NESThe NES was before my time, but this was a hand-me-down from an older cousin to me and my brother (I think he'd just got the mega drive). Duck Hunt and RoboCop were the first two games I ever played. All the games we had were what came with it, which included SMB and SMB3, but the real best game was Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers - especially in co-op.
N64The first new console I had, shared still with my brother. We had plenty of classics, and this was the era when we even rented a few games from blockbuster over weekends. It was the N64 that cemented my love for videogames, and shaped so much of my tastes with games like Ocarina of Time and Banjo-Kazooie.
PCI imagine it was around the time of getting the N64 that I started playing games on PC too, although I never had a machine of my own until I got a laptop in sixth form. The original Civilization was a big part of my early gaming life though. My dad even printed off the entire civlopedia!
Game Boy ColorThe first console of my own, I got this with Pokemon Red and Blue (although I had to give Red to my brother after I chose Blue and let him play the console too - he later got a Game Boy of his own... but a Game Boy Pocket. I think my parents felt bad when they realised the difference). I had a travel wash bag that happened to fit the GBC really well (as well as my accessories like a clip-on magnifying lens for the screen), and it kicked off my love for portable gaming as I could take it away on long car journeys and on holiday.
Game Boy AdvanceThe first console I remember being excited for the launch of, me and my brother both got one each. Mine was Glacier while my brother had Fuchsia, and I got it with Kuru Kuru Kururin. I took a step up with the accessories for this as my travel bag was actually designed for it!
PlayStation 2I wanted the Gamecube, but after a change of heart my brother convinced my parents to get us the PS2 for Christmas instead. It was a good choice. The PS2 opened up my gaming world and I have a huge library of games for it. This was the last console I shared with my brother.
PSPThis is perhaps the console I am most attached to - even if the one I have now is actually a refurb as my original broke just as the warranty ran out! It also probably marks where me and my brother diverged in how much we played games, as my brother never got a PSP. I took the PSP in to school for years as me and my friends played games like Star Wars Battlefront, Syphon Filter and Monster Hunter during breaks and lunches.
WiiThe first home console of my own, I got this on release with much hype for Twilight Princess. And the first thing I did on boxing day? Went out in the sales and bought Wind Waker, the Zelda collector's edition and a Gamecube controller now I could finally play them
This was the last console I got as a present from my parents.
Nintendo DS LitePSP was and remained my handheld of choice, but I got the silver DS Lite to coincide with the release of Phantom Hourglass. Have you detected a Zelda theme yet? This was the first console I bought with my own money.
PlayStation 3I bought the PS3 at probably the worst time for the hardware, getting an original fat model, but with only 40gb of storage and no PS2 backwards compatibility. Game wise though it was worth it, as I bought it to play MGS4. I actually raced through the end of MGS2 the night before MGS4's release so that I could go round my friend's to play the beginning together, it was that big of an event! This was the first home console I bought for myself.
PlayStation VitaI bought my Vita for Tearaway, and while my Vita library never approached the size of my PSP library, it's still a console I love, and the first in this list I still count as "modern" that I've yet to ever pack away. I got this while unemployed in the summer after finishing university.
PlayStation 4My current home console of choice, I bought this when Little Big Planet 3 came out, but of course one of the first things I did was rebuy Ground Zeroes to play it next-gen. This was basically a Christmas present to myself, arriving the day before we had our "House Christmas" at the start of December in the house share I live in.
New Nintendo 3DSI got the New 3DS on release, having not been sold on the original model as I already had my Vita. I basically bought the New 3DS for Monster Hunter 4U, which was the second game I got for it as it came out about a week later. The game I got with it on release? Majora's Mask 3D of course!
WiiUI literally had to edit this in as I forgot about it. I bought a refurbed model from Argos through ebay, and it's the only console I've never had in my bedroom - I've always played it in the living room of my house share. It still gets plenty of use for Mario Kart!
Nintendo SwitchFinally, the Switch. The first console I've ever bought at release, and quickly becoming one of my favourites. What sold me on this? Zelda of course
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The takeaway from all of the above? Zelda, MGS and Monster Hunter sell me consoles.