A Personal History of Video Games
Listed below are the video games I have owned over the years. Feel free to join in and list the ones you have had, and your memories of them.Atari 2600My brother had an Atari 2600 when I was about 7 years old. I remember sitting on the lounge floor, taking turns among him and his friends. I remember playing Space Invaders, Pacman, Combat, Space War, Defender, and Asteroids.
MSXI got an MSX for Christmas when I was about 11 years oldan 8 bit computer roughly comparable to a Commodore 64. The MSX machines had lots of Konami cartridge games, such as Nemesis, Yee Ar Kung Fu, Hyper Rally, and Track and Field. It also had tape games, such as Jet Set Willy, and Manic Miner. I would spend my pocket money every week on another tapeNintendo Entertainment System (NES)I got a NES for christmas one year in the late 1980sthe kit with the light gun, and the robot. I remember playing Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, Excite Bike, and RC Pro Am for hours and hours.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)I bought the SNES myself, after working in the summer when I was about 16. It was kind of mythical at the timeit had been out in Japan for a year or so, and the video games magazines had pictures of amazing games like Pilot Wings that had 3D graphics. I remember playing Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Super Tennis, and countless other games on it.
Sega Megadrive (Genesis)I bought the Megadrive (known as the Genesis in the US) not long after the SNES, because I had disposable income back then from my summer job. I remember playing John Madden Football, FIFA, NHL Hockey, and of course Sonic the Hedgehog on it.
Sony PlaystationI can still remember bringing the Sony Playstation home, and plugging it into the TV in the lounge. I only had a couple of games to begin withone of which was “Tekken”, and nobody could believe what they were seeingfinally we had something on a par with a coin-op arcade machine in our living room. I remember playing Gran Turismo all night when it came out. I also remember a fantastic fighting game called “Star Gladiator”.
Sega SaturnI can't actually remember buying it, but I remember having itand playing Sega Rally almost continually one summer, until myself and my brother were shaving tenths off our times for the most difficult course in the game. There were some hilarious Sonic the Hedgehog fighting games on it.
Nintendo 64I got the N64 from eBay, along with a box full of games. Mario 64, and Mario Kart 64 were stunningthey still are. It also introduced us to Zelda, and a life-long obsession for my other half.
Sega DreamcastAnother eBay acquisition. The games were by far the most original among any of the machines at the time. The mention of “Space Channel 5” still raises smiles with my other half. You can't even begin to explain “Chu Chu Rocket” to anybody that hasn't played it.
Nintendo GamecubeAn eBay acquisition. Of all the old machines in the house, this is the one that still gets played the most. Our kids have 2nd hand gamecubes in their rooms (they are indestructible), and they have played Mario Party to destruction. The gamecube introduced my other half to Animal Crossing, and of course Wind Wakerprobably our favourite Zelda game.
Sony Playstation 2I bought the PS2 specifically to play Gran Turismo 3, and it didn't disappoint. Looking back, I wish we had never sold itwe ended up with perhaps 150 games, and all the accesoriesmicrophones, dance mat, guitars, etc. I can't even begin to list the favourite games, because there were too many of them.
Microsoft XBoxI remember buying it one weekend, and walking home thinking up what I was goiing to say to my other half. It was pretty much bought purely to play Halo, and Forza Motorsport. It was brilliant, and I still miss some of the games we had on it (I sold it at the same time as the PS2 because we needed the money).
Nintendo WiiWe bought this when we had the kids, and it's still played on rainy days now. Wii Sport Resort is probably the most played game. In the early days we would play bowling with friends. It's hard to remember how different it was when it first appeared.
Microsoft XBox 360The current machine sitting under the TV in the lounge. We have a fair number of games for it, but bizarrely it spends most of it's life streaming moviesor at least it did until we bought a 30 black box that does the same thing. We have GTA5, F1, Forza, and all the other games of note.
Almost unbelievably, we do not have anything from the “current” generation yet. I have thought about getting a Wii U several times, but they are all expensive, and we don't have the money at the moment. Maybe at Christmas time.
It's funnyhaving kids has changed what we might buy quite considerably. The games for the PS4, and XBox One are very targetted at the 20-something crowd, which kind of makes them useless for our children, and therefore for us as a family.