When did you first game on consoles?

sloan · April 30, 2013, 01:49:33 AM

This thread is aimed more at older video game players. What is the earliest memory of video games from your childhood? Growing up in the states, I distinctly remember pong consoles from the mid 70's, followed by Atari VCS in late 1977. What I am curious, especially since this forum attracts an international crowd, is when did video games and consoles hit big in Europe and South America? Was it CBS Colecovision in Europe? 2600 pirate clones in Brazil?

TL · April 30, 2013, 01:58:39 AM

Just merged your post into an existing thread SloanÂ :113:

sloan · April 30, 2013, 02:43:27 AM

I don't know that my question will really be addressed properly in this thread.

TL · April 30, 2013, 11:39:57 AM

Quote from: "sloan"I don't know that my question will really be addressed properly in this thread.

You called your thread the exact same thing though! It was really late here when I saw it and after reading your post again it seems you may have been asking something completely different so I will split it back off.

So I guess what you are really asking is what consoles were popular where people lived and when did they start appearing?

TrekMD · April 30, 2013, 12:09:26 PM

Well, the very first console I played on was an Atari Pong machine that my cousins had.Â I remember we had lots of fun with blip-blop whenever we visited.Â And it wasn't just us kids, the adults got into it as well.

After that the console that became a hit was the 2600 and it remained the biggest thing until Nintendo launched the NES.Â

DreamcastRIP · April 30, 2013, 13:25:44 PM

The first console I owned was a dedicated Pong clone at the dawn of the 1980s. It had indentations in the middle to place marbles in so to keep tally of the score! :4:

After that I owned home computers and it wasn't until the Atari Lynx until I owned a console again. I bought my Lynx from a computer exhibition show in London which may possibly have been staged shortly before Atari made the Lynx officially available in shops to purchase.

Shadowrunner · April 30, 2013, 17:07:54 PM

I grew up in a small town in Canada so we were a little behind the times as far as video games go. Christmas 83 I got a Gemini, just in time for the crash!Â :21:

It wasn't until a few years later that I got a NES and really got into gaming.

dougtitchmarsh · April 30, 2013, 19:01:37 PM

For me in the Uk, we first had a Pong clone game in the late 70's which also had a lightgun available, IIRC it was a Prinztronic version. After that we waited a few years to get the Atari 2600 in our household sometime in the early 80's.

DreamcastRIP · April 30, 2013, 19:18:29 PM

I just remembered that the aforementioned Pong clone wasn't even mains powered. It used a D cell battery, lol. Now THAT is retro!

TrekMD · April 30, 2013, 19:53:57 PM

Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"I just remembered that the aforementioned Pong clone wasn't even mains powered. It used a D cell battery, lol. Now THAT is retro!

Battery powered?Â Wow!Â How long were you able to play?

Bobinator · April 30, 2013, 20:10:36 PM

I think the first console I seriously played was a SNES, when I was about 3-4ish. I think my cousin MIGHT have had a Genesis, but I could be wrong, since he didn't keep it for very long. He also ended up getting a cd-I and an N64 a couple of years later. Guess which one I watched him play more often?

DreamcastRIP · April 30, 2013, 20:23:57 PM

Quote from: "TrekMD"
Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"I just remembered that the aforementioned Pong clone wasn't even mains powered. It used a D cell battery, lol. Now THAT is retro!
Battery powered?Â Wow!Â How long were you able to play?

I don't remember exactly. Several hours I think. Pong did get boring pretty quick so I think it only had one replacement battery before being placed in a cupboard.

TrekMD · April 30, 2013, 20:25:15 PM

Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"
Quote from: "TrekMD"
Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"I just remembered that the aforementioned Pong clone wasn't even mains powered. It used a D cell battery, lol. Now THAT is retro!
Battery powered?Â Wow!Â How long were you able to play?

I don't remember exactly. Several hours I think. Pong did get boring pretty quick so I think it only had one replacement battery before being placed in a cupboard.

OK.Â I was just curious.Â Several hours of play is not a bad deal.Â

DreamcastRIP · April 30, 2013, 20:30:40 PM

Quote from: "TrekMD"
Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"
Quote from: "TrekMD"
Quote from: "DreamcastRIP"I just remembered that the aforementioned Pong clone wasn't even mains powered. It used a D cell battery, lol. Now THAT is retro!
Battery powered?Â Wow!Â How long were you able to play?

I don't remember exactly. Several hours I think. Pong did get boring pretty quick so I think it only had one replacement battery before being placed in a cupboard.

OK.Â I was just curious.Â Several hours of play is not a bad deal.Â

Yep. It was black, the paddles/dials to the left and right sides, said indentations for marbles in between the paddles, a hardwired RF-out lead for TV connection at the rear and a hole in its underside for the D cell battery.

I've looked online at all the Pong clones on that computer and console museum site but it's not listed there. I'd only be able to recognise it from pictures on account of not being able to remember its name or manufacturer.

davyk · April 30, 2013, 21:50:39 PM

First console I played on

First I owned

Then got a 2600.