The Game...That Made You A Gamer.

[Starbird]

Warcraft 3. I think I played that game all my teenage years.

That would have been a pretty awesome game to grow up with I must say .

Betrayal at Krondor. 1993.

Can still remember the 7 floppy disks it took.

Ah the days of heaps and heaps of floppy/stiffy disks. Doom 2 and Mortal Kombat 2 were similar, and I was always so paranoid about the discs getting wrecked.

 

[bfgmetalhead]

Dark cloud or Red Faction on the PS2, when I played both of these I was like i'm 10 years old and this is awesome. Cut to now i'm 21 and playing Lost oddessy and Wolfenstein: The New Order and like yep, still awesome.

 

[wetfart]

Alley Cat [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alley_Cat_(video_game)]. And no, entire internet, you wouldn't remember it.

*begins to hum the theme music* Ah Alley Cat. Good memories.

On topic: I can't say that it was any one game. There was always some sort of game system in the house (My first were an Atari 2600 and a PC jr) and it was another option for when I was playing. Tired of GI Joe? Let's play Pac-Man!

Years later I'm still playing games and now that my kids are getting older I'm looking forward to sharing some of the old classics with them.

 

[Hemlet]

Super Mario 64 for me. We had a NES that my Dad had brought home as a novelty, but other than watching him stumble through Metroid or stumbling my own way through Kirby's Adventure, the system just didn't grab me. Yeah it was fun, but there wasn't really enough going on there to hold my 4 year-old attention for much longer than an hour or two. I had Beast Wars and Legos to play with and only so many hours in the day you know?

Then when I was 6 my grandma bought me an N64 for my birthday. Bear in mind that I wasn't even aware of the SNES at this point. Videogames just weren't something my parents followed very closely. So going from NES graphics straight to N64 graphics blew my little first grader mind. We were all kind of stunned but I was floored. Imagine our shock when we realized that the little minigame where you get to play with Mario's face wasn't even the main game! And sweet jelly belly Jesus, Mario had a VOICE. And discernible features!

Playing through Super Mario 64 got me hooked, and the game has a little place of honour in my heart for that. Even if Tiny Huge Island is total bullshit and the camera is straight up homicidal.

 

[Ghostface2206]

hmmmm, tough one. I started gaming on a PS2 as a kid, me and my brother used to love doing galactic conquest on Star Wars Battlefront II, that might be some of my earliest memories of multiplayer (that and lego star wars), also Simpsons Hit & Run was a great game and the daylevels in sonic unleashed i love, I have memories of going to this summer club thing and there was a gamecube with luigi's mansion and sonic mega collection I have fond memories of the sonic 2 special stages (it would be years later before I played the orignal sonic games on vc and I love them btw) then I my brother got a ds and then I did after and we both loved Mario Kart DS (still my favourite game in the series) pokemon platinum, new super mario bros. also remember being at my cousin's house and playing MKWii and having it blow my mind in comparison to DS, then getting a wii years later and being really spellbound by mario galaxy, smash bros brawl, virtual console games (Ocarina of time, the sonic mega drive games, donkey kong country, Lylat Wars, mario kart 64, zelda 1 on nes, my brother loved chrono trigger, super mario bros 1, 3, world, 64, metroid nes love them all).

so yeah the Wii of all consoles really built my gaming identity, but I already had strong ties to the medium and still do, even expanding outside of nintendo games to have many consoles now (Xbox 360=arkham city, portal, Game Boy=tetris, mario land, 3DS=kid icarus uprising, resident evil revelations, GameCube=Sonic Adventure DX, Smash Bros Melee, PS3=arkham asylum, infamous, uncharted, xbox=halo)

so basically I consider myself a fan of all 3 but I can't help but get more excited for nintendo games, also I intend to buy a good pc in the future since I have played the original half life and counter strike and tem fortress 2 on my laptop and really want to experience those games properly because they're great.

 

[Luciella]

Well, i played many different PC games and console games. From digger, space invaders, Alley cat, Wolfenstein 3D to Super Mario Bros and even chess; but what it made me consider myself fan of videogames was Final Fantasy VII. My bestie had it only because she had a crush on Cloud (in that time we picked several anime series and decided to have random crushes on handsome bishies)So she urged me to play it, i ended up having the biggest crush on Sephiroth and on videogames hehehe

The reason i became a huge sony-fangirl was my tradition on FFs. Im actually very excited FFXV is all guys party, they all look so cute :3

Then, i got a liking to horror games on PC. Being "Clive Barker's: Undying" the game that made me be this combination of both PC and PS gamer for life.

