How'd you get your consoles/handhelds?

[MrRoboto19XX]

I am incredibly blessed with some great situations.

(in the order I aquired them)

Odyssey^2 - My parents - from before I was around.
Game Boy - A christmas gift for my father - $90 - Dec 1990
SNES - $150 - Sears Funtronics - June 1993
N64 - $120 - Funcoland in Wilmington, DE - June 1998
Game Boy Color - Christmas - $90 - Dec 1999
Sega Master System - Found it at my church, it was then given to me as they had no use for it - June 2000
Sega Dreamcast - Electronics Botique - $150 - Feb 2001
PS2 - Bj's - $380 (Bundle) - Feb 2003
GBA SP - Babbage's - $100 - Oct 2003
Neo Geo Pocket Color - $80 (Bundle) - Dec 2003
Genesis 2 - Friends Girlfriend about to throw it away - Feb 2004
Virtual Boy - Friend Getting Rid of his old stuff - Oct 2004
NES - Same Situation, same friend - Oct 2004
Sega Nomad - Same Situation, same friend - oct 2004
Atari Lynx - Same situation, same friend - Oct 2004
PS1 (Modded) - Same situation, same friend - Oct 2004
Sega Saturn - Another friend found it in his garage - April 2005
Yobo Famiclone - Power Gamer - $40 - May 2005
Farichild Channel F - Goodwill - $20 - June 2005
Atari 2600 - Goodwill - $20 - July 2005
Gamecube - Gamestop - $60 - September 2005
Atari 7800 - Friend getting rid of old stuff - Dec 2005
PS2 (Modded) - Friend who gave up gaming - Dec 2005
Xbox - Same friend, same situation - Dec 2005
DS - Same friend, same situation - Dec 2005

And there we have it, like I said, I fall into some nice stuff for no apparent reason.

[RetroYoungen]

Lessee if I can remember...

NES: The first one, Christmas of 1986. Second and third ones, can't remember.
SNES: Birthday or Christmas, can't remember.
N64: Gift from my dad, birthday or Christmas.
Gamecube: Christmas, 2002 (I think, maybe 2001)
Game Boy: Perfect report card, 3rd grade.
Game Boy Color: Christmas gift, 1997, from my mom
Game Boy Advance: The original model was a birthday present before CGE 2002, the SP model I bought myself (the NES SP) at Target three days before its' official release
Genesis: Late birthday gift from my uncle
Sega CD: Bought from 4Jays a little while back
Saturn: FuncoLand, bought by me
Dreamcast: Bought it from my friend who wanted to buy a PS2 and sell his old games.
Game Gear: 4Jays store a few years or so ago
Playstation: Birthday, 1998 I think
PS2: Bought by me at Funcoland
NGPC: CGE present to myself
XBox: Christmas present from last year
Atari 2600/VCS: CGE 2001
Atari Lynx: CGE 2002, I believe
Atari Jaguar (my model be broke, though): CGE 2002 I think

I won't count my FamiClone that I picked up this past CGE, as it's not an "official" system. But... yeah. Long-winded.

[McBacon]

Carboot Sales: SNES (£3)x2), NES (£1), Master System II (£1) Gameboy (£1)

Cash Convertors: Saturn (£18)

Birthday/Christmas Gifts: Gamecube, N64, Dreamcast, Nintendo DS, GB Micro (Well, in a few days time!), NGPC

Free from Friends: Phillips CD-i, Game Gear

Borrowing: Xbox, PS2

Rubbish Dump: Megadrive (£4)

Nintendo Star Catalogue: GBA SP (Kingdom Hearts Edition)

This Forum: TurboGrafx 16, JVC X'Eye, Game Gear

Retail: PSOne (£15 from Currys), PSP (£161 from PC World)

[Nez]

NES- Christmas presant from parents. mid 80s NEW

SNES- " " from grandparents. Mid 90s New

N64- " " parents 97 NEW

GB pocket- TRU is all i know. NEW

GBC- Also purchased from TRU. NEW

CUBE- Thrifty Joes USED in 2003

Gameboy-USED $10 at Gamecrazy 2005

Dreamcast- Purchased by myself for $40 in 2002 right after my new job and after the system had died.

