from overseas its no longer the case. The reduced cost means that it will be open to more people, and therefore more will take advantage. Does this mean that it will become less exciting for the true early adopter who has always done it, now that the club is less exclusive?

No I don?t think supply have ruined the moment to unbox a imported virgin

[Tom Salter]

I haven't had the money recently to buy a console as soon as it came out, but I got my Jap Dreamcast within a month of the Japanese release, and it was one of the most exciting gaming periods of my life.

Why? Because I had been looking forward to it for far too long, and I had wanted to play on all the games asap. Not because I wanted to feel in the "look at me, getting things for a stupid price, and looking richer/better than you" crowd, just because as a gamer I could get my mitts on the console as soon as possible.

It doesn't always mean that you feel more elite than the others.

[Molloy]

I'd dissagree. 1st gen software is rarely very exciting. My favourite time is a couple of years in when the choice and sophistication of the games reaches its peak.

[Papercut]

I'd dissagree. 1st gen software is rarely very exciting. My favourite time is a couple of years in when the choice and sophistication of the games reaches its peak.

I would have agreed with that a couple of years ago, but I don't think it's true any more.

I used to wait a year after a new console came out before buying one. That way I wouldn't get ripped off and could make sure there were some decent games and support.

When the GameCube and Xbox were released they already had a decent games line up, and were priced fairly cheaply.

I think Nintendo and Microsoft had both made sure development for their consoles wouldn't be as painful as the PS2. I think thats a trend that will continue with new console launches.

People won't find a big lull in releases soon after a new console comes out acceptible any more.

[dataDave]

I can't see why people get so excited about playing something new before anyone else.

With me it's the other way around, I play new games with a high degree of uncertainty for at least a few days before making a judgement. No matter what the release - A prime and upcoming example of this will be F-Zero GX. It has a lot to live up to with all three previous games being great. I'm not really the biggest fan of Sega - their arcade conversions seem to loose their shine after a mere few hours of play. I found this apparent on the DC anyway - Let's hope that Nintendos involvement will combat that factor.

Hmm. I'd say the first few days of playing a great, longlasting game are uncomfortable at times.

Pre-release hype is a dangerous tool these days.

[RLench]

I've always waited at least 6 months before I buy a console.

Why? Because, IMO, launch software is no indication of the quality of what will come further down the line. I like to wait until the killer apps start appearing and I know which console is worth buying.

I have absolutely no problem in waiting this long either. I certainly don't feel like I'm 'not in the group' or like I've missed out.

I play games because I enjoy them - if anyone else thinks different then it's immaterial IMO

[Baroque]

Jap launch all right. Having not the slightest clue about Japanese but then trying to work out the system settings of the console and what's going on with the games and just generally figuring stuff out can keep my busy & interested longer than usual.

Add to that that the stuff is just new, we haven't heard all about it just yet and it carry?s a world of potential, and it's an interesting experience peeling the layers away and soaking in every detail before you finally plug it in turn it on and get moving.

I usually tend to take a seat at our big wooden kitchen table and proceed to examine every inch of the packaging before looking over the console like it was a newborn baby. That might read as being somewhat weird but the design, the look & feel of all these things, matters a lot to me.