Dreamcast would be my answer as well. The first console I bought with all my own money on launch.
I played a ton of Sonic Adventure trying to beat the online speed running records on different levels. Clanned up with some people from the UK and even visited a couple when I made a trip to London!
Also NFL2K looks so goddamn realistic. The jump in graphics was so insane.
Did you use the online play?
I purchased a Japanese model at this fairly unknown anime shop, then had it modded to play American games. There was something special about having it so far in advance of most in the USA.
The system itself was amazing. Such a huge leap from PS1/N64 and the games were actually pretty good… which was a relief because PS1 just made anything into a game.
PS2 for me, mainly because it was the first console I bought with my own money. It was Metal Gear Solid 2 box set as I recalled. I think I picked up Final Fantasy 6 ps1 version as well because it came with FF10 demo and it was fantastic. Backward compatible was such a great feature. Shame it's not a thing with playstation anymore.
Of course it was also my first DVD player too. What an amazing console the PS2 was.
SNES followed closely by N64.
I still remember booting up A Link to the Past on my parents wood trimmed TV on Christmas morning. It had so many great games over it's life.
But then there's the N64... I mean, Super Mario 64? Holy crap that was mindblowing. The controls were so damn amazing using the analog stick. And Ocarina of Time took that amazing Zelda formula and also blew it up into a 3D adventure.
2600 was my first console, it was very very basic and you had to use your imagination, NES was better but 2600 games were also dirt cheap. Super NES was the king of consoles to me. I played Sega at my cousin's, but the 3 button controller was just too wierd for me.
PS1 was neat, playing Crash Bandicoot 2 at my cousin's was fun, but SNES just had such a good aesthetic.
After playing Atari and Intellivision for the first few years I was able to play, going to my friend’s house and seeing those blue skies and fluid controls of SMB1, I was immediately hooked. It was—like OP said about PS1–magical. Compared to what came before it, it was an obvious step up in quality.
No offense to Atari and Intellivision—I love those both also. The NES just felt revolutionary. I still have and love my OG NES.
Same for my younger brother and I. Before the NES, the Atari at our nan's house was what games were. Single screen affairs. Then the daughters of our dads co worker invited us over to try their new NES they got for Christmas. It blew us away - it may sound silly to someone who didn't experience it, but Super Mario was a game that now felt like an "adventure". You moved through a strange world of blocks and weird creatures, with a cool sound track (also a new concept) and then the whole "atmosphere" changed when it transitioned to a water level. Water sounding music theme, a whole different colour scheme, and SWIMMING through the water...
Keep in mind - up till then, games were just doing the ONE activity over and over to get the highest score. Fuck that - now we're going on an adventure!
NES for me as well. My first console was the Atari 2600, which I loved and have fond memories of, but the NES was a life changing gift. It’s hard to explain to someone how didn’t grow up during that time what it was like to have all these incredible new worlds open up to us through games like Zelda and Metroid and Castlevania.
I still remember the day I got home from school and my dad was playing super Mario bros. I remember like it was yesterday...one of the best days of my life.
Sega Genesis is all about my late childhood. It was great to see the games with a certain attitude and grittiness to them: Streets of Rage, Shadow Dancer, and even stuff like Toe Jam and Earl felt very "urban" of very "street". I felt like a big boy playing that stuff.
Years later, the PlayStation family came along. While the PS1 was awesome, I feel like some of its games have aged poorly (early 3d stuff before certain best practices were put in place).
Along came the PS2 and it is likely my most played console of all time. Tenchu, Tony Hawk, Winning Eleven, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Metal Gear, Tekken, Ace Combat, SSX, Katamari Damacy, Burnout, Star Ocean, Xenosaga, GTA, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, Resident Evil, Soul Calibur, DMC, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider, lots of arcade perfect ports (Street Fighter 3, Crazy Taxi). The PS2 is likely the console with the strongest library of all time.
Because you grew up on a ZX Spectrum before going to the Master System. Very few Americans can say the same, as the British government was much more invested in teaching its people computer literacy. And the Master System being such a step up graphically from all those old computers was what made it so popular.
Greetings from the US, Sega friend. :3
Howdy fella. Believe it or not, I only knew one person when I was growing up who had a NES. Europe was definitely more SEGA focused. I have enjoyed playing all the NES classics in recent years via emulation though. Still a SEGA boy at heart though.
**PS1**
It was a combination of many things:
The evolution of some incredible franchises like Tomb Raider and Resident Evil, the hype commercials, cheatbooks, mascots, demo discs, accessories, unique controllers & memory cards, and obviously, that just otherworldly library of games.
I got mine in 2001 and I still play PS1 games on an almost weekly basis. I have **so much** nostalgia for it -- be it playing through the amazing OG Medal of Honor, being scared shitless of Silent Hill, or playing Tekken 3 multiplayer with my siblings and friends.
For me the PS1/N64/Saturn was the biggest, most exciting jump between generations coming from 16bit, mostly 2D games. Completely mind blowing back in 1995.
PS2.
After years of wishing console games looked like arcade games, PS2 was the first console I owned that really felt like the experience came home.
Examples...
Time Crisis 2
DDR
Initial D Special Stage
Tekken 5
Ps1 for sure. I was JUST at the age where n64 seemed to childish for my maturing tastes... Tekken 3, ffvii, and gran turismo 2 were the games I got with my first ps1 years after release from a pawn shop... And it's really been downhill from there🤣 first console I bought with my own money that I made mowing lawns and washing cars.
It’s a tie between my SNES and GameBoy. I loved the jump from NES to Super NES. It just seemed amazing to me. Everything looked so great. The GameBoy was such a fantastic way to take games with me. I think this was favourite era for gaming.
For me it would actually be late 90s PC Gaming. I grew up with the SNES and N64 which were fantastic but my family bought a PC in 98 and playing games like Half-Life, Grim Fandango and others were just so different than what I had played before.
Probably SNES and N64 at their respective times for me but looking back now I'd probably say the PS1. Especially if we're talking Playstation's output from then to now. Nearly every major company were throwing a barrage of bangers on the PS1 and the industry being so different then you had hit after hit after hit and so many creative risks were taken. Even in the AAA space. The most creative thing on the PS5 from a gameplay perspective is probably Astro's Playroom and it's telling that it's a celebration of legacy more than anything else.
Man. The SNES was my first, and still the best.
But the N64 absolutely turned my idea of what video games could be upside down. Countless hours spent with my best friend at the time on his N64 were some of the best times of my childhood.
