Poll: So how did you get into gaming?

[Deathkingo]

I'd like to thank Duke Nukem 3D for my intro to gaming, Yes, yes, it was a great start. Even though I was too afraid to actually PLAY the game, when I DID get around to it, it made it all the more satisfying,

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to DNF.

 

[CheckD3]

I've always been a gamer, I haven't immersed myself in the community until a few years ago, but I'm only 20 now, most 13 year olds are too busy ruining the image of the term "gamer" and those who play video games to care about new titles that don't have a large number on the end and a fancy shmancy franchise name on it in front, screaming over their headphones about how cool they are that they can kill you since they spend every second of their free time playing the same game and never experiencing the true world of gaming. But yeah, wasn't until I hit my late teens that I considered myself in the culture, been a hardcore gamer for years though, got my GC back in Xmas of '00, so about 10 years of hardcore gaming for me

about your third paragraph...im a 15yr old gamer and i am slightly like yahtzee with my wit and comebacks, i hate those screaming 7 yr olds cause you kill them and the 18 yr olds who are to drunk to realize whats going on and just swear and laugh in the mic with there friends. im a mature gamer for my age and i hate how my Gen is making gamers look like asses, i wish they would stop being dickwanks and grow up/sober up.

I meant the average young teen, they're the same that think being gay or bisexual is "cool" and call being an "outcast" the new thing.

I understand that this is a stereotype, just as you pointed out the older gen of gamers. It's the same as saying all Americans are fat lazy slobs (I'm not fat, I'm actually quite thin...lol) or that...I dunno, all black people like chicken and watermelons and are in gangs. It's not true for everyone in the stereotype group, but for every (another good example) 3 to 5 diverse WoW fans, people who play controlled, who take care of themselves, are women and are productive, you have the fat guy with the pony tail and glasses wearing a WoW shirt making everyone who plays the game look like him, spending 50% of a 24 hr day drinking mountain dew, eating Cheetos and playing WoW.

As Extra Credits point out in their Gamer video, we need to keep the community clean of these people. If you're playing with the pre- or young teen who freaks out every time he dies and calls everyone cheaters and then teabags you when he finally kills you 5 or more lives later, and you have a mic, call him out for being such a little prick.

The Escapist community and other gaming forums are what we need, because it's a way to help educate gamers on new games, what's good and bad, and also the etiquette that we should be giving. One thing that I've noticed since I joined is that I'm looking at Gaming as a part of who I am, not just something I do. The way we talk, the way we act in public, some of that is pulled from our hobbies. Having a solid community where we can learn the "right" way to game is necessary for us to get into the culture, and not have the negative stereotypes that we do.

 

[BENZOOKA]

Amiga 500, baby!

 

[phantasmalWordsmith]

when i was born they had that sega thing, the only games we had for it were Sonic and Sonic 2. then there was the gameboy and its various pokemon games and tetris. then the PS1 came along, and my first spyro game...so on and so forth i played the same game continually cause i couldn't get past a boss or find something...then came the xbox and halo combat evolved...i think you can guess how it went from there

 

[Woodsey]

Erm...

All my life, but that's not when the NES was out. In fact, I managed to miss the Nintendo thing all together pretty much, bar a Gameboy colour and a copy of PokéMon Red.

PC gamer since Tomb Raider 3 and Heart of Darkness.

 

[The Stonker]

Pong was my first experience of video games and I was hooked after that.
Yes, I'm 16 and I got to play the original game Pong, because my fathers friend is a antique video game collector and he showed me how to play it.
Y

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Back since the original Tetris. Oh yeah, I've been doing this for a while now.

[sub][sub]Sadly, I was born too late to enjoy the NES glory days... But I think the SNES glory days were just as glorious XD[/sub][/sub]

 

[Sacman]

My dad is a huge nerd so it sort of just happened since we always had a top of the line computer...

 

[AssassinJoe]

My first console was a PS2, but I wasn't very serious about gaming until I first played God of War 2.

 

[TG MLPDashie]

I've always been a gamer, I haven't immersed myself in the community until a few years ago, but I'm only 20 now, most 13 year olds are too busy ruining the image of the term "gamer" and those who play video games to care about new titles that don't have a large number on the end and a fancy shmancy franchise name on it in front, screaming over their headphones about how cool they are that they can kill you since they spend every second of their free time playing the same game and never experiencing the true world of gaming. But yeah, wasn't until I hit my late teens that I considered myself in the culture, been a hardcore gamer for years though, got my GC back in Xmas of '00, so about 10 years of hardcore gaming for me

about your third paragraph...im a 15yr old gamer and i am slightly like yahtzee with my wit and comebacks, i hate those screaming 7 yr olds cause you kill them and the 18 yr olds who are to drunk to realize whats going on and just swear and laugh in the mic with there friends. im a mature gamer for my age and i hate how my Gen is making gamers look like asses, i wish they would stop being dickwanks and grow up/sober up.

I meant the average young teen, they're the same that think being gay or bisexual is "cool" and call being an "outcast" the new thing.

