Been thinking recently how much better is was when I was younger and I couldn't afford to buy all the games/consoles I wanted, whenever I wanted them.
I still love gaming, and I got a massive buzz when the 3DS came out and I could afford it with all the games I wanted, but getting new games/consoles back when I was younger always seemed so much more special.
One of my most special memories when I was younger, was getting my N64 for Christmas. I had absolutely no idea what I would be getting, and I think I must have been around 8 years old when my parents surprised me and my brother with a big wrapped box on the morning of the 25th. They had secretly bought us the N64 with Mario 64 and Mario Kart, it was my first proper games console (I never owned a Snes or Megadrive) and I can remember playing it for the whole day, only stopping for Christmas Dinner. My brother and I went through the first few stars on Mario together, and I would watch him do the more complicated sections, and we had tens of races of Mario Kart throughout the day as my parents had bought us an extra controller as well.
That day is just such a special memory for me, and I adored my N64 for years to come, and I still play on that same console today with out any problems. I remember saving for ages so I could get a copy of Banjo Kazooie on release day (there use to be a fantastic little indie shop in Leamington, the guy usually only got 2 copies of each new release, and he kept one for me because I rang him excitedly everyday for about a week before hand asking if he was definitely getting it in. I remember my parents again surprising me and my brother with a copy of Ocarina of Time on the Christmas the year after, a game which is still my favourite ever to this day. I remember walking all the way into town on my own one day because Woolworths had a copy of Beetle Adventure Racing for £10 and I could afford it. I remember standing in Electronic Boutiques for about 20 minutes with my Mum, deciding whether to buy Holy Magic Century or Castlevania, until I told her to flip a coin for me (heads won, and it was Holy Magic Century). I remember having two friends round when I bought Mario Party, and we spent the whole day with my brother, a controller each playing the absolutely fantastic party game.
I could really go on. But the whole N64 period was just such a special period in my life, and in reality I've been waiting for something as special ever since. The gamecube came close, but now that I have the money to buy whatever I like, nothing seems *as* special as those amazing times I spent with the N64.
One last memory. I remember being freaked out at the start of Majoras Mask, as nearly everything that was familiar about OOT was taken away from me in minutes, and I was transported into a scary new world.
Sorry, bit of a mind splurge there, but I've been thinking about my old times, and especially my N64 today, and thinking what fabulous times I had with it.
So, what's your most 'special' console, and the memories that come with it?
Nitendo Gamecube to me is what the N64 is to you, only I had been gaming before then. I disliked games with scary things in and yet I had to get through Luigi's mansion. I used to collect cube like crazy, my collection peaked at 115 games but then i came to my senses and decided that it wasn't worth keeping games for the sake of it, so now my cube collection is half the size it was.
Consoles only really get good reactions from children and people who aren't expecting them. I remember the wii, I did a pre-order on the wii years ago and couldn't wait for December 8th. Then I got suspended from school for 2 weeks just days before (long story). My parents said that they wouldn't take the wii off me, instead they lied, picked up on the 8th and gave it to me for christmas when I least expected it. Made it seem special.
Almost all of my fondest retro console memories come from Sega. No other gaming company has had such an effect on me and my gaming habits. I'm actually thinking of selling off much of my non-Sega retro console collection to help fund my Sega collection
Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2. We bought it from my uncle, with a collection of about 200 games. It has a James Bond game with a lightgun. It was the first gaming machine I ever had, and I would spend entire weekends playing games and trying to copy the BASIC programs from the manual.
ZX Spectrum gaming was where it was at in '85 when I got my first speccy. Same as MCN, weekends would disappear typing out BASIC programs from INPUT magazine.
