Hey duders!

It's really odd, but I've never had any platform for gaming except a PC for the past 15-20 years that I've been playing video games (except for some cheap knock offs of N64 and such that I had as a kid) My parents never got me a console 'cause getting something exclusively for games didn't agree with them. A PC was useful in many ways though, so I got that. (They did buy me a good one at the time though.)

In recent years, games had begun to bring my laptop to its knees and I realized I needed to build myself a desktop or finally get a console. I'm 24 now, and since I got a job and started earning last year, I thought this was a good time to fulfill my childhood dream!

I got myself a PS4, and am finally able to catch up on exclusives such as The Last of Us (kinda terrified of the clickers tbh) I'm gonna re-buy The Witcher 3 and it's expansions as well, as I quit that midway on the PC since my setup wasn't doing justice to the beauty of that game. A lot of other good games also seem to be on the Horizon (hehe).

It's a pretty special feeling. I got it yesterday and spent most of the day getting drawn to it over and over. Seeing that box sitting in front of my TV made me feel excited like a kid again.

I still kinda feel bad about having missed out on last generation's exclusives like RDR (which is on PS now but I don't know if my internet's good enough to make that work) Fable 2, Nier etc, and I didn't want that to happen again. Luckily, a lot of them have been brought over to the PS4.

Any of you have a similar experience? Do you remember how you felt when you got your first console?

I was like four years old when we got an Atari 2600. I'm not even sure if we got one, or if it was always there and I just started remembering things at that age. It must be real weird to finally have one though. Enjoy it. This is going to be a fantastic generation of games. Unfortunately it seems most of them are slightly better on PC though.

I was 8 or 9 and had been bought a ZX81 after months of pestering my mother for one. I had a friend (or rather, my mom's friends' son, who was in his early teens) with one and loads of games and I quickly became super jealous.

My wide-eyed wonder soon gave way to thoughts of why these games didn't look nearly as good as in the arcades and it wasn't until a few years later when we got a Spectrum that the gap in quality began to close.

The ZX81 had a black and white display and no sound. For around a month, the only games I had were Scramble and Chess.

Yep, 16k! And that was with the add-on RAM pack.

My first real console was a PS1 I saved up for so I can relate on getting in on the fun way after everyone else. I remember being skeptical at first, constantly finding faults that didn't exist on my PC, saying a lot of the same things that I hear repeated these days in comments sections that I shake my head at. With time though I learned the strengths of the system and really took to it. It also helped that one of my first PS1 games, after the initial wave of trash rented from Blockbuster, was Metal Gear Solid which is such a completely different beast from it's contemporaries. That game more than anything else made me realize that although consoles are weaker than PC's in many ways, they also can offer really unique and mesmerizing experiences.

I was able to mooch off my dad or brother from the Atari all the way to the PS2, so the 360 is the first one I bought by myself.

It feels... kind of... nice.

I was ecstatic! Got a Nintendo Gamecube after years of watching my cousin have a blast with it. I used to sneak upstairs when everyone else was asleep and play it for ages with the TV muted until everyone woke up.

Much later on, I saw Mass Effect 2 and just knew I needed a PS3. I did every kind of chore you could think of, saving up until I finally was able to walk into GameStop and buy it and ME2 with my own money. It was so gratifying.

It's funny, I bought a PS3 because I was tired of playing "kiddie" Nintendo games while everyone else played "deeper, more mature" things. Years later, my Nintendo devices get so much more use than my PS3 I kind of feel bad for it.

Awesome gameplay trumps all, I guess.

Got the Sega Mega Drive as my first console. Unfortunately I have absolutely no memory of when that exactly happened and whatever I got it as a birthday or a christmas gift. Can't remember what I played on it either during the first days/weeks, but I'd say Sonic is a safe bet. It's a bit sad that my memory is completely blank on that, because I usually remember a whole lot of things.

But I do remember the PS2 being the first console that I bought with my own money. Got pockets full of cash from a summerjob and no bills or other grown-up things to worry about, so I decided to blow a portion of my cash on it. God of War 1&2 alone were worth the price for someone who had only been playing exclusively on PC since my parents got rid of the Mega Drive. It felt so good and fun to play a 3rd person action-adventure with a controller and snappy gameplay, plus God of War 2 looked incredible for a console game back then.

