Buying a console a few years into it's "lifecycle"

Have you ever bought a console years after it was first released? What are the very first things you do?

Well, for me I have done this numerous times. My Wii and PS3 were late purchases, only my PSP and 360 were day 1(ish).

The first processes into owning a new console are extremely daunting. You start by researching exactly what you'll need, and then you set it up. Those first steps are fine but afterwards? It's hard.

Day one of my PS3 I was overwhelmed by what to buy and what to do. I'm one who can spend up to and over an hour playing around with settings, and the PS3 is very in-depth. From it's wifi to HDMI connectivity, to PlayStation Home and PSN.

Even transfering from Xbox to PS3 was odd, because PSN did things differently, you don't buy anything for a starters and you go through what I deemed to be a primitive sign-up process.

Afterwards, there is the choice of games to buy:

The PS3 is a terrible console because of this. There is MGS, LBP, inFamous, Killzone, the early "hiddem gem" titles like Folklore, Motorstorm, etc. (I should note that I got my PS3 in 2008)

When you have these games the process of "settling in" is still odd because you don't really treat it as a gaming console just yet, it's really new. You may play for a few hours of each game but it's SO daunting, especially if you have a pile of back-purchases lined up.

Even if you "settle in" there is a tough choice if you held onto your previous console : which platform do you buy multiplatform titles for? I chose the PS3 because it was my newest console, it was a decent investment (£320) and the fact is you still need to make a small collection so you have all genres (this may be just me).

Luckily my experience with the Wii was different, for starters getting it online for the update was too simple. Then signing up was simple. There were no extras, the only odd thing was using a motion controller.

With back-catalogue buying of a Nintendo console it's much easier. You get the franchise you like the most, my first game being Metroid Prime Trilogy. Enough gaming to get along with in itself, and then after that it's a case of nitpicking.

Then the choice of buying multiplat games for it was very easy: don't. The wii version is essentially what would be the PS2 version or PSP version with motion controls added.

This is by no means slagging the Wii off, I think that the Wii is great when the game is good but otherwise I do believe my points are valid.

I wonder what your own experiences are of buying a new console are? Did you find it daunting? Exciting? Spent a lot of money? Spent as little as possible? Any problems?

[Xbox360PS3AndPC]

I Buy A Few Years After Because I Want To Know Which Console Has More Games, Better Graphics Etc.

[smoothdude]

I am not a day 1 buyer. I started out with the Xbox 360 but got a red ring of death, so I went without a console for a few years.

I then purchased an HDTV, and I wanted a blu ray player, so obviously I bought the PS3. I love the PS3, but my desire to game is not what it used to be.

[Dramscus]

I lost mine for a while but I was determined to get it back. So I played every game I could get my hands on until I enjoyed one thoroughly exciting way I remembered.
It came to me running down pedestrians in gta go figure.
In any case I now game more than ever, it has become an almost consuming hobby, and a passion of mine is to become a game developer.
It may be a fine line maintaining interest and becoming an eccentric.

[PS3Freak]

I got my Ps3 in april of 07 and my wii in july of 08, so I'm a semi early adopter.

[theonlylolking]

I am usually a near first time buyer. First time buyers are the deciding factor on which console devs will support first.

[darthv72]

it isnt just the devs but the first time buyers themselves. Meaning that the one you got first you tend to buy more multiplatform titles for.

That is not true of everybody but there is a majority that follow that way of consumerism. I have all systems and yet I dont start off that way. I will pick my favorite of each generation and by the end of that gen, I will have purchased the others as well.

This gen it was the 360 then wii then ps3. I do have more games for the 360 than ps3 but have more ps3 games than wii.