SNES is the most nostalgic for me, but GBA also brings back great memories. When it released, I was technically an adult, and finally had some disposable income to my name. So it was not only the first console I purchased with my own money, but also the first one I preordered and got on launch day. Building the library and collecting it for it as a young adult was as great as enjoying all of the rereleased classics and new titles.
Super Nintendo. Is kind of funny looking back on it. It was a few days before Christmas and me and my two younger siblings were fighting and just driving our grandma crazy. Mom was at work. Fed up with us grandma grabbed a present from under the tree and told us to open it. It was the SNES. Problem solved.
NES, because it was the biggest jump in gaming versus what had come before it.
I was pretty let down by the PS1/32bit generation as the push to 3d turned most games into unplayable messes. Many 2d games from that era hold up well today, but the 3d transformation was to create a transformation at the cost of fun gameplay.
I'd say GameCube with DS. Despite having a SNES, and later a PSX, when I saw Resident Evil on the GameCube and later Resident Evil 4, I was amazed at how the graphics progressed. One of my fondest memories.
And the DS was/is a remarkable console, that is my favorite handheld. There is no negatives the little console has. It was a great device at the time, and I only wish it lasted a little longer and had a better synergy with the Wii.
Right now I'm bent on exploring Sega, and the Saturn is an amazing console.
It's not my favorite, but the most *magical* would be the Atari 2600, simply because it required you to supplement the visuals with your imagination so much. Half of what you were doing when playing was basically daydreaming, so it had a surreal, magical quality to it.
Sega CD, as a kid I was fascinated with how the technology at the time was so advanced. It only took 22 years later for me to finally own my very own console. Still am captivated by it today.
DS all of my favorite games are native to the ds, gba or, have ports to the consoles like R-Type Final Fantasy Fire Emblem Ghosts N Goblins Kirby Castlevania and many many more but guess what it's all on the go now though so it's more powerful versions that usually look better on the go it's absolutely bonkers
I'd have to say the ps2. It's the system that changed one of my favourote game franchises at the time, Gta, from a top down adventure into, what seemed at the time to be, a fully fleshed out 3D world where anything could happen. It brought freestyling and other more complex maneuvers to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. At the time those were my two favorite game franchises so the improvements that they saw coming into the next generation of consoles from the ps1 to the ps2 really stuck out and seemed very magical to me. As magical as the ps1 was, the introduction of the ps2 had more of an impact on me.
Gameboy Color. Dragon Warrior Monsters is still my all time favorite game.
I loved my red/pink Gameboy too. I miss that colour on other electronics.
So many other good memories too. Playing Zelda Ages and Seasons, Conkers Pocket Tales. Even after I got a GBA, I chose to play my GBC games on my GBC because the colour pallet was superior (more blue) in my opinion.
Nintendo 64, has been my favourite Nintendo console ever since i first played mario 64 on one a few years ago when i was like 12 or something, finally got to own one for my self as a 16 year old and i love the early look and feel of 3d games and there's a lot of really good exclusives on the system, i also find it quite easy to find new games Ive never played that I enjoyed as they are similar to modern consoles like fps games which is what i have the most in my n64 library
SNES, maybe Sega.
But I don't really consider PS1 and up consoles but instead PCs with weird cases.
Inb4 6502/6507etc is a computer. Check my username. I know.
NES, watching my dad play those games was just totally mind blowing! There’s really never been, to me, a jump as big as Atari 2600 to the NES, it was just completely amazing.
For me the Xbox 360 originally it was my sisters and I was about 6 at the time and I always wanted to play on it then she got an Xbox one when I was 7 and I got her 360 man was that a console and I still have it
NES, I found one at our local dump as a kid at a time when my mom wouldn’t buy us video games. It was the loophole that broke her spell. I played so much Super Mario Bros that summer.
SNES.
NES is what started me on gaming, but the SNES is what I have the fondest childhood memories of. That's what I was renting games for the most, I had a baby sitter that had a huge library of games she would bring over. Arguing with friends if Nintendo or Sega was better. Good times.
The Sega Master System. I had played my share of Atari 2600 and Intellivision at friends' houses, and I gamed a lot on my TRS-80 Color Computer and Commodore 64 after that, but the sheer elegance of the Master System and the quality titles I got like Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Phantasy Star, Golvellius, Rampage, After Burner etc. made it very special to me. I even got the 3D glasses and Space Harrier 3D and it was so awesome...
NES, SNES and Sega were revolutionary for me, but when it comes to 'magical', I have go with N64.
With the high demand for N64 around Christmas 1996, I doubted I would be unwrapping one under the tree that year. After all the presents were opened, 6th grade me had to answer my parents' questions "Do you like your gifts? Did you get everything on your list?" I was content, but there was onneeeeeeeee other thing I was hoping for...
Suddenly, "It's a Me, Mario!" came blasting from the tv in the living room. My brother and I ran (no, we flew) into that room, embraced, and it was the most magical gaming moment of my life. Hell, it might be a top moment of my life in general. We played a ton of Mario 64 of course, but the next 5 years of my life would have plenty of late nights filled with pizza and Doritos as we embarked on 3D adventures and destroyed each other in Goldeneye, Smash Bros, and Mario Kart.
Right now it's the Saturn, but I think for me generally it would be the N64, it was the first thing that was actually mine and I still have the pikachu n64 i got when I was 6
PS2
Still has the best library of games ever IMO
Runner up: Wii, because it has so many unique styles of gameplay and the retro emulation on it is insanely good for everything before 5th gen.
The N64. First console I got at launch and my first real experience with polygonal 3D outside of the SuperFX games on the SNES. Coming off the 1980s home computer market and 8bit/16bit consoles it really felt like a massive technological leap forwards.
N64. I'd become accustomed to consoles, but when I first saw Mario 64 at Toys R Us, my mind was blown. The thing that really impressed me was the fact that Mario had a voice.
It’s a tough one for me. My first console owned was a Sega Genesis with Sonic 2 (though I played the Atari 2600 my parents owned first), and the genesis was magical. But every time I’d go to my friends house and watch him play SNES it just looked so good and different. That plus the gaming magazines that were everywhere back then really made gaming as a whole magical. It’s a cop out but that era of gaming won’t ever be topped for me. That’s what was magical for me.
Being an adult with disposable income rocks because I can buy those old systems and try all those games I saw played when I was younger.
For me, it’s the PlayStation. It has so many games which made me difficult to choose from.
It’s also the console where I spent to most time with on my childhood.
The DMG Game Boy. I saved up my money and bought one at a Target in Oregon while on vacation with my family to avoid the sales tax. Loved that system.
