Your First Game Console

[Jaker]

Well my first system was a super nintendo back in the day. It was christmas eve, and I wanted a sega genesis, so when I got it, I was jaded, but when I played it, it was magical. Me and my sister played for hours. My first game for it was super mario world, which is still one of my favorite games. A couple of days later, I shared the virus to my Sega-Friends.

Share your story of your first game console.

[MarioAllStar2600]

NES. I was REALLY little but it was my first. The first system I rember playing alot though was SNES, and sega Genises.

[Ze_ro]

Well, it was a long time ago, so I'm not entirely sure... but it must have been either the ColecoVision or my older brother's VIC-20. I don't remember when we got either of them, since I was probably only 1 or 2 years old at the time.

The VIC-20 eventually became mine after my brother got a C-64 (And his C64 eventually became mine after my brother got an Amiga).

Other than the VIC-20, the first game system I got that was really mine was a Gameboy, on what was probably the first Christmas that it was available (1989?). We never had a NES, so my parents finally gave in and bought me this and Super Mario Land. I was extremely happy, and I still have the Gameboy in question, still working perfectly fine (although the screen is kinda scratched up by now, and I somehow lost my Tetris cartridge :().

--Zero

[Lady Jaye]

I got my first console at the grand ole age of 11, in early 1987. It was a Coleco Gemini (Atari 2600 clone) that we bought from a friend of mine. I kept it for a few years, but the controller ports in the Gemini were made of metal, and I bent them over time (connecting and disconnecting the joysticks too fast, too often). I remember that I thought that the Gemini's joysticks were at fault, but buying a pair of Atari Pro Joysticks (aka Atari 7800 joysticks) didn't solve the problem.

[§ Gideon §]

First played? NES. First owned? Game Boy, at the age of four. I don't remember opening it on Christmas, though. It wasn't something I was expecting... at all; the thought of a game system belonging to me was something inconceivable.

[The Collector]

2600, but i cant remember if it was a 4 or a 6 switch. X-mas 1979...i was 5 LOL ......great.....now i feel old :(

[SuperPsycho]

My first game console was an NES. I still have it.... and the box it came in....got it in 1987....I was 4 when we got it.....had to replace the cartridge port last year.

[Sotenga]

I'm sure this isn't the first time I've said this, but it's the NES for me. I grew up on it, I was raised on it, it was my best friend in my childhood, and I've even had it before I was born. It was bought for my brother when my mom was pregnant with me, but I adapted to it faster than he did. I've been playing that lil' grey box ever since I was two... it is almost like a member of the family. Even at fifteen years of age, it is still functioning perfectly today. I hope to have fifteen more years of its service, and then some.

Heartwarming, isn't it? Awwww... :)

[LazingBlazers]

First console bought for me as a gift: NES

First console played: Atari 2600

First console I bought with my hard earned money, and still have to this day with all of my original games:

:rocker: TURBOGRAFX-16 :rocker:

[youruglyclone]

NES, needless to say I still remember my dad setting it up...interestingly enough it was the only machine he needed to set up for me. oh the cheating the duck hunt...that was before I learned you can control the ducks with the second controller

[Lady Jaye]

Hey, The Collector, we're roughly the same age (you're one year older than me). This thread is starting to feel like I'm having a conversation with my cousins (who are all, except for the youngest one, currently aged between 17 and 21). Come on! Anyone else over 25 who feels like adding their 2 cents?

BTW, the first console I remember playing is the ColecoVision, circa 1983, although I'm told that my uncles also used to have an Intellivision (which I don't remember at all).

[The Collector]

Hey, The Collector, we're roughly the same age (you're one year older than me). This thread is starting to feel like I'm having a conversation with my cousins (who are all, except for the youngest one, currently aged between 17 and 21). Come on! Anyone else over 25 who feels like adding their 2 cents?

BTW, the first console I remember playing is the ColecoVision, circa 1983, although I'm told that my uncles also used to have an Intellivision (which I don't remember at all).