Genesis- Game dudes I dont know what year though.

32x- Swapmart purcahed with a bunch of games and my now sold 3DO for $70

Sega CD- Games+ in 2003 ugh way over paid

Saturn- Game Dude in 2003

PS- Free from cousin had upgraded to a ps2 2001

PS2- Purchased used in 2003 febuary EB games

Xbox- Used game dudes again in 2003

NeoGeo Pocket- Purchased from Hellvin in 2005

NeoGeo CD- Purchased from Xanxi in 2005

NeoGeo AES modded- Traded with Adol( I think) in 2005.

NeoGeo AES US- Lot with SS SS2 KOF 94 all US a memcard 2 controllers for $225

TG-16- Ebay 2004

GBAsp- New? in 2004? I think

2600- Purcased a stores entire pre nes era lot. I kept a vader for myself and all the unique titles I had and sold off the rest. I think that cost me $300 but I can't really recall.

I think that is all.

[XianXi]

TRS-80 II - Mom bought it from RS new in 85 or so but gave it to me in 90, still got it.
NES - Christmas from Dad
SNES - Bought new
N64 - Savers $10
Dreamcast - swapmeet, came with SFIII3rd and PS 1 & 2 for $40
NGCD - 1st one from Clubninja, 2nd, 3rd and 4th from a friend.
AES - Crackhead for $100, came with 6 games
NGPC - bought new from friends shop, most games from Mickey.
PS1 - bought new when price dropped to $149
PS2 - bought used but new for $40
PS3 - bought new for $499
Xbox - screw that I hate MS
Turbo Expresseseses - Swapmeet $3, same day another with TV tuner for $20 and next day 1 complete in box with 3 games for $40.
NES toploader - New from TRU for $20 in 95, should have bought them all if I knew they would fetch that much.
Gameboy SP - free, found it on the PS2 demo unit in Blockbuster
Sega cd, genesis w/copier and saturn - bought from a guy who was gonna throw a bunch of stuff the stuff out because his brother moved out a long time ago. Took the big box home and found out the brother was an RPG freak, he had all the big titles from Sega CD & Saturn mint and complete with strategy guides.

[sega-trader]

Chronological order.

Gameboy (original big grey thing) - New - present from parents.
JVC X-Eye (genesis/sega cd) - New - Best Buy
Sega 32x - New - Toys 'R Us
Atari Jaguar - New - Tiger Direct mail order
Sega Saturn - Used - ebay
Sega Dreamcast - New - Best Buy at launch
Microsoft X-Box - New - Best Buy at launch
Neo Geo Pocket Color - New - Amazon.com
Nintendo DS - Used - here a few days ago

[starchildskiss78]

Let's see....(in chronological order):

NES (gift from brother to family during x-mas '90, current one received from gf's brother who didn't play it anymore)

Genesis (birthday? gift from mom around '92...wanted the Altered Beast model instead of the Sonic one! Second one bought used from Game Xchange [complete in box but played!] in 2003)

Super NES (traded my Genesis to a friend for it about a year after I got it, Second one bought in 2001 from Game Xchange)

Game Gear (Xmas present from brother in '93, Second (and third!) purchased from flea market (2nd) and Game Xchange (3rd) within the last year

Sony Playstation (purchased used from Babbages in '99, Second one (PS One) purchased new from...Game Stop(!) in 2002 after the original died.

Dreamcast (new from Sears employee catalog late '00 maybe early '01)

N64 (Pikachu Model) purchased new from Toys R Us Xmas '01

Game Boy Color (purchased from a flea market early '05)

Atari 2600 (purchased from a yard sale early '05)

Gamecube (bought used/refurb June '05 from EB Games...returned the 1st b/c it wasn't working out of the box, returned the second a couple months later because it wasn't reading discs, on third one)

Saturn (bought from Game Xchange in June '05)

Gameboy Advance SP (bought used/refurb from EB Games Aug '05)

That's all of them...had to jog my memory a bit on some of them!

