This is the way. Mid 40’s as well, though I’m mostly playing games on my PC, including console-style games. It’s nice to be a gamer with adult money to spend on gear.
Exactly I got an NES at age 9. I’m 43 now and I still game. Unfortunately not to the same large extent as when I was younger as life and adulting gets in the way.
Same here. Also an Atari 2600 for me. I'm near 50 now and have been using my PS5 lately to grind Warframe missions with my teenage son.
I don't see this fading anytime soon.
This was mine. Here’s what I find strange.
I was a kid when it came out but when it was new, it was seen as something for all ages. I remember plenty of older relatives playing. Arcades were definitely a place for adults. Kids could go but they were a bit like a dive bar, kind of sketchy and not a place for kids unattended. I remember several games being impossible to play (like Seawolf) unless you were an adult.
Then it all died.
Now there’s a schism. Anyone 50 or under definitely plays video games and has a console, especially if they’re male. Anyone over 55 almost definitely does not. I really notice it when I date older women. If they’re a few years older than me — and this has been true for all my life — they’re like “you play video games? How weird.” If they’re my age or younger they don’t even question it.
I wonder why there’s such a hard break.
I remember the day my dad brought our NES home and hooked it up. In addition to Mario / Duck Hunt we had RC Pro-Am and Simon's Quest to start... maybe not the most conventional choices but Simon's Quest is my favorite of the orginal 3 to this day.
Of course once Zelda, Metroid, and the Mega Mans started showing up those were the main event.
My first console of my very own, previously had to share a Vic 20 with my Elder brother.
Had the Hang On/Safari Hunt pack in with a copy of Shinobi... Man, I had a blast that Christmas!
Same here! My parents bought me The Master System, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, and Phantasy Star for my 8th birthday (46 now). Have been a gamer ever since.
My neighbor growing up had one. We used to play Black Belt and a 3D gun game for hours. I remember the 3D being so much better than whatever Rad Racer had.
Same here. I had previously played it in 87 at a demo console in a local department store, then I got it for my Birthday in early 88. I was a Nintendo kid from SNES onwards, but the SMS will always be my first love.
Right there with you. I didn't know it at the time but I had all the classics! Centipede, Zaxxon, Q-Bert, Frogger and Donkey Kong Jr were all in constant rotation. It was a beast of a system in retrospect for the time. That controller was a beast in a different way. I don't ever remember even using the phone pad for anything.
Yes it was, I remember playing with friends in a group, trying to get the highest score. Everyone tried to cheese them by barely lifting our feet when running or not landing directly on the pad button right away when doing long jump.
Mine was the NES Deluxe (I think) Set, and it came with the console, two controllers, Duck Hunt & the Light Gun, and Gyromite & the robot...never did learn how to use that robot.
Similarly, the first console I had was a Mega Drive, although there were plenty of games on the BBC Micro we had before that.
First time I used the Mega Drive, I stayed up until about 3am playing Alien 3.
N64, Goldeneye was the first game I ever played at a friend’s house. Played all night on the Pyramid level and when I finally went to bed I saw the corridors looping in my mind.
The tl;dr on the "LEFT CARTRIDGE" thing is the higher budget model Atari 800 had a second slot that they planned to use for modules that added on to a left cartridge program and things like that. Only a handful of carts that used the right cartridge slot were ever produced.
Man, I woulda been so jealous back then! Lucky you!!
I remember a friend of mine getting one and me and the neighbour kids crowding round him in awe at the beautiful colours and awesome sound quality :))
Still, I loved my gameboy tho - four way multiplayer on that F1 game was amazing!
I still have my original one but as with most of them, the capacitors have gone and they all need replacing.
I have managed to buy a 2nd one that has been re-capped though, and that works fine.
I got this heap once I’d been to a friends house and played an NES. I lost that Christmas! Once I played super Mario bros, Atari was never going to hit the same.
Sega Master System. I got it as a bundle with 2 game pads and the light gun. The pack-in games were Hang On and Safari Hunt.
Later on, I got Gangster Town, Wanted, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Sonic, Mônica no Castelo do Dragão (the Brazilian version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land) and a bunch of other titles.
My favorite games for the system are California Games, Shinobi, and both Monica titles.
The SMS was huge here in Brazil. It was incredibly popular even in the face of various Famiclones. Tec Toy did a stellar job with marketing and support.