They cant really know where gaming is going until they know where is been. Home consoles were so new...Combat was fun!! You'd take what you could get LOL. Spend a few years in the late 70's and then you'll really appreciate Xbox, GC, and the PS2 @_@ !

[The Collector]

ooops, double post, sorry :embarrassed:

[xyngtai]

1978: Dad got me and my brother an Atari 2600 from Sears. Costs $179.99, I still remember the price sticker on it. Came with Air Sea Battle, no combat in Sears at that time. What a blast! We used to bet on who gets to 99 first on all the settings. Ugh, me old too! Then we shelled out 28.00 for Warlords...my brother's choice. I wanted Missile Command, and we fought in the store, so my Dad flipped a coin right there in the store, and he won! Rats! Warlords was cool though.
Also...I played some little crap-o-la games on the TS-1000 computer, but then I bought a Vic 20 for $99.00 from K-Mart. It was that or the TI 99 4/A.
Ok...really, the first system we got was PONG BABY! $80.00 for blip blip! That's a lot of money for back then, if you figure inflation into it. My Dad was a really nice guy, eh? Have Fun everyone! ;)

[ManekiNeko]

I'm a little embarassed to say that my first game console was an Odyssey2. My mom's friend bought one as well... apparently, Magnovox hired some REALLY good salespeople in our area.
My first computer was a VIC-20... and I'm not ashamed of that at all! Sure, it was a little underpowered in comparison to its big brother the Commodore 64, but nevertheless, I loved the games on that system. I'm STILL waiting for Wizard of Wor...

JR

[tholly]

My first system that I owned and played was a NES Action Set. The first video game system in my house was a Magnavox Odyssey 2...I was little and had no idea what video games were when I got my NES so I had no idea that down in our basement was this Odyssey 2. Of course it is now hooked up along side all my other systems.

[Swiftman007]

My first system? Atari 2600 1st generation (plastic case) . And I still have it with the box!! this system rocks!!! :D

[GameGuru]

My first system was a woody Atari 2600 which my brother and I got for Christmas '79 (I was 8) then the NES in '86. First system I ever bought myself was the Genesis in '89.

[Dr. Morbis]

Nes for me. It seems like a person's first system is invariably their favourite system today. I'd like to know what percentage of DPer's have a favourite system that is NOT the first one they owned, or is one that they discovered recently (ie: didn't play in childhood).

[Push Upstairs]

First system i played: 2600. I always loved Chopper Command

First system i owned: NES

I got my NES on X-mas 1990 along with Super Mario 3, i didnt stop playing that system untill X-mas '92 when i got a Genesis and Sonic 2.

I still have my orginal Genesis but i long ago sold the orginal NES to a kid down the street...i have since rebought a NES and SMB3 :D

As for favorite, well that would be my Genesis. I've owned it the longest and have the most games and game related memories with it.

[aremid23]

First video game system that I owned: Pong from Sears. I even still have the receipt.

Then, after playing my cousin's Atari 2600, my parents bought me one of those and it's been an obsession ever since!

[Rogmeister]

My first system: Atari VCS (AKA: 2600)

Favorite system: SNES

[PDorr3]

I was brought up on the colecovision, some of my fav games being congo bongo and donkey kong jr. It was actualy my dads system, and he introduced me to it when I was about 5 years old. I guess gaming runs in my family because in order for me to play a NES I had to go to my uncles house in order to enjoy endless hours of super mario 3, and legend of zelda (my uncle still has a mint NES console w/ tons of mint in box games that I am witing for him to give to me :angry: ). In order for me to play a sega genesis I had to go to my grandpas house where I played sonic the hedgehog forever (I have videos of myself playing sonic when I was very young, in that oil level :) ) He also had a sega cd where I played sonic cd. I eventualy got my own sega genesis and NES. I actualy have my own flatscreen tv for my games in my room as well as an extra tv on another wall so my dad can play genesis while I play my games. He likes games such as zombies ate my neighbors, ms. pac man, risk, monopoly, and especialy dr. robotnics mean bean machine.

