What Game Got You into Gaming?

[BreakABone]

I'm sure we've probably had this topic before, but I honestly don't remember.

So curious what was the first game that you played that made you think... I really need to continue doing this? Doesn't necessarily mean the FIRST game you played though.

[Angrist]

I suppose Super Mario Bros. for me. That's where I was at an age where I realized I really loved playing games.

My first game was a Pacman clone called Rat something. You were chased by cats, but if you grabbed an item you would turn into a dog and hunt the cats. I found out how to lock myself into a room so I could have a break. :D I was only 3 or 4 years old, too young to realize I was into gaming.

[Seth]

Myst

[Neo]

Not counting Atari.. Legend of Zelda.

[Professor S]

PONG, bitches! I'm OLD!

[TheGame]

I can't remember the first one.. The milestome ones were Mario 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog though. I've been playing games since before I could remember. I remember playing my uncle's intelvision before Mario. He had a ton of games, but can't remember any of them!

Well, stick figure basketball and soccer.. lol

[Vampyr]

I suppose Super Mario Bros. for me. That's where I was at an age where I realized I really loved playing games.

My first game was a Pacman clone called Rat something. You were chased by cats, but if you grabbed an item you would turn into a dog and hunt the cats. I found out how to lock myself into a room so I could have a break. :D I was only 3 or 4 years old, too young to realize I was into gaming.

I also seem to remember playing that rat game. Can't remember what it was called either. Did you play as a mouse, then you pick up some cheese and turn into a dog?

Anyway, one of the earliest games I played was Ms. Pac-Man on the Atari 2600, although there were several other atari games I played during that time as well. Space Invaders, Midnight Magic, Joust, Donkey Kong, Moon Patrol, Combat, Seaquest, Cosmic Ark, Demon Attack.

Ms. Pac-Man, Demon Attack, and Joust were probably my most played games. I remember playing Ms. Pac-Man hours on end just to see what the next color level would be, and playing Demon Attack just to see what the next round of enemies would look like.


EDIT:

Angrist, I found the game!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_Trap_(arcade_game)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Mouse-Trap_flyer.jpg

[Angrist]

Yes! That's it. :D

I think I also saw it in a series a while back. It was something my sisters watched, so it must have been some teen Nickelodeon thing. One guy got addicted to Mouse Trap.

[BreakABone]

Weird asked this question on Twitter, and someone else answered Mouse Trap as well. So odd.

The other popular answer seemed to be Pokemon Blue/REd.

[Typhoid]

The game that really got me into gaming were the Mario Bros./Duck Hunt Combo, I played so much Duck Hunt.

Honourable mentions go out to:

Marble Madness
Sk8 or Die
Yoshi
Gunsmoke
4D Boxing (Macintosh)
Oregon Trail (Macintosh)
Sonic 2

[Ginkasa]

Well, my dad got "me" an NES at the ripe old age of two months or something, so gaming's always been there. If there is one game that propelled me from a "kid who plays game" to a "gamer," it would probably it OoT. It was not only my first Zelda game, it was also the first game I played that was not Mario or other platformer.

We also, coincidentally, got the internet right about the time OoT came out, so "Zelda" was one of my first search terms. Digging up info about Zelda led me to more general websites that taught me terms like "developer," "publisher," "first/third party," etc. for the first time. It also led me to IGN which led me to Nintendose which, of course, led to this place. An itch to play older Zelda games led me to also try out a lot of the NES and SNES games that weren't Mario.

Pokémon, which came out around the same time, was also a big influence. It was sort of my gateway drug to RPGs. I'm pretty sure I wanted the Dragon Warrior I + II remake on the GBC entirely because Nintendo Power called it "like Pokémon" somewhere in the preview. RPGs and similar types are still my favorite genre.

[KillerGremlin]

Squirmer on Windows 3.X

http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/87476-squirmer-the-game-windows-3-x-screenshot-level-1-with-many.png

When I could find the arcade machine:

Centipede:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Centipede_arcade.png/220px-Centipede_arcade.png

Number Munchers, because gaming in school, bitches:

http://www.vizzed.com/videogames/appleii/screenshot/Number%20Munchers-2-full.png

Keen 4, platforming + pogo stick + ray gun = a game that needs to be remade:

http://www.ellosnuncaloharian.com/imagenes/pantallas/big/keen4.png

I've always been a PC gamer /eyeroll

By grade school I was playing a fuck ton of Sega Genesis:

Sonic 2 and Sonic & Knuckles:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4XrTOn3yHgw/Tjv4d-m0-2I/AAAAAAAAAn4/oiwjMPxwEOQ/s640/resurrection_sonic_the_hedgehog_2.jpg

http://www.gamefabrique.com/storage/screenshots/genesis/sonic-and-knuckles-and-sonic-3-02.png

And NBA Jam, the best basketball game ever made:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KNZH403imb4/S5fSEo-UyMI/AAAAAAAAAWc/3OR5IqarZ7g/s400/32X_NBA_Jam_Tournament_Edition_S4.PNG


I love emulating games, but one thing you miss out with emulating games is cartridge features. Remember that when you purchased Sonic & Knuckles you could use the pimped out Sonic & Knuckles cartridge to play as Knuckles in the other Sonic games? The cartridge looked like this:

http://s.ecrater.com/stores/134698/4b4d56d47014f_134698n.jpg

Fucking sweet, right?

After the dark days of 2D gaming I spent many summers playing the shit out of Twisted Metal. I was a Play Station kid. Twisted Metal, Twisted Metal 2, Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012, Tomb Raider, Abe's Odyssey, Doom.

And then in ~1999ish I got into real PC games like Quake, Half-Life, TFC, and my mind was blown. Oh and Roller Coaster Tycoon. Damn I love that game. And Starcraft. And GTA2! Damn that game was fun.


Do I really have to pick ONE game that got me into gaming? I can't do it! Gaming is huge part of my life. It is tied to love, friends, family, nostalgia, and good times. For me, gaming is way more than a hobby. Or it was. I've definitely put some other life pursuits first. =/ But I'll always have the memories (until I get Alzheimer's or whatever :p).

EDIT: Can't forget Oregon Trail! Thanks Typhoid. Also ironic username for that game.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Well the first games I played were the mario/duck hunt/track meet combo game:

http://www.nesfiles.com/NES/Super_Mario_Bros__Duck_Hunt__World_Class_Track_Meet/Super_Mario_Bros__Duck_Hunt__World_Class_Track_Meet_cart.jpg

What really got me into gaming in general probably were these two games:

http://www.denison.k12.ia.us/images/Megaman3_000.jpg

The art on the game still cracks me up.

And this:

http://www.superclassicvideogames.com/zen%20cart%20software/zen%20cart/images/scan0253.jpg

I still don't remember what made me buy it, I was like 7 and had enough money for an NES game. I saw it and just bought it.

Anyway I got both games around the same time, and a year after that our elementary school library started getting nintendo power magazine and then I got other megaman games through renting and also metroid. Then I finally got an SNES. It was over when I found ROMS though.

[Jason1]

Pretty sure it was Super Mario Bros that really "got me into gaming".

[Blix]

Super Mario Bros. at a friend's house. My father bought us a Nintendo after that and then he gave me one new game a year on Christmas. Then I learned about the power of saving money and buying your own stuff at a young age. XD