Home video game question.
Posted by No_Consideration_339@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 116 comments
I’m an elder Gen X, born in 69. (Nice) I certainly remember the late 70s early 80s video game scene. Going to the arcade at the mall, and playing Atari at my friend’s house, or intellivision at another friend’s house, or colecovision at home. But by the time I was 16 and driving, the video games were put away. We all had different hobbies and activities. School sports, band and choir, drama club, speech and debate, etc. If my friends and I were bored, we’d go out driving, or to the mall, or even bowling or to the roller rink. Video gaming was clearly a kids thing. (Small exception for PC gaming but it was bigger for me when I was in college in the late 80s.) I never owned a Nintendo, or sega, or x box. So when did console gaming become a thing that older teens and young adults do?
Ahkhira@reddit
Other perspective: I'm very late GenX.
Yes, I had (and still have) consoles at home. I was probably overexposed to the Commodore in the 80's and developed a love of dungeon crawl games.
My late teens and early 20's were a lot less about gaming. I built race cars with friends, went out on the weekends, worked, practiced multiple instruments, did the occasional community service, and just in general lived life. Video games weren't really ever gone, but they became less. The games became more involved and complicated- think less Pokémon (though I still play it) and more story driven, more critical thinking, and some combat, but not all shooting and slashing.
I still have several consoles and still game a bit. These days, I just prefer more strategic stuff. I can and do go a long time without gaming, but eventually I'll pick it up again.
Video games aren't just for kids.
IAmDaBadMan@reddit
The last game console I bought was an N64. While fun, PC games were beginning the shift to LAN and dial-up connectivity which was more interesting to me. Descent, Doom, Air Warrior, and other such games were more fun when playing with other people.
Athrynne@reddit
My brother was also born in 69. Is still very much a gamer, both console and PC. Heck, my Generation Jones (62) husband is also was and still is a gamer. I think GenX is really the first generation where being a gamer after childhood was accepted, or that's just the group I ran with.
Mededitor@reddit
First time I saw DOOM running, it was on a custom PC. There were no consoles. You built a machine to run the game. That's how I did it: A dedicated PC rig with tons of memory, high-end GEFORCE GTX card, multiple monitors, audio, etc. A gaming console was always, to me, a poor man's way of getting into gaming that sacrificed a lot of the experience as a trade-off for the convenience of just plugging something into your TV. An adult buying an X-box is to me like a grown-ass man spending money on Lego.
foreskinfive@reddit
69er. ADD. I could care less about video games. I can't even concentrate long enough to play them. I get so bored so fast.
EntranceFeisty8373@reddit
Lots of older teens played the NES, but I think GTA on the Playstation normalized the idea that adults could play these games too. Adult-oriented content meant video games weren't just for kids, so of course it was okay for us old people.
Geezerker@reddit
Born in 1970; after Pong, I don’t remember ever NOT having a game console in the house. But then again, I do remember playing games less often for a couple of years in high school.
UnderstandingOk9570@reddit
We have a PS5 and 2 Nintendo switches in our house. And a child under 13 so that also makes a difference, haha. Not to mention an old PS4, iPads, gaming PC, etc. Video games are awesome. Great bang for your buck compared to a lot of other activities.
root_fifth_octave@reddit
Nintendo changed the landscape of home consoles in the states, then Sega and Sony both marketed to teenagers and adults, then Microsoft got in there. So that shift probably started taking shape after 1985.
SenseiT@reddit
I am around the same age. My first console was a “magnavox” pong followed by Atari 2600. I was all about video games until the bottom fell out of the industry after the E.T. debacle. It wasn’t very mainstream so I didn’t see or play much (except some ASCII games and arcade games) until almost a decade later and I was at a girlfriend’s house and I played their NES. I was in college then and people were debating nintendo vs. sega. I have been playing again ever since then.
Worldly-Aspect@reddit
Similar story for me until I had my kid. Couldnt go out and hang with friends with a newborn at home. Worked swing shift and couldnt unwind when i got home so i bought a Playstation (1) to be able to inwind. Been gaming ever since.
MisterSandKing@reddit
I was a hardcore gamer since NES days. I’m a bicentennial Xer. Even though I don’t play much, I still like to have the stuff. I have a PS5 Pro, and a 65” LG OLED C5. You would be blown away by the way current games look on this setup. I also have a Genesis mini, couple 3DS handhelds, Miyoo Mini plus, NES, and an old 32” CRT for when I want that nostalgic feel.
I’m also just a big kid, I like cool RC stuff, and high end airsoft stuff. I also still collect random Hotwheels, and silly things.
Fixitwithducttape42@reddit
It sounds like we would get along.
Though I use old high end projectors for viewing stuff as they are cheap second hand. And having a 90in picture to play on is fun.
