I started in 1982 with a ZX Spectrum I got for Xmas from my family.
It was an inexpensive computer with 48k of RAM and played mostly text adventures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hob...8video_game%29 . Me and my friends would swap games etc so pocket money on those £15 games was shared.
When I went to college in the late 80's I bought an Amiga 500 which was a fountain of adventure games and because I was working while at college I could get games like Monkey Island etc (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETHGr...eature=related) either by buying them or by trading them with friends.
I couldn't afford to buy a PC until I graduated in 1991 and had my first job. I bought a 486 PC on credit and paid it off.
As I was working full time I could afford to buy more games by then and I was into adventure games as well as other types.