I got my first console, an Atari 800 XL when I was just 7 or 8 years old. What we might call a 'console' today was more of a personal computer back then. They gave you access to a command prompt, and had built-in support for languages like assembler and basic. This meant that you could use them to play games and to write programs. They came WITH programming manuals. I wrote my first program in basic when I was 8 :) It was an extremely simplistic version of Space Invaders. Anyway, I guess that my love of computers and all things technological sprang from those halcyon days.
The 800 XL had a whopping 32k of internal memory, and zero non-volatile storage space (no hard disk drive). So if you wanted to save something you'd done, you would have to offload it to an external storage device - in this case, a customised audio-cassette player. This is how games were loaded too. Oft times, there would be an audio track on the tape as well as the game data, to try to drown out the screeching (think: dial-up modem speaker) while the game loaded.
And the procedure to actually start to load a game? Rewind the game tape. Reset the cassette counter. Turn off the Atari. Press the play button on the cassette deck. Press and hold the Start and Select option keys. Turn on the Atari. Release the Start and Select option keys. Wait for the BEEP. Press the Return key on the keyboard. At that point, the game would (hopefully) start to load, typically taking 2 or 3 minutes. It was a hit and miss affair, with the game failing to load 30% of the time.
Phah, kids these days are spoiled :D
Other consoles that we connected up and toyed with were a Super Nintendo™, a Gameboy™, and a GameCube™. Notice the Nintendo theme ;) Here are a few pics of the 800 XL, along with a couple of screenshots of the 1 game that I managed to get working, Crystal Raider (a basic Mario clone).
*puts dentures back in and hobbles off to yell at some whippersnappers*
Contra was the best, I also had TV games from when I was about 8. My grandparents also later bought a Sega Megadrive that still works to this day. (Sonic the Hedgehog, Alien Storm, Streets of Rage, all very fun games!)Dade_182
I just had what most people would refer to as TV games. Got them when I was about 5 in 1990. Played alot of contra, ice climber and battle city (if I can remember this was my first one).
![Morgue[FLB]](/thumb.php?src=%7Be_AVATAR%7Dupload%2Fap_59_morgueflb.png&aw=100&ah=100)
![RaZeaL [PCD]](/thumb.php?src=%7Be_AVATAR%7Dupload%2Frazeal_ava_1.1142492125.png&aw=100&ah=100)
![Siversmith[PCD]](/thumb.php?src=%7Be_AVATAR%7Dupload%2Fap_7_1216834505_186_ft2896_siver_ava.jpg&aw=100&ah=100)