MisterSandKing@reddit
Oh yeah! We definitely would! If you like having a couple beers, playing retro games, and talking about what we did in the 80’s-90’s, we’d definitely be fast friends! I’ve thought about getting a projector, that would be awesome, especially out in the yard during summer for watching stuff like Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, old MTV, and playing the NES on! Might have to do that.
omysweede@reddit
Let the flag of '76 fly, my dude
MisterSandKing@reddit
✊🏼 Oh yeah!
SargonTheAkkadian@reddit
I was born in ‘69 too. I got my first Xbox in 2007. I was a big Halo fan. Call of Duty is a fun diversion that you can play a quick 10 minute game.
therealgookachu@reddit
So, your time scheme is wrong. The NES came out in about 85. When you say Sega, I’m assuming you mean Dreamcast? Because, the Genesis and Sega Saturn were never big in the West, not like the NES. Unless you’re talking about PlayStation, by Sony, and that first came out in about 95. Xbox came out in 2001.
There’s a lot of history between the NES to Xbox, and why there was a huge change to gaming. Part of it was the video game crash of 1983 that really soured the American market. There were almost no consoles built in the US after that for a very long time. Meanwhile, in Japan, gaming and creating games became more sophisticated, leading to stuff like the Genesis system. But, because of the wariness of US markets, they never really took off. Japan chugged along and brought out the PlayStation, and eventually the Dreamcast, and Nintendo with the N64 and Golden Eye, which started to get the attention of game makers in the US.
In the 90s, most games were PC - Sierra Online, then id, etc., with games like 7th Guest, Doom, etc. But, for all the gamers that remember that time, remember it with mixed fondness as playing those games requires great deal of know-how just to get the damned sound cards to work (oh, the Sound Blaster days and fighting with it to work with Diablo).
Microsoft took note in the mid to late 90s, and decided to muscle in on Sony’s market share. Xbox premiered in 2001, and brought adult console gaming back to the US with Halo. While most gamers and nerds were well acquainted with this type of game, the majority of ppl weren’t, and it was a revelation. Plus, you didn’t have to have a CS degree to play the game. Just plug it into your TV, and you can kill aliens with monks singing to you in the background.
So, 15 years of gaming history you prolly missed out on. Check out the documentary, Video Game Years. I think it’s all on YouTube.
wondermega@reddit
NES was 85 in some test markets (NYC), but 86 “for the rest of us.” Although I got one holiday 86 and almost no one I knew had, or even talked about them for at least another year.
mao51@reddit
I had a similar experience. Started gaming with arcades, pong and Atari and then sometime in early high school got involved in other things and it faded away. I think it was a combo of getting busy with sports+work and videos games stagnating briefly in the early 80's - like arcades and the Atari and the consoles immediately after it got way less popular/stagnated before Nintendo came on the scene.
For me this meant I missed out on the whole Nintendo craze and everything after. Then I built a computer with my son as a Christmas gift for him about 10 years ago and he told me about Steam. I bought Alien Isolation on w whim as my first game purchase in decades and OMG I had not realized how much things had changed! I went back and started playing everything basically from Half Life on and it was awesome and am still playing regularly today, always making my way through a single player game.
Separate-Counter-508@reddit
M60 and game daily
ouijahead@reddit
I’m 46 and game. Some games are clearly not for children. Keeps me entertained more than most movies personally
LibertyMike@reddit
I've been a video game addict since I was a kid. The only console I had was an Atari 5200, which was great until the controllers stopped working. I played a ton of computer games too, but only at friends' houses. I got a Mac in my junior year of college and played a bunch on that too.
After I graduate college, I got a Playstation, a Sega Dreamcast when it was $99, then PS 2, 3 & 4. Both the PS 3 & 4 still work, but we seldom ever use either, so I have no plans to buy a PS5, which is insanely expensive. If I ever get a chance to get back to playing them, I have a big enough back catalog to keep me entertained anyway.
These days I only play a couple of different games on my phone, but they're all turn based and I only play when I have a few minutes to kill.
blackcurrents78@reddit
My whole family was obsessed with the Commodore Vic-20 in 1981. We had one, cousins had one and even my grandparents. Radar Rat Race and Draw Poker were constants. The Vic-20 was a cheaper model where the whole system was built into the keyboard, unlike the Commodore 64. My buddy had that one.
Jacmac_@reddit
The C64 had the whole thing built-in the keyboard also, it just had more RAM and expansion capabilities.
lazygerm@reddit
Dependent on the person.
The groups I ran with in high school and college loved video games. Arcade, console and computer.
I had a Telstar and then an Atari, but once I got into computers I was playing computer games. They offered more depth and more game genres.
