What console and game do you cherish the most, and why?

[SNKnicotine]

Side note: o.pwuaioc your avatar pick is awesome

[RyaNtheSlayA]

You know, I don't actually think I have an answer for this. I would say Sega Genesis and Sonic 3, but I didn't even cherish that enough to keep me from letting it go. So I guess I don't really have a good answer. I like my desktop PC a lot and I can't see myself getting rid of that anytime soon. Yet, I probably sunk more time into Gran Turismo than any game series.

I still have a PlayStation 1 and the original Gran Turismo. So I guess that's my answer.

A PS1 isn't part of your "five"!

It sits in a box. I haven't taken it out and plugged it in over a year. The only game I have for it is GT.

So effectively, no, it's not. I mostly kept it because I couldn't find anybody to buy it.

[BurningDoom]

My NES. It's the system I fell in love with gaming on. We had an Atari 2600 beforehand, but it wouldn't hold my attention for longer than 10-15 minutes at a time.

Then when I was 6 or 7, we got an NES for my birthday from both my mom and Grandpa who went in halves. We got a helluva line-up of games with it, too: Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt (of course, the pack-in game), Star Soldier, The Legend of Zelda, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Pin-Bot.

From that moment onward, I was a gaming addict.

I was very lucky, too, because my Step-Grandma was a gamer. She'd buy NES games, finish them, then send them to us; and often with an accompanying Nintendo Power that had a walk-though in it for the game.

Unfortunately, my little brother sold that awesome collection to EB Games years back so he could get a freaking Game Boy Color, a few games, and a carry case. Dumb SOB. I had an NES collection I think most of you guys would even be envious of before that. Every Castlevania, every Mega Man, every Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, every Mario, both Zeldas, etc., etc.

[J T]

Console - NES
NES because it was the console that defined my childhood.

This!

I know I post this all the time, but it's HOW I FEEEEEL!

As for my most cherished game, that game is Shadow of the Colossus. For me personally, that is the game that ended any internal debate I may have had about whether videogames could be considered art, not just entertainment. Shadow of the Colossus transcends its buttons, graphics, noises, and game rules to become a truly breathtaking experience both ancient and new, scary and exciting, melancholy and soulful. In my memory, I don't feel like I played that game. I feel like I lived it. And that virtual life was exhilarating and meaningful and challenging and it left me with more questions than answers as it concluded its marvelous and mysterious adventure with me, just before spitting me back out into my everyday life.

[o.pwuaioc]

In my memory, I don't feel like I played that game.

OK then, Link Freeman.

[graffix_13]

Console: NES
Game: Ninja Gaiden

Still my #1 game of all time, and IMO still holds up today (even over the reboot/remake). I mean, what's cooler to a 12 year old boy than ninjas? Nothing! My friends and I would play ninjas with plastic swords and throwing stars because we were so influenced by this game.

[BurningDoom]

We should have ran a poll for this one.

[o.pwuaioc]

We should have ran a poll for this one.

It'd be a little difficult for the game part...

[Menegrothx]

Console: PS1? The only one with childhood memories attached to it. Other than that, Neo Geo/Neo Geo CD/Amiga CD32/PC Engine DUO R (Rarity+price). Although I guess functioning Jaguar CD is the most rare thing out of the bunch.
Game: How to pick one game that I cherish above all others? I mean I've got atleast closer to 20 games that are really close to my heart in some way. Should rarity or price be factored in? None of the more expensive&rare games that I own are ones that make it to my Top 20 games list. I guess System Shock 2 (big box) and maybe Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines& Fallout 2/Baldur's Gate/Planescape: Torment-box set, excellent RPGs and all of them are rare to some extent. VtmB isn't that expensive, but a big box version of System Shock 2 is on the expensive side. Never actually seen that PS:T/BG/F2 box set in eBay, so I don't know how expensive it is.
Then I've got Platinum copies of PS1 games from my childhood, but none of them are really rare or expensive. I guess my copy of Ape Escape is nice because it's black label and the game isn't that mainstream amongst 32/64-bit platformers even though it's a well known game. But I don't really put any emotional value on my childhood copies of games. I appreciate and cherish those games that I had hard time finding that are both meaningful to me and rare&expensive to some degree (like the aforementioned copy of System Shock 2) a lot more.

[Hazerd]

FF3(6) on SNES of course, ill never forget that music, or flying around and casting ultima for the first time.