Purchasing a new console

[colours]

Let's say a new console is releasing. Are you the type to go for it day one? Or do you prefer to wait a while for reviews/first impressions before making a choice? Or are you the type to wait for a more robust gaming library before purchasing?

 

[Mercurybro]

If it is backwards-compatible, and I am playing the previous console already, you can bet that I will usually be buying the best version of the new console as soon as I can. Otherwise, I wait until there are several games on it that I would enjoy or if I know friends on it that would play online with me.

 

[alisaie]

I normally wait until the is a game I really want to play on it before getting it because most of the time the games that are released with the consoles aren't like... 'i gotta have them RIGHT NOW'. It's either that or whenever I have the money for the console.

 

[Cherrim]

I wait until a Kingdom Hearts game is announced for it and then I buy the console and play all the games I coveted while I wait for the KH title.

...I wish I was joking, but that's the whole reason I have my 3DS, PSP, and PS4. And technically my PS2.

 

[Brendino]

I don't think I've ever bought a console within the first year of its release, never mind day one. Not that I would ever be against it (and depending on how the PS5 looks I might consider it), but I generally wait until a console has a decent library first, or a game I absolutely need to play.

 

[colours]

I remember wanting to get the Switch day one but I was going through life stuff at the time so I didn't really have the money/time for it until like... later on that year. Now that I think about it though, I don't think I've gotten any console on day one, either. Would be pretty interesting, though!

Although personally, I'm the type to wait for a more developed library before jumping immediately to purchasing a console. I'd rather spend some time with my shiny console rather than let it gather dust once I've already played the like, 4 or 5 games that would be out once it's released, haha.

 

[TOKZK]

Why buy a console when you can emulate it? The switch took about a year or so (actually I think it was two, I forgot when Switch was released). And so you don't go to court for piracy, you can buy hard copies, that way you're protected. Although if you want to buy it for your collection, it's a wasted of money but go right ahead.

 

[Arcaneum]

Why buy a console when you can emulate it? The switch took about a year or so (actually I think it was two, I forgot when Switch was released). And so you don't go to court for piracy, you can buy hard copies, that way you're protected. Although if you want to buy it for your collection, it's a wasted of money but go right ahead.

Because emulation of something newer is going to just require a PC which costs you a pretty penny anyway, so might as well use those funds on the console itself. Also it may be more convenient etc, however emulators in early days are a joke and then comes having to wait for games once released to then be in a format for the emulator.

Also it's just the feeling of owning the physical console itself, at least definitely for me. Especially with the way gaming may be potentially headed, this opportunity will become less and less frequent, so we might as well take advantage of it whilst we can and get the physical product itself.

Plenty of time for dodgy practices when the consoles get older, right? ;)

 

[TOKZK]

Because emulation of something newer is going to just require a PC which costs you a pretty penny anyway, so might as well use those funds on the console itself. Also it may be more convenient etc, however emulators in early days are a joke and then comes having to wait for games once released to then be in a format for the emulator.

Also it's just the feeling of owning the physical console itself, at least definitely for me. Especially with the way gaming may be potentially headed, this opportunity will become less and less frequent, so we might as well take advantage of it whilst we can and get the physical product itself.

Plenty of time for dodgy practices when the consoles get older, right? ;)

Well yeah sure owning a pc that can handle those games are expensive. BUT considering the fact you can play MOST of the games on every console with an emulator, it's just not worth justifying that buying the console as well was worth your week and a half's rent, while with a pc you can work on it continuously, like a project, spending extra money on upgrades here and there, without the risk of eviction/debt. Just give console emulation a try. You might like it. A computer isn't a novelty or anything like that. It's an investment and a project (a very enjoyable one at that), and emulation is something I want to have a big future among the gaming community, and not looked down upon as a poor man's attempt at being as good as the real deal.

