You Always Remember Your First... (Videogame)

[digitalpress]

Do you?

What was the first video game you can remember playing? Was it in an arcade or on a home system? What else do you remember from that fateful day?

TELL ME! :-D

[JasonMewes2001]

Super Mario World for SNES

[Plank]

All I remember is pushing my brother off the bed so he'd let me play Super Mario Brothers on the NES

[maxlords]

Hmmm....the VERY first game I remember playing...I THINK it was Asteroids. I was rather young though so it may not have been my VERY first. My family was on theirway to San Jose from Oregon to visit my grandma, and we stopped in Redding to buy olives at some store my dad liked. This big olive store with a diner connected to it. We stopped for lunch and I noticed that the diner had an Ateroids machine near the front next to the window, so I managed to con $.50 out of each parent (separately of course) and go and stand on a chair to play Asteroids, which I totally got my ass kicked at rather quickly. I think that was my first game. It took a long time before I really got hooked on gaming though! :)

[jaybird]

The first home video game I played was Pac-Man for Atari 2600. I'm sure I played some arcade machines before that, but I don't remember them.

I still remember getting that Atari 2600 for Christmas & thinking the Pac-Man game was awesome. At the time, you didn't care or even think that it was a crappy port, you were just happy to be playing Pac-Man on your television!

[Sniderman]

Easy, for both are burned in my brain:

First home system - Coleco Telstar "pong" system. Had tennis, Hockey, Jai Alai, and two shooting games that used a light gun. (Skeet and Target). Played that son of a gun to death on an old black and white TV back in 1976.

First arcade game - Toss-up, as the local skating rink got both and I played them both on the same day. Computer Space (yup, the original one that started it all) and Gunfight (shot my bro' 1,000 times that day). I know they were each released at different times, but both arrived n the same day at the rink. Also, they got 3 Pachinko machines. My love with arcade stuff began that day.

[NE146]

It's unclear.. the first in my mind were in the old arcades filled with Electromechanical games with my dad holding me up to play. One that comes to mind is a E.M. where you shoot a harpoon gun into a screen at a shark..

Then I remember playing Pong, both at home on a Coleco Colortron(?).. it took 2 9volt batteries. And playing a cocktail Pong at a restaurant. I don't know which came first. I think the restaurant Pong probably did though.

The first coin-op I really took on when I was more "cognizant" was definitely Space Invaders though.

[Nature Boy]

I don't remember which Arcade game was my first but Combat was my first home game.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure Donkey Kong is the first arcade game I played. The first home game I played was Haunted house at my neighbor's around the same time (it actually scared me!). The first game system I got was the coleco, and so my first game was of course Donkey Kong.

[congobongo]

The RadioShack dedicated pong system. Was it called Scoreboard?

[ManekiNeko]

Holy crow, now there's a tough question. I seem to remember going to my mom's friend's house, where they dug out an Atari 2600 and tons of games. The most recent title they had was Freeway, so I'm guessing this was around 1980.
I've also got vague memories of an early game system (possibly the Telstar... it had a light gun) and playing the Atari Football arcade game with my cousins. Past that, I dunno. I might have SEEN a Pong system when I was in three cornered shorts but I doubt they let me actually play with it at that age. It'd be a great way to ruin what was at the time expensive, state of the art technology.

JR

P.S. My earliest gaming memory had to be this odd slot machine like toy that rang and had pictures when you pulled the lever. I guess my destiny was written in stone from that moment on... I'd either be a video game player or a dealer at a casino. ^^;

[YoshiM]

Wow, that's a toughie.

The first HOME console game was the Pong/driving/wild west shootout on the Coleco Telstar Arcade. It remember the gun game vividly, as the trigger broke and I had to fire by pulling back the hammer of the gun.

The first ARCADE game, that's harder. I want to say Asteroids, but those memories are a jumbled mess as to what I played *first*. I do remember playing a lot of Star Wars when it came out, but I'm sure I played something before that and I'm thinking it was Asteroids.

[MankeyMan]

The first game I ever played was Alex the Kidd, at a friends house. Sufficed to say, next Xmas I got an SMS.

[Lady Jaye]

The first game I remember playing was B.C. Quest for Tire on either the ColecoVision or the Coleco Adam (can't remember which of the two it was) at the school's infirmary. It was probably in 1983.

Back then, I was attending private school (I went to that school in grades 1 and 2). I actually lived at school (going home only on weekends), so getting sick meant spending the day at the infirmary. It probably was something minor like a cold, because I wasn't sent home. Or it could have been during gym period (I broke my arm half-way through grade 2, slipping on a sheet of ice in the school yard). But that's unlikely, as playing videogames with one good hand and with a cast is not a comfortable experience.

[kainemaxwell]

My first video games were that of my first system, the Atari 2600.

[sniperCCJVQ]

First Home console: Probably PONG even if i didn't remember anything about that, i'm sure that i play this before the TRS-80 Computer which i remember clearly (i even have a photo of that), but the Atari 2600 it's really the first real console that i play first.

First Arcade: I remember playing Pacman on a chair to reach the control panel.

[Kid Fenris]

I was about five, it was someone's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, and as the celebration was winding down, I walked over to meet my dad, who was playing Galaga on a tabletop cabinet. Just before we left, he let me put a quarter in, and I managed to get past the first stage by pounding on the fire button and wiggling the joystick randomly.

As the years went by, I became convinced that my father had been playing Galaga while I just screwed around with the controls on the opposite end of the table. My dad, bless him, didn't really remember the scene and neither confirmed nor denied his involvement. It was only recently that I realized he couldn't have been the one playing; the ship was actually at my end, so I was controlling it. And I found my sense of accomplishment yet again.

[nesman85]

smb1 for nes was the 1st game i played, smb/dh and captain skyhawk were my first 2 games that i owned and i got them at the same time.

[Queen Of The Felines]

Home: The good 'ol Odyssey. That's the Odyssey 1, the one with the plastic screen overlays and the way-cool rifle lightgun. I swear that has to still be at my parents' house somewhere.

Arcade: One of those old gun games that NE1 mentioned. Something about a safari hunt.

The first game I was addicted to was Scramble. There was a hole-in-the-wall hot dog place that had it, and I used to BEG my parents for hot dogs every night just so I could play that damn game. I'm sure they thought I was nuts. :)

Kristine

[BHvrd]

My first videogame was Pong on the Atari 2600 at one of the neighboorhood kids house. Every kid on the block was at his house, and I only got one chance to play it "cause my big brother kept socking me in the arm", but it was outta this world!

I had played various other arcade games previously, but I was too young to appreciate them, so really Pong was the first, or I should say, first that sunk in.

My parents would never buy me a 2600 "well they would have, but I was a little more into exploring woods at the time, and He-Man :D", so all I got to do was go to the neighbors house to play "not much though I really wasn't THAT into games at the time, just mesmerized." I remember Pitfall, Pacman, and many others clearly though, they were amazing!

Then one day along came the Intellivision. One of my best friends got one "we went wood exploring together, and were close", but hardly anybody went to his house cause they all thought Atari ruled, and didn't care about Intelli.

I played Lock 'N Chase, Dungeons and Dragons, Nightstalker, and a few others, and realized how advanced it was!

My parents finally broke down after my crying for a game system increased "I had grown a bit more, and was getting tired of the woods :D", and got me an Intelli "since at the time I preffered it over the 2600."

