Your gaming roots

[Necromagus]

I was digging through the study at my parents' house the other day, when I found a treasure trove. It was the old floppy disk case that we got for free with our very first computer. Inside it was about two years of my allowance. About 14 years ago a company called Linsoft was selling old Shareware DOS games on floppy disks that cost fl. 6.50 a piece (about 3 euros not counting for inflation), which was three weeks of allowance back then. Every third week I'd scurry off to the bookstore that sold these disks, and I ended up building up quite the catalogue of DOS games. My first game was called Ninja Rabbit, a game about a rabbit that was also a ninja (go figure). As time went on I focused my purchase mostly on games produced either by Apogee (Commander Keen, Biohazard, Crystal Caverns, Secret Agent) or Epic Megagames (Jill of the Jungle, Jazz Jackrabbit, Epic Pinball, One Must Fall: 2097), although I bought plenty of other stuff too. It took me about 30 minutes to work open the lock with a paperclip (I wasn't about to crack open such a precious artifact from my youth through brute force), but now I have about 200 disks ready to be copied to my DOS gaming computer for further use.

 

 

 

So yeah, I guess you can tell I'm a PC gamer born and raised. I didn't get a console until I bought a Gamecube 4 years ago. I guess for some people here the story would be finding the an old NES or Megadrive in the attic... feel free to share your stories :D

[Lionheart_0]

Well, my first ever game was probably Super Mario bros. for the SNES. I remember playing it for hours on end, and when it was too late for me to stay up, my mom would let me watch her play that or donkey kong. I guess you can pretty much say I was raised by Nintendo. At about the age of 7 I obtained my first final fantasy game, FFVI, and played that for about 7 weeks straight (lol my dad told me I couldn't play it anymore because it was costing so much by renting it every week.).

 

 

 

My next system I obtained (The SNES was when I was 4) was a gameboy pocket. The sole reason for this game was to get a pokemon Red game. I basically centered my life around pokemon, and everyone came to me for advice (until gold came out, then everyone else got that before me and knew more :( ).

 

 

 

Then was N64, which was when I was about 10 or 11. This was back in the days where Golden eye 64 was the mother of all FPS games, and my friends and I would stay up playing this game until the early hours of the morning.

 

 

 

Then Xbox when I was about 12 or 13, and most recently the Nintendo DS and Wii this past year. Needless to say, besides the one Xbox, I've revolved my whole gaming life around Nintendo.

 

 

 

(And about pc, I was playing games like Duke nukem 3d and Doom around the age of 5, but I still preferred the SNES.)

[Nadril]

I started out gaming when I was really young on our PC. It was a damn old machine, maybe a 386 or something (I forget) but I have memories of playing some scoobie doo game, pac man and other sorts.

 

 

 

My dad set up a little menu through DOS so all I had to do was turn it on and press the number to the game I want. My parents have pictures of me in diapers still sitting in the computer chair on the PC. :lol:

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways as I got a little older we got my uncles old NES which introduced me to consoles. However I was always a PC person. I remember getting a "2000 DOS games" collection when CD's started to come out, and I honestly spent most of my early years playing DOS games. I remember all those games you mentioned and enjoyed all of them.

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways I remember too whenever we got windows 3.1, I remember getting 95 as well and being a bit confused about the START button.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways that was my start into gaming :P. I was pretty big into consoles as well, but not as much. Had the NES, Saturn, N64, Dreamcast, gamecube, xbox, ect. up til now (have 360 now).

[Nenga]

My first system was a SNES and the first game I played was super mario world. I would wake up early to play games. I remember my first FF was FF6 and it took me forever to beat but it was fun.

[Bloodredsword]

For me...super mario bro's for the SNES, or the game that came inside the Cpt. Crunch boxes.

[Lenin64]

The good 'ole Super Nintendo. I used to play Super Mario on it all the time...those were the days....of course, now they have those old Mario games on game Boy for some reason :-s

[WutangFlu]

I started with the Sega genesis and Sonic & Tails 2, then i actually went back to the SNES/NES

 

 

 

Then upto the N64 and sega dreamcast. Didn't get a console again until my xbox, and gamecube.

 

 

 

Now i've got my x360, and PC

 

 

 

also had all the versions of the gameboy. and my one psp.

 

 

 

I've kept all my consoles, with the exception of my gameboy color, which i sold. and also my original gamboy which broke after falling on the ground.

