Nintendo

The classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released in North America in 1985. That's 28 years ago, which I'm afraid ages me a bit since I remember playing it shortly after it came out. There had been other gaming consoles before this one, but this is the one that really seemed to turn video games mass market, and catered to a pre-teen crowd.
I remember playing some of the very early games of Nintendo, seen in the pictures below. Mario, Metroid, Karnov, and Megaman were all very interesting platform games at the time. Countless hours were spent in front of the old tube TV desperately trying to get these 8bit characters to jump onto platforms, crush odd looking creatures, avoid deadly lava, and more. It was frustrating but exciting, it was challenging in good ways and bad, and it really made you try, fail, try, fail, try, fail, try some more, and eventually make it to the end of the game.
There's a bizarre sense of accomplishment when you have managed to run, crawl, roll, jump, and shoot your way through thousands of screens and enemies and finally defeat the Mother Brain in Metroid. The ending story and credits last all of a few minutes, but somehow you get a feeling of completion. Just like in Mario, after saving Toad after Toad after Toad, you finally save the princess from the evil Bowser and all is good in the Kingdom.
Video games help you escape the real world and become a hero in a different land. I loved having my Nintendo when I was younger, then we got the Super Nintendo, then the N64, then a Sega CD, then a Playstation (one), then PS2, PS3 and Wii. Gaming became a part of my life forever after Mario and Samus and Karnov appeared on my TV.
I don't get a lot of time to play games now, but I will always have them in my home as a great interactive form of entertainment and a way to escape some of the stresses and pressures of the real world.