But I also had friends who only played arcade games. They did not have consoles or computers. I really never met anyone who did not play video games back then. Well, except for the people of the female persuasion.
Fight_Tyrnny@reddit
Nintendo was always a younger kids system (< 24 years old), always has been. Early on the genX adults moved to computers. For us GenX it was the mid 80's and a C64, late 80's with an Amiga and then early 90's move to the first PC's (for me 386 and up).
But then the Playstation was released as a more mature system with more mature games followed by the Xbox. Both pretty much quickly became cheap PC systems for people who couldn't afford OR understand PC's which has always completely out performed consoles. The only reason to get a concole was for titles that were exclusive. For me, at one point I owned 4 PlayStation 3's because it made an excellent home theater device (Bluray, etc...).
But I havent owned a console now in 10 years. Hell, my RTX5090 by itself cost me 5x what a new concule costs and is just about as big. The power difference between even a low/mid PC vs a console is dramtically better.
Its been like that now for decades.
XStonedCatX@reddit
Lol, im 45 and bought a Nintendo Switch, the new Zelda games are fucking great. Mario Galaxy is pretty good, too 🤷♀️
Frosty-Survey-8264@reddit
Have you tried either of the Splatoon games on Switch?
XStonedCatX@reddit
No, have not
Frosty-Survey-8264@reddit
It's a fun take on a fast-paced arena shooter, but it also has an interesting story mode with good lore. Give it a look if that sounds interesting. I stopped playing most shooters a while back, but I actually look forward to jumping into that one. Oh, the third one is the easiest to jump into multi-player on since it's the current installment of the series.
Fight_Tyrnny@reddit
Nothing wrong with that, they are made for younger people but they are still fantastic games. I just live streamed a complete game of 1985 Zelda 1 (and now Zelda 2) , First time I've played it in 25 years much less 40 years ago when I got it brand now on the NES. It was a blast, such good games.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRtYLPWOr-yaW7Fy9epIpXKSEePv5-WhX
No_Consideration_339@reddit (OP)
Cool. I've also built a PC or two in my time.
So, is the turning point the NES? or Playstation? NES is out in 86, but seems more like a kids game. By the mid 90s I knew a lot of slightly younger folks who were playing consoles. And they were playing NBA, NFL and shooter style games. With the Playstation coming out for Xmas of 94, was that the first "adult" console?
eboy71@reddit
I would argue that games grew up along with our generation, which was the first one to actually play video games. The whole industry felt more childish in the 80s, because that’s when we were kids, and we were the ones playing games. As we grew up, consoles did. The Sega Genesis had lots of games for young adults, and then by the time the PS1 rolled around, we were full on adults and there were plenty of games for us.
Nowadays,there are tons of games for every age group but as a general rule, Nintendo has always skewed a bit younger, while Microsoft and Sony tend to have most of the mature games. But that’s just a general rule - there are a lot of exceptions and you can pretty much play any type of game on any platform.
qwembly@reddit
I think it just depended on the group of friends. My friends and I played the shit out of console games in every generation. Atari, Coleco, Nes, Snes, Sega and onward. Once we started driving we would go out, hit the movies and party, but we still played console games. We just didn't tell anyone about it...there was definitely a stigma that it was for nerds.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
It depended on the kids more than an era.
jasonhsv@reddit
Iron_Chic@reddit
I am 75 and games evolved along the same timeline that I was growing up, probably true for those born around '73 and '78 (-ish)
So, I remember having an Atari 2600 in '81 when I was 6. It was fine, but the technology at the time wasn't that great that someone would get hooked on it. Sim0le games that were fun for a short time. Neighborhood kids and I would play for an hour or so before getting bored with it. We surely weren't invested. Similar to small children's books.
1986 was the 8-bit era of NES and SMS. I was 11 and the games got more colorful, more substantial. Games were still aimed at kids, so the music, graphics, storylines, etc. were still "childlike" for the most part. We spent more time playing these systems, but the games still got boring if you'd already played them. Similar to pre-teen books.
1991 was the 16-bit generation, with the SNES and Genesis taking over. I was 16 now and the games were starting to mature. Mortal Kombat had blood, RPG games had main characters who died, the games got somewhat darker and were more similar to young adult books.
After this, games just kept getting more "mature" and diverse. People my age were now making games, some games had better storylines than movies, but from 1996-2010-ish, most games were still aimed at males (kill, kill, kill, shoot, explosions!)
After the 2010 (-ish) a lot of companies realized that video games were going to surpass movie revenue and the industry started blowing up. Games started getting more diverse, more interesting. The technology is amazing, even the systems themselves started looking less childless. Controlers have 10+ buttons, etc.
