The video game that got you into gaming

[Sinoda]

While I had played games before, it was never serious until I played Half Life 2. I was in love with it. Then my eyes were opened to Garrys Mod, and it's comics. Joined some forums dedicated to g-mod comic writing, and that's where I met a lot of my longest-lasting friendships through. It was through them, that I learned more about gamer culture, design theories, mods/indie games and most importantly: games that are worth playing.

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

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

sorry but whats a spectrum?

Fuck... I'm old...

What the hell is that thing. Looks like some kind of keyboard, wat.

OT: Aladdin for the SNES.

...don't judge.

edit: Oh, whoops, misread title. I guess the FIRST one that prompted me to move from casual to more "hardcore" (for lack of a better term...hate that word though), would probably be Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing. Which I find rather ironic, considering I dislike both Star Wars, AND racing games in general. Well, it's either that or DMC2. I know I played them around the same time, not sure which was first. Haters gonna hate, but I thought Lucia was hella fun to play as.
Before those two, I played a lot of video games, but most of it was more like "oh I'll just pick this up and play", not really caring how far I got or if I saved or whatever. Especially with DMC2, I actually played wanting to know the outcome, and wanting to become a better player.

 

[Kyle Roberts]

Worms 3d got me into gaming but Dead rising got me into Xbox.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

A master piece platformer, it had everything, jumping, boss fights racing levels, side scrolling sections and even a bit of third person shooting.

 

[guidance]

I got into gaming mostly by watching my dad, he played Starcraft and Monkey Island, but I played my own game at that time too. Rayman Forever, still love it.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Space Invaders on the little Atari VCS I had to be dragged away kicking and screaming after a day of play. I was 4 or 5 I think.

Loved it. My dad's friend game him the atari for me and I never looked back :3

 

[intheweeds]

Super Mario 3.

I remember when that game came out it was the shit. The design choices they used made it look awesome graphically for the time. I remember playing for hours and turning off the TV and letting the system stay on since you couldn't save. Losing your mind on your mother who shut off the system while you were asleep when you were on world 7! The legend of the whistles (when they were still legend) and sharing the secrets with kids at school. I'm glad i have walkthroughs today, but you can't put that back in the can. It can never be like that anymore and i think there was something to that discovery and sharing it with your friends. Also the disappointment of finding out that some of the fantastical stories told about things that happen later in the game or certain secrets just aren't true. There was never such a draw to a video game in my life as that one. I spend the rest of my life chasing that particular dragon.

Of course i pretty much wrote out a long flowery definition of nostalgia there didn't I?

 

[Ddgafd]

Crash Bandicoot 2. Me and my cousins played that game all the time, but we beat it only once, because we didn't have a memory card. That game is the reason I got my PS2 and how I came to love platformers, so I'd say it definitely put me on the path of gaming.

 

[subject_87]

Goldeneye; I fondly remember playing it at my cousin's place when I was about 4. Good times.

 

[Iwata]

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

sorry but whats a spectrum?

Fuck... I'm old...

What the hell is that thing. Looks like some kind of keyboard, wat.

It is! You'd plug it into your TV, and then play the games, which came on audio cassetes. It was AWESOME!!!

... back in 1985...

 

[WillyLudMan]

Oh God, Zelda: Link's Awakening. I went to the closest Walmart to get Pokemon Red, and they were all out, so I bought that instead. And I don't regret the decision for an instant.

 

[Vimto]

If we're counting arcade games it was probably pong, then space invaders and galaxians.

If we're talking home stuff, does anyone remember 3d monster maze? That was epic and creepy.

Am I old?

 

[Ir0n Squid]

Parents had the old NES and SNES. I was too young to actually know what the heck I was doing when I tried to play the games (I just liked shooting the gun in Duck Hunter because...well it's a freaking gun how is that NOT cool).

First game that opened the doors to gaming....

Got a N64 for my birthday one year. Got two games with it:
1)Star Wars Rouge Squadron, and
2)LoZ:OoT.
At first I didn't like OoT that much. Preferred the flying pew pew of Star Wars. Then I actually sat down and played Zelda then...

Here I am, 12 years later, and I have an account on the Escapist. =P

 

[The Shade of Time]

The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening.

My mum played it a lot and I always watched her over her shoulder until she would go to bed, I would sneak downstairs, grab the Gameboy and I fell in love with it.

To this day whenever I start a Zelda game I always name Link "Mam".

Unless I'm with my friends then it just stays "Link".

 

[MCDeltaT]

Final Fantasy IX.

I didn't really care about the stories or characters in other games I had played up until that point, but this game changed my perspective on gaming as a whole. It helped me to realize that games can be a legitimate form of storytelling rather than a series of quests that held no importance. This game opened my eyes to a world that I would be poorer for not knowing, and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

[Dranae]

The first game I remember playing was Iggy's Reckin' Balls for the N64.

Weirdest. Game. Ever.

 

[Twilightlord]

An old Atari game called Combat. And I want to give Space Invaders a lot of credit here on making me a gamer as well. But Combat was just the first game I remember playing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_(video_game)

 

[Zydrate]

A combination of Unreal and Quake. I can't really recall which one was the first, but Unreal was definitely the one that I took most seriously at that age. I was into Quake 2 as well, but Unreal has the most influence.