[Boboduo]

My first console was a colecovision. I remember me and my dad
buying it at a kaybee toystore along with a few games.

[YoshiM]

My first (well the family's first) system was a Coleco Telstar Arcade with one cartridge. That sucker got beat to death. In order to play the gun game toward the end of it's life I had to pull the hammer on the pistol back.

First computer (again, family) was a Color Computer with 16K and Extended Color Basic. I didn't really use it until maybe a year or two later when I started typing in games from Rainbow or Hot CoCo magazines. That thing lasted from its release day until I wanna say 1985 or 1986 when a friend of my Dad's tried to up it to 32K and some solder touched a trace. Bzzzt. Poof. Dad went and got a Color Computer 2 with 64K.

As for personal firsts, my first computer was a TI 99/4A which I (still ashamed) begged for as I never got to use the CoCo as Dad was always on it. Got a stern talking to when all I did with it was play games. After that I learned how to program. What did I program? Games. :devilish: Oh well, they were happy as long as I learned something by doing it.

My personal first console was a Sega Master System I traded some AD&D books and cash for. Dude tried to weasel out of it after a handshake deal but in the end I won.

[kai123]

First system I played was a colecovision owned by my mom. First system that was all mine was a Nes.

[sabre2922]

My first home console system was the venerable Atari 2600 I remember me and a friend playing asteroids for hours I also thought the Rally racing game with the "paddle" was a great game, still do infact.

[BHvrd]

Intellivision.

[jaydubnb]

Atari 2600. I used to love the game with the chicken crossing the road....what was it called, Freeway?

[gamerz]

Atari 2600, I was 15 when we got it...whoops...just dated myself there. :embarrassed:

[gamerz]

Even though the 2600 was my first, I wore out my Colecovision. It couldnt take the play time I guess. :D

[sku_u]

My first system was an Atari VCS. Way back during Christmas of 1977, I remember running downstairs to see what I got for Christmas. Amidst the tonka trck, tinker toys and erector set, I noticed an unusually large wrapped box. I wanted to open it then and there, but my parents made me wait for my sister. On opening it, much to my amazement, there it was: An Atari; just like what I saw on TV!!! My five year old eyes stared at that system in amazement. I ended up playing it for most of that day.

[DigitalSpace]

I got a Nintendo in 1988. I was 6 years old at the time, and we got it at a Montgomery Wards. It was the infamous set that came with Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, 2 controllers, the Zapper and the Zapper light gun. The day we got it one of my friends from the apartment complex we lived at at the time came over and hooked it up for me. I was so clumsy, I kept dying in the first level at SMB1 at the second hole! My friend had to go home after hooking up the Nintendo but he came back an hour later and finally taught me how to run and jump and I was on a roll (although embarrassingly I never was able to beat SMB1 until I played it on Super Mario All-Stars for SNES, although I did beat my share of NES games).

The NES lasted quite a while, and I loved it. My friend who helped me hook it up had a Sega Master System, and I got to play that a bit. He later sold it and bought a Super NES. In late 1992, I got a Super NES myself, with two controllers and Super Mario World. It was the first system I hooked up myself. I then gave the NES to my younger brother, which he used until he got a Genesis with The Lion King as the pack-in game in 1994. My cousin had a Sega Genesis with the Sega CD, and he later bought a Jaguar, so I got to spend some time with those systems until he eventually sold them and got an N64.

I still have the Super NES, and to this day it is my favorite console (PS2 and NES behind that). I originally predicted that it would last until the year 2000, and today I laugh at that. We kept the NES until 1995 or so when it would hardly load any games and finally broke for good. It was hard letting it go, but my parents figured that since I had a SNES and my brother had a Genesis none of us were playing the NES anyways. So we sold the games, and I think we wound up selling the NES at a garage sale to some guy who wanted to fix it for himself, but I'm not exactly sure. It was hard letting it go.

In 2000, my brother sold his Genesis and all the games and bought an N64. I miss the Genesis as well.

I know this is pretty long, but once I got going I couldn't stop.