Advanced-Level-5686@reddit
We're the same age and I agree. Friends had Atari and we got an Odyssey (sp?). When I got my driver's license and my Jeep CJ at age 17, I never played a video game again. Bought my first investment property at age 25 and my home at age 28 and my second investment property at age 38.
PissedCaucasian@reddit
Dude I was born in 73 and had an Atari 2600 and an NES. A Sega Genesis in college. I don’t know where you were? You win for better time spent though.
Pre3Chorded@reddit
Early 1990's me and my teenage friends had epic Dr Mario contests.
JJQuantum@reddit
I’m thinking it started with MMORPG games on the PC and the console makers wanted to get in on the money. The first XBox is the first time I heard older, 20 something’s getting into console gaming.
svzurich@reddit
'74. Remember seeing Pong and being fascinated when little, but pinball was my jam. Then Atari came out, but that controller sucked for us southpaws, so mom bought me the Sears version of the Atari with the paddle/joystick controllers with buttons on each side. In middle school I received the NES and in high school I had the GB. Night the PS1 while in the Navy, PS2 and 3 later, GBA/DS/New 3DS, then Switch 1 and 2, both Sega mini consoles, and have always been a PC gamer.
Also love my TTRPG books and dice.
Comic books too.
And all through growing up, I heard I was too old to be playing games. Since I was 10.
No, I was just ahead of the curve.
ptindaho@reddit
Around '87 the Nintendo Entertainment System went super wide, and I would say that really started it. The Genesis was like an arcade at home (from the marketing) and was a huge leap then the SNES was big, too. From then on, the PS and PS2, Gamecube, and XBOX got us to where we have been lately.
jenorama_CA@reddit
1973 vintage. We had the Atari 2600 and that was it until I graduated HS in 1991. The Gameboy was the thing, but I wasn’t super interested in that. I got the original Nintendo and played Tetris, Dr Mario and the Dragon Warriors on it and when I moved in with my now husband, he had a Super Nintendo and a 3DO along with a much better PC.
We got a Nintendo 64, but the games to me on it were meh, so console gaming for me didn’t get super interesting until we got a PlayStation with FF7, Wild Arms, Suikoden 1 and 2 and lots of others. I’ve since developed a 20 year World of Warcraft habit, I game on Steam Deck, PS5 and I saw someone comment that it’s actually kind of hard to find games made for kids these days and I tend to agree. Even games that seem to have a cute and fun exterior tend to hide some dark themes behind them.
Storytelling has gotten really good in games. The most recent game I finished was Clare Obscur Expedition 33 and boy, I was not prepared. One thing that’s kind of bumming me out though is the fact that one day, I might not be around to play a game I’m looking forward to. With how long development cycles are, will I get to play Fallout 5, Witcher 4 or Horizon 3? I feel like Witcher 4 and Horizon 3 are pretty good bets, but I’m looking at you, Fallout 5.
joemamah77@reddit
I played pong then Atari and stopped with the Sega Genesis. Switched to mall and roller rink arcade games when I could drive.
I’m a 1969 Gen Xer too, but your reference to “elder” hit hard, ngl.
Mindless-Baker-7757@reddit
I never liked feeding quarters into a machine so I could lose super fast.
WildmouseX@reddit
I was born 75. I remember my dad had Pong and I remember when he brought home our first Atari 2600. After that I pretty much owned every console to come out after the Super NES. Plus my parent bought me a Tandy 8086 as my first P.C.
So based on my experiences, the mid 80's is when the consoles took off.
KungPaoKidden@reddit
Born in 72. Atari 2600 made it's way into our house one year. Someone picked out a game called Yars Revenge. I played and played and played, and I managed to flip it. The whole thing rebooted because my score got so high that it seemed like it didn't know what to do. Countless hours in front of the TV playing that game. Might have even been addicted to it.
VegasRudeboy@reddit
I was born in 1970 but I was raised in the UK, the video game crash wasn't a thing like it was in the US, folks mostly went from the Atari to the ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64, the NES wasn't huge like it was here.
Mindless_Entrance_@reddit
'77 I've always been obsessed with video games after I played an Magnavox Odyssey when I was 4. In my experience they were popular even before Nintendo, but only with certain people. I was made fun of by other kids for being a nerd because I played them. It seemed to shift after the Playstation 1 came out. Rappers were using the name in songs and in interviews. Commercials were starting to be shown during sports games and prime time television. Before I realized it, it was suddenly "cool" to play video games. I believe like with any "product", society deems it acceptable when a celebrity is promoting it. When you have Bruce Willis' likness in a game, "It's not just for kids anymore".