I understand that this is a stereotype, just as you pointed out the older gen of gamers. It's the same as saying all Americans are fat lazy slobs (I'm not fat, I'm actually quite thin...lol) or that...I dunno, all black people like chicken and watermelons and are in gangs. It's not true for everyone in the stereotype group, but for every (another good example) 3 to 5 diverse WoW fans, people who play controlled, who take care of themselves, are women and are productive, you have the fat guy with the pony tail and glasses wearing a WoW shirt making everyone who plays the game look like him, spending 50% of a 24 hr day drinking mountain dew, eating Cheetos and playing WoW.

As Extra Credits point out in their Gamer video, we need to keep the community clean of these people. If you're playing with the pre- or young teen who freaks out every time he dies and calls everyone cheaters and then teabags you when he finally kills you 5 or more lives later, and you have a mic, call him out for being such a little prick.

The Escapist community and other gaming forums are what we need, because it's a way to help educate gamers on new games, what's good and bad, and also the etiquette that we should be giving. One thing that I've noticed since I joined is that I'm looking at Gaming as a part of who I am, not just something I do. The way we talk, the way we act in public, some of that is pulled from our hobbies. Having a solid community where we can learn the "right" way to game is necessary for us to get into the culture, and not have the negative stereotypes that we do.

i agree with you 100%, and most of us aren't just people who play games all there life, if you are a true gamer (not a good gamer) and actually a part of the culture you can depend on each other, most people see us as hermits who sit inside all day and have no life, but we stick together, go out, have fun, and will help each other if we need it. and you cant just call them out because once when playing COD some child joined my party and started swearing and calling me a camper cause i kept quick scoping him. then after finally spraying and getting me he became obnoxious... i called him out and he continued to swear. you cant help them all. not until they are 13-14 and will listen and see it from someones else's perspective.

 

[TheWorstPlayerInTheWorld]

20 cent video games in the eighties. A game gear was my first home one though.

 

[chynadoll]

I had a snes and i was born in 90. But i got into gaming because it was something the whole family enjoyed i have fond memories of grandma cussing at Mario cuz she fell off a cliff for the 50th time.

 

[mParadox]

big bro was a gamer. He was the one who introduced me to FPSs.

Delta Force: Land Warrior FTW!!

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Good ol' Wolfenstein 3D. My neighbour had a shithouse computer with that as the only game. We spent weeks on that thing.

 

[Aleate]

Actually, the person who now hates games the most was the one who introduced them to me; My Dad. He used to work for this carpet cleaning business and one day he was asked to clean out this abandoned apartment. Later that day he brought home an SNES that he said he found tucked in a closet. I must have been about, what, 7? I got it hooked up to this 13" color TV in my parents room, and the rest... is history.

 

[AlternatePFG]

I started off with a computer at a really young age, then got a hand me down SNES from an uncle, and I've looked back since.

 

[Sovvolf]

Been doing it all my life NES to now, is the answer the works the most for me if only you replace NES with Commodore Amiga. Playing Mickey Mouse, Whacky Racers and an early version of MS paint. Also playing the Sega Saturn and the SNES from time to time. Went from there pretty much. Been gaming since I was three. Though it didn't full start until we got the Playstation.

Though then again, computer consoles at that time were just distractions for me. I played them every now and again but I spent most the time with my brothers pissing around in the garden, going around the streets causing mischief and that sort of thing. Wasn't until the PS2 era that I started getting really into gaming. All this started when I played Batman:Vegance for the PS2, one of the first games we got with it along side Smackdown Just bring it and Robot Wars.

I watched my dad on it first like and my brothers play the game and they could get past this one specific part on a level. The one in the construction yard if I remember. No one could get past it. So I gave the game a try up in my bedroom and I couldn't figure it out at first. Then I spotted a little gap in the boxes next to a bulldozer which you could squeeze through which took me to the next part.

That was the moment I started to care about gaming. Little odd I know but that's how it started. The reason behind this is that before this, I was always horrid at gaming. I couldn't beat games or get passed many levels, I'd ask my brother or dad to help. When playing games, my brother would always kick my arse too. However when I did this, I did something my brother and father couldn't and it gave me that extra bit of confidence. Showing me that I could infact play and complete games. I played all the way through that game and completed it.

I'd never completed a game before then. Not to my recollection anyway. So something like this was big to me. That was it, I was hooked. I was good at something now and all I did for a time was replay that game over and over (Didn't have much money for new games) on the harder difficulties.

Then I finally got my hands on another game and beat that. Then another and another and another. Then I just stayed in and played video games, getting better and better. Whooping my brothers arse on them. Then that's it... I'm a gamer, been doing it ever since.

 

[comadorcrack]

Well I've been playing games since the NES and SNES. But I didn't really get into Gaming Fully until these two beauties!

 

[kalt_13]

i've been gaming since since i was a kid.
I'm so old that:

atari was a gaming system not a game making company, River raid was awesome loved that game.

used to play the c64 at a mates place, all his games were on cassette tapes. We would start loading a game, go watch tv for 1/2 hour, come back turn over the tape and go watch more tv, eventually come back and be able to play.