The Reason for the System.

[Aswald]

Did you ever buy a console from, say, a garage sale, or off of the Internet, that in its day you never would've bought? If so, what games changed your mind?


For me, with the Atari 5200 I saw at a townwide garage sale back in 1998- in spite of the broken ports (especially Port One, which makes a 5200 unplayable)- it was:

Berzerk

Defender

QIX! Especially Qix!


It was worth the hassle of getting the thing functioning, although it wasn't until recently that I finally got it running completely right.


In mid-2000, there was an NES in a garage sale (townwide again). I bought it mainly for a four-screen DK, which I did play a couple of years before. What made up my mind ultimately, though, were:

Galaga

Elevator Action

Ghosts `N Goblins

Terra Cresta

Donkey Kong 3!

All of which were in the Dutchess Community College arcade at that point, except for DK3 which was in a nearby pizzaria.

I did not know until recently that Super Sprint was available for it, too.

[kedawa]

I bought a NIB Jaguar at a computer show/flea market thing for $40 so I could try out AVP and Tempest.
I later turned it into a clock.

[bangtango]

Probably not the same but I asked for a couple of game systems for Christmas in various years that I had no intention of ever buying with my own money.

One of them was the PS1 and this was back in the Christmas of 2001. Had no intention of ever buying one, but wanted to try the Resident Evil series. I had just finished up a college semester with a roommate who played the RE games constantly and I became intrigued. So I asked either my older brother or father about getting me a used PS1 for Christmas and they came through.

Next one was the XBox 1. Same sort of thing. Asked my father to get ahold of a used one for me in the Christmas of 2006. He came through. I had no plans of ever buying the console but on a whim, I purchased a whole bunch of $2-3 XBox games (mostly Sega Sports/EA Sports stuff) from a Movie Gallery clearance/bargain bin. Decided I might want to play them someday.

[Edmond Dantes]

I actually owned a Playstation 2 when I was younger, but it broke and for the longest time I swore off Sony consoles because I believed they were all cheap crap designed to break. But then I got back into the King's Field series, which inevitably led to me playing King's Field IV (a PS2 exclusive), which got me back into the PS2 in general.

Then I got into Metal Gear, which got me to purchase a PSP--a portable I had before never even considered buying because I had heard nothing but bad things about it and, well, my anti-Sony bias. I gotta be honest: within the space of a month I had went from hating Sony to loving them. The PSP is currently my favorite portable.

As a kid I actually wanted a Sega CD (for Lunar) but never had a chance to get it, but I was able to get one years later as an adult. I managed to play Lunar, but never actually own it (not the Sega CD version, anyway).

Same story for the TurboGrafx/Duo/PC Engine. As a kid one of my uncle's friend's brought me out and I was just totally impressed with everything he showed me. Mind you, at the time I still though the NES was the only video game console in existence, so you can imagine what seeing Devil's Crush and Splatterhouse for the first time was like. Again, I didn't actually get one until year's later, but I still love it. I even liked Keith Courage (such a severely underrated game).

Lately I've wanted to get a Saturn, for Enemy Zero and import fighters, but I haven't made the plunge yet.

[Compute]

I'd say most of my consoles I picked up that way. I figured the Vectrex and Colecovision couldn't be THAT great. When I found the Vectrex, I fell in love. When I bought my CV for a song, it was love all over again. Two systems I wouldn't have sought out but now absolutely love them.

[Graham Mitchell]

I bought an Xbox 360 just because I wanted to try Bioshock. I was pretty anti-Microsoft at the time and I wasn't happy with modern games, but when I got the system I shut my trap and changed my tune. It's probably my favorite console of all time (sorry Turbografx, I love you but you've been dethroned.)

[retroguy]

I've had a Genesis for a few years now, but I never had any interest in the Sega CD add on until recently (and wouldn't you know it, I finally get one and the motor that spins the discs doesn't work and I don't know how to fix it, *sigh*). What changed my mind was A) the fact that it has both Dragon's Lair and Space Ace (I'm a big Don Bluth fan) and B) seeing some footage of Popful Mail on Youtube and really wanting to try that one out.

[Graham Mitchell]

I've had a Genesis for a few years now, but I never had any interest in the Sega CD add on until recently (and wouldn't you know it, I finally get one and the motor that spins the discs doesn't work and I don't know how to fix it, *sigh*). What changed my mind was A) the fact that it has both Dragon's Lair and Space Ace (I'm a big Don Bluth fan) and B) seeing some footage of Popful Mail on Youtube and really wanting to try that one out.

Try Kega Fusion on your PC. You can boot those Sega CD's from your CD drive. It's so worth it.

Popful Mail, the Lunar games, Snatcher, Dark Wizard, Heimdall, Ecco CD, Sonic CD--all are essential. It's a pretty great system, overall. It just has kind of a small library of quality games.

[Sabz5150]

Wipeout. Wherever that game goes, I follow.

[Atarileaf]

Did you ever buy a console from, say, a garage sale, or off of the Internet, that in its day you never would've bought? If so, what games changed your mind?

I found my first Sega Master System a couple of years back at a thrift store for $5 with all the hookups, controllers, and a couple of guns. I bought some really cheap games but the stand outs for me were Out Run, Bomber Raid, Super Space Invaders, Choplifter, R-Type, Rampage, and yes, even Carmen Sandiego.

Its a system that's kind of in the background of my collection but I still really enjoy it.