When our family got our first PC in 1997, my father took me to the CompUSA and we hit up the bargain bin for games. Turned out to be the greatest thing ever because my father only had to spend like $50 and we left with like at least 7 or 8 PC Gaming classics. I'm trying to remember the specs of that '97 pc. I think it was a Pentium 200mhz, 32mb RAM, and a few hundred megabytes of HD space.
I can barely even remember which ones, but there was Ripley's Believe it or Not: Riddle of Master-Lu, System Shock 1, one of the Ultimas, the original X-Wing and Tie Fighter (not X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter), and a few others.
Totally awesome.
Also my grandfather got me the Blade Runner Westwood adventure game for Christmas that year (just a few weeks after it was released). I was fucking 12 in 1997, so I hadn't seen the R-rated Blade Runner film prior to playing the game. That game was incredible, and when I finally watched the movie a few years later it improved my understanding and appreciation of the game significantly.
In 1998, I received Rainbow Six (along with StarCraft 1 and Trespasser) for Christmas. Trespasser needs no mention, we all know it's one of the stupidest, most disappointing games of all time. StarCraft also needs no mention, its legacy speaks for itself. Rainbow Six was noteworthy because I was not aware of the 3D Accelerator requirement when I asked my parents for the game, but my father did end up investing in a 3D Monster II 16mb Voodoo 2 card so we could play the game. I still have that graphics card.
Before having my own family PC, I do have plenty of fond memories of playing Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Commander Keen games etc on PCs at my friend's houses.