[dreamcaster]

I was born in 1985, and started gaming when I was about 3 or 4 when we got our 286 PC in 1989.

No 8-bit machines here...no sir-ee! We had a state of the art 286PC. 16MHz in turbo mode! Oh yeah!!! :D

I considered what I saw of the Master System and NES to be inferior compared to our PC's 256 color graphics, 16-bit sound, etc.

I was totally into PC's.

Roll on 1995......our 286 had not been updated, yet my desire for gaming was growing. Seeing as Dad wouldn't update the PC, I turned to consoles of the time (i.e. Mega Drive and Super NES).

I wanted a games console - and I didn't really care which, but I was leaning more towards a SNES seeing as all my friends had one and figured I may as well also get one.

My parents wouldn't buy a SNES for me at all. I was left to my own devices. I pooled together all my pocket and birthday money from that year and then set out to buy a SNES.

The big day: September 9th 1995 - I got my SNES with two controllers and Super Mario All-Stars for $209 AU. That day I switched to consoles and have never looked back.

So, whilst my roots are in PC's - my fondness is for consoles.

First console: SNES

Favourite console: Dreamcast, followed by SNES.

[NEOFREAK9189]

My first console nes

[QBert]

Intellivision.

YAY! me too.


Qbert

[o2william]

Unsurprisingly, it was Odyssey2 for me. Magnavox had a distribution deal with GTE (General Telephone) back then, and GTE employees could purchase Magnavox and Sylvania items at a discount. My mother worked for GTE, so there you have it. I guess I got my O2 in 1980 or '81. I seem to remember playing a borrowed O2 before that, but I was too young to remember clearly (was born in '75).

Magnavox's distribution schemes really made the O2 a "regional" console. In my neck of the woods (Southern Ohio), I knew more people who owned O2s than people who owned 2600s!

[Kroogah]

First video game I ever owned was Game & Watch Donkey Kong Hockey. Bought one on Ebay a few years ago just for nostalgia (it's the only G&W I own)

First console was an NES that my dad bought secondhand from a friend he worked with. Came with Contra and Skate or Die.

When I decided to start collecting, coincidentally enough, the first console I bought again was the NES.

[kainemaxwell]

Atari 2600 for me. :)

[nesman85]

mine was the NES. :)

[The Unknown Gamer]

My first real console was Coleco's Gemini, I still have a single controller and the Y-plug from it. I first bought it back in 1984 or 1985 when Sears was having it on close out. I think I bought that and 2 games Keystone Kapers and Seaquest for under $50. I kept it until it died on me then I went to the 7800.

[ManekiNeko]

Nes for me. It seems like a person's first system is invariably their favourite system today. I'd like to know what percentage of DPer's have a favourite system that is NOT the first one they owned, or is one that they discovered recently (ie: didn't play in childhood).

Well, I grew up with an Odyssey2 (my first console) and an Atari 2600, but neither were my favorite game systems. I'd have to say the NES was the best system I've ever had, but I was still pretty young when I bought it... about 12 or 13, I think.

I was in my twenties when the Saturn and Dreamcast were released, and those are among my favorite consoles.

JR

[Ed Oscuro]

The first system I owned was a PlayStation (Dual Shock package) manufactured in 1997; I believe I bought that before I bought an N64, though I'm not completely sure. I'm quite sure the reciepts have been tossed since then, unfortunately. Great system, great controllers :D Too bad I haven't played more than two dozen titles for it :P

[Red Warrior]

My first console was the Intellivision. My dad purchased one in 1982 when I was 3 years old. Never forget how excited he was to play Donkey Kong at home (even tho it was a HORRIBLE port)... and playing Astrosmash and Triple Action till the cows came home. Fun times...
I never understood tho, how I was the only one at my school who owned an Intellivision. All my friends owned 2600's. I used to play them at their homes and wonder why their games sucked compared to mine. LOL

Because of the Intellivision's superiority, I could never get into the 2600. Just now bought one for the first time ever a few months ago. It has its gems, but I'll always cherish the Intellivision. It was the best of the early 80's.

