The video game that got you into gaming

[a ginger491]

The topic seems simple enough. What was the game you played that spiked your interest in gaming? Or to make it easier, the first one you can remember that did this? How did it spawn your interest in games? Just name it and say why. Mine was the first one I had ever played, which was Mario Cart 64. It was just different to any sort of "game" i'd ever played. Did Chutes and Ladders let you race against other players and throw turtle shells at them to make them lose control of their car? I think not. Soon after I discovered a local arcade that really got my life as a gamer started. One time while I was playing my dad mysteriously disappeared only to have me find him playing Asteroids at the retro booths. Guess it may run in the family. Although what got me into the culture as a whole was Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC when I was 8. Even though the flood gave me nightmares for a month it was still worth it.

EDIT: To clarify, I'd like to know how/why the game got you into gaming, not just the first game you ever played. Please add a little more substance than just 'insert game name here' and end your post

 

[mocruz1200]

defiatelly Team Fortress Classic. before that i would just play games casually, it really opened my eyes to gaming

 

[Iwata]

Jesus... uuuh... I think it was Wings of Fury for the ZX Spectrum.

 

[a ginger491]

Jesus... uuuh... I think it was Wings of Fury for the ZX Spectrum.

sorry but whats a spectrum?

 

[Reaver570]

Spyro: Gateway to Glimmer

 

[kyogen]

Pitfall (Atari 2600)
and
The Oregon Trail (Apple II)
and
original arcade editions of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong once I was tall enough to see the screens

 

[Iwata]

Jesus... uuuh... I think it was Wings of Fury for the ZX Spectrum.

sorry but whats a spectrum?

Fuck... I'm old...

 

[monkey_man]

I cannot remember the name, but it was on a floppy disk, and it was about a squirrel who tosses down his nuts, and you were a basket catching them. It was brilliant, and quite difficult, as the squirrel started to toss rocks too. and apples for bonus points! My and my bro were highly competitive about it too. we had to change every 45 minutes (1 pc etc,), and we were both spot on (about 1-2 seconds of at most). Good times, good times.

 

[thirion1850]

Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Blade of Armageddon.

 

[Stilkon]

Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom on the PS2.

Hey, I was ten.

 

[White_Lama]

Who got me from computer to console: Halo Combat Evolved (yeah, I had a SEGA and a NES before, but those were my brothers lovelies)


RTS: Age of Empires 2 (still play today)
FPS: Counter Strike 1.5 (not so much anymore)

 

[CrankyStorming]

Has to be the original Super Smash Bros, even though I was ironically more of a Playstation kid. I was at the age that I only really obtained it because Pikachu was on the cover, but suddenly I was exposed to this whole set of other characters weren't that dissimilar but weren't from any TV show I'd watched.

 

[Linc_101]

The earliest game I can remember playing was Wing Commander III. I was very young then, and had absolutely no idea what I was doing for a very long time. I just liked to click on things, and make things happen, whether those things were FMV dialogues between characters, or simply shoot lasers and blowing ships. Ultimately, the interactivity of WC III got me into gaming.

 

[Dragonborne88]

Uh, my dad started my corruption early. Commodore 64, Jumpman and Ghostbusters was the start of my decent into madness. Sadly, he never saw that one day, I would become the master.

 

[Klumpfot]

Super Mario Bros. for the NES. It was the first game I owned on my first console. A very vanilla game to start with, eh?

 

[RockOn3906]

River Raid, on the good 'ol Commodore 64. Sidenote: I learned that the word for '*' is "asterisk" at about 5 years old because of that.

EDIT: Arg, ninja'd. Thought I'd be the first to mention C64. Oh well, still awesome

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I think my very first was a Mario (don't know which one) on the GameBoy pocket, but I didn't start to get obsessed with it until I was introduced to a little title called Pokemon Red. God damn, I spent a lot of time on that game.

 

[Wild_Marker]

My SEGA and anything I could get my hands on that run on it.

Also, I have to give big credits to Theme Hospital. It was my first game that I played for more than 3 hours straight (and look at me today, with 8-12 hour runs on a good saturday).

 

[Echo Delta]

This little piece of history right here:

I had a really bad virus as a young child and eventually had to go to the hospital. The only thing I could do while I was there was sit around so they brought a TV and an N64 for me to play with for a day or so. I also lost my first tooth while I was there, yes I was that young, but that's a story for another time. I was instantly hooked and began playing in what could be the golden age of gaming, the N64 years. I still have that old N64 system and I hook it up every so often. OoT, Banjo Kazooie/Tooie, Star Wars Podracer, Majora's, Rogue Squadron, Star Fox 64, The original Super Smash Bros... oh to be young again.

 

[Redgethebat]

Well I would say the classic Sonic games on the Genesis. Although after my parents sold the Genesis, I didn't really play video games after that. That was until we got a PS2. my first game on that was Finding Nemo (hey, I was a kid), but the first game that I really really loved to death and got really into was Pac-Man World 2, which still holds up as one of the greatest platformers to date.