I enjoyed countless hours on that system!

So my first game that got me hooked was Pong on Atari 2600, but the first system I owned was Intellivision.

[TheRedEye]

My folks had a 2600 since right before I was born. I'd say starting at around age 3, I was playing that bastard daily. Off the top of my head, I remember having Defender, Missle Command, and Q-Bert. I know there were more, though...I specifically remember a skiing game of some sort. But Q-Bert was the shit back then. I used to play it endlessly, and I still don't think I've regained the Q-Bert skills I had at the age of 3. @#&% indeed.

ha, I just remembered something about Defender. I didn't really understand the strategy, I figured I had to just keep going forward and surviving. So I used to go down as low as possible and fly straight, so that nobody could hit me, until the planet exploded or something (is that what happens? the planet explodes?). I figured I left Earth's atmosphere and was at the next phase of the game...SPACE! Guess not, though.

...did I mention I was good at Q-Bert?

[Wavelflack]

Eh, I wish I had a more exotic answer (Death Race!), but alas, my first videogame experience was playing Combat at Sears. My first arcade game was Space Invaders, which I played at the YMCA while my older brother took swimming lessons.

For a small anecdote (other than the alternate Lore entry), I would say that when the Intellivision showed up as a Sears display kiosk (we still had no home games at that point), my brother and I went briefly nuts at the sight of "super combat" (armor battle) that it had running. After a picosecond of playtime, we both decided that we fucking hated Intellivision controllers, and went back in the line for 2600 Combat playtime.

My first "videogame" that I owned? "Hit and Missile", an electromechanical handheld version of Space Invaders. I loved that game, and I still own it (I have a second machine now). You would not believe how freaking complicated the innards to the game are! Gears and gearboxes, clutches, rods, motors, LEDs, lightbulbs, film strips, buzzers, and wires wires WIRES!

[Wavelflack]

http://members.aol.com/desioz/tomy.jpg

Hit and Missile

[Achika]

Pitfall on my Grandparents 2600. I thought it was so cool swinging on the vine and jumping over the pond. Hell, I'll admit, I had NO IDEA what I was doing. O_O

[ROBOTRON]

PONG

I was visiting Cleveland, Ohio Holiday Inn motel...they had a coin operated PONG machine...Me and my nephews never left it alone the whole time we were there. It was the greatest thing I had ever seen...at the time.

[Lady Jaye]

Hey, Joe may have started the thread, but he didn't answer his own question!!! Achika, d'you think that his first gaming memory was also on your grandparents' 2600?

[bizounce]

Duck Hunt on NES. It was at my Aunt's house, on Thanksgiving. Nintendo was super new at the time. That very same week my babysitter brought her Nintendo over and taught me how to get through Super Mario Bros. A few weeks later, I had my own NES.

[chocobokick]

Odyssey 2, the magical system my dad brought home from pipelining one day. We already had Lego's, trivia pursuit, and my first "grown up" record- Ghostbusters soundtrack.
I remember a matching game, a mining guy game, a bombing game, bowling, golf, etc.

[=physicalboy=]

I think it was something played on my old Spectrum 48K, probably 'Jasons Gem', 'Way Of The Exploding Fist' or something like that!

I kind of remember playing some 2600 games round a friends house when I was very young. Some sort of shooting game, Outlaw or something.....I don't know! :D

[Mr. NEStalgia]

The first game I ever played was SMB on the NES...Back then, I didn't play too much (As I was too young to be any good), so I watched my sister play for hours!

-=Mr. NEStalgia=-

[batmanlivesatmyhouse]

Pong. Don't remember it much, but there are pictures of me playing it when I was an infant. My goodness, I believe you needed a couple of D batteries and had to plug it in. Other than that, probably Pac Man, but I don't remember. The first game I remember enjoying was Astro Warrior for the SMS.

[Raedon]

I remember the first arcade games in my town (at a local a 6 year old could go) was at the skating ring. I remember there were 3 pinball machines and a Lunar Lander, Crash, and a Sprint 2. This was the first video game I ever played.. it was agianst my sister.

http://www.arcadeathome.com:8080/snap/sprint1.gif

[Savedman]

I remember my parents bought my brothers and I an Atari Pong system when it first came out. Those little squares kept us entertained for hours on end. I remember imagining that there were actually huge differences between each of the 4 settings. WOW! What an imagination!

[scooterb23]

First arcade game - most likely Pac-Man or Asteroids...although those actually bored me, that's when I found pinball :D

First console game - we had a dedicated Pong machine...I want to say it was called the Odyssey...I remember it being a bright yellow color...

[Zaxxon]

My first game I recall was the arcade game Sea Wolf circa 1976. I remember playing Breakout at a cousins house on their new 2600 after that. I remember playing lots of cool electromechanical games at hotel arcades back then. Is there a database website like klov.com that keeps track of all these EM's ?

[slapdash]

My first videogame experience was with Breakout; I don't know if it was the Atari version or a clone though. I was fairly young yet, so I don't remember a lot of the details, but I think it was "up north" and I was out to eat lunch with my uncle (I can't remember if I was visiting him alone, or if the whole family was up) at some bar/restaurant type place. I saw the machine and went over to check it out, and was transfixed. Luckily my uncle let me borrow a quarter (or more?) so that I could play a game (or more?). It was cool... I had no idea these things existed, and I dug it a lot.

Later -- that Christmas, or probably the next -- my uncle bought us the Atari Pong (maybe Super Pong; I can't remember the exact model), so my siblings & I played the hell out of it. Of course, seeing that it was just pong, we got a little bored with it after a while and it began seeing less and less use. Eventually it got put away long enough for the batteries inside to corrode, though I also remember attempts by another uncle to fix it, at least once.

It was a couple years later that I was finally able to talk my parents into getting an Atari VCS, and that's officially where I started collecting (I didn't realize it at the time, of course; but I'm a hoarder -- if I own it now, I probably will forever :-).

[Arqueologia_Digital]

The first video game i played was Galaxian in a NES clone in a friend´s house. I´m very impressed with that. Then i played (the same day), 1942 and Snow Bros. I was 5 years old and when i returned home i said to my mom: "I want a system nowwwww", and in my birthday i receive other NES Clone (here in Argentina there are very common, but now i hate them).

[hydr0x]

first console: mh i think it was robin hood on 2600
first arcade: some vertical scrolling shooter (i cant remember the name, i was about six years old back then :D)
first pc: digger (80x86)
first own game: super mario bros/tetris/nintendo world cup (nes)

[WiseSalesman]

digger OWNS! :o

[hydr0x]

yes it does :) and i still got it somewhere

[digitalpress]

Hmm. I THOUGHT I had answered this somewhere else - if I have, excuse my redundancy.

The first arcade game I ever played was Gunfight, played at a class trip to Space Farms. The class trip sucked, but the game room, adorned with pool tables, ping pong, and GUNFIGHT, was quite memorable, even to this day.

http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/images/G/cGun_Fight.jpg

The first home game I ever played was - yes, the Odyssey. I'm not sure which one I played first though I think we had the home game first. I'll never forget taping those plastic color overlays to our TV screen. My parents weren't real thrilled with that. It wasn't long before I had my OWN TV because they had heard that this game and other "pong" games would ruin the TV screen. w00t!