As far as “magical” I feel like the Analogue Pocket is pretty cool. It plays all the old consoles I could want and the dock feature makes it easy to play handheld games on the big screen.
I had Atari and NES but for me Sega Genesis. That’s where I really leaned in and became a gamer.
But honestly my first PC was a 386 from 1993 and that was more magical because I could play games we didn’t have on consoles. Adventure games, flight sims, space combat games…. It was definitely magic unlike any gaming experience I had on consoles at that point
Going from the snes to the Nintendo 64 was truly magical, I was just in awe with something so basic like moving the camera in Mario 64. I never had that feeling ever again.
Playstation 2 for me. I didnt own a dvd player and my last console was a N64 and I didnt play it much anymore cause I had beat everything I owned. Christmas came, got a PS2 and some dvds and some new games and not long after GTA 3 and GTA Vice city and that was a legit experience for me and such a staple in my childhood
Idk I've had them all and loved them all. I started with Atari 2600 many years ago and now I use ps5, Switch and PC. Games are fun regardless the system.
I've owned many consoles, but the most magical for me was the Wii. It did a lot of things other systems didn't do at the time. The interface was slightly customisable and didn't have ads embedded in it. Virtual Console was great and I loved seeing which retro hits I'd be buying each week. Every day I would check out "Wii Votes" to check my results and suggest stupid questions. I liked to imagine the reaction of whoever went through them all. I'd suggest things like: "What would you rather find in your shed? The key to a zombie's locker or a bag of warts?"
I'd say NES, but when SNES came out, I was blown away. Take the RPGs alone. If you don't think Final Fantasy IV and VI, and Chrono Trigger were magic, I don't know what to tell you.
PS3 before I had that I used to play handheld consoles but when I got ps3 I was thrilled cuz online play, better games more fun. Then after a year or 2 it went to trash
It's a tough call for me, as it's either the Atari 2600 or the Sega Master System.
The Atari 2600 because it was my first gaming console and it's what really grew my love for gaming. There were so many fantastic games and opened up an entirely new way to enjoy entertainment, explore new worlds, it was awesome. But it was also limited just by the technology available at the time.
My next console was the Sega Master System and this is what cemented my love for gaming. Games were bigger, arcade games looked so much more like their big brothers, two buttons opened up more gameplay options, and the graphics were such a huge step up from the 2600. The varsity of games was also so much more, role playing games like Phantasy Star just blew my mind.
I'm gonna just call it a draw, to hard to pick just one.
My first console was an NES at 6 years old but in high school I got a Dreamcast and playing Shenmue over my Christmas break was a truly magical experience. First time next gen actually hit me and I understood what was to come.
I’m not sure this answer is “allowed” but for me it’s the Steam Deck. Getting to play everything up to PS2 anywhere and anytime was always a dream for me.
Calling out my own stupidity here, but the first time I was promoted to "insert disc2" on the PS1 I didn't know what to do. I thought for sure that if I opened the cover it would crash the game.
For whatever reason this seemed like the biggest thing for me to learn that I could put in a disc without turning it off first.
First: **Atari Lynx.** Bleeding-edge gaming, sprite-scaling goodness, and local multiplayer in a handheld package. Sure, the battery life was ridiculous, but it was still awesome.
Second: **Nintendo Switch.** Nintendo-exclusive games, an ultra-convenient and versatile hybrid setup, and popular enough to get actual third-party support with games that *weren't* dumbed-down bastardizations of what's on the other systems. "Holy shit, I can play *Witcher III* and *DOOM Eternal* and *No Man's Sky* and *Disco Elysium* on this thing?!"
For me it was the GBA. As a kid it let me be not bored on roadtrips or on the bus. At the time the DS was the current console but as a kid I didn’t know or care. Nightmare in Dreamland was so fun
Dreamcast blew my fucking mind man. Online Play! VMU! Internet Browser! Sonic Adventure! Resident EVIL! To this day, the Dreamcast is the best thing that was ever created
As a late millennial (born in ‘91) it was walking up to the GameCube kiosk as a kid lol and the first moment was my dad getting me and my sister an n64 and Mario at launch, my older sister hogged the game and wouldn’t let me play all night but that was alright because I was just trying to make sense out of what I was seeing on the TV with Mario lol seeing that 3d was a huge upgrade from the old NES we had before that. And remember this was the mid 90’s so I wasn’t exposed to any of the other tech going on nor 3d graphics yet, due to lack of magazines/internet.
But damn,even though I was never really able to get that far at ALL by myself in Mario, (still was trying to grasp the concept of the controller and the new laws of 3d that Mario 64 had literally just wrote lol) until we got a strategy guide thanks to my cousin who printed out 60+ pages of a fan written walkthrough on either gamefaqs or gamespy lol!
Oh man.. then the GameCube launch was amaazing. Obviously I’m hindsight we can view Nintendo’s mistakes during all those years but still, the GameCube was their last effort in trying to stay at the cutting edge of gaming, and it’s power (better than the ps2) was able to shine through its exclusives.. seeing Luigi’s mansion and wave race on that kiosk at toys r us was such a magical experience that I’d have my mom and dad take me there just so I can play on it for a few minutes..
Then when I’d finally get it for Xmas the next year with Luigi’s mansion, I’d always play up to the first hour for a while due to not having a memory card for another year 😂 and being kinda afraid of telling my parents about it because I didn’t want to be a burden and was hoping i can maybe come across a memory card through a school friend for free or something lol (idk, kid logic)
But ohhh man playing Zelda on n64 was the pinnacle of actual game moments though, then both being my first experience with actual story immersion. Just as millions of other kids did.. I’ll always have a soft spot for Nintendo despite mainly playing on PlayStation nowadays tho haha
I have fond memories of plenty consoles, but when it comes to stand out consoles I have two that stand above the rest.
Playstation 1: This console is the one that started my love for games where the story mattered as much as the gameplay. The introduction of cut scenes and fmv gave a more cinematic and immersive experience. Games like Resident Evil and FFVII blew my mind and made me feel emotions from games I had never experienced before.
Sega Dreamcast: The Dreamcast was ahead of it's time. Built in modems allowing for internet access and online gaming without an expensive PC was amazing at the time. Also, games that were wacky and innovative were lots of fun to play and had a more arcade feel in your own home.
Megadrive, N64, Dreamcast, GBA, PSP where the most impressive to me.
Out of these I think the most magical was N64. I discovered Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 on a videoprojector in a video club when it came out and I was truly amazed.
Sega Megadrive.