So i guess the two groundbreaking games for me were FFVII and Undying.

 

[happyninja42]

There was no one game, because I've been playing video games my entire conscious life. Some of my earliest memories are of being in Alladin's Castle arcade, and dropping quarter after quarter into the machines, carving my digital path to glory amidst a plethora of games and fantasy realms. The barrage of sounds and effects, the strobing lights, the snippets of game dialogue heard in the background as I saved some galaxy or kingdom or princess from the forces of evil.

I can't give you a specific game, it would be like trying to ask me "What meal did you eat that totally sold you on consuming food for the rest of your life?"

Video games are an integral part of who I am, and always have been, and likely always will be. That's about all there is to say.

 

[Dreadman75]

Easy, Megaman X on the SNES. God I love that game! I never could beat it until I got older but I loved the hell out of it, even if it did seem hard as fuck sometimes. The same goes for X2.

Then, there's the game that made me a Sony fan through and through. Insomniac Games very own Spyro the Dragon on PS1. I first saw it being played at my dad's friend's house and I was smitten by just how cool it all seemed. A game that let you play as a DRAGON, I fucking loved dragons back then (still do). I had to play it for myself so I asked my parents for a PS1 for my birthday along with that game. I got both, as well as the original Ape Escape, and the rest is history.

 

[Darks63]

DragonWarrior for the NES; i was never a Mario kid and the first one was kinda of repetitive anyway, but when i first played this game at a friends house i loved it. After i played that game i was able to get the first FF game and after that i was hooked on Games for life.

 

[Rayce Archer]

In 2291, in an attempt to control violence among deep space miners, the New Earth Government legalized no-holds-bared fighting. Liandri Mining Corporation, working with the NEG, established a series of leagues and bloody public exhibitions. The fight's popularity grew with their brutality. Soon, Liandri discovered that the public matches were their most profitable enterprise. The professional league was formed; a cabal of the most violent and skilled warriors in known space, selected to fight in a Grand Tournament. Now it is 2341. 50 years have passed since founding of DeathMatch. Profits from the Tournament number in the hundreds of billions. You have been selected to fight in the professional league by the Liandri Rules Board. Your strength and brutality are legendary. The time has come to prove you are the best. To crush your enemies; to win the Tournament.

And I did!

 

[FPLOON]

I was going to say Rayman Advance for the Gameboy Advance, but that was my first game as well as my first unfinished game...

I was also going to say Rayman 3 for the Gameboy Advance, but despite completing that game 100%, I don't think that solidify myself as a gamer to me...

So, I'll just say that Tales of Symphonia for the GameCube was the game that made me a gamer, which is funny to me because at first, I was only playing this game out of spite for someone else who would not shut up about how awesome the game was... But seriously, it was the first game I ever invested most time in comparison to the other games I've had beforehand, the first game (with an actual end to speak of) to be played more times than I could count at this point, and the first game that I ever went in deep discussions over with others who have played this game as well...

Granted, this wasn't my first [J]RPG (especially if you're counting Pokemon Ruby, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, or even the NES Zelda games for the Gameboy Advance) at the time, but this was the game that kept me up late at nights, leveling up my team, experimenting with their EX skills, doing various sidequest because my curiosity got the better of me most of the time, and other random stuff for shits and giggles, basically... I played Symphonia more times and with more hours clocked in overall than Pokemon Ruby, which was the most social game I was playing among friends beforehand...

Overall, that feeling of playing something for hours on end, actually discussing not only the gameplay, but the story, characters, and sometimes themes with friends, and even finding out about others games in relation to having that feeling overall is why I consider Tales of Symphonia for the GameCube the game that made me a gamer...

 

[JagermanXcell]

Two actually: Super Mario World and Resident Evil 2.

I played a demo of Super Mario World at a Target and being so young I just felt so immersed in it's world. 10min felt like an hour playing it, and my dad saw that spark in my eye enough to buy me a Gameboy Advance + Super Mario World a few weeks later.
As for how Resident Evil 2 fit in... I used to frequently visit my much older cousin who was about ready to leave to college in a year. I discovered he dug himself deeper into the gaming rabbit hole, so he introduced me to Resident Evil 2.
Now... other than the fact that I had nightmares for quite some time, it made me realize just how vast video games had it in terms of variety. I'd eventually return to Resident Evil 2 beating a few years later of course... but from than on I had an open mind about EVERYTHING out there

from than on, I was a gamer.

 

[DeimosMasque]

Hmmmmmssssss....