----------------------100th Post!!!!!!!!!!!------------------

[starchildskiss78]

grrrrr double post

[Skyway_Recreation]

let see, hmm first thigns first
saturn model 2, got it back in late 1998 early 1999, b-day present from my mom, regret not spending an extra 20 for a playstation, but i love that saturn.
*Genesis 1i had two of em now only one, scored back in 1999
*atari 2600 and jR found them both in the trash wiht like 20 games,back in 1999 also
*sega cd mk 1., scored this by trading some FAKE marijuanan to a pot head friend of mine, it included a 32x and a genny 1 all MINT, looked liek it was outta the box for a min. this was 2000
*Dreamcast, scored it in 2001 rite b4 it died, my moms BF bought the smashpack collection one for me. i still use this DC today.
*Ps2. my friend dan basically gave this to me, i dunno how i got it from him, he just let me borrow it, then he bought another one, and he told me to keep it. this was late 2002
genesis mk2. found it in the trash with a controller plug and all! this was 2001
*gamecube, my moms BF got me this when it came out. still have it but don't play the thing, it sits in my closet.but i got geist, so it will come out to play after 2 years.
*gameboy(big grey brick), given to me by a friend, because it wouldn't work, turned out the batt terminals were all corroded, cleaned em and it played fine, back in 2002
Sega Saturn model 1, got it in a trade for a mac performa pile of crap computer. this si the saturn i game on to this day, this was 2001
*Gameboy advance, got it from my little sister, who got it from her dad, the GBA is now dead.also 2001
*Nintendo FamiCom.scored in 2004 for 40 bux with a high quality japanese black market 190in 1 cart this was last year
*Super nintendo. got this last year, and it didn't work, given to me by a friend, i got bored and tried to fix it this week, it pissed me off so i slammed it and it miraculously now works
*SegaMasterSystem, got this from the same friend that gave me the snes, the control he gave me with it was broken, and i haven't bothered to get oen since then, the RF doesn't work but AV works crystal
*FamicomDiskSystemX2 got them both off of ebay.one works great, the other is extremley crapped out and worn
*PCengine,got it from a cool dude in canada i know through ebay, sold it to me non working for 25 bux with a game(r-type I) and controller, when it got here,i worked the board over, found that the main fuse had blown so i replaced it , and now she works like a CHAMP, but the controller was damaged., some one did an AV mod to it in hongkong so that was a +
P.S if someone could help me out with my quest for the pcengine/turbo duo controller, PLAEASE PM ME OR EMAIL ME. i WILL pay some good money for it!

[ahamilton0953]

Sega Master System: Gift xmas of 88
Genesis: Original, as a gift in 90(I think) brother lost/stole/pawned it, bought 2nd one used at some used game place (not a chain) 2 yrs ago.
Game Gear: Xmas gift ( was brothers, confiscated) and also one from a friend.
SNES: used, Gift from wife
N64: First used one bought from a friend, had to give to brother after my wife broke his NES, wife bought me a new(used) one along with the SNES as a gift/apology
Cube: Brand new gift from wife (not guilt related)
PS: 1st one bought used from a friend for when I was recouping from shoulder surgery, died. 2nd used from Funcoland.
DC: Used from Ebay

Still need to get a Saturn, 32x , CD , NES, and some others . Just don't feel like paying through the nose!

[jajaja]

NES - Dad bought it for the whole family for x-mas 1987 (think it was in 87)
PSX - Bought in store myself
PS2 - Bought in store myself
GBA - Bought in store myself.

All other systems like SNES, Neo Geo AES, Mega Drive, SMS etc have I bought on Ebay in 2004/2005.

[goatdan]

Cool thread!

