Uh... Son I grew up poor and adjacent to some housing projects. There wasn’t a single household with kids that didn’t have a console. Even kids from the projects had a console of some kind. I remember being five and begging my older cousins to let me play their Nintendo in 1992. The only difference between now and then is that consoles have gone from being a toy you bought your kids to a media device that sits in your living room.
And I hate to be insulting but I can’t imagine you being an adult. I’m fairly certain every adult here knew who sonic and Mario were and none of us would be so ignorant as to say gaming only went mainstream in the last fifteen years.
Thanks for your America-centric anecdotal perspective presented as all-encompassing. I never knew a pokemon besides Pikachu until I was 18, and I was by far the most avid gamer in my school. Yes I knew sonic and mario, but had barely played 2 hours of those games at arcades because my parents wouldn't give me change for (played at rich friends' birthday parties in the arcade). We all have our experiences.
Your "insult" literally corroborates what I'm saying. Until within the last 15 years, we weren't adults. The "adults" of then very likely did not know who sonic and Mario were, even if their kids did. Now that we're adults, adults know who sonic and mario are. And so do our kids. And maybe some of our parents. That's the point.
Please don't start of comments on HN calling people "son", then claim to "hate to be insulting", then proceed to insult people. None of that was necessary to make your points.
And I hate to be insulting but I can’t imagine you being an adult. I’m fairly certain every adult here knew who sonic and Mario were and none of us would be so ignorant as to say gaming only went mainstream in the last fifteen years.