Back in the day, I would power off my hardware. My computer would tell me when it was safe to power off, my Genesis and PS1 you pressed the power button and that was it.
But when I got my PS2, turning it off wasn’t just turning it off. The power button didn’t turn anything off, it just reset the system. So I always hit the power switch on the back.
It wouldn’t be for a while before we learned we can turn it off and back on faster by pressing and holding the power button. Rather than killing the system. And newer systems like the PS3 didn’t like it at all when they were powered off completely.
Oh easily online multiplayer with voice chat. I think I was 16 or 17 years old and Xbox came out. I hadn’t had a system besides a really old family computer since Super Nintendo. I played PS1/2 games at friends houses.
Anyway, I jump in. I had a job and bought myself an Xbox and an Xbox Live Gold card. I have a little shitty headset that came with the Xbox, and I boot up Rainbow Six Black Arrow. I hear in my headset other people talking. I am blown away. That social interaction with other FPS players was intoxicating. It really messed up my high school education. I would stay up until my mom got up, sneak into bed and wait for her to go to work, then go back upstairs and play more. It was such a revelation to be able to talk through a game to me.