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Game Systems I've owned and loved

Oct 14, 2010

by TheJohn
posted in The Gaming Hub

Going in order of all the game systems that our family or I myself owned, I started gaming at an early age. The games were fun and made for hours of enjoyment with a friend or family member. Some of them I don't own anymore but I still love them and they will always have a place in my heart.

Atari 5200

My first game console, owned by my brother it's what I think of when I hear "Atari" boasting more impressive graphics, sounds and even music sometimes over it's older but more popular counterpart the 2600, the 5200 had things like *GASP* a PAUSE button!? and it's telephone pad on the controller made for more complex games to be played, though only a few games utilized it. Yes it was a beast and it's controllers were made of cheap rubber pads in the interior that made them the Edsel of controllers, but damn it, this thing was fun. Many a morning before nursery school were spent playing Q Bert and later Star Raiders.

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

The force that brought home consoles back from the brink of damnation in the mid 80's. It's familiar gray box, square controller pads and the B, A buttons are synonymous with 80's gaming. Porting over many Arcade games that Nintendo had out at the time including a wee game called Super Mario Bros put this thing on the map of gaming and it's many later and landmark titles like The Legend of Zelda, Tetris, Double Dragon, Battletoads, Castlevania and others make this a classic.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Super Nintendo NES System - Video Game Console

The big brother to the NES in the early 90's could be one of the greatest THINGS ever made as it kicked butt in the bit wars of the 90s. More buttons on the controller led to more gaming possibilities, improved graphics palette made the games more colorful and lifelike, better sounds made the games sing and sometimes even talk and the games, sure they weren't all great, but what was good is undeniable and again classic. A good game from the NES could have a sequel here and see it's world blown open. This is back when games were still games and before too much realism intervened and ruined things.

Sega Dreamcast

It was way too short lived but Sony and they're marketing gave it a premature death. There are plenty of great titles and to me, very faithful adaptions to the Capcom fighting games that I loved and helped encourage the purchase. One of the few systems I ever bought sports games for with the Sega Sports series and some others. I missed out on the middle ground between this and the SNES as I never owned any of the other systems in that time so this was a way to catch up and try and stay currant. Dreamcasts are sought after nowadays for one reason or another. To me, it's that system that wasn't given a good chance and it really could have been Sega's comeback.

Sony PlayStation 2

The 90's closed out with this Playstation update and nothing was more anticipated, the then new DVD format was incorporated into games to allow more storage for games then before as well as have a console be given DVD playback capabilities. The controller was the same but the games once the system kicked into gear were leaps and bounds better then what was seen previous with some very life like animation and sounds. One of the longest, if not THE longest running game systems having lived on for a little over 10 years and a huge library to back it up.

Sony Playstation 3

XBox360 came out a year earlier, was several hundreds of dollars cheaper and carries the HALO license, but that means nothing to me. This big boy and his bluray laser gives me a state of the art system, bluray playback and arguably better looking games over the comparable Microsoft counterpart. Games may be an extra $10 but this system in the short time I've owned it is the holder of one of my most favorite games, Red Dead Redemption (XBox360 has it too in fairness) and 2010 has been said by many to be the year of the Playstation 3. Lets hope that remains true into 2011.

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Madpenguin March 07, 2012

I was so disappointed to see the Dreamcast canned. That system had so much potential and it could have easily given PS2 and X-Box a run for its money. But you know, in a way, I'm kind of glad things turned out the way they did. Had Sega stuck around in the console wars, then we would have 4 systems to buy, exclusives for all of them, plus handhelds coming out, and lots, and lots of cash being shelled out. I wish Nintendo would become a third party developer.

TheJohn March 07, 2012

So was I but it could be worse, it could be 1993 all over again too: The NES was still around (barely) the SNES, the Sega Genesis and CD and the 32X if I'm not mistaken, Atari had the Jaguar and later the Jaguar CD, Turbograffix and it's CD system, Neo Geo, the Phillips CDI and PANASONIC had that $700 monster the 3DO. HO-LEE-SHEET. That doesn't even include the handhelds.

Madpenguin March 07, 2012

Yeah, the 90's over did it with the competition and those days don't seem too far away. The only major system I don't have is the Wii. And I plan on getting the Vita soon.

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A1CJonathanLane May 27, 2011

I've played xbox for years, want to get me a PS3 to play Resistance, God of War, and Uncharted. Still love me some xbox, don't get me wrong, but I'm looking to expand my gaming horizens.

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KingreX32 April 29, 2011

BOOYAH!!! i had a few of those also. Im actually surprised i never got my hands on a Gamecube.

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devora October 14, 2010

I don't think I've ever played Atari before, but I have a strong desire to, especially after reading your description. I've played with the rest of these though and actually still have my Playstation and SNES. If you want to get a classic gaming console, I suggest eBay. And for SNES and NES in particular, you can actually get them on the same console. I discovered it a few years ago and it's pretty rad. Thanks for sharing this awesome list, John!

TheJohn October 14, 2010

The 5200 was notable for having the arcade games like Pac Man and others more closely resemble the games they were supposed to be that the 2600 couldn't duplicate. The console was ENORMOUS and the controllers were made cheap and with the cost at the time, it was not long for the gaming world. I just got rid of my NES and SNES earlier this year. As much as I loved them, they were taking up space and I didn' play them much and the store I took them too let me put the money towards a PS3.

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John Nelson (TheJohn)
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Born in Wausau Wisconsin. Move at an early age to Ventura California and lived for 8 years. Growing up in a big city landscape didn't prepare me for my next move: Archbold Ohio with a population of … more

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