# What gotcha into playing video games?



## Chaotix (Jan 5, 2016)

So I ask what gotcha into playing video games for the first time and was it a friend?, Family? or something else?

For me it was when I was a kid watching a cartoon called "teenage mutant ninja turtles" and one day this commericial aired (below)






I know it's cheesy and all but I asked my parents if I can a super nintendo plus this game and I did a few months later with the help of straight A's in school.

That's pretty much how I got into video games and what about you?


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## Mariah (Jan 5, 2016)

I'm not really into playing video games.


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## Kapriznyy (Jan 5, 2016)

I don't remember ever not playing them, honestly, so I'm not sure how to answer. I was always messing around with some sort of game and it just naturally integrated into my life that way.


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## Acruoxil (Jan 5, 2016)

my dad bought me a nes when i was 8 months old


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## soda (Jan 5, 2016)

despair


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## Emizel (Jan 5, 2016)

Only a word: Bunnyz.
Yes.
I always saw my sister played with it. 
So, I really wanted a ds lite, and I got one for my birthday with nintendogs. (My ds was cotton pink, I loved it). ♡


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## Alienfish (Jan 5, 2016)

my gameboy color and ps1 i/we had ages ago.

also one of my closest friends who got me more serious into it


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## Zane (Jan 5, 2016)

Idk I can barely remember a time when I didn't play video games, my family had a NES/SNES since before I was alive so I always played Super Nintendo games with my older sisters as a kid. My mom used to be into gaming a little and even when she wasn't anymore she still bought us systems. I guess I really got into it when we got a N64, and a GBC we were all supposed to share but later became mine.


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## epona (Jan 5, 2016)

my brother got crash bandicoot on playstation when it came out and i was only like 2 and i just thought it was the coolest thing in the whole world i used to sit and watch him play it for hours on end and sometimes he'd let me play but he'd do all the difficult stuff for me and it was just the best and then for christmas in 2002 i got a gamecube and animal crossing from my parents and yeah that was it really


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## Rasha (Jan 5, 2016)

when I was only 3 I would watch my mom play the nes everyday and I just really wanted to touch that controller...
first game for me was galaxian. I still love that game


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## cornimer (Jan 5, 2016)

When I was 8 I went to this summer camp where they had a "wii room", which literally just had like 10 wiis. I had never played any sort of video game prior to this but I really enjoyed the wii and asked for one for my birthday. The rest is history.


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## mintellect (Jan 5, 2016)

In first grade, I picked up my first-ever game: Zhu Zhu Pets for the DS, which I wanted because I liked the actual toys. I got addicted to it, and wanted to try out other games.


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## Belle of Pripyat (Jan 5, 2016)

I was a kid in the '80s and my family had an Atari 2600 in the living room. I remember I loved "Pitfall" and "Adventure." A few years later, my older sister got a Nintendo NES that she hooked up in her room. I used to watch her play games and I'd play when she wasn't home (with her permission). I'm not much of a gamer, though, and never have been. I like a small handful of games.


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## focus (Jan 5, 2016)

a random sonic game i had on my gameboy. it was incredible


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## TheGreatBrain (Jan 5, 2016)

When I was a kid, the only video games we had were in stores and arcades. You had to put quarters in them to play. Most of my money was spent on playing Pac Man, Burgertime, Joust, Centipede, etc.

As a teen, my friend had an Atari, we played pong, and a bunch of other lame games that were pretty addictive.

As an adult, my boyfriend had a nintendo, and got me hooked on tetris and dragon Warrior.


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## Earth Wolf-Howl (Jan 5, 2016)

If I recall, my family's always been mildly interested in gaming, so when the N64 was released, they decided to get it. It was there when I was young, so of course, I tried it out (I think it was Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time that I played) and loved it. Since then, I've basically grown up with video games.


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## chronic (Jan 5, 2016)

A very long time ago, at the age of 4 I was introduced to GAMEBOY

"I like this!"

Remembering that day fondly. From there it was PLAYSTATION 2 and then the almighty... NINTENDO WII oooweee!


