Okay, I'm going to try to get these in some order.

1. NES

My first system. I got it for my 7th birthday (back in '87). It came with the Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt combo cartridge and not long after that I got Mike Tyson's Punch Out. My social life died before it ever got a chance to begin. But fuck people. People suck.

2. Game and Watch: Zelda

I have compulsive tics sometimes.. blinking and whatnot. I distinctly remember my mom saying "I'll buy you this game if you promise not to blink anymore". Whatdya know? It worked... Oh, and Mr Game and Watch ROCKS YOUR ASS in Brawl.

3. Gameboy

Ahh, Christmas of '89. I got the Gameboy early in the evening (my family opens presents on Christmas Eve!) and then had to go to church. Seriously, I had to sit there and listen to the priest while visions of monochrome asskickery floated through my head. Jesus may have died for my sins, but MARIO HAD A FUCKING SUBMARINE!

4. SNES

I got this one Christmas of '91 alongside the packin (Mario World), and both Sim City and Pilotwings. Due to some promotional madness, Nintendo Power sent me the SMW strategy guide that summer and I spent MONTHS just looking at the cool shit 16-bit Mario could do. Man, if that kid could've seen "Galaxy"....

5. Sega Genesis

Like every good Middle/High schooler, I delved 100% into the format war by having both systems after initially swearing strict allegiance to the SNES. I mean, fuck, Blast Processing was a buzzword for pussies. Mode 7 was where it was at. My first game with this baby was Streets of Rage 2, a HELL of an introduction. I got the "Classic" design first but somewhere down the line traded up to the compact version that looked better coupling incestuously with the Sega CD 2.

6. Game Gear

This one was a birthday present, in either '92 or '93. My buddy had one and Sonic looked SO COOL harnessing the unfathomable power of six AA batteries.

7. Sega CD

A Christmas present in 1994. I got it right after the SCD2 redesign hit. The pack in was Sewer Shark. I also got the really terrible adaptation of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" that was all but unplayable. It had full-screen full motion video, though, and my young mind was very easily won over by smoke and mirrors.

Full motion video? I remember that. Remember all those Digital Pictures games like Night Trap and Ground Zero, Texas? Man, it'd be awesome if someone wrote about them. If only...

8. 3D0

The system launched at $700, but I didn't get it until the price drop to $400. The pack in was Crash N Burn but everyone knew that Road Rage was what really mattered. Also, I had more fun that I should admit with the Jurassic Park game. I originally got the Panasonic version but a warranty replacement transformed it into the Goldstar one later on.

9. Nintendo 64

Pre-Christmas '96. My Mom didn't make me wait for this one. Possibly the single best launch title experience I've ever had, barring the firs time I booted up the first Super Mario Bros.

9. Playstation

Oh god, I TRADED IN THE FUCKING N64 for this. Final Fantasy VII had a strong draw and my family had obviously had it up to HERE with buying gaming hardware. I don't regret having the system, but I TRADED IN THE FUCKING N64 for this.

10. Gameboy Color

The ban on buying hardware didn't last. I got this with Zelda DX for Christmas of '98, which seems totally bizarre to me since I was already in college and I feel like I was way younger when this happened.

11. Dreamcast

I didn't get a Dreamcast on 9/9/99. I was too busy that day watching NIN play the VMAs in the one place near my dorm that had MTV (a frat house). I actually picked the system up a year later. The Dreamcast gave me Shenmue and Shenmue II. I love the Dreamcast.

12. Playstation 2

I worked for Electronics Boutique at the time, so this one was easy to procure. Once I got SSX, people wouldn't leave my dorm room.

13. Gameboy Advance

I imported this one from Japan my junior year of college. Yeah, i wasn't going to wait for the fucking US release. I got F-Zero with it.

14. Atari Jaguar

I found one in a "classic" video game shop the summer leading up to my senior of college ('01). Fifty bucks netted me the system and "Alien Vs Predator".

15. Gamecube

Senior year of college. Lined up for a couple of hours outside of the local Toys R Us to get it. I had to race a pissed off looking Spanish dude into the electronics section, but no fight broke out. I grabbed the system, a memory card, Luigi's Mansion, WaveRace, and an extra "Spice" controller. I had a paper due the next day...

16. XBox

I won't lie. My hatred of the XBox rivaled my much younger hatred of the Genesis back in the great early-90's system wars. I forget what finally pushed me over to the dark side, but hey... it wasn' t a bad system. Halo fucking sucks, though.

WAIT! I DO remember. I bought an X-Box because everyone kept saying Sega was going to continue the Shenmue series exclusively on the platform.

17. Gameboy Advance SP

My second import, in early '03. I got the purple one. Does that make me gay?

18. Nintendo DS

God, I was so excited for this system. I got it on launch day... and ignored it for almost a full year until both "Nintendogs" and "Advance Wars DS" came out. Since then it's been my favorite system, period.

19. 32x

As part of a failed web project, I picke dup the 32x to add to my Genesis/Sega CD combo. I heard it made certain full motion video games more palatable. I wonder if that's true. Why doesn't anyone ever write about them?

20. Sony PSP

Another launch-day system. It basically forced me to shelve my DS for awhile. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, BITCH? Of course, all I want for XMas is a PSP! Boyeee.

21. I didn't get a 360 on its US launch date. $400 for a console is FUCKING STUPID, or so I thought. Anyway, I picked it up the January following the launch.

22. DS Lite

Take an awesome system and fix all the design flaws. What you end up with is sex in the palm of your hand. Actually, I end up with that a lot. God I'm lonely.

23. Wii

I didn't have to camp out for this, despite not preordering. Actually, a family friend was waiting out and his buddy was standing in line with him. A $50 tip can buy you a lot these days...

24. Neo Geo Pocket Color

I don't remember exactly WHEN I got this, but it was during some magical period when all the game stores had bundle packs of liquidated stock to just hand out for like $30. I got the system and like four games with it. It's a great little toy... I just wish it had a backlight.

25. Playstation 3

After swearing I'd never get one, I broke down and bought the fucking PS3. My stance on it hasn't changed much through ownership -- it's a great Bluray player with a mediocre gaming console attached. Wipeout HD hits this week, though.

26. PSP Slim

After selling my first PSP due to complete lack of use (having a DS will that for you...) I got sucked in by the "thinner, lighter" hype and picked up the silver Daxter bundle for the PSP slim. And, yeah, it's a MUCH better system. Shame about the games, though...

27. PCs

Alas, I've had numerous PCs dating back to a 486-66 DX2 that some guy my uncle knew built for me. My current rig is a Core 2 Duo E6600 O/Ced to 3.4 GHz, with 4 gigs of PC800 RAM, dual 512 mb 8800 gt OCs running in SLI, and a ton of other crap that it gives me geek wood to just think about. Alas, none of that shit can run Crysis.

Seriously, fuck that game.

Phew.

I think that's everything.

GPFontaine wrote:

You never made mention of the fact that you have owned like 6 Nintendo DS units... And I am sure you owned more things like game & watch.

Only *four* DSes... Regular fat one, "Ice" blue Lite from Japan, red and black U.S. Lite, and the blue and black Lite with 1-UP mushrooms burned into it at the Nintendo World Store.

Sheesh.