[young7yang]

well im buying a Wii tomorrow only because i found two games that caught my attention

Xenoblade and Last story

i never new the Wii had games like this untill a few weeks ago.. im a huge J rpg fan and the ones on the ps3 and 360 subpar.. well ok final fantasy, tales of vasperia, tales of Grace f, valkria chronicles and lost odyssey but other then that nothing

Wii has a huge roster.. so i cant wait

[militant07]

why would you buy it know if it gona takes sometime to reach us.

the wii may get a price cut until then!

[young7yang]

i got the games already..and in thailand i can get a wii console that plays all regions for under 300 usd... its a good investment as i anm not a patient person when it comes to good games... for example iv already finished yakuza kenzan and 4 and am currently play tales of grace f

[Ayreesfoxx]

I've been a person to wait till the second-gen pops out, the price drops, see if there are any "red ring" scenarios.. or combinations of the three. In this day and age, $300-$500 on a console isn't a drop in the bucket and I want to make sure it lasts.

Plus, it does com down to games, graphics, and quality of what I'm playing, though with most companies developing multi-platform, it really breaks down to the style of game I prefer to play on what console. It's all strategery

[SeraphimBlade]

I got my PS2 and 360 well into their lifecycles. PS3 I got about a year-and-a-half in when MGS4 came out, and really? I hadn't missed anything.

360? Mass Effect was what sold it. I haven't got a ton of exclusives, but I really prefer to play shooters on it. PS2? I'm STILL catching up on. Every two months or so, I'm like "oh hey, I meant to play that." Just happened after Christmas with Odin Sphere.

[pain777pas]

True gamer in the house. Like your post man. Real talk.

[Optical_Matrix]

I only got my 360 in December. PSP I had since before it was out in EU. DS I got about a year after release. PS3 I got about 8 months after its release in Europe and Wii I got on launch day. Can't remember my older consoles.

The problem with getting things too late in their life cycle is that you miss a lot. Like my 360 hardly gets played because although the biggest games like Gears and Halo don't really interest me to begin with, if the hype for them were still fresh then I'd be more inclined to jump in (no pun intended)...but I feel I've missed the boat. Where as on PS3, I'm a day one buyer of most of the PS3's biggest releases be they multiplat or exclusive.

[ReBurn]

I never really did that much research into a console before making a purchase decision. I guess I know that I'm going to end up with all of them, eventually. With the 360 I knew I wanted it, but it took nearly 6 months after launch to actually be able to purchase one around here. Every time shipments came in the hawks swooped in and picked them up to put them on eBay.

I actually waited in line for a Wii on release day. I was number 31 out of 30 and just barely missed it. If it hadn't been for the guy in front of me who had 4 people with him to get tickets I would have been able to grab one that night. Luckily I found one for sale on eBay over Thanksgiving weekend that was put up for bids in the wrong section. I ended up getting it brand new with free shipping and receipt for less than I would have paid here had I bought it at retail.

The PS3 was just a matter of cash. I didn't want to lay out $600, then $500 for the 60GB model, but I knew I wanted it. I had $500 show up unexpectedly, which was cool, so I ordered one from Amazon.com just as Sony cut the price by $100.

I'm not really a portable guy. I won my PSP at a Microsoft conference (irony?) and I've enjoyed it. But I would never have purchased one.

[Raendom]

Ha, lucky guy with that Wii scenario. :P

[sway__z]

I have always been an early adopter and paid the price in more ways than one. But now i'm hesitant in considering my future purchases.

1) Early adoption is costly until the components are reduced in price.

2) Early adoption is like being a tester as the consoles are usually unreliable and in need of refinement.

3) There are no games of particular worth as the transition from one gen to the next is slow since developers are just learning the hardware.

So i'll wait until it gets up to speed before I purchase another console. Yes, my PS3 will be with me for sometime yet....

Oh and daunting seems ridiculous when buying consoles. You make your choice you live with it. It's not a mortgage FFS!

[Pillville]

I only had a Wii for a while, then I bought my PS3 back in 2008 because I thought FF 13 was coming out soon.

