How Did You Get Into Gaming?

[KilnerLUFC]

Think the title pretty much sums up the topic, simple really.

For me, I rememeber my friends having various consoles, from the NES/SNES to the Master System, and spending hours just playing various games on them when the weather was sh*t. My brother and sister had a NES/SNES at this point, and when at home I spent all my time on Mario, pretty much the only game I really remember. Many hours were wasted on the All Star collection. My sister then bought the PSX, and that's when I can say I knew I needed to get me a console, and knew I had to beg my parents for my own console...Due to me only being young and the price of the consoles, it wasn't until around the age of 9/10 that I got what I considered to be the best Xmas present ever, the Goldeneye edition of the N64.

 

Was staying at my uncles, and he and my parents had gone out, leaving my sister to babysit, so all I remember is that I played Goldeneye till like 2am in the morning, non-stop. Few weeks later and my mum borrowed a copy of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time off someone at her work for me, and that is why I still to this day regard this as my all time favourite game, it's quite simply the one game that I can safely say really made me fall in love with gaming. At this point we had no internet, so my judgement of the game was purely based on my own opinion, which was obviously a wise one Felt like there was so much to do in this massive open world, along with the great graphics and storyline.

 

At the time, my mum worked next to a game rental store, so every weekend when my dad picked her up, I was allowed to rent 2 games out, and it's safe to say I always picked up OOT, along with another random game, again with no internet it was all purely based on the box art and the back of the box that made my mind up. Safe to say I finally got OOT bought for my birthday since my mum kind of got the hint that I liked the game so much.

 

Since I didn't have a TV in my own room at this point, it was downstairs in the living room, and many, many, many nights were spent with a group of us huddled around playing split screen games, which was surprising to me as my dad had never really played a game before, yet insisted on been part of the 4 player Mario Kart battles with a few friends and my family. Other times were spent slapping each other silly in Goldeneye, a game I highly regard as having one of the best MP ever, purely for how it brought everyone together. Worms: Armageddon, Vigilante 8, Perfect Dark...so many games had us huddled around.

 

One memory that still sticks in my head to this day is when my mum was on the phone to a friend, me playing Goldeneye next to her, and she was telling her friend how realistic the game was, with bullet holes in the walls and blood on the enemies. Makes me laugh how much it shows gaming has evolved though, and I doubt anyone of a certain age will get it...

 

Due to my age and whatnot, my N64 collection was never that big, but I did manage to pretty much play all the main titles through rentals, which turned into rare purchases if they were good enough.

 

My sister still had her PSX at this point, so I managed to play the (now) classic games on that too, such as Crash, Tomb Raider, Resi 2 etc. She used to get the magazine that came with free demo discs, so I ventured through tons of titles for that too.

 

 

 

My teen years saw me purchase the PS2, which is regarded as my #1 console of all time, due to me being at the age that I could afford a collection, internet forums meaning I could talk about games with others (crazy to think I've been part of 2 GTA forums since like 2001/2), and the massive catalogue of games the console had.

 

Since then I've pretty much owned all the main consoles and whatnot, and hopefully won't ever tire of gaming, even if it does require a good ol' retro game thrown in to the mix every now and then.

 

 

Well....

[trip]

One day Brakeout showed up in the pinball room. It was odd. The cabinet and the controls were weird and foreign. It was 'kinda' fun. Then...Holy sh*t...then....Space Invaders showed up. Holy sh*t.

 

Space Invaders is why I still play video games. Space Invaders shaped me into the person I am today. No sh*t. I don't kid when I tell people I owe my life to Space Invaders.

[Goldn-Bayse]

I was born in the late 90s so I didn't start playing games until 2001/2002. My parents always got me and my sister learning games on the PC but my first actual console was the orginal Xbox. I remember getting the bundle with Jet Set Radio Future and Sega GT 2002. If it weren't for these two games, who knows what my hobby would be.

