Do you remember the first time you got your very first console?

[pulse2]

How well do you remember the loss of your console virginity?

How old were you?
Which console was it?
In what way did you get it? (Present? Bought it yourself? Passed on to you?)
What games did it come with?
How would you feel playing that console and those first games now?
Do you recall being excited? How long did you play it for the first time (rough estimate)?

To answer my own questions, while I had played Segas, Nintendos etc,they all belonged to cousins and friends, my parents didn't see the need for consoles.....that was until there was hype surrounding this new CD based console, the PS1, all my friends were getting it and I got one for Xmas, I was overwhelmed with excitement. My OWN console, though I felt bad for not owning my own Nes or Sega systems, but its not as if I missed out on those. I got V-Rally and Crash Bandicoot, awesome games, play them rarely, but when I do, it brings back so many memories. Yup, those were fun days, guess I take gaming for granted now, not as fun when you can buy any game or console you feel like buying :/

 

[NeutralDrow]

I was seven, and I got a Sega Genesis for Christmas. It came with Sonic 2, Sonic Spinball, and NFL Sports Talk Football.

As a matter of fact, I still have those games, though I've since had to replace the console itself. And if I weren't playing something else at the moment, I'd gladly pull them out. Sonic 2 is a classic, of course, but I feel Spinball is rather underrated, and the Football game was actually pretty fun. I even watched a couple of games by setting two computer opponents against each other...needless to say, Super Bowl XXIX had a more appropriate conclusion.

 

[JakBandit2208]

I was 6 when I got my Sega Genesis from my dad and I got Sonic 1 and Evander Holyfield Boxing.

as far as enjoyment goes I could never get tired of playing Sonic 1, but I probably would hate playing Evander Holyfield Boxing today...I could never beat that game lol.

 

[Maxtro]

The first console I ever played was an Atari 2600 way back in the early 80's. It wasn't mine though.

After that I my brother and I had an NES, I don't remember if it was purchased for us or if my parents bought it for them.

I do remember getting a SNES and a Sega Genesis as presents. I don't remember which one I got first. Genesis came with Sonic and the SNES came with Mario World and voucher to get Mario All-Stars for free. I loved both of those systems.

 

[Phlakes]

Can't remember how old I was, but I got a Game Boy Pocket with Pokemon Red for Christmas. My brother got one with Blue, too.

I actually just replayed Red a couple months ago. It's miracle I've been able to hold onto it for this long.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I got an NES as a Christmas present for both my brother and I, so I was about 5 and the game that we got was obviously Mario. I remember playing the hell out of it when my brother wasn't, and I loved that thing.

Then I got a Gameboy later when I was 6 and played Tetris, played the hell out of that too, along with Mario World and the few Megaman games for it, I can't remember them, but I still have them somewhere. That of course lead to my Pokemon addicti- I mean, love.

 

[ChupathingyX]

I was 5 when my sister bought a PS1 and I don't remember her buying it.

It came with Crash Bandicoot and I very clearly remember playing Crash Bandicoot for the first time.

 

[trollnystan]

My first console was an Nintendo 64 'round 11 years ago, give or take. I was between 16 to 18 years old.[footnote]I have R E A L L Y bad long-term memory, probably from my depression.[/footnote] The only game I remember having was Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but I know I had at least one more game. Had to sell it all a year later for pocket money for a trip abroad. Boy do I regret that, but I'm glad I gave my Zelda game away instead of selling it, to a kid I used to babysit.

I remember being pretty excited, as this was the first time the gamer in me got some room to grow; previously I'd always had to ask my brother if I could play on his computer for any kind of gaming, or go to my church's basement to play on their Super Nintendo.

I played some of Z:OoT a year or two ago and it was fun! It's a game that ages well I think.

 

[Jillian Andes]

My first console that was truly my own, was my Gamecube. I got it when I was ten, and I'm nineteen now. My older brother had an N64, but the only games I played on it were Super Mario 64 and Paper Mario. He had other, older consoles too, but I was too little to play with them at the time.

My dad was (and still is) vehemently against video games, but my persistence came through and I got my Gamecube for Christmas that year. I still play Gamecube games regularly on my Wii, too. My Gamecube sits proudly on my shelf though, in all its beautiful purple glory.

One of my favorite games was Animal Crossing. I remember getting it when it first came out, and having to explain to my dad that it wasn't a "baby" game. I find that funny, because I got the new Animal Crossing for the Wii when it came out, and I am still trying to convince him that it's not for babies. My other favorite games were Luigi's Mansion, SSBM, SSX Tricky, and Super Mario Sunshine. There are probably others too, but I can't remember them at the moment.

 

[LobsterFeng]

Our family got an NES when I was too little to remember, so I'll go with the PS1 ( I call it a PS1, yes) I remember we got it for Christmas with Crash: Bandicoot, can't remember how old I was though.

 

[Evaheist666]

I was about 6 when my dad bought me an ATARI 2600 (about 2 years after its release it came to our country). No special occasion though, My dad is just an awesome guy.
It was one of these:

http://www.japaneseretrogamesstation.com/images/Atari2600JrBlack.jpg

It ignited my love for games and I haven't looked back since. Nothing still beats the love I have for the 2600 and ITS AWESOME SOUND EFFECTS.