After that it was the PS3. I was living the best years of my WoW addiction at that time and didn't really care about most other games at all, but my ex really wanted to try Guitar Hero and I figured that it'd be a fun alternative for WoW as a game to play together. Besides WoW (obviously), it ended up being my go-to-platform for pretty much every game that I bought between 2009 and 2013. It's still somehow kicking, even if it's an early fat model.

Then came both the PS4 and the Xbone. I did stay kinda hyped to get my PS4 for most of 2013, but it didn't blow my mind when I finally got my hands on it. I still enjoyed it and I love it now, but it was really just a cool improvement over the PS3. Xbone...well, I just bought that on a whim because I had too much money and then eventually sold it off. Sunset Overdrive was great, though!

@armaan8014: Did you get the original, slim or Pro? I've been mulling getting a PS4 for a while now. I've gone back and forth on PC's for years but while it's great at the start over time PC's just annoy me.

My first console was a Super Nintendo. I don't remember knowing that games even existed until one morning my brother was playing Super Mario World in the living room. Since then I've had every Nintendo console with only the original Wii being sold off. Also got a 360 slim a few years ago but it burnt out a few months back.

The first console in my house was the family NES back when I was around 3, and we were a Nintendo family right through the SNES and N64, but the first console I consider "mine" was the first one I paid my own money for; an original Xbox. I essentially got it because I was addicted to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series and with THPS4 coming out and no way to play it, I needed a machine that could handle it. While I still enjoyed THPS4, the real joy of that console was discovering Halo: Combat Evolved and falling into the world of first person shooters.

It's a damn cool feeling opening a new console that's yours and hooking it up, but I am almost the inverse of this post. I've played and owned just about every console in each generation since the Xbox/PS2/GameCube era (I'm one of those people who had all three versions of SoulCalibur II, for instance), but I only got a gaming PC in the last year. The realm of PC gaming is vast, varied, and strange. I largely think of my PC as a more capable console, weirdly, but it's still fun to dip into a new world of gaming that was totally alien to you before.

My first console was a Sega Genesis, but I don't remember a time before it so my dad probably bought it for himself when I was very young. I played so much Sonic and Golden Axe on that thing before I was even in school. I don't think I had a concept of "other games" and figured those two must be it. I loved them.

The first console I remember the actual purchase of is the PS1. I sat in the car with my mom while my dad ran in to buy it, and I was bouncing with excitement. A lot of my best gaming memories come from the PS1 and playing with or watching my dad play Resident Evil (mom didn't like that he let me watch that one), MGS, Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, and old FIFA/NHL games.

Strangely enough, I don't remember when we bought the PS2, but we had it and it became my favorite system of all time (still is). Then I got a 360 for Christmas a few years later.

The first console I bought with my own money was the PS4. It felt strange to be able to buy it myself with money from work, but I also feel more ownership and a weird sense of pride when I play it. I'm an adult, damn it, and you bet I'm spending that hard-earned money on video games.

We borrowed my cousin's C64 from time to time, but one Christmas there was a big box with my name on it under the tree. Lo and behold, the mighty NES. I spent a lot of time with Mario at first. I didn't get a SNES, but neither did any of my friends (I had relatives with a SNES, so I did play), so we played NES well into the 90s and between us we accrued quite the collection and I would often borrow and lend games. We played SMB2 and 3, Punch-Out, Mega Man 3 through 5, Rescue Rangers, Little Samson, Ducktales, and many others that weren't quite as good. Then, about seven years later, another big box was under the tree and it said PlayStation, and everything sort of changed.

Anyway, there are plenty of good games to be had on PS4, and it looks like there are more exclusives this year as well.

@zevvion: Haha that's true. Maybe later when I'm comfortable spending more money on this hobby I'll build myself a powerful PC. Actually, I probably will. But games are coming out fast nowadays and I needed this machine to keep up. And yeah it's weird. I'd go over to a friend's house when I was about 10 and play his PS2, and wanted one ever since. It's never too late ;)

@phoenix654: Totally. I'll probably continue to play a few games on my PC, especially somewhat obscure European medieval RPGs. It really does feel a bit different from playing on a console, as I've realized now.

