Your console chronology

[isiolia]

Started trying to make it more autobiographical...but got lazy. Here's a more basic list...years may be slightly off. Computer platforms are just the first of that type I got.

1985: Apple IIe
1988: NES
1991: PC
1992: SNES
1993: Genesis, Game Boy
1995: Game Gear, 32X, Playstation
1996: Saturn, N64, Macintosh, Virtual Boy
2000: Dreamcast
2001: PS2, Gamecube, GBA, Jaguar
2002: XBox
2007: XBox 360
2008: PS3
2009: Wii, PSP
2010: DS
2011: 3DO, Sega CD, SMS

[miraland]

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (1990s)
SNES (1992)
Game Boy
Playstation
Dreamcast
Playstation 2
Now: xBox 360

The most memorable gaming experience I had is with my Sega Mega Drive...today's gaming gives me headache.

[MyNameIsVince]

Here's the long version of my console chronology:

Nintendo Entertainment System - I got this system, like millions of other kids, that fateful Christmas of 1988 when the "Action Set" was released to the world. Containing the system, the ubiquitous Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt combo cart, 2 controllers (so my mom would occasionally play as Luigi in SMB, no lie), and a gray (not orange, 'yeah, I'm awesome) zapper to shoot those blasted ducks (too bad I couldn't blast that dog to bits). I had a somewhat love/hate relationship with the system, mostly due to my ratio of good games (Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, etc.) and bad ones (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, TMNT, etc.), but I stuck with it anyway. Growing up with the system is also one of the few remaining memories I have of my old house in which I grew up at (I had the NES for a couple of years before my family and I moved to a new house on the other side of Fontana).

Super Nintendo - I got this one on Christmas of 1991 (see a pattern here?). THIS....was the system that made me a video game fanatic. I would obsess over this system and the games that followed it. Super Mario World, Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Metroid, etc. I had more games for this system than any other that followed it (and it still holds true today). Not only was this system responsible for me becoming a video game fanatic, the SNES may have also jumpstarted my interest in "retro gaming", thanks to an impromptu session at my old dorm at UC Riverside in 2002-2003 and following a few drunken video game sessions with my friend Mike, the SNES helped me come full circle into my gaming now as a newly minted 29 year old man. It was my favorite system then and it's my favorite system now.

Game Boy (original) - I don't know WHEN I got this exactly. I remember playing one briefly as a kid (courtesy of my uncle), playing a few rounds of Solar Striker and what not. Eventually sometime in 1992-93 I think....I got a Game Boy. I loved it, despite the green screen and need to play it in the light. Had a few classics for it, and it got me through many vacations. Hell it got me through my mom's pregnancy with my brothers (I remember specifically playing Donkey Kong Land on it while at the hospital, and yes for those keeping score, this was 1995). I eventually stopped playing it possibly by the end of the 90s or early 2000s and I wouldn't touch those games again until much later, on something else. To be continued....

Nintendo 64 - My 3rd Nintendo system, and the most advanced one to date. Oh yeah, did I mention, another Christmas gift? Yep. This one was back in 1997 I think. I also remember that unlike the other systems, I got a game separately, and that was Super Mario 64 (in fact I opened the game before the system, which was a BIG give away on what I got). This would eventually be the last video game system (as a youth) in which I would put in many hours of gaming into various games. I remember getting those cartridges and also remembering how expensive they were at the time so I didn't get nearly as many N64 games as the other systems. Oh yeah and this one was responsible for Ocarina of Time, quite possibly my favorite game of all time. Also may have been responsible for my first time gaming with my brothers. Lastly, contrary to popular belief, I did NOT have Goldeneye 007 for the N64 during it's heyday (I got it MUCH later).

Gamecube - I want to say I got this for Christmas of 2001, but I actually am not sure this time (maybe I did but my memory's fuzzy about it). I do remember getting Super Smash Bros Melee for it and playing the hell out of it, mostly by myself.... . I was a senior in high school and by this time my gaming needs were kinda splintered. I was doing more PC gaming (like casual PC gaming, and some game called Grand Theft Auto 2) and not nearly as much console gaming so I didn't get into Gamecube gaming nearly as much. Some people I knew had PS2 and what not. I was one of 2 people in my group who had a Gamecube, but that was it. Hell the only time I did any Gamecube gaming with a friend was in 2003 when my friend Marc would come over to hang with me at my grandma's house by arriving there on his bike (his house was not far from my grandma's house) and we ended up playing Gauntlet:Dark Legacy for hours. It's probably the system I've spent the least amount of time on (as an older youth/borderline adult), which is a shame because it's really a good system. Only recently have I gotten more games for it and put more time into it. BTW mine is an original black model with the special digital a/v out that later versions took out.

