What games did you anxiously await to buy?

[rayearthknight]

Whenever I buy a game, I usually go against the flow and buy it because I like it--not because I'm caught up in the hype of it. For example, I've never played Grand Theft Auto and it took me months to ever really play Halo.

Anyway, I remember counting down the days to the release of Strider (for the NES) and when I got it I sat down and played it...
and played it..
and...eh, you get the idea--I had Strider on the brain and I loved it.

Another game I waited on was Maniac Mansion for the NES. My parents ordered the game as a Christmas present, my mom wrapped it and then placed it under the tree.

I took the game out from under the tree, opened the end of the wrapping, opend the game box and played the game...two weeks prior to Christmas. When I was done playing the game for the day I'd slide it back into the box then slide the box back into the Christmas wrapping; retape the end and place the present BACK under the tree.

This continued on for a few days...until one day my mother came into my room while I was playing it....

(cue the sinister minor-key chords)

Like most parents at the time, she was oblivious to what I was playing--something I could not be with my kids...having grown up with the technology, I'd know what they were playing...or I'd at least ask first.

I finally did place the game back underneath the tree--and left it there until Christmas morning.

[AlexKidd]

I can't remember too many games I was waiting for back in the day.The ones that come to mind are phantasy star 4,sonic 3 and sonic and knuckles. I was obsessed with sonic as a kid and had to have every game he was in including that crappy 3d blast one. Ironically I now prefer Mario games.

As far as more recent releases go I remember being pretty hyped for the following games:
castlevania:LoI
castlevania:AoS
resident evil 4
phantasy star collection(gba)
halo 2
doom 3
fable
gradius V
metroid prime 2
ikaruga

At the moment I'm looking forward to a ton of ds games and that new zelda for cube.

[Cirrus]

In the "old days", I remember eagerly awaiting Zelda 2 (Link), Skate or Die, and SMB 2/3. I have many memories of my mom forcing me to wait to open a game until Christmas. (Goldeneye, Ocarina of Time). Even recently: Paper Mario 2. I wasn't necessarily chomping at the bit for that one, but still, she made me wait.

Games I couldn't wait for that I myself bought: Final Fantasy III for SNES. I remember getting my birthday money ($80) and riding my bike up to the game store and getting it new. God, I loved that game.

[zektor]

Well, I am really looking forward to "Grand Theft Auto - Liberty City Stories" for the PSP. Other than that, I'm eagerly waiting some classic arcade game compilations for the system! :)

[THATinkjar]

Probably the only game I went somewhat insane with waiting for was Championship Manager 4. It was all I talked about in the months leading up to its release. I pre-ordered my copy and duly played the hell out of it. What a game.

[felix]

I wait for a lot of games.. mostly pc games..

Battlefield 2, Ghost Recon 3 and a few others..
In the past, I have waited for Chrono Trigger and about every Final Fantasy game until that pos MMO game came out.

[videogameking26]

Back in the day I really couldn't wait to get my hands on SMB 3,Friday The 13th,Nightmare on Elm Street,Adventure Island,Adventure Island 2,Bubble Bobble and Tecmo Super Bowl.

For current-gen couldn't wait to get my palms on the following games:

GTA III (One reason I bought my PS2)
GTA VC
GTA SA
Silent Hill 2 (other reason for buying a PS2 at the time)
Burnout 3
NFS: HP 2
NFS: U
NFS: U2
MC 2
MC 3
Jak & Daxter
Jak II
Jak 3
Klonoa 2
Ape Escape 2
Maximo: GTG
Maximo vs Army of Zin
Pac-Man World 2
MGS 2
MGS 3
VF 4
VF 4: Evolution
Driv3r
Halo (one of the reasons bought my Xbox)
JSRF (other)
Wreckless (and other)
Ty
Ty 2
THPS 3
THPS 4
THUG
THUG 2
Downhill Domination
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4
Max Payne
Max Payne 2
MAT
MAT 2
Super Mario Sunshine (reason I got my GameCube)
SMC
SAB: 2
SA: DX
Sonic Heroes
Animal Crossing
LOZ: OOT/MQ
LOZ: WW
Wario World
SC II
F-Zero GX
RE 0
RE 4
RE
Super Mario 64 DS (reason I bought my DS)
Polarium
Zoo Keeper
Rayman DS
Half-Life 2
Halo
Halo 2
Fable
Doom 3
R & C
R & C: GC
R & C: UYA


I bought all the above on release of it's particular date :-P .