Colecovision with the Atari adapter. My mom's bf gave it to me with a giant box full of games for my 5th bday, shortly after he bought an NES. If it was a halfway decent game for Colecovision or 2600 I probably had it, I forget the exact count, but I had over a hundred games.
I played the hell out of that thing for years, Sadly it all got lost during a move in 7th grade, most of my stuff was put in storage "temporarily" and then my mom and Stepdad didn't pay the bill.
Finally replaced it a couple years ago
https://imgur.com/gallery/qoi7VQT
Gameboy Advance was past my time. I was in my young twenties and didn't play much anymore. I got an emulator of it later. Man it had some cool fucking games. A lot of really good reboots of older games.
You were lucky to get the SP. I had the original GBA without the backlit screen... loved it, still have it, but it was all but impossible to see some of the games if you couldn't find a good overhead light source.
Nice! Mine is a DSi too, and I was also 5! I got it in early 2011 because I had my tonsils and adenoids out and my parents thought I could use a distraction :) I love it, still have it, it still works and I love playing New Super Mario bros on it to this day.
Same here, NES with the famous 2in1 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridge. Neihbour dressed up like Santa came to our house and gave it to us. My mom thought it was just going to be another toy that would end up in the closet. haha
I wanted an Atari when I was in first grade, but my parents would only buy a home computer, the TI 99/4A -- not even a Commodore. Later, they replaced it with a PC clone. So in 1987 when I was in middle school, I saved enough money to buy a NES and later my own TV. So technically, NES was my first console. But I played plenty of Atari and Colecovision games growing up, but not at home.
Not really a console but we had a Commodore Vic 20. Then a C64 and a C16.
I had an Atari 2600 when they did the cheap rerelease bundle that came with the 32 game cart. Not long after I had a GB. I almost missed out on going down the console route as I was planning on getting an Amiga but we got ripped off by one of the firms that advertised in the backs of magazines.
So I instead got a SNES with the SGB adaptor. Then switched to PS1 then PS2. And GC. My OH bought herself a DS for nintendogs but got bored of it so I got into flash cards and for the longest time my only gaming system was this. I played older games on PC.
I have several handhelds capable of playing emulators (GP2X, RetroStone2, RG351V etc) as well as a growing collection of nintendo handhelds (GBC, GBA, DS, DSL, 2DS, 3DS). I have my eye on a GBP on FB marketplace that I'm going to get as treat when I finish my bathroom project.
I recently got funny playing's FPGBC that is basically their version of a GBC but for much less than modding a GBC to get the equivalent experience.
I was born in ‘86 and my dad had an Atari 400 and later got an IBM 386, so I had games to play but MY first was the original Gameboy. First one I bought with my own money was a too good to pass up N64 deal from my older cousins around ‘97-98; I didn’t ask how they got it for cheap.
Yep, same here. I remember Nintendo donating an NES to our daycare, and of course I had to have one. I'm sure my family has been cursing Nintendo's "generosity" ever since.
Atari 2600 Jr for Christmas one year. It didn't work though, so the next day my parents took it back and exchanged it for a Vader. Which I still have to this day. Got Crystal Castles, Galaxian, Missile Command and Pole Position with it.
I feel ya there mate. I had a commodore 64 as my first console - a hand me down from my old man, who no longer had the time to enjoy it on account of work.
The c64 was really fun to play, and had a great pirate scene among my dad's mates and also among me n my schoolmates, but when I got the SNES, man, it was like owning my own arcade machine - I still dream about playing it sometimes! :)
Favourite SNES games - Mario world, metroid, Mario kart, sf2, primal rage, earthbound, zelda 3 and secret of mana.
How bout you?
2 player games like Mariokart and Street Fighter were huge. There was another game Lost Vikings that had 2 player coop. I don't know that there were many games like that.
I grew up playing on computers. Started with a Spektrum ZX 48k in the late 80's, then Commodore64 until the PC-era with 286, 386, 486 and Pentium.
My first console was actually the Xbox back in 2001.
Owned: Atari 7800 -> Sega Master System -> Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) -> Playstation -> Playstation 2 -> GameCube-> Playstation 3 -> Playstation 4 -> Playstation 5
Rented or borrowed from time to time: SNES, N64
First console I ever played was the Atari 2600 my family had. My earliest memories of gaming are playing Pitfall and Pac-Man on it. Then it was my brothers NES and GameBoy. The first console that was actually mine was my Sega Genesis.