Unfortunately:
FF 13 didn't come out for another 2 years.
It was also on Xbox.
It wasn't very good.

Now I have all platforms and don't have to worry about console wars, fanboys, who has what exclusives, etc....

Life if good.

[Pillville]

Correction: Live IS good.

[Pillville]

Correction on the Correction:

LIFE IS GOOD.

(I'm done typing, if there's a typo in this, I don't care.)

[PS3Freak]

You made sure to type that post real carefully though, didn't you?

[pcz]

im thinking of buying a ps3.. im on the verge.. its still a bit too expensive. the way i see it, for the 200 odd pounds they ask, i could do a lot of things with.. like go on holiday! i think to myself 'why buy a ps3, when i could use that money more constructively?' after all, im not made of money.

[TheDivine]

I got my 360 early on for blue dragon, lost odyssey, gears, vesperia, in undiscovery, last remnant and other jrpgs. It has the best jrpg selection this gen. When i burned through those i got wrpgs lol. I get all multis for it. I got a wii 6 months ago because it was 100 bucks and i wanted the other m, new dk and in anticipation of the last story. I just got a ps3 a few months ago. The only games i wanted were mgs4 and demons souls. I decided to jump in now because i had cash and next year the last guardian and hopefully vs13 drops. I mostly rent for my ps3. Rented uncharted 1-2, gow 3 and a few others. In all i coulda gone without a ps3 but demons souls made it worth it and i use it for netflix and web browsing.

[Nate-Dog]

I got a PS3 a few months after it was released (just before the new 60GBs seemed to disappear).

I got an X360 just a couple of months ago and found that quite weird. I had always been a Playstation guy and never played anything else (apart from random turns at friend's houses or in games stores obviously). But I liked it and the different things. I personally enjoyed the more simple layout of it, although I did all the same miss the more detailed parts of the PS3, I've started to really customise things to my experience and did all I could with the X360 to tailor it to my needs. First thing I did was get a couple of these exclusives (like Mass Effect and Gears of War) to see what I had been missing out on for a while, but the PS3 is still my main console specially for online games (due to more online friends on PS3 and lack of online games to make an Xbox live purchase worthwhile) so I didn't get too much and my collection is still relatively small (for my X360) right now.

But I really like it and having a chance to experience a lot of other games I have wanted to try for a while. Stuff like being able to install games onto the HD too is pretty handy for me and it's amazing to me how quiet it is sometimes (you have no idea how loud my PS3 can get with certain games).

[Aclay]

My first console was the SNES...however I got it pretty late in it's lifecycle though and didn't really get a chance to experience a lot of games on it because not that long after I was introduced to the Playstation.

My PS1, was purchased about 1 and a half years after it first came out.

Next, I got my PS2 about 2 or 3 months after it came out...I would've had it sooner, but while shopping for one during Christmas, everyplace my Dad and I checked was sold out ...then finally one day in Early 2001, we walked in Toys-R Us store and saw a few in stock.

As for my PS3(60GB model), it was purchased in Late Dec. 2006. They were sold out shortly after launch, but I was lucky to find a new one on Ebay for just a tad bit more than what a 60GB PS3 would cost including tax if it was purchased from a retail store.

The price of the PS3 wasn't much of an issue for me at the time because I graduated from Highschool in Summer 2006 and got lots of graduation gifts (most of it was Money), so I had plenty to set aside for the PS3 purchase. Back then, the PS3 was the single most expensive item that I had ever purchased, but I never regret it.

I don't really remember the first thing(s) I did when I got a SNES, PS1, or PS2 but I know I tinkered around with the XMB for a while with the PS3 initially, and I remember transferring all of my PS1 and PS2 games saves with the Memory Card Adapter within the first few days of owning a PS3.

The PS2 and PS3 were the only consoles that I was an early adopter of, and I intend to be an early adopter of the next Playstation as well.

This was a interesting Blog you posted. Really enjoyed it.