The beginning (1980)The first home computer I saw was at a friends house around 1980; I didn't know what it was - my friend's older brother was pressing something and words were appearing on the TV screen. I was amazed! At about the same time, an older friend got an Atari VCS (2600) and that was my first actual go on a home gaming system. The first games I played were Combat (super two-player battling) and Adventure (a simple but, for the time, pretty involved title).
Getting involved (early 80s)My family had a Binatone console that played Pong/tennis/squash and that was our first gaming system. I think we got it for free when my dad bought a new TV. By 1983 I was at secondary school and we had access to a few BBC B computers. I joined the computer club (it was alright, though - I didn't get a kicking as I played football, too) which meant we could use them after school and this is where I first started using BASIC coding and seeing a few games. Some of my school pals were getting computers like the Spectrum (most popular), the C64 (a few but not as many) and the BBC B (which only kids with rich parents had!). Our first proper computer was a Commodore Vic-20 that my dad bought us in March 1984. He got it from our local Rumbelows (a new-defunct electrical retailer) and he chose it because it had a decent keyboard and it came in a pack with a cassette deck and a few games. The system was low-tech (just 20 character width across the screen and 3.5k RAM
) but I blooming loved it
. In 1985 my pal got a Commodore 16 and I was hugely envious of the increased memory and improved graphics. This spurred me on to wanting to get a "better" computer and I started saving up my daily paper round money. In December 1985 I got the Commodore 64... wow, what a system! Two of my pals then got Amstrads (CPC 464) and It was a fun few years having access to both the C64 and the Amstrads.
Consoles and 16-bit (Late 80s)I got my first console in 1987. I picked up a Sega Master System in late August; I believe on the first weekend that the system had arrived in the UK. I'd been working a summer job and so just about had enough cash to buy it. The Master System was pretty popular; a large range of games was available and there was plenty of advertising - I never knew anyone who had a NES at that time. In 1991 I got the Mega Drive, picking up an imported Asian model that could play UK, Japanese and US titles. Over the next few years it seemed that everyone had a MD, with about half as many having a SNES.
Running alongside these new consoles were the 16 bit home computers. I started work in 1989 and bought myself an Atari STe. It came with the Power Pack, a set of twenty (!) pretty decent games. I can imagine that many folk just played these rather than buying anything new! I thought the ST was a great system but, within a few years, it was clear that the Amiga was proving more popular and in 1991 I switched over, getting an A600 and, soon after, an A1200. By 1993 the Amiga was the last big-selling home computer on the market as ("IBM compatible") PCs were just starting to arrive in homes. They were very expensive, though, and not too many people that I knew had one.
Gaming becomes "acceptable" (1995)After that... the big change was PlayStation in 1995. I was in my mid-20s and nobody at work ever spoke of gaming; until the PS1 arrived. All of a sudden, gaming stopped being thought of as geeky and acquired a cooler image. Prior to this, gaming was generally thought of as being "for kids" and Sony's marketing reached out to an older crowd; perhaps targeting the late-teens and 20-ish age group. Plenty of my work colleagues had a PS1 and the system really took off.
I didn't know anyone who had a Saturn, 3DO or Jaguar and the home computers were virtually gone by this time. Nintendo was spoken of and a few people I knew got N64s in 1997 but it felt like PlayStation was the real leader for this era.
The decision (2003)I stuck with my PS1 - and, later, PSone - for quite a few years. Money was a bit tight and I never went for Dreamcast (it looked great and there seemed to be loads of in-shop demo setups around) or PS2 (the launch range, and first year, of games just never grabbed me). By 2003 I did have some dough to spare and I had a choice of PS2, GameCube or Xbox. I spent a couple of months deciding and went for Xbox.... even though I'd been a PlayStation gamer for around eight years. I really liked the Xbox; it felt powerful and it was a big step up from PSone. Most people seemed to have PS2s with the odd GameCube around; Xbox was pretty much in the middle. After a few years I was ready to upgrade and I stuck with Xbox, going for the 360 but a few years after launch - I got it on the day Bioshock launched in the summer of 2007. What a great machine! Plenty of people seemed to have a 360 and it seemed to be the most popular system through until 2011 when PS3 turned things around.
Everyone had them! (2009)There have been relatively few systems that I felt like
everyone had them. Two consoles do stand out, though - Nintendo's Wii and DS. Man, all of a sudden even people who never played games - most of my family and friends! - had a Wii, and many had a DS, too. I'd say that 2009 was the peak, with even my mum and dad having a Wii console by this time! Yeah, there was a lot of shovel ware and some pretty bad games... but there were plenty of good ones, too. The Wii just seemed to be something that everyone had. Even subsequently, with things like the Switch proving popular, I don't think it has had quite the impact that the Wii did. I was super-reticent at first and didn't get one until 2009... and yet it became a system that I remain incredibly fond of.
Changing horses again (2013)In that previous gen I had owned a 360, PS3 and Wii. What an incredibly strong era that was! However, the combined costs were pretty high and I didn't want to do that again. I had picked up the Wii U at launch in late 2012 and - of course! - I loved it... but I used Miiverse and the web browser far more than actually playing games. In late 2013 we were approaching the launch of Xbox One and PlayStation 4. I'd been a mainly Xbox gamer for the past two gens but then... well, as we know, Microsoft played it all wrong in the eyes of many people. The PS4 become the red-hot new console and I switched back to PlayStation. In that first year there wasn't too many "must haves" and I continued playing on my 360... but, after that, a deluge of great games arrived. I was fully into PS4 and, when I sit back and think, I'd say that the console has been my all time favourite. I still have great fondness for many systems but, for me, PS4 has been the best.
NowI picked up Switch just after launch and I guess it's now in the last year or two of big new games arriving. I really like Switch; a terrific system with a vast array of good games and, for me, the dual handheld/TV play mode elevates it to greatness. I don't love it like, say, my PS4 Pro, though. Nintendo has, in my eyes, lost a little too much of their renowned quirkiness that we saw in the 3DS and the U. I know that I'm in the minority with this, though, and I do hugely enjoy gaming on Switch.
And I'm still on PlayStation, picking up a PS5 in August 2021 due to a fortuitous situation of having some spare cash and the console being available to buy from a local Argos. It's a super console and yet it's the least I've ever used a new system. I have bought games for it and they're smashing... but I just haven't got into playing games on my living room TV; I still prefer to sit at a desk in my box room and use my PS4 Pro.
Right now none of my IRL pals play games. My two elder nephews do but they're reaching an age where they'd rather go and hang out on the streets and try and get into a pub. My family and friends know that I'm still into gaming, probably thinking that it's on the geeky side rather than being cool. I really enjoy using GRcade and Twitter so that I can chat with other folk who are into the gaming scene. Although I do get sometimes get frustrated with gaming becoming "big business" and the rising costs involved, it's still something that I like and want to get involved with.
Long live videogaming!