What I'm looking forward to..well it would take forever so I will list my 10 most wanted games :D


Burnout: Revenge
NFS: Most Wanted
Jak X: Combat Racing
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Conker's: Live and Reloaded
Ty The Tasmanian Tiger 3
Kirby
Sonic Gems Collection
L.A. Rush

[Promophile]

I waited over 2 years for the original Harvest Moon for SNES. Yes, TWO YEARS! I'm not talking about "oh this game looks nice, can't wait till it gets over here!" I'm talking about reading the magazine I read about it in every damn day, studying every single word. I was obsessed with the game. I was like 10 and never before had I seen a game where you actually FARMED and could get married and do all kinds of neat stuff. The reason it took two years it because at the time I was living overseas and had to order through a mail order service advertized in EGM called "chips n' bits". After ordering and not recieving the game for a few months they tell us the game was "limited" and we would be lucky if we got one. Grrr. Long story short the game arrived in the mail 6 months later. Yay?!?

[Amy Rose]

I remember anxiously waiting for Christmas the year that Sonic 2 came out. My brother and I used to go to our local shopping centre, go into Big W (we didn't have any game stores where I was growing up, just department stores) and stand at the Mega Drive shelf drooling over the cover. We used to talk endlessly about Sonic and "Foxy" (which in my personal opinion is a MUCH better name than Tails :P) and how good the game looked... and my Dad delivered the goods on Christmas. Our Mum ended up buying us Captain Planet or something. NOT HAPPY. So we played Sonic 2 for weeks until we had to stop playing it because Mum took the Mega Drive away. :(

I can't remember looking forward to another game as much as that and then actually having it live up to the hype. Sonic 2 was just, like, the first game on crack. SO GOOD. And I'm still really good at it too, yay. :D

Final Fantasy 8 was another game I was super hyped for, and then super disappointed. Then again, when we got FF9, it was so fantastic because we refused to read anything about it until we actually played it. It's amazing how hype can ruin a game.

[Nesmaster]

lets see.... i didnt really care about San Andreas, until about 3 days before release. I got so hyped i was dying to play it, and the day it did release i couldnt wait til the stores opened.

and the there was the DS + Mario64 DS..... a month before christmas i was wanting to play mario so bad. On christmas i played for about 6 hours straight.

dating back further though, i eagerly awaited the release day of super mario rpg. Went right to blockbuster after school that day and rented the last copy they had. I played it to death for the 2 or 3 days i had it, and suckered in my mom to drop $80 on a copy of my own... and played it to death til the next game came along.

fast forward about a year, and the 64 hit the shelves. I distinctively remember playing it in zellers, and thinking "nah, i dont want one. Im happy with my SNES" I quickly changed my mind, and mario64 owned my soul for 3 solid days.

the earliest i can remember though, was probably wanting SMB2 sooooooooo bad, and then getting it for easter! WOW that was the best easter ever @_@

[NESaholic]

I only had this with NES games before they got released so not really anxious anymore nowadays,but i get excited when i see a rare item on eBay or other sites.

[Yago]

I don't really get all that excited about new games like I used too. Most recently would be Battle Field 2. But in the 80's I could not wait for the next Sierra "Quest" game to come out, mainly King's Quest.

[garyfoo182]

I remember drooling as a kid when the Mega Drive got released and playing Sonic The Hedgehog. Man that was awesome.
Then i can remember awaiting the release of the sequel and although its an awesome game i was slightly disappointed graphically, im still not sure why. I kinda missed the hype of the Dr. Robotnik and Sonic Spinball games but nearly wet myself waiting for Sonic 3 and could have cried tears of joy when Sonic and Knuckles arrived - arguably my fav game of all time.

Streets of Rage 2 was another one. The first game was awesome and the second game was the best ever. I got the third towards the end of my Mega Drive days (before the rebirth i had last year) and was not too blown away - although now you cant tear me away from it.

We moved onto a PS1 and i dont think i was left more in anticipation that when i saw the Final Fantasy 7 advert on TV. To this day its the best game in my mind (screw Sonic and Knuckles).

HEHE

ZAG

[Sam]

Zelda 64 was the worst wait ever - had to have been about 4 years or so, ever since I saw the first sketchy screenshots. Zelda on NES turned me into a hard core gamer so I always had a soft spot for the franchise and I could not wait to immerse myself in a 3d Hyrule. I was frothing from the mouth and biting the bit to play that game, I'm sure I dreamed of playing it and even played it in my head the last few weeks.

These days I don't get too excited, I've realised there are plenty of games I need to play inbetween big releases wheather they be from the SNES, PS or current era. Also apart from hands on impressions I try to stay away from too much info and vids as following a game through it's development process can give away too many spoilers.

I'm currently waiting for the next Zelda and Shadow of Colossus but whilst they will be a blast to play when they come out I'm more than happy focusing on games already released.