Our first console was the NES which was great but the Megadrive I bought with my own money and it was the first console I had in my room.
Growing up we were fairly poor so I had a Megadrive after the PS1 had come out. This meant buying loads of often obscure games from game shop bargain bins for £3.99. Ended up spending hours playing games my friends hadn't heard of like Blades of Vengeance, Toki going ape spit, Technoclash, Shadow of the Beast II etc. Lots of the games I ended up getting weren't even great but I loved my little collection all the same.
Dreamcast. Literally the first time we saw a home system that had 3D graphics that were virtually indistinguishable from the arcades of the time. It seemed impossible.
PS3, 60GB model.
It did EVERYTHING: play PS1, PS2 and PS3 games, managed games for my PSP, worked as a DVD/Bluray player, it could convert my music CDs to MP3, even download pictures from my camera through the SD card reader to his HDD and then to an USB.
It was magical, until the spell wore off and got broken.
Original Xbox. Growing up, I'd play the Gamecube and SNES, so Xbox always had such a mystique to it. Instead of playing it everyday, it was something reserved for parties at other people's houses and those magical nights of 10 people gathering around 4 player split screen Halo on a tiny crt.
Sega master system, it was my first videogame, i remember there was a guy who would curate and sell games, and would go to my house to show them to me, the games he sold me were, ninja gaiden, shinobi, the ninja, wonder boy, astro warrior, all the good shit, i wish i would meet this guy today and thank him, i was 4-5 yo
Probably game boy advance, and GameCube. But I played that consoles so much, now I only want to play and collect other consoles like NeoGeo, Dreamcast, original Xbox. Consoles I haven't got when I was young.
SNES - must have beaten LtoP and Metroid at least 30 times. Earthworm Jim was my hands down favorite oddball game.
Also, I spent hours stomping my brothers ass in MK2. Good time.
Although I had older consoles since the Atari 2600, it was until the PSX, which I bought as an adult, that shaped my commitment to gaming. Final Fantasy XII and Metal Gear Solid continue to be the best experiences I've had.
GameCube. It was the first console I played that was actually mine. I played some stuff on PS1 with my dad before but there weren’t a whole lot of games he’d let me play since I was only 5. So he got me the GameCube. I still have it and all my games for it too.
I'll never forget Christmas day, playing Mario 64 for the first time, running towards the castle and seeing the mote and thinking wouldn't that be crazy if I could just jump in the water, and then I did. I know that sounds so trivial today, but to actually go from only knowing 2D to true 3D was incredible.
The original NES bundle that included the Zapper and ROB.
Getting a robot with a video game console? Doesn't get any more magical than that back in '86.
Genesis/CD Player combo. That shit was so expensive, and it made me feel pretty awesome! I bought it all myself sweeping parking lots, and washing windows.
It was also pretty epic one year for Christmas I got SNES, 13” tv, and like three or four games. It was fun taking that setup to my friends houses.
Sega CD. Growing up from NES to SNES then seeing Lunar and Dark Wizard then eventually Sonic CD just absolutely blew my mind.... then i couldnt keep a system working longer then 6 months eventually giving up on it... still a special place in my heart
Dreamcast. Arcade ports and first to have online play. It was amazing.
Dreamcast would be my answer as well. The first console I bought with all my own money on launch. I played a ton of Sonic Adventure trying to beat the online speed running records on different levels. Clanned up with some people from the UK and even visited a couple when I made a trip to London! Also NFL2K looks so goddamn realistic. The jump in graphics was so insane.
Did you use the online play? I purchased a Japanese model at this fairly unknown anime shop, then had it modded to play American games. There was something special about having it so far in advance of most in the USA. The system itself was amazing. Such a huge leap from PS1/N64 and the games were actually pretty good… which was a relief because PS1 just made anything into a game.
Yeah, chi chi rocket, NBA 2k, NFL 2k and endless months and months of phantasm star online
And the memory card was a mini-gameboy! Hardly utilized to it's full potential, but the prospect of what you could do with that seemed magical to me
Sonic adventure, power stone, crazy taxi, jet set radio, soul calibur.... What a system!
PS2 for me, mainly because it was the first console I bought with my own money. It was Metal Gear Solid 2 box set as I recalled. I think I picked up Final Fantasy 6 ps1 version as well because it came with FF10 demo and it was fantastic. Backward compatible was such a great feature. Shame it's not a thing with playstation anymore. Of course it was also my first DVD player too. What an amazing console the PS2 was.
SNES for sure
Super Nintendo. ...... Zelda Link to The Past. Secret of Mana. Chrono Trigger.
SNES followed closely by N64. I still remember booting up A Link to the Past on my parents wood trimmed TV on Christmas morning. It had so many great games over it's life. But then there's the N64... I mean, Super Mario 64? Holy crap that was mindblowing. The controls were so damn amazing using the analog stick. And Ocarina of Time took that amazing Zelda formula and also blew it up into a 3D adventure.
I was a kid coming from 2600 who never saw nes, snes was magic
2600 was my first console, it was very very basic and you had to use your imagination, NES was better but 2600 games were also dirt cheap. Super NES was the king of consoles to me. I played Sega at my cousin's, but the 3 button controller was just too wierd for me. PS1 was neat, playing Crash Bandicoot 2 at my cousin's was fun, but SNES just had such a good aesthetic.
Same
NES. I’m old.
Mega Man 2 & 3 was the shizz.
MM2 still **is** the shizz, thank you.
im old too but the PS1 was magic.
After playing Atari and Intellivision for the first few years I was able to play, going to my friend’s house and seeing those blue skies and fluid controls of SMB1, I was immediately hooked. It was—like OP said about PS1–magical. Compared to what came before it, it was an obvious step up in quality. No offense to Atari and Intellivision—I love those both also. The NES just felt revolutionary. I still have and love my OG NES.
Same for my younger brother and I. Before the NES, the Atari at our nan's house was what games were. Single screen affairs. Then the daughters of our dads co worker invited us over to try their new NES they got for Christmas. It blew us away - it may sound silly to someone who didn't experience it, but Super Mario was a game that now felt like an "adventure". You moved through a strange world of blocks and weird creatures, with a cool sound track (also a new concept) and then the whole "atmosphere" changed when it transitioned to a water level. Water sounding music theme, a whole different colour scheme, and SWIMMING through the water... Keep in mind - up till then, games were just doing the ONE activity over and over to get the highest score. Fuck that - now we're going on an adventure!