[henman888]

Nintendo 64 is whhen it all began.(well at least for me)

[FalconBomba]

I was raised as a computer gamer since I figured out how to work the mouse and keyboard. (3 years old) I started with those old PuttPutt games and SpyFox. Then I moved up to SimGames and battle games when my sister started playing them and I would sit and watch her, then start playing them later. Majesty was one of them. I also played SimCity3000, still do, and multiple flash games online. That was when the trend broke for me when I got an N64 at the age of 6. My favorites were Super Smash Bros. and Star Fox64. (No that is not where my name comes from. I actually got it after someone asked about that and decided to try the game.) I didn't go back to computer games for awhile as I got the Gamecube and now the Wii. I also got the DS and GBA. I'm a Nintendo owner I guess. (Mainly because me and my friends worked out that we will just let each other come over and play each other's consoles and games so we don't pay as much individually.) But, halfway around Gamecube I went back to computer games and fell into the web of Morrowind and Oblivion . Then the AgeOf series when I was 10 and then got the third one later. Now, I own only one fps and I love it. Battlefield 2142 makes up about half of my weekly gaming. I also play a few MMORPG's like EVE until I ran out of money and now Urban Dead. (Yay fireaxing zombies)

 

 

 

So in short, I am a computer and Nintendo gamer. Although the only games I have for the Wii are Twilight Princess and Wii Sports, gonna get the new Fire Emblem though.

[AThousandLies]

Started playing Doom at the age of 3. Later moved on to Wolfenstein (yes I know it was released before), Quake, Blood II, Duke Nukem 3D and stuff like that. I seem to remember Doom scaring me so much that I never completed one of the episodes or something. I used to play LANs with my Dad, on that old simple system they used to have where you'd select a WAD map and play. That was awesome. I loved how Doom had a huge map-making community - I spent hours playing random map-packs we'd find online. I also remember, around the age of 6-9, playing Commander Keane, Monkey Island and, of course, Sam & Max. Man, that game was awesome. I even wrote a story based on it in Grade 4.

 

 

 

Around the age of 9 I began playing strategy games after first being introduced to Age of Empires II by my friend. I remember the first map he played - Baltic. That game entertained me for ages (harhar) though I never completed it. Later moved on to Age of Mythology and similar games.

 

 

 

At about 9 I also started playing consoles. I got a Nintendo 64 with Diddy King Racing. I loved that thing. I got a few wrestling games on here too. I always used to have this problem when playing the Royal Rumbles, where my player would suddenly become computer controlled. I hated that, with a passion.

 

 

 

I also got into Gameboy at about this time. My friend sold me his non-colour one for $30 and I got stuck into Pokemon and one of the old Donkey Kong games. I tried to play Pokemon Gold recently but the save battery died. Bummer.

 

 

 

When I was 11 my brother brought home GTA3. That was awesome. I remember always loading his save games and playing from them, which pissed him off immensely.

 

 

 

At some point I also got stuck into the FIFA and NBA games, the latter of which I still want to play now.

 

 

 

When I was 12 my Dad won a PS2 through work and I got stuck into that. Started off with Jak & Daxter, then Turok: Evolution, a Terminator game (still haven't finished), Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarding, Vice City, San Andreas, Jak II, Jak III, WWE games, FIFA games, Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, DBZ Budokai series and a few more I can't remember.

 

 

 

I got into the Sims in 2000 or something, which was a very expensive interest. I ended up getting at least five of those expansion packs. That's a lot of dough.

 

 

 

At 11 I started playing Runescape, which lasted for almost two years. I got back into it (after losing my account because I was silly enough to trust someone with my password) in 2005 until the end of 2006, in April this year and again a couple of months ago. Not sure if I'll stick with it right now.

 

 

 

Sometime in 2003 I got Warcraft III, which I still love to this day - in fact, I just found my TFT CD earlier today, which I'd lost several months ago, so I might go online very soon and catch up with some old people. It was at about this time that I got onto online gaming, too, which I have continued with the likes of F.E.A.R., Quake III, Quake 4, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and a few others.

 

 

 

A year and a half ago when my main computer was dead and the only one I had had a poor graphics card, I got into text RPGs, such as OGame, Gang Wars and Popomundo. I still play these now, as well as Managerzone, which is a soccer manager game.

 

 

 

I suppose my main roots are in FPS, which I still love now. Followed by that is strategy games, and more recently RPGs. I don't game as much as I used to - I spend more time going out (once in a blue moon though), reading stuff online and other non-gaming things, but I certainly can't see me abandoning my gaming roots anytime in the near future. In fact, the earliest job I can remember wanting to have was a game designer. What a nerd.

