Your console timeline

[Cremildo]

SNES > N64 > Dreamcast > X360 > XSX

[Member-115369]

Consoles/PC

Atari 5200-though was very young so didn't play a ton, especially with the one button on the controllers breaking and limiting what games we can play. Mostly remember playing Frogger.

NES-got it a few years after launch as my parent's didn't make a lot at launch. Got the bundle with Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. Was the console that really made me a gamer.

SNES-didn't get it at launch, but maybe launch year or the next year for my birthday. Really drove home my love of gaming.

[I]Nintendo 64[/I]-first console I pre-ordered and got at launch with my own money. Was blown away by Super Mario 64.

PlayStation-was blown away playing Resident Evil and Final Fantasy 7 at a friends place and saved up and got one as soon as I could after. This was the beginning of the end of my Nintendo fanboyism and getting more into story-driven games with less cartoony art styles as my main interest--which remains true today.

Sega Dreamcast-got in on a random deal to get one near launch for $100 off after being blown away playing Soul Calibur and NFL 2K on a demo station somewhere.

Nintendo GameCube-preordered and got day one as I was stocked for Star Wars Rogue Leader and a new Wave Race.

PlayStation 2-got this later on, around the launch of Final Fantasy X I think.

Xbox-Got this way later in the generation when Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic came out to raving reviews and gamer impressions. Began my love of FPS games, once I got used to dual analog controls in them (hadn't really played many on prior consoles).

Nintendo Wii-wasn't super excited for this, but it was cheap and my grad student at the time budget couldn't afford the 360 or, especially, the PS3 at their launch window prices. Enjoyed a lot of games on it, but not the dated graphics or motion controls.

Xbox 360-had wanted one for a while after being blown away by Gears of War at a friend's place. Finally got one when I found a good deal with some good games bundled online. Was my main console that gen by far.

PlayStation 3-only got this very late in the generation to catch up on exclusives. Really loved the hell out of those games like the Uncharted Trilogy, Last of Us etc. though.

Nintendo Wii U-in hindsight should have skipped this one as I didn't enjoy that many games and pretty much all I did eventually got ported to Switch--but no way to know that at the time of course.

PlayStation 4-despite loving the 360, MS lost me for a bit with their bad reveal of the Xbox One, still forcing in Kinect and costing $100 more than the more powerful PS4 at launch even after back tracking on the blocking used games plans etc. Got one later on once they dropped Kinect and lowered prices. Got it before Shadow of the Tomb Raider came out as it was a timed exclusive I was super stoked for having loved the first game (loved it as well).

Xbox One-got one a ways after launch when they'd put out a SKU without Kinect forced in and had some exclusives/timed exclusives I wanted to play.

Gaming PC with GTX 970-I needed a new desktop and MS had started putting all their games on PC so I just sold my Xbox One and got mid-ish range PC that was still more powerful than it for gaming. Still have it actually, like 8 years later. Don't really game on it more, but it's still going strong for work etc. Boots fast, runs fast etc. for all non-gaming stuff I need. It's just a PowerSpec which is store brand prebuild from Microcenter.

Nintendo Switch (and later OLED version)-had to get this at launch for Zelda Breath of the Wild as I'd long since sold off my Wii U. I also always enjoyed Nintendo's handhelds more than their consoles so I was happy with the hybrid approach. Reason being I mostly want to play games with top level games on my TV, but don't mind the lesser graphics on a handheld. But it's nice to have options to play those games on the TV sometimes too.

PlayStation 5-Got a launch day order in on Costco.com, though it didn't deliver until a couple days after Thanksgiving.

Xbox Series X-got a launch night, just after midnight, order in on the Microsoft Store online. My initial plan was to just try to get orders in for both it and the PS5 since I hadn't preordered either (but then regretted not doing so) and keep which every shipped first (or just this if I couldn't get a PS5 order in since that was a couple days later). They ended up shipping on the same day so never had a chance to cancel and just decided to keep both. Glad I did as I've used them pretty equally this gen between stronger exclusives on PS5 and loving Gamepass on XSX.