[Starcade]

Though my memory is shitty, the first I REMEMBER is SMB/DH, oh the fun i had sitting 3 inches away from the tv shooting helpless ducks.

[Daltone]

The first home game I ever played was...erm...I pretty sure it was a Lord of The Rings game that came on a tape and had a text interface and a still one colour graphic to show the scene. I was really young at the time, so I don't remember it too well.

In an arcade? I don't really remember. Playing Operation Wolf and some Marvel game (where you could be....spiderman, the Green Arrow was it? Some woman with a whip?) in Butlins comes to mind. Heh, I found the marvel game in Canada for 20cents a go the other year. That was fun.

Sonic was the first game that I really remember playing, although I think I had Robocop on the Gameboy before that. The first game i actually owned (that my parents didn't buy or anything) was probably Flashback on the Megadrive. I remember being stuck in the first two screens for ages because I didn't realise you could hang from ledges.
Doom or Raptor (shareware - of course) were the first PC games I played.

[Savedman]

Sears brand Pong. My brothers and I were in heaven!!!!

[Kidcritta]

Oh the memory is still burned into my brain @_@

It was H.E.R.O on the Atari Vader :P


My mum got one from a friend and her and i sat up all night
playing that sucker and we couldn't finish it!!!

Two days later i had 5 games and so on and so on .........
I have thought about games every day since!!!!!!!!!

[dreamcaster]

First game I've played....hmm.....

Actually, I've been meaning to ask you guys to help me out with this one. The first video game I'd ever played was this top down racing game. You guided the car to avoid crashing into oncoming racers from the right side of the screen. It was black and white only (no, it wasn't a b/w TV) and the controls were a large woodgrained brick that had a white joystick and white buttons, and it sat on the floor - it was too large to actually hold. That was the first video game I'd ever played - can someone help?? I know the description's a bit vague but hey - I was only three years old!

First computer game I played? That was probably Captain Comic for PC.

First video game ever owned? Super Mario All-Stars (SNES)

[Oobgarm]

Time to raise an old thread...

My first home game was Asteroids on the old 2600, while on vacation in Cleveland. The system could have belonged to my parents, but I think it was my cousin's.

The first arcade game I remember playing was Spy Hunter at the local bowling alley. I was barely tall enough to see what was going on over the steering wheel.

Once I was actually old enough to play and really understand what I was doing with games, I got an NES. And the first game I played on it? Duck Hunt.

[Super Mario Fan]

My first game was Donkey Kong on....I believe, the 2600. Then I got an SNES and my parents got rid of the 2600. :bad-words:

I guess as a kid I was kind of a retro gamer, playing a 2600 in'95.

[Azazel]

Mine was Galaga in the arcades.

[robotriot]

My first one was Bubble Bobble on the Amiga ^^

[Sotenga]

I've been playing video games since I was two. No lie. I really sucked at them, but I played them nonetheless. I can't remember my very first one, but there's this video tape of me as a REAL little guy, jamming on... Low-G-Man. Yes, in theory, Low-G-Man was my first game. It probably wasn't really my first, but damned I am if it was going to be my last. :)

[MegaDrive20XX]

my first game I remember well...I was only 3 years old...it was a Coleco Mini-Table Top of Pac-Man back in Christmas of 1983....I never had such a bond with a game like this...I wish I had one again....*sigh*

[Retsudo]

The first console game was PONG

The first arcade game. I think it might have been that racing game that guy was playing in "Dawn of the Dead". The 1978 movie of course. :D

[Mitch_Naz]

I think it was Super Mario Bros (nes), or Mario Bros (2600) - but more likey sbm.

[Leo_A]

Solar Fox on the Atari 2600. Been hooked ever since.

[TEXASGAMEPLAYER]

Asteroids at the arcade and VECTREX at home

[GameNinja]

Mine was Steel Empire or Sonic 2 for Genesis.

[Jasoco]

Asteroids on the 2600.. or was it Video Pinball? Or Fast Food. Either way, those were my firsts. I wish I could say Super Mario Bros. But no.. it was a 2600 game. Back when I didn't even know what a video game was. Just that in order to play, I had to beg dad to hook it up. Ahh.. to be young and 4 years old again.

[dreamcaster]

First game I've played....hmm.....

Actually, I've been meaning to ask you guys to help me out with this one. The first video game I'd ever played was this top down racing game. You guided the car to avoid crashing into oncoming racers from the right side of the screen. It was black and white only (no, it wasn't a b/w TV) and the controls were a large woodgrained brick that had a white joystick and white buttons, and it sat on the floor - it was too large to actually hold. That was the first video game I'd ever played - can someone help?? I know the description's a bit vague but hey - I was only three years old!

Since posting this, I've been able to determine that I was playing Grand Prix for the Atari 2600. However, I still can't figure out what kind of controller I was using.

Probably some third party thing. :o

[potatobob]

The first game i can remeber playing is duck hunt for NES and i was about three or four so i just held the gun on the tv screen and shot the duck.

[Nez]

Mario bros for the nes. Dont remember much just dieing a lot. First arcade game was NBA Jam I didnt go to the arcades till I was older.

[Hakkenden]

The Super Mario bros. and Duckhunt 2in1 about a year or so before Snes came out making me 5 or 6 yrs old.

[The_EniGma]

i'd say this maze dosdoom style game where u shoot men in coats and hats and u get an eletric hand or MK2 those are my first i think

[Jasoco]

i'd say this maze dosdoom style game where u shoot men in coats and hats and u get an eletric handI'd have to wager a guess it was "Rise of the Triad". Most of the enemies were men in coats and hats. And the "Electric Hand" was the "Hand of God". Only THE BEST special weapon ever created in a 3D game.

[Emily]

Its difficult to remember exactly, but my oldest memorty of a home game system was the Vectrex! My grampah had one since they came out(i was born in 86') he still has it now.He only let me play it once and i didnt get to see it again for like 12 years or more :frustrated:

My first arcade machine was Pac-Man, and the machine still stands in our locale laundo-mat :love:

[Ninja Blacksox]

I was about five, it was someone's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, and as the celebration was winding down, I walked over to meet my dad, who was playing Galaga on a tabletop cabinet. Just before we left, he let me put a quarter in, and I managed to get past the first stage by pounding on the fire button and wiggling the joystick randomly.

As the years went by, I became convinced that my father had been playing Galaga while I just screwed around with the controls on the opposite end of the table. My dad, bless him, didn't really remember the scene and neither confirmed nor denied his involvement. It was only recently that I realized he couldn't have been the one playing; the ship was actually at my end, so I was controlling it. And I found my sense of accomplishment yet again.

I'm sorry.

I have to say it.

That's a cute fucking story, right there.

My first game? Hm...

I believe my first arcade game was "Pac-Man" in its cocktail format. I seem to remember sitting on my dad's lap and wiggling the joystick around. My dad was a HUGE "Ms. Pac-Man" fan, though... So it might've been that one, instead.

My true love of gaming began when I grabbed the stick of the "Yie Ar Kung-Fu" cabinet at the Fuddruckers, though. I know that was the genesis right there. As soon as I saw Buchu's eyes light up upon getting kicked in the groin... That was when I knew I was in love.

As for consoles, I think my first game was "TRON Deadly Disks." If not that one, it was either "Night Stalker," "Carnival," "World Series Major League Baseball" or " Burgertime." I can never remember my family not having an Intellivision. And I definitely remember playing all of those games incessantly.