However, my favorite system of all time is the SNES... but that's another story.

[ozyr]

Hate to admit this, but my first console game system was the RCA Studio II. THought it was so cool back them (when I was too young to know better). Now, I realize the piece of junk that it is. Yes, a piece of history, but still junk - yuck! :puke:

[Lady Jaye]

@The Unknown Gamer: did you use to pinch your palms all the time with the Gemini's joystick button? I know I used to (the Gemini button has a bit of a space between it and the joystick)...

I know I was shocked when I got the 2600 Jr. 2 years ago and found out that the joystick ports are in the back (I was used to the Gemini, which had its controller ports in front, where it belongs).

[Kejoriv]

My first console was the atari 7800. My aunt worked for Parker Bros, so I got a ton of games. I remember playing all my games on a 13inch black and white tv. I was blinging back then.

[atomicthumbs]

I never owned a system of my own until 1997, when I was 19 and bought a Sony Playstation. The first game I got for it was Tomb Raider (before the hype). I love that system!

I've been playing video games all my life though. My folks had an Atari 2600 and my best friend had a ColecoVision in the early 80's when I was growing up. In 1985, my older brother (by, like, 18 months) got an NES for Christmas (as did most of you).

When I hit Junior High, my best friend got a Super Nintendo. Then in our Junior Year of High School in 1995, he got a Playstation! My other best friend shortly before that got a 3DO... And he always had anything Sega!

I have a long and illustrious past of mooching off of my friends!

[Flack]

Our first machine was a Pong, I think probably from Sears. We had that at our old house, and I remember we had it for Thanksgiving because everyone made a big deal about wanting to play it instead of watching the parade, and we moved the following summer, so that would make it ... November of 1977? I think that's right, correct me if I'm wrong.

We moved in the summer of 1978 to the house I grew up in. We bought an Odyssey II and then shortly afterwards got an Atari 2600, because of the amount of games that were coming out for it as compared to the Odyssey II.

Our first computer was the TRS-80 Model III, which we pre-ordered through Radio Shack. We got called when the first one arrived in Yukon, OK, and when we went to pick it up the sales people wanted us to open the box there so they could see it.

[l_lamb]

My dad bought a 2600 for his uncle back when they first arrived in stores (1976). A heavy-sixer with the 01 Combat. His uncle was very high-tech back then (he had a front-projection TV at the time). He let us use it for a weekend, then we had to give it up. My dad bought us one two weeks later because we all missed it too much. Within a month we had every game that was available because my dad worked for Globe (pre Wal-Mart discount store) and got the stuff at a discount.

[HellStar]

My first console was the SNES, and i loved it! Thank you Nintendo for all those great memories! Keep em' comin! :D

[8-Bit Master]

My first console was an Atari 2600 in about 1985. The first games I ever remember playing were Spider-man, Riddle of the Sphinx, Joust, Frogger, Adventure, Flash Gordon, and Krull.

[MarioAllStar2600]

My first home console system was the venerable Atari 2600 I remember me and a friend playing asteroids for hours I also thought the Rally racing game with the "paddle" was a great game, still do infact.

I am pretty sure you are talking about Indy 500. They weren't paddles, they were Driving controllers. They cam packaged with the game. Its wierd.

[Fatghost28]

Nes for me. It seems like a person's first system is invariably their favourite system today. I'd like to know what percentage of DPer's have a favourite system that is NOT the first one they owned, or is one that they discovered recently (ie: didn't play in childhood).

My first system played was the Vectrex. My first owned was a Sega Master System. I don't think I have a favorite system, but if anything, I suppose I'd say my Saturn was my favorite system. Dragon Force, Panzer Dragoon 1,2, and Saga, the Capcom CPS2 games, Sega Rally, Radiant Silvergun, NiGHTS and Virtua Fighter 2. There was just something about the atmosphere in Saturn games. I had a PS1 and N64 at the same time and enjoyed those consoles too, but my Saturn was always my main system of choice. I loved Dreamcast also but felt it was missing the Saturn magic.