Lets see here:

Atari 2600 - My dad bought it in late 1983 during the crash cheap to play Space Invaders. That was pretty much as far as his gaming career went, although he kicked ass with that game.
NES - I bought in about 1989 with money saved for months at a Baseball card show. Super-good deal with the system and five games -- Centipede, Super Mario 1, Duck Hunt, and two others I don't remember but still own. Got a great deal on it. (I was 8, it was a TON of money at the time at $50.00 I believe.)
SNES - 1995 (I think). Christmas gift as I really, really wanted Donkey Kong Country. Got the Mario set and Donkey Kong Country seperately. Was SORELY disappointed by Mario World. Still kinda am (sorry folks!)
Jaguar - 1996 from online. I had never thought it came out.
N64 - 1997 (?) from God-knows-where. Some sort of used place. Bought for Earthbound 64.
Neo Geo Pocket - Bought on the day before they got pulled, I forget when that was. I had wanted one all along and didn't have the money. I was worried that they would get very expensive after they got pulled, so I purchased one right away. Looking back, I way overpaid... but it was WAY worth it.
Dreamcast - My birthday in 2001, I think. It was when they were $99.99, and I got the Super Smash Pack version for $119.99 at Best Buy. I still have that exact console.
Xbox - early 2004. Had wanted one for a while. Bought the Halo version.
GameCube 1 - December 2004 with Mario Kart, large memory card and extra controller for $99.99.
GameBoy Advance - (player), mid 2005. Had ONE GameBoy Advance game at the time, didn't pick up more for a long time... and it wasn't a game you'd usually buy a system for - Extreme Ghostbusters.
Nintend DS - November 2005. Had four games for it before I bought it, and by the end of the week I bought it on, I had about 16. Quickest growing game library I've ever had.

[blissfulnoise]

1st of each type only:

-Atari 2600, Santa, Christmas 1981, gift

So we do have something in common! That was a milestone Christmas. My parents, through their generosity, screwed my wallet for life (and theirs until I was old enough to get a job).

[Kid Ice]

Good one, SlayerX

2600...I have 4 or 5 of them, a couple from yard sales, a couple from eBay deals where I was really just trying to get the carts

7800...picked up at a flea market when I first started collecting

Vectrex...electronics "trading post" when I first started collecting

Intellivision...father-in-law donated this and his boxed Intellivision games when he heard I was collecting

NES...bought the toaster for my wife for Christmas about 15 years ago. Bought the toploader at Kaybee about 10 years ago. Picked up a couple more toasters along the way.

Genesis...X-mas present from my wife...1993?

Super NES...no clue

3DO...bought an FZ-10 at Best Buy, traded a Game n Watch to DP for an FZ-1

Saturn...bought one at a WalMart on clearance, picked up another at a flea market

PSX...bought "refurbished" at Gamestop. Won a PSONE at one of DP's game nights. Just bought another PSX today to try out the link cable.

N64...bought the SWEP 1 set when it came out

DC...birthday present at launch

GC...birthday present at launch

PS2...bought at Circuit City when GTAVC came out

[VG_Maniac]

NES - got it for Christmas 1988.

Game Boy - got it for my birthday, 1991

SNES - got it for Christmas 1992

N64 - got it for Christmas 1996

Virtual Boy - bought it on clearance at Toys R' Us in early summer 1997. Sold my first one about a year after I bought it and another one off Ebay early this year.

Genesis - bought it from a friend in late 1998

Sega Saturn - bought it used from a local video game store in early 1999, sold it a few months later. Bought another one off ebay during the early part of summer 2004.

Playstation - bought it used from a local video game store in 1999. It broke down a few months later, and I got a new one that Christmas.

Game Boy Color - bought it new about a couple weeks before Thanksgiving 1999.

Game Boy Advance - bought it new in late summer 2001.

Playstation 2 - was given to me by my uncle Thanksgiving 2001.

Game Cube - got it for Christmas 2002.

Dreamcast - bought it used off ebay in late 2003.

Intellivision - bought it at a garage sale earlier this year for $5 with several complete games.

Atari 2600 - got it off ebay earlier this year.

Atari 7800 - got it off ebay earlier this year.

