What got you hooked on gaming?

[kube00]

So what got you guys hooked on gaming? For it me was the pc and dos. Ummm I think the game was one of the Commander Keen games or it was Word Munchers...

[Chacrana]

I had the NES as a little kid and I eventually got the SNES... considering the number of absolutely incredible game on there, I'd say that's what really got me hooked.

[CoffeeEdge]

"TI Invaders," the Space Invaders clone for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. First game I ever played, and the origin of my TI-99 obsession. From play TI Invaders, Pole Position, Parsec, Defender, Jawbreaker, and Car Wars, I started reading TI-99 magazines and wrote small applications for it, and eventually, simple little games.

God, I love that computer. Still have both of mine.

[GenDV138]

I got started in gaming with the NES and Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt.

[Kayden]

My uncle and Super Mario Brothers 1

[Eviltude]

I've got an idea. Let's see how many video game related threads we can make in the one forum designated for everything but gaming!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way...

NES on my 3rd birthday with Mario/Duck Hunt. Beat Mario within the first 3 hours.

[ChaoticClimax]

The Mario Bros. on NES fo sho!

[vasco]

I've got an idea. Let's see how many video game related threads we can make in the one forum designated for everything but gaming!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way...

NES on my 3rd birthday with Mario/Duck Hunt. Beat Mario within the first 3 hours.

At three years old huh.:roll:

[Eviltude]

At three years old huh.:roll:
:lol: Don't believe me, eh? Oh well. It happened. I was there.

[dpatel]

I've been gaming since I was a little kid. Got an Atari at 4 years old, and have owned a SNES, PS1, PS2, GCN, PS3, GBA and PSP since. I don't think I became a 'hardcore' gamer, until Metal Gear Solid though.

[Romis]

Hate to show my age.. but I ruined a tv with a pong game, and .. some pong knock off from from sears.. it all started sooo long ago..lol

[TahoeMax]

Played an old school NES at my friend's house in the early 90s. Got one for Xmas a year later, and I got a free copy of Dragon Warrior when I ordered Nintendo Power. That was the game for me. I was totally addicted and actually went and maxed out my level so that the only enemies in the game that could do more than 2 damage to me were red dragons and the Dragon Lord himself. Made me feel like a badass...and so i was hooked. THE END!

[tyecko]

So what got you guys hooked on gaming? For it me was the pc and dos?

why question yourself? Be confident in your answer sir!

[GoofsterStud]

The Sega Saturn. I always was a general gamer. Tell the Sega Saturn.

Nights, Dragon Force, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force 3, Dungeons and Dragons Collections, Guardian Heroes. I became a hardcore gamer. Though I become less and less a gamer every generation later. Wii gives me hope.

[botticus]

"TI Invaders," the Space Invaders clone for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. Same. TI Invaders, Parsec, and Jungle Hunt.

[The Crotch]

Emulation, for the most part. I played more than my fair share of Joust, Mario/Duck Hunt (I wish companies would start combining smaller games and selling them as one - I'd buy 'em), Golden Axe, and Link to the Past. But it wasn't until I started emulating games (mostly SNES, as I never owned one, but some Genesis) that I really got into gaming. I think Shining Force 2 and Final Fantasy II/IV were what really did it for me.

[RedvsBlue]

The internet

[Kayden]

The internet

No man, the question was what got you hooked on gaming, not masturbating.

[RedvsBlue]

No man, the question was what got you hooked on gaming, not masturbating.

No, your mom got me hooked on masturbating, the internet got me hooked on video games.

[Kayden]

No, your mom got me hooked on masturbating, the internet got me hooked on video games.

Man... not another one...

[RedvsBlue]

Man... not another one...

That's... what... she... said...

[jeffreyjrose]

Easily SMB/Duck Hunt on the NES.

[The Crotch]

No, your mom got me hooked on masturbating, the internet got me hooked on video games.If you're not Strell, don't even try it.

[Dark Slayer120]

Duck hunt and the first Zelda game for the NES is what got me into gaming. I was around 4-5 years old and have been gaming since. You know whats funny? I never did beat that fucking Zelda game....

[Supercake]

If you're not Strell, don't even try it.
:applause: ;)

I've always been gaming since I was a kid, but as for what really hooked me...I'd say it was probably PC gaming. I played Doom so much, among many other games. I've always been a "gamer".

[RedvsBlue]

If you're not Strell, don't even try it.
Yeah, casue Strell invented the whole "your mom" thing. :roll:

[P dad]

wizardry apple 2+

[Dante Devil]

I would have to say, pilotwings for the super nintendo

[crazytalkx]

I wasn't fortunate enough to get a console until 1997 (I was 9 at the time) but OH what a game. STAR FOX 64

[Skittlesforever]

Probably the SNES and Donkey Kong Country 2, I remember playing that game all the time.

