I'm also very much in the 'one game at Christmas, one for the birthday' camp. I agree that it makes it a special occasion, something to look forward to and savour.
Got a Megadrive for my 11th birthday in September 1993. Think Sonic 1 and the Streets of Rage/Revenge of Shinobi/Golden Axe triple cart came with it too, so that kept me going nicely until Christmas when my folks got me (what else) SF II SCE and my brother and sister who were of wage earning ages back then, got me a surprise of Sonic 2. Two top-drawer games at once, i spent at least half of that morning in sheer awe.
More games were played via the usual outlets - would typically rent games maybe twice a month on Friday once i had my homework all done. my bestie a few doors up also had a NES and MD during the same time periods as myself, so much swappage occurred.
As for how i consumed games then, only after homework did they go on. I was actually allowed to play them for as long as I wanted, provided they didn't interfere with my normal day to day kid stuff, so I could get my homework done by 7, and play until half 10 if I wanted. Having my birthday in September worked quite well - new game for the winter months, new one for Christmas, then it made very little difference if i was bored of it because as the evenings got longer i'd be out with my friends playing football or cycling, and by summer, games would only be played if we were out and it started raining. Having a wee TV in the kitchen also meant that my playing was easily monitored and everyone bar my Dad was draw in by the sights and sounds and ended up getting into games. I guess my boundaries were pretty sensible and well defined, and it was made clear that if i stayed within them, I could do what i wanted (I think it helped that I had a natural interest in playing footie/general running around, cycling and reading, so my folks knew if i wanted to play games for hours one day, that's okay because the next day I'd have my head in a book or running the length and breadth of the local pitch for hours). Cheers (to my) folks
Edited by FuzzyDuck at 20:11:37 17-11-2012
Got a Megadrive for my 11th birthday in September 1993. Think Sonic 1 and the Streets of Rage/Revenge of Shinobi/Golden Axe triple cart came with it too, so that kept me going nicely until Christmas when my folks got me (what else) SF II SCE and my brother and sister who were of wage earning ages back then, got me a surprise of Sonic 2. Two top-drawer games at once, i spent at least half of that morning in sheer awe.
More games were played via the usual outlets - would typically rent games maybe twice a month on Friday once i had my homework all done. my bestie a few doors up also had a NES and MD during the same time periods as myself, so much swappage occurred.
As for how i consumed games then, only after homework did they go on. I was actually allowed to play them for as long as I wanted, provided they didn't interfere with my normal day to day kid stuff, so I could get my homework done by 7, and play until half 10 if I wanted. Having my birthday in September worked quite well - new game for the winter months, new one for Christmas, then it made very little difference if i was bored of it because as the evenings got longer i'd be out with my friends playing football or cycling, and by summer, games would only be played if we were out and it started raining. Having a wee TV in the kitchen also meant that my playing was easily monitored and everyone bar my Dad was draw in by the sights and sounds and ended up getting into games. I guess my boundaries were pretty sensible and well defined, and it was made clear that if i stayed within them, I could do what i wanted (I think it helped that I had a natural interest in playing footie/general running around, cycling and reading, so my folks knew if i wanted to play games for hours one day, that's okay because the next day I'd have my head in a book or running the length and breadth of the local pitch for hours). Cheers (to my) folks
Edited by FuzzyDuck at 20:11:37 17-11-2012
Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a muffin.