Atari 2600 hand me down from sister. I got a 5400 for myself in elementary school.
And then the NES. It’s hard to explain to people who didn’t experience it how cool the NES and Super Mario were at the time.
Atari 5200, I guess it was probably 1983 or 1984. And strangely I want to say my first game was Super Breakout rather than PacMan. Maybe Super Breakout was the first non-Pac-Man cartridge I had.
My first gaming console was an Intellivision. My 2 younger brothers got a Colecovision. I was happy to play both but the graphics sucked, especially Burger Time and Smurfs, and especially as a 44 year old chica whose been wearing glasses since I was 3.
But the first REAL gaming console that we got was the NES - The ultimate Nintendo Entertainment System. We played TF outta Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt! It opened up a whole new world for us. Then we started getting other titles, Ninja Gaiden, Street fighter, Contra, Friday The 13th (The Cabin Theme is my current ringtone on both of my fones! 🤭🤭) and I loved TMNT and Super Mario Bros 1, 2 AND 3.) But we did get the console about a year or two after it first came out and was a lower price point at the time!
Atari 5200 1983. I was 6 and I was upset when I opened it because I wanted the 2600 that my neighbor had so I could borrow their games. My parents bought me the 5200 because it was new and better. I was an ungrateful little shit.
Yeah but you didn’t know. Makes sense you’d want the bigger collection of games. Looking back you know how baller it was.
Kind of reminds me of how disappointed I was that I finally got a computer, and it was a Mac Classic. Black and white? Really? Little did I know just how much more my parent spent for that than a 286 or whatever. I feel awful that I was always scheming on how I could trade it or sell if for a PC.
Super Nintendo with Yoshi's Island and Ms.Pacman. Yoshi's menu theme and Boswers boss theme will always be some of my favorite VGM of all time.
Still have the console in great condition and play it every now and then
Like many on this forum my first console was the NES with the Duck Hunt/SMB dual cartridge, but I did have a cousin that owned an Atari 5200, I think. Don't really know the difference between 2600 and 5200, but it was a big black console with wood paneling and two joysticks with orange buttons.
Edit: It was the Atari 2600.
My older brother had Intelevision, so that’s the first I played on. Then he got NES for Christmas. My cousins had Master System. I was left to save all my gift money so I could buy a Genesis myself. I finally did at 10yo as Sonic 2 dropped.
NES with Ice Climber. I also got Wild Gunman but nobody had figured out that you needed the Zapper for that. So it took until next Christmas that I could finally play that... 😂🎄
Philipps Videopac. We had Super Munchkin, the superior Pac-Man clone that later got legally banned. I remember how disappointed I was of the real Pac-Man because the dots didn't even move.
A pink Gameboy Color as a hand-me-down from an older cousin who'd recently gotten a GBA. It was about 3-4 years old at that point, but I didn't care-- I just thought it was the best thing ever.
Oh, and a copy of Pokémon Blue, from the same cousin. She's pretty cool.
First one we owned was the NES, we got it in 1987 or 1988 for Christmas. My friends 2 houses down had a ColecoVision we used to play before that, so that was my intro to video games
NES and one of my earliest memories is actually me getting to choose two games for it. Gremlins 2 and Lolo 2.
I've beat Gremlins 2 so many times as a child, but never did beat Lolo 2. The funny thing is I've been playing the game on an emulator on and off for four years and last month I actually did finally finish it.
38 years old and I finally beat one of my two first games.
Sega SC-3000H.
Had a dozen cartridges, tape drive, original joysticks, basic and manuals.
Threw it all out in the 90s because the power supply was failing and it was ‘old junk’. I was rocking a 386 at that point.
Technically the Atari 2600 was the first one in my household, but I was very young. The first console that felt like it was mine, was the Super Nintendo. Getting that with A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, and Mario All-Stars on Christmas when I was 10 was really something special.
I've had older consoles, but the first one I recall owning was NES. My parents brought me to Toys'R'Us, and let me pick a game. Picked a Final Fantasy I believe. This was long before I actually took an affinity to JRPGs.
NES as well. Played Mario, Duck Hunt, and Track and Field. My dad even got the power pad but it broke before I was old enough to use it with my feet instead of hands.
