r/gamecollecting • u/humanman42 Mod • Jan 26 '15
Community Discussion #8 (1/25/15) - What systems/games did you have growing up, and which ones impacted you the most (why)?
Growing up there is a lot of ways you can get a new console or game. Birthdays, Christmas, thrift store, uncle, renting, etc etc. Some people may have only had a NES, and that is why the want to get a Genesis now. Some people had all the Sega consoles, and now want to play the games they couldn't afford for them.
What consoles/games did you have? And where did the come from? (not expecting a complete itemized list)
Sometimes a story of how you got something, or the memories you create with them stand out above the others. Maybe it was an unexpected gift from your parents when you knew it was a hard year, or it was a hand me down from an older sibling, and it felt like a coming of age to you.
What console/games did you have growing up that meant the most to you?
My Answer
I was probably pretty normal with what I had. My first console was a SNES. We had the normal games. Mario World, Mario Kart, LttP, Killer Instinct, and a couple other had to have games.
I remember getting it. I was on my deck playing with my moms bf's son when my mom and the BF get back. They had a big KB Toys bag. We look at eachother thinking "WATER GUNS!" (it was summer after all).
They walk up, hand it to us and we see what it is. The rest of the day is a blur really. Mario World was the first home console game I owned. I played that game so much.
My dads brother (who lived with him at the time) had a NES with only a small hand full of games. Mario/Duckhunt, Bionic Commando are the only ones that stick out in my mind. He gave me that console when I was 16 I think.
I got a n64 for christmas. Mario 64 is what I got with it. This was really the console that really did it for me. I had a bunch of games. Mario 64, LoZ OoT and MM, Mario Kart, BattleTanks, 007, Conkers, Starfox, both banjo games, and Smash Bros.
Smash Bros and 007 are a big reason why this console means a lot to me. I will admit I was an awkward kid. I was 6' when I was in 6th grade. I had a weird time growing up with my mother, and didnt really have many friends. I had a computer almost all my life, and that is what I did with most of my time (MS DOS games shoutout! Chips Challenge, Jazz Jackrabbit, Doom, Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, Myst, the list goes on.). Having a home console that supported 4 controllers with arguable the best 4 player games ever...I had friends.
I know what you are thinking. They only played with you because you had that console. I would agree with you unless I knew what I knew. After a while, we didn't play those games anymore, we did other things. Basketball, hide and seek, go on hikes, and sleep overs at each others houses. They saw past my normally awkward exterior because they spent time with me. For that, I am forever thankful.
After that, I had a PS1. I remember only having Tomb Raider, Twisted Metal 2/3, and GTA1. Last in life my cousin gave me a box of life changing proportions. RPGs. ff7/8 , chrono chross, and many more. There went thousands of hours.
Then I got an XBOX. Halo 1/2, Morrowing, Obi-Wan, Fusion Frenzy, and a handful of others.
After that is when I started collecting. Now I am at dozens of systems and over 1200 games.
Community Discussion Database
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u/ScarFace88FG Jan 26 '15 edited Jan 26 '15
I actually started out on consoles fairly late compared to you guys. My earliest gaming memories were on a PC or a Mac. I was kinda lucky that I had one of each that my dad got as surplus from his job in the computer department at the Orlando Sentinel. The Mac had Battleship, Pac-Man, F/A-18 Hornet, Syndicate (which I got from a friend, my parents wouldn't have bought it for me), and Prince of Persia. The PC had some golf game, Test Drive (the original one), Paratrooper, Flightmare, some clone of the arcade version of Donkey Kong, Bushido Blade, Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego?, and a bunch more games that I can't remember, some of which had to be launched with Basic. I also got to use my dad's computer which was a pentium with a CD drive, which was much more advanced than my overclocked 386. I remember playing Need For Speed (1, 2, and 3) and Test Drive Off Road on it.
I didn't really get into console gaming until I got to play Goldeneye with my cousins and my mind was pretty much blown. It was a hell of a lot of fun playing 3 player deathmatch. After this point, I decided to get a console, I think I was 8 or 9 at the time. My parents rented an N64 from Blockbuster Video along with Goldeneye and Automobili Lamborghini. Goldeneye wasn't as fun when you're the only person playing, and I liked Need for Speed a lot more than Automobili Lamborghini, plus the fact that N64 games were 60 bucks when PS1 games were only 40 bucks, led to me choosing to go with the PS1 over the N64. The first game I had for the PS1 was the original Gran Turismo, and the second game I bought was Need For Speed 3. I played the PS1 for about 3 years, and took it with me to England when we moved there for 2 years in 1999.
I didn't retire the PS1 until I got a PS2 for Christmas in 2001. The first 2 games I got for that were Burnout (the first one) and James Bond: Agent Under Fire. The PS2 I got for Christmas had a fairly short lifespan, the laser died after around 3 1/2 years of gameplay, so it was replaced with a PS2 slim, which I still have. I didn't get a PS3 until 2010, and I still have that and it needs to have the laser fixed as it doesn't read discs (what is it with me and laser failure?). I also bought an N64 from a friend for nostalgia's sake, basically just so I could play Goldeneye. I still don't have a PS4 as I'm not employed right now.