I feel privileged when I think about my gaming history. Whilst I wasn’t there to see the start of it all, I’ve been about for some truly landmark times. The Nintendo vs. SEGA wars; the rise and fall (then subsequent rise) of Nintendo; the death of SEGA consoles; the emergence of Sony and Microsoft as gaming giants, and the birth of motion gaming – it’s been amazing.
I started gaming at a fairly young age, and I’m pretty sure it was on my cousin’s Spectrum. My first memory is playing a game that I think was Spyhunter, as well as a Thundercats title where you could move left, right, or swing a sword; that was witchcraft.
The NES is where everything changed for me though, and I never looked back. My cousin (again) was given one as a gift so I spent as much time there as possible playing classics such as Duck Hunt, the various Mario games, Double Dragon, and Bayou Billy. Looking back it was actually quite a unique bonding experience for my cousin and I, as we hand endless discussions on the walk to school with regards to tactics for getting past particularly tricky sections on games (do we use the ‘P’ power up now, or save it for the boss battle?).
Then, one Christmas morning, like a scene from a Disney movie I unwrapped my very own NES – a gift I’m sure my parents have regretted ever since. I was a huge Nintendo fan back then, which is why I’m willing to cut them so much slack nowadays, and will always be one of the first to look for positives. When they are on the ball the games they produce have no equal as far as I’m concerned. My biggest gaming ‘damn!’ came from the purchase of SEGA’s ‘MultiMega’, essentially a Mega Drive and a Mega CD bolted into a frame the size of a personal Discman (remember them?). I’ll be blunt, it was a £300+ epic fail and my dad ended up selling it for £15. The price they are being bought for today? £200 – £500. God Damn…
It’s become a bit of a running joke within my family that I simply have to buy any new console that is released into the wild. I wouldn’t say it’s an addiction (as Panorama would burn me), it’s more down to the fact that I have to experience it all; the idea that I miss out on an amazing game is simply unfathomable to me. As of this moment, scattered around various places, I have a Commodore 64, a Wii, DS, DS Lite, DSi,, Gamecube, Game Boy Player, N64, SNES, Pocket Famicom, PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP 3000, PSPgo, Xbox, Xbox 360, Mega Drive, Mega Drive II, Master System, Game Gear, Saturn (with import key), Dreamcast, N-Gage (shame), iPod, iPad, and a NeoGeo Pocket Colour.
I refuse to sell them, as it would be like selling part of myself; to paraphrase a certain VP of awesome – I love gaming! I love how it started, I love how it has evolved, and I can’t wait to see where it’s heading. My next gaming target is the Nintendo 3DS; by hook or by crook I will get one. She will be called Linda.
R4U Eldave0
Damn thats quite a console collection! Unfortunately I’m skint most of the time so I usually have to sell my older consoles and games to upgrade to the next level of consoles. I think i have an N64 in the loft mind you.. couldnt bring myself to get rid of that one ;)
Redh3lix
You’re gaming history sounds remarkably similar to mine :D
I’m glad you said Commodore 64. I loved the rivalry between Commodore and Atari ST owners. *aaah those were the days*
I think there’s one console I owned that doesn’t appear to be on your list, the Panasonic 3DO. :D
Dan Lee
Ha yeah, never really fancied that one, or the jaguar
Redh3lix
Yeah, it was utter pants as consoles go. The only game I have fond memories of playing on it was Road Rash.
BrendanCalls
I love the start.
I too appreciate that I have been there for all the key moments in ths rise of video gaming. I missed out on Pong back in the very early days but every momentous occasion since then i am gald to say I was a very very small part of
Redh3lix
Oh, and just a pointless fact, the Atari Lynx handheld (rival to Game Gear) was MUCH more powerful than the Game Gear, although it failed primarily due to marketing. Shame.
DrNate86
I loved my Atari Lynx! Little bastard didn’t half get through a lot of batteries though.
matthangzhou
My Dad refused to get my a “gaming machine” and instead insisted on buying a Commodore +4, a Commodore 64, Amiga 1600 (I think) because to him if it had a keyboard then obviously I’d spend all my time typing on it. It wasn’t until I was 17 that I bought myself a PS1. Resident Evil and FFVII, just thinking of those times brings back so many memories.
bunimomike
Hahaha! Same here. My eldest brother insisted on an Amiga 2000 with MBs worth of memory upgrade. It was over a grand.
Programming carried out on it for my brother’s education? 10%
Gaming done on it? 90%
Top article, Dan. My mate’s pretty much like you. Has owned every console launched in the West. Still has way, WAY too many. Hell, his box of mobile phones is scary enough as it is!
Children are so devious.
stingraz
“I refuse to sell them, as it would be like selling part of myself”
I refuse to sell my consoles, as I would get nothing for them! Might as well keep them for the occasional trip to memory lane ..
eye8have9you3
Ah N-gage, been there, done that, felt the disappointment…
Dan Lee
Endured the taunts…
gaffers101
Me too. Found mine recently so sent it off to one of those cash back firms.
G_The_Enemy14
I feel so young! My first console was the PS1. I haven’t bought every console since but I have managed to try everything in one way or another so I completely understand what you are saying!
BIGAL-1992
How much cash have spent overall on consloes dan?
Dan Lee
Not sure – a lot of stuff I’ve bought second hand so the biggest expensive has been the current generation of consoles.
BIGAL-1992
Wow.
UKZ-N3M1515
wow. somebody with a bigger collection of consoles than me D:
Mine isnt massive, but big to say im only just 16.
i own, a megadrive, SNES, N64, dreamcast, gamecube, xbox, xbox 360, ps1, ps2, ps3, Wii, i think i still have a commodore 64 in the loft, then i have some old gameboys and a psp1000. my games are mostly ps3, ps2, ps1 and original xbox, as for SNES and Megadrive i got them both at a carboot sale, cost me a tenner for the megadrive with i think 12 or 13 games, and SNES was 20quid with maybe 4 games? and i bought a few from ebay since, when i bought the N64, even though i had a ps3, i played it an awful lot, brought back memory when playing MK with my uncle, still need to buy that game :( i had a SNES before i bought another too, but i think it got stolen from my shed, i have about 40+ games for it, Barts Nightmare, please, come back to meeee :( ah, how i miss that little collection. i once had a sega saturn too, Sonic was all i played, but i remember spilling orange juice on it, causing it to break. The saturn was really were my gaming started, as that was my first console, the rest i got for birthdays/christmas’/inherited, or saved up for.