What was the first consol type gaming system that you had
By Modestah
@Modestah (11179)
United States
August 29, 2008 10:44pm CST
What was the first brand of gaming system that you owned or used as a child?
This is really going to date me! one Christmas my father bought the family an Odyssey system - my brother and I had never heard of video games before that and only thought other types of such games were to be found in arcades and bars...
IT was very exciting for us.... my mother just rolled her eyes as we wasted away the hours.
Odyssey came with static cling sheets that you stuck onto your television screen - and then the system put the lights on the screen. everything was in block or ball format. We played hours and hours of pong and tennis. lol.
our next system came a few years later, that was an Atari. now that was progress!
hehe. we have a ton of atari games still but no system to play them on.
7 people like this
32 responses
@studentkelly (67)
•
30 Aug 08
My family's first console was a Nintendo 64. My parents bought one for us (when $199 was still considered a lot of money) for Christmas to thank us for being particularly helpful that year. I think they'd started new jobs or we'd done well in school or similar.
I remember MarioKart, of course, as well as an NBA game (which, being Australian, we never really got into).
It's crazy how primitive that technology seems now when it was so sparkly and amazing to begin with.
1 person likes this
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
30 Aug 08
I don't remember the static cling sheets but I do remember our Odyssey! It was and still is the only game console my parents ever bought...despite me begging for the original Nintendo long after the Odyssey was no longer usable. The system still works actually but the red button for the right controller...you know, the one that you need to start everything...finally quit working and we couldn't find a new one. Of course that was also pre-ebay so maybe a new one wouldn't be hard to find now. It's weird, not many people seem to have heard of the Odyssey, they only remember the Atari.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
30 Aug 08
I'll have to see if the Odyssey is easy to reach in the attic the next time I go over. I'll check if it is a Odyssey 2 or something. I'm pretty sure it's the original one but probably the static sheets were long gone by the time I was old enough to play it...it was bought for my sisters but they're enough older than me that we'd had it quite awhile before I could really play it.
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
1 Sep 08
i had an original atari-only thing that sucked about it is the joysticks broke so fast.one of our friends up the street got a radio shack pong-it etched their tv screen 
we later got a coleco (with the adapter module so we could still play the atari games)after that an nintendo.
we later got a coleco (with the adapter module so we could still play the atari games)after that an nintendo.@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
7 Sep 08
the dial knobs were way better for some reason-they never broke up until the time we stopped playing with them.the joysticks we replaced at least 3 times.that converter box kinda sucked too-that broke at least once,dad had to juryrig it LOL
@jsmith12 (438)
• Canada
1 Sep 08
First system we had wasn't even really a game system. It was a computer that plugged into the TV, and you needed to imput the program each time. But man my brother and I LOVED that computer.
We upgraded to an atari system after that, and my dad and I wasted hours on space invaiders.
And it could have been, I can't really remember. This was YEARS ago.
@nicholejade (2430)
• Canada
30 Aug 08
We also had the Odyssey and the Atari. I don't remember too much of the Odyseey though as I was still so young. But I do remember the atari. We still have the console and the games as well. Just thinking of how the video games history has gone is just amazing to what it is now. I look back and the graphics games as well as sound has come such a long way.
@nicholejade (2430)
• Canada
7 Sep 08
Those sounds are one thing I will never miss. They get too annoying for me.
@Elixiress (3878)
•
30 Aug 08
My first console system was the Playstation 1. I got it when I was about 6 I think and I loved it. My favourite games were Rayman, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro. I still love Spyro, just thought I have never played it in ages =( Between then and now I have not got a new console, my sister has though so I do play on other consoles and have them in my house, but they are not MINE so to speak.
@Elixiress (3878)
•
31 Aug 08
I have never owned any of the playstations after the first one. They are one of the best consoles, but their main rival is xbox. I have never owned an xbox, but I have played on one, and it is very confusing when you are used to the playstation controllers as they are similar yet very different.
@MissGia (955)
• United States
31 Aug 08
First console i ever owned was a original Nintendo. Loved the Mario Brother games..hehe and who didn't love duck hunt. There was this one game i liked to play with dirt bikes. It was pretty simplistic as far as graphics went. You have to take the bike over these decent size hill type things..they sorta looked like they were concrete almost.
