New Console Magic (NCM)

[dvdx2]

i think its an age thing to be honest; the thought of playing 'arcade perfect' games was in my mind from 1982 and only started to materialise around the 1990's - the only expection with NCM was my import ps3 with RR7 and Resistance, partly because i'm a huge ridge fan.

If the vita had a totally new RR experience (for example RR8 with new music/cars/tracks/mechanics/no DLC drip feed, i'd have been over it like a rash and would have no doubt experienced NCM :-)

Games are so easy to get hold off nowadays and are relatively inexpensive

back then, when you held an ?80 import, you really did appreciate it more, hence more magic.

[rmoxon]

I like getting new import consoles. Domestic releases never felt that special, apart from the 360 launch I think (until I realised PD was asskraxx).

Perfect Dark Zero was one of the most disapointing launch titles ever.

Domestic Launches probably dont usualy feel special becuase we are often missing some of the best games (I point again towards Gravity Daze). The 360 was different becuase it is actually a western developed console and no one in Japan gave a crap about it.

[Team Andromeda]

Amen to that. I remember picking the system up at lunchtime from Dream Machines (where they had one running in the shop, just to whet the old appetite) along with VF and an extra controller. Then I had to work all afternoon while it sat in the car. The first time I powered it up I just couldn't believe my eyes (and ears!). I'd played the arcade game a little but at home I learned how to play it properly, and me & my mates played it religiously for months and months (it became the new SFII). Even mates who weren't into games loved it. There hasn't been a console launch since I was more excited by or more impressed by.

Yes very Happy Days and I still remember the hassle Lee had trying to get a 2nd pad out to me , very special times and the good old days when my mates would make the effort to come to the house and witness import gaming 1st hand ,where we were all still in college/uni/school or doing part time jobs and so had plenty of time to play the machines (unlike today) take the time and effort to learn all the moves and. I think that's part of the trouble these days, we're all older and now have families and full time jobs and mates don't come around the house to play games like they did in school and so hardware launches just don't seem quite as special now and we all just don't have the time to learn ever move in the VS games like we used too

something the youth of today will never experience - that transition from coin-op to home console was magic

Yeah it was a magical time and I'm so glad and happy I lucky enough to experience it all and playing VF in the home with that incredible sound and music blasting through the TV was just magical and then if anything Christmas 1995 was ever better what with playing Rally, VC, X-Men COTA and the incredible VF II in the home with a mates and a few beer's.

The 1990's truly were the glory years for gaming, video game related shows magazines and press imo

[Team Andromeda]

Perfect Dark Zero was one of the most disapointing launch titles ever.

Domestic Launches probably dont usualy feel special becuase we are often missing some of the best games (I point again towards Gravity Daze). The 360 was different becuase it is actually a western developed console and no one in Japan gave a crap about it.

Its an age and media thing as well though .I thought the Master System UK/Pal launch to be one of the best ever , but I was young and those were the days when I knew nothing about Imports , mum and dad bought the consoles and games for Christmas and you were lucky to see a screen shot in mag (not like today with High Res/quailty videos ECT) . I never knew that the MasterSystem had come out years before in Japan and things like that, now these with the Internet the magic and surprise of Hardware launches is even worse, with in-minutes of a new machine hitting Japan or America, its up on You-Tube ect . So even the surprise of what all in the box is gone

[Team Andromeda]

I like getting new import consoles. Domestic releases never felt that special, apart from the 360 launch I think (until I realised PD was asskraxx).

I thought bar HD and PGR 3 the 360 Launch to be quite pants , the only real good thing (where MS should get full credit) was the lack of a wait between different territories for the Hardware launch

[importaku]

Yes it's definately different nowdays, importing has never been so easy & with everything available to see on the net on launch day theres not much suprise in it anymore & yet for some reason the magic is still there for me, Well mostly it is but the 3DS killed it a bit thanks to the launch lineup but in consoles gone by it was there.

Most memorable ones for me were the DS, Wii & Pokemon mini.

[nakamura]

You hit the nail for me importaku. Due to the rise of the internet and the ease of importing there is nothing really to look forward too, no surprises in store anymore.

The last magical moment for me was my PS2. While I didn't love the launch as such, when Winning Eleven 5 dropped on my lap it was a moment of magic.

[Fader209]

I haven't really had the console hype since the PS2 mainly because that one and all the others were as Xmas presents which adds massively to the excitement. Since I have been buying them myself and getting older there is only a shadow of that previous feeling and now I wait even longer after a release to pick something up.

[Sam The Man]

The Dreamcast were my last moments of true magic. These days even if i am looking forward to something game wise i am still calm when the item arrives and can regularly leave it until the evening before it gets my attention.

[nakamura]

Winning Eleven 5 Sam!! That was awesome! We were in awe of how good that looked and played.

[J0e Musashi]

I get it everytime I buy a console, if only because I import everything on it's Japanese release. Regardless of whether it's Super Thunder Blade or Street Fighter EX3, the feeling for me comes from being one of the first people to be playing on hardware that other people are only anticipating.

[iloveannie]

N64. Pal. My re-birth of gaming. Mario 64. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. My wife's open mouth at the ?69.99 price tags. Those opening notes as the castle comes into view. Mario in 3D. My first ever experience of 3D. Armed with a knife and a bow. The clouds overhead and the lens-flare. ****. Ing. Awe. Some.

Next up, Dreamcast. Japanese import, orange box. So new, so fast, so Japanese. Foker! Pigeons flapping and tables and chairs smashing. Complete and utter madness and fun.

Since then? ...

PS2. Okay it's new. It's grown-up.

XBox. Halo. Jaw-dropping but a sign of things to come.

Gamecube. Lovely but where was Mario? Oh. Different I suppose.

Panasonic Q (all boxed and sat in my cupboard). Showing off really.

360. Late to the game. Not exactly fun though. Where has the magic gone?

PS3. Thought it would offer more to be honest. Everything is so polished and so Hollywood now. I want the focus to shift back to the East. Good for blu-rays though. And the wife likes that.

Wii. What. Have. They. Done. I'm tired with Nintendo. I'm upset even. They've got lost chasing the coins.

[dvdx2]

I get it everytime I buy a console, if only because I import everything on it's Japanese release. Regardless of whether it's Super Thunder Blade or Street Fighter EX3, the feeling for me comes from being one of the first people to be playing on hardware that other people are only anticipating.

but you are not really one of the first people playing it as thousands in japan are playing it already.....

[J0e Musashi]

I'm one of the first people playing it outsideof its native region.

[DeathAdder]

When a console is brand new, the list of available games is usually pretty small. This usually make early adopters consider several games they would otherwise not. That weird japanese rhythm game suddenly seems a lot cooler when it's one of six available games for the system. Such limitations has made me discover games I would otherwise not have on many occasions. If not for a limited selection of games I might never have played Jet Set Radio Future, Waverace Blue Storm or Smugglers Run. And when the console you're playing on is brand sparkling new, the whole experience get a little bit sweeter.

Absolutely. I shudder to think of the rubbish I played on the DS in its early years. Spiderman, Zoo Keeper, Pokemon Dash. There was one good game that I wouldn't have bothered with later, and that was Feel the Magic. That was a great early game.