Your Gaming Origins

[burningdoom]

What are your gaming origins?

-How old were you when you started gaming?

-What did you start on? On a console? In the arcade? On a handheld? Or on a PC?

-What was the first console/PC/handheld you owned?

-What was the game that initially drew you in?

-What was your first favorite game?

-Etc.

[burningdoom]

Okay, I'll go first:

-I've been plugging away at controllers and joysticks for as long as I can remember. So I'd probably assume I was about 3 or 4 years old when I started gaming. Which was about 1987-1988.

-My older sister had an Atari 2600 that I started gaming on. But I didn't REALLY start being a true gamer until we got our NES when I was about 6 years old.

-Like I mentioned in the last answer, it was a console that I started on. Atari 2600, then the NES.

-Super Mario Bros. on NES was the game that really made me fall in love with gaming. I now have every single pixel picture perfectly ingrained into my memory. When I'm 85 years old at the retirement home, I won't remember how to put on my pants, but I'll still be able to navigate the maze-castle level with ease!

-After the initial wow-factor of SMB, I'd say my first favorite game was The Legend of Zelda on NES. I spent hours upon hours scouring the countryside of Hyrule looking for that one last secret cave or bush I hadn't yet uncovered. My sister, who typically wasn't a big gamer like me, was so into the game that she hand-drew maps of each dungeon as she played through them!

[Warmsignal]

- I think I was 4ish, maybe 5. Twas around the year of 1993.

- By the time I knew what was what, my brother already had an NES and SNES, and even a Genesis. I played NES and SNES about the same, we rarely played anything Genesis, besides Skitchin and Sonic of course.

- The first console that was fully mine, was either my kiwi colored GBC, or my PS1. I can't remember which.

- The first games I remember being sucked into were Contra, Super Mario Bros, Gradius, and Mario Kart.

- My first favorite game I would say was probably Punch Out, the SNES version. Was obsessed with that game for some reason.

[stethebubble]

What are your gaming origins?

-How old were you when you started gaming? as long as i remember. about 3-5 years old. so about 1985-7

-What did you start on? On a console? In the arcade? On a handheld? Or on a PC? spectrum zx+2

-What was the first console/PC/handheld you owned? spectrum zx+2

-What was the game that initially drew you in? cant remember. break out or oh mummy or something like that

-What was your first favorite game? sonic the hedgehog on the SMS.

-Etc.

[fazerco]

I was 10 or 11 years.

I started and owned a intel grand prix, wich is a sort pong racer.

And it drew me right in 

One of the first games i owned was cuthbert in space for the c64. A simple game but a favorite of mine.

[MJMaranan]

Best guess I could make is around 7 years old.  My family had an Atari and I remembered how difficult that joystick was to me.  We then upgraded to the Super FamiCom and still I hated the controls.  I remember playing Lion King on the Sega Genesis at my friend's house and just lost time playing there.  There was another console that my family had, I just don't remember what it was.

Also, I played a couple of times at local arcades but always enjoyed console games because then I could save my money for trading cards than see my allowance quickly disappear on tokens.

[kamikazekeeg]

When I was around 4 years old, I believe it was a family friend that gave us a box with an NES and an assortment of games.  I don't remember who or why, but it was around 1990.  From then on out, I was hooked to the games.  Me and my dad would play the original Zelda NES together and to date, after getting him as much Zelda games as I could, he's played more Zelda than I have lol There was also Super Mario Bros with Duck Hunt, and maybe a few more.  I remember some of the bible games like Exodus and Bible Buffet I use to play too, but I think those were a couple years later.

My first console that was totally mine for sure, was the N64.  I had an original one and then abit later got the Atomic Blue one that I still have, though I realize I don't have the controller anymore for some reason.  It would've been like Super Mario 64 as my first game and it continues to be one of my favorite Mario games of all time.

[Bwigdahl]

The first console I remember playing was an NES, but I was very young (3 or 4ish probably) and we never owned one, my parents were kinda against video games (not to an extreme degree I think they mostly thought they were a waste of money) so I relied mostly on playing them at other peoples' houses and occasionally my parents would rent an NES back when video stores used to rent out systems. I don't have a bunch of fond memories with the NES but there are a few games I remember such as Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, Blades of Steel and Bad News Bears Baseball are honestly the ones that stand out the most in my memory. I guess the first gaming system we owned would've been our old computer that we got when I was probably 5 or 6. I remember playing a bunch of games on that, Commander Keen, Raptor Call of the Shadows, Lamborghini American Challenge, Star Wars Rebel Assault, Bio Menace, Wolfenstein and Doom (and then there were some other classics like Math Blaster, Captain Bible and Oregon Trail that still hold a special place in my heart).

