SNES when growing up. When it was released, it felt like having an arcade machine at home. The sound & 16-bit graphics with titles like TMNT Turtles in Time, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, Final Fight, Super Double Dragon, and T2 The Arcade Game.
I was also a PC gamer but never looked at a PC as a gaming system/console. Played games like Sim City, Sim City 2000, Doom 1 & 2, Duke Nukem 3D, Wing Commander series, Warcraft, Starcraft, Command & Conquer series, and the list goes on.
I remember SNES coming out when I was 6 and writing repeatedly on my christmas list "super nintendo" over and over until I filled up the entire page. I thankfully got it and for the next decade that was pretty much all I played. Even when the N64 came out I was unimpressed with the blocky polygon graphics. SNES games even today have aged so well. Most of my favorite RPGs of all time are on the SNES.
I remember being like 5 years old and my grandfather (who built the PC for us and would later take me to computer shows) made a "cheat sheet" for me telling me how to "cd" etc in order to find and run my games
I went back and forth between my SNES and N64. SNES was better for RPGs and a lot of 2D action games, but the N64 was much better for multiplayer/party games. If I had to pick one, I'd probably go SNES, but it was close.
I only got to truly experience Red Alert recently with the remake. My first taste of it was on PS1, and I remember it being pretty clunky. Come to think of it that was the first RTS I ever played
I grew up basically worshipping the N64. Mario Kart, Ocarina, Majora, both Pokemon Stadiums, Mario 64, Paper Mario, GoldenEye, Wave Race, Perfect Dark, Mario Party...Not a whole lot of games, but the good ones are some of the best of the time.
Doom 2 - Spent my childhood on dial up playing other friends over the modem. Up all hours of the night using chainsaws and rockets. Late 90s when Duke Nukem came out, It was the first game I drove immediately to the store and purchased. Back in the day when you bought the box and had to take it home and install it. Thought it was leading edge and funny as hell. To be fair it was at the time. Today that information is tracked. I'd like to know how many thousands of hours I spent on this game. But it was hilarious and late fun filled nights.
Today I buy 2-3 games per decade. But still game for a majority of my entertainment. One of the benefits of being an old gamer is that if you build a new system today it can play everything from the 70s to 2023 at a minimal. Toss in Emulation for other consoles in there you really have a plethora of choices, 4 decades worth to be specific. All of which contain no tracking, no always online, no micro-transactions. As gaming was intended! Really hard to find something that checks those boxes, about 2-3 titles per decade worth purchasing.
I always was a PC gamer, but I loved the PSP, it was insane how good the PSP was back then. Now I have a Steam Deck and it's the best of both worlds, I would've loved having that kind of thing when I was a kid.
Still play my original console sometimes, I got a flashcart from China with every N64 game on it. Its fun to bust it out at parties.
After that halo on the 360 was were it was at for sleepovers or birthday parties.
My friend got fallout new Vegas for his birthday so we all sat around handing off the controller just bullshitting, we ended up going straight towards new Vegas and got just mutilated by deathclaws. great game
It was a huge upgrade from our Atari, and even when we got the SNES and Sega Genesis, I still played it a ton. I bought an Xbox as a teenager and loved it, and I probably played on PC more than anything, but I'll always remember the NES.
N64. Apart from the usual suspects (Mario 64, Wave Race, Pilot Wings, Golden Eye, Dark Project), Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon still feels like I fever dreamed that crazy ass game up. It also had the only wrestling game I ever liked, but forgot the name.
N64. I still have mine too and I play it sometimes with my kids now, although less often since NSO got N64 games. Switch hardware is much easier to replace if my kids break something.
Probably NES. I had Atari, Sega Genesis, and PC, then later Sega Game Great, GB Advance, and XBox, but NES was the most fun imo. I mostly only played Street Fighter on Genesis.
For my kids, it'll probably be PC. They love Minecraft, and haven't played on our Switch a ton.