[vasco]

Moon Patrol in the arcade back in the 80s

[mang9432]

commander keen as well

[Allnatural]

Although I had spent much time with the 2600, I think the NES made me a "gamer."

[The Crotch]

Yeah, casue Strell invented the whole "your mom" thing. :roll:Irrelevant. Perfected > Invented

[RedvsBlue]

Irrelevant. Perfected > Invented

Perfected?

Hardly. That's like saying someone's perfected pulling out of your mom, and we all know that's not the case cause unfortunately the world is stuck with you.

[Bathory]

Super Mario 3...and Of course Super Mario World...and Sonic the Hedgehog...Duck Hunt...I remember playing Pac Man and wasting alot of quarters too...And Donkey Kong Land III rite when the gameboy pocket was released...

[SilverPaw750]

My cousins who owned an NES and Super Mario Bros 1 and 3.

[geigerm]

Probably the Atari 2600, which I spent way too much time on despite being at an age where my folks closely watched how much time I spent playing video games. When we upgraded to a 7800 ... forget it. I was hooked, and it's only gotten worse.

[michaema]

One word: Doom

[KaneRobot]

This kid who was a few years older than me lived across the street; he was getting rid of his system and games since he outgrowing it. However, I will mostly always remember that guy for fucking SCREAMING out his kitchen window at me one time when I was riding my bike on his circle driveway ("DON'T RIDE ON HERE!!!!!!!"). Anyway, he dropped off an Atari 5200 and probably half a dozen games - the original 4 controller version, actually. This was probably...I dunno, 1985. It's funny, because many years later I read about the crash of 1983 but I got my first console right in the midst of it so I never had any idea the market had tanked. By '87 games and controllers (the latter of which needed to be replaced frequently) were becoming harder to find in stores and we eventually resorted to ordering several games and controllers through the mail right around Christmas, and it took FOREVER for the stuff to arrive. It still had the best ending ever though, as on 3/23 (my birthday) I was on the bus coming home. As we turned onto my street there was a UPS truck in front. I kept thinking "oh, it's probably my games!" when the odds of that were actually pretty low. Lo and behold, it WAS my stuff as the driver gave me the package after I got off the bus. To this DAY I find it had to believe that my parents didn't somehow arrange that, even though it seems impossible.

Looking back I see why it flopped, but damn if some of those games weren't outstanding. By far the best home version of Pac-Man at the time, and Star Raiders is something I liked then and appreciate even more now.

By the time it was pretty much impossible to get any new stuff for it, the NES had hit its strde and I got one for Christmas of '88. Pretty academic from there.


Perfected?

Hardly. That's like saying someone's perfected pulling out of your mom, and we all know that's not the case cause unfortunately the world is stuck with you.
Ouch. Game, set, match RvB.

[Javery]

NES on my 3rd birthday with Mario/Duck Hunt. Beat Mario within the first 3 hours.

Hmmm... I just don't think that can be true. I'm not saying you don't remember it that way it's just to me it seems highly highly unlikely. I have a 2.5 year old and I have tons and tons of friends with 3+ year old kids (hey, I'm at that age I guess) and there's just not a shot in hell that any of them could clear the first stage of SMB let alone the entire game. The motor skills necessary to accomplish something like that just aren't developed enough at that age.

I've been trying to get my daughter to understand Pac-man on an arcade machine for the last 6 months and she is just starting to grasp that the movement of the joystick affects what happens on the screen but the whole "avoid the ghosts" concept is still a little out there for her. She totally sucks at Pac-man right now - I think her high score is like 380 or something. It's hard to believe she's actually my kid (yet she can write her name, count to 20, name all the letters and the sounds they make, etc. - she's pretty smart but she has almost no coordination).

Bah, maybe I'm just bitter that she can't play Pac-man yet and when you were her age you were breezing through SMB. ;)

Oh yeah, I got hooked on videogames in the early 80s - it was a combination of the arcade and the 2600 that did it. I still can't get enough...

[VipFREAK]

I don't consider the GT series a game, that was more my interest in cars. So, I have to say Gears of War and the 360 is what really did it.

[Number83]

Long story, so edited for content:

My Father doing taxes for free because he refused to be paid from friends. So one day, when he refused payment yet again, his friend gave him an Atari 2600 for his family. Been hooked ever since.

[HeadRusch]

This...
http://skyscraper.fortunecity.com/activex/637/images/Stuntcycle.gif

Led me to This...
http://skyscraper.fortunecity.com/activex/637/images/sprint2.gif

And to This...
http://skyscraper.fortunecity.com/activex/637/images/seawolf.gif

Which Finally turned into This when the technology finally came home....
http://www.vidgame.net/PONG/coleco/coleco_telstarsys.JPG

And away we went.

