I started off from games programming. It all comes from NES days. Aspired to be game developer and I achieved it but changed to Application Software/Hardware Analyst for better career as my country for games industries is too niche.
During my early days, I actually felt a bit regret of entering into this IT roles. But later was inspired and influenced by my ex-colleagues on his accomplishments and they were quite active in these new technical development areas. During my free time, I will mingle with software programming to work on personal projects with my ex-colleagues.