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That first game that made you a gamer.

soldier4242

I am a gamer in ever sense of the word. Despite the fact that there are a lot of great games out there I wasn't always a gamer. I was just a person that played the occasional game. I though pong was a neat novelty but it wasn't until one day when everything changed.

My parents brought home the original Nintendo Entertainment system. There was Mario brothers, Gyromite, Wrecking Crew and Duck Hunt which I played and enjoyed each of them but none of them were the game that made me a gamer.

It was just so fitting that this game was the only game that had a cartridge made of gold(I know it was just a gold color but let me be poetic here, I'm feeling nostalgic) "The Legend of Zelda". I know without a doubt that this was the game that got me hooked. I thought it was just so amazing that the character that you started with could grow and change over time.

You started with nothing but that wooden sword in the first cave on screen one and before you knew it you were off and exploring and unlike Mario where you journey to one side of the screen was irreversible this game would actually reward you for searching all over the place for more and more stuff. Sure since then there have been your Final Fantasy games and others which I think are better but nothing will ever make me forget that day.

After I played "The Legend of Zelda" I was changed no more was I simply a person who enjoyed the occasional game. I was a gamer and I have never looked back. Getting that NES was the best thing my parents ever did for me. It got me through some rough times in my life and it made the good times better. It is part of the reason I work with computers to this day.

I was just wondering if anyone else can actually point to that one game that still brings back the nostalgia. What game was it that got you hooking on gaming. Perhaps it wasn't just a single game for you. Perhaps it was a system of a genre. No matter what the case I am interesting in hearing your story.

Replies

MaiLinna

I know this is fairly old, but I wanted to chime in. I had a Nintendo controller in my hands before I even hit my Terrible Twos. Our Nintendo Classic broke when I was 5, but for my 6th Christmas I got the N64 with Super Mario 64. That game was the ****. To be honest I grew up thinking that every other little boy and girl out there played video games all day too.

Then again I was way ahead of the other kids in my school (6th grade reading and comprehension level when I was 6 years old. o.o Yikes.)

I didn't realize I was a gamer until...oh, probably not until Pokemon hit me. And oh Lord did it hit me. Even today I know that I'm a born gamer, though I'm also a born rager and that's hindered any sort of progress in competitive games.

Currently Silver I, going for Gold next week after I get over this flu and really buckle down on my Jungle and Mid play.

Pippa_ttc

Super Mario when I was a kid.. Then Heroes III Might & Magic

felcandy

Virtua Fighter... then Zelda... then pokemon... then FFVII-XII... Then resident evil... and a whole lot more. one thing leads to another, i think.

SirBonerFart

snake on my nokia phone

whierd

The first Zelda. I was hooked after that.

Mikej77

Jeez, the memories.. First game that turned me into true gamer would have to be socom navy seals on PS2. The only other mutliplayer game I tried before this was on PC, called age of empires2. With socom though it was different. I lived with a buddy and we played together in the same room with 2 TVs. Soon we met others and found all sorts of friends. Some I still have to this day. We even had a convention at my home where 10 of us all got together, some from across the country, set up 10 TVs and 10 PS2s, and all geeked out for an entire weekend. From socom, we went to socom 2, then I merged over to starwars galaxies. When I started this game it was mainly because it was because of starwars. I knew nothing about MMORPGs at the time. In time I got multiple accounts and ran dual PCs to benifit my main toon with other toons. I unlocked jedi but hated it, I started crafting heavy and made lots and lots of credits. I started looting rare mobs to get better items for PVP. Then the game got an update and broke the game completly. Most of the people I met in this game moved on to world of warcraft. It took some convincing but I ended up joining them. With in a month I had become addicted, had a ventrillo server set up and starting running a guild. That was back in vanilla wow.

We all tried to remain casual and get into raiding, but between the drama and availability it just never really went smoothly. I met some awesome people, and made some life long friends. I even invited a dozen people from wow to my wedding and they all came from across the country. One actually stood in my wedding, imagine that! Never meeting this person IRL but good enough friend that I asked him to stand in my wedding! I still stay in contact with most of them today. Almost all of them moved on to other games or other RL stuff. I moved servers when cata launched to try getting into more serious PVP, unfortunatly PVE took over and thats all everyone cared about.

This went on and off for a few years, trying SWTOR, and some FPS games, league of legends, back to wow, take a break, play some xbox, back to wow. My wife then one day mentioned playing diablo 3 on xbox, totally out of the blue. I jumped up and went to EB games and got the game. Since then that is really all I have been playing.

nerding4ever

First Game: Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt

First Game that created me into a gamer: Super Mario Bros. 2 (craved to beat it)

DatMurse

First Game: Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt

First Game that created me into a gamer: Super Mario Bros. 2 (craved to beat it)

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stormieweather

The first computer game I ever played was some puzzle game on a cassette player, hooked to a monitor. It was all text, you had to type out your next move. I can't remember the name for sure, but I think it was Adventureland. I played for hours. I was definitely a gamer!

Then came the consoles and Sonic, Mario, and Zelda. Eventually, I discovered online games and Everquest. I played that game for 8 years and through many, many expansions. Along the way, I did some beta testing and bought some of the games I tested, such as Wow, LoTRO, Vanguard, Darkfall, Warhammer, and Rift. I also have a library of Steam games I dabble in.

Routerninja

Zork on a Commodore 64.

simply_myself

The Kings Quest series by Sierra. I've been a computer gamer for what seems like my entire life.