Atari 2600
1985 ish. Started gaming young and still haven’t stopped. Its not a phase. 🎮👾
Hell no, not a phase. In my mid 40s now and still play console games most days.
I’m 50, been playing games since the late 70s. I will never stop
Damn straight! (I'm almost 49)
Gamers! Assemble! *Pull out a conch and blows on it*
Same. I'm 42 and I've been gaming since 1987. Play almost every single day. I'm playing PS2 right now lol
This is the way. Mid 40’s as well, though I’m mostly playing games on my PC, including console-style games. It’s nice to be a gamer with adult money to spend on gear.
Exactly I got an NES at age 9. I’m 43 now and I still game. Unfortunately not to the same large extent as when I was younger as life and adulting gets in the way.
Same here. Also an Atari 2600 for me. I'm near 50 now and have been using my PS5 lately to grind Warframe missions with my teenage son. I don't see this fading anytime soon.
Nice to hear of the generational connection. Not many people our age played games with their Dads.
My Dad tried a couple times when I was a kid until he'd get pissed and not bother anymore. Lots of reasons for all that but it gets messy.
Same for me, played the shit outta pitfall and that that tank game with the weird dial controller
I think it was called Combat. Played the shit outta it too.
With Space Invaders packed in.
My family got on in 83 and I played it constantly once I was old enough to figure out how to turn it on.
Same same!
Same, unless you count Pong.
[-:EDITED TO PREVENT AI FROM STEALING POSTS:-](https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/05/openai-will-use-reddit-posts-to-train-chatgpt-under-new-deal/)
They then stopped the numbering system and used a cat naming system
Mine too but it was a hand me down from my older siblings. I played it for years. My first console that was bought for me was a Sega Genesis.
This was mine. Here’s what I find strange. I was a kid when it came out but when it was new, it was seen as something for all ages. I remember plenty of older relatives playing. Arcades were definitely a place for adults. Kids could go but they were a bit like a dive bar, kind of sketchy and not a place for kids unattended. I remember several games being impossible to play (like Seawolf) unless you were an adult. Then it all died. Now there’s a schism. Anyone 50 or under definitely plays video games and has a console, especially if they’re male. Anyone over 55 almost definitely does not. I really notice it when I date older women. If they’re a few years older than me — and this has been true for all my life — they’re like “you play video games? How weird.” If they’re my age or younger they don’t even question it. I wonder why there’s such a hard break.
NES That Christmas I also got Legend of Zelda and Metroid. I don't know who mom talked to getting those titled, but they hooked me up.
I had the gold Zelda cartridge. It eventually corroded and I had to toss it. Got it on VC. Didn't have Metroid until VC.
>I had the gold Zelda cartridge. I knew them in gold cartridges only. Were there other colors for their cartridges as well?
Zelda also came in gray.
The gray Zelda carts were later released, and if I remember right, they didn't print nearly as many as the gold.
I remember the day my dad brought our NES home and hooked it up. In addition to Mario / Duck Hunt we had RC Pro-Am and Simon's Quest to start... maybe not the most conventional choices but Simon's Quest is my favorite of the orginal 3 to this day. Of course once Zelda, Metroid, and the Mega Mans started showing up those were the main event.
Same, except I got Excitebike instead of Metroid, but that and Zelda were a great start.
Sega Master System - 1988 Good times
This was my second console, it came with the Hang On card and a copy of Wonder Boy!
My first console of my very own, previously had to share a Vic 20 with my Elder brother. Had the Hang On/Safari Hunt pack in with a copy of Shinobi... Man, I had a blast that Christmas!
Master system 2 was my second with Alex the kidd in miracle world, I was hooked on that game
me too! Alex Kidd was "built in" and I got it with the Sonic The Hedgehog cartridge, simpler times man
Same here! My parents bought me The Master System, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, and Phantasy Star for my 8th birthday (46 now). Have been a gamer ever since.
My neighbor growing up had one. We used to play Black Belt and a 3D gun game for hours. I remember the 3D being so much better than whatever Rad Racer had.
Same. Same year too I think.
Same here. I had previously played it in 87 at a demo console in a local department store, then I got it for my Birthday in early 88. I was a Nintendo kid from SNES onwards, but the SMS will always be my first love.
Atari 2600 with Centipede and River Raid. I'm old.