Game Boy Advance SP - My brothers had gotten original GBAs before and I....just had no interest in it. So my mom got me a Game Boy Advance SP, which was a folding version of the GBA, with a light. Talk about the most unexpected Easter present ever (especially in 2004 as a 20 year old)! What was also weird was that the GBA SP was a 2 tone color model. In the years since, I've looked up different types of GBA SPs and the 2 tone color one doesn't pop up much (mine is black on top, silver on the bottom). As for my gaming memories with the system.....honestly not much. During the GBA life cycle I only bought ONE game for it, and that was Super Mario Advance 4. My guess was that I was not into portable gaming much and didn't bother with the system. Hell, I did more with my brothers' GBA games than I did with my one measly game. It would be another SEVEN years before I got myself another Game Boy Advance Game, and that may have been because of the next system which was....

Game Boy Advance SP - Yep. Sounds like a repeat, right? Well, yes and no. You see, I found out later on that the Game Boy Advance SP had 2 main versions. One with a "front-light", aka the one with the crappier light (or AGS-001), and one with a "back-light" aka the good one (AGS-101). I had seen the backlit GBA SP in stores but I never had enough money to buy one. So once I got back into retro gaming I got back into looking up handhelds and so that led to looking up Game Boy Advance SPs with the back-light last summer. I wasn't sure which ones had it until I found out it was limited to 3 specific colors. My initial plan was to buy a pearl blue one, but then I bit the bullet on a graphite gray one due to it being a decent price (36 bucks plus shipping) and the promise of it having very few if any scratches on the screen. I also didn't care initially that it didn't have a charger because I had one with my old GBA SP (although I was kinda scared it wouldn't be compatible). So I got it, and it was a BEAUTY.....if you don't mind the scratch marks on the outside and a easier to push than necessary volume rocker. But eh, whatever, DAT SCREEN!!!!! It was worth it. Now I enjoy my newer GBA games on it as well as my old Game Boy original games. Now I gotta get myself some Game Boy Color games to play.

Sega Saturn - Finally, NOT a Nintendo system. Yeah, my first one, and yes I'm surprised that this one was it. I HAVE played on non-Nintendo gaming systems but oddly enough, the Saturn was not one of them. So....why this one? Easy. Sometime in early 2012 I saw an ad on Craigslist for a Sega Saturn on sale for 20 bucks. Reading about the Saturn on Racketboy here (hint hint wink wink) got me curious beforehand, so I messaged the guy about it, and said that he had it. A few texts later and I meet up with him in front of a mall and I got the system, the A/V cable, power cable, 2 controllers (1 model-1 and 1 model-2) and Virtua Fighter 2, for 20 bucks. Yay. He said he had other stuff so I asked him what he had, and he pulled out SMB/Duck Hunt, and TMNT III: the Manhattan Project. I ask how much for TMNT III, he says 5 bucks. So I bought that too. Unfortunately the internal battery was dead and I couldn't figure out initially how to take the damn thing out....watched a video of somebody doing it (after watching a bunch of horribly done videos on it) and realized I was a total n00b in trying to remove it. So then I put a new one in and kaboom. Works like new. However I have not played this thing too often for a couple of reasons. 1) I don't have an available A/V port or spot on my power strip to plug the thing in unless I unplug one of my other systems (and I'm not doing THAT). 2) Games are expensive as shit for the Saturn. Guess I picked the wrong time to collect for it, eh?

So that's my console history in a nutshell. For those wondering, each system before the 2nd GBA SP, I'm the original owner of (sadly this means my SNES suffers from the dreaded ABS yellowing). The 2nd GBA SP and Saturn I bought used. All the systems do work, even though my original Game Boy now has a few rows of dead pixels on the left side of the screen, so it gets no use now, since I just play my original GB games on the SP. Also the N64 is the only system not in my room anymore, because it's basically communal property in the living room (it has been for a while actually), since my brothers have games for it and they game on it more than I do. Not a big deal. If I ever get a job that pays me well enough to move out, I'll just let my brothers have the N64 and I'll get myself one of those shiny new fangled colored ones.

[Razzmatazz]