Fixitwithducttape42@reddit
Probably around the time you graduated college. Nintendo came out, than Sega genesis and super Nintendo. They all made gaming at home more viable and not just a social thing at a arcade which I never really experienced and I grew up with the Nintendo and Sega Genesis.
So my generation grew up with it and it became a staple in what we do and what we play when visiting friends. And it just continued on and never faded. I only got crap from one person for playing video games at my age and that was a 23 year old coworker and I doubled down and corrected her I was older than she thought and I still play video games. Fact is it remained a form of stress relief to unwind after work for most of us if we have time.
Games also got more complicated and focus more on teen and adult crowds too. So what was done in the arcade back when you visited them (and now) vs what we have on home consoles is vastly different set of games. Baulders Gate 3 for example is definitely aimed at teens and adults.
PC and console gaming are far more parallel than you think. Especially the last 20 years with Steam making it more viable to game on a PC. And games being on console and PC a lot more often.
omysweede@reddit
Had a colecovision in early 80s due to them being really old. Got into Commodore 64 instead of the Vic 20 because it was cheap and everything pirated. Had about 500 games.
Still rented Vectrex games through the early 80s (vector graphics were smooth).
I got into consoles with a Play Station One in 2000. It was a birthday present for myself as it also doubled as a CD player (and you controlled the screensaver with the controller).
These days at 50 I am exclusively a console player with Xbox One S.
It is not a kids thing. Neither is my 50 year old collection of comic books.
burjja@reddit
It starts with younger X/Xennials. After the video game crash of 83, lots of people who had played video games before never came back but if you had an NES as kid, there was a much larger chance you would play the rest of your life and that's become more true with each generation.
I would say the first time you see a true acceptance of older teens and up playing video games was Mallrats in 95 and Swingers in 96. Interestingly, most of the cast in those movies were core Gen X born around 1970. I think importantly, both movies used the Sega Genesis, which was the first console to market that they weren't for "babies".
Admirable-Currency89@reddit
My BFF and I got a Nintendo for our dorm room Christmas 88. Several other folks had them, so we would swap games and whatnot. That shit was running 20 hours a day lol.
bleepsndrums@reddit
1985, when the NES came out. It was finally possible to get gaming as good as the arcade in your home.
Carrollz@reddit
My boomer parents weren't the only adults I knew in the 80s and 90s that owned and frequently played with a gaming console, never got into them myself but didn't mind playing occasionally for a bit while doing laundry when I came home for a visit from college.
Carrollz@reddit
Actually even my empty nest grandparents had an Atari in the early 80s. I remember playing Custer's Revenge on it which definitely wasn't meant for kids!
xxDailyGrindxx@reddit
Same age but I enjoyed driving to the arcade on weekends...
I gamed heavily on my Atari 2600, Apple 2e, and Mac before getting my driver's license and took an extended break from home gaming until getting my first PC (386DX clone), at which point I binged Duke Nuke'em, Doom, Heretic with a detour through the sega Genesis, first 2 PlayStations, Dreamcast, and returning to PC.
I haven't had any intention of going back to consoles for quite some time now...
chitoatx@reddit
Nintendo happened. NES (1985), Super NES (1991), Nintendo 64 (1996) that decade of game development / advancement ushered in 3D gaming. Nintendo tried to partner with Sony for a CD ROM attachment for the SNES that fell thru that created the Sony PlayStation.
davekva@reddit
This is the answer. I had an Atari 2600, and then a Tandy computer that had games, but when the NES came out, it was a game changer. I got an NES when I was in 8th grade, and then when Super NES and Sega Genesis came out, I was out of high school and had a job, so I bought them for myself. Once the Playstation came out, that was all I bought. I did get my kids a Wii and a Switch, but I never play those. Right now we have three PS5's. One for me, and one for each kid. I don't play as much as I used to, but I'll never give up owning a console.
gargle77@reddit
I was born in ‘72, got my Atari 2600 in ‘82 and have never stopped gaming.
Empty_Divide153@reddit
I’m exactly your age and I’m heavily into VR. Get a meta quest 3. If you enjoy video games, this will rock your world. It’s a literal game changer.
Sgt_Graybeard@reddit
I was born in 76, started with an Atari, then played games on my Commodore 64. My parents bought a super NES for themselves. I have it now, plus a Sega, N64, PS2, XBox, xbox360, xboxone and the latest xbox. I try to play at least 1 hour a day to keep my skills up.
Stare_Decisis@reddit
Why do I feel like all these questions are for data mining and the creation of content for tik tok videos?
All of you can tackle this question, I'm tired and cynical today.
Badrear@reddit
I’m at the end of GenX, and I’ve had at least one video game system in my life for over 40 years. First was an Atari of some sort. Now I have a PS5 and Quest 3 as active systems with a bunch of older ones boxed up.