[Nesmaster]

Zelda 64 was the worst wait ever - had to have been about 4 years or so, ever since I saw the first sketchy screenshots. Zelda on NES turned me into a hard core gamer so I always had a soft spot for the franchise and I could not wait to immerse myself in a 3d Hyrule. I was frothing from the mouth and biting the bit to play that game, I'm sure I dreamed of playing it and even played it in my head the last few weeks.

These days I don't get too excited, I've realised there are plenty of games I need to play inbetween big releases wheather they be from the SNES, PS or current era. Also apart from hands on impressions I try to stay away from too much info and vids as following a game through it's development process can give away too many spoilers.

I'm currently waiting for the next Zelda and Shadow of Colossus but whilst they will be a blast to play when they come out I'm more than happy focusing on games already released.

That reminds me. totally forgot about Zelda 64. Although i really had no interest in it, and having never played a zelda game before, i bought it because of Nintendo Power hype. Damn, the game kept me busy for a while, and eagerly awaited Majoras Mask to release :D

[Sam]

Only game I have pre-ordered EVER! @_@ :eek 2: x_x

Drove me mad there was only one store in town three weeks before it was released that had even heard of the game! I was a Nintendo fanboy at the time so I probably launched into rants about it breaking pre-order records all over the world. Ended up costing me a bit extra but I didn't care at all as long as I got my Zelda.

I admit I also wanted the gold cart - bit bummed when all the carts in this part of the world turned out to be the 'limited edition' - hell I think I have only seen a grey Zelda 64 cart once and that was probably an import.

Man I have never played any other game as hardcore as that, pretty much didn't leave the house for three weeks thanks to school holidays being perfectly timed. Although most of the time I had at least one person over watching my progress.

I had three friends playing it at the same time I did actually leave once or twice to visit them and help them out with tricky bits.

[FantasiaWHT]

It seems that every game I got really excited about before it came turned into a huge disappointment...

Chrono Cross... nearly messed myself when I heard it was coming out.

Super Mario Sunshine...

And plenty more. I've learned my lesson- I never buy things right away anymore.

Except the Phantasy Star Collection if it ever comes out ;)

[calthaer]

I have also suffered some major disappointments when I've believed the hype re: games. There are only a few games that I've eagerly anticipated and have bought right at launch (or Pre-ordered, even):

-Freedom Force vs. 3rd Reich
-Deus Ex: Invisible War
-Thief 2: The Metal Age
-Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion
-Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
-Pokemon Emerald

Pokemon Colosseum and Zelda: Wind Waker were two others I bought at launch, but I did so SOLELY because of the bonus discs that came included with those puppies in the pre-order. I wasn't really reading up big-time on those games and salivating over them. To be honest, I haven't even started playing Wind Waker yet.

Deus Ex: IW was a major disappointment, and is the reason why I didn't bother to get Thief III until it dropped in price. It's funny; I almost never care about console games enough to get them at launch. They're fun, but just lack that extra depth that PC games can (or at least USED to) provide.

[mcgladds]

SMB2. I think I was literally shaking with anticipation on Christmas morning. That was some good playing, that game.

[fishsandwich]

Tekken 3 for PSone. I was at BB that morning. That's the only one I can remember.

:D

[demen999]

Silver Surfer for NES. Just because I used my own money for the first time to get a game.

[GamerNerd]

Games I looked forward to buy in the past:
Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures 2
Sega Classics Collection
Atari Anthology
NASCAR Thunder 2004
NASCAR Thunder 2005: Chase for the Cup (which eventually sucked cause the 2004's much better)
Wheel of Fortune
Jeopardy!
$100,000 Pyramid
Namco Museum series
Smackdown v. Raw

Games I'm looking forward to buy:
Capcom Classics Collection
NHL 2005
Midway Arcade Treasures 3
Gradius 5

[Slate]

The PSP. (But i'll wait - I was dissapointed with the PS2)

[goatdan]

There were only two games that I ever got hyped about like that which ended up coming out. The first was Super Mario Brothers 3, which I wanted to see so badly that I talked my dad into going to see the Wizard with me, and promptly declared it one of the best movies ever afterwards. When the game was finally released, I remember driving to Target picking it out and taking it home and playing it. That was one of the best purchases I have ever made.

The other was Perfect Dark. After not really caring about GoldenEye until I bought it and had it for a few months, I was totally immersed and played it constantly, and at the same time tried to read every little thing about Perfect Dark that I could. When that game finally came out, I remember picking it up for $60.00 to find out shortly thereafter that it really wasn't that much better than GoldenEye. While I liked it very much, the fact that it dropped to $50.00 and than $40.00 within a few months of its release made me wish I had saved my money longer.

