What was the game that made you a gamer?

For me it's Metal Gear Solid (PS1). Up until then you could probably classify me as a "casual" (I know, terrible). But MGS changed all that. It was 1998 and I just remember having never played a game quite like it. The story, the characters, the gameplay, everything was just amazing. Back then games weren't hyped to hell like they are now. And I also didn't spend my time spending hours looking into previews or reading reviews. I just picked up a copy and had zero expectations. Luckily, I was in for a treat. How about you, SW? What game got you into gaming?

PS 1998 is imo the best year in gaming. Half-Life, MGS, Ocarina of Time, Starcraft - holy cow!

Pokemon yellow.

Super Mario 64. Didn't give a shit about video games up until then. Suddenly I'm ten and that releases and it's like BAM, gamer boner on.

No clue.

I would say Pokemon Red/Blue. First game I came completely obsessed with. FFX turned me onto console JRPGs and is my favorite game ever, but the original Pokemon games opened me up to more titles and genres.

Tetris, Pokemon Red, and Apogee Software's Crystal Caves were probably the three that were most influential in early childhood. Other games I remember fondly from childhood are DK64, Dragon Warriors Monster II: Cobi's Journey (GBC), and Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle (GB).

An N64 was bought solely for Pokemon Snap, and a PS2 was bought solely for Kingdom Hearts; however, the PS2 collection expanded rather tremendously.

Super Mario Bros on the NES. I was 4 and it changed my life forever.

For the better or worse is still out for debate.

F1 97. My dad got a PS1 for Christmas and that was it. I was hooked.

Sonic 2. I kind of went into it in my Genesis 25th anniversary thread, but it was the first game that blew me away versus games that I played on occasion.

Pong

Pokemon Blue and Age of Empires 2

Double Dragon the Arcade!

no game in particular really. i have always just loved playing games. if i had something that could play games then games i played.

I credit it completely to Super Mario World and the time I spent playing that with my father.

One of my earliest memories, probably about 4 or 5, so as you can imagine i sucked terribly. I do treasure that time though.

Don't know, but I know the first system I owned that was actually mine was the Gamecube.

Pong was the first game i played and i had most of the video game systems (and a few PC's) after that, but i'd have to say it was the NES and probably Mario/Zelda that really made me a gamer.

commodore 64 version of Boulder Dash.

Atlantis, Shark Shark, Tron Deadly Disc, Pitfall, Masters of the Universe, Defender, Space Armada on Intellivision II.

• Adventure Island (Nes)
• Legend of Zelda (Nes) As a kid I was addicted to the show. I still have many VHS of it.
• Hang On (Master System)

One of those 3.

This game I loved it sooo much too. I feel like playing it right now.

Probably either Indiana Jones and the infernal machine (pc) , or age of empires. Until then i had very little exposure to games other than a couple of dos Disney games that were too difficult for me to get into.

One day though my dad bought me and my Bro these two games and instantly I was sucked into both, ans onto gaming as a whole.

Super Mario World. Before that I just casually gamed at arcades or with an old Atari 2600 my uncle had.

Shark attack, Pong, Defender, Asteroids, Lunar Lander.

It was ether RE1 or Bloody Roar.

I remember playing atari alot but not the games. I think my gaming memories kicks in around nes with one of the megamans. Also this game that im sure noone knows what it is.

Either the single NES cartridge with the original SMB and Duck Hunt, or Gyruss. Maybe even the mini-arcade game Galaxian.

I've been playing games for as long as I can remember. Though I probably dabbled in some Star Was on my brother's 5200, I'd probably got most hooked on the NES, games like Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, Metroid (I played a lot of Metroid as a kid, and over the years have retained a lot), Legend of Zelda (though I've not retained this games secrets as well as I did Metroid. We also had a Master System, I remember games like Shinobi, Zillion 1 & 2, Hang On and Space Harrier. First competitive game I got really hooked on was Street Fighter 2 for the SNES and arcade, and later Mortal Kombat. Years later I'd get hooked hard on PC gaming after games like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, and my love of playing games on PC taught me lots about using computers long before it was fashionable.

Anyhow, pretty much had every major system since then, NES, Master System, SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, Jaguar, N64, Saturn, PSX, PS2, Xbox (skipped GameCube and Dreamcast), Xbox 360, PS3, Wii... and here were are current gen.