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## MapleLeafKangaroos (Jan 5, 2016)

Probably my dad :')
When I was in preschool, he bought me a white DS lite and I was so happy.
I'd play that one Build-a-bear game and I absolutely loved it. When I was in first grade he introduced me to Animal Crossing, and I was absolutely obsessed since that day. It's been 6 years since my obsession with animal crossing started.
wow i feel so old


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## ShinyYoshi (Jan 5, 2016)

I can't remember which one was first, but I remember getting a Gameboy Color with Pokemon Red for Christmas when I was really young. Or we got a Nintendo 64 before that with some now classic games. 

Video games have pretty much been in my life since I was 3 or 4 and I never even knew why my parents bought the 64 or GBC in the first place. I'm glad they did, though


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## Chris (Jan 5, 2016)

It runs in the family. My Dad is a huge nerd gamer. Right now I'm sat in his living room watching him play _Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited_ on PS4. 

From about age five or six he started letting me play his video games instead of just watching. The first title I played on PS1 was _Spyro the Dragon_. I kept stealing his Gameboy to play _Metroid II: Return of Samus_, _The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening_, _Taz-Mania_, and later when he let me reset his _Pok?mon Yellow_ he never got that game or his console back until he eventually bought me a GBC for Christmas haha. The first games that were completely my own were _Gameboy Gallery_ and _Mickey's Wild Adventure_ (PS1).


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## Quill (Jan 5, 2016)

I'm definitely aging myself here, but my brother got a SNES when I was about six or seven. And watching him play turned into him teaching me how to play, and that kept up til I bugged my parents about Pokemon so much they got me a gameboy color when I was twelve with Pokemon Blue.


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## Soot Sprite (Jan 5, 2016)

Well I think the main thing was playing on my cousins nintendogs game when I was really young, but I didn't really get into many games until I bought HG/SS, then moved from only nintendo to Playstation a few years ago^-^


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## Quill (Jan 5, 2016)

Oh my gosh, reading through this thread has me feeling so old ;-; All of you guys like, "I had a wii when I was a kid!" And like... I had kids by the time the wii came out. I'm dying over here.


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## dawsoncreek (Jan 5, 2016)

my cousin had a Nintendo and I watched him and my uncles play mike Tyson's punch out and I was scared and intrigued at the same time..


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## DarkDesertFox (Jan 5, 2016)

I was hooked when I played the SEGA Genesis at my grandma and grandpa's house the first time as a little kid. I would play Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) whenever I went over along with other games I remember. I even played a Barney hide and go seek game on it. I've been playing games ever since.


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## Squidward (Jan 5, 2016)

I was like 4 and this boy was the only kid in my neighbourhood so we used to play a lot, but he always had the newest playstations etc. so when we played together I really liked playing it so I guess that's what got me into videogames.


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## Tao (Jan 5, 2016)

My step dad had a SNES and Super Mario World was awesome...Plus, Splatterhouse II. 


I had a Sega Megadrive before that, but it was kinda just there. It didn't grab me in the same way.


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## Javocado (Jan 5, 2016)

I don't have a dad so the N64 was my father.


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## nintendofan85 (Jan 5, 2016)

In 2008 my dad had begun talking about getting a Wii so in November 2008 we got one, although since it was really a Christmas present I didn't get to start playing it until Christmas Day that year. It came with Wii Sports (obviously) and that Christmas I also got Mario Kart Wii and some Nicktoons game I can't remember the name of.
I first played Animal Crossing when I bought City Folk in April 2009.


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## Knopekin (Jan 5, 2016)

I was a kid when the Pokemon craze hit in the late 90's. I loved the cards, I loved the TV show, and I used to borrow my friends' Gameboys so I could play the games, too. 

Then one birthday (I was 9 or 10), my parents gave my sister and I money for our birthday and I bought a Gameboy Color (the purple see-through one), and my sister got a Gameboy Original. She had some money left over and bought Pokemon Blue, which I promptly stole. I've been playing games (mostly Pokemon) ever since.


