It's been way over a year since my last "What are your _____ threads?",
and what better way to bring it back up than to literally look back.

Rather than talk about the beginnings of our journey,
let's go down memory lane and see what brought us where we are now.

Dime con quién andas, y te diré quién eres.

1988 - LCD games (handheld)
1990 - Gameboy (handheld)
1993 - Initiation to PC (default "console")
1994 - MegaDrive (console)
1994 - Mega-CD (console)
1996 - C64 (family oldschool repair)
2002 - Nokia s40 J2ME (mobile)
2003 - Sinclair ZX81 (family oldschool repair)
2004 - Nokia s60 Symbian (mobile)
2005 - N-Gage (mobile)
2007 - HTC Touch WM6 (mobile)
2007 - Wii (console)
2008 - DS Lite (handheld)
2008 - iPod Touch (mobile)
2012 - HTC Desire C Android (mobile)
2012 - WiiU (console)
2015 - Samsung Note 4 Android (mobile)
2017 - Switch ("console")
2018 - Samsung S8+ Android (mobile)

My PC gaming was spent through 6 desktops and 3 laptops.

---
I began with a handheld and I'm currently with a handheld. It's my 30 year anniversary and I might have reached my gaming life cycle...

-NES (1990 ish)
-Genesis (94 ish)
-N64 (1997 ish)
-PS2 (2002 ish)
-360+PC (07 ish)
-PS3 (2010 ish)
-PS4 (2015)

I don't know exact years for all my consoles but vaguely speaking:

- 1991/2: Began with an NES and my dad's old Atari 2600. Mainly played late gen stuff like Mario 3 and Bubble Bobble 2 as the NES gen was nearing the end of its life by the time I jumped on board as a little kid.

- GB was around the same time. My grandpa and dad both had one that I bummed in the early 90's until eventually getting my own brick and later a GBC in the mid 90's.

- 1993(?): Got a SNES for x-mas shortly after launch along w/Super Mario World and Final Fight 2. Still might be my overall favorite console.

- 1996: Got an N64 shortly after launch w/Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. Soon got Goldeneye as a gift which would become probably my biggest surprise hit ever. Probably still my favorite console for local multiplayer.

- 2001: Got a Cube and GBA during their respective launches in 2001. Went searching Wisconsin stores for GBA when vacationing in the Dells and my buddy and I waited in like 3 lines in search for a Cube, which I eventually landed at Walmart along with Lugi's Mansion and Tony Hawk 3. Heh good times..

- 2003 (I think?) My sister oddly enough bought a Dreamcast simply because she was obsessed with Space Channel 5 at the time. We managed to snag one right as Sega was calling it quits in the hardware business and was slashing DC prices to $99 I believe it was. Ended up finding a surprise RPG hit in Grandia 2 on the console and loved Crazy Taxi, Chu Chu Rocket, and Power Stone 2 (which my buddies and I still play on occasion). This was also around the time I was allowed to buy my own gaming stuff and my dad's rigid rule of "one console per generation" (which was naturally going to be Nintendo for me) was null and void as I was starting to make my own money (albeit very little). I think I picked up a Gamegear around this time as well, as I was jumping on the Sega bandwagon just as they were crashing and burning, go figure.

- 2004: Snagged a custom-made gaming PC at my local PC shop primarily to play Everquest 2 and later WoW which a few buddies were super into, but also used it to played the crap out of Starcraft. Also got a DS, which I wasn't crazy about at first, but began to love more and more as the library was filled out with more DS-focued and quality titles.

- 2005: My first Xbox console, which was the original Xbox 360. I knew I wanted to venture out from the Nintendo and Sega camps and try a console that touted horsepower and solid third parties, but wavering between Sony and MS. Couldn't really afford both. I was leaning towards Sony actually until their lame E3 2006 conference. I also was further swayed w/Rare, one of my favorite companies now developing for Xbox, and Gears looked awesome. So I made the leap into the HD gen w/Microsoft and actually haven't looked back.

- 2006: Waited in line w/my cousin at Best Buy to pick up a Wii. That was a memorable weekend hanging out and having our minds blown by Wii Tennis for the first time and yucking it up making Mii's of all our friends and family. Great times there..

- 2008: Upgraded my old 360 to the more slick black version w/more HDD space and better hardware (if this counts).

- 2013: Picked up a Wii U, but ended up selling it back to put towards a Switch a few years later. Wasn't crazy about it, though I did enjoy Mario maker and had some good times with family and friends playing some Nintendoland stuff.. My least favorite Nintendo console.

- 2013: Found a Cyber Monday deal on a new gaming PC, though it's getting dated pretty quickly, it's roughly mid Xbox One level in terms of power. These days I mostly just play steam indie titles for the purpose of reviews, but it was cool playing Far Cry 3 for the first time in all it's crisp 1080p glory. At the time I had been confined to 720p on consoles.

