Hmmm. Most prominent/influential games of my childhood?
Super Mario Bros (NES was a Christmas gift when I was five years old and my first exposure to video games)
Mario 2, 3
B A T T L E T O A D S
Super Mario World
F-Zero
Super R-Type
Street Fighter II, etc.
Mario Kart
Killer Instinct
Stunt...
The dog barks the truth. I'm 31 and hardly play games anymore. When HL2 was released, I was in my first real job after college and only experienced one month-long relationship. Now I'm married, we have a dog, and a kid is on the way. I've kinda stopped caring about anticipating Valve titles...