My family lost everything in a flood when I was 8. My parents lower working class. I left home/moved 1st time at 18. I had nothing to inherit and nothing to lose. The ticket was 3$. While textbooks were not free, attending school was. I accept excuses from people that got caught in a natural disaster or a war only.
There was never really a single game. First game: Grand Prix on Atari 2600 Then The Settlers, Desert Strike, Another World and Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 on Amiga. Age of Empires 2, GTA, Stronghold, SHOGO, Morrowind, BG2 on PC After these titles I can try just about anything. That made me consider really wide variety of genres, styles and publishing formats (from indie to AAA).