 

[Cherrim]

Well yeah sure owning a pc that can handle those games are expensive. BUT considering the fact you can play MOST of the games on every console with an emulator, it's just not worth justifying that buying the console as well was worth your week and a half's rent, while with a pc you can work on it continuously, like a project, spending extra money on upgrades here and there, without the risk of eviction/debt. Just give console emulation a try. You might like it. A computer isn't a novelty or anything like that. It's an investment and a project (a very enjoyable one at that), and emulation is something I want to have a big future among the gaming community, and not looked down upon as a poor man's attempt at being as good as the real deal.

I think so long as emulation goes hand in hand with piracy, it will never be taken seriously as an option.

Which sucks insofar as game preservation goes, because if we have no way to emulate older games, often that means they simply die. And no way to emulate/run game servers means any online-only (or online-focussed) games also die. I was thinking about this the other night: I feel really bad for kids growing up right now with Fortnite as the big game they're into because it's not like my nostalgia games. In 5, 10, 20 years they aren't going to be able to sit down and play a game of Fortnite for old times' sake because the servers will be shut down. (Okay, maybe not in 5 years, but I don't know the game well enough to make guesses on how fleeting its popularity may be.) Whereas even the "generation" before them can go back and play Minecraft--and even download the individual versions of Minecraft that hold their nostalgia, like the early betas and so on.

So yes, emulation is important, but in terms of new games, unless you're one of the few people who buys a game and plays/rips their hard copy when emulating, it's really incomparable to buying a console lol.

 

[hotsushi-kun]

I am planning to buy PS4 once PS5 comes out, i purchase any console that gets price drop once the new console comes out, these are the only thing i can buy since we don't have an money enough to purchase new consoles that are really expensive for us to buy it one.

 

[Pyrax]

Tbh I wait there's a game I really want to play. For my 3DS it was Ocarina of Time, and for the PS4 it was Persona 5 - then it's only a matter of building up my library for that console. With the PS5 having backwards compatibility, I'm actually tempted to trade in my PS4 to buy it day one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Sammi]

I usually wait until there's a game I want on it, and my finances allow for it.

That said, I bought the Switch day one because I wasn't going to play with finding one when a game I wanted finally came out. Nintendo is just Bad at stocking sometimes. The first few months I didn't touch it much... then it became a Splatoon 2 machine whoops.

 

[Juno]

I don't buy many consoles unless there's some exclusive on it I really want to play, otherwise I am content with waiting for the PC release of most games. The latest console I bought (technically gifted, but I did try to buy it myself first) I didn't so much wait as it was so insanely popular I couldn't get my hands on it at all since it was sold out everywhere. I gave up looking for one for the time being, but my brother had a friend working at Walmart and he told them to keep an eye out for me, so that's how I ended up with a Switch on my birthday the year it came out.

 

[Sylphiel]

I tend to buy my consoles a little after they come out, unless I know there's a game or few I really want to play. Then there was the Switch, which was preordered because I knew I would want it eventually and after trying to find a DS some years back? I was not about to play the game of "try to find the system in stock in a store" again with another Nintendo system. So I went with the option that would guarantee me getting one as soon as possible. :P

 

[Sydian]

i tend to wait for either a larger library of games i want or when i have the money/there's a good deal on it. i had like NOTHING in my PS4 library for a while, but got it ahead of time before all the games i wanted came out bc i worked at gamestop at the time and we got a white one in as a trade in. i had the money and told my manager i'd come in the next day and buy it, and i did. we had a deal on used PS4s at the time, plus i had a discount in working there. my switch i DEFINITELY didn't have the money lol... i lucked out, my mom got me one for christmas in 2017 and my grandmother got me a couple of games.

but yeah i don't think i've ever gotten a console upon release, other than my pokemon XY 3DS XL and the N3DS that came out with animal crossing plates and a download code for happy home designer. but i already had an original 3DS anyway so it's not like they were NEW consoles for me.

 

[Zerotwp]

I'll definitely gonna wait a year or two after console's release. But PS4 was the only console I bought upon release and have no regrets about it.