I don’t buy a console for one game alone no matter how good it is.
the only reason I bought an Xbox was to play shooter games like mushihimesama,dodonpachi
Smash brothers will typically be what makes me buy a system.
Sega just has to put out a console and I’ll get it without question, no matter the amount.
the only games that make me buy consoles are nintendo games. Zelda, Metroid, Mario etc.
Nintendo is the best, I can see my self in my 50s still enjoying new Zelda games, while the rest of the industry relies on fads and such.
Crysis was responsible for at least 2 full PC upgrades. Doom was similar too, as I jumped to DX2 then DX4 then AM5x86 (DX5 pretty much)
No game in particular, just games man. I buy all the damn systems knowing that each will have a number of great/amazing/astounding games.
Pretty sure my dad bought the NES with Zelda in mind, because we didn’t own a version of Super Mario Bros until Super Mario All Stars and Super Mario World for SNES, weird right?
First games I ever played I’m pretty sure were Tiny Toon Adventures, Dragon Quest at my cousins house, but I obviously didnt’ know what I was doing, I couldn’t even get out of the kings room because I was like 4 or 5 years old. I’m pretty sure my dad only had Simon’s Quest owned, and he borrowed Megaman 4 pretty frequently from someone, same with the first Castlevania, he borrowed it a few times from someone I’m pretty sure.
I vaguely remember either playing Faxanadu or Rygar at one point and never getting past the first two screens.
Also pretty sure I wanted a SNES for DK in mind, because my cousin in NC had it, and I was like, holy shit! These graphics! It’s 3D! And ended up getting DKC2 instead, which I honestly think is the better game. Cue rose tinted glasses
Got the N64 for Super Mario 64, stayed for Banjo-Kazooie, you know what’s up.
The only game my dad ever pre-ordered was the gold Ocarina of Time cartridge offered in Nintendo Power, I’m pretty sure it was November of 1997, maybe 1998.
Damn. Memories.
Oh my god, I remember my neighbor had Mega Man 2, and the only ones I had played to any extent were MM7, and MMX-3, that was it. I had practically no exposure to the classic series until I bought MM6 used at my local video/movie rental place…why can’t those still exist? It’s just like arcades. 
Anyway, I was like, who the fuck is Woodman? Even back then I was like…wow, Woodman, this shit is crazy. He also had Punch Out! and Kung Fu, those are the only ones I remember he had.
Got a GBA SP for Metroid Zero Mission and Metroid Fusion, traded Fusion for Prime years ago and the guy never wanted it back I guess.
That was the first and only time I sneaked to where the presents were hidden, and I felt both ecstatic, and like shit for in my mind, being a brat.
Got a red Game Boy Pocket with Super Mario Land at Wal-Mart, that and Mega Man: Dr Wily’s Revenge were pretty much all I played at my grandparent’s in NC. Had so many games for that Game Boy I toted a bag around the trailer park when I went to friends houses occasionally.
Yeah, I grew up in a trailer park, big whoop, wanna fight about it?
Anyway, my cousin used to have a NES and just let my grandparents have it for me to play, Mario 3, Yoshi’s Cookie, and either their neighbor or I had Excitebike, and I was astounded by the track editing feature, and I was playing the N64 mostly then too, so I still have love for old games./
First game I got for PS2 was SSX, then after that MvC2, Tekken Tag, and FF7 I’m pretty sure. I never had a PSX, so alot of my game experience during hte PS2 is more like half PSX and half PS2.
I can’t say that I bought a lot of system specifically for a game, but I do have one case of it. I bought a PS1 because of Tony Hawk Pro Skater. A friend brought his over one day and we played and the next day I went to Gamestop and bought a used PS1 and Tony Hawk. I think I paid 50 for the PS1 and got my moneys worth in the first week. Literally every night was Tony hawk night at our place. Everyone came over, we smoked lots of pot and played Tony Hawk non-stop…
MGS4 -> PS3. Still haven’t used my PS3 for anything else besides netflix.
GBC -> Pokemon R/B
I upgraded a video card and RAM for the first Dungeon Siege. Yeah, it was a fucking rip-off. On the bright side both Quake 3 and Baldur’s Gate 2 ran like a charm.
In the olden days of my penniless childhood I made do with whatever I had, but the games that made me buy systems are:
GBA - Phantasy Star Collection and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
PS1 - Battle Arena Toshinden and Rayman
PS2 - Eternal Ring (I was/am obsessed with the King’s Field series) and Tekken Tag Tournament
DC - Soul Calibur 2, still the best in the series in my opinion
DS - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
PS3 - Super Street Fighter 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Devil May Cry 4, and Disgaea 3 (got it just 3 years ago)
I also bought a 3DS solely for Etrian Odyssey 4, and that shit doesn’t even have a release date yet!
I’m also buying a Vita the very second Persona 4 drops, although I’m really stoked for Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward as well.
Dreamcast - all of Sega’s games and third-party exclusives. (p.s. the GCN conversions of Dreamcast games are fucking trash)
Xbox - JSRF, THPS3, DoA3, Shenmue 2
N64 - Bought it for Nintendo games and other third-party exclusives
SNES - every fucking thing
Sega CD - Before it came out, I was told it had no burn-protection. Hindsight worked out perfectly once I got a DVD-RW drive in my computer.
PC - Big Rigs Racing.
-Got a Gameboy/GBA for Pokemon
-Got a PS1 for Twisted Metal
-Got a Wii for Brawl(ugh)
Smash is gay, so you have a lot to be ashamed of.