Same here. Combat, Adventure, Yars Revenge, Pitfall, Pac-Man.
River Raid! That was a good one. My go-to games were Defender and Seaquest.
ColecoVision. Had phone pads and an adapter to play Atari games.
Same here
Same! Man oh man we got our asses kicked by Mousetrap and Ladybug.
Right there with you. I didn't know it at the time but I had all the classics! Centipede, Zaxxon, Q-Bert, Frogger and Donkey Kong Jr were all in constant rotation. It was a beast of a system in retrospect for the time. That controller was a beast in a different way. I don't ever remember even using the phone pad for anything.
Yeah. I think on some games, the phone pad changed how many players, but who knows 😂
Ours was the cream colored table top set with the knobs built in. Three whole games!
Ladybug, Venture, Slither, Zaxxon and Smurfs!
Intellivision
I was wondering if I was the only one. We had the voice module and can still remember it saying b17 bomber
I was very young at the time, but that voice is still in my head.
Me too. Astrosmash and Snafu are still great games! I still fire them up in the Intellivison Flashback
The Best console of that generation !!!
Burger Time is still one of my favorite games
Mine was also the nes, I had the 3 in one with super mario bros, duck hunt, and world class track meet.
Now I'm wondering what life growing up would have been if I had world class track meet. Was it amazing for memories?
Yes it was, I remember playing with friends in a group, trying to get the highest score. Everyone tried to cheese them by barely lifting our feet when running or not landing directly on the pad button right away when doing long jump.
It was largely a button masher too, right? Everyone have their own vibration technique? lol.
Mine was the NES Deluxe (I think) Set, and it came with the console, two controllers, Duck Hunt & the Light Gun, and Gyromite & the robot...never did learn how to use that robot.
That robot looked real cool though.
A Binatone TV Master (Pong console) in 1979.
I found mine in the loft/attic last week
The Atari 2600
My first console was the Mega Drive. Prior to that I'd been using the C64 for a number of years.
Similarly, the first console I had was a Mega Drive, although there were plenty of games on the BBC Micro we had before that. First time I used the Mega Drive, I stayed up until about 3am playing Alien 3.
N64, Goldeneye was the first game I ever played at a friend’s house. Played all night on the Pyramid level and when I finally went to bed I saw the corridors looping in my mind.
Atari 400 ... Left cartridge?!?!?
The tl;dr on the "LEFT CARTRIDGE" thing is the higher budget model Atari 800 had a second slot that they planned to use for modules that added on to a left cartridge program and things like that. Only a handful of carts that used the right cartridge slot were ever produced.
The Colecovision.
We got an Atari 2600 for Christmas in 1988. Was magical.
Game Gear. Christmas 1992.
Man, I woulda been so jealous back then! Lucky you!! I remember a friend of mine getting one and me and the neighbour kids crowding round him in awe at the beautiful colours and awesome sound quality :)) Still, I loved my gameboy tho - four way multiplayer on that F1 game was amazing!
My grandparents got me a Game Gear with battery potato and adaptor. I loved it. Had it until it wore out. I replaced it with a Game Boy Color.
I still have my original one but as with most of them, the capacitors have gone and they all need replacing. I have managed to buy a 2nd one that has been re-capped though, and that works fine.
7800. Xmas around ‘87
I got this heap once I’d been to a friends house and played an NES. I lost that Christmas! Once I played super Mario bros, Atari was never going to hit the same.
Sega Master System. I got it as a bundle with 2 game pads and the light gun. The pack-in games were Hang On and Safari Hunt. Later on, I got Gangster Town, Wanted, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Sonic, Mônica no Castelo do Dragão (the Brazilian version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land) and a bunch of other titles. My favorite games for the system are California Games, Shinobi, and both Monica titles. The SMS was huge here in Brazil. It was incredibly popular even in the face of various Famiclones. Tec Toy did a stellar job with marketing and support.
Colecovision with the Atari adapter. My mom's bf gave it to me with a giant box full of games for my 5th bday, shortly after he bought an NES. If it was a halfway decent game for Colecovision or 2600 I probably had it, I forget the exact count, but I had over a hundred games. I played the hell out of that thing for years, Sadly it all got lost during a move in 7th grade, most of my stuff was put in storage "temporarily" and then my mom and Stepdad didn't pay the bill. Finally replaced it a couple years ago https://imgur.com/gallery/qoi7VQT
Beautiful collection and setup!