I also had a sega and of course a PlayStation. I'm not a big console person these days, i do most of my gaming online :)
@jimbomuso (950)
•
8 Sep 08
Hi Modestah!
brilliant discussion!! the first console system was a atari VCS, y'know the one made out of wood, my cousins had a Colleco-vision and one of my friends had a Vectrex which was an absolutley cool wire frame graphics console. The first home computer we got was a spectrum ZX-81 with 1k!! onboard memory and a 16k expansion pack. wow .. It's wierd .. being there at the start of it all, the pace of technology is impressive. does anyone remember the Acorn Electron, BBC B, Vic 20, Dragon, Amstrad 464, Toshiba MSX or the Commodore c16, +4 and C64 ? I can rememeber the days of getting a computer mag and spending hours typing in the programs that were printed inside! I've had most of the consoles from 80's onwards even a PC engine, which was awesome for its time.
@jimbomuso (950)
•
8 Sep 08
I just remmembered an absolute classic game for the Atari VCS it was called Frostbite by Activision and was an abolute gem of a game.
@kimbers867 (2539)
• United States
31 Aug 08
Our first game was Atari and then Intellivision. My parents use to sit up all night playing basketball! My dad passed away in 1984, he sure would have enjoyed all the video games that have come out. I always think of that when we get a new system. He was such a kid at heart!!!
@MH4444 (2161)
• United States
30 Aug 08
Mine was some Nintendo system. I can't remember what it was called. I thought it was awesome though. LOL Now, after gaming for years, I would probably think the thing was rubbish. 
I had old atari games that I played on a system; but again, it's been too long to recall the name of the system. I just remember having so much fun with it. I have always enjoyed playing video games. Still do today in fact.
I had old atari games that I played on a system; but again, it's been too long to recall the name of the system. I just remember having so much fun with it. I have always enjoyed playing video games. Still do today in fact.
@DCMerkle (1281)
• United States
30 Aug 08
The first console game system that we had in the house was a Nintendo. We had bought it for the kids, but needless to say my husband and I got hooked as well. I still pull out the Nintendo and hook it up in my room. My son now plays Xbox and the PS2. I just can't get into them. I think it was the controllers. They were simpler to use.
DCMerkle
@Anchopy (1453)
• Paraguay
30 Aug 08
My first gaming console was an Atari.. it was really a console! hehe.. it's amazing how consoles progress by now.. if you bought a brand new console by the next month it will become old and you will want to slam it into the wall and buy the new one..
@phyrethyme (1267)
• Philippines
30 Aug 08
My first was Sega. We were living in Japan then.. Mom bought it for me. :) I was just five then, I think.
(So there.. After that's Nintendo 64, PS1, PS2, and now.. Wii! :D I currently have a PSP and a Gameboy advance.)
@phyrethyme (1267)
• Philippines
31 Aug 08
Hm.. Now? I use the Wii.. but not always. Cause school's getting hectic. =( I prefer PS2 though. Still good. ^^
@elliottsthebomb (64)
• United States
31 Aug 08
The first one we had was a Nintendo 64 and I still love it today yes it is old school but the mario games like Super Mario 64, Mario Kart, and the Mario Partys are just so fun. I brought it up with me to college and everyone loves to play it. So it may be old but it still is fun and has a place in my heart. I hope it dosn't die anytime soon that would be a sad day.
@rogue13xmen13 (14403)
• United States
30 Aug 08
My first gaming system was the very first Nintendo game system. I loved that system, but my brother had to go and take it apart and not put the pieces back together.
@aville44 (125)
• United States
30 Aug 08
im not that old(only 15), so my first was Sony's Playstation 1 system. i thought it was the best thing ever. lol. but now i have ps2's and psp's and an xbox 360, so im a little more advanced now. but i do really like the game playstation 1 had. honestly i miss those days. it seems to me like the games(sports games) were funner then. they had better modes and gameplay. maybe its just me... but it does seem that way. and alot of my friends feel the same way
@nekonyanta (892)
• Philippines
30 Aug 08
My first gaming system was a Nintendo Family Computer, back when Super Mario Bros. and arcade games were the "in" thing. The next game console I owned after that was a Playstation so you could say it was a while before I got into console gaming again. =) I have a SNES emulator installed in my laptop, though, so, when I'm feeling nostalgic, I usually end up playing Mario and other old school RPG games. =)
@ScarredSlayer (99)
• Canada
30 Aug 08
The first game console i had what a ps2! untill then after i got a ds...a handheld..
lol then currently the newest console i have is a nintendo Wii fit...They got some good games and activites.im a big fan of the x box 360 and i love HALO 3! Im geting it this christmas!
