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Technically it was the Atari 2600. Even back in 1984 they were already dusty beasts that looked like they had been handed down for generations. I loved Donkey Kong Jr, Combat, Pitfall 2, Pacman, Kangaroo, etc.

But the first console I bought and the first console I truly sunk time into was the NES. I bought the Deluxe set with Gyromite and Duckhunt with my own hard earned cash. I made a quarter an hour working for my dad and at 10 years old I felt pretty proud of myself bringing it home. My dad made me read the entire owner's manual before I was even able to turn it on. That is some serious torture, and honestly didn't help me one bit. My parents were always taking away the power adapter when we got in trouble or played too long. The late nights of playing Metroid at 2am on a little black and white tv in my bedroom and hoping my parents didn't wake up and catch me were some of the most intense of my childhood and only enhanced the fear aspect of the game.