I guess Commander Keen was as much the game that "pulled me in" as any other. But I think I truly became a video game lover once our friends gave us their old SNES once the N64 came out. That SNES was the only console in our household from late '95 until Christmas of 2001 when we got our PS2. Games like Super Punch Out, Super Mario All-Stars/World, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, Kirby's Dream Course were the main ones we had that I played a lot (didn't get into RPGs until much, much later). Donkey Kong Country 2 is easily my first "favorite" game and it still stands to this day as one of my favorite games. I guess I can kinda go into why I have such an attachment to this game here, since this thread is all about our history. So probably a good 12 or so years ago for Christmas Eve, my brother Erich and I (who shared a room at the time) stayed up all night playing DKC2 to completion and have since every year done the same thing every Christmas Eve (we may have missed a few years here and there, but it still holds as a tradition for us) and I have as much fun doing it every year as I did the year before and I hope it's something we continue to do til one of us dies. Some of my other siblings will occasionally join us as well, but it's mostly an Erich and me thing. He also happens to be the only brother I have that doesn't live in the same city as me, so Christmas is one of the few times each year I see him. It's just such a nice memory/tradition that the game just has a special place in my heart.

[maximo310]

I started gaming when I was about 3-4 so that was when I was first playing educational games on windows 95/windows 98 at the time. Besides that, I had a few experiences with playing Kirby and the Crystal Shards for the N64 at a McDonald's near by my house, which was something that happened about once a month.
My first true console I owned was my black Gamecube, which given to me(with part of my money) on Christmas 2001. It's the same Gamecube that I use today for my gaming setup and works just as well as it did when I first bought. It's place in the household was constantly in peril as my mom unsuccessfully tried to get rid of the console multiple times and throw it out since she totally hates video games, but I've thankfully managed to save it for all these years.

I got hooked onto gaming with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II. That game is one of the best-looking of the system with its visuals and gameplay, and really drew me into the game, along with the fact its one of the best representations of the Stars Wars world even today.

My first favorite game was Super Mario Sunshine. I got the game at launch, and played through it over the next few weeks and totally enjoyed the experience. I had lost that copy of the game a few years after due to needed cash, but a few years ago, I received another copy of the game from a friend and was totally excited with this recovery. To this game, Sunshine remains one of my favorite games, and I'm currently doing a 100% run of the game.

[karyann]

Awesome thread idea! I love reading these

I first played games on DOS when I was 2 years old, but I started playing "for real" at 3 or 4 years old on the NES. I also had a gameboy, but I don't know how old I was then. I loved Super Mario 3 and Zelda the most, though in Zelda I was imitating my mother more than playing and exploring haha (I always redid the same parts which I knew how to do).  Then on gameboy, I played the hell out of Super Mario Land 2 and Link's Awakening. I don't think I really had a favorite in between these 4 though.

I initially started gaming because of my mother, which is pretty unusual, I think

Edit: Talked to my mom and 2 is a bit too early. Make that beginning on DOS at 3 haha 

[foxhack]

-How old were you when you started gaming?

5 years old. My brother borrowed a Colecovision from a friend.

-What did you start on? On a console? In the arcade? On a handheld? Or on a PC?
Coleco. I got a NES in 1988.

-What was the first console/PC/handheld you owned?
Technically it was this weird Atari Pong machine that turned out after a few years.

-What was the game that initially drew you in?
I have no idea. If you could play it, then I wanted to play it.

I'm kinda boring. :p

[sin2beta]

-How old were you when you started gaming?

Before Kindergarten. I was probably around 5. I remember seeing the NES. But the first system I remeber playing is the Game Gear. I had a speech therapy teacher that had one.

-What did you start on? On a console? In the arcade? On a handheld? Or on a PC?

The system I really started on was the Commodore 64. My dad taught me to play stuff on that after I started bugging them about the NES and Game Gears.

-What was the first console/PC/handheld you owned?

Commodore 64 via family. But my first was an NES top loader.

-What was the game that initially drew you in?

Super Mario Bros

-What was your first favorite game?