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## piichinu (Jan 5, 2016)

i first played n64 games but that was just at my cousins' house
same with other systems like the DS, DS lite, gamecube and more, but those were ours (not my cousins') so my parents always had them locked up cuz my family is rly focused on school and reading nd sht

but when i actually got "into" them was when my parents got divorced i didnt see my brother for over a year bc he was with my dad which caused me to be bored out of my mind, so i started playing mkw for several hours a day

it was at that time my parents let me actually play games cuz they felt bad for me LOL

eventually i went online and started to play w other people, then i got the wind waker edition wii u on release and started to actually play regularly and things like that and keep up with release dates and new games rather than waiting for my brother to buy games and let me play them

i guess thats it


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## demoness (Jan 5, 2016)

so when i was about 3, and my stepdad moved in, he brought with him his younger brother's SNES, presumably just to fool around with (my mother and he were very early 20s at this point.)  first game i actually played was F-Zero.  then i'd fool around with super mario world, super mario allstars, the super star wars games, super baseball simulator 1.000, and kirby's dreamland 3.  later my uncle would give his NES and i had some exposure to punch out, battletoads, nes pinball, but video games still felt like more of an 'i'm really bored' toy.  i also played windows 95 and 98 dinky pc games like spiderman cartoon maker, barbie games, etc.  but games still weren't something i was interested in doing.  i'd also watch my cousin play a sega genesis.

fast forward to 1997-98.  my sister and i got a n64 for christmas with diddy kong racing and sm64, which again, grabbed my attention but didn't sell me.  then came my 5th or 6th birthday that same year cycle with Croc, Spyro, Crash 2, and a demo disc (i think it was dated about a year) so i was exposed to like tomba and ff7 and parappa and medievil and something about all the cuteness and variety and being old enough to want things of my own volition got me.  and i've been a sony fangirl since, though i still usually aquire other console and pc games just as often when there is something i want.


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## okaimii (Jan 5, 2016)

I used to watch my older brother play video games all the time. I could sit there for hours watching him play Silent Hill and it was great. Eventually I got my own systems as I grew older and I've been really into video games ever since.


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## radioloves (Jan 5, 2016)

Yeah, my dad got me into video games at 6 years old I started off with the gamecube then continued with the other ones after that. The only ones I've skipped as of game devices would be the playstation 4, wii u, and the xbox one, I'm not really all the into gaming as much anymore than I was before, but I still love it every time I play though xD


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## boujee (Jan 5, 2016)

My dad brought me a gamecube on my birthday when I was turning 7 I think. I didn't really play it much cause I was a outside kid[still am now] but the first game he gave me was super smash bros melee. Then as time went buy I started trading in my games for other games, like super mario sunshine, super monkey ball, animal crossing, and a bunch of sonic stuff[like sonic adventure 2 battle, sonic xd, and sonic heroes]. This was all on my gamecube, even on the wii I still play these games sometimes. I hardly play games now.


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## TarzanGirl (Jan 5, 2016)

My younger brother was into video games and I played some of them with him or just watched him play. That was back on regular Play Station and Gameboy. My friend also had a 64 and I played that at her house, but I didn't get into playing games by myself until I was an adult. I guess my husband really got me into games.


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## graceroxx (Jan 5, 2016)

When I was super young, the library used to give my mom all of the stuff from the lost and found (she worked at the library). I guess someone lost their Gameboy Advance there, and so I got it. The only game that it had was Castlevania: Circle of the Moon I think?? That game scared me so much. I remember beating the Cerberus boss in 2nd grade, but when I got to the next boss I could never beat it. It ended up giving me nightmares. I just gave the game to my best friend this summer...
the very same best friend who got me into the video games I play today. I used to watch her play Pokemon Diamond and other similar games on her DS. I eventually broke down and got my own DS Lite and games in late 2009 XD. My collection grew from there.


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## GalacticGhost (Jan 8, 2016)

When I was a kid I watched my dad play video games, and I guess I got curious and eventually I started to play too. I think my first console/handheld was the Gamecube, along with some version of the GBA, and I think I started playing when I was 5/6, but I can't really remember.


