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Your most memorable release of a game

Anyone else fucking love following the Killzone 2 info leaking and build up?

Like I remember this screenshot getting released and everyone breaking it down and examining it's every pixel. Trying to decipher what this game would look like.

1233598740-killzone_2_screenshot_1.jpg


The hype from the Playstation crowd fighting off the attacks by the Xbot crowd was awesome.

Then the trailer release ... holy shit, no other game with graphical 'promises' has every blown me away like that real time trailer did.

But then the game got released and despite following the build up feverishly I've never played more than 5 minutes of the game.
 
For me it was the Street Fighter II Special Champion Edition for the Genesis. All of my SNES owning friends had been playing SFII on their console of choice for a while now, thus leaving me & my precious Genny out in the cold. When I heard that Sega was getting it with playable bosses, I started counting the days.
 
For me it was probably a MGS title, watching trailers for Snake Eater I was so hyped. Im also super super excited for the new Mortal Kombat, its turned into one of my most anticipated games this year. I get memories of me playing MK2 on my SNES for hours and hours back then trying to beat Kintaro and Shao Kahn.
 
My best memory of a game release was The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. It came out on a Monday so I had to get out of school before I could play it, and my mom had told me we would have to wait to pick it up at night because she had errands, but as I was waiting for her in the car line (I was in fifth grade) she pulled up and held it up to the car window so I could see it. I love my mom.
 
Wii launch with Twilight Princess was great. Pre-ordered a Wii with TP to go, they called me saying I had to wait until January/February, the 23rd they call me and tell me someone cancelled their reservation and that I could go pick it up.

Kickass christmas!
 
I will always remember the Gran Turismo 1 launch, I was in high school and came home to my copy that my mum nicely collected for me in town that day, we had it pre-ordered for £39 but on release day the price was raised to £44.99 so we saved a fiver there.

However when trying to play the game it would refuse to progress past the car disclaimer screen which appears just before the intro, I was puzzled and we nearly took it back but then found out the problem, unofficial controller in port 2 was somehow stopping the game from launching correctly, removed the pad and it played fine.

The game was also superb at the time, good memories.
 
SOCOM 1 and the Ethernet Adapter.

I waited and talked almost daily to my friends about this game and the fact that PS2 was now going online, I spent most of my summer thinking about it and watching videos over and over again. I think I was in 5th grade? haha

The day of release I drove to Queens Center Mall on my Bike in the pouring rain to pick up my copy and Ethernet adapter, to this day I was never more dedicated to a single video game.
 
This was my most memorable, but certainly not my happiest. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I remember the Gears 2 launch and how utterly....heartbroken I was. The campaign was alright I guess, but the Multiplayer was just so god awful that a big part of my gaming spirit died when that game was released.

I will NEVAR4GET.
 
My most memorable release of a game.... Hmm...

Probably The Burning Crusade for World of Warcraft.

I was checking MMO-Champion multiple times everyday for new info. I was a Paladin, and they were making Ret and Prot viable so that was extremely exciting. So much anticipation!

Finally the expansion released, immediately bought it, installed, went to log in, and got the message thousands of other people were getting. "Server is Full! Your position in queue: 945725861".

When I finally did get in, and walked through the portal to Outland, my mind was blown. It was a PvP server and there wasn't any ganking going on. Horde and Alliance were taking turns killing shit, just trying to level. It was amazing! Lol. Pretty crazy to have almost the entire server in one small area.
 
GT5 propably.The wait had been very long an painful and when I finally got it, it felt pretty unreal.

WoW is a good one too, although I wasn't able to join my friends day 1 because there were no copies _anywhere_ where I live. I got in a week or two later and still remember my first character's creation and early leveling like it was yesterday.
 
As a kid it's hard to remember, because I was hyped for pretty much anything. I was really stoked for TMNT The Arcade Game for the NES. Phantasy Star IV was a big one as well. With a $100 price tag, I saved up so much lunch money and did so many chores just to buy that game.

As an adult, when MGS was announced it was awesome. The original Metal Gear on the NES was one of my favorite games as a kid and I couldn't believe they were going to make a new one. I was psyched even more so for MGS2. I believe I played the Tanker demo that came with Z.O.E. about 100 times before the game actually came out.
 
Seda said:
Brawl.

Those daily updates were like crack.
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This. Only time I've gone to a midnight release as well (which was a huge mistake). My friends and I played Melee all through college as our multiplayer game of choice, so I had to have it immediately.
 
I was a massive Sega fan boy at the time. I knew Sonic was going to show Mario how slow and clumsy his first 3D game was and how 3D should be done. I turned my Dreamcast on for the first time and placed Sonic Adventure into the disc drive. I wasn't planning to eat for a day, all my body needed was the anticipation. I was overwhelmed by the flashy, loud FMV intro. This was the future. I reached the Emerald Coast, and ran as far as I could across a bridge... Sonic literally fell through it, then completely disappeared from the screen. I could only hear Sonic scream "no"...
 
Culebra 64 said:
Mission Impossible on the N64.

