I'll join in.
I started playing games on one of the Atari systems (I was 3, don't recall which one) with Pitfall. Mom got me an NES for Christmas one year but wouldn't buy me any "violent games" for it. I specifically remember Mario games being OK and Double Dragon being the equivalent of Satan. So I had games like Mario, Zelda, Adventures of Lolo, etc. to keep me busy.
A few years later my mother's boyfriend moved in and brought along his huge game collection. It was there that I got my first taste for RPGs with Final Fantasy. Finally got my hands on some of those Satan games too. Double Dragon, Battletoads, games of that ilk.
From there we kept up with the systems pretty well. When the Genesis and Super Nintendo were both out, my brother and I demanded the systems individually for Christmas. I got the Genesis, he got the SNES, and we both reaped the benefits. I distinctly recall Altered Beast, Sonic (all of them), Super Mario World, Killer Instinct, and Mortal Kombat filling many of my hours.
Then I found games like Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy II and III (the shock later when I found out they were really IV and VI was amusing), Secret of Evermore, Illusions of Gaia, and Shining Force. That was where I became an RPG whore. Squaresoft had become a "can-do-no-wrong" company for me that gen. Sega CD kept my interest with games like Popful Mail, Vale, and the Lunar games.
Initial exposure to PS1 was through friends. MK Trilogy stands out as the game that made me think "I must have this system." N64 was a day one purchase. Killer Instinct Gold, Turok, and of course Mario 64 were staples in the house. I remember the first Christmas after getting my PS1 I asked my mother to get me FFVII. She was unable to find it, but took a suggestion that the clerk at the local game store made that Myst was "pretty much the same game" and got me that instead. Hated that damn game. Love affair with Square continued with games like Parasite Eve, Chrono Cross, Legend of Mana, and of course all the Final Fantasy games. Especially Tactics though, love that game.
I never bought a Saturn. Friend had one. Only game I recall on it was Dragonforce.
Handheld systems up to this point were never really my thing. I had a gameboy. Played Pokemon (blue), tetris, and a few other games on it. Never really got into anything significant there though.
Sixth gen saw huge changes in how I allocated my gaming time. I didn't care for the Dreamcast at all. Brother bought one, I liked the 2k football games but never got into anything else there. PS2 was bought exclusively for Square games. Got an xbox because I was interested in what MS could do as a console maker. I don't recall much of what I played on either system though beyond the obvious Final Fantasy, Halo, and for some reason Tony Hawk games. Spent a ton of time in gen 6 on PC. Diablo 2 and Dark Age of Camelot were the heavy hitters there for me. Also discovered Age of Empires 2 around this time and played the hell outta that one. Spent almost 5 years exclusively on Dark Age of Camelot though. Think I came up out of that one for FFXII and that was about it.
Gen 7 I was out of my home and living with roomates so the game systems were individually purchased and turned communal. Spent a ton of time on my friends 360 playing games like Halo, Gears, Blue Dragon, and Rock Band. Got a PS3 on a whim, wasn't terribly interested in the launch line up. Got it with Dark Kingdom I think. Picked up a Wii for Twilight Princess. Turned Wii Sports Bowling into a drinking game and spent many nights black out drunk because of it.
Grabbed a DS, played a few GBA games on it that I had missed. Nothing stands out as memorable that wasn't a remake of some sort though.
In the beginning of Gen 7 it was 360 for everything PS3 and Wii for exclusives only. As the gen wore on I spent more time on the PS3 than I did the 360. Eventually got my own place, bought my own 360, and had all 3 systems myself. Kinda took a break from RPGs this gen as well. Found myself double dipping on a few 3rd party games as I tried to figure out which was better for me; trophies or achievements. Eventually the PS3 stuck as my go to. I recall, right before trading in my 360, that the only game I had for it at that point was Mass Effect 3. Highlights of this gen for me were Catherine, Bioshock, Infamous, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Dragon Age (but only Origins, DA2 was awful), and Gears.
Gen 8 the only system I don't have yet is the XB1, largely because of how my interest in the 360 waned through Gen 7. Waiting on Quantum Break at the moment to pull the trigger. Sunset Overdrive looks interesting and I will play Halo and Gears, but I want something more before I make the dive. PS4 is my main console. Wii U for exclusives. Bought the Vita mainly for remote play. So far also enjoying SAO on it. Lot of Vita RPGs on my Gamefly queue though. 3DS has been another almost exclusively for RPGs purchase for me as well.
I keep playing because the games continue to hold my interest. I enjoy the interactive nature, the storytelling, and the community that is video gaming.
