I was lucky enough to get a PSIO from the first round of pre-orders for what feels like forever ago. Unfortunately for me, it arrived during a time when I had too many projects and other things going on in my life to take the time to install it on my PS1 and enjoy it. Since I knew it was going to sit for a while before I could even install it, and considering what they were selling for at the time, I made the difficult decision to sell it. I would still like to get another one sometime, but I will wait at least until my basement is completed.
I enjoyed your story as it reminds me a lot of my self during that time. I was also a pretty early PS1 adopter after being a huge fan of the NES and SNES. It was weird not getting another Nintendo system, but for some reason, I knew the PS1 was the right decision for me. My brother and I got it as a Christmas present and since it didn't come with a game, my parents also got us Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider. I already knew about CB and had played it many times. I was super excited for that one. But at the time, I had never heard of Tomb Raider. My parents bought it because a kid working at Best Buy recommended it. I'm so glad he did, because I loved that game and still consider it to be my favorite PS1 game of all time. The PS1 is still my favorite system to this day and my favorite to collect for. It's the only system that I truly have any desire to collect a full set for. Although, I only have about 45% of the US library and prices continue to climb each year, it's still a fun set to collect for.