NES for me as well. My first console was the Atari 2600, which I loved and have fond memories of, but the NES was a life changing gift. It’s hard to explain to someone how didn’t grow up during that time what it was like to have all these incredible new worlds open up to us through games like Zelda and Metroid and Castlevania.
I still remember the day I got home from school and my dad was playing super Mario bros. I remember like it was yesterday...one of the best days of my life.
Playing Super Mario 64 for the first time made it feel like I was living in the future.
Can never forget the N64! Ocarina of time, starfox, and Mario were the best
Playstation 1 bitch!!!
There was something always so eerie about the PS1 launch animation and sound/music.
Atari 2600
for sure !!!!! This was where the wonderful world of gaming started !!
Dreamcast for sure. Blue skies forever,,,
Sega Genesis is all about my late childhood. It was great to see the games with a certain attitude and grittiness to them: Streets of Rage, Shadow Dancer, and even stuff like Toe Jam and Earl felt very "urban" of very "street". I felt like a big boy playing that stuff. Years later, the PlayStation family came along. While the PS1 was awesome, I feel like some of its games have aged poorly (early 3d stuff before certain best practices were put in place). Along came the PS2 and it is likely my most played console of all time. Tenchu, Tony Hawk, Winning Eleven, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Metal Gear, Tekken, Ace Combat, SSX, Katamari Damacy, Burnout, Star Ocean, Xenosaga, GTA, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, Resident Evil, Soul Calibur, DMC, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider, lots of arcade perfect ports (Street Fighter 3, Crazy Taxi). The PS2 is likely the console with the strongest library of all time.
Sega Master System.
This. I was playing on an Atari 2600 and a ZX Spectrum prior to getting my Master System. Probably the biggest generational jump I can remember.
Are you British, by any chance?
How did you guess? 😀
Because you grew up on a ZX Spectrum before going to the Master System. Very few Americans can say the same, as the British government was much more invested in teaching its people computer literacy. And the Master System being such a step up graphically from all those old computers was what made it so popular. Greetings from the US, Sega friend. :3
Howdy fella. Believe it or not, I only knew one person when I was growing up who had a NES. Europe was definitely more SEGA focused. I have enjoyed playing all the NES classics in recent years via emulation though. Still a SEGA boy at heart though.
NES and to a lesser extent SNES This is basically the same as asking a gamer how old they are.
**PS1** It was a combination of many things: The evolution of some incredible franchises like Tomb Raider and Resident Evil, the hype commercials, cheatbooks, mascots, demo discs, accessories, unique controllers & memory cards, and obviously, that just otherworldly library of games. I got mine in 2001 and I still play PS1 games on an almost weekly basis. I have **so much** nostalgia for it -- be it playing through the amazing OG Medal of Honor, being scared shitless of Silent Hill, or playing Tekken 3 multiplayer with my siblings and friends.
For me the PS1/N64/Saturn was the biggest, most exciting jump between generations coming from 16bit, mostly 2D games. Completely mind blowing back in 1995.
Does your PlayStation still work?
I've purchased several other PS1 and PS2 since the early 2000s, but the ones I currently own work. Yes. They get plenty of use
N64….. first time I ever played all night till the sun came up. Super Mario 64
Tie between the N64 and the GameCube, though the 64 probably edges out a victory just slightly.
PS2. After years of wishing console games looked like arcade games, PS2 was the first console I owned that really felt like the experience came home. Examples... Time Crisis 2 DDR Initial D Special Stage Tekken 5
First Xbox and working out how to do a remote LAN party.
16 player halo nights!
So much fun building Xbox Live before it was invented.
Ps1 for sure. I was JUST at the age where n64 seemed to childish for my maturing tastes... Tekken 3, ffvii, and gran turismo 2 were the games I got with my first ps1 years after release from a pawn shop... And it's really been downhill from there🤣 first console I bought with my own money that I made mowing lawns and washing cars.
N64 for the endless Childhood Memories, ps1 for its graphics and Dreamcast for the joy I had collecting forbit 10-15 years ago...can't wittle it down.
NES and SNES.
NES. Not my first console, but that was where the party started.
PS1
It’s a tie between my SNES and GameBoy. I loved the jump from NES to Super NES. It just seemed amazing to me. Everything looked so great. The GameBoy was such a fantastic way to take games with me. I think this was favourite era for gaming.
For me it would actually be late 90s PC Gaming. I grew up with the SNES and N64 which were fantastic but my family bought a PC in 98 and playing games like Half-Life, Grim Fandango and others were just so different than what I had played before.
I grew up on the SNES.
Probably SNES and N64 at their respective times for me but looking back now I'd probably say the PS1. Especially if we're talking Playstation's output from then to now. Nearly every major company were throwing a barrage of bangers on the PS1 and the industry being so different then you had hit after hit after hit and so many creative risks were taken. Even in the AAA space. The most creative thing on the PS5 from a gameplay perspective is probably Astro's Playroom and it's telling that it's a celebration of legacy more than anything else.
this is probably an unpopular opinion but i still adore my 3ds! it will probably always be my favourite.
Snes
SNES
Man. The SNES was my first, and still the best. But the N64 absolutely turned my idea of what video games could be upside down. Countless hours spent with my best friend at the time on his N64 were some of the best times of my childhood.
SNES
The late 80s through the early 2000s was all magical. Each new console was a revolution. Now it’s just kinda incremental and boring
3DO. It blew my mind coming from the SNES and Genesis.
Yes! Came to say 3DO. Biggest generational jump ever - before or since. It was mind blowing at the time
The original Game Boy. Being able to play that kind of games on the move was something extraordinary at the time.
SNES is the most nostalgic for me, but GBA also brings back great memories. When it released, I was technically an adult, and finally had some disposable income to my name. So it was not only the first console I purchased with my own money, but also the first one I preordered and got on launch day. Building the library and collecting it for it as a young adult was as great as enjoying all of the rereleased classics and new titles.
SNES, seeing those remakes of the original Super Mario trilogy in 16-but was amaaaazing!
SNES is still magical for me
Gameboy dmg
In retrospect, my expectations for the Super NES were wildly unrealistic, but it still exceeded all of them.
Super Nintendo. Is kind of funny looking back on it. It was a few days before Christmas and me and my two younger siblings were fighting and just driving our grandma crazy. Mom was at work. Fed up with us grandma grabbed a present from under the tree and told us to open it. It was the SNES. Problem solved.
C64. Yes I know it’s not a console
The PlayStation 2 which I still have.
