I've always waited for revised versions and general bug-fixes. On the downside, that's meant I've often missed out on initial launch fever, when it's easy to find folks to play something with, and I don't know what everyone's talking about. But it's also meant I get games after there are patches, I don't invest in multiplayers that go nowhere (like just about anything but WOW), and that I've never gone through multiple copies of a given console. I'm still on my first (second-gen) PS2, and it works great. Ditto my xBox and Sega Genesis. I've put the most hours on my Star Wars 360 Elite (the Star Wars Kinect game is actually really fun, even if I don't have the space to actually use it right now), between gaming and Netflix, and it's still purring along just fine. All the mess surrounding the evolution of the PS3 has seen me so far not get one, but I will at some point. Backward-compatibility is important, and I like the Little Big Planet games. I like the black Wii Elite, as it goes with the rest of my consoles (barring the R2-D2-decoed 360), but have zero interest in the Wii-U. I'm probably going to get a DS or 3DS to see how multi-screen gaming works for me, but in concept I'm not too keen on it.
I like being multiconsole, as enough games have different content depending on the console. Onimusha and The Force Unleashed spring instantly to mind.
ETA:
I also HATE free roaming games. 95% of the time I have no idea where I'm supposed to go, and by the time I figure it out, I'm so bored or frustrated I quit the game. The new Zelda games are impossible to play without a guide and that sucks the fun out of it. The only Zelda game I can replay is the first one and get any sort of enjoyment out of it. all the others are one and dones. I STILL haven't gotten around to beating skyward sword yet. I just found the damn cat and stopped the game cold. 20 minutes to find and rescue a cat.
I put the game in again just last night now that Galaxy 2 is taken care of, and the last time I played it was last march. What works for the japanese audience doesn't always work for the american one.. it feels like a big waste of time with all these long pointless side quests..some you have to do in order to advance.
I don't think it's Japanese vs. American. Free-roaming can be handled well or badly. I love how Bethesda handle it for Elder Scrolls and Fallout. In Skyrim, for instance, I'm pretty high-level, I've maxed smithing, alchemy, and enchanting, I've made some badass Legendary Daedric armor and the best weapons, all double-enchanted for max effect... and
now I'm ready to get back to the main story. *chuckle* I've scouted nearly everywhere on the map, I've completed one of the two DLC side stories, I've bought all the purchasable houses in the various cities, and all three properties outside of them, all built and decorated to the rafters. I've married and have two kids, and I
still haven't met Parthornax yet -- which, for those that haven't played, is about five percent of the way into the main quest. I
love the side quests and getting to know the territory. I've never felt lost, and I've never
had to do something to not stay stuck at a particular place in character progression. My
only negative experience with it is one side quest that glitched right at the end, so I can never complete it.
--Jonah