Komaisnotsalty@reddit
I'm very close to your age.
Console gaming started super early in our house. My siblings are quite a bit older, and my oldest sibling was making decent money by 1977. He bought Tank Wars, and from that time on, we were hooked on console gaming, which later moved to PC for some of us.
Tank Wars became Coleco, then Intellivision, Atari, and so on. I literally can't remember a single time in my life, except for a period in my early 20s when I was homeless, that I didn't have a console, a computer, or both.
Even my parents were heavy console players and up until their late '70s, still played (they had a Wii). My mom is still alive at 84 and she has a Nintendo Switch she plays. She'll murder you at Mario Kart, btw. Her great-grandkids love visiting because she'll play video games with them. I don't know too many her age who do that with their grandkids.
I don't do console gaming anymore. The last console system I took seriously was Nintendo 64 and the only console I had after that was a Wii, which I never really cared for as much. I far prefer PC and my games on Steam.
My family doesn't know each other well due to the crazy age gap (and being raised really weird) and we don't get along all that well, but slap down a video game or at least a deck of cards and we're good for fun and laughs for hours.
My oldest brother (he's pushing 70) has now and has had every console system every made. Pretty sure he still has them all too.
I do still play some console games. I have a partition on my hard drive that I use to drop to DOSBox and I have emulators for a few different systems on there. Every once in awhile, nostalgia hits and I feel like playing something from Coleco or old Windows '95 games.
jasnel@reddit
Born in ‘70. Never stopped gaming.
eboy71@reddit
This is the way.
EagleEyes0001@reddit
Money, they found a way to market it better and be more appealing. The games now allow you to walk into buildings interact with characters see facial emotions when you make certain choices the list goes on. And with the development of AI it will suck more people in. I do believe though that 2020 through 2022 had a big hand to play in that with people looking for other outs during lockdown periods. I’ve seen a wave of older players on YouTube and other live streaming services.
FollowTheFellow@reddit
Some of my friends in high school had an Atari 2600, but most of us played games on our PC-compatible. I don’t think consoles could really compete until the Genesis came out, and you and I were in college by then.
powerbug80@reddit
I've been gaming since '81. It was kids pushing the sale of Nintendo and Sega, so young people have been playing consoles almost 50 years now.
eboy71@reddit
I remember the first generation of consoles really well too - the 2600, Intellevison, ColecoVision, etc. I grew up with computers (VIC-20 then C64), but I had friends who had the consoles and they were always a blast.
Automatic-Unit-8307@reddit
Born early 70s, been playing console since early 80s, Atari, colecovision, etc. Still gaming in my 50s with Switch w and Legion game, unfortunately the eyes and hands are bad now
domesticatedprimate@reddit
I was born in '68 and yeah, gaming was something we did in middle school and got too busy for in high school.
But based on the other comments, that apparently had already started changing with mid to late GenX.
Odd-Perception7812@reddit
Same age, lifelong gamer. I have been playing Arcraiders since it launched, and it was fun. Getting tired of it though. Slay the spire 1/2 have been scratching my itch lately. May switch to something slower next. Like Diablo.
eboy71@reddit
I’ve been enjoying the hell out of Death Stranding lately. Who would have thought being a post-apocalyptic courier could be so much fun?,
mndsm79@reddit
South end of genx. Nintendo relaunched the home console market after Atari crashed and burned. After that it became a thing a lot of us just kept doing into adulthood, or rejoined after our kids got older. I was playing Xbox with my kid from the time he could hold a controller, as an example.
Cautious_Artichoke_3@reddit
A whole lot of us never put the games away. We did a whole lot to help grow the industry
Mistervimes65@reddit
Born in 1965. We had pong. Other than that I dumped quarters into arcade games (except when I worked at Six Flags and could play for free in our canteen). My first home console was a sega genesis in 1992.
eboy71@reddit
Born in 71. I have always loved games. Started with Pong and have always had a modern computer and/or console to play games on. I still play regularly today.
It’s a great pastime, which I enjoy along with a large number of other hobbies, sports, music, etc.
Hab_Anagharek@reddit
Nintendo, 1986-87, for kids born later than you. I was born in 75 and loved Atari and got a CollecoVision in 1981, then got bored of it. 5-6 years later came Super Mario Bros and Zelda, the hype was huge.
DrShankensteinMD@reddit
I was born in 76' and started playing games at 4 and have continued to play ever since. There was about a 6 month lull in my high school years, but it's been consistent for the most part.
As someone that loved technology I got into gaming, home theater, building PCs and all that.
MrsQute@reddit
'74 baby here - I have had a console for one reason or another since 1986.
For a good number of years it was more my kids than me playing them but I usually had a game or two I'd play if I had time. I also played with them.