[dreamcaster]

First SNES - Bought it on September 9th 1995 for $209. All my own birthday and pocket money went into it's purchase. Came with Super Mario All-Stars and bonus controller. Sold it less than two years later.

Now for the stuff I still own:

Nintendo 64 - Bought from Southside Video Games (one of few privately owned game stores in my city that has since shut down) on August 30th 1997 for $189. Traded my SNES and 5 games for $150 value towards it.

Atari Lynx - Bought preowned at a Cash Converters for $40 back in November 1997.

Game Boy Color - Christmas present 1998.

Sega Game Gear - Grandfather found it in my cousin's rubbish bin, gave it to me and said: "here you work it".

Game Boy Advance - Birthday present (August 28th 2001).

Atari 2600 Jr. - Acquaintance at school and his friends were trying to smash a Pac-Man cart by dropping a concrete bench on top of it. It didn't break! I told that I'd have it, and he told me there was a console and games to go with it. Next day he brought it to school and gave it to me for free. About 2 years later, after we'd left school, I'd heard that he was trying to contact me because he wanted it back. Fortunately, the friends of mine that he contacted didn't give him my number or address.

Nintendo GameCube - Bought on the Australian May 17th 2002 launch day along with Wave Race, Star Wars, Mem Card and extra controller for like, $500 or something. Biggest mistake ever.

Second SNES - Found in complete (box/manual/sealed bags) in EB for $20. Yellowed, but in excellent condition.

NTSC Nintendo 64 - November 2002, bought it for $60 at Cash Converters. Included Majora's Mask (with holo label), Pokemon Stadium 2 (not for resale cart) and Banjo-Tooie.

First NES - $20 at Cashies in December 2002. Got Bionic Commando with it - UGH!

Sony PlayStation 2 - Bought for $395 in December 2002. Came with World Rally Championship.

First Sega Dreamcast - Bought for $120 at Cashies in January 2003. Kept randomly resetting. Turned out it was FULL of cigarette ash. Disassembled entirely and completed sanitised. Worked perfectly ever since. Bought Sega Rally 2 with it.

First Sega Saturn - $40 at Cashies in Feb 2003 (model 2). Bought Hi-Octane (awful) and Sega Rally (awesome) with it.

Sega Mega Drive II + Sega Mega CD II combo set - June 2003, $50 perfect condition, boxed (looked unused). Included Road Avenger.

Sega Master System II - July 2003, free off a family friend with 7 games.

Microsoft Xbox - Birthday present (Aug 28th 2003)

Second Sega Saturn - Mint, unused $25 at Cashies (Oct 2003)

Second SNES - came with Score Master Arcade Stick and HoneyBee Super Magic Converter all for $19 (Dec 2003).

Second Sega Dreamcast - Mint condition, bought as a spare for $100 from GameTraders in Dec 2003.

Sony PSone + LCD Combo - brand new from EB for $200 in December 2003

Sega Mega Drive - complete (box/manual/Sonic 1), $20at Cashies (Feb 2004)

First Sega 32X - No cables, $5, Good Samaritan Store (March 2004)

SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color - Brand new off Play-Asia for $110 shipped with 6 games (March 2004).

Second NES - Mint unused, $5 at Good Sammy's (April 2004)

Sega Master System - console only, $3 at Good Sammy's (Sept 2004)

Second Sega 32X - no AC adapter (had a spare anyway), everything else present (32X cable/converter cable/manual/box/metal things etc) for $35 shipped off eBay (Sept 2004)

Super Famicom - console only, $20 from Good Sammy's (Nov 2004)

Second Sega Game Gear - bought as a replacement from original GG which died. $75 off eBay. Then it broke pretty quickly but I cannabalised it for parts and got my old one working again. Probably one of my worst purchases however.

Amiga CD32 - Bought for $20 from sunday markets. Dead (Feb 2005).

Atari 7800 - $5 from Sunday Markets (April 2005)

Sega Mega Drive 2 (Asian Model) - $10 from Cash Generator store (June 2005)

Nintendo DS - birthday present (Aug 28th 2005)

I think about covers it all!