- 2015: Got a deal on an Xbox One w/digital copies of the Halo games along with a couple other games for like $350 I want to say? Too lazy to look it up. Also picked up a 3DS, which I eventually sold back. Wasn't really for me.

- 2017: Me and my buddy went hunting for a Switch before midnight on launch, which we eventually scored at our local 24/7 Walmart. Snagged Zelda and played the crap out of that. Now it's sort of become my Nintendo+Indie machine, as I have a ton of indies I snag mainly for reviews. Love the portability/table top mode and usually kick back with the console outside or when I'm on the go.

That's about it I think, at least in terms of the major gaming purchases. I'm probably going to take a long break from new hardware as I'm pretty set for quite awhile and my finances aren't in amazing shape.

No need to be exact, I could be off by a year or two as well.
You can just talk about the experiences each gen brought you. Nice post!

1992: At birth I already had an Atari, Sega Master System, Genesis and an NES.
1994: Soon after we had a SNES. I think we had an original GB at some point.
1997: We got a PS1, N64 and GB Color at relatively similar times so I think it was 1997. By now I was already thoroughly addicted to video games.
2001: I got the Gamecube with some great games.
2002: Being a huge fan of FF on PS1, and then I saw my uncle playing on his PS2 with FFX, I wanted a PS2 for my birthday. I received the console during the summer though and then for my birthday I actually got an Xbox.
2004: GBA was picked up late for a cheap price to play some pokemon and kingdom hearts
2006: After thorough research of all 3 consoles I decided to spend all my birthday money on a PS3, however I didn't have enough money so my brother partially paid for it. Later on he would try to take ownership of it, but I had a backup plan with adults. Sadly bricked in 2012 due to improper care.
2009: Got a 360 and 10 games for $50. My brother got another 360 for $50. Mine bricked, his had errors.
2014 (October): Got a PS4, couldn't resist all the games. Bought with Samurai Warriors 4 and Infamous Second Son, waited a bit for FF Type 0 HD in March. And of course all the other games since...
2019 and beyond: A Switch and a PS5. Possibly an XB1 if I find it for $50 like my 360.

PC:
90s: Had a late 90s PC that I played until 2008. In World of Warcraft a 2004 game, I couldn't do anything in pvp with everything set at minimum.
2008: I bought a Desktop to play World of Warcraft. Had the most fun I ever had in any game I would say for a few years.
2011: I bought a Laptop for college, but it was also better than my Desktop. Again a very noticeable upgrade. However it became very old and overheated on anything including World of Warcraft...
2017: Bought another Laptop. Not the most worth but more manageable with student discounts, I figure it should last me 6 years like my last Laptop.

I (me personally, or my immediate family when I was a kid) have owned:

Atari 2600
Atari 5200
Sega Master System
Sega Genesis
Sega CD
Sega 32x
SNES
Sega Gamegear
Gameboy Color
Sega Saturn
N64
Sega Dreamcast
PS1
Gameboy Advance
Nintendo Gamecube
PS2
Xbox
Nintendo Wii
XB360
Nintendo DS
PS4
Xbone
WiiU
3DS
Switch

Edit to add - PSP

I don't know the years of purchase of all of them. But, I know that almost all of the consoles were purchased within a year or so of launch, except XB360 and PS4. Handhelds were picked up at various times - some near launch, others a few years after.

As I've mentioned in this forum previously, some of my earliest childhood memories involve gaming. My dad was a pretty hardcore gamer from his mid 20's (the early 80s) until he died a few years ago. He was into JRPGs mostly, which I never really got into. As a kid I mostly liked platformers. As an adult, I still love platformers, but I also enjoy shooters and western RPGs. I do play an occasional JRPG (the last one was Xenoblade Chronicles X), racing games (Forza, both Motorsport and Horizon, but pretty casually), or puzzles (Captain Toad).

One of my fondest memories is of me and my youngest brother marathoning Halo: CE for a few days leading into Thankgiving in 2001. I held the controller so long that it took several minutes to get full use of my fingers back at once point when we stopped to eat. I was 21 at the time, and though I had played shooters a fair amount before, that week is what really ignited my love of FPS campaigns.

That same brother now lives 2000 miles away from me. A large fraction of our communication these days involves talk about gaming.

My sister and my other brother also have been gamers, to varying degrees and at various points in their lives. So, really, gaming has been a family hobby. I've been around it my whole life. Theree was a period in my teenage and early adult years where I was much more of a "casual" than I was as a kid, or I am now. But, it has always been in my life to some extent.