[Korla]

Super Metroid FTW

 

 

 

I somehow got it second hand, and it's the only second hand game I ever had..so there was this save where everything was finished on it already, which was the only way I beat it in my youth.

 

 

 

Later when playing through it on the comp I realised the thing that I couldn't get past was the tube with cracks in it, where you have to use the grappling shot (I think, or was it super bomb). It disturbs me very much to this day that i couldn't beat it, and whenever I for some reason doubt my skill in anything at all, I think of how I couldn't beat Super Metroid as a kid and think I'm a very non-talented person.. dammit.

[Mollerz]

My first ever game...it was on a computer...I was very young, it was one of those well known retro games, like space invaders but you had to rotate the arrow and shoot rocks. Hit me to the floor please. Why can't I remember the name! :XD:

[Nadril]

My first ever game...it was on a computer...I was very young, it was one of those well known retro games, like space invaders but you had to rotate the arrow and shoot rocks. Hit me to the floor please. Why can't I remember the name! :XD:

 

 

 

Asteroids?

[pryomancer]

I remember getting a SNES from my gran for christmas ages ago.

 

 

 

I only ever had one cartridge for it, which had maro bros, some football game and tetris.

 

 

 

Good times.

 

 

 

I'm not really a pc gamer, I prefer dedicated consoles.

 

I always had this image of computer games being really slow and laggy.

[unknownmasterofnothing]

Hmm my first games were on the computer. There was this game with a motorcycle type guy. Then I got a nes, I mainly remember duck hunt. More computer games like supalex, chips challenge. Then got a sega genesis, which was the most I've played as a kid with the greatest games. My sister got a old gameboy. Then a super nintendo with games like super mario kart. Then a sega saturn that my dad won with games like virtual cop, virtua on. Then a n64 with games like dk64. I think I got a gameboy color. Then a playstation with mainly rpg games like final fantasy, breath of fire 3. I think I got a gameboy advance. Then a playstation 2. Then a nintendo ds. Then I stood out by myself in times square's toyrus to get a nintendo wii. Recently played a little more computer games, but really a console gamer.

[Skill_Caster]

My gaming roots go back to Sonic and Tails 2, on the Sega Genesis. I spend a couple years of my young life on that game, as well as Mrs. Pacman, and the Adventures of Pac Man 2. I eventually got my own TV and N64, on which I played mostly Crusin' USA and Diddy Kong Racing. I did play one PC game, Driver (the original). I found a glitch in the game, and not just a tiny one, a big one, that really got me into it. I was just driving along one day, and I glitched my game, permanently, which is a very rare case. Not that I'm a hacker/cheater, I normally beat my games myself, but I find it interesting to go beneath the programming and experiment around a bit. After I graduated from those games, I got into the Tycoon series. School Tycoon, then Cruise Tycoon, then RC2 (All Expansions), then RC3 (All Expansions). Then after that came Runescape.

[look_its_rob]

For me...super mario bro's for the SNES, or the game that came inside the Cpt. Crunch boxes.

 

 

 

:shock: do you remember what the game from the Cpt. Crunch box was about at all?! did it have to do with raising a little uhh crunch thing? and training him and stuff?

[Retefael]

I remember playing Raptor: Call of the Shadows on our old Windows. I played other DOS games and shareware stuff for a while, until I got got my PlayStation. That was a great day. :D

[Caxis]

My brother told me that when I was like three years old, I really wanted to play Super Mario Brothers on the NES. When I did start playing, all I did was die at the first Goomba or run off the edge :-w

 

 

 

From what I actually remember though, I started off with the SNES and I remember watching my brother play some NES games. We also had a TurboGrafx 16, and my favorite game being Devil's Crush, a pinball game. I also had a Gameboy and my first game that I really loved was Pokemon Blue, I didn't learn about the craze until after I got the game.

 

 

 

Staying up and playing games like Zelda: A Link to the Past and Mario Allstars were some of my favorite gaming memories. Eventually I bought a Nintendo 64, after renting it many times. So many awesome games for the N64, and many great memories playing Goldeneye with my friends...

[Nadril]

I also remember my first game I got that was pretty much 'brand new' -- Half life.

 

 

 

 

 

It may be why I love the series to death, but I got it when it came out around 1998. Up until then I mostly had gotten games that were older and, thus, cheaper and never really got 'new' games. I still loved video games to death and played tons of them -- they were just always like 6 months - year behind.