[Zilla]

Original Gameboy- christmas of 89 with Tetris- long since gone
Sega Genesis- summer 92- long since traded in for a.........
N-64- sometime in 97- traded in for a.......
PS1- sometime in 98
GBC- summer 98
Genesis (again)- fall 98 bought from a friend
SNES- 1st half 99 given to by a friend
Dreamcast- spring 2000 traded in for a ......................
PS2- sometime in 2002
Decided to never trade anything in again and get into collecting to facilitate gaming- beginning 2004
NES- 2004 ebay
SNES-2004 Gamestop
N64-2004 Gamestop
GBA SP-2004 Wal-Mart
Genesis-2004 Gamestop
Gamecube-2005 Target
SMS-2005 friend
Saturn-2005 ebay
Dreamcast-2005 flea market
TG-16-2005 friend
DS-2005 friend as a wedding present to me
PSOne-2005 Ebay
X Box- 2005 Halo Edition Present from wife

[diskoboy]

Odyssey 2 - Christmas present 1979. It was actually meant for my sister. Of course, It ended up being mine. My sister played it once the whole time we had it.
Atari 2600 - Christmas present 1981. This was mine. I had to have Pac-Man and Space Invaders..
Intellivision - I bought it off a friend for $50 after he got an NES in '88.
C-64 - Christmas 1983.
NES - The very first console I bought with my own hard earned money. I remember seeing an add in USA Today for them in 1986, and I had to have one. By the end of the summer, I saved the $80 for the console/SMB only set. I got it the Friday before I started 6th grade. Good times..
SMS - Christmas 1987
Genesis - Christmas 1989 (I spent all Xmas day playing Ghouls N' Ghosts.)
SNES - I bought in 1992, right before Street Fighter 2 came out.
JAG - Christmas 95. Regreted it 3 days later.
didn't buy any consoles until....
Dreamcast - Bought on 9/9/99 with a copy of Sonic Adventure and Soul Calibur. The DC got me back into gaming again.
Xbox - Febuary 2002.
Still waiting on my 360 (EDIT - got one on 3/1/06).

[Retsudo]

PS2- I bought a year ago at EBgames.com. Bought by a Girlfriend. My first one bought in April of 2001. I had to have it to play Tekken Tag.

Dreamcast- My nephew gave it to me. Along with 2 games

PS1- Bought it at Funcoland in 1997. Bought by me. My first one was bought in April of 96. I got a PS1 for Tekken.

Saturn- My nephew gave it to me. Along with 13 games.

NES- I bought in 1985. Dont remember where. Dont remember why I bought it.

Snes Mini- I bought it at a Pawnshop in 2002 for 30 bucks.
My first one I bought in 92 along with SF2.

Genny/ Sega CD- Bought from a customer at EBgames for 10 bucks. It also came with 9 complete games and 2 Genny carts. Including Snatcher.

Intellivision- My pops bought it for me in 1981. Actually its a Tandyvision from Radioshack.

[Flack]

Pong: Family gift, November 1977.
Odyssey II: Family gift, Xmas 1978.
Atari 2600: Family gift, Xmas 1979.
TRS-80 III: Family gift, Summer 1981.
Apple II: Family gift, Summer 1983.
Commodore 64: Birthday, Summer 1985.
NES: Bought from co-worker, 1990.
SNES: Bought from Best Buy, close out, 1994.
Atari 5200: Garage sale, CIB for $5, Summer 1994.
PSX: Birthday gift from dad, Summer 1996.
N64: Birthday gift from wife, Summer 1997.
Dreamcast: Xmas gift from wife, Xmas 2000
PS2: Camped out launch day, 2000.
GBA: Got to play while wife was in labor, Winter 2001.
GP32: Bought online, Summer 2002.
Genesis: 1st one, gift from friend, Fall 2002.
Intellivision: Bought via DP Forums, Winter 2002.
GCN: Bought for $79 on Black Friday, 2003.
Saturn: Thrift store, $10, Summer 2005.
Xbox: Bought from Omnedon, 2005.