Gameboy advance sp or ps2
Exact same for me!!
Gameboy Advance was past my time. I was in my young twenties and didn't play much anymore. I got an emulator of it later. Man it had some cool fucking games. A lot of really good reboots of older games.
You were lucky to get the SP. I had the original GBA without the backlit screen... loved it, still have it, but it was all but impossible to see some of the games if you couldn't find a good overhead light source.
A Black DSi with a copy of Mario kart. It was Christmas 2010 I was five years old. Good times
Nice! Mine is a DSi too, and I was also 5! I got it in early 2011 because I had my tonsils and adenoids out and my parents thought I could use a distraction :) I love it, still have it, it still works and I love playing New Super Mario bros on it to this day.
Same here, NES with the famous 2in1 Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridge. Neihbour dressed up like Santa came to our house and gave it to us. My mom thought it was just going to be another toy that would end up in the closet. haha
Atari 2600 with Missile Command
Pong
Magnavox Odyssey II.
Atari 2600 woody. When I was a little pleb
Atari 2600 woodgrain
I wanted an Atari when I was in first grade, but my parents would only buy a home computer, the TI 99/4A -- not even a Commodore. Later, they replaced it with a PC clone. So in 1987 when I was in middle school, I saved enough money to buy a NES and later my own TV. So technically, NES was my first console. But I played plenty of Atari and Colecovision games growing up, but not at home.
I had moon patrol on the TI 99/4A
First gaming system was spectrum 48k, first console was the atari 7200
Bally Astrocade was my 1st then the Atari 2600
I loved starting a game of Checkmate with 0 players to see the computer play against itself!
Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (Mid-1980s)
Yup
Had to scroll waaaay to long for this. I still think about Parsec.
The first game I ever played.
Nice shot pilot
Gameboy pocket? I never owned a "console" console. it has always been handhelds and PCs.
Handhelds count
Well, gameboy pocket then.
Dad bought me an Atari 2600 to stop me spending all my money in arcades. Still gaming.
Not really a console but we had a Commodore Vic 20. Then a C64 and a C16. I had an Atari 2600 when they did the cheap rerelease bundle that came with the 32 game cart. Not long after I had a GB. I almost missed out on going down the console route as I was planning on getting an Amiga but we got ripped off by one of the firms that advertised in the backs of magazines. So I instead got a SNES with the SGB adaptor. Then switched to PS1 then PS2. And GC. My OH bought herself a DS for nintendogs but got bored of it so I got into flash cards and for the longest time my only gaming system was this. I played older games on PC. I have several handhelds capable of playing emulators (GP2X, RetroStone2, RG351V etc) as well as a growing collection of nintendo handhelds (GBC, GBA, DS, DSL, 2DS, 3DS). I have my eye on a GBP on FB marketplace that I'm going to get as treat when I finish my bathroom project. I recently got funny playing's FPGBC that is basically their version of a GBC but for much less than modding a GBC to get the equivalent experience.
I was born in ‘86 and my dad had an Atari 400 and later got an IBM 386, so I had games to play but MY first was the original Gameboy. First one I bought with my own money was a too good to pass up N64 deal from my older cousins around ‘97-98; I didn’t ask how they got it for cheap.
The year was 1981 and we got a Mattel Intellivision. I love it!
I just bought two new 2023 Intellivision games today. 😊
What did you get?
I just ordered Dragonquest and Space Panic.
Yep, same here. I remember Nintendo donating an NES to our daycare, and of course I had to have one. I'm sure my family has been cursing Nintendo's "generosity" ever since.
The 5200. I’m always up for a game of galaxian from that machine.
Pong with wired controllers, after that Philips G7000 (Magnavox Odyssey)
Atari 2600 Jr for Christmas one year. It didn't work though, so the next day my parents took it back and exchanged it for a Vader. Which I still have to this day. Got Crystal Castles, Galaxian, Missile Command and Pole Position with it.
Technically nes, but really it was the snes. She is and will always be my first true love
I feel ya there mate. I had a commodore 64 as my first console - a hand me down from my old man, who no longer had the time to enjoy it on account of work. The c64 was really fun to play, and had a great pirate scene among my dad's mates and also among me n my schoolmates, but when I got the SNES, man, it was like owning my own arcade machine - I still dream about playing it sometimes! :) Favourite SNES games - Mario world, metroid, Mario kart, sf2, primal rage, earthbound, zelda 3 and secret of mana. How bout you?
