This is a pretty old thread but Ill chime in.
I was 16 at the time. 1996...we had just moved to Alaska. I started working at the local grocery store making $14 an hour. We got a shipment of Nintendo 64's in and I was first in line...well actually, I was first to stick one behind the counter and save until I got paid that Friday.
It cost me $300 to buy. That took my paycheck of course. I never bought a single game. The video rental store in our town was run by a family that had moved to our town from Japan. They had mad hookups on video games and other cool Eastern stuff.
The first game I ever played was Super Mario 64. It blew my 16 year old mind. What was funny about it though was I already had a Playstation which I remember boggling my mind as well.
Games I remember fondly playing as a kid:
Super Mario 64 - Only Mario Galazy 1 & 2 rival this game for me
Mario Kart 64 - Mario Kart Double Dash is my second favorite after this
Pilotwings 64 - Took what I already loved about Pilotwings on the SNES and made it even better
Wave Race 64 - Still kicks Wave Race Blue Storm in the butt!
Blast Corps - RARE made some wacky games. I stick this right up with Cobra Triangle....LOVE THEM BOTH!
Killer Instinct Gold - It was like bringing the arcade home
I think I kept my N64 for about a year and then sold it to the brother of a girl I went to school with. I honestly wish I had kept that N64.
Here I am now 32, 16 years later and I still have a video game / console obsession. More so consoles. It drives my wife crazy, but she loves me and humors me.
This is our ever growing list of consoles:
Nintendo Entertainment System (original)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (original)
Nintendo 64 (or as I like to refer to it by its original name....Ultra 64)
Nintendo Gamecube (silver)
Nintendo Wii (original run)
Nintendo DS Lite
Nintendo DSi
Nintendo 3DS x 2
SEGA Genesis (model 2)
SEGA Dreamcast
SONY Playstation (original fat)
SONY Playstation 2 (original fat)
SONY Playstation 3 (original fat)
Microsoft XBOX
Microsoft XBOX 360 (original white) x 2 - One has the red ring though
Microsoft XBOX 360 Slim - To match everything in our living room
Wishlist:
SEGA Master System
SEGA Genesis (model 1)
SEGA CD (model 1)
SEGA CD (model 2)
SEGA Saturn
Nintendo Virtual Boy
Nintendo N64 DD - Not hard to find but hella expensive
Nintendo DS (original)
Nintendo DS Lite (original)
Nintendo DS XL
Samsung NUON
PC Engine / Turbo Graphx 16