I was introduced to home theater, video game systems, big TVs, sound systems, and all that by my stepfather when he and my mom were married.
When my mom and dad were married, we had a 15 inch TV, the earlier version of cable, an Intellevision game system, and an old stereo that had a record player, 8 track deck, and a tape deck. No VCR or anything. This was back in the early '80s. My mom seperated and divorced in like '83 or '84, I was like 4 or 5, but can't really remember. My mom knew my stepfather from meeting him at Dunkin Donuts while she worked there. My dad knew him too because of being a regular there too. That's how my mom and dad met, and how my mom met my dad's best friend too. Alot of my mom's, dad's, and stepfather's friends were regulars there. So in comes my stepfather when my mom and dad seperated. My dad's best friend had a Beta machine, Atari, and the old pop from the top VCR.
He came over alot because my mom was scared of being alone, and was upset about the seperation and divorce. He brings our first VCR, better stereo, CDs, and the 8 bit Nintendo with the robot. This was in late 1984 or early 1985 whenever the Nintendo first debuted in the US. My stepfather soon brings me to a video rental store that he frequented to pick out movies to see. I remember picking out The Empire Strikes Back, and coming home and watching it. I still remember this night like it was yesterday. This is what really got me hooked on Star Wars and the sequels. I was amazed by the parts on Cloud City, and these are the scenes that stick out most in my mind from that night. He ended up buying all 3 of the trilogy on VHS for me, which I still have to this day. He even gave me a cable box in my room. My mom and stepfather talk to my grandmother who lived next door, to see if she wanted to switch houses, since she lived in the bigger one. They all decided it was a good idea, so we switched houses.
When we switched houses, my stepfather set up a TV and VCR for my main viewing complete with basic cable, and a TV for another Nintendo in my room for me. In the living room he set up the Intellivision, Nintendo, VCR, and cable to the 25 inch TV we just bought. Now he introduced a computer to the house, though I first saw one when I was in kindergarten at the age of 4. I still remember seeing the Apple computer for the first time when I was 4. My stepfather let me play a Three Stooges game alot. The lasted like that for a couple years. Our VHS and CD collections grew tremendously during this time.
Then came the house renovations. My stepfather rebuilt the whole inside of the house, complete with a bigger kitchen, a dining room, a living room, computer room, etc.
In the living room after the renovation, he created an awesome home theater system. He put in a 42 inch projection TV, VCR, CD player, cassette player, 3 foot high speakers next to the TV, speakers in the ceiling, a Sega, and the Nintendo. He gave me the Intellevision for my room, due to it being outdated in 1988.
Over the years till about 1996, he kept buying game systems which were: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Turbo Graphix 16, Neo Geo, Sega CD, Atari Jaguar, Panasonic 3DO, a game system that you use a remote control like a TV remote which I can't remember the name of, Playstation, a Nintendo 64 and a few computers.
In 1992 he bought our first and only laserdisc player. Before selling it a few years later, he bought laserdiscs of Terminator 2, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Dune, Star Wars series, Jurassic Park, and a bunch of others that I can't remember. My cousin dropped a laserdisc that we had rented and split it in half in the process, which pissed of my stepfather because he had to dish out 40 or 50 bucks to replace it. I remember loving the laserdisc player because the movies were so crisp and clean on it, compared to VHS. My stepfather had the speakers up to par so it sounded like we were in a theater.
In 1995 or 1996 is when he bought the 72 inch Mitsubishi projection TV that I still have today. He and my mom started having problems, so he started selling off the game systems, laserdisc player, laserdiscs, and so on. He even took the speakers out of the ceiling and took the 3 foot tall ones. Now we only have the Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Playstation 2, and Gamecube for game systems. My sister got the Playstation 2 for Christmas of 2000, and the Gamecube for Christmas of 2001. The Playstation 2 was what got me into DVDs. I pawned all my VHS, except for myt Star Wars movies, and never looked back. I don't even use the VCRs in the house. I got my first true DVD player which is an Apex, this past fall for my birthday.
My mom and stepfather divorced 2 years ago. Since then we really haven't updated much of the technology in the house. While my mom and stepfather were still married, we used to joke that the next TV we got was gonna be a theater screen.