Portables

Gameboy (and later Gameboy pocket-this got a lot of use by the whole family growing up. Even my dad who never played the consoles played a lot of Tetris.

Gameboy Advance-played a ton of this in college. Was great other than the non-backlit screen (never bought another model like the SP).

Nintendo DS (and later DS Lite)-loved this in grad school. Finally had a lit screen (especially the brighter one on the Lite) and a ton of great games.

Nintendo 3DS (and later New Nintendo 3DS)-loved this portable as well. Had a slow start, but ended up with a lot of great games. Should have just stuck with the launch one though as not much took advantage of the New 3DS power.

Sony Vita-got this well after launch, but had a great time with games like Persona 4 Golden, Uncharted Golden Abyss, the Metal Gear Collection etc.

Future Plans

Despite that long console and console maker handhelds history, I'm leaning more toward just getting a gaming PC next gen and maybe a future model Steam Deck if I'm still itching for a handheld. I've been over physical media for a long while, can probably live without Nintendo stuff (Switch has mostly be used from non-impressive graphics third party/indie games for years for me), Xbox stuff has been on PC day one for years and most Sony stuff comes over eventually these days. Waiting for those is the one sticking point for me though as I do love their games.

But it would be nice having all games in one place, having multiple store fronts to shop around from best prices (I don't mind using multiple launchers etc.), I have hundreds of free games claimed in the Epic Store, GOG, Amazon etc. to delve into (most are things I'll never touch, but also a lot of good ones I haven't gotten around to etc.).

EDIT: Realized I left Wii U and Xbox One off my list.

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

I grew up with a PC gaming family and that has continued on for my own adult life, so the consoles owned have been few and far between but memorable.

Atari 2600
I have memories of this being in our living room in the second half of the '80s. My dad got it from somewhere or someone, I've no idea. The classic wood panelled design and joysticks with one big red button. Very strong memories of playing Asteroids and the two player tank game Combat.

Sega Master System II
This was gifted to me and my sister as a joint present one Christmas in the early '90s. By this time the Mega Drive had been out for at least a couple of years, but my family would never have spent that much money so this was what we got. I remember we enjoyed it, but we had very few games for it. A lot of time spent playing the built in Alex Kidd game, the 8-bit version of Sonic and I think a Dizzy game, but I don't remember much else.

Nintendo 64
Another joint Christmas present for me and my sister, this one got quite a bit of use. We were also able to source a bunch of extra controllers and games from friends or friends of the family who were willing to part with them (and we ended up with the gold GoldenEye controller). Mario Kart 64 probably got the most play time.

Nintendo GameCube
I bought this for myself, but I don't remember where from. Possibly second hand. I got on really well with this console. By this point it was easy to pick up cheap second hand games from places like Game or Blockbuster so I was able to build a little collection. I remember really enjoying Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance with my girlfriend at the time (who wasn't even a gamer) and for some reason Pool Paradise. I actually wasn't into the typical Nintendo games (Mario/Zelda) but I do remember picking them up cheap and giving them a go.

Xbox 360
This console was magnificent, and it successfully managed to pull me away from PC gaming for a few years. All my friends had one too and we would regularly get together for gaming house parties where we would bring our 360s and TV monitors. Rock Band and Gears of War got a lot of play time there. The Orange Box and the Mass Effect trilogy were revelations. Xbox Live Arcade introduced me to indie games. The Red Ring Of Death happened twice, and for one of those occasions I was sneakily able to just swap my console with a new one (thanks, boss) thanks to working at Argos. It's still connected up to my TV.

Outside of that, my dad bought himself a used Wii but it never got a huge amount of use, and pretty much the only thing he had for it was Wii Sports. I'm currently pondering picking up a second hand PS4 at some point to try out some exclusives, but so much is getting ported to PC now I'm not entirely sure it's necessary.