PS: Every one of those is Black and White :)

[lordwow]

Believe it or not, the family aspect of it.

My Dad, my brother and I (this was when I was like probably 6 or 7, and my brother like 4) used to play non-stop Super Nintendo, at least an hour a day when we got it. Every game we got for probably 2 years, we'd take turns playing. Super Mario World, Mario Kart, Gradius III, all were a ton of fun to play.

As I got older it became less of a family thing and more of a fun thing for me, especially a nice way to relax, but also a challenge to get everything in the game and beat it.

[asianxcore]

Atari 7800 + Arcades

[daroga]

I first played my Uncle's NES, with Super Mario Bros. and Zelda. Fantastic night right there.

Other friends had game systems, but I didn't get an NES till Mario 3 had already been out for a while.

I had a Playstation in early highschool but then took a break from owning games for a while. I picked up a refurb Dreamcast on a whim just before they cut its life support, and have been pretty into games ever since. I do think my recent love of games was spurned on by getting a GBA on another whim for a long trip I had. GBA->DS->GC->Wii/360

[The Mana Knight]

I got into gaming with the NES/SNES, but wasn't much of a gamer. PlayStation got me into games more than ever, and I'm still into games. PSP also got me into handhelds more. Basically, the PlayStation brand is extremely important to me, getting me into gaming. I just don't know what I'd do if it didn't exists. :(

[SpecTrE3353]

My uncle came over and let me play Wolf3D on his computer. He never knew what kind of monster he was unleashing.

[michaema]

My uncle came over and let me play Wolf3D on his computer. He never knew what kind of monster he was unleashing.

I love that game as well, you can never have enough secret passages. I actually didnt get to this one till after i played doom. :)

[michaema]

Hmmm... I just don't think that can be true. I'm not saying you don't remember it that way it's just to me it seems highly highly unlikely. I have a 2.5 year old and I have tons and tons of friends with 3+ year old kids (hey, I'm at that age I guess) and there's just not a shot in hell that any of them could clear the first stage of SMB let alone the entire game. The motor skills necessary to accomplish something like that just aren't developed enough at that age.

Guess hes like Davy Crockett and "killed his first bear when he was only 3" :lol:

[crowbb]

I had played plenty of video games before the NES and I enjoyed them a lot. But I don't think I was ever truly and completely hooked until I played Super Mario Brothers 1 for the first time. That was an amazing feeling and I had never seen anything like it.

[nyprimus4]

Solely the desire to beat my brother. When we were tots on the NES, SNES, GEN, N64.

[Sleepkyng]

nes

[Rodimus]

nes

[sblymnlcrymnl]

Super Mario Bros.

[Puffa469]

Am I the first one to mention the Arcade?

I grew up po' and hardly any of my friends had an Atari 2600, which was really the only console available at the time. But nearly every deli, bodega, and corner store had a coinop or two. We used to roam all around the city going to this spot or that spot to play a particular game. And in the summer my family would go to the beach, and the boardwalk would have huge arcades on it that I would be in literally all day.

[Puffa469]

Am I the first one to mention the Arcade?

I grew up po' and hardly any of my friends had an Atari 2600, which was really the only console available at the time. But nearly every deli, bodega, and corner store had a coinop or two. We used to roam all around the city going to this spot or that spot to play a particular game. And in the summer my family would go to the beach, and the boardwalk would have huge arcades on it that I would be in literally all day.

[Puffa469]

Am I the first one to mention the Arcade?

I grew up po' and hardly any of my friends had an Atari 2600, which was really the only console available at the time. But nearly every deli, bodega, and corner store had a coinop or two. We used to roam all around the city going to this spot or that spot to play a particular game. And in the summer my family would go to the beach, and the boardwalk would have huge arcades on it that I would be in literally all day.

[Javery]

Am I the first one to mention the Arcade?

Nope. I went to the arcade as much as possible as a kid. I could actually ride my bike to the nearest one so that was convenient even though my mother hated it there... if only I could have all those quareters back...

[mickeyp]

atari 2600+NES+black and white GB
Last year I got the GBA SP and DS lite and the Wii

[Puffa469]

Nope. I went to the arcade as much as possible as a kid. I could actually ride my bike to the nearest one so that was convenient even though my mother hated it there... if only I could have all those quareters back...

Those arcades at the Jersey shore back in the day were like mecca to me. We had some arcades near me growing up, especially in Hoboken. But nothing that could compare to the Jersey shore. :D

[scorpers]

I think I was like 11 and it was Space Invaders and Asteroids on the Atari.

[Javery]

Those arcades at the Jersey shore back in the day were like mecca to me. We had some arcades near me growing up, especially in Hoboken. But nothing that could compare to the Jersey shore. :D

Oh god yes - Seaside, Point Pleasant, Belmar, etc. Arcades were EVERYWHERE. I think there are still a few hanging on but I haven't been donwn there in ages. They sure were fun back in the day though...