I also remember really wating to play both "Bomb Squad" and "B-17 Bomber," but my dad not letting me for fear that they'd be too difficult for a two year old. The man was right.

That shit is hard.

Yeah, I'm 23.

-A Boy

[SebasC]

That should have been Cookie monster on the Atari when i was like 5 or 6

[PentiumMMX]

My first game was "Pac-Man" for the Atari 2600

[mizarkgram]

First game I remember playing is Demon Attack for the 2600..... me and my brother were very young (I was 3) and our babysitter brought over his 2600 and we each had a go on the old girl.

First game I owned: Super Mario Bros. 2 My dad bought me and the brother a NES for christmas or sumthing. We had asked (or really wanted) the game Super Mario Bros. cause we had played it over at a friends house, but he brought back home #2, figuring that number 2 would obviously be better than number 1. We wasnt happy..... but in the end, I ended up rather liking that game....

First Arcade game I ever played: Arkanoid. We used to go on hockey tournaments in a neighbouring town, and the hilight of the trip wasnt the hockey, but the massive arcade they had in that town. They had a good 50 cabs back in those days (which whipped the shit outa our arcade, with its measly 6 cabs....) and our entire team used to go in there and burn out, spending all of the parents hard earned cash, but they really didnt care, cause they would each take turns watching all the kids, and while they were not on watch duty, the rest of them would go and sit at the bar and grill right next store.... oh the good old days

[EnemyZero]

I recieved a NES for my 4th xmas, so super mario bro.s was my first HOME video game...if you throw arcades in there then its diff, my dad took me to my first arcade when i was like 3..it was called the spaceport, and i dunno what my first arcade was...though

[Vigilante8]

My brother got a SNES when he was 6, i was 3, and i remember the first time i ever played it. i don't remember the VERY FIRST game i ever played, but the first games i ever played were:
Super Mario World
Donkey Kong Country
Link To The Past
Gradius III
U.N. Squadron

[rbudrick]

I don't remember the first one I played, but I do remember when we got our first Atari 2600...I had to have been 4 (guessing) and it was about (I'm guessing) 1982. My dad and sisters hooked it up and the first game I *remember* seeing in my life is Pitfall. I remember thinking, "We got a what? What's an Atari? What's a videogame?" I understood the concept pretty immediately, and though I was little, I picked it right up and started playing Pitfall. I knew there was a goal, cuz I had read the instructions (yes, I could read at 4...self taught...weird story, but involved a speak and spell), but I mostly liked to run into the brick wall for minutes at a time. I thought it was hilarious, and so did everyone else, so I kept doing it (it was a hell of a lot more fun than trying to get those 32 damn treasures!!

Not really sure what my first arcade game was, but it may have been PacMan or something. I remember the fiirst time I went in an arcade around 7 years old (funspot in Amherst, NH). In fact, in may not have been Funspot at the time, since it went through at least 3 ownerships before closing. However, I was blown away at the games. I specifically remember this weirdo dude who was very tall wearing white pants. He was playing Commando and his legs were spread very wide so he was level with the screen. My sisters and I laughed our asses off at that with our childhood senses of humor. The guy looked so stupid!

The first arcade game that REALLY blew my mind was Legend Of Kage. It was in a Pizza shop, Milano's in my hometown of Milford, NH. My sister and I adored that game...it was just so out there from what we could play at home and seemed very mystical to us...the graphics were so pretty back then! The next arcade game that really changed my life was Super Mario Bros. Vs. I could not believe that damn game. There and then I decided I was getting a NIntendo...probably 8 years old. My dad said if I saved up half (the deluxe set was $140 at the time), I could get it. It took me many months, but I did get it.....which is another looong story in itself for another time.

-Rob

[Algol]

The first arcade game I remember playing was some game where you controlled a boat going up a river and you had to avoid rocks, or something like that. I forget the name.

My first console games were Kung Fu and Monopoly on my cousin's NES.

[error.ini]

I'm 19 now, and i've been playing games so long that I don't even recall what was first. When we were young, my Dad liked video games so we always had some sort of gaming-type-console and we even had this thing called "ActionMax" (that might not be the name, but i'm pretty sure it is) which was a gun game that used VHS tapes. I really wished I kept that thing, I wonder if it's worth any money now.

[grimbal]

Ah memories :)

I know I got the gaming gene from my dad. The day the 2600 was released he bought one. I remember sitting in the living room floor with him and trying to play Combat and Air-Sea Battle. I also remember him buying the 5200 the day it was released.

Do you remember in Star Raiders for the 5200 you had that targeting computer? Whenever you took damage you could lose it. My dad loved that game so much that he actually took a black permanent marker and traced those crosshairs on the tv screen so that he would still know where he was aiming at. LOL

Boy did it screw with trying to watch regular TV though.

Sorry got off track a little bit.

[atomicthumbs]

There are 3 games that stand out the most, though I'm not sure which one I played first.

1) Combat for the Atari 2600

2) Mattel Electronics handheld football

3) Some car racing game (no idea what it was called) where you control an actual plastic car on this screen, and instead of a video screen, it's some sort of strange light-up image of a race track projected on the screen. I think I saw a similar racing game in the first Jaws movie (this one is tough to describe). Wish I knew what it was.

[Avenger]

Super Mario Bros. for the NES....after that i was hooked...prob the sam goes for a crap load of ppl that are on these forums huh ? 8-)

[LiquidX01]

Wow, this topic brought me way back.

Not quiet sure of the title and I have tried to find it online to no end andI havent come across it. It was a game on the 2600 which involved you as a cowboy and the objective was to wrangle all the animals on the farm or whatever it was...I vividly remember it, but cant think of the title, Its been 15 years...

[LiquidX01]

Sorry for double posting since I couldnt edit, but does anyone happen to know the name of that title Im talking about?

[Nz17]

That's a simple one -- it was a soft of Game and Watch-like handheld that I received when I was three when I went on a trip to Germany. You, a Tarzan of the Jungle-like man, were rescuing your girlfriend from the dastardly apes who had kidnapped her. It played across three different screens that folded closed together, sort of like a split compact. I still have it somewhere in the attic and have been meaning to get it out, clean it up, and display it like it deserves to be, for it was this game that set me down the path of righteousness, and began a love that lasts 'til this day. ;)

[grimbal]

Sorry for double posting since I couldnt edit, but does anyone happen to know the name of that title Im talking about?

My guess would be Stampede by Activision. The game moved left to right you roped different colors of cows. And there was one that was solid black that didn't run. If you let more than three of the cows get past you the game was over.

[LiquidX01]

Sorry for double posting since I couldnt edit, but does anyone happen to know the name of that title Im talking about?

My guess would be Stampede by Activision. The game moved left to right you roped different colors of cows. And there was one that was solid black that didn't run. If you let more than three of the cows get past you the game was over.

Yes!!! Thanks for the post. :D

[Bri79]

Astroids on Atari 400

[tom]

Didn't I post this before? getting old !!!

I remember in my local radio/toy shop in Germany they had a Odyssey on display. I looked at it, but in 1975 I was 17 and only interested in girls, sex and music.

Played Pong a few times on someone's TV.

Later, whilst touring with my band throughout Germany, I encountered Pac-Man in those cigarette fume filled bars where we usually played during the weekend. Played Pac-Man during our 'breaks'.