2004? (I think) My brother got a PS2 Slim. Both of played frequently. It was the console I spent most of my early childhood years on. The PS2 holds a special place in my heart, as my favourite console of all time. And even today, the PS2 in my eyes is pure perfection.Up until 2010 we used it extensively. I have memories with many games like Burnout 3, Gta vice city and san andreas, ssx, gran turismo, midnight club, nba street, shadow of the collosus, and much more. I still go back from time to time to relive those older games, and many even discover ones that I've never played before.
2009 My parents bought be a DS Lite.I don't remember much from the DS, but I do remember a few games, like pokemon platinum (my first nintendo game ever) and mario kart ds, along with a few others. Gave it away in to a cousin in 2011.
2009 My parents also bought us a Wii. Loved games like wii sports and resort, as well wii party (probably the most fun I've had in a multuiplayer game. Gave it away to the same cousin in 2013
2010 My brother bought an Xbox 360 from his first paycheck, and that sort of took over over the PS2 as our primary console. By this time I was developing a sense of what games are good and bad, and started ooto warm up to mature games. Probably the period where I gamed the most often, probably unhealthy amounts. Some games I loved were Skyrim, COD blacks ops 1 and 2, just cause 2, tomb raider reboot, assassin's creed black flag and more.
2011- Parents bought me a 3DS, which I still own to this day, the aqua blue og one. Gave away DS and most games to cousin, only kept a few like pokemon platinum. A lot of great memories here too. Mario kart 7, mario 3d land, animal crossing new leaf, etc
2013- At the end of 2013 I was simply burned out of gaming.I was falling out of it, and I think GTA V was the one that made me break. Wasn't into it anymore. Didn't feel like getting a PS4 or Xbox One, when all my friends were super hyped. Gave away my Wii.
2014-2015 Hiatus from gaming. I think I only did two games in those two years, Farcry 4 at the end of 2014 and Rise of The Tomb Raider at the end of 2015. And that's it.
2016- Thinking of getting a new console to get into nextgen, I was leaning towards PS4 at first. Though when I learned about Back compat, the xbox one was making a compelling case as well. After watching that years E3, I decided to go for the X1S alongside Forza Horizon 3 as my first next gen game. I was back in the game
2016-Dusted off 10000 layers of dust on my 3DS for Pokemon Sun/Moon, which I was also hyped for. I resumed gaming on the 3DS as well.
2017- With my brother out of college, he generally had more free time now, and had heard about the Switch. Both of us went to get a Switch on launch day alongside BOTW. There even used to fights between us for who get's to use the switch.
2018 and beyond- Looking to get a PS4 soon. Some of those exclusives (Spiderman, Detroit Become Human, Horizon) look very compelling.
To sum it up:
PS2 (2004-, still have it)
DS lite (2009-2011, given away)
Wii (2009-2013, given away)
Xbox 360 S(2010-, still have it, though very close to selling it as most of my library is back compat now)
3DS (og) (2011-, still have it, though I'm selling it as well once we get animal crossing and mainine pokemon on Switch)
Xbox One S (2016-, my primary gaming console. Play every multiplat I'm interested in here, plus Forza)
Switch (2017-, Secondary console, exclusives machine)

Though I've played some PS3 , PS4, Gamecube, and OG Xbox games too, when I borrowed my friends consoles for days at a time.

I was brought up around PCs back in the early 90s gaming on the Atari ST and also had a Atari 2600 and a Atari 7800 consoles as well.

I received a brand new NES for my birthday at launch starting with Mario Bros and Duck-Hunt. I was a huge Nintendo fan all the way up to the Gamecube, by than I brought my very first PC built with a Pentium 3 CPU. I got back into console gaming due to one franchise and 1 brand which I loved, and that was the Halo series and Rare which is why I went 360 over PS3 and I continued my preference all the way up to the XB1 thanks to Halo and Rare.

History shows I was a bigger Nintendo nerd followed by PC gaming due to I owned almost all Nintendo systems apart from the Virtue Boy, Wii and WiiU which my brother owned and I played a fair chunk out of.

I had benefits of growing up in a gaming family where my Sister collected Sega and Sony platforms such as the MegaDrive, Genesis and the PS2, PS3, PS4 and the OG Xbox consoles while my Brother collected Nintendo consoles like the Wii and WiiU and I was in between Nintendo and PC with the 360 being my first Xbox console.

I also owned every Gameboy platform ever made but I am only going to mention the generation leap Gameboys down below. DSi, DSLite, Pocket GB, GB Colour don't need to be in the list since there based off the same platforms on release.

Console History

 Atari 2600

Atari ST

NES

GB

SNES

GBA

N64

PS1

WinPC (1st PC)

GC

DreamCast

DS

WinPC (2nd PC)

360

3DS

WinPC (3rd PC)

XB1

Switch

Nintendo handhelds (my main consoles):

2006: Game Boy Micro
2009: DS Lite
2012/early 2013: 3DS
2014: 2DS
2017: Switch

Others:

2007: Sega Mega Drive Retro Console
2010: PSP (barely played it)
2011(?): Wii
2014: Wii U