It's funny, my first handheld system was a Game Gear, I didn't get a Gameboy until a few years later.
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Period(s) in gaming history you never got to experience but wish you did
- Thread starter daTRUballin
- Start date
It's funny, my first handheld system was a Game Gear, I didn't get a Gameboy until a few years later.
When was that?
(Kidding... sort of. That "surprise launch" kind of meant it was DOA).
The beginning of the Xbox 360/PS3 era. I didn't have an Xbox 360 or PS3 until 2010 and I didn't have high speed internet to play online until 2012.
I never had the original Playstation >_< so i missed basic milestones in gaming (Metal Gear Solid, Crash, Castlevania SOTN, lots of RPGs, etc) except few exception I played on PC (Tomb raider 1,2 and 3, FFVII and VIII, Abe's Odyssey etc)
I've been catching up slowly in the years after thanks to the PSX titles in the store, thank god.
I've been catching up slowly in the years after thanks to the PSX titles in the store, thank god.
I was born in the 80's so I got to experience it all except the Atari era. If I could relive just one moment, it would be to be in the crowd again around a Super Mario 64 demo in the fall of '96, at a video game store in the mall. I remember there being like 10 to 20 people, trying to get the coins under the bridge or catch the fish in the pond. I never got to try it that day before getting it for Christmas, but the excitement that day was unreal. The whole period of '93-'96 was absolutely electric at the promise of new technology.
Not much I've missed in gaming, but I regret not having the money (read: stingy parents!) to buy an Amiga when the 16-bit home computers hit. Could only look on in envy as I played my C64 and had to read Zzap!64 and Commodore User slowly get consumed by Amiga content. My first 16-bit Machine was the Mega Drive, so I bypassed the whole Amiga/ST rivalry entirely. By compensation though I started heavily frequenting the arcades and well and truly enjoyed the glory years that so many others regret not experiencing.
Console-wise, I'm pretty happy being born in 84, I really grew up with the NES.
I would've really loved to experience the height of the arcades in the 90s. Sure I we around back then, but I had NO arcades by me. The only chance at playing arcades would be summer vacation when I stayed with my grandparents and my grandfather paid for a whole day's worth at the Arcade.
I want to have that everyday "local kid spending time at the arcades in the afternoon/evening/weekends" everyone always talks about.
I would've really loved to experience the height of the arcades in the 90s. Sure I we around back then, but I had NO arcades by me. The only chance at playing arcades would be summer vacation when I stayed with my grandparents and my grandfather paid for a whole day's worth at the Arcade.
I want to have that everyday "local kid spending time at the arcades in the afternoon/evening/weekends" everyone always talks about.
Just saying, but, 1980s arcades > 1990s arcades
Although I'm sure someone will come along and say that 1970s arcades were better.
Although I'm sure someone will come along and say that 1970s arcades were better.
No, you're quite right. 90s felt like the beginning of the end for arcades. When the Mega Drive came along promising "arcade quality graphics", many of my friends stopped going. There was also a shift towards beat 'em ups, and with the likes of SF2 and MK proving so popular, 80s style shmups and side scrollers stopped cutting it with the public. Then PlayStation came along and snuffed out the embers!
My favorite thing in arcades was always taking over all of the high-score slots in Galaga.
In general I preferred single-player arcade games to competitive multiplayer arcade games.
(Although, cooperative multiplayer arcade games were always great fun, and the 1990s did seem to get more of those)
This is a very interesting topic imho.
I began playing very early, 1986? On the C64 and later the Amiga. The early 90ies are somewhat my golden age of gaming, nothing could beat that. I then switched to PC Gaming during the decade, but completely missed consoles up until the PS2. I played a lot of the SNES, N64, Dreamcast and of course, PS1, many years later...
Also, due to other reasons I completely missed the early WoW years, I played a lot of MMOs later, incl. WoW, but not parcitipating in the first two WoW years is something I regret until today.
I began playing very early, 1986? On the C64 and later the Amiga. The early 90ies are somewhat my golden age of gaming, nothing could beat that. I then switched to PC Gaming during the decade, but completely missed consoles up until the PS2. I played a lot of the SNES, N64, Dreamcast and of course, PS1, many years later...
Also, due to other reasons I completely missed the early WoW years, I played a lot of MMOs later, incl. WoW, but not parcitipating in the first two WoW years is something I regret until today.
