As well as being a computer geek, I’ve always loved video games. I’ve been playing since I can remember, and I’ve lived through pretty much every generation from the 1980s onward.
On this page: a quick timeline of the systems I’ve owned, the games I remember most, and a one-line mini-verdict for each. Full reviews will be linked here as I publish them.
Contents
- Nintendo Switch
- Commodore 16 / Plus/4 (1986)
- Atari 520STFM
- Pentium 75 “586” PC (1994)
- PlayStation (1996)
- Pentium II PC (1999)
- PlayStation 2
- PlayStation 3
- Nintendo Wii
- PlayStation 4 Pro
- PlayStation 5
Gaming Systems I’ve Owned
Commodore 16 Plus 4
My first gaming computer was a Commodore (I need to confirm whether it was a C16 or a Plus/4). I mainly remember the two-button joystick and the stack of tape games. Loading from cassette felt like a ritual — press play and hope for the best.
Top games:
- Scramble
- Squirm
- Vegas Jackpot
Mini verdict: Pure nostalgia. Slow, fiddly, and still weirdly magical.
Atari 520ST FM
My second computer was an Atari ST. It wasn’t really a gaming machine in my head — I used it for homework and messing around with MIDI — but it had a few classics I played constantly.
Top games:
- Sensible Soccer
- Lotus Turbo Challenge
- Lemmings
- Another World
Mini verdict: A brilliant “creative” computer that happened to have great games.
586 PC-CDROM
Next was my first proper PC: a “586” (actually a Pentium 75MHz) with 8MB of RAM, which felt ridiculous at the time.
Gaming highlights:
- Doom
- Screamer 2
- RollerCoaster Tycoon
Mini verdict: The moment PC gaming became “the real deal” for me.
PlayStation 1 (PS1)
The PS1 was my first proper console. It hasn’t aged perfectly, but I’ve got fond memories of sinking entire weekends into it.
Top games:
- Gran Turismo 1 & 2
- G-Police
- Ridge Racer
- V-Rally
- Dance Dance Revolution
- Alien Trilogy
Mini verdict: Iconic library, peak late-90s vibes.
Pentium 2 PC
I bought my first PC at university — a questionable use of a student loan, but a great machine: Pentium II 300MHz, 128MB RAM, and an NVIDIA Riva TNT2. That era was LAN parties and “one more match” nights.
Top games:
- Quake III Arena
- Half-Life
- Civilization II
- Unreal Tournament
- Geoff Crammond’s Grand Prix 2
Mini verdict: My favourite PC era: fast, social, and endlessly replayable.
PlayStation 2
Next up was the PS2. I was lucky enough to get one on Launch Day. This console had so many awesome games that it’s hard to name my favorites, but I will give it a try.
- Gran Turismo 3
- Gran Turismo 4
- Grand Theft Auto 3
- Silent Hill 2
- God Of War
- Simpsons Hit and Run
- Pro Evolution Soccer
- Metal Gear Solid 2 – Sons of Liberty
- Need for Speed: Underground
- Dance Dance Revolution
- Tekken Tag Tournament
- Burnout 1,2 and 3
- Bully
- Black
Mini verdict: The generation where “console gaming” fully took over the living room.
PlayStation 3
There is a theme developing here. Next, I got a PS3. Again, I got this quite close to launch. It was one of the backward-compatible 60GB Fat PS3s with all the memory card slots. It was a great bit of hardware, and watching Blu-Ray movies at home was pretty cool.
In my opinion, the launch titles were not good at all, but the first year’s games also suffered from performance issues, especially when compared to the Xbox 360. I remember buying Pro Evolution Soccer, and it was unplayable due to lag. Patches fixed it, but it was still not good enough for what was a very expensive console at the time. That being said, there were still a lot of perfect games that saved this console from the scrap heap.
- Grand Theft Auto 5
- Gran Turismo 5 & 6
- The Last of Us
- Uncharted 1, 2, and 3
- God of War 3
- Call of Duty 4
P.S. Look at what my dog did to a brand-new copy of Black Ops. Bad dog!
Mini verdict: Slow start, incredible finish.
Nintendo Wii
Next, I bought my first ever Nintendo. This was an impulsive buy because I played Wii bowling at a friend’s house and was hooked on it.
The Wii was a strange console. On the one hand, it had terrific first-party games, but on the other, I just never played it.
- Mario Kart Wii
- Wii Sports & Resort
- Wii Fit
- Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2
- Just Dance
- WarioWare: Smooth Moves
- Goldeneye 007
PlayStation 4 Pro
I didn’t get my next new system for a few years, in between I got married and had my first child. Once the dust had settled, I dipped my toe back into gaming.
The PlayStation 4 Pro was a mid-generation upgrade to the PS4. It offered improved graphics and performance for some games. Apart from being really noisy, the fan noise was ridiculous! it was an amazing games machines
Some of my gaming highlights included:
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- The Last of Us – Part 2
- God of War (2018)
- Spider-Man
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- Bloodborne
- Wipeout HD Fury
PlayStation 5
The last console I bought was the PS5. The PlayStation 5 is Sony’s latest console. It’s a powerful machine with some great exclusive games.
Some of my gaming highlights include:
- Demon’s Souls (2020)
- Gran Turismo 7
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console that can be played at home or on the go. It has some of the best first-party games in the industry.
Some of my gaming highlights included:
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Splatoon 2
Recent Comments