@koelsh:I got the regular one. Apparently there isn't much of a difference between that and the slim, and I don't have a 4k TV so I felt I didn't really need a pro. Coming from my laptop, a regular is a huge step up already :)

Haha, that's an interesting story!

Lol definitely! I know how you feel.

@csl316: It does...

That must've been awesome! How old were you then?

@humanity: Haha I did the same for a while. Lately PC has been enjoying unanimous support and is called the better platform often, but an old laptop doesn't really fall into that same category. As I said, missing out on exclusives was really beginning to bum me out and I realized the best thing to do is own them all (one day, maybe)

@dave_tacitus:Wow, now that's some real retro stuff.

I do know that feeling! Getting the same thing here with the stuff I've been dying to play (Like the Last of Us. I've waited about 4 years to play that!) Next up - Uncharted series, Flower, Journey... The list is long

@armaan8014: I was 16 at the time ^_^

I think now is kinda the worst time to own a console, besides exclusives everything is better on pc and cheaper. Paying more money for games that run and look worse just doesn't sit well with me anymore, also paying for online i barely use no longer makes sense. I grew up on the Nes, Snes, and Playstation 1 and didn't get a gaming pc until 2011 when i built one myself and it's been harder and harder to justify owning a console. Only thing they do better is everyone has to use a gamepad, which is how i like to play games.

Congrats! I've done the reverse, where I was mostly a console player in the 90s and 00s, but have recently invested in a hefty PC, where I do most of my gaming (though I still play consoles too). But I remember my first console very clearly. It was a SNES for my 7th birthday, and I got Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart with it. It was a magical moment, and I ended up playing that thing to death :D

Hope you enjoy your PS4!

Hearing people list Nier as a game that they regret missing is bizarre, but also heartwarming.

My first console if PS1,all my childhood passed after ps)

play Metal Gear Solid 5-6 hours per day:d

I bought my first console ever last month. A PS4 Pro with Final Fantasy XV. It was exciting for me, getting this shiny new toy, bringing it home, setting it up for the first time. And that feeling is still in me every time I boot the system up. Not to mention the games. There are so many good ones out there right now and more will come out in the future. Altough I think I made a mistake by buying a physical copy of FF XV. From now on I think I will go full digital.

By the way, is there a way to make a physical copy to act like a digital one? Can I bind it to my account so I don't have to use the disc?

@nnickers: Haha some one on Giantbomb who had a similar taste in games as me (@jeust) talked a lot about it back when it had released which got me interested but also frustrated that I couldn't play it. So it became one of my regrets :P Most of the others I regret missing are luckily available now on PS4, so I didn't list them. I really want to play Fable 2 someday though! (Another bizarre choice there lol) I almost went and bought a xbox 360 for it! Someday, maybe.

@oursin_360:Well I did my research and at this time it's the best decision for me. Plus the feeling of finally owning a console is something you can't quantify. That's priceless :P

@flappyhands: Thanks man :)

That would've been even more exciting!

@majormitch: Thanks!

Yep! Exactly the same feeling here!

Why do you think getting the physical copy was a mistake though? Not sure if there's a way to convert it into a digital copy

@whatshisface: Nope, interface still prompts you to buy the digital version. Though I just got a physical copy of Infinite Warfare and it asked if I want to keep using the digital version or switch to the disc-version, because I had downloaded a trial version of the game some days earlier. Don't know if the trial would've actually unlocked if I had chosen to continue with digital.

I know first releases like NFS and Assassins's Creed 4 had a physical-to-digital convert from PS3 to PS4, but that was only for those few games. Edit; actually those still might've required the disc.

@armaan8014:Because I need the disc every time I want to play the game and when the disc spins up, it gets pretty loud. At least it sounds loud since the console is like 4-5 feet away from me.

It's not that big of a deal, but after getting the digital version of Nioh, that was a better experience for me.

@glots: Ah well. Thanks!

@armaan8014: Congrats. The PS4 is such a fantastic system!

@atastyslurpee: Thank you! :)

@whatshisface:Ah I see. For me (at least for now) it's still an exciting moment to put the disk in and everything lol