So there's my story on how I got into home theater and games.
When my mom and dad were married, we had a 15 inch TV, the earlier version of cable, an Intellevision game system, and an old stereo that had a record player, 8 track deck, and a tape deck. No VCR or anything. This was back in the early '80s. My mom seperated and divorced in like '83 or '84, I was like 4 or 5, but can't really remember. My mom knew my stepfather from meeting him at Dunkin Donuts while she worked there. My dad knew him too because of being a regular there too. That's how my mom and dad met, and how my mom met my dad's best friend too. Alot of my mom's, dad's, and stepfather's friends were regulars there. So in comes my stepfather when my mom and dad seperated. My dad's best friend had a Beta machine, Atari, and the old pop from the top VCR.
He came over alot because my mom was scared of being alone, and was upset about the seperation and divorce. He brings our first VCR, better stereo, CDs, and the 8 bit Nintendo with the robot. This was in late 1984 or early 1985 whenever the Nintendo first debuted in the US. My stepfather soon brings me to a video rental store that he frequented to pick out movies to see. I remember picking out The Empire Strikes Back, and coming home and watching it. I still remember this night like it was yesterday. This is what really got me hooked on Star Wars and the sequels. I was amazed by the parts on Cloud City, and these are the scenes that stick out most in my mind from that night. He ended up buying all 3 of the trilogy on VHS for me, which I still have to this day. He even gave me a cable box in my room. My mom and stepfather talk to my grandmother who lived next door, to see if she wanted to switch houses, since she lived in the bigger one. They all decided it was a good idea, so we switched houses.
When we switched houses, my stepfather set up a TV and VCR for my main viewing complete with basic cable, and a TV for another Nintendo in my room for me. In the living room he set up the Intellivision, Nintendo, VCR, and cable to the 25 inch TV we just bought. Now he introduced a computer to the house, though I first saw one when I was in kindergarten at the age of 4. I still remember seeing the Apple computer for the first time when I was 4. My stepfather let me play a Three Stooges game alot. The lasted like that for a couple years. Our VHS and CD collections grew tremendously during this time.
Then came the house renovations. My stepfather rebuilt the whole inside of the house, complete with a bigger kitchen, a dining room, a living room, computer room, etc.
In the living room after the renovation, he created an awesome home theater system. He put in a 42 inch projection TV, VCR, CD player, cassette player, 3 foot high speakers next to the TV, speakers in the ceiling, a Sega, and the Nintendo. He gave me the Intellevision for my room, due to it being outdated in 1988.
Over the years till about 1996, he kept buying game systems which were: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Turbo Graphix 16, Neo Geo, Sega CD, Atari Jaguar, Panasonic 3DO, a game system that you use a remote control like a TV remote which I can't remember the name of, Playstation, a Nintendo 64 and a few computers.
In 1992 he bought our first and only laserdisc player. Before selling it a few years later, he bought laserdiscs of Terminator 2, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Dune, Star Wars series, Jurassic Park, and a bunch of others that I can't remember. My cousin dropped a laserdisc that we had rented and split it in half in the process, which pissed of my stepfather because he had to dish out 40 or 50 bucks to replace it. I remember loving the laserdisc player because the movies were so crisp and clean on it, compared to VHS. My stepfather had the speakers up to par so it sounded like we were in a theater.
In 1995 or 1996 is when he bought the 72 inch Mitsubishi projection TV that I still have today. He and my mom started having problems, so he started selling off the game systems, laserdisc player, laserdiscs, and so on. He even took the speakers out of the ceiling and took the 3 foot tall ones. Now we only have the Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Playstation 2, and Gamecube for game systems. My sister got the Playstation 2 for Christmas of 2000, and the Gamecube for Christmas of 2001. The Playstation 2 was what got me into DVDs. I pawned all my VHS, except for myt Star Wars movies, and never looked back. I don't even use the VCRs in the house. I got my first true DVD player which is an Apex, this past fall for my birthday.
My mom and stepfather divorced 2 years ago. Since then we really haven't updated much of the technology in the house. While my mom and stepfather were still married, we used to joke that the next TV we got was gonna be a theater screen.
So there's my story on how I got into home theater and games.