 

 

 

 

 

This game I remember I got for christmas. I remember too Team fortress classic was the first game I really played online, on our dial-up. I did try playing Duke Nukem 3D years earlier online but it didn't work well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I than remember when we first got broadband, I think it was when I moved to Germany actually. I started getting into online gaming a lot more, and got back into runescape. (The first time I tried it was when it was maybe 3-6 months old, I played for a few weeks and quit because I sucked). I also played stuff like Diablo II and really got into games like Counter strike and firearms. I have to say that online play ever since then has been my favorite thing in gaming, and thats probably why I love MMORPG's so much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But yeah my roots were always in PC Gaming -- the old DOS days. I still remember being like 6-7 and figuring out some of the basic commands and stuff in DOS, like how to remove programs and such and just sort around it.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm prob repeating myself but I just wanted to expand a bit on my first post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also remember sitting on my parents bed and playing the NES. Our game system was in their room a lot of the time because it had the best TV, or something, and it stayed that way even when I got a sega saturn later on. It wasn't until the N64 that the game system was in my room (well, mine and my little brothers at the time) and we had a blast with that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man, so many memories... so many memories. Its just amazing how far gaming has gone in the good 17-18 years or so I have been playing games. (I've been playing them ever since I was in diapers lol).

[nine naked men]

Hmm... Wiz and Liz was the first game I ever played, if I can recall... Good fun. Then I went on to the Nintendo 64, played it until around... 2001. Then I got an Xbox, played it until the Wii came out, bought that, then I played that for a bit, and now I'm into online FPS's.

[Shyla]

Asteroid on 2600 was my first game then Duck Hunt on the NES I remember Elevator Action and those game cartridges: 500 in 1 ftw (though not really 500 since 1-30 is the same as 200-300).

[Dracion1]

My primary school was different compared to others because they actually put games on the computers. There was even a computer club, where you played games :o. Most of them were dos games, Supaplex, Keen 1 & 4, and Major Stryker (My favourite :D) where the most popular.

 

 

 

I remember getting a PS1 back when I was 6 for Christmas, and playing the original Spyro, Crash bandicoot, Gran turismo and Colin Mcrae Rally. My bought a computer shortly afterwards, and I remember playing the incredible machine on certain occasions. How fun it was making exploding mice and sucking up the little man with a hover. So many memories...

[spikerkid]

All I remember was me playing super mario 64 at my baby sitters house the first month it came out. I wouldn't shut up about how much fun it was. Then my family went to walmart and picked up a n64. And here we are 11 years later with my wii and only nintendo systems down that long road.

 

 

 

Nintendo for lyph.

[underu2000]

The first game I've ever played would probably be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (fun stuff) on the Sega Genesis, though it was called Sega Mega where I initially lived. It didn't belong to me though, it was my older siblings' since I was hardly 6 when I first played it.

 

 

 

I forget how much time passed since I played the SNES and Donkey Kong, but I was hardly allowed to play it, nobody trusted me with it after breaking the Genesis. :boohoo:

 

 

 

Mortal Kombat III was my first PC game, and my brother got Doom (first FPS I've ever played), though I and my bro played dozens of Freewares like Jetpack till I was around 10. Other minor games like Duke Nukem, Raptor, Commander Keen and Corridor 7 we played a lot too. Since then, I concentrated mainly on strategy games like Age of Empires 1, Zoo Tycoon 1, Caesar III and StarCraft. Most recently I bought Civ4, and wait patiently until Starcraft2 is released...

 

 

 

As for my first console (one that belonged to me), it would probably be the Gameboy Color. Since then, I followed up to the Gameboy Advance, both of which are old, 7 and 6 years respectively (I never throw out stuff I love, call me a packrat if you want). I still play my Gameboy Advance, I refuse to buy a DS, PSP or even a GBA-SP until my current Gameboy's dying breath!

 

 

 

My second console, the Xbox, is really what made me truly interested in gaming. I had always seen the PS2's popularity, but I went for the underdog. With Halo and Halo 2's success, I was convinced that the PS2 could be dethroned (not a fan of Sony...). So I now have a Xbox 360, and this is where my history ends.

 

 

 

Order of consoles played: Genesis, Gameboy, SNES, Dreamcast, PS1, GBC, GBA, PS2, Xbox, and 360. Makes me feel like an old man...