It came with a single cartridge which had 4 switches on it. You could tilt the switches either UP or DOWN and a combination of these switches gave a different game. for example: UP DOWN DOWN UP brought up Pitfall! and DOWN DOWN DOWN UP was Breakout. That's as far as I remember.

 

[TheLoneBeet]

I was five when my parents bought me a Nintendo 64 with Super Mario 64 for Christmas. My Dad stayed up with me until 4a.m. playing it. I hear that story every Christmas, weird thing is; that's the only time I've EVER heard of him playing videogames. I still have both the console and the game. Last time I replayed it was about two years ago.

 

[Snork Maiden]

3/4 when my Mum bought my Dad a Master System with the MS version of Sonic built in. I'm actually kind of glad it was bought for my Dad rather than for me because even though I pretty much claimed it, my Dad got a bit of an interest in games and my early years were all spent playing with him.

First console that was actually mine was a Mega Drive a couple years later, bundled with Lion King.

but I feel Spinball is rather underrated

Spinball is fantastic, but I thought it was far and away the hardest Sonic game on Genesis.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

YES!
I bought a xbox from a friend for $20 dollars because he was tired of it. And he also game me KotOR (which I had never heard of; I was a vigin, indeed). And my mind was blown.

 

[ryo02]

mine was the atari 2600 jr (judging by my memory and wikipedia) I was about 2 years old it had 3 games a boxing game a fighting game with knights and the one where you jumped over shopping carts and use escalators runnign after theives I think.

 

[Marmal4de]

I got my first console when I went to visit my grandfather in Australia for the first and last time. I was eight and he gave me an Xbox (Back when it had first come out). It came with Spiderman and Oddworld: Munches Odessey and I thought it was awesome! I ended up spending a ton of my time in Australia playing video games. Though he didn't have a lot of money my grandfather made sure I became a gamer like him, and I probably never would have without his incouragement.

 

[Korolev]

Actually I do remember. It was a Master System II given to my family as a gift by my old piano teacher whose children got a much better console. I remember playing Alex Kidd in Miracle World and that Ninja game, as well as submarine attack. Oh submarine attack - you were good. Never finished it. Neither did I finish Alex Kidd because I hated the whole paper-scissors-rock boss battles, which I thought was completely unfair at the time (I was about 5 years old at the time). Also, I didn't finish that Ninja game - I always got to the part with the water fall and the falling logs and I could never get past that.

It was an old console even when I got it, but I had fun with it. I was not very excited since I had played some very, very, very old computer games. My father was doing a PhD in Computer science at the time and had one of the very first commercial laptops - it was a hideously bulky contraption which was semi-attached to the case (to prevent theft) and had a orange monochrome screen. It did have a few games on it though - an extremely primitive shooter game and a match-the-cards game, so I wasn't blown away by the concept of video games. I wasn't terribly excited when I first got it because I didn't even know what it could do, and I never even asked for it.

The first console I remember being genuinely excited about was the N64. I spent a month long family vacation arguing with my brother over which to get: the N64 or the Sega Saturn. From Australia to Hong Kong to Malaysia to Singapore, we constantly arguing over which was worth the money. In the end we concluded that since the N64 was more "powerful" (that was the word we used) then it would have better games. We had an old EGM magazine and we actually went through every single screenshot of games from both consoles, and we actually tabulated which system had the "better" screenshots. It was goddamn stupid but goddamn fun as well. In my defence, I was 10 years old.

 

[ThisIsSnake]

My family already had a Sega Megadrive and SNES when I was born (or since before I can remember), those things were built to last, both still work today (although plugging them into a modern TV is too much hassle).

First console I remember getting was the original 'fuck aesthetics' Playstation in 1997 (with Porsche Challenge and Final Fantasy VII)

 

[Lilitu]

How well do you remember the loss of your console virginity?
My first own console was a Playstation(without "One" back then).
I rememer getting it quite well. I was so looking forward to this and was excited about it.
When I plugged it in I was amazed about everthing: The graphics, the starting sound,... A demo-CD was with it and I was amazed by it. There was a walking T-Rex and a Manta Ray on that demo (along with some games) and I was so amazed looking at them

Before that I got a Gameboy but I can hardly remember getting it. I was in a small shop with my parents and couldn't speak because I couldn't believe I am really getting a Gameboy.

How old were you?
PSOne: about 14
Gameboy: some years earlier

In what way did you get it? (Present? Bought it yourself? Passed on to you?)
PSOne: Bought myself

Gameboy: Present

What games did it come with?
PSOne: Final Fantasy VII, Castlevania - Symphony of the Night, Dynasty Warriors

Gameboy: None. My cousin gave me Tetris, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins and Wario II

How would you feel playing that console and those first games now?
My PSOne is broken and I can't play it again. I would propably think that the graphics are quite outdated and feel nostalgia playing those games.

My Gameboy still works and sometimes I think of good old Tetris^^

Do you recall being excited? How long did you play it for the first time (rough estimate)?
Yes, I was very excited but I can't recall how long I played the first time.


I was into gaming before but never had my own console and I had to depend on my Cousin (SNES, PSOne, PC) and a friend (Atari, Amiga-PC)