[The_B1u3_Jay]

I got into gaming at a really young age, still in diapers. My mother would always let me play Super Mario Bros on the Nintindo game system. In my crib, i would stick my arm's through the bars, holding the controler and playing the game...

Edited November 19, 2015 by Awesom-0

[trip]

I got into gaming at a really young age, still in diapers. My mother would always let me play Super Mario Bros on the Nintindo game system. In my crib, i would stick my arm's through the bars, holding the controler and playing the game...

So you're hip to this song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlJtJ7s_hNY

[Ai®a©ob®a]

Playing Duck Hunt with my dad everyday when he got home from work been gaming every since...

 

 

 

&

 

anybody who grew up in the 80's & 90's remembers this game, Played it for hours on end.

 

Wish they made more games like this.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2015 by AiraCobra

[Algonquin Assassin]

I got into gaming in the early 90s, but I can't remember exactly how I did. I still remember getting my first PS1 in 1997. Before then I was mainly a PC gamer and spent countless hours playing classics like Doom, Duke Nukem, Need For Speed etc. Sometimes it's hard to think that was all over 20 years ago. How things have changed.

Edited November 19, 2015 by PulpFiction

[Osho]

The PC adventure game called "Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero" is what started my journey into PC gaming somewhere around in the month in 1990. Its my favorite adventure game and have the entire collection of the Quest series in GOG Library. I used to enjoy a lot of the 2D point and click graphic adventures. Sweet memories of my childhood because I used to play them with my father who used to bring so many adventure classics and he used to spend time helping me out on the puzzles, tricky choices, and difficult quests.

Since then, I grew up playing the games as they released, and they're all fantastic, full of surprises, something interesting and new to experience to play. I could list several games but in short all of these childhood games represent game changing ideas - brilliant, that I never got to experience in the same way in the time of the current AAA crap and have to settle for mediocre sh*t.

Anyway, I enjoyed those times! They form the most important part of my childhood and lucky to have born in that golden era of creative gaming geniuses.

[Ivan1997GTA]

I used to play some games on PC, including a few MS-DOS games back in 2001 - 2004. I also watched "Ot Vinta!" (the Russian TV show about MS-DOS & Windows games). Then I decided that I wanted a game console in late 2004 - early 2005. I originally wanted my parents to buy a Sony PlayStation 2, but they bought me a Microsoft Xbox instead. And I'm actually kind of grateful, because the Xbox has a built in hard drive, meaning I didn't have to deal with the hassle of buying a bunch of memory cards for PS2 or Gamecube or erasing most of the save data for new games. Oh, and it also had online capabilities, but I've never been able to get onto Xbox Live because:

1. I had to log on to Xbox Live.

2. The console was assumingly modded.

3. I couldn't connect an internet cable to it.

 

But other than that, I had loads of fun playing games on Xbox like Burnout Revenge, Forza Motorsport & Red Dead Revolver. Those were the days!

Edited November 19, 2015 by Ivan1997GTA

[pockings]

I was a teenager in the 80's. I still remember I would go to the arcade twice a week after school and spend my saved up allowance on games like Crazy Climber, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Pole Position, Punch Out, and many more that I can't remember. Saturdays and Sundays were always time at the arcade. Sometimes with friends and sometimes my parents would take me. I've always like video games. Then life got in the way after high school and college. I had to focus on my career. I pretty much stopped gaming. I would play a PC games here and there like the first Prince Of Persia, Wolfenstein, Myst, and GTA in the 90's. Other than that, gaming was non-existent for me after college due to work.

 

As I turned 40 a few years ago, I figured it's time for me to get back in to gaming. Got a 360 and it just reminded me how much I love gaming. I just bought a XB1 last month and I'm having a blast. Playing GTA 5, Forza 6, Black Ops 3 and soon Just Cause 3. Well, that's my gaming story .

 

And this just takes me a trip down memory lane.