In 1981 I worked for the USA Army in Germany (Bremerhaven), and my USA buddy-friend had a VCS and ....Pac-Man. Loved it on the VCS. I thought the flickering of the Ghosts was very realistic.

Year later my boss got a VCS at work, we played River Raid to the max (yes, at work). That done it for me, I was totally hooked. I got DM 1000.00 and I got myself a VCS (included Phoenix), Ms. Pac-Man, Enduro, and Super Cobra. My wife and I, we played the system until midnight, and in my dreams I had a flickering display in front of me.

My first on computer was New York City on XE in 1985, and Dallas Quest. Couldn't get past that bloody snake for ages....

[DTJAAAAMJSLM]

I first played a video game when my uncle bought me an NES for my 2nd birthday in 1985. It came with Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, and Gyromite. I think one of the latter two titles was my first game, but I can't recall which one!

[max 330 mega]

i guess i cant really remember what my first game was , but i still remember the day when i was at this place called vidiots, it was like an arcade, but instead of stand up machines they had the home systems, you payed an hourly rate blah blah blah.
they had a special room with blacked out windows and a bigscreen with a neogeo in it. i remember playing blues journey, i was amazed, number one by the bright amazing graphics and colors, and two by the humongous tv it was on.... i wanted a neogeo ever since then and finally like 12 years later had the money to get one.. i think i was like 4 when i first played it.
it scarred me forever to be a neogeo lover!

[youngamer]

first game i remember was Pinball on the NES



atomicthumbs: the racing game youre talking about is Digital Derby.

[AFGiant]

I can remember playing Super Mario 3 for the NES. That was probably my first. When my dad first brought it home, I couldn't make it past the first goomba. I'd continually just run right into him, die, get a game over, start again, and repeat.
Among my first other games that I can remember playing were Star Wars and Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back for the NES (both of which I now own), Ghost Busters for the Genesis, Spot for the Genesis, and several others. Then my world of videogames evolved into the world of SNES, GameGear, and the likes of those.

[atomicthumbs]

atomicthumbs: the racing game youre talking about is Digital Derby.

Nope, that's not it. It was a full sized arcade unit that you sat down in.


And there were colors...

Oh, so many pretty, pretty colors...

Mmmmm, colors...

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

blades of steel
________
uhwh (http://uhwh.com/)

[dojosky]

Easy 4 me 2 remember ! It was ATARI PONG (at home) in 1974 when I was only 2 years old. My uncle used to work at ATARI for several years .... My first arcade experience has to be either asteroids or space invaders (B&W)... Color has to be Pac-Man and then it grew LOL ...my first arcade cab at home was MINT like new SPACE DUEL cab price: FREE but had to sell it few years ago :( my first home system (interchangeable cartridges) was Tandyvision (intellivision clone from Radio Shack) for christmas in 1982 I actually begged and bugged my folks for an atari 2600 for a while :( then in 1982 I wanted a Coleco Vision my dad said he couldn't find it so he got me the Tandyvision I wasn't too happy at first LOL. So 6 months later he bought a coleco vision for me =) I still haave both systems ! ....then in 1984 my brother brought a trs 80 color computer ... 1986/7 got my NES system my dad did his thing again he got me SMS I said that is not NES he said NES was sold everywhere I told him that I know a store that has NES in stock so my dad took me to toys r us to look at sms games we were the only ones in sms section meanwhile he saw many people at nes game section looking for games to buy hahahah LOL so he said return the sms and buy the nes so I did that LOL ... First game purchased with nes was GOONIES II (super mario bros. Came with the NES system (control deck edition) .....

[dojosky]

Easy 4 me 2 remember ! It was ATARI PONG (at home) in 1974 when I was only 2 years old. My uncle used to work at ATARI for several years .... My first arcade experience has to be either asteroids or space invaders (B&W)... Color has to be Pac-Man and then it grew LOL ...my first arcade cab at home was MINT like new SPACE DUEL cab price: FREE but had to sell it few years ago :( my first home system (interchangeable cartridges) was Tandyvision (intellivision clone from Radio Shack) for christmas in 1982 I actually begged and bugged my folks for an atari 2600 for a while :( then in 1982 I wanted a Coleco Vision my dad said he couldn't find it so he got me the Tandyvision I wasn't too happy at first LOL. So 6 months later he bought a coleco vision for me =) I still haave both systems ! ....then in 1984 my brother brought a trs 80 color computer ... 1986/7 got my NES system my dad did his thing again he got me SMS I said that is not NES he said NES was sold everywhere I told him that I know a store that has NES in stock so my dad took me to toys r us to look at sms games we were the only ones in sms section meanwhile he saw many people at nes game section looking for games to buy hahahah LOL so he said return the sms and buy the nes so I did that LOL ... First game purchased with nes was GOONIES II (super mario bros. Came with the NES system (control deck edition) .....

[XJR15]

My first stash of gaming goodness was an atari and about 7 games.

BUMP AND JUMP was my most favorite game.

[hades]

Pacman for the 2600. It took me a while to grasp the concept you don't move the controller around in the air to move.

Then it took me a while to figure out ghosts kill you. Yes, I'm that stupid.

[atomicthumbs]

It took me a while to grasp the concept you don't move the controller around in the air to move.



It was funny watching my little brothers play videogames that way (and remembering that I did the same damn thing).

[youngamer]

atomicthumbs: Could it be this? http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyerdb&subpage=flyer&id=368&image=1

[RetroYoungen]

My first game, like many others, was Super Mario Bros. on the NES. It's also my earliest memory: It was Christmas of 1986, and I was two, when my sister was given an NES with, what else, SMB. She let me pick up the other controller and play with her as Luigi (which is why I'm a bit partial to the little green sidekick). I didn't get very far (I was two, so not very surprisingly), but I was allowed to play it for as long as I could as often as I had time. So I would play for hours on end, only that game, the only weird thing is that it took me YEARS to beat it (I beat it in Super Mario Bros. DX for the GBC).

The first game I ever owned (that was mine, not shared with anymore) I said in my Lore entry: Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins for the Game Boy.

For some reason, I never got into the whole "move the controller to move the little dude on the screen" movement; maybe I was slow. :o

[atomicthumbs]

atomicthumbs: Could it be this? http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyerdb&subpage=flyer&id=368ℑ=1

That is DAMN CLOSE! I LOVE IT!!!! It's about the same except that instead of that flat car, the car was more like a plastic toy car. Thanks, I loved the pic!!!

[SebasC]

Cookie Monster on the Atari 2600...

[FlufflePuff]

Well, my sense of chronollogy from that time period is a bit off, but I remember the first two games that I played. The first was Crystal Castles for my 2600. God that was a sweet game. Although, I definately remember the graphics being a lot sweeter then they actually were. I also remember waiting in line for 2 hours to play Super Mario Brothers at my local arcade. Ahhh, good times.

[Fuyukaze]

My first console game brings back memories. Pitfall. I will never forget because it was the first game I ever got, and it was also the first game I ever took back. It came free with the cart case I got but, it wasnt a cart case for the 2600. Think it was for the comadore? First arcade game is completely lost to me. It could have been asteroids, but may have been pac-man.

[Neonsolid]

Gone.