[Link75]

Ahh...the NES, back in the early 90's i was about 5 and it was good.
balloon fighter, super mario bros., duck hunt...sweet

[8-Bit Master]

Nes for me. It seems like a person's first system is invariably their favourite system today. I'd like to know what percentage of DPer's have a favourite system that is NOT the first one they owned, or is one that they discovered recently (ie: didn't play in childhood).

My first system owned was an Atari 2600, however I would say that NES is my favorite system of all time. I got an Atari 2600 in 1985, and an NES in (I believe) 1988 or '89. I always played NES far more than Atari 2600 once I got one.

[Evil E]

My first system was the Atari 2600--Year was 1980, and I was 6 years of age--yes I am THAT old!!! :roll:

[ApolloBoy]

My first was the NES. My parents had it since '88, but I didn't start playing it until around '91, when I was 2.

[ringo42]

Mine was the Atari 2600, but the one that I go back to now was the NES. I have way fonder memories of it for some reason, though it was my second system.

[jdc]

Mine was the N64. I got it fairly soon after launch. Such fond memories of playing incredible games by the likes of Rare and 1st-party Nintendo. I'm just about to settle in and start Banjo Tooie this Sunday.

Man, I love that system.

[vision89]

The Atari 2600, though this was actually in 85-86, and I was either four or five. I had a friend that lived down the road, Rodney, who had one also. We'd easily fill an entire day playing the 2600, those were some good times. To us it didn't matter what year it was, we had no idea there was ever a video game crash. We were just two kids playing a great video game system, and to us it was just as alive as it had ever been.

[The Manimal]

First system was "inherited" VCS (in the form of Sears Tele-Games). Second system was a brand new NES w/SMB-DH in 1989. :)

I would then go on to buy a Game Boy in 1996 or so, a SNES in 1997 or so, a Genesis in 1998 or so, and that was it until last year or the year before...(since then: Dreamcast, PS1, Gamecube, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear).

[The Insomniac]

First system (well, kinda) was the Commodore Vic-20, first system I owned was Genesis.

[Gzilla23]

My first system was a Sega Genesis. I really wanted a NES but I have to say Sonic helped change my mind back then. Now I can Happily say I have both :D

[Savedman]

My parents bought my brothers and I our first system when I was about 10. It was PONG and it had just come out!!!!

[Professor Hector]

My first system was a 2600, which my parents bought when I was around three years old. The first system I really cared about though was my NES, which I received a couple years later for my fifth birthday.

[KirbyStar27]

SNES *sniffle :(

SO MANY MEMORIES :(

[Viper]

Good old NES. I was one happy 5 year old playing Duck Hunt

[ECWSandmanECW]

Sega Genesis

[Kamisama]

Sometime i got an SNES, until that i only played around with some 286 IBM-PC and the NES/SMS of a friend of mine :) The first handheld system was btw, a Gameboy, bought on 3.Dec.1991 !

[MonkeyWizard]

Wel, It kind of depends how you count it.

The Atari 2600 might qualify, but it belonged to my entire family, not just me.

The NES also might qualify, but it was given to me as a present, so I didn't buy it with my own money.

If neither of those count, then it was probably the SNES.

[Eternal Tune]

Christmas '92 my parents bought both my sister and me Super Nintendos, as gifts. I remember getting my ass handed to me by her all the time in various game, now she won't go near the stuff.

[PentiumMMX]

First System: Nintendo 64

I also have an NES, Game Boy Pocket, and Game Boy Color, too!

(I now want a PS2!)

[Milk]

I have vague, early childhood memories of a generic mid-80's console in my house. I think it had Frogger and Pacman, and I have no idea what happened to it. The first system I was old enough to play was an NES. It must have been 1989 or 1990, since I was 6 when we got it. It came with Mario\Duckhunt and Snoopy Olympics, then a little later my father bought around 20 games at a garage sale. I can only remember a few of them...Double Dragon II, SMB 2, Robocop...the rest are just a blur.

[Simply Dave]

Very early on it was one of those home Pong systems but our first real system was the Atari 2600.