 

 

[Jolly Swagman]

My mother and grand father have always been pretty heavily into computers (in the 70's they used to operate one of those big room sized computer for the city council and my grandpa swears he was the first person in town to have a desktop computer) and my earliest gaming memories are playing frogger on his pc. Even in the early 80s there was always a computer in the house but i wouldn't get to use it very much becuase it was for work. Had to get most of my gaming fix from the kid next door's Atari. That changed in 89 or 90 mum and dad got me and my bro a Nintendo for Xmas. We weren't really expecting it and it was out of the blue but it was awesome. We got ghostbusters and the original mario. We eventually got a Super Nintendo in 95 or 96 and got a hand me down PC around 97. Stuck with the pc mainly until I got a ps one in 2000 (got it chipped and played the sh*t out of it). I basically stopped gaming after I left school (out drinking and all that stuff you do when you're 18) apart from San andreas and vice city (could never get into gta 3 for some reason) which I played on a ps2 that i somehow got for free (can't remember the details)

 

Got back into gaming when I saw red dead at a mates house and thought "f*ck, is this what I've been missing ?" and went straight out and got 360 and a copy. Haven't looked back since c

[UshaB]

I was just a young boy when it happened. I was introduce to what you call, Nintendo 64. I raced people, shot at people and hurt people. Now, things are different.

 

On a serious note; I was introduced to Mario Kart but it was when at Christmas the family received a PS2 with the bonus of, "Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal" and, "Gran Turismo 4" (I think). T'was Ratchy 'n' Clanky boy that made me get in the gaming realm.

[the_grizzly_man]

Am super old so this game on Zx Spectrum. It blew my frickin' mind as a kid - a whole universe to explore right from my bedroom.

 

[RandompedestrianfromLC]

When I was little kid in 90s, I was playing super mario and duckhunt type of games in nintendo 8bit.

(orange/grey plastic gun controller you was pointing to the tv. Do you remember?)

In mid 90s I was 5, we get ps1(crash and basicly all kind of games). Then In 2000s- something, I played GTA 3 with ps2.

In 2008 I finally got ps3 and GTA 4.

 

My favorite games in each playstation were and still are:

Ps1: Driver 2 (Chicago map was my favorite city in that game. Graphics were not very good in that game, but it was super fun gta clone)

Ps2: Def Jam Fight For New York. I think thats my alltime favorite ps2 game. I love the way that game looks and sounds and everything.

Ps3: GTA 4. Story and characters are perfect in that game. My favorite game.

Ps4: GTA 5

 

I think first time I played GTA, it was GTA 2 or 1 in my friends home in 90s.

Edited November 20, 2015 by BoomBapPoet

[SpooferJahk]

Started in 1997 when my dad bought the Playstation with Road Rash, Tomb Raider, and Mass Destruction since my uncle got one at the time and convinced him to try it out. Ever since playing Road Rash, it warped my fragile little mind and have been playing almost anything every since.

[Kiffster]

Been playing games for as long as I can remember. Started with the original Prince of Persia which was preloaded on mom's computer (never even completed the game because I didn't know what to do), but we also had consoles with classics such as Adventure Island, Rainbow Island, Mario, Sonic etc. Also played a few other pc games, mostly classic adventures like Monkey Island, Space Quest, Quest for Glory and some other old Sierra/Lucas Arts games. Only started to get serious about gaming when I got my first pc in the mid 90s.

[Coin]

I've never actually played a video game.

[Microsoft Word]

I don't exactly remember how I got into gaming, but I remember my brothers receiving the Original Xbox "Beast Pack" for Christmas.

 

 

 

 

The Beast Pack came with two games, Midtown Madness 3 and Brute Force (Wish both of these games were released on the PC).

Midtown Madness 3 was the sh*t back in the day, had some of the best memories with that game. I still love it today, and I remember powering up the ol' Xbox after a while and playing this game again.