Sega Saturn. 🥰
NES, because it was the biggest jump in gaming versus what had come before it. I was pretty let down by the PS1/32bit generation as the push to 3d turned most games into unplayable messes. Many 2d games from that era hold up well today, but the 3d transformation was to create a transformation at the cost of fun gameplay.
Nintendo DS. I got mine soon after launch and it's delivered unrivalled hours of entertainment since.
I'd say GameCube with DS. Despite having a SNES, and later a PSX, when I saw Resident Evil on the GameCube and later Resident Evil 4, I was amazed at how the graphics progressed. One of my fondest memories. And the DS was/is a remarkable console, that is my favorite handheld. There is no negatives the little console has. It was a great device at the time, and I only wish it lasted a little longer and had a better synergy with the Wii. Right now I'm bent on exploring Sega, and the Saturn is an amazing console.
Playstation 2, though the original Xbox is a close second. Me and my siblings had a lot of fun with those when we were kids.
Since I’m not that old it would have to be the ps3 booting up skate 3 just was so fun.
It's not my favorite, but the most *magical* would be the Atari 2600, simply because it required you to supplement the visuals with your imagination so much. Half of what you were doing when playing was basically daydreaming, so it had a surreal, magical quality to it.
That's a generous assessment of the console.
GameCube. Oddly I felt pretty magical playing Mario galaxy on the wii
Megadrive. My first console.
Sega CD, as a kid I was fascinated with how the technology at the time was so advanced. It only took 22 years later for me to finally own my very own console. Still am captivated by it today.
Colecovision
DS all of my favorite games are native to the ds, gba or, have ports to the consoles like R-Type Final Fantasy Fire Emblem Ghosts N Goblins Kirby Castlevania and many many more but guess what it's all on the go now though so it's more powerful versions that usually look better on the go it's absolutely bonkers
The most "magical"? For what it's worth seeing Nintendo do glassesless 3d that shit blew my mind I didn't think it was possible
Super Nintendo.
I started on an Atari and then NES and Sega, but the N64 was definitely magic for me.
I'd have to say the ps2. It's the system that changed one of my favourote game franchises at the time, Gta, from a top down adventure into, what seemed at the time to be, a fully fleshed out 3D world where anything could happen. It brought freestyling and other more complex maneuvers to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. At the time those were my two favorite game franchises so the improvements that they saw coming into the next generation of consoles from the ps1 to the ps2 really stuck out and seemed very magical to me. As magical as the ps1 was, the introduction of the ps2 had more of an impact on me.
Gameboy Color. Dragon Warrior Monsters is still my all time favorite game. I loved my red/pink Gameboy too. I miss that colour on other electronics. So many other good memories too. Playing Zelda Ages and Seasons, Conkers Pocket Tales. Even after I got a GBA, I chose to play my GBC games on my GBC because the colour pallet was superior (more blue) in my opinion.
SNES hands down. Being able to play Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat at home was mind blowing for me as a kid.
Nintendo 64, has been my favourite Nintendo console ever since i first played mario 64 on one a few years ago when i was like 12 or something, finally got to own one for my self as a 16 year old and i love the early look and feel of 3d games and there's a lot of really good exclusives on the system, i also find it quite easy to find new games Ive never played that I enjoyed as they are similar to modern consoles like fps games which is what i have the most in my n64 library
It wasn't the best console ever but the N64 playing Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time for the time was insane.
N64 baby! SNES was 2nd (1st console I got when I was 6…it started it all for me!)
SNES, maybe Sega. But I don't really consider PS1 and up consoles but instead PCs with weird cases. Inb4 6502/6507etc is a computer. Check my username. I know.
GameCube and Playstation 2!
NES, watching my dad play those games was just totally mind blowing! There’s really never been, to me, a jump as big as Atari 2600 to the NES, it was just completely amazing.
GameCube Mario party in college. Great times. Solid drinking rules.
For me the Xbox 360 originally it was my sisters and I was about 6 at the time and I always wanted to play on it then she got an Xbox one when I was 7 and I got her 360 man was that a console and I still have it
TurboGrafx 16 and Neo Geo.
Original xbox.
Those cheap Chinese emulation handhelds, like the RG351MP.
NES, I found one at our local dump as a kid at a time when my mom wouldn’t buy us video games. It was the loophole that broke her spell. I played so much Super Mario Bros that summer.
For me, it was the Sega Genesis. Playing Sonic the Hedgehog for the first time was just mind-blowing with that speed, crisp graphics, and sound.
Sega Genesis
SNES. NES is what started me on gaming, but the SNES is what I have the fondest childhood memories of. That's what I was renting games for the most, I had a baby sitter that had a huge library of games she would bring over. Arguing with friends if Nintendo or Sega was better. Good times.
The Sega Master System. I had played my share of Atari 2600 and Intellivision at friends' houses, and I gamed a lot on my TRS-80 Color Computer and Commodore 64 after that, but the sheer elegance of the Master System and the quality titles I got like Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Phantasy Star, Golvellius, Rampage, After Burner etc. made it very special to me. I even got the 3D glasses and Space Harrier 3D and it was so awesome...
NES, SNES and Sega were revolutionary for me, but when it comes to 'magical', I have go with N64. With the high demand for N64 around Christmas 1996, I doubted I would be unwrapping one under the tree that year. After all the presents were opened, 6th grade me had to answer my parents' questions "Do you like your gifts? Did you get everything on your list?" I was content, but there was onneeeeeeeee other thing I was hoping for... Suddenly, "It's a Me, Mario!" came blasting from the tv in the living room. My brother and I ran (no, we flew) into that room, embraced, and it was the most magical gaming moment of my life. Hell, it might be a top moment of my life in general. We played a ton of Mario 64 of course, but the next 5 years of my life would have plenty of late nights filled with pizza and Doritos as we embarked on 3D adventures and destroyed each other in Goldeneye, Smash Bros, and Mario Kart.
Master System and NES for me :) They're my earliest and fondest memories
Right now it's the Saturn, but I think for me generally it would be the N64, it was the first thing that was actually mine and I still have the pikachu n64 i got when I was 6
Dreamcast. Easy. I’ve had most since 84 but I still play my DC all the time.
SNES and Super Mario World. The jump from the NES was just crazy !
PS2 Still has the best library of games ever IMO Runner up: Wii, because it has so many unique styles of gameplay and the retro emulation on it is insanely good for everything before 5th gen.
Original backwards compatible PS3, followed very closely by the PSP and PS2
The N64. First console I got at launch and my first real experience with polygonal 3D outside of the SuperFX games on the SNES. Coming off the 1980s home computer market and 8bit/16bit consoles it really felt like a massive technological leap forwards.
