Commodore 64 and Atari 2600.

Definitions of 'hardcore' aside, that's where it got started.  Then late in the NES's life we finally got that, then the Genesis, SNES, N64, and then after that, on my own, I bought a Dreamcast, Gamecube, and of course, the Wii(as well as a few models of GBA and DS...and one GBC).

Wow.  Summed that up pretty fast.  I think my favorite time was around the SNES/N64 era because it was pretty much the last time my brothers and I were around each other, or still talking, or still playing games in general, and there were still some multiplayer games we would actually play each other in.  But after that point, no one was around much, or didn't like each other, or just didn't have the time, and it was pretty much 1-Player Only for me from then on.

Still amazed at how well older games can still hold up, which is one of the reasons I'm so glad for Virtual Console...

My brother actually introduced me to them when it was an older nintendo system. I guess the N64 was a starting point where I got all into it. Then came a gamecube. And then we all went WII. :p

Yeah I liked it when my brother was around, we were rivals so to speak with some games. Fact we still are a bit with Soul Calibur 2 and SSBM.

I've been playing video games ever since I was about 2 or 3. Watching my cousins play Super Mario Bros. was one of my favorite things to do. When I reflect about how far I've come, I always look back to my cousins playing video games. When I was five, I got a NES and Super Mario Bros. 3 as a Christmas present. Who knew that my first game would also become my all-time favorite game?

Long story short, I've been playing video games for over 15 years now, and I don't see it stopping anytime soon.

Over at my dad's friend's house, watching his older sons playing Primal Rage and Earthworm Jim on the Genesis, I first started getting interested in gaming.  After that, my mom bought me my first Game Boy, with Kirby's Dream Land.  I really got into it, and Pokemon was when the ball really started getting rolling.

Well, not quite, but Pokemon was when I really started becoming a HUGE geek.

I remember playing the Atari and Commodore 64. Both those systems had been out a fairly long time already, but my father still had them hooked up. I played the traditional Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and the like on the Atari. I also remember games like Miner 49er, Transylvania, and some Olympic Games like game. I can picture the games I've played in my head, but I'm a bit fuzzy on the titles... As for the Commodore 64, I just remember one game, lol. I think the full title was Castles of Dr. Creep.

When I started playing the NES in the late 80s, I started to get a little more "hardcore." I remember playing the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridge TO DEATH. I also remember the night when I saw a commercial for Metroid and Kid Icarus. I told my dad that those games looked so cool, and the next day after work, he brought them home. 

I remember when the SNES came out ... and I totally wanted one right away. But my parents said I had to earn it. I did soooo many chores around the house for like 3 months. I finally managed to rack up $80. My father then said "Okay, give me the $80 and I'll pay for the rest." I guess it was only fair, since I know he wanted the SNES too and had to have a fair reason in getting to play it a lot. During the SNES, I think that's when I became very dedicated to gaming. My best friend had the Sega Genesis, so we'd alternate in going to each other's houses so we could play both.

I guess that's how it mainly started with me.

 I started gaming when I was, I believe, seven years old. My mother bought my sister and myself an Atari 2600. We played Pac-Man, Berserk, and Vanguard, but my favorite was Combat. We got an NES about a year after it was released. Our first game were Top Gun, Life Force, and The Legend of Zelda. We got a Sega Master System shortly after with Hang On and Safari Hunt. When the Sega Genesis was released I got one for Christmas one year along with Sonic the Hedgehog. I later got Michael Jackson's Moonwalker and some other games that I can't remember at the present. SNES followed with SMW, Actraiser, Super Star Wars, and others.
 I've owned many game systems including Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Playstation 1&2, N64, GCN, various Game Boys, XBOX, DS and Wii.

One of my mom's uncles taught me how to play Super Mario World a couple weeks before I turned 5. I must've liked it alot, because my grandpa got me a Super Nintendo for my 5th birthday.