 

My brothers mainly played Brute Force, I didn't pay too much attention to that game. But I remember it being fun.

 

Years later, we bought games more and more games. Even friends of ours shared games with each other, and I remember playing the old Star Was Battlefront. It was good fun with that classic.

 

Here I will list the best games I've played on the OG Xbox:

 

1. Forza Motorsport 1

 

This game got me into racing games, one of the most impressive racing games for the Original Xbox that had realistic physics.

 

2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

 

The first ever Tony Hawk game I played. I loved listening to the soundtrack as it had some cool beats, also one of those games where raging at it would be part of it. I remembered those days when I couldn't pass any goals.

 

This game had some really nicely designed levels and it had some impressive graphics for a 2002 game.

 

3. Jade Empire

 

A really under-rated fighting game. Really loved playing this game with my brothers and passing through the quests, I almost cried at the very ending of it. I felt sad to have finished this game, as there really wasn't much you could do after it. ( I don't know, it's just hard to explain)

 

4. Mech Assualt 2: Lone Wolf (Demo)

 

This game had some chaotic madness in it. Was also a great competitor to Halo, but in the end Halo took the crown. This game had really big "Mechs" that were big sorta' robotic machines that had weapons on them, and all you did was pretty much blow sh*t up. I had some good memories with this game with the multilayer it had, versing my cousin in Team Deathmatches.

 

Sidenote: After playing Fallout 4 recently, the Power Armour similarly resembles the Battle Armour in Mech Assualt 2. It would be really cool to see a Battle Armor mod for Fallout 4, or even a Mech mod. It would really make the game enjoyable.

 

5. FIFA Football 2003/2004

 

I was a big fan of Football back in the day, most days when I arrived home from school. I'd play this game right after walking through the door, pretty much skipping my homework. The days when your best friend rocked up at your door to verse you in FIFA, and you'd pick Barcelona as your team and he picks Manchester City. And he still manages to beat you, ah... the memories of defeat.

 

 

Well, the first time I saw GTA, was when one of my cousins had a PS2. He had GTA SA, we'd always watch him play it with the cheats enabled. I remember that cheat where it would enable the car to drive on water, we'd see how far we could go out on the ocean. Oh... and I remember when we had the volume up really loud, and my aunty would always tell us off for having it too loud.

 

 

In the later years, I picked up GTA SA for PC and played through the whole story in a matter of months. IMO, GTA SA had the best story.

Shortly after playing through the story, I learnt how to mod the game. And boy, there were crashes like every ten minutes after launching the game with modded cars.

 

I have a lot more to say about my gaming memories, but these were the highlights of them. Yeh, that's pretty much it.

[Algonquin Assassin]

I've never actually played a video game.

I bet you don't even know what GTA stands for. Haha what a n00b.

[Edgrd]

When i was a kid , im very bad at sport , no one wants to play with me , and that's where video game comes.

[ABCDOGGY ginette]

I too got introduced to gaming at a really young age, I'm talking about 2 years old. My grandmother his in a wheelchair and when I was young she used to stay at our home and I remember she was playing mario on a super nintendo. I remember she was giving me the second controller without plugging it in the console so I was pressing buttons thinking I was playing and I was the happiest kid on earth

 

Than I started to really play games at 3 years old and to this day gaming is still my favorite hobby.

[TheOneLibertonian]

Well, I got introduced to gaming back in 2002, where my dad was playing Gran Turismo 2. I thought it looked real, sounded real, and to top it all really felt real. I did find it surreal as a 4 year old that video games was really captivating. Once I got my hand on the DualShock, I feel the weight of the vehicle through the rumble of the controller and my tiny 4 year old mind was blown away with this video game. Soon after that, I got used to and loved playing video games, and enjoyed it ever since. Then the GTA series was introduced to me, my first GTA was Vice City, I never understood it at first, but I never had so much fun and freedom before in a video game. Up to this day, I love Vice City, it's my favorite 3D GTA, and I am looking forward to what gaming can bring me next. I may get uninterested, or get more interested further, I don't know really, the question still pertains to myself, and I look forward to my future. Hopefully time will tell.