My dad had a Master System and an original Gameboy around 1993 (whenever the Master System 2 came out with Alex Kidd built in, and Donkey Kong was on Gameboy), and also got me a Mega Drive around 1995.
My first console was a Nintendo 64, in the Goldeneye pack, remember opening that in December 98 on my birthday, and playing the Dam level before I went to school. And using Christmas money to spend £50 on Wcw/nwo Revenge.
My second console was a Sega Dreamcast. I recall seeing Shenmue advertised and was blown away, and requested a Dreamcast for Christmas in 2000. As my birthday is at the start of December, I actually spent my birthday money on Shenmue, and looked at it on my shelf for over 2 weeks until I finally got to play it on Christmas day!
Unfortunately the Dreamcast broke in the summer of 2001, and as Sega had stopped making new ones, I had the option of trading it in for a PS2 (plus a hundred quid) with Gran Turismo 3.
In 2003 I picked up a Gamecube (after getting a job at Mcdonalds) and 2004 picked up an Xbox too. So at one point I had all 3 consoles. I realised this wasn't feasible to play all the good games on each console, so I'm sure I sold the PS2. I remember in 2006 I had a problem with my Xbox and sold that too, for a measly £10 to a friend. The Gamecube is still around somewhere.
In 2005 I bought a Japanese DS off a college mate.
In spring 2007 I bought an Xbox 360, and I recall buying it on a lunch break whilst at college, and my classmates hiding it when I wasn't looking. Man that was stressful lol. I think I got Ghost Recon and Perfect Dark Zero, and recall playing them online.
In 2008 I sold the Xbox 360 after not playing it much, and picked up a slimline silver PS2. I picked up another Dreamcast too.
In 2009 I bought an Xbox 360 after Gears of War 2 came out as I loved the first one. This broke in 2011.
In October 2010 I replaced it with a Xbox 360 S (the black 250gb one), and this died on Christmas Eve 2011. Ruined a few of my Christmas presents!
That Christmas I got a Wii and have stuck with that since.

[Key-Glyph]

The biggest regrettable gaming decision I ever made comes up next. The Nintendo 64 just came out, and I decided I didn't care about the Sega Genesis/CD anymore. I let my mom handle the JVC, 2 controllers, a 6 pad controller, Sonic 2, S&K, Vectorman 1-2, Earthworm Jim, Ristar, Sonic CD, Jurassic Park CD, and Ecco the Dolphin CD... she took all this into a garage sale, and sold it to some kid for $10. This is back in the 90's folks, I can't even imagine how much I would have gotten at a pawn shop or game store. I was devastated and haven't forgotten about this since then... since who knows when the hell I'll ever see a JVC again, lol.

This reminds me of how guilty I felt when I was talking to an older adult selling video games at a flea market and she said something like, "Well, my kids are in college now and they haven't looked at this stuff in years." I couldn't help but feel preemptively bad for everyone involved. Was your mom upset about her blunder?

My mother's favorite doll was sold at a garage sale by her own mother, back when she was still a child. She was so devastated by this that she swore never to throw anything of mine or my brother's out until she asked us first.

[Xeogred]

Haha, I am pretty sure my mom was completely oblivious about it. It wasn't intentional, she just doesn't understand technology (had to help her push the power button just like last year or something on their PC). So I think she was probably just as clueless back then and had a very poor idea of how to value consoles/games or something. I don't think I made a big deal of it at the time, but it was very disappointing and just kind of funny to look back on nowadays. Never let her sell my things in garage sales by herself from that point on. lol

[ExedExes]

Cool thread -- too bad it was nearly killed off!

Atari 2600 - 1986 after folks kept it in storage since the late 70s (!!!)

Atari 7800 - 1988

NES - Christmas 1989 (after years of pleading)

Game Boy (original) - Christmas 1990

SNES - 8/27/1991 (also got the 2 launch titles very next day)

Game Boy Color - 2001

Dreamcast - 2001

GBA SP - 2012

GameCube - 2012

I know, real exciting

[BoringSupreez]

Cool thread -- too bad it was nearly killed off!

Atari 2600 - 1986 after folks kept it in storage since the late 70s (!!!)

Atari 7800 - 1988

NES - Christmas 1989 (after years of pleading)

Game Boy (original) - Christmas 1990

SNES - 8/27/1991 (also got the 2 launch titles very next day)

Game Boy Color - 2001

Dreamcast - 2001

GBA SP - 2012

GameCube - 2012

I know, real exciting

You went a whole decade from '01 to '12 without any new systems?

[pankakes123]

Being in highschool present day, I began with the first model GBA. Early games I remember having are Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Pokemon Ruby.

Next I got a Gamecube for Christmas. Still to this day, best Christmas ever. I love the system to death. Early games I remember having were Spider-Man, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Then came the Nintendo DS Lite. So good I ended up giving my GBA SP (I eventually the SP after the first model GBA) to Good Will, not aware of its future value obviously. Early games I remember were New Super Mario Bros., Mario vs. Donkey Kong March of the Minis, and Pokemon Pearl.

Staying strictly Nintendo, I got the Wii the year it came out for Christmas. Honestly can not remember the very first games I had for it, mainly because most of the very early Wii games I ended up selling. However, some early games I remember having were Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Finally breaking from being Nintendo only, though I still love Nintendo, the Xbox 360 was added to my collection. I got the 360 in 2008, and early games I had for it were COD4, COD5, and Halo 3.

My video game collecting really started up in 2010 though. The systems I bought since 2010 have been the SNES, N64, PS2, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Dreamcast, and XBOX.

Lastly, Christmas of 2011 I got a 3DS with Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, and Pokemon Rumble Blast!

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Hah, to my memory

-1997 PC (until...2004 O_O)
-GBA SP
-PS2
-PS3
-PSP
-PS1
-NES
-SNES
-N64
-GameCube

Doing things in a pretty strange order.