[mediamachine]

Easy, first ever game i played was black hawk on the commodore 64, i have the rom on my c64 emu which i play occasionally.... first arcade game would be difficult to remember but i would say rampage, my aunt lives in derbyshire in a small villiage called hadfield (where the league of gentlemen was filmed incidentally!) and they had a small cafe with an arcade area downstairs and i remember my uncle and i went in there and they opened the room up for us and i was hooked on rampage for quite a long time from what i remember..

[videogameking26]

All I can remember I think it was Super Mario Bros on NES, it was on XMAS of 1985

[fergojisan]

Arcade Space Invaders. My friend Steve and I used to sneak in to our local racquetball club, and that was the only game they had. This must have been in 1979-80. I remember they even had a large piece of paper hanging next to the machine where the members wrote down their high scores

[El CiF]

donkey kong for game boy. i was 5 years old or something and i kept getting my ass kicked. it really pissed me off :angry:

[izret101]

Super Mario Bros. arcade cabinat. It was where my mom worked waitressing and i remember that i had to use a foot stool to see and use the play and the when i died i would run to my mom for more quarters.

[racecar]

i do remember playing duckhunt @ my neighbor house back in 1989 in hong kong ..it was really hot out that summer so i went to my neighbors(with kids my age) house(cause they have airconditioning and my family have electric fan) then i saw their nes system and they show me how to play.. it took me a good half an hour to get in to it....then i can't stop playing it ..until my mom came and drag me(i was cryingcause i still wanted to played the nes) home for dinner....the next day ..samething happened actually the whole summer the same thing happen, until my parent brought me a nes system in october of that great year of 1989..

[NintendoMan]

Well I got an NES with SMB/Duck Hunt for my 6 or 7th birthday. I also got Kung-Fu that day as well.
I am pretty sure I played Mario Bros first though.

[pixelsnpolygons]

No, I actually don't - because I was about 3 and it was in an arcade... it is all a blur. First game I actually owned myself was Alex Kidd in Miracle World for the SMS.

[underexposed+]

NES Super Mario Bros. was my first game I ever played. SMB also was the first game I ever owned a few months later.

Mark

[RockyRaccoon]

Carnival for the 2600.

My dad had an Atari. He let me play once when I was like... 4 or something. sheesh.

[Hollenscythe]

My room mate says he doesn't remember his but I sure as hell remember mine - Street Fighter II.

I'm a relative newcomer to gaming

[SKVermin]

The first home game would have been "Tennis" on the Telstar. The first console cart I played was Combat on a friend's Atari 2600, and the first cart that I actually owned myself was Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack on the INTV.

The first arcade game I remember playing was Space Invaders.

[Black_Tiger]

I can't rember which exactly, but the first games I saw or played were those dedicated units like Pong that had names on their faux wood finish like "Video Tennis".

One in particulr I remember being impressed by at a cousin's house was very similar to Ikari Warriors(but was too advanced to be my first).

[kirin jensen]

Even though this is an older topic, I had to reply: my first videogame memory IS playing Death Race! God, did it rule!
Home system-wise, I always jonesed for an Odyssey2. Even now, when I play the best of the Atari 2600, I end up going back to the O2. I've already decided I'm going to have write a homebrew for it. Anyway, I can't tell you the number of hours I put in at appliance stores playing their demo model. KC Munchkin sooo kicks Pac-Man 2600's ass.
A further note: you know, if you're going to write a homebrew or hack for a system; these are the systems to write for. Systems like the O2, the vectrex, the Turbografx - the ones with fewer games. The fans will be much more grateful.
Other great gaming memories: seeing Tempest for the first time and thinking this must be what it's like to be on drugs, trekking through the downpour to play a single quarter's worth of Wizard of Wor, seeing the Star Castle implode for the first time, my fave left-right shooters Spiders and Space Firebird, and the time I found a Star Wars arcade machine(vector) with hundreds of credits. All groovy.

[EricRyan34]

Super Mario for Nintendo

[jdc]

I came to video games rather late when compared to most people.

I never bothered until my friend who always owned a Genny bought the brand new launch day N64. One look at THAT....and I was hooked huge.

My first system was the N64 and game was Super Mario 64 along with Mario Kart on the same day.

I've since been forwards....and back. As I type this I've got Predator 2 running on one of my Gennys.

Gotta love it.

[unbroken]

duck hunt and smb

[Jasoco]

Come with me now, back to a time before time.

The year is 1986. It is Christmas day. We got our NES. Hooked it up. Plugged in Super Mario Bros.

We were addicted.

I remember the first time I got to the water world.. I did not know how to swim. It was my father who suggested repeatedly pressing A. I guess I should thank my Dad for teaching me how to swim in a video game. I literally remember the whole thing vividly. It had such an impact on me.

[Gzilla23]

First game i played was Operation Wolf in the arcade.

[SegaAges]

i still remember my very first, even though i wouldn't count it as my 1st experience. my first was one of those little donkey kong lcd arcade things. i still remember it to this day.

the home day care i went to when i was a kid had a nes. i remember countless days of playing super sprint and tearing it up. circus capers, king of kings, it was fun.

but yeah, my first was one of those mini arcade things that was donkey kong. i have no clue what all i did yesterday, but i can honestly remember that being my first

[XxMe2NiKxX]

Pacman.

[ZiggyStardust91242]

Maniac Mansion for nes

[GamblinMonkey]

Super Mario Bros. for the NES. I remember that it was actually the 2nd NES we got that day. My dad got it for my older brother for his birthday, but at first he got the one that only came with that old Nintendo strategy guide for some of the big titles and no game. Of course my brother wasn't very happy, and rather than buying a game for it, they took it back and got the Mario/Duck-hunt version.

I was amazed at how you could control that little guy on the TV by pressing some buttons. I sat and watched my older brother and sister play for hours until I finally got a turn (I was about 3 at the time). Needless to say, I was hooked since day one.

[JesterDev]

Pac-Man (arcade).

I was 6 years old (1980) and my uncle took me to an arcade. As the doors swung open for a brief moment I could see inside these machines with flashing colors and wonderous sounds that filled my senses. I couldn't wait to go inside but he wanted to talk with a friend first. I swear I was going to burst if I didn't find out what those machines where. As soon as he was ready I ran in before him and was mesmerized but the treasure I had found. I ran right up to the only open game and climbed up on the stool so I could see what was going on. I started to play with the joystick hoping to get it to work. My uncle just laughed at me as he popped in a quarter. I swear to this day everything sound in the whole arcade seemed to fade away as I heard that quarter find it's way down to the coin box, and create that one of a kind sound. He told me to press the player one button, and me not being sure which one it was I just started pressing both buttons. I played for about 30 seconds for my first death. Not sure what my score was, but I couldn't get enough. When I was done I ran over to what I remember was asteroids, but in my memory it looked allot like the Atari 2600 version..

[mr_jiggles_13]

cosmo on DOS. still play it to this day actually.

first arcade machine i played was pac man, my grandma had a gas station down the road that had one in and i played that every time i went to her house. then i got my GB(big original one) w/ pac man and tetris) and it all started rising from there.