OP
OP
Man, reading through this thread reminds of how due to my age and due to having a limited number of consoles during my childhood (and even now, really), I missed out on a SHIT TON of stuff. And not having a Switch means I'm currently missing out on the Switch craze and games like BotW and Odyssey. :(
Hopefully I can right all these wrongs one day and try out all the bigger stuff I missed out on.
Hopefully I can right all these wrongs one day and try out all the bigger stuff I missed out on.
Well this thread has succeeded in making me feel ancient. I'm old enough that I've lived through and experienced almost all periods of gaming history. And even though I wasn't alive at the time for the earliest days when the industry had just started when I started my gaming journey I began by playing some of the very earliest text adventures with my older sister back in 1988 followed by Atari and Apple II E games and then progressed from there. So to me it feels like I've been there form the very start
I will say that I often feel sad for having complete blindspots when it comes to gaming history. For example I never owned or played on any Commodore or Neo Geo systems.
Oh and for those of you who missed out on Dreamcast: y'all should fix that asap. Still my favorite console of all time. Way too many gems for anyone who loves games to pass it by.
My favorite time in gaming history will always and forever be the height of Arcades though. I still miss them to this very day. Even though a smattering of arcades are out there nowadays their niche nature just makes it different. No longer are arcades a central integral part of the gaming community and I miss the moments and friendships that this created within local communities.
Oh lord I remember spending a fortune on batteries for my Game gear. It used like 8 AA batteries or something crazy like that and it seemed to always burn through them with a quickness. Certainly technically impressive for its time though.
I will say that I often feel sad for having complete blindspots when it comes to gaming history. For example I never owned or played on any Commodore or Neo Geo systems.
Oh and for those of you who missed out on Dreamcast: y'all should fix that asap. Still my favorite console of all time. Way too many gems for anyone who loves games to pass it by.
My favorite time in gaming history will always and forever be the height of Arcades though. I still miss them to this very day. Even though a smattering of arcades are out there nowadays their niche nature just makes it different. No longer are arcades a central integral part of the gaming community and I miss the moments and friendships that this created within local communities.
Oh lord I remember spending a fortune on batteries for my Game gear. It used like 8 AA batteries or something crazy like that and it seemed to always burn through them with a quickness. Certainly technically impressive for its time though.
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I was a kid in the 80s so I experienced all the consoles throughout that decade. After high school, from 92 until getting a Wii in 2007 I didn't game on consoles at all. Not once. I missed A LOT. All of DS, GBA, GC, N64, Dreamcast, PS2 and Xbox. And even though I got a Wii and played a few games, I still didn't start gaming like I did as a youth so I missed the PS3/360 for the most part. But I did manage to play a couple PS360 games (Singularity, Half-Life/Portal, TLOU) and it got me hooked again. During all those years missing console gaming I played some on the computer (WOW, City of Heroes, Civ 4/5).
On launch I purchased a Wii U which I loved and played dozens of titles and now I own PS4Pro, Xbox One S, Switch, Wii, NES classic, SNES classic and 'New' 3DS. With all these things I own I barely game tbh. I have a massive backlog because I can't turn down deals and of course Xbox Live and PS+ adds more. I'm starting to wonder if my gaming is really more about collecting games than playing. Because at this point, I could never buy another game and I'd have enough to play for a decade.
I really missed the boat on Wow. I got into it really late when my gaming high school buddy turned me onto it. But he was maxed out and I never could catch up and do raids and experience the best the game supposedly had to offer. I've had this conversation with people and almost universally people think I really missed out on the PS2, DS combo the most as they think that was gaming's peak.
Great thread btw!
On launch I purchased a Wii U which I loved and played dozens of titles and now I own PS4Pro, Xbox One S, Switch, Wii, NES classic, SNES classic and 'New' 3DS. With all these things I own I barely game tbh. I have a massive backlog because I can't turn down deals and of course Xbox Live and PS+ adds more. I'm starting to wonder if my gaming is really more about collecting games than playing. Because at this point, I could never buy another game and I'd have enough to play for a decade.
I really missed the boat on Wow. I got into it really late when my gaming high school buddy turned me onto it. But he was maxed out and I never could catch up and do raids and experience the best the game supposedly had to offer. I've had this conversation with people and almost universally people think I really missed out on the PS2, DS combo the most as they think that was gaming's peak.
Great thread btw!