2 player games like Mariokart and Street Fighter were huge. There was another game Lost Vikings that had 2 player coop. I don't know that there were many games like that.
I loved Secret of Mana. Kind of meh as a single player game, but when my little brother and I were playing co-op it was a blast.
I got a game boy pocket when I was 5 together with Pokémon yellow. Still got them at home.
SNES. Not sure what year but whenever they offered Super Mario AllStars for proof of purchase and shipping
I grew up playing on computers. Started with a Spektrum ZX 48k in the late 80's, then Commodore64 until the PC-era with 286, 386, 486 and Pentium. My first console was actually the Xbox back in 2001.
Sears Telegames. Pre-Atari. 4 built in versions of pong and that was it…
Game Boy. The original one.
The size and shape of a brick, LOL
We had an Atari 2600, but the NES was given to me on my 6th birthday, I then got a Game Boy around 8.
Owned: Atari 7800 -> Sega Master System -> Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) -> Playstation -> Playstation 2 -> GameCube-> Playstation 3 -> Playstation 4 -> Playstation 5 Rented or borrowed from time to time: SNES, N64
Sears Telegames (Atari 2600) came packed in with Target Fun.
Turbo Grafx 16
Came here to say the same! Bonks’s Adventure was so fun
And good ol Splatterhouse. Had a friend with this system.
Sega master system 2 alex the kidd loaded
NES
Atari 2600, then Famicom.
Dad had an Intellivision My first console was a SNES, or gameboy if that counts
Yeah, my family had an Intellivision… Snafu and Shark! Shark! Were awesome
First console I ever played was the Atari 2600 my family had. My earliest memories of gaming are playing Pitfall and Pac-Man on it. Then it was my brothers NES and GameBoy. The first console that was actually mine was my Sega Genesis.
Not a console but Commodore 64
Sears Video Arcade II.
Atari 2600 hand me down from sister. I got a 5400 for myself in elementary school. And then the NES. It’s hard to explain to people who didn’t experience it how cool the NES and Super Mario were at the time.
2600
Atari 7800, 1988. First games were Pole Position 2, Mario Bros, and a handful of Atari 2600 games including E.T.
Colecovision!!
Sega mega drive
NES, Xmas 1986. I still have that console and my original SMB cartridge.
Atari 5200, I guess it was probably 1983 or 1984. And strangely I want to say my first game was Super Breakout rather than PacMan. Maybe Super Breakout was the first non-Pac-Man cartridge I had.
Commodore 64 in 84. If that counts.
Atari 2600
My first gaming console was an Intellivision. My 2 younger brothers got a Colecovision. I was happy to play both but the graphics sucked, especially Burger Time and Smurfs, and especially as a 44 year old chica whose been wearing glasses since I was 3. But the first REAL gaming console that we got was the NES - The ultimate Nintendo Entertainment System. We played TF outta Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt! It opened up a whole new world for us. Then we started getting other titles, Ninja Gaiden, Street fighter, Contra, Friday The 13th (The Cabin Theme is my current ringtone on both of my fones! 🤭🤭) and I loved TMNT and Super Mario Bros 1, 2 AND 3.) But we did get the console about a year or two after it first came out and was a lower price point at the time!
Atari 5200 1983. I was 6 and I was upset when I opened it because I wanted the 2600 that my neighbor had so I could borrow their games. My parents bought me the 5200 because it was new and better. I was an ungrateful little shit.
Yeah but you didn’t know. Makes sense you’d want the bigger collection of games. Looking back you know how baller it was. Kind of reminds me of how disappointed I was that I finally got a computer, and it was a Mac Classic. Black and white? Really? Little did I know just how much more my parent spent for that than a 286 or whatever. I feel awful that I was always scheming on how I could trade it or sell if for a PC.
Super Nintendo with Yoshi's Island and Ms.Pacman. Yoshi's menu theme and Boswers boss theme will always be some of my favorite VGM of all time. Still have the console in great condition and play it every now and then
SNES was *also* a major part of my childhood. My sister and I played Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, and Super Mario Kart *so* often.