[The Great Dane]

I don't really remember much about the game, but I remember when I was about 3 or 4 my Dad and brother let me play some racing game on some Atari system years ago. The game I have better memories of is Super Mario Brothers. I remember my mom took me to her friends house and her friend had a son who was a little older than me and he had an NES (right when they had just come out in the US) and he let me play SMB. WOW :eek 2: I was addicted right then and there. My mom actually got worried when she came into his room to get me to go home cause she said that my eyes were open wide and they were glued to the tv like I was hypnotized or something. Great stuff :D

[puxley]

My mom took my to a pizza plac ein Fort Worth called Crystals, which was owned by the Spencer guy of Spencer's Gifts fame. I was about 5, maybe 6....

They had had mechanical arcade-type machines for years, and they were the first to get new-fangled video games, too.

I saw a teenage guy playing this massive wheeled contraption, the original INDY 4 game from Atari. I was entranced - it was huga and mystifying. My mom let me play it, and I stood on a chair to steer while the teenage guy gave me tips and operated the pedals.

The race may not have lasted very long, but the memory stayed with me forever. I remember very clearly thenotion slowly dawning on me that I was actually controlling the little car on the screen. That was a totally new concept for me, I could only vaguely figure out what it meant....but the repercussions would be startling.

It took me years to finally identify the phosphor dot fossils in my brain, and find the name of the game.
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=I&game_id=8188

It opened a door to my imagination.

[Cirrus]

I believe it was either Pacman on the 2600, or Jungle Hunt at the local Chuck E. Cheese. Jungle Hunt is a pretty ruthless "first game." It is hard to expect a toddler to understand physics well enough to jump from rope to rope with any real accuracy on his first try. My parents should have put me in front of a driving game or something.

[GLASSJOE]

Combat for atari 2600

[esquire]

Arcade: Space Invaders. As a boy, my family went camping a lot and the campsites always had what they called back then "recreation rooms" with foosball tables, air hockey and pinball. I remember there was this one place in Holly, Michigan called Holly Hills and they got in Space Invaders and one other game, sort of like Sea Wolf where you look through a periscope and fire torpedos at ships moving across the screen. Well I pumped a lot of quarters into that Space Invaders machine back then. It was my first arcade experience.

Home: My first home videogame was a dedicated Pong machine by Atari. My dad brought one home one day and my brothers and I played that like crazy. The first "cart" game I ever played was some sort of airplane combat (Spitfire?) game on the Fairchild Channel F owned by a friend of mine. It wasn't until I got a 2600 for Christmas a year or so later that I experienced video gaming in my own home playing Combat.

[NESVIDIOT]

The very first game would have been a version of pong- it had 6 different paddle and ball games built into it.
The most memorable was the year Atari 2600 came out- my mom and dad were out for an evening leaving me home alone- I had a key to my dad's den and as soon as they had left I was in there rooting around when I found our christmas present- the new Atari 2600 with games packed in- so that night I got an early preview of what was to come on christmas morning!!
This was great until a couple days later mom found the den key in my pocket while doing laundry. Needless to say my siblings weren't too pleased with me when they withheld the Atari until new years to punish me for my actions...
I lived in the local arcade as a kid- played a ton of Donkey Kong but then again I played a lot of all the games I liked!!!

[jslithy]

I was thinking about this a few days ago, and it must be Pitfall for the 2600. At least that's the earliest memory I have of playing games.

[RedHerring]

Must have been Plague Attack for the Texas Instrument. I don't remember the game at all I just remember the name.

[RedHerring]

And by plague attack I obviously meant plaque attack.......

[Djfinny]

Arcade Game: At first I was sure it was an old black and white game in the mall called Bi-Plane way back in 1978 or 79. However the more I think about it, I believe I remember and even earlier 1st arcade game encounter...

It was at an arcade at the beach - this HUGE machine (OK, I was probably 5 or 6 so cut me some slack!) had 2 big metal "anti-aircraft" guns. The object of the game was to "shoot" the picture images of the jets that flew across the screen. It was probably light gun technology. When you scored a hit the plane was quickly replaced by a big red splotch, followed by an explosion sound. The game was timer based. It was probably 1974 or 75. My poor dad... I used my "pre-Star Wars" child Jedi mind trick 'powers' (aka - the WhAA!) to 'force' him to hold me up so I could reach the gun! The poor guys arms must have almost fallen off after 10 minutes of that! What a great guy!

On that note - lets here it for our folks, grandparents, or maybe uncles/aunts who, in some way, made it possible for us to get our first taste of video game bliss! :D

Can anyone remember the name of this old arcade game? I gotta call my dad and remind him of this story. :)

DJ

[shopkins]

My first home game was almost certainly Combat on the 2600. Not sure what my first arcade game was. I remember playing Phoenix with my dad, which is why it is still one of my favorite games.

[adams_ale]

The first game that I recall playing was back in 1983 or '84; born in 78. The game? Ghost Manor/Spike's Peak for the Atari 2600. I remember my older brothers playing the double ender and I asked to play. I'll never forget my first game experience, though I may forget the specific date. :) For the record I played Ghost Manor first and Spike's Peak second. Frogger was third. After that I can't recall. To this day I love the Atari 2600 and these three games.

[tuxedojoe]

The first game that I remember playing was Ninja Gaiden on the NES. My cousins were visiting from California for a while and they brought thier NES with them. I absolutely loved it! For the longest time I has no idea what it was called, but I remembered what it was like. Now that I am into retro games, I picked up this game and said to myself, "Hey! I remember this one!"

[Lord Contaminous]

Super Mario Bros. 1 (NES) The first week I played it, I always used to run into that very first goomba cuz I didn't know the science of jumping in video games.

[videogameking26]

I believe it was Sper Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt...but can't honestly recall because that was 21 years ago X_x

[EricRyan34]

Excitebike for NES

[drewbrim]

Console: Bump n Junp Intellivision
Arcade: Not sure, Yie ar Kung Fu (spelling?)

[gruzniak]

Like so many others my first game was Super Mario Brothers. Played it at my cousins house when i was 3 or 4.

[squidblatt]

It would've been something on the Intelllivision.

I remember all my Infocom games much more vividly and fondly.

[Howie6925]

pong with my dad when I was about 3 or 4.

[SuperNES]

either wheel of fortune or Ecco: the tides of Time on my genesis 3 which i still own after all these years. okay its only been 8 but still i almost threw it away a couple times.

[ghostangelofcky]

My mom got me a Nintendo NES when I was a kid and my first game was Dragon Warrior

[shoes23]

Jungle Hunt on the 2600. I must have been about 4 at that time.
Either that or possible Double Dragon in the arcades.

[vulcanjedi]

The first Thing I remember with an electric/electronic influence was being on vacations with the parents and seeing game rooms with pool tables and pinball machines. I think Disney World was my first game room. The one in the Contemporary was huge. Then in the summer of 73 I fell in love at the swim club. Twice actually. One was a girl and the other was a moving blip called Pong on a TV screen.

It's hard to compare Pong to what else was in the "arcades" at the time. Mostly flashy mechanical games and the introduction of Air Hockey.

But pong was on a TV. And up till that time the only interactive thing you could do with a TV was Winky Dink. Drawing on your magic static cling TV overlay :)

VJ

[DeuZZ]

Duke Nukem 3D.

My dad got it for me when I was like 5 :P

[Kamisama]

The first games i remember are Mafia, Operation Wolf and and a few others (forgot name x_X) on my Cousins C64 ^^

[DR. Luigi M.D.]

The first home console I had (don't remember where it was bought or buying the games) was a Colecovision and the game was Donkey Kong.