That's right.



I was so excited for that game for whatever reason, I remember thinking it looked amazing in magazine previews. And as the release date got closer, the game would get delayed for another few months. This happened more than once, and it drove me insane.

Imagine how it felt when I got it finally, and played it...





Sigh.
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I didn't like the game either, however, I think the second (?) level (when you're at the reception, seemed like a gala for something) was one of the best levels in any game I've ever played.
 
Mine would have to be Oot release. There was this crazy line of customers winding throughout the store and out of it. The months and years prior to release were trecherous. I almost got ran over by a truck while I was speeding on my bike to the local cornerstore to look at the latest Nintendo magazine hoping to see a brand new pic or two of the game.
 
Red Alert.

Was just getting into PC gaming as my father had just bought my brother and me a cutting edge GATEWAY 2000 with all the software packages (i.e. lots of games including the original C&C)

Little did he know that his purchase spurred by a generous tax return that year would propel my brother and me into a lifetime of pc gaming. :)
 
The Super Mario 64 hype was out of this world. Me and my friends tried to find as much information about the game as we could before release. I managed to play it at a demo kiosk before any of my friends and I couldn't even describe it when I was talking about it to them. It was the true beginning of that generation jump.

Also, Sonic & fuckin Knuckles. Everyone at my school was fiendin for that game.
 
San Andreas definitely. So good.

Shenmue 2 & Orange Box are up there though. Orange Box was the first game I pre-ordered on Steam and waiting for it to unlock at like 8am in the morning was torture. Back when it came out my sleeping pattern was atrocious so I'd been up about 24 hours, ha.
 
ChronicleX said:
Duke Nukem Forever. Yes it hasn't happened yet but god damn when it does nothing is going to top it. Nothing.
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came here to post this.

I can't imagine walking into store and just... buying it.
 
Hard to go past Halo 2.

Marketing push was GIGANTIC in Australia. There were launch parties everywhere. I even got on the radio and won a prize for answering a question about Grand Theft Auto lol.

Not to mention Halo CE had become one of my all time favourite games by that stage, so naturally the anticipation for it's sequel was going to be massive.

Before that though, had to be Street Fighter 2. Watching all my Nintendo fanboy friends play it on their SNES, while myself, the Segabot had to keep going to arcades :(

But when it came, it was all worth it since we got the superior version.
 
No game will ever beat the anticipation of Zelda: OOT. I got it for Xmas '98 and I don't think I left my room until I finished it.
 
Metal Gear Solid 2.

It was winter but still decided to take my bike and drive to the other side of the city to buy it. And they wouldn't sell it to me because I was just under 18. Fufufufu. Oh well, I had a relative to buy it for me. I cycled back to home asap and got my mind blown by the tanker chapter.


Or months and months of waiting for Resident Evil 4 and then finally getting it in it's full glory.

Otherwise I am kinda sort on releases as I usually bought the games week or two after the release. For example, I tried to buy GTA:SA every day for at least 2 weeks but couldn't because it was sold out everywhere. After getting it I ended up playing it 13 hours straight.
 
Why For? said:
Hard to go past Halo 2.

Marketing push was GIGANTIC in Australia. There were launch parties everywhere. I even got on the radio and won a prize for answering a question about Grand Theft Auto lol.

Not to mention Halo CE had become one of my all time favourite games by that stage, so naturally the anticipation for it's sequel was going to be massive.
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Definitely Halo 2 for me as well.
 
Mine is Ocarina of Time as well. Months, years even, of waiting culminating in seeing that gold cartridge in my hands for the first time. Just indescribable.

I only had a Nintendo 64 at the time, so I got really excited for any major release. My main game store used to break the street date by 2-3 days too, which was unbelievably good for me. I distinctly remember getting Donkey Kong 64, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Perfect Dark and Majora's Mask early. Bless my mom for driving all the way over and dropping $60-70. She asked me once why I like games so much, and I told her "Well, it's your fault!".
 
for me it was probably Halo, and with it being a release title with the Xbox it was especially memorable! i remember when i first played it in a games store...my legs were actually shaking with excitement!

other runner ups include Half-Life and Red dead redemption
 
Culebra 64 said:
Mission Impossible on the N64.

That's right.



I was so excited for that game for whatever reason, I remember thinking it looked amazing in magazine previews. And as the release date got closer, the game would get delayed for another few months. This happened more than once, and it drove me insane.

Imagine how it felt when I got it finally, and played it...

Sigh.
Click to expand...

Actually I think liked that game. I don't remember why, though.
 
Gears of War or Halo 2. Mainly cause I remember it being cold as hell and raining, but also cause I wasn't disappointed as I have been from othre games I have waited in line at midnight for.
 
Vice City. I was in High School and almost our entire football team left practice early that day to pick it up. Picture about 30 HS dudes going to Best Buy, all getting copies of the same game, and waiting in a huge line.
 
Last Ninja 2, probably.