A long time ago my brother sold our PS2 without me knowing (wtf) and so I had to go buy it back just so I could play KH2. Then just recently I borrowed my friends PS2 (Don’t know what happened to my other one) so I could play FF12. He wouldn’t let me buy it:P
W-T-F? The legendary and (still)insanely expensive original Neo Geo console, is not a hand-me-down item.
atari 2600 was free thanks to my Aunt
Mario of course was the main reason why everyone got a Nes for xmas
Sonic 2 blew everyones mind and made everyone buy a gensis
Super Mario World, Super Metroid, made me want a snes
Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64, Zelda Oot made me get a N64
Get grind Radio was the main reason for getting a DC
Legend Of Legaia, Silent Hill, Jade Cocoon, Res Evil, Rival Schools was why I got a PS1
Silent Hill 2, Beyond Good and Evil, Jak and daxter, sly cooper, why I got a PS2
eternal darkness, Res evil Zero, main reason why I got a gamecube.
mirrors edge, bio shock, silent hill homecoming, devil may cry 4, demon souls were the main reason for getting a PS3
Castlevaina series on DS, the world ends with you, dragon quest series, new super mario Ds, why I got a DS
Super mario 3d, res evil revelations, and tales of the abyss is why i got a 3DS, now looking forward too KH 3D
Muramasa demon blade, New Super Mario bros, DK country returns, kirby, mad world, is why I got a Wii
theres no games I really care for on the game gear but it came with 10 games when I bought it so whatever
Got a Gamecube for F-Zero GX and melee only one of those gets play still (Hint it had an arcade release).
Got a Dreamcast cause it was cheap $12 and the cost of the new video cable for it.
This is a fantastic post 
Fzero gx /ax STILL ONE OF THE BEST RACING GAMES of all time
I remember getting the DC for shenmue and marvel 2 also.
Hmmmmm…strokes chin…
Spoiler
NES: I played the hell out of Super Mario Bros. at a cousins/Grandma’s house and eventually my parents bought me one of my own. Didn’t have money so the only games I had for it were the Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combo, Batman, and Bugs Bunny Birthday Bash.
SNES: I’m pretty sure it was probably Super Mario World that made me want this…I shitted at least a thousand bricks over Super Mario RPG and rented that shit more times than I could count from Blockbuster before I actually owned it.
Genesis: No brainer here…Pretty much all the Sonic platformers lol. I mooched the hell out of a friend’s Genesis every chance I got when I was over his house just to play Sonic 1 until I had one of my own. Playing SSF2 with just 3 buttons was interesting and really getting into MK…good times.
Game Gear: Sonic games on the go…particularly 2 and Triple Trouble. Shame this thing ate 6 damn batteries within an hour. I almost felt like taking it on trips was a waste most of the time since it felt like I couldn’t even finish a game…thank god for AC plugs. Made me really jealous of my cousin’s Gameboy that I mooched on whenever I was around him lol.
GBA: I think I mostly bought this for the pure fact that it was backlit AND had a long lasting battery. My mind was like WTF is this!? I don’t even remember the first game I bought for it either but was the first time I got introduced into Fire emblem and the first time I really started to enjoy Castlevania games. Sonic platformers and the start of the Mario & Luigi rpg’s.
N64: Super Mario 64 hands down. The hype around the way that game moved in 3D space and everything had me going all over the place. Reading about it in EGM and seeing the game in motion on the news when the system was getting sold out. I think I spent entirely too much time fooling around in the castle courtyard in that game. Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, the golden years of wrestling games and Smash Bros lead to many a night of no sleep between me and my friends…especially Smash. Also the first time really starting to dig into Zelda.
GC: Smash Melee hands down on this. They announced it while was in my computer class in middle school and I couldn’t stop watching the trailer that was on tech.tv when I should have been doing work. Getting ports of DC titles that like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 was just icing…I remember waiting forever for a port of Power Stone and being super disappointed.
PS2: Got this mostly for my fighting game fixes and was pretty much when I really started getting into fighting games and got introduced to SRK and the fighting game community. ‘What do you mean doing random FP Psycho Crushers from full screen is unsafe!?’. CvS2, Guilty Gear, Kingdom hearts, Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3, and Final Fantasy X. Being over a friend’s house when he booted up Final Fantasy X was like magic. Voice acting and eye popping graphics…
DS: most of the starting lineup for this system was kind of meh. First game I got for it was Yoshi Touch N Go which was a nice idea…but definitely wasn’t worth full price for it. I pretty much brought it because of the potential. More Castlevania, Sonic and Mario Platformers, Phoenix Wright and Mario Kart with an actual internet connection.
Wii: Wanted this purely for potential that it could bring but couldn’t get it right away…Then Brawl got announced and it was a wrap. I still remember clearly how fucking mindblown I was that Snake was in this game and how the internet seemed to went to shit then Sonic’s announcement for the game broke the internet again lol. I’m pretty sure Brawl was the first game I ever preordered before even having the damn system. Wading through all the shovel ware to get to the good stuff. Enjoyed the hell out of Red Steel 2, Skyward Sword, and the Super Mario Galaxy games.
360: I actually fucking hated Microsoft with a fiery passion during the time and was trying to wait for Sony to get their head out of their ass with the $500-$600 price point on the PS3…and then I played Gears of War on a big ass HDTV with a friend with the sound up and that pretty much sealed the deal. I was only vaguely aware of that game having only seen the famous Mad World commercial for it and the glimpses of it here and there from in it’s beta stages but it wasn’t until I played the game that I got completely sucked in.
PS3 and Vita: I didn’t actually buy these so I don’t have a game or memory that pushed me into getting either of these unfortunately…Loving the hell out of Naughty Dog’s games though.
I ran abit too far down memory lane.