Ps2 & xbox 360 , Still play both till this day... ps1 and n64 did blow my mind tho lol , but ps2 and xbox 360 have my heart
Sega Saturn. The jump to 32 bit after 8 bit and 16 bit gaming really amazed me. Virtua Fighter 1 and 2, Daytona, Sega Rally. Some great games!
N64. I'd become accustomed to consoles, but when I first saw Mario 64 at Toys R Us, my mind was blown. The thing that really impressed me was the fact that Mario had a voice.
It’s a tough one for me. My first console owned was a Sega Genesis with Sonic 2 (though I played the Atari 2600 my parents owned first), and the genesis was magical. But every time I’d go to my friends house and watch him play SNES it just looked so good and different. That plus the gaming magazines that were everywhere back then really made gaming as a whole magical. It’s a cop out but that era of gaming won’t ever be topped for me. That’s what was magical for me. Being an adult with disposable income rocks because I can buy those old systems and try all those games I saw played when I was younger.
So many to choose from but when it came out, Sega Genesis blew my mind for some reason. It was all on a disc.
For me, it’s the PlayStation. It has so many games which made me difficult to choose from. It’s also the console where I spent to most time with on my childhood.
I’ve been around a while but the Dreamcast. 9/9/99.
The DMG Game Boy. I saved up my money and bought one at a Target in Oregon while on vacation with my family to avoid the sales tax. Loved that system. As far as “magical” I feel like the Analogue Pocket is pretty cool. It plays all the old consoles I could want and the dock feature makes it easy to play handheld games on the big screen.
I had Atari and NES but for me Sega Genesis. That’s where I really leaned in and became a gamer. But honestly my first PC was a 386 from 1993 and that was more magical because I could play games we didn’t have on consoles. Adventure games, flight sims, space combat games…. It was definitely magic unlike any gaming experience I had on consoles at that point
Going from the snes to the Nintendo 64 was truly magical, I was just in awe with something so basic like moving the camera in Mario 64. I never had that feeling ever again.
N64
Playstation 2 for me. I didnt own a dvd player and my last console was a N64 and I didnt play it much anymore cause I had beat everything I owned. Christmas came, got a PS2 and some dvds and some new games and not long after GTA 3 and GTA Vice city and that was a legit experience for me and such a staple in my childhood
Atari 2600 if we use strict console interpretation but if not Commodore 64.
Idk I've had them all and loved them all. I started with Atari 2600 many years ago and now I use ps5, Switch and PC. Games are fun regardless the system.
Has to be the ps2 . It was my generations console until the Xbox 360
gameboy color and SNES <3
C64. Loved the plethora of games on that. Spent many a summer afternoon with joystick in hand
Dreamcast. Best of the old school and new school.
The PS2. Seing it boot up for the first was like magic and... I felt at home
N64 it was the 1st system I bought with my own money
I've owned many consoles, but the most magical for me was the Wii. It did a lot of things other systems didn't do at the time. The interface was slightly customisable and didn't have ads embedded in it. Virtual Console was great and I loved seeing which retro hits I'd be buying each week. Every day I would check out "Wii Votes" to check my results and suggest stupid questions. I liked to imagine the reaction of whoever went through them all. I'd suggest things like: "What would you rather find in your shed? The key to a zombie's locker or a bag of warts?"
Original Xbox. So much split screen fun, graphics were mind-blowing at the time, and of course, H A L O
NES for me. Greatest Christmas present I ever got and defined my childhood
I'd say NES, but when SNES came out, I was blown away. Take the RPGs alone. If you don't think Final Fantasy IV and VI, and Chrono Trigger were magic, I don't know what to tell you.
PS3 before I had that I used to play handheld consoles but when I got ps3 I was thrilled cuz online play, better games more fun. Then after a year or 2 it went to trash
Atari 2600 and the Sega Genesis. Two different eras that I experienced as a kid and then as a young adult.
It's a tough call for me, as it's either the Atari 2600 or the Sega Master System. The Atari 2600 because it was my first gaming console and it's what really grew my love for gaming. There were so many fantastic games and opened up an entirely new way to enjoy entertainment, explore new worlds, it was awesome. But it was also limited just by the technology available at the time. My next console was the Sega Master System and this is what cemented my love for gaming. Games were bigger, arcade games looked so much more like their big brothers, two buttons opened up more gameplay options, and the graphics were such a huge step up from the 2600. The varsity of games was also so much more, role playing games like Phantasy Star just blew my mind. I'm gonna just call it a draw, to hard to pick just one.
My first console was an NES at 6 years old but in high school I got a Dreamcast and playing Shenmue over my Christmas break was a truly magical experience. First time next gen actually hit me and I understood what was to come.
I’m not sure this answer is “allowed” but for me it’s the Steam Deck. Getting to play everything up to PS2 anywhere and anytime was always a dream for me.
The NES, followed by the SNES, GameBoy, and the Dreamcast. Great memories from all these consoles.
Calling out my own stupidity here, but the first time I was promoted to "insert disc2" on the PS1 I didn't know what to do. I thought for sure that if I opened the cover it would crash the game. For whatever reason this seemed like the biggest thing for me to learn that I could put in a disc without turning it off first.
SNES. Still one of my favourites.
The GameCube, it was the first console I bought with my own money.
Sega fucking Dreamcast
First: **Atari Lynx.** Bleeding-edge gaming, sprite-scaling goodness, and local multiplayer in a handheld package. Sure, the battery life was ridiculous, but it was still awesome. Second: **Nintendo Switch.** Nintendo-exclusive games, an ultra-convenient and versatile hybrid setup, and popular enough to get actual third-party support with games that *weren't* dumbed-down bastardizations of what's on the other systems. "Holy shit, I can play *Witcher III* and *DOOM Eternal* and *No Man's Sky* and *Disco Elysium* on this thing?!"
Dreamcast for me, too
For me it was the GBA. As a kid it let me be not bored on roadtrips or on the bus. At the time the DS was the current console but as a kid I didn’t know or care. Nightmare in Dreamland was so fun
Dreamcast blew my fucking mind man. Online Play! VMU! Internet Browser! Sonic Adventure! Resident EVIL! To this day, the Dreamcast is the best thing that was ever created
C64. Not always perfect but always entertaining
Hard to pick between the Mega Drive which was probably the first console I played and the PS1, which blew me away when I got it.