This and Space Quest on my parents' Tandy 1000SX. While I loved Legend of Zelda and the Mario series, what really got me into games though was when I went looking for a game that my friend had for her gameboy. It was a Final Fantasy game, but being a kid, I didn't know there was really a difference between the games based on the system at that time. So I was pretty ecstatic when I found what I thought was the game for the SNES at a pawn shop. I bought it and played it as soon as I got home, and while initially disappointed that it was not the game I'd been playing on her gameboy, I ended up falling in love. The game was Final Fantasy 3 (I later learned that it was the 6th game in the series), and it set the stage for my gaming enthusiasm.

RINat612

SMB ... NES. Yep. I remember sneaking in the middle of the night to play it.

Then when we got our first PC and Myst... oh my the hours my entire family spent playing that game...

King's Quest V: Absence on NES too. Oh my God... DRAGON WARRIOR 3...

I've got to stop now. Too many memories.

Ryhenblue

I've been hooked on games ever since I got my first nintendo, but the game that changed it all was Final Fantasy on SNES; I remember staying up all night playing that thing.

thewhitedragonfly

The Sims. My life didn't involve anything else for a while. I remember waiting until my parents fell asleep and sneaking into the kitchen to make snacks to keep me up all night ;p
I still play it quite a lot.

realalize

My parents got a Sega Mastersystem for my siblings and I for Christmas when I was 5. I enjoyed gaming, but it wasn't until we rented Phantasy Star that gaming changed me. That was my first experience with RPGs and I was hooked for the same reasons as the original poster. I loved the leveling up, the fantasy elements, the puzzle/quest elements... We also got a Genesis and I loved Shining Force 1 & 2, D&D's Warriors of the Eternal Sun, and Shadowrun. My bro got into Playstation while we were teens, so I played some Final Fantasy 7, 8, & 9. It wasn't until 2012 that I started to game again, after finishing my dissertation. My boyfriend, a long-time computer gamer, introduced me to Planescape Torment, which really knocked my socks off. I regularly play in the weekends now, and have since played Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale 1 & 2.. I'm currently playing the Neverwinter Nights series. I'm very much looking forward to the upcoming Planescape Torment sequel.

starqueentnk

I was not aloud to have a gaming system growing up. It wasn't until college that my boyfriend bought me Fable and I was hooked.

hellomanen

mortal kombat! I was 4 my big brother was 19, he changed the blood to green so my mom wouldn't freak out (she did anyways)
or at least that's the one I remember! I played with sheeva aaaaaaall the time (that up+down combo dude, got me to shao khan I mean..!) maybe I played something else before (my family is kind of a gamer bunch) but that's the game that got me good

MissGamerGirl

In terms of playing in general, I honestly don't remember. I played a lot of random things - Pokemon games, Mario Kart, Crash Banda-however you spell his name racing game, some sort of Donkey Kong variation, etc.

But being a serious gamer? Definitely Halo. It changed everything for me.

Ready2Loose75

I played the Atari games and had dozens of those pretty black cartridges but I was probably just a little to young to be a real gamer and would usually play something for a few minutes and switch to the next game. When the NES came out and I got my hands on Mario and that controller it sucked me in. I was coming into my prime hand-eye coordination years and the amount of control you had just blew me away. Hours upon hours I would play which lead me into hours and hours of other great games and I was officially part of the new breed. We read Nintendo Power, PC Gamer, and GamePro. We watched The Wizard and even though we knew it was lame we loved it. We began the console wars with N vs Sega, MS and Sony got nothing on us. We ushered in the golden age that pushed PC's faster and started the enthusiast market just to play games.

Raggedy_Ann

All was lost for me the first time I cracked a million points in a game. The game was Zaxxon, on my Coleco set. I also played a lot of Mousetrap on it, I would still play that game now.

Out of all the systems I've owned and spent hours playing, I still miss my Goldstar 3D0 the most. I'm seriously considering looking for one to buy again, I should've kept mine!

linkirving

My first game was Super Mario Bros for the NES. As a kid I always had a game system and enjoyed playing games. But I was just a casual player until Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That game was a fantastic experience, and it drove me to seek out further deep experiences from gaming.

I now play mostly single player games with RPG elements. Recent favorites have included the Mass Effect series, the Fable series, and the Elder Scrolls series.

klwxx

I kinda started playing a few games at the same time. My dad got me Resi Code Veronica X when it was new out so I was 6 years old...good parenting right there...

But the things that really got me into games were early pokémon games on GB Colour, and Zelda. Link's Awakening was great. ^_^

brewji

Super Mario World.

Crateria_

Mickey Mouse for Intellivision.

Then I got a Sega Genesis. Played Sonic 2 and never stopped gaming ever since.

I wish I was lucky enough to own my own Super Nintendo as a kid, but I would always go over to friend's houses and my cousin's and play theirs.

Mr_Excitement

Man... there were so many great games that captured my mind when I was a kid and teenager. Definitely the Zelda games... that gold cartridge, lol. Metroid... later on, X-Com and the first Civilization game. Oh and the first Sim City. The first Final Fantasy...

MysteriousMerlin

:laugh: The first game I was obsessed with was Super Mario Brothers 2, then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, then Ocarina of Time <--- literally months of my life were consumed by OoT.

Currently it's Skyrim. I just can't get enough of it!

jcubedatund

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure on NES....totally geeky but I loved it.

dreams4sale

That one game that's super old that I used to play on my grandpa's Mac, something about, "into the manhole" or something.

Skylark74

Bubble Bobble & Chuckie Egg off of a cassette on some kind of green screen Amstrad and various other games of that ilk .
My first MMO was Disney's Toon Town - I just loved being able to throw pies or drop anvils on the mobs.

rfsatar

Elite on the BBC B!