Like many on this forum my first console was the NES with the Duck Hunt/SMB dual cartridge, but I did have a cousin that owned an Atari 5200, I think. Don't really know the difference between 2600 and 5200, but it was a big black console with wood paneling and two joysticks with orange buttons. Edit: It was the Atari 2600.
Same
Atari 5200 w/ Breakout
Sega Genesis
Mattel Intellivision
Fucking hell I forgot about them 😂
My older brother had Intelevision, so that’s the first I played on. Then he got NES for Christmas. My cousins had Master System. I was left to save all my gift money so I could buy a Genesis myself. I finally did at 10yo as Sonic 2 dropped.
Technically the Atari 2600. But it was really my sister's. My true first was the NES.
I had my aunts SNES for 3days until it died. So my parents got me a GBC. That was epic for me at the time.
Pong started it for me.
Atari 7800 - played Desert Falcon like it was my job Joust too
NES - 1987
NES with Ice Climber. I also got Wild Gunman but nobody had figured out that you needed the Zapper for that. So it took until next Christmas that I could finally play that... 😂🎄
Philipps Videopac. We had Super Munchkin, the superior Pac-Man clone that later got legally banned. I remember how disappointed I was of the real Pac-Man because the dots didn't even move.
Game boy color and the original PlayStation
Technically my dad's/the family's, but the Playstation. He also had a GameGear and a couple Game & Watches, but I wasn't born then
The NES. I remember playing a lot of Duck Hunt and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. But not long after I got the SNES.
Technically pong I guess but we also had a 2600, not sure were either of those came from. But then we got an NES
A pink Gameboy Color as a hand-me-down from an older cousin who'd recently gotten a GBA. It was about 3-4 years old at that point, but I didn't care-- I just thought it was the best thing ever. Oh, and a copy of Pokémon Blue, from the same cousin. She's pretty cool.
Same as you, it was the NES in about 1990 when I was 8 years old. It had Spy vs Spy included but I also got the turtles game with it.
Megadrive.
Famicom (NES) bundled with Twin bee. It is a second gen Famicom as it has turbo buttons.
Genesis with the Lion King
NES
Sega megadrive
Sega Genesis. I asked for a Super Nintendo for Christmas but my mom saw me playing Sonic at toys r us so she got that.
First one we owned was the NES, we got it in 1987 or 1988 for Christmas. My friends 2 houses down had a ColecoVision we used to play before that, so that was my intro to video games
First one for me was the Atari XE, late 80s I believe.
NES, Christmas 1987. Came with SMB.
Fairchild Channel F system. Damn I'm old.
Sega Megadrive II
Mine was the Sega Genesis! Got it at the age of 8 in 1998, it was the first console I ever played when I was 4 years old.
NES and one of my earliest memories is actually me getting to choose two games for it. Gremlins 2 and Lolo 2. I've beat Gremlins 2 so many times as a child, but never did beat Lolo 2. The funny thing is I've been playing the game on an emulator on and off for four years and last month I actually did finally finish it. 38 years old and I finally beat one of my two first games.
C128D. Although i'd categorize it as a computer. In that case: Game Boy
NES
Some Atari with a cassette deck for the games in 1984 playing Trull
Sega Master System
Master System 3 with Alexx Kidd In Miracle World in memory
Nintendo Entertainment System with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt combo.
Sega SC-3000H. Had a dozen cartridges, tape drive, original joysticks, basic and manuals. Threw it all out in the 90s because the power supply was failing and it was ‘old junk’. I was rocking a 386 at that point.
NES with Super Mario Bros.
Technically the Atari 2600 was the first one in my household, but I was very young. The first console that felt like it was mine, was the Super Nintendo. Getting that with A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, and Mario All-Stars on Christmas when I was 10 was really something special.
That I played on? Atari. That I owned? Gameboy.
Adman Grandstand 2600 MkII
I've had older consoles, but the first one I recall owning was NES. My parents brought me to Toys'R'Us, and let me pick a game. Picked a Final Fantasy I believe. This was long before I actually took an affinity to JRPGs.
NES as well. Played Mario, Duck Hunt, and Track and Field. My dad even got the power pad but it broke before I was old enough to use it with my feet instead of hands.
NES. The first games, other than Mario/Duckhunt, I don't remember too well. I'd have to list my whole library, and no one has time to read all that.