I will say though I never owned a handheld minus a GameGear, which I mostly used to play my Master System games through a cartridge adapter. But I didn't really get into handheld gaming until I got a DS, soon followed by a PSP. Though I only really dabbled in it back then. Since getting a 3DS XL though it's really reinvigorated my love for handheld devices.

Pong at 4-5 years old and it all went downhill from there.

Sonic 1 or 2 on the Genesis. Those were the first games I tried to beat. That's pretty serious.

Banjo Kazooie was one of the

Ah the topic that is a clever disguise to show how old you are. Lol, I'll bite. The original Super mario brothers for me

I was a lonely little kid since day 1 so you could put ET in my console and I'd still play it to death. Fortunately there was some quality control.

I cannot really pinpoint what game made it in to a habit. It was more like the only fucking thing that I could do for fun at the time so I did it.

The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past.

I have an older brother and sister (10 and 7 years older than me, respectively) so from the time I was a baby they'd be playing SNES and letting me watch. Zelda was my favourite to watch as a toddler, I can remember back to 3 or 4 and just adoring the title screen. The mighty sword slashing down into the shield, the booming trumpets, and the strong castle with blue skies, tall mountains and green forests in the background.

I loved the colourful cartoon graphics. The music was crazy good too, overworld theme of course but I also adored Kakariko's peaceful sound. Once I was old enough to actually play it, it was like crack to me. The sense of freedom and adventure, where you could just wander around Hyrule and do whatever... man! I was a huge fantasy nerd as a kid, I'd read all of the Hobbit + Lord Of The Rings by the time I was 8 or so, so actually being able to go off on my own fantastic adventure was a dream come through. Playing minigames, throwing hunting heart pieces, and of course *eventually* getting brave enough to tackle dungeons... all brilliant.

I spent a lot of time screwing around, throwing chickens about and just exploring before I did actually do the dungeons. That big hyper worm in the Tower of Hera, with it's googly eyes and constant rattling... actually had bad dreams about him, haha. I actually didn't manage to finish the game until years later, Ocarina of Time was the first Zelda I actually finished. We bought an N64 for Goldeneye (my bro and his friends) and Ocarina for me. That of course only cemented my love for this wonderful series.

I have my problems with modern Zelda, and feel it has fallen quite far behind the cutting edge of innovation and quality, when it used to be in another fucking galaxy. Nevertheless, I will always adore the older ones, and will never forget how perfect the heights it reached truly were.

Zelda made me love games.

EverQuest.

was one of the huh?! complete your sentence!

The would be Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. I had played some games before, namely Sonic, Mario and a few others but it was when I first played RE3 that I became interested in gaming on a more serious note. The 1st Devil May Cry made me interested in console gaming and made me realize consoles had superior exclusives over PC imo

Mike Tyson's Punch Out is the game that I would say made me a gamer. I was like 8 when it came out and I devoured that game. Learned all the boxers ticks and hints and played it all the time.

This game right here

Amen

That is almost exactly what I was going to say... lol

I also had an Atari at that age, but all that mattered was Super Mario. Remember the first time you saw Super Mario World? I was in Sears (I think) and they had a console hooked up with that game on... damn those graphics were amazing... lol

It was Pokemon. I don't actually remember which one anymore. Probably Pokemon Blue.

Zelda ALTTP and Illusion of Gaia.

I say both because I rented them both around the same time when I went with my parents to grab a movie from blockbuster, hollywood video.

This is honestly my same answer, word for word. Great times.

This. Been playing games as along as I can remember. The only thing I know is that it was probably something on NES

Jet set Willy or Finders Keepers on the C64,it was the first games i ever truly challenged myself at and kept attempting to beat,i was very young and up until then if i found something too challenging i would just move to something else.

Jet Set Willy

Finders Keepers

Mario kart 64, god bless my childhood

First played was pong. First owned was DK. Then on Master System, Miracle Warriors along with others hooked me.

Impossible Mission for the Commodore 64

Wasn't really a game but more so my mom. She would take me to the local arcade when we had one here and also this cool sandwich shop and we would play the cabinets there.

TC might be a die hard cow, but there's no denying MGS is the best series ever created, so for me it'd be MGS1 as well.

Those memories.