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## Dustmop (Jan 8, 2016)

Tina said:


> It runs in the family. My Dad is a huge nerd gamer. Right now I'm sat in his living room watching him play _Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited_ on PS4.
> 
> From about age five or six he started letting me play his video games instead of just watching. The first title I played on PS1 was _Spyro the Dragon_. I kept stealing his Gameboy to play _Metroid II: Return of Samus_, _The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening_, _Taz-Mania_, and later when he let me reset his _Pok?mon Yellow_ he never got that game or his console back until he eventually bought me a GBC for Christmas haha. The first games that were completely my own were _Gameboy Gallery_ and _Mickey's Wild Adventure_ (PS1).



This is basically what I came here to say. It's just always been a part of my life. Though they didn't make me wait until I was 5 or 6, I was playing at like 2 or 3. As they like to say, _"You didn't even have hair on your head yet and you were telling us we were playing it wrong."_ :')

My parents (and sisters, for that matter) were geeks/gamers, to some extent, before I was even born. My mom less-so than my dad; she played arcade games when they first became a 'cool thing', but he's been playing D&D long before she started playing Galaga at bowling alleys.  Even after that, she really only played Tetris and Dr. Mario, the original LoZ was too hard for her. what a casual


Ahem, lol. Needless to say - 23 years ago, I was born into a household with an Intellivision, Atari 2600, NES, SNES, and 3 of the original brick Gameboys (my 3 sisters', and then eventually 'mine').
As I got older they added the Gameboy Color, N64, Gamecube, PS2, and finally a 360 to that collection.
After that I had to start buying them myself. 


I never stood a chance at having a social life.


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## DJStarstryker (Jan 9, 2016)

When I was about 5, the NES first came out. My uncle bought one and brought it over to play it with my dad. I watched them play Super Mario Bros. and it looked a lot of fun. They let me play. I remember it taking me so long to beat World 1-1 at that age, but that didn't stop me.


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## Nekomata (Jan 9, 2016)

My mom and dad used to play a lot of Tekken, Tomb Raider, and NES. When I was about 3 years old, I would watch them play. By the time I was 4, I was really good at Tekken and played Super mario bros 3 and other stuff like that. I used to get really upset when Lara died in Tomb Raider, but I would call her jump across instead of Lara Croft. :>


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## ACNLover10 (Jan 9, 2016)

When my parents got me a ds lite when I was really young, like 7. I was obsessed with it until the hinge snapped, so I got a 3ds instead. But my ds lite mostly inspired me to play video games.


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## radical6 (Jan 10, 2016)

I use video games to cope. I started off with nintendo and animal crossing, which still helps me cope today with my depression and anxiety. My best friend slowly got me into playing video games, and I continued because I found out it helped me feel a lot better.

I enjoy writing myself, so I love immersive RPGs. I love exploring the worlds people have created. It makes me forget how bad everything is sometimes. 

I also enjoy strategy games, my grandfather used to play them a lot.


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## That Zephyr Guy (Jan 10, 2016)

Nothing sort of got me "into them", I've always played video games as long as I could remember.

I can't even place my earliest memory of gaming, but I do have fond memories of playing DOS games on a computer after my dad set them up for me. I'd have no idea what I was doing but I still found it fun.



Apparently though, when I was around 3 or 4 my dad set me up on a game of DOOM and the rest is history from what he says.


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## Bowie (Jan 10, 2016)

I've played video games for as long as I can remember, actually.


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## HopeForHyrule (Jan 11, 2016)

Well, one of (see also: earliest) my childhood memories was playing this toy mini arcade machine of the original Donkey Kong...this bad boy:




That evolved into playing my mom's Atari 2600, mainly Q-Bert, Frogger, and some game called Space Jockey.

Got a NES for Christmas when I was...oh, I dunno...six or seven, maybe?

I'm pretty sure I'll still be playing video games when I'm ninety...if I live that long, lol.