Guess that's hard to judge as there are a few out there.... Firstly it was probably Ultima 2 when I was little. Me and my dad would play it together even though I barely understood it. I would make maps and help him find the towns and all that when he got lost.

Then a few years later was Legend of Zelda on the NES. That kept me going until the a bit after the N64 era of gaming. Including gaining a huge love for the Sierra adventure games.

Then I left a get and it was Knight of the Old Republic that brought me to PC games again for a short while (till I couldn't afford upgrades)

Then Mass Effect 1 brought me into the "modern era" where I stay till now.

 

[deathbydeath]

I'm going to be a special snowflake and post the gamer that made me a gamer*: antisocialfatman [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYxXYafnaCsxPLmunc8Tyfg]. I recently discovered Steam sales (around late 2010/early 2011) and was messing around with them for a while before I came across this guy's Half-Life review. It's because of his well-written, easy to comprehend yet surprisingly deep reviews that I'm almost more interested in the critique of games than actually playing them, and without his videos I quite simply wouldn't be here. Stephen Bray died in 2011, sadly enough, but I still regard him as one of the best reviewers this industry has, and there's a reason I'm still active on the forum he set up a short while before his death. Here's some of his videos:

[youtube]ItJkmrY9kbg[/youtube]
[youtube]XnDXENq_Tpw[/youtube]
[youtube]PYaMEDGlYIo[/youtube]

As to actual games, I'd say Deus Ex. It was the first game that actually engaged me on an intellectual level, and made me think about them differently.

 

[Chaelura]

Definitely Doom. It was fucking amazing!

 

[lowtech redneck]

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out was what opened the door, but it was probably Zelda that truly cemented it.

 

[Rad Party God]

I honestly don't remember, but probably either Super Mario Bros. 1 or Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES, I remember having dozens upon dozens of NES games, including some infamous LJN games, but I eventually sold all of them.

The one that absolutely "opened my eyes", the one that "made me a gamer" came until the N64 era and it wasn't a single game, it was 2 of them, first it was Super Mario 64 with it's fluid animations and innovate 3D controls that were pretty much unheard of back then, even the PS1 that was already out, didn't have games that matched Mario 64 in terms of gameplay and overall design, and Sony deifnitely learned a lesson or two and made the fantastic Crash Bandicoot and Spyro trilogies, among other great 3D games.

The other one was Ocarina of Time, it was THE game that showed me what a game can truly aspire to be, epic boss fights, engaging dungeons and puzzles, a great (if simple) story, incredible graphics (at the time). In other words, a journey, an adventure, I hate using this word, but I was absolutely "immersed" in it's world.

Also I absolutely loved the Commodore Amiga games my dad let me play back then, I particularly remember Shadow of The Beast and Lemmings, nowadays I mostly relate indie games to my childhood Commodore Amiga days.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

It's a toss up between Super Mario 3 and Mega Man 2.

Mega Man 2 for the challenge and the music, and Super Mario 3 for the power ups and the worlds. Then the SNES games came out and it was all over for me, and games rocked.

Also, Pokemon gave me my current crack addiction, my age be damned!

 

[the December King]

If by gamer we just mean someone who loves games, then I reckon it all started really, really early- Demons To Diamonds, Spider Fighter, Berserker, Asteroids and Battletank for the Atari2600. Many an hour I played these classics, and then it was on to the endless parade of Nintendo games... but really, since I consider myself a PC gamer, it was Wolfenstein on a 386 with no sound card that honed me into the shooter-lover I am today.

 

[Vigormortis]

Hmm. Good question. I think it depends on how we decide to view what type of "gamer" I was. Or rather became.

The game that introduced the idea of gaming to me? - Zork
My uncle showed me the game on his Commodore 64 (I think). I thought it was dumb at the time. (definitely don't now) But none the less it was my segue into the miraculous world of video games.

The game that got me into gaming, at first? - Super Mario Bros

I fell in love with my NES and SNES. I had played on a friends Atari from time to time prior to that, but after having those consoles for my own I logged quite a lot of hours playing games on both. I also played a fair bit of games on the Sega Genesis and on PC, but I probably logged more on my Nintendo consoles.

The game that got me back into gaming? - Half-Life
Around the time the Nintendo 64 had come out I was starting to lose interest in the medium. I was still deriving a good bit of entertainment from the games on my SNES and N64, with occasional forays into PC gaming with the likes of Doom, Myst, etc, but my....fascination, if you will, was starting to wane. However, after playing through Half-Life and being introduced to the breadth of possibilities of modding held therein, my fascination started turning into infatuation. Since then, I've found more and more reasons to love the medium.