Like most 80s kids, my first gaming system was an NES. But I became quite the rebel when I purchased my second system, a Sega Genesis. The console wars were in full force, and I was one of only a handful at my school to join the dark side of Sega, as opposed to the much more popular Super Nintendo. The Sega Genesis was my first big purchase as a kid, and I mowed yards all summer long (along with selling my NES in a garage sale) to place my $189.99 order from the Sears Catalog. I’m not much of a gamer nowadays (4 kids will do that to you), but I still have my old Sega Genesis stored away, just waiting to be re-discovered.

This list covers the second (1976) through eighth (present) generation consoles. According to Wikipedia, there were 687 first-generation consoles produced, so I decided that was a rabbit hole I didn’t want to enter. I had fun designing the page to look like an old video game ad or one of those posters that came in Nintendo Power. The TV screen borders even made me nostalgic for playing games on an old crappy 19-inch TV. As always, let me know if I missed something.