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## skarmoury (Jan 12, 2016)

At first I was really amazed with my first console, which was Gameboy Color (it was my uncle's, actually, but he lent it to me and eventually gave it). And honestly, I then played video games to impress others, because my childhood was a time of "eww, do girls even play video games" so I was bent on proving them wrong. The friends of my parents all had male children, so whenever the adults would hang out, I'd end up playing with the boys (there was also a girls' group, but at that point I wasn't interested in dolls anymore). So video games kinda stuck to me at that point, and I've learned not to play it to impress others, but to play it for fun! ^^


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## Crash (Jan 12, 2016)

for whatever reason i think i just always loved them. my first console was a playstation, and i remember playing some ancient NHL game with my dad at like three years old on it. me and my little brother grew up playing every zelda & mario game we could get our hands on, and i still love both to this day. i've always been a lover of fantasy things and other worlds/universes, magic, that kinda thing, so video games were always something i gravitated to.​


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## Lady Avalyna (Jan 13, 2016)

When I was 7-8 years old, My brother had an NES, and my twin sister and I would sneak into his room and play Sonic religiously while he was at HS. I would say it started with that. Then I got obsessively into gaming when the Gameboy color came out (had the Pokemon Yellow edition GB and game!) and played lots of gameboy games, then moved onto PS and Xbox and it just went from there.


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## Kittyinpink87 (Jan 13, 2016)

When my parents brought home a playstation.


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## Halloqueen (Jan 13, 2016)

I got into playing video games by watching my older brother play stuff on his Sega Genesis. I decided I liked it and wanted to play too so we shared it. My first game was the Sega Genesis port of the first Mortal Kombat. 

I really enjoyed growing up with a Genesis, but now that I'm older I kinda wish we were more into the Super Nintendo. Fortunately, my brother had good taste and one of the only SNES games we own is EarthBound. Really glad he picked that up.


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## Flaraca (Jan 14, 2016)

For me it was when I was growing up. We had a sega genesis and an nes. The Genesis was like, the best thing since sliced bread as we had the original two sonic games for it. I was never really any good at them until later on in life but they planted the seed for me to grow into the gamer I am today. Another great game we had for PC as well was known as "Hodj and Podj" which I imagine a lot of people have never heard of. Basically it was a 2p game that my sister and I were crazy obsessed over. It was also really simple as all it was was moving around the board, competing against the other player.


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## Cinn_mon (Jan 15, 2016)

My brother who's like 10 years older than me played a lot and he was super nice and let me and my other two sisters who are younger than him play on all his stuff he bought (minus his computer games of course) but I saw him play a lot of Zelda and stuff like that (thats the only thing my parents would let him play downstairs because it wasn't violent ) but then i picked up his gameboy color with some pokemon games and some final fantasy on gameboy advanced and sonic adventures and zelda on the gamecube (and also FF:CC) and just kept going from there but all my games were his at one point so shout out to him


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## Romaki (Jan 20, 2016)

I don't know, I've played games ever since I can remember. I think when I was 6 I just got the old Gameboy from my older sister.
And she always had a PlayStation in her room.


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## Hippofalcon (Jan 20, 2016)

Jeez. I started by playing the sims 2. I don't even remember how I got into those but I did. It was what my life was. That was around the time I was 8. That's how I started.


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## Kaitrock (Jan 20, 2016)

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 or Pokemon tbh. I used to be obsessed with skateboards so I would always play THPS and continued playing his series until like Project 8


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## maounkhan (Jan 20, 2016)

I started from PS3 and went to Xbox 360 to Wii to DSi to Wii U to 3DS and soon to 2DS!
I have all of them. Well only PS3, Xbox 360 but I'm getting 2DS. I don't know how I started. But it was when I was young.


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## Shimmer (Jan 23, 2016)

My friend in grade 1 had a Nintendo 64 and we played Pokemon Stadiums 1&2 on it. As well, my cousin had a Gameboy Advance SP and I was SUPER jealous so it was because of him that I ended up getting one. In fact, it was because of him that I got into Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing.


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## Kairi-Kitten (Jan 23, 2016)

Growing up I watched my older brother play his Dreamcast and Sega Genesis, of course he let me play and that was also how I was introduced to Sonic which I played like crazy love that old system :') But yeah I guess it evolved from there and I kept wanting to keep up with newer consoles haha. I am now mostly a PC gamer (I also loved this game where you go through the amazon jungle and have to watch out for disease/catch animals xD It was like Oregon Trail but more difficult to me :'P ) Anyways glad I got into gaming it is my biggest hobby^^


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