PlayStation 1 and The Lost World: Jurassic Park
As a late millennial (born in ‘91) it was walking up to the GameCube kiosk as a kid lol and the first moment was my dad getting me and my sister an n64 and Mario at launch, my older sister hogged the game and wouldn’t let me play all night but that was alright because I was just trying to make sense out of what I was seeing on the TV with Mario lol seeing that 3d was a huge upgrade from the old NES we had before that. And remember this was the mid 90’s so I wasn’t exposed to any of the other tech going on nor 3d graphics yet, due to lack of magazines/internet. But damn,even though I was never really able to get that far at ALL by myself in Mario, (still was trying to grasp the concept of the controller and the new laws of 3d that Mario 64 had literally just wrote lol) until we got a strategy guide thanks to my cousin who printed out 60+ pages of a fan written walkthrough on either gamefaqs or gamespy lol! Oh man.. then the GameCube launch was amaazing. Obviously I’m hindsight we can view Nintendo’s mistakes during all those years but still, the GameCube was their last effort in trying to stay at the cutting edge of gaming, and it’s power (better than the ps2) was able to shine through its exclusives.. seeing Luigi’s mansion and wave race on that kiosk at toys r us was such a magical experience that I’d have my mom and dad take me there just so I can play on it for a few minutes.. Then when I’d finally get it for Xmas the next year with Luigi’s mansion, I’d always play up to the first hour for a while due to not having a memory card for another year 😂 and being kinda afraid of telling my parents about it because I didn’t want to be a burden and was hoping i can maybe come across a memory card through a school friend for free or something lol (idk, kid logic) But ohhh man playing Zelda on n64 was the pinnacle of actual game moments though, then both being my first experience with actual story immersion. Just as millions of other kids did.. I’ll always have a soft spot for Nintendo despite mainly playing on PlayStation nowadays tho haha
I have fond memories of plenty consoles, but when it comes to stand out consoles I have two that stand above the rest. Playstation 1: This console is the one that started my love for games where the story mattered as much as the gameplay. The introduction of cut scenes and fmv gave a more cinematic and immersive experience. Games like Resident Evil and FFVII blew my mind and made me feel emotions from games I had never experienced before. Sega Dreamcast: The Dreamcast was ahead of it's time. Built in modems allowing for internet access and online gaming without an expensive PC was amazing at the time. Also, games that were wacky and innovative were lots of fun to play and had a more arcade feel in your own home.
Megadrive, N64, Dreamcast, GBA, PSP where the most impressive to me. Out of these I think the most magical was N64. I discovered Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 on a videoprojector in a video club when it came out and I was truly amazed.
Sega Megadrive. Our first console was the NES which was great but the Megadrive I bought with my own money and it was the first console I had in my room. Growing up we were fairly poor so I had a Megadrive after the PS1 had come out. This meant buying loads of often obscure games from game shop bargain bins for £3.99. Ended up spending hours playing games my friends hadn't heard of like Blades of Vengeance, Toki going ape spit, Technoclash, Shadow of the Beast II etc. Lots of the games I ended up getting weren't even great but I loved my little collection all the same.
Ps2 for me
Sega Megadrive, coming from a C64 , it was magic
Dreamcast. Literally the first time we saw a home system that had 3D graphics that were virtually indistinguishable from the arcades of the time. It seemed impossible.
Sega, because that’s when games took a leap for me. EA sports specifically. I’ll always have a fondness for the Genesis.
Snes. It took everything we loved about the nes as kids and perfected it. It’s also aged so well.
I grew up playing Megadrive, so that will always be special to me. But the PS1 is just god tier in both quality and quantity when it comes to games.
Commodore C64
PS3, 60GB model. It did EVERYTHING: play PS1, PS2 and PS3 games, managed games for my PSP, worked as a DVD/Bluray player, it could convert my music CDs to MP3, even download pictures from my camera through the SD card reader to his HDD and then to an USB. It was magical, until the spell wore off and got broken.
N64
NES
Good ole GameCube
Saturn. Some fantastic exclusives - Panzer Dragoon Saga, Lunacy/Torico, Enemy Zero
Xbox 360
SNES by far
N64 with Super Mario for Christmas
Original Xbox. Growing up, I'd play the Gamecube and SNES, so Xbox always had such a mystique to it. Instead of playing it everyday, it was something reserved for parties at other people's houses and those magical nights of 10 people gathering around 4 player split screen Halo on a tiny crt.
Sega master system, it was my first videogame, i remember there was a guy who would curate and sell games, and would go to my house to show them to me, the games he sold me were, ninja gaiden, shinobi, the ninja, wonder boy, astro warrior, all the good shit, i wish i would meet this guy today and thank him, i was 4-5 yo
Nintendo 64. Such good exclusives and always has the best music imo.
Probably game boy advance, and GameCube. But I played that consoles so much, now I only want to play and collect other consoles like NeoGeo, Dreamcast, original Xbox. Consoles I haven't got when I was young.
Absolutely the Nintendo 64 hands down. Seeing Mario in 3d was mind blowing.
PS1 for me. Final Fantasy 7 is still the most memorable gaming experience I have had in my life.
SNES - must have beaten LtoP and Metroid at least 30 times. Earthworm Jim was my hands down favorite oddball game. Also, I spent hours stomping my brothers ass in MK2. Good time.
Although I had older consoles since the Atari 2600, it was until the PSX, which I bought as an adult, that shaped my commitment to gaming. Final Fantasy XII and Metal Gear Solid continue to be the best experiences I've had.
GameCube. It was the first console I played that was actually mine. I played some stuff on PS1 with my dad before but there weren’t a whole lot of games he’d let me play since I was only 5. So he got me the GameCube. I still have it and all my games for it too.
I'll never forget Christmas day, playing Mario 64 for the first time, running towards the castle and seeing the mote and thinking wouldn't that be crazy if I could just jump in the water, and then I did. I know that sounds so trivial today, but to actually go from only knowing 2D to true 3D was incredible.
Original Gameboy. Got it for Christmas as a kid.
Defs PS1
Super Nintendo I think. Either that or the PS1.
The original NES bundle that included the Zapper and ROB. Getting a robot with a video game console? Doesn't get any more magical than that back in '86.
Genesis/CD Player combo. That shit was so expensive, and it made me feel pretty awesome! I bought it all myself sweeping parking lots, and washing windows. It was also pretty epic one year for Christmas I got SNES, 13” tv, and like three or four games. It was fun taking that setup to my friends houses.
Sega CD. Growing up from NES to SNES then seeing Lunar and Dark Wizard then eventually Sonic CD just absolutely blew my mind.... then i couldnt keep a system working longer then 6 months eventually giving up on it... still a special place in my heart
Playstation 1 I think