[Steedeel]

Grandstand>Atari>Sega Master System>
Sega Megadrive>SNES>PlayStation>PS2>Xbo360/PS3>
PS4>Nintendo Switch>PS5

PSVR if it counts after PS4

Also gamed on PC a lot.

[Socko]

1978-1979:
Hmmm in the late 70s we had the Philips Odyssey I think. I don't remember which model it was.

1983: ColecoVision
I have fond memories of this console. We had 8 games and all were played a lot.
Mouse Trap was my favourite.

1988: Nintendo Entertainment System
This console probably gave me the best gaming experience ever. I was glued to the screen every day and we had plenty of games.

And then a large gap came, because I turned into a PC gamer.

2007: Nintendo DS Lite
It was my wife's so I can't take credit for it. I did play a few Castlevania games on it.

2013: Nintendo Wii U
I returned to console gaming after a 25 year hiatus
It's only being used for some indie games and Wii Fit U.

2015: Sony PS4
Loved it the day I bought it.

2016: Sony PS4 Slim
So me and my wife could play online games together and it has been a blast to do so ever since.

2023: Sony PS5
Time for an upgrade, prices went down and I was happy to upgrade.

2024: Sony PS5 Slim
After upgrading to GTA V I got screwed over by Rockstar and me and my wife couldn't play together anymore, unless I went back to the PS4 version of the game, but my stats and money wouldn't be updated anymore.
I had to get another PS5 and waiting for the pro was taking too long.

[Verisimilitude1984]

Recently just bought a preowned Xbox Original Console and Xbox 360. Good stuff!

[thecalm_7]

My folks were movie fans but not tech fans so I started a bit older with gaming.
Game gear 2nd grade(dad said nothing on tv)- PlayStation (7th grade)- PlayStation 2 (day 1)- game cube- game boy advance- by 2003 I was working and bought a N64 when GameStop was dropping the prices, XBox, Dreamcast, PSP Sam’s Club bundle the first weekend it was available, Nintendo DS, PS3 Metal Gear Solid 3 Bundle. 2DS, 3DS XL Galaxy color, PlayStation 4 maybe a year late, PlayStion4 Pro, XBox One S (during pandemic), playStation 5 in Feb 22, Xbox Series X holiday 23. I’ve been building up my consoles but in recent years, Genesis, SNES small console, front load Nintendo, Japanese Saturn.
Still would like a few of the other less popular consoles, I need a Japanese 360 or a modded 360 (don’t know if it’s possible) to play Gundam Operation Troy.
My son has taken up my love of Gundam and likes playing the games. It’s also making him actively learn a new language. So win win for me.

[manfex]

Atari 800xl
Sega megadrive
Xbox classic
Playstation 3
Wii
Playstation 2
Playstation 4
NES
C64

[lxstuart]

Spectrum 128k A christmas present in 1990/91-ish (not certain exact year). Games were fairly cheap, and easy to copy for friends.
GameBoy Birthday present in ~1992. Probably to blame for my poor eyesight.
Sega Master System Bought it second hand from a school friend for ~£20 with 3 games
Super Nes Possibly my favorite console, though it may just be the era I have fond memories of.
N64 Got this fairly soon after release, with Mario 64 and Goldeneye. Another awesome Christmas.
Playstation I was late to the PS party, as much as I liked the N64, there didn't seem to be so many games. I'd recently started working so treated myself to this and Gran Turismo 2
PS2 A year after release when the prices went down.
GameCube Bought on a whim, purely for Metroid (Prime?) and Star Wars Rogue Squadron

After this I switched to PC, and haven't looked back.
Pretty sure I still own all of these too, except for the Master System. They live in the attic now though.

[mwynn]

Atari
Coleco Vision
NES
Sega Master System
Genesis
SNES
Sega Saturn
PS1
N64
Dreamcast
PS2
PS3
PS4
Ps5