I grew up with arcades, Atari and the dawn of home PC games. I've played very, very little since I turned 17 and began to work.
The truth: games existed, but there was no game culture like there is today. Young dudes in my time didn't care much for gaming. We wanted to work, have a career and a family.
Photos and videos from that time often elicit the comment "they look so much older." Yes. We sough that look. We wanted to grow up. Youngsters today don't seem to want to grow up.