For many years we had PlayStation, XBox, and Nintendo. Plus my husband and my oldest played a lot of PC games - I never enjoyed PC gaming as much as consoles.
These days I have a PS5 and a Switch. I don't always play them but I would hate to not have the option. I can't see gaming never being one of my hobbies.
Beginning_Key2167@reddit
Born in late 68. I agree. By 15 or 16 none of us played video games anymore.
I got a girlfriend at 16 and well there was a lot better things to do then waste time playing video games.
I got into skiing and cycling as well.
I have never owned a gaming console. My dad told me when I was a kid. He would buy me anything that would keep me active. Just not a gaming console. I still thank him for that.
I don't get these younger guys. Spending so much free time playing games. So many guys saying they haven't even dated in their 20's!
I can't imagine in what world I would have chosen video games over my high school and college girlfriends.
Lost-Platypus8271@reddit
middle Gen X here (‘74), my sibs and I did gaming through teen and college years, so I guess sometime in the 90s when consoles became cheaper and more ubiquitous
thecrowsallhateyou@reddit
Im closer to your age, and my Boomer 'rents lived By The Cartridge. We had Atari, and when Nintendo came along, that was basically religion. So we didn't have much, but we gamed early and often.
I miss the days of the magazines and game strategy books.
Useful_Humor_1152@reddit
I'm two years older than you. We went to the arcade. I had intelevision and my friend had Atari. I got a Nintendo as a gift in my early 20s also got a Playstation when it came out. Still have my Playstation 2. Had a Gameboy. I know several people our age that never stopped gaming. They had children and game with their children. We would play mutil payer games, this was before gaming went online.
knowlessman@reddit
It happened when 2nd generation game developers took over. So, very late 80s or early 90s to be realistic.
The first generation of game developers were largely making something they didn't personally enjoy, for someone else. They had never played video games because video games didn't exist. So they approached their job as being toy makers for the obvious market for toys: children.
When those children grew up and some of them began making games, they had a different point of view. They weren't making games for some strange Other group. They were making games for their own group. They remembered the fun of playing but were tired of genre childish games. So they made games for themselves. For young adults. And, as that group got older, the games followed.
Today it's genuinely hard to find video games that are made for kids. Game devs make games for their peers, who are adults. There are a few exceptions (Nintendo's first party games are generally more kid friendly, though even there it's because of handicaps they add to the games to make them playable by kids).
Other art forms have gone through similar cycles. Maybe less dramatic because there were clearer precedents, but you see the same with board games and to a lesser extent movies. A large percentage of early movies were more for kids, and when those kids grew up you started seeing movies that were for the people those kids had become. A large percentage of early board games were for kids, and when those kids grew up the board games did too.
No_Consideration_339@reddit (OP)
Ah! This makes perfect sense!
b_o_m@reddit
I never got into them. Never had a home game beyond Pong. Played a few games at the arcade but preferred pinball and air hockey to video games. Just never understood the appeal
Specialist_Energy335@reddit
Same here. I had fun playing the early versions of gaming, but pinball and air hockey were my jam. I even earned an air hockey trophy in my early 20s with a group I hung out with. Ironically, there were no air hockey trophies to be found, so it was a "ping pong/table tennis" trophy 😂 Table tennis didn't exist back then in those words LOL
LAARPer@reddit
Born in 75. We went from Atari to Nintendo in a few years. Mostly played at night or when it was raining. Most other time spent outside doing something. PlayStation became big for a lot of us in early adulthood, but it varied.
UrbanFuturistic@reddit
The late '80's and early '90's is when it started to carry over. Shortly after you "aged out" it started to be seen as something more than just a "kids thing". The games got more complex, and more adult themes were added in, sometimes to a games detriment. But they figured out how to make more engaging platformers and space shooters, even though those remained popular as well. Then games like Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat came along. Driving games got better and better, and so on.
303FPSguy@reddit
Little younger than you. Lifelong gamer. I remember taking my Sega gen and attachments and all my carts and trading it for a 3DO console, which was top of the line at the time.
I’ve had a console pretty much my whole life. Currently own a Series X and kick the shit out of the kids at Battlefield 6. I don’t worry about my hand eye coordination or mental acuity as I age. I’m also able to be somewhat social and make more friends than I would otherwise. Although I avoid talking to people on Battlefield specifically.
Anyway, it’s a great hobby as I age. Not as expensive or intensive as my other love of 4 wheeling the Colorado mountains.
apc961@reddit
It's debatable but in the early 90s a bunch of independent gaming magazines (EGM, Gamefan, etc) came out and I think created some hard core hobbyists.
Around the same time you also had near arcade perfect ports of modern games landing on home consoles which had never been possible before. I remember Street Fighter 2 coming out on SNES being huge.