I don't really get too hyped about newer games. There aren't any franchises that I love and trust from series to series. Even Headhunter: Redemption, the sequel to one of my favorite games ever, took me three months to purchase because I had heard it wasn't as good as the first (it isn't, although it is really good too, in my opinion.) I also have an utter dislike for purchasing any game for more than $20.00 if I can help it. My current gen collection of probably 120 games total (since reduced to 75ish) has had less than a handful of games that I paid over $20.00 for, and none were more than $30.00. And there aren't really that many $20.00 games to get hyped up about...

[Kroogah]

I can remember going nuts waiting for all of these:

Sonic 3
Sonic & Knuckles
Tetris Attack
Tenchu
Final Fantasy VII
Tekken 3
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
DDRMAX
GTA Vice City
GTA San Andreas
NBA Ballers
DOOM III (even though I still haven't bought it)
ESPN NBA 2k5 (one of the few games I bought on release day)

[PDorr3]

When I was younger I never really knew when games were being released, so whatever my local funcoland had in was what I bought. I was really anticipating the following games GREATLY:

Smash Bros. Melee
Cel Damage
God of War
SOCOM
SOCOM II
Ico
Everquest (PS2)
Final Fantasy XI
OKAGE Shadow King
Final Fantasy X
Klonoa 2
Dark Cloud
Star Wars KOTOR
Star Wars Battlefront
Morrowind (possibly one of my most hyped games ever, my first xbox game)
Halo 2
Chrono Cross
Final Fantasy IX
Paper Mario
Zelda OoT
Diddy Kong Racing
Super Mario DS

Of course most of these games did not tuen out as good as I had hoped, but for the most part they were all worth the wait :)

[atari_wizard]

NES - Super Mario Bros. 3
NES - Double Dragon 3
N64 - Super Mario 64
N64 - Ocarina of Time
Game Cube - Super Mario Sunshine

& If We Count Games That Are Coming, Sign Me Up For The New Game Cube Zelda Game. :D

[squidblatt]

I used to get excited about new Sierra adventure games and the "gold box" D&D rpgs, but the only game I really followed for years and got hyped up about was Morrowind. I was actually pretty disappointed, and I haven't been too jazzed about any upcoming game since.

[sabre2922]

the first game I was completely hyped about was the original LEGEND OF ZELDA on NES and it was and still is my single favorite video game.

Others:
Phantasy Star2 GEN
Streetfigher 2 SNES a godsend from Capcom :hail:
All of the RESIDENT EVILs especially REmake, RE0 and RE4 on Gamecube
RE:code veronica DC
Soul Calibur DC
SHENMUE DC
Streetfighter 3: third strike DC
Metal Gear Solid PSONE
Silent Hill 2 PS2
Metal Gear Solid 2 PS2 what the hell was up with that plot anyway :?
GTA3 PS2 still my favorite GTA
Metroid Prime GC
Splinter Cell Xbox Excellent dude!
and .......

The Legend of ZELDA: Twilight Princess on GC :onfire:

[retroman]

i can remember how i could not wait for TMNT 2 The Arcade Game for the NES....

[ozyr]

The only game that I can remember waiting for it to be in the stores was yeas ago.... Pick Axe Pete for the Odyssey2.
I've liked many games since, but I actually kept going to the store for PAP... ;)

[Crush Crawfish]

Well, back when I was a kid, I didn't really know what was coming out, so I don't remember waiting for much, except I know I waited with bated breath for Sonic & Knuckles & Kirby's adventure.

These are the newer games I anxiously awaited:

GBA
Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
Mega Man & Bass
Mega Man Battle Network
Pokemon Ruby
Robopon 2: Cross Version (Called the store everyday for like a week until it came out...same guy picked up the phone every time...I drove him nuts! :evil: )

GCN
Animal Crossing
Luigi's Mansion
Mega Man Network Transmission
Mega Man X Command Mission
Sonic Heroes
Super Mario Sunshine
Tales of Symphonia
Viewtiful Joe

PS2
Kingdom Hearts
Mega Man Anniversary Collection
Mega Man X7
Mega Man X8
Musashi Samurai Legend (Biggest. Dissapoinment. Ever.)
Shadow Hearts Covenant
Suikoden 3
Suikoden 4

[Sniderman]

Only two:

Classic era : Pitfall II - Saw the ads and HAD to have it. Bought it at release with lawn-mowing money. Great game.

Modern era : Futurama for PS2 - Big fan of the show and, since it was about to go off the air, I knew the game would be tough to find. Special ordered it so I knew I'd get it at release. Never regretted it.

[WanganRunner]

Definitely Mario 64 above all others, then probably Zelda OoT.

I didn't get FF7 until maybe 3 months after it's release though, and I REALLY wanted it that whole time.

I also really looked forward to getting:
-Xenogears
-Xenosaga
-Diddy Kong Racing (dissapointed with this one)
-Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
-Pokemon Blue
-Virtua Fighter 4
-GT3