If you could relive one console's life...

[NayusDante]

...would you do it differently? What games would you have preordered, instead of buy years later for outrageous sums? Would you have bought a doomed system in the hopes of changing its fate?

What year would you want to start at? How old would you have been, and how old would you WANT to be? Would you game with yourself at that age, even if it meant creating a paradox? Would you give yourself buying tips for the future?

This idea has been bothering me forever, because there's a lot of things I would have loved to do differently. For one, I stayed in the realm of Nintendo too long, and didn't branch out. I also relied on cheat devices, and didn't start REALLY playing anything until I started playing PC games online. I also wish I had been able to stop my parents from throwing out my game boxes, which bothered me as much then as it does now (they don't even keep DVD cases).

[Alfador]

Did you stumble across a time machine? 'Cause if you did....

It sounds like I'm in the same boat as you, my parents made me throw away my boxes too and I was a major Nintendo-only fan. I hated Sega and I didn't even know what a Turbografx-16 was until recently.

I would've liked to have gotten into the TG-16 scene and definitely the Neo Geo scene..

And I wish everyone got a Virtual Boy on launch day like me so it could've been popular and had more games. (I love that thing!)

[NayusDante]

And I wish everyone got a Virtual Boy on launch day like me so it could've been popular and had more games. (I love that thing!)

Same. I got mine for only $30 at ToysRUs when they started trying to get rid of them, along with most of the games for about $5-10 each. A killer FPS would have saved it, but sadly... Teleroboxer and Red Alarm remain my favorites, though I never finished either. Same with Wario Land.

Imagine a VB2... Color, real textured 3D, AC adapter in the box...

[Iron Draggon]

I would've skipped collecting for the N64 altogether and spent all that money on collecting imports for Saturn... it would've been a much better investment!

[thepiratemonk3y]

Probably the NES, and SNES. I have an NES but have really bad games for it and was never really up to date with what was good. I just played what I could get my hands on. I completely missed out on the SNES and wished I had one back in the day. My cousins had one that I would always play and I loved it.

Also wish I got a Dreamcast on release. I got mine about a month ago and I love it. But I had that I have to buy most of my games off of eBay or find junky ones at a used game store.

[NayusDante]

Also wish I got a Dreamcast on release. I got mine about a month ago and I love it. But I had that I have to buy most of my games off of eBay or find junky ones at a used game store.

I actually did get a DC on release, but didn't play much besides Sonic Adventure (though I played the hell out of it). Wish I had gotten PSO before I tried Blue Burst years later.

[Dr. Dib]

I probably would want to relive the N64 and PSX days. Not because of the games that I didn't get on those systems, but because of the classic gaming scene. Who knows how many good deals one could have gotten during that?

[DeputyMoniker]

Great thread, man.
I would like to go back and relive all of them, starting with the NES. I dived head first into the INTV so I have no regrets previous to the NES. If I could go back, I would play a lot more RPG's, which is actually the opposite of what you've asked. (instead of paying outrageous prices for games...) Because, obviously, I'd have paid a lot more than $20 for a good SNES RPG.
All those good times I missed by taking sides in the console wars. All the good games I could have played if I could have convinced my dad to let me mow lawns and wash cars for money.

[turbokon]

For me, it would be around '90 when I was in six grade. I already had the turbo grafx 16 so I would by myself (the other me) all turbo games, turbo duo and turbo express. I really wanted them back then but I knew I was lucky to get even a turbo grafx.

[Steven]

Can I pick a year instead? Oh to hell with it. 1989

NES still in its prime... Genesis coming on... SNES a few years away from US distribution... good times.

I'd love to relive 1989-1994 again. Ideally '87-'95... but I can't get too greedy now

[mr.soul]

i wish i could relive psx so i could get ff7 before advent children came out

relive snes so i could get all those expensive as hell games for less new

[ShinobiMan]

Some of my happiest memories come from the time I spent on my Nintendo Entertainment System. I would give anything to relive those years of my youth.

A close 2nd would be the Sega Genesis era and 3rd place belongs to Sega Dreamcast. I remember playing Phantasy Star Online with DP and Bhvrd back in the day. Good times folks.

[ooXxXoo]

Like to go back to 1989..the year I saw my parents for the last time.

[Vectorman0]

I would like to have been alive and several years old by the time the 2600 was released. It would have been great to experience that system in its heyday. I wish I could have seen the arcades from that era as well.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[murdoc rose]

nes all the way for so many reasons. It would be great to be 13 or 14 in the heyday. Most of all I would love to have been older for the thousands of yard sales I went to in the early 90s. A gold mine I only got to pick at so sad. Guess I can't complain I had a hundred nes games by the time I was like 14. Not to mention a love for the toys of the 80s and 90s.

[otaku]

I wish I'd been born in the late 60s or early 70s so I could have lived through the rise of gaming and technology I missed alot by being born in 88.

[DeputyMoniker]

I wish I'd been born in the late 60s or early 70s so I could have lived through the rise of gaming and technology I missed alot by being born in 88.

I was born in '79 and what I remember most about video games in the '80's is the NES. Man, you missed a great ride!!

[Push Upstairs]

I'd go back to 1989/1990 and give myself a Genesis to go along with my NES.

I'd give myself these pointers:

Don't sell your NES...even if you put dumb rub-on stickers all over it.
Beg Mom & Dad for a subscription to EGM, get all back issues, then ditch the mag in 1996.
In 1991 get Sonic the Hedgehog.
Never sell your Genesis.

4,000 posts!

[ssjlance]

I'd like to go back to '84 and get some Vectrex stuff. I found one at a local game store recently, and I"m in love with it. That or the Virtual Boy. I love the Virtual Boy. And I have beaten Wario Land.

Although, the final cat boxer in teleroboxer murders me every time I play. And I've beaten Mike Tyson without cheating.