I remember buying Zzap that month and reading "Last Ninja 2 reviewed !" on the cover and going crazy; actually, i didn't even read it, i bought the magazine, brought it home and while it was still in my hands my brother saw the cover and yelled "LAST NINJA 2 WTFFF".
We had no idea it was coming. I was just thinking about it the other day; the few magazines around at the time never mentioned a sequel was in development, internet wasn't there and coverage was non-existant.
It would more or less be like buying Edge tomorrow and reading "Half Life 3 reviewed !" on the cover.
Man, those were the times.
 
i'd say for me it wasn't a game, but for the Wii itself. it was a good end to a great year - 2006. I had it preordered and everything. i had to part with my original purple gamecube, to put it towards the cost of the wii, but it was totally worth it.

had it preordered at Rhino Video Games while they were still Rhino. it was cold outside, but they let all of us in and turned on the demo units for us. on top of that, they ordered pizza and soda for everyone there. best console release ever.
 
The legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

I don't think there could be any other answer for me, as it really is one of my most memorable game releases, and not entirely for the game itself. At the time of the release, I was 16 and working at a convenience store. I didn't know anything about bothering to pre-order games, and the store only paid every 2 weeks. Zelda released on the 23rd but I didn't get paid again until that Thursday, which was Thanksgiving, so I didn't have the spare cash to get it on release day.

I had to work that Thanksgiving night, so I wasn't able to get a ride out to track down a copy. The next morning, Black Friday, my dad wakes me up at 5am and tells me to come on, we'll see if we can find a copy of that game I want. He drove me around for 3 hours to different stores until we finally found a Target that had one in stock. I was so excited, I couldn't wait. We got home, and he watched me play it for a few hours.

To this day, whenever I play Ocarina of time I always remember that.
 
Culebra 64 said:
Mission Impossible on the N64.
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I really enjoyed the game as a whole. Beat it on every difficulty within a couple of days of buying it.

My most memorable release was easily Mario 64. I didn't get my own N64 until Christmas, but meanwhile I took the bus several times to Toysrus so that I could play it. Jaw-droppingly awesome stuff. Second is Ocarina of Time. I skipped out on a family holiday to play it. Spent countless hours in a chatroom (Nintendojo?) waiting on the mailman.
 
As weird as it is since I'm not even that into fighters, I was so jacked for Soul Calibur 2 it was almost a joke. The last month of my summer vacation that year was spent obsessing over every word in EGM's huge, like, eight page review; that purple version of the issue with Link on it will forever be imbued in my memory. It even had a $5 off coupon for the game at Best Buy inside of it!

Then actually getting to play it, having Mitsurugi duels with my best friend, bragging about being able to beat anyone with the joke weapons, the weird feelings Voldo's animations awakened inside of me...I'll never be so excited over a game and have it actually surpass my expectations again
 
God of War 3
Not so much for the actual game but because of the day that I spent with it. A couple of my friends came with me to the midnight launch and we marathoned the whole thing in a couple of settings. We had snacks and it was great to share everyone's reactions to the epic stuff in that game. It was a really fun way to go through a game for the first time. The game itself is great, but that say is what really makes it special for me.
 
pahamrick said:
The legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

I had to work that Thanksgiving night, so I wasn't able to get a ride out to track down a copy. The next morning, Black Friday, my dad wakes me up at 5am and tells me to come on, we'll see if we can find a copy of that game I want. He drove me around for 3 hours to different stores until we finally found a Target that had one in stock. I was so excited, I couldn't wait. We got home, and he watched me play it for a few hours.
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This made me get really emotional hah. Dads can be so cool sometimes.
 
Mario 64 and the release of the N64.

I had seen the video footage of M64 and could not believe my eyes, amazing 3D visuals, smooth framerate - it was like the first time I saw that Killzone 2 (fake) footage, only over a decade earlier.

Game came out and took names too, lived up to that hype.

Biggest launch I remember from a hype / publicity standpoint was when I was at University and Halo 2 launched for Xbox. Midnight launch, massive lines, media coverage.
 
Super Mario Bros 3 was a huge one for me as a kid.
Seeing the surprise preview at the end of "The Wizard" was incredible. :)

Pretty much every major Mario and Zelda game has been quite memorable for me since.
 
SUPARSTARX said:
The release of SNES and purchasing one.

I got an NES as a hand-me-down from my older cousins.

I remember rolling up to one of the random boutique stores that had a video game store in the back in some corner around Chinatown. They had several boxes of SNES packed up on a shelf so high up and all these NES/SNES/Gameboy game boxes lining up on the walls.

My dad didn't know what I wanted. I pointed all the way up, up, up, up to that big SNES box.
"That one!" I said with big gleaming eyes.
The Chinese guy behind the counter brought over a small 3 step ladder to gain some leverage to tip the box over from the shelf enough to bring it down.

I was the happiest 7 year old boy in the world for the next few years for sure!
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Yeah, SNES release was awesome. I saved up all my allowance for months to cover the prce, but my parents wouldn't give it to me (probably because they didn't actually have the $200) so i ended up mowing lawns to cover the rest. Oh it was very awesome when I finally got it.
 
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