A Look Back at 40 Years of Gaming and the Games that Impacted my Life

So I seen a blog recently that asked about your favorite gaming system. Honestly I haven't thought about gaming systems in a long time. Once upon a time I was a serious gamer and would spend many hours daily playing consoles or at the arcade, but this blog is about consoles, so I will cover arcades later.

My first exposure to a video game was in the mid to late 70's, I remember my dad bringing home this box that he hooked up to the TV. The older kids turned it on and I watched in amazement as this white line moved up and down the side of the TV bouncing this little square back and forth in an attempt to make your opponent miss. When it was my turn I was hooked and my fascination with video games began.

The system in question that played this wonderful game of Pong was not the first one to market, but I was five and couldn't care less. I had my own video game system and this was a treat, because in a house with seven kids we didn't have much. That first system was launched in 1977 and it was called Telstar Pong.

The system was eventually broken, no doubt by an older sibling and I would have to wait for several years to get another system, but when I did it was a game changer. In 1980 we moved because my dad got a better job, but with the better job came the Atari 2600. I remember being addicted this machine. I had the games I always played like Asteroids, Combat and Pitfall.

But only one game could make sit still so long that I had to pee my pants because I couldn't pause it and I was farther along than I had ever been. That game is the classic Vanguard. I lived on this game, so much so my mother would make me go outside and play.

If I recall the Atari was broken because I spilled some Coke on it. I had friends with system, so it wasn't the end of the world, but once again I would have to wait for another system. It was 1985 and we had moved back to Arizona, my older brother had come for Christmas and had a "Family gift" I couldn't imagine what it could be, but we all sat around anxiously waiting to open it.

This was not a gift from my brother, but a gift from God. I swear I heard "let their be Mario Brothers" and their was and it was good. I lived on the Nintendo, I was a pilot and Mario was my wing man. We must have saved the princess a thousand times.

The Mario tradition would continue with the launch of the Super Nintendo and Super Mario Brothers 3 and once again Princess Toadstool needed saving. This brought about 12 hour days, but she was worth it. After I saved her a thousand times my new favorite became Super Metroid!

The late 80's and early 90's seen the release of a variety of gaming systems and for some reason my brother and I always seemed to pick the under dog. I loved the systems and they had great games, but they never stuck around long enough to evolve. We had the likes of 3DO, Turbo Graphix and NEO Geo (way expensive) I actually didn't own a PlayStation until 1997, but I am glad I did. I spent a lot of hours playing Abe's Odyssey, Need for Speed and others but Driver is the one that drove me nuts. I remember turning the PlayStation on at 8 am and and not turning it off until 3 am. This is the only game that I was good at and never beat.

November 15th 2001 was a day my friends and I anxiously awaited and we would not be disappointed when Microsoft decided to enter the gaming market and released the Xbox. I have played many games on the Xbox, but Halo was my favorite, I have played 3 of the Halo series, but as I grew older and had a family I have found less and less time for video games. I remember buying an Xbox 360 when they came out and I may have played two games on it. I have 40 years of consoles under my belt and I have loved my time with all of them. Maybe one day Master Chief and I will roll again.