[PoeticWhisper]

Been playing as long as I can recall.

I was born in '95 so the first thing I ever remember playing was Super Mario for the original Nintendo, for some reason my parents didn't have a Super Nintendo. So I would play SMB, Paperboy, Duck Hunt and Contra. Few years later, got a PS1. Crash Bandicoot 2, Spyro & Driver 1 were my sh*ts. Years later got Harry Potter 1 & 2 on my PS1 were amazing as well.

Little later I got a PS2. Driv3r, Tony Hawk's Underground 1-2-American Wasteland, Smackdown Vs Raw(OG, 2006,2007,2008,HCTP,SYM), GTA III, VC, SA, LCS, VCS, Midnight Club, Need for Speed Underground 1-2-Most Wanted & Carbon. Guitar Hero 1-2-3-World Tour, True Crime Streets of NY and LA. So many great games on this console, I kept it until 2009 and I actually still own it to this day. It still runs as well.

I would play Halo at my friends house system link on the original Xbox. We spent a lot of time doing that. Good times. We'd also play some other games but I mostly remember Halo.

Got my Xbox 360 in 2009, First games for it were Smackdown Vs Raw 2010 & COD MW2. I didn't have Xbox Live until like early 2010, Battlefield Bad Company 2 was my sh*t at that time. Then later getting into Black Ops 1 & GTA IV. Throughout 2011 I played BC2 and BO1 pretty much exclusively that year. Late 2010 I got Smackdown Vs Raw 2011 which was one of my favorite wrestling games. That year got Battlefield 3, MW3 & WWE '12. f*ck MW3 hated that game. Played Deadrising 2 a lot in co-op this time as well. I finally got to play Minecraft in 2012 when it came to consoles. This ate my life away. Late 2012 got Far Cry 3, WWE 13. Far Cry 3 was one of the first games I remember getting super hyped for. Like super hyped. Loved the game too. 2013 rolls by, OBVIOUSLY GTA V was the game at the time. In anticipation for it, I finally bought and played Red Dead Redemption and it ended up being one of my favorite games. So GTA V kept me busy until I got my Xbox One in 2014. One of the last games I remember playing a lot before getting my XBO was Borderlands 2 Co-op, great fun that one was. Few other games included BioShock 1-Infinite, Max Payne 3, Saints Row 1-2, Battlefield 4, and a few other random games. This year I hooked up my 360 again to play Fallout 3 & New Vegas cause I was hyped after seeing the FO4 reveal.

Xbox One so far, GTA V, Far Cry 4, Life is Strange, Deadrising 3, Watch_Dogs, The Witcher 3, Payday 2, Fallout 4, Tales of the Borderlands and more. I'm enjoying this generation a lot so far. So in all, I've been gaming for as long as I can remember.

[bloatedsack]

[Daz]

Sort of a silly question really, it's like asking when was the first time you had a coke, or dipped chips in ketchup. It has always been around as long as I can remember anything.

 

I had the ZX Spectrum with the light gun:

 

It was for some pisspoor version of duck hunt which I think were just white discs representing clays. And some sort of top down driving game that if a plane flew over you, you instantly died. f*ck knows to be honest because the thing never worked. It took a year to turn on. In the end I just cut the wire off the light gun and ran around with it instead. Well worth the money at that point.

 

It wasn't until the NES that sh*t got real, and it was actually a likelyhood that you could actually play a game when you wanted to, as long as the cat didn't nudge the console and crash the game.

 

Obviously SMB1 and SMB3 were the main games, but sh*t like Ducktales and The Flinstones were some bad ass f*cking games for that time and that was about all we had and we just played the sh*t out of those over and over until the SNES came out.