[lordxixor101]

Well, for me, I was going to have a little brother at the age of 4. So, my parents thought it was a good idea to get me something to show that they still love me. They got an Atari 2600, with 3 games (Ms. Pac Man, Pengo, and Kangaroo). Since then, I've never stopped gaming.

[crystalklear64]

The old adventure games like King's Quest and Indiana Jones.

However, my very first "game" was Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. When I bought it, it was a choice between that and some Lord of the Rings game.

[MisterModest]

Arcades, plus the Commodore 64 Games System...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/Commodore_64_GS.jpg

[Psykodelik]

I had a "triangle" console..I think it was a coleco. It had a gun, steering wheel and a controller. I got into Atari too but the two games that really made me get into gaming was "Oregon Trail" and "Lode Runner" on the Apple.

[bobthecat23]

aww man i was living in south america and my cousins were coming back from the us and they brought a n64 with turok and ever since then i have gotten hooked and when i came to the US my neighbor had resident evil directors cut
omg that was the best game ever

[Kendal]

I played a Comadore64 before I got introduced to the NES and I think I played Atari before that. I also had an Intellevision before I got the NES, but I truely got hooked when I played DUck Hunt for the first time.

[nesfan8222]

playing various original game and watch games when i was 4.

[Thunderscope]

Well I was three when I used to watch my brother play Pitfall and It looked so cool, but when I was 5 and played Super Mario Bros that got me hooked

[Puffa469]

I had a "triangle" console..I think it was a coleco. It had a gun, steering wheel and a controller. I got into Atari too but the two games that really made me get into gaming was "Oregon Trail" and "Lode Runner" on the Apple.

You had the Coleco Telstar Arcade!

http://www.thegameconsole.com/colecotelstararcade.jpg

Coleco Telstar Arcade
Released in 1978
The Telstar Arcade is maybe one of the most interesting systems made by Coleco, and also the most advanced PONG system released in America, although it played non-PONG games. Made in a triangular case, the system could play three types of games, each being played on one of the three sides of the case. Obviously, the first side allowed playing PONG games (TENNIS and the like), and the second side allowed playing target shooting games. Nothing very different from most other systems, except the gun storage. The third face was the most interesting: it allowed playing car racing games. Very few systems offering that type of games were released at this time, and the games were only played using rotary controllers or some sort of joysticks.

Coleco used a very uncommon cartridge format: a silver triangular case which connects horizontally on the top of the console. Nothing in common with the other black cartridges with plug vertically. Coleco released only four cartridges. The first one was sold with the system and the others were available separately for the price of $25. Two flyers came with the system to order cartridges #2 and #3.

[Karyyk]

Atari 2600...Space Invaders...Battlezone.

'nuff said.

[Puffa469]

This was my first home console:

http://www.thegameconsole.com/colecotelstarcombat.jpg

[willardhaven]

I started with a cheap handheld Ninja Turtles game from Tiger.

Then it was just arcades (SF II, Contra, DK Junior), Commodore 64 PC carts and friends' NESes, I also got a Gameboy w/ Tetris and Ninja Turtles FotFC when I was 4.

At Christmas in 1991 I snagged an SNES w/ Mario World. I think Zelda III is what really got me hooked.

[Sleepkyng]

nes+zelda

[Rodimus]

I had a NES and SNES when I was growing up, but I didn't really make it into a hobby until the PS1 came out. One of my first jobs was at a video game store, then I really got hooked, and started a collection.

[bruin]

Warcraft II definitely

[dallow]

Playing Adventure on the Colecovision.

It didn't hard until NES though, then my life was over.

[RelentlessRolento]

I got hooked two different times as my perception changed both times:

Tekken got me hooked initially (though I always loved games, but was never hooked till then) due to amount of depth and possabilitys in a fighting game.

Rez changed my perception on that games are just games... they have the ability to really become a culture clash and rebel in the sense of being unique... ie, art.

this has led me to doing my art (yes, I'm majoring in an art field at my art college.. >_< ) in the medium of video games... so far it's bee amazingly great.

[carpwrist]

Gaming didn't get to be a true addiction until Vigilante 8: Second Offense on the DC for me.

very late bloomer.

[natureboy46]

Combat, Outlaw and Pele's Soccer on the 2600.

[Puffa469]

Playing Adventure on the Colecovision.

It didn't hard until NES though, then my life was over.

I think Adventure was a Atari 2600 game. ;)

*edit* which you could have played on the Colecovision with that converter doohickey...

Puffa Gains +5 Nerd Points!!!

[RudyPants]

For me it was Metroid. That game was (and still is) one of the best games ever made.