Kirby's Adventure probably. But maybe Mario 3.

[bikingjahuty]

This will hopefully touch on all those points.


I first started playing video games in the arcade and on a Sega Genesis at my cousin's house back in 1991. I remember my dad used to take me to a local sports bar called No Frills Grill and they had several arcade and pinball machines; the ones I remember playing the most were Galaxia, Off Road, and an Elvira Mistress of the Dark pinball machine. Now onto my cousin's Sega Genesis. When I was pretty young, my parents used to have a lot of BBQs and get togethers at my Aunt and Uncles house, and while the adults were outside drinking, the kids were in the basement playing the Genesis! I remember playing Hard Driving, Mutant League Football, and my absolute favorite, Sonic the Hedgehog over there. It was Sonic specifically that got me really, really into the Genesis, so much so I convinced my parents to let me stay the night, just so I could play the Genesis longer lol. Of course this eventually led to me wanting a Sega Genesis of my own, and for my 5th birthday my wish came true.


Sadly I didn't get Sonic as one of my first games, but with my Genesis I got The Flintstones (extremely underrated game), Home Alone, and Batman Returns. I mostly played the Flintstones, and also used to rent a lot of games from a local video rental store that has been out of business since probably 1999 called famous Video. I remember renting titles like Joe and Mac, Wolf Child, Mic and Mac Global Gladiators, King of Monsters, and Alien 3 often from there. And of course I rented Sonic, as well as Sonic 2 when it came out. I also fell in love with fighting games via Street Fighter 2 and Tournament Fighter. Lol yeah, I have a lot of fond memories of renting Sega Genesis from that rental store :p. I would get about half a dozen more Genesis games over the next few years, with my favorite being Sonic 3 in 1994, but I don't feel like my love of video games grew from interest to obsession until a few years later on a different console.


The first Nintendo console I ever owned was a SNES I got from my aunt back in 1994. While I loved games like Donkey Kong Country and Doom, I always defaulted back to my Genesis during the 16-bit era. It wasn't until Christmas 1996 when I received a Nintendo 64 along with Super Mario 64 that I fell in love with Nintendo and became obsessed with gaming. I remember being totally blown away by the 3D worlds in Super Mario 64, and it was the first game I ever felt like it never got boring or old. Before obtaining all 120 Stars, I probably put around 100+ hours into that game. Super Mario 64 was only a gateway into the many other amazing N64 titles that I would play and fall in love with. it was during this time when I was fully engrossed in the N64's library that I started to become passionate about video games, subscribing to several video game magazines, going to a local game store for hours just to browse and look at titles, and nearly every penny I earned through chores was spent on video games. I was truly in love.


That love and passion for gaming has continued all these years despite waning at times, but right now it is stronger then ever. So yeah, that is my gaming origins in a nutshell :p

[thekosmickollector]

Really fun reading through all of these
I guess it started in 2002 when I was about 2 years old. I had this obsession with pressing buttons and seeing what happened (Not always the safest of traits ) so my Dad bought me a PS1 with Tekken 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Spiderman and a few demo discs. Playing those, pushing all the buttons and all the cool stuff that was happening (When I press this one... he punches things!) really started to get me into it. Eventually I started getting more acquainted to what buttons did what on each game and after a while Dad bought me a Gamecube when I was about 5. Sonic Heroes and 1080 Avalanche were my jams then over the years I went on to having my sister's PS2, then a PS3, then a 360. My first sight into collecting and having shelves and displaying them all was with AlphaOmegaSin. I was kinda interested in the game Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale when it was coming out, and Alpha's video was the first one that came up. I started watching more of his videos and YouTubers like him and I finally ended up where I am today!:D

[redblaze57]

-How old were you when you started gaming?

Don't remember

-What did you start on? On a console? In the arcade? On a handheld? Or on a PC?

PC first games i remember were learning games that had Howie Mandel doing the voice of a bear, Hotwheels, Lego Island and Redneck Rampage

Outside of that was my friend letting me use her Game boy to play Mario, Pokemon and i think Road Rash

-What was the first console/PC/handheld you owned?

First console was a Nintendo 64, handheld was a Game Boy Colour.

-What was the game that initially drew you in?

Hotwheels Stunt Track Driver spent a lot of time making courses in that game

-What was your first favorite game?

That I owned that would be Pokemon Silver. Otherwise I would say Red