1st Gen - N/A
2nd Gen - Didn't have much a part in it since I was not born for most of it, but my dad did have an old Atari 2600 stored away in our basement that he'd occasionally bring out and we'd play some Space Invaders and a bunch of other games I can't remember.
3rd Gen - NES - Basically grew up on this along with the Super NES. Had so many great times with my friends and family playing games like Super Mario/Duck Hunt, Mario 3, Bubble Bobble, and Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle (my parents selected my games in those days lol).
4rd Gen - SNES - Still the golden age of gaming for me. I played the SNES religiously and still often bust it out to this day. It just doesn't get much better than Super Mario World, Secret of Mana, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, Yoshi's Island, Mario RPG, Turtles in Time, etc..
5th Gen - N64 - Yet again sticking with only a Nintendo console as I was still too young to really have a say in my video game purchases, and I was only allowed one console (my dad was weird about me playing too many video games), so naturally I chose Nintendo since that is what I grew up with and knew. Though I still had some great times with my N64 with games like Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Mario 64.. and Goldeneye, my god that was simply mind blowingly awesome to me. This was the generation of the multiplayer games for me, as many of my 64 games were just a blast to play with friends and family. Still play a few today, as the replay value never seems to die thanks to the outstanding multi.
6th Gen - Gamecube/Dreamcast/Gaming PC - This was the first generation I owned multiple consoles as I was finally reaching the age where I could buy my own games, and thus decide on what I wanted. Obviously by this point I was so deeply conditioned to buy Nintendo products that the Gamecube was an obvious choice. Had great memories of me and my friend lining up for the midnight launch and playing Luigi's Mansion and Tony Hawk 3 until our eyes bled. However, I also craved more than Nintendo's offerings, so once Sega desperately docked the price of the Dreamcast shortly before exiting the hardware business, I also opted for a Dreamcast. My sister was obsessed with Space Channel 5 so she really wanted one too, and I was curious to experience the great Sega titles I had missed out on over the years. Sadly, Sega bit the dust right as I was starting to warm up to them and go from hated enemy to huge fan. Very nearly opted for a PS2 but after the GC, DC, and PC, I figured I had enough games to last me awhile. My first ever gaming PC was bought towards the end of this gen, which was primarily used to snag the few Xbox titles I cared about, and to play Everquest 2.
7th Gen - Wii/360 - Continuing on my Nintendo + "other" console tradition, I spent the early part of this gen wavering between getting a PS3 and 360. I knew I wanted one of these consoles to compliment my Wii to handle most third party offerings, but was unsure which. I was actually pretty set on getting a PS3 until Sony scared me away with their outrageous price tag of $599. Plus, as MS snagged my favorite non Nintendo developer, Rareware, I decided to opt for a 360. Didn't quite get to appreciate it until I experienced Gears, Oblivion, and Dead Rising about a year later. I still play Gears 3 religiously. In 06 I bought a Wii, and it was then that I truly felt like I was playing something new. The feeling of playing Wii Sports for the first time was surreal, and I was amazed that my entire family at thanksgiving wanted in, from my grandmother to my 5 year old cousin. I don't see that experience being matched anytime soon. Then there were the countless nights of drunken Mario Kart and Smash Brothers.. Some great times. Sadly now my Wii has pretty much been dwindled down to Xenoblade, but I still rock the Xbox 360 with Black Ops and Gears 3.
7.5 Gen - New gaming PC - I say 7.5 because playing a few games like Far Cry 3 on max settings looks better than anything I've played on 360, though PS4 games will probably outdo it, at least the later ones. Anyway, I finally decided it was time to upgrade my gaming experience after 6 years, and since Wii U doesn't quite interest me at the moment and MS and Sony's consoles are probably far off, I decided to jump on a cyber monday deal on amazon, landing a gaming PC and new 24 inch monitor for about $900, which together normally costs around $1500. Been enjoying some Starcraft II, Far Cry 3, and Dragon Age since then, and that's where I stand now.
8th Gen - I still plan on buying a Wii U, I'm just not sure when. Ideally I'd like to wait for a price drop, in addition to Mario Kart and Smash, but I MIGHT invest sooner if I can find some financial sucess earlier than expected. I'm also back to chosing between Sony and MS's next console but an unsure which. Will this be the generation I finally buy a sony console? O_o A lot of factors are going to come into play, such as BC, price, ability to play used games, online service, etc. Either way though, my gaming PC is enough to tide me over for awhlie so I probably won't get involved in this gen for quite awhile.