KurtStation68@reddit
I probably didn't get into home video games until college - Doom got me addicted. Eventually got a PS3 since everything was combined as a gaming machine (unless I wanted Microsoft games like Halo). Now it's PS5.
But yeah, dropping quarters was a separate hobby among other activities. I do see a sense of "how cute, an old man reliving their past" when I pinball or hit the arcade. In my mind it's more like testing my hand eye coordination.
cyvaquero@reddit
I never stopped and with portable handhelds like Anbernics you can carry those old games around with you.
Wykydtr0m@reddit
I never stopped. Went from arcades to consoles to pc.
DevolvingSpud@reddit
Same - as Mitch (RIP) would say, “I used to game. I still do, but I used to too.”
YourGuyK@reddit
It happened in the 10 years between you and me (79). When I was in college everyone gathered in dorm rooms to play Golden Eye, and we played Half Life tournaments on our computers.
However, I didn't do as much gaming in high school, and didn't have a console (though I did play games on PC a bit).
Saguache@reddit
72 here and this was true for me as well, but it wasn't because it was "kid's thing". Back then I would have been happy to spend a roll at the arcade, but that same roll was worth a tank of gas or a weeks worth of taco bell burritos. Whatever, a quarter in the 1980s was a lot more valuable than it is today. The cost of a video game on my PC is a cost effective alternative to the arcade, and the games today are way more engaging.
LazyOldCat@reddit
‘70 here, didn’t have time til the PS1 came out, and I’ve gotten every one since (usually 2 years late, after the price drop.) Replaying AC Odyssey right now, looking forward to GTA 6 (after a price drop, lol).
EnjoyingTheRide-0606@reddit
1969 too but I don’t video game. I have a few phone games I play. And I golf, play pool, and walk.
DDlg72@reddit
My first was Atari 2600. I currently play World of Warcraft.
Christina_Beena@reddit
I picked up a PlayStation when I was 17 and never looked back.
I'm...literally scrolling through reddit as I'm making a snack for the next quest in my most recent playthrough of HZD 🤣
agravain@reddit
it wasn't "just a kids thing" to anybody I knew.
we started with arcade games, then home gaming with the Atari, then Nintendo and Playstation. and still going to arcades all the time.
I used to build computers to play games online with others.
ChEeSeJeWyBaCcA@reddit
I was born in 75 and I still game all the time. I started with Atari and haven't stopped since. Maybe being a younger kid in the 80s was the reason? It really took off when you were in highschool/college. A lot of my fellow younger GenX still play to this day
No_Consideration_339@reddit (OP)
I think you're on to something. Nintendo came out in 1986. So did the first Sega. I don't remember any of my friends talking about them or wanting one. But if I were 10-13 instead of 16-17, I can certainly see a difference.
Chibi-Skyler@reddit
I was born in '74 and the only video games I played as a kid were Atari at neighbors' houses and arcade games at the mall. I was a "late bloomer," didn't really get into it until after high school. My first was the original Game Boy. I taught my 60-something mom Tetris and got her hooked. She got her own Game Boy and we'd link our systems; she could absolutely SLAUGHTER me at Tetris, she was that good. Since then, I've been a Nintendo gamer, though I did buy a PS2 in '04 just to play DDR.
highlandre@reddit
I’m a ‘74 and I’ve been gaming since we got the Bally Master system in 1980. 46 years and still gaming.
jerkknuckle@reddit
I was also born in that very nice year of 1969. Played Atari as a kid for hours a day. As I got older I still played at the arcades and always had some sort of console at home. Even if I didn’t play as much, it was there when I wanted to. Even after moving in with a girlfriend, we got a Super Nintendo then later a Playstation 1
Old_Goat_Ninja@reddit
I’m a 72 baby I had Nintendo, Sega, Intellivision, etc. Bought them myself with money I made from paper route or doing work on other peoples yards. Anyways, I had all those but they were never a priority. I played video games when no one was home, or I had no where to go, etc. Games were a time filler when I had nothing else to do. For record, that’s still true for me. I still play video games, but only when I don’t have anything else to do.
frettbe@reddit
Born in 75. I never quit gaming. Began with videopac, then migrated to a commodore 64 and next computer. I bought my first "console", a nintendo wii when I became father in 07, in order to let my kids play friendly games. Then I bought a PS4 because hardware became very expensive to play on computer. Now I continue to play on console as I'm not an hardcore gamer
Bubblehead_81@reddit
As an older millennial who is more GenX than millennial, I think it was definitely the younger millennials. They just never grew up.
ExtraAd7611@reddit
I also lost interest in video games sometime around high school but I think plenty of people our age never stopped playing them.