Incidentally, if you've played that game on that console you'll know that there's a third level. On all other versions of that Donkey Kong I've played there are only two. Does anybody know another more recent port of that original game that includes the third level. P.M. me if you do.

Arcade- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Awesome graffics the nintendo version pales in comparison. Since they moved that game from where I originally played it I've never found it again. :(

[Jasoco]

Incidentally, if you've played that game on that console you'll know that there's a third level. On all other versions of that Donkey Kong I've played there are only two. Does anybody know another more recent port of that original game that includes the third level. P.M. me if you do.No, there are four normal levels and three in other versions. Not 3 and 2.

The first opening slanted red girders and barrels.
The second with the red girders, elevators, gator things and bouncing thingies.
Third (Missing from all versions except arcade and Coleco) is the Cement factory with the conveyor belts.
Fourth and final is the "Pull out the rivets and make DK fall down" with the moving fireballs or whatever they are.

[ktulu]

well I can't really remember THE first game coz I was a 3-4 year old or smt, and my bro let me play some ZX Spectrum games, nodes of yesod, jetpack or smt like that :). The first games I remember a from a C64 cartridge, Silicon Cyborgs, Collosus Chess and Football.

[Rob of the Sky]

The first game that I remember playing was Super Mario Bros./ Duck Hunt. I was much better at Duck Hunt than I was at SMB. Even today, I'm better at Duck Hunt than SMB. The Zapper was awesome! I wish that there was a Zapper on today's consoles.

[Jibbajaba]

The first game that I remember playing was Super Mario Bros./ Duck Hunt. I was much better at Duck Hunt than I was at SMB. Even today, I'm better at Duck Hunt than SMB. The Zapper was awesome! I wish that there was a Zapper on today's consoles.

There is. It's called a "Guncon 2".

Chris

[mark1bdi]

First game seen (Manic Miner - Spectrum).
First game played (Smurf - 2600)
First game owned (Pac-man - 2600)

(smiles at how exciting it was to actually see a game on my TV)

[Someone]

When i was in the second grade my teacher would let me play a game called "lemmings" that involved guiding little white stick figures to the end of the level, If we were good students.
I got my best grades that year :D

[stimmyjimmel]

the first game i can actually ever remember playing was dream hous for the c64

[legov8]

Thats an easy question for me. It was Mario Kart 64 for the Nintendo 64. I love that game so much and I still have it to this day.

[Psyleid]

Snes - Donkey Kong Country

[Slate]

My first video game Experience Ever was in 1993 or 1994. I can't remember the name of the game, But it might have been Wrecking crew or Mario bros. It was an arcade game.

My first home experience (At home) was with Game boy advance & Harry potter and the sorceror's stone. It was 8/15/02. And, now that i look at it, The game has some pretty sweet graphics (For a game from 2001)

[legov8]

My first game was Mario Kart 64 which came with my first system the Nintendo 64.

[ozyr]

Man, I really don't remember the year or even the name of the game. It was when I was a small little kid. All I faintly remember (it's tough after you get to be 39+ years of age) is playing this game in a bar that my dad and a friend of his were at (for what reason I don't remember either).

All I know is that I was bored out of my mind. That's when I noticed an arcade machine sitting in the corner of the bar. It was that game were you have you ship on the top, and you are dropped depth charges onto the various submarines down below. I'm positive it was in black and white, with minimal sound effects. Of course, the subs moved at different speeds, and had scores accordiingly. I played a few games, and loved it. Ended up bugging my dad for more quarters to play it. I'm sure I spent hours playing the thing.

Funny thing is, I have a version of this depth charge game on my Palm Pilot- looks damn close to what I remember on that old arcade game. I really wish I could remember the year... It could have just simply been Depth Charge...

Ah well, that was my first encounter with a video game (arcade as such).

Hopefully that was the first, but I'm positive it was. If not, then my memory is worse than I thought! ;)

[Speedy_NES]

My first video game was on the Amiga 500...although there was no particular game that I remember as being the first. I do have good memories from games like Space Harrier, Dizzy (the same game as Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy for the NES, but then a different title), Celtic Legends, Dinowars, and many others that I can't remember the name of. Luckily, my dad is also a bit of a gamer, so he recently bought an old-school Amiga 500 again, since we never sold any of our games. So next time I visit my parents I'm going to get back lots of nice memories ;)

-Speedy

[Sammelhammel]

My first videogame was on the C64. It's called Rick Dangerous....an awesome game.

[diskoboy]

Jeez, I can't believe I'm one of the few people here who vivdly remember losing their video game "virginity".

It was a Space invaders arcade game. December, 1978. I was at my friends 6th birthday party, at the roller skating rink in Coloumbia, SC. I remember being the smallest person crowded around this 12 year old, playing this huge red, white, black and blue machine. As I eventually got closer and closer, I realized the boy was controlling a game on a TV screen. To a 5 year-old in 1978 - seeing someone able to play games on a TV was the coolest thing since sliced bread. Right next to the SI machine, was a Sprint 2 and a Fire Truck machine. But I was hoplessly addicted to SI.

I even remember the song that played in the background while I played, and my score of my very first game. The song was "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, and my score was 550 (pretty good for a 5 year old!)

[Master Chu]

It was the summer of 1985, and i was 4 years old. I was in our old Ford with my mom and we stopped to get gas at a local Kwik-E-Mart. There in the corner stood the first videogame i ever saw.....Millipede. :evil:

I started jumping up and down and yelling at my mom to shoot me a few quarters after i figured out what it "ate"...and she agreed because she knew the woman in there and wanted to talk to her for a while.

After about $3.00 in quarters mom got done talking and it was time to head to the grocery store. I'll never forget how painful that walk back to the truck was..... :(

But, i'm over it now, i've got my very own copy of Atari Millipede, and i've been hopelessly addicted ever since.....so hahaha. ;)

[sebastiankirchoff]

My first home console experience is with Super Mario World on SNES back in 1996. My uncle bought a brand new SNES and brought it to my house to show it off, and he let me play it a little bit.

My first ever game experience would have to be with computer games right around the time I started playing the SNES. I don't remember specifics, but I believe my dad let me use his computer and mess around with games that were on some old floppy discs.

[The 1 2 P]

I have no idea what the first video game I played was. I have lots of horrible memories from playing my first two consoles: the 2600 and 7800. Boy did those systems suck. As for early good memories, I remember Spy Hunter was one of the first arcade games that I was really good at and I played it when I was very young. I've been hooked ever since.

[garagesaleking!!]

there are 2 games in particular that i remember as my firsts. Sonic 2 and Toejam and Earl Panic on Funkotron for genesis, i cant remember which was first, but they are vivid in my mind as my first 2 at least, i also remember playing the power rangers for genesis too. Then i moved on to n64 and pokemon stadium and bomberman were my main games.

[Mia-Mo]

My earliest video game memory is being at a neighbor's house and watching TMNT on the NES. I wanted to play, but I was scared of bothering the big kids.

My grandmother had a Pac-Man cocktail machine from the Ponderosa steakhouse she used to own. Playing this with my grandpa is one of the few memories I have of him since I died when I was really young.

The first video game I owned was Super Mario 64 with an N64 I got for Christmas when I was nine.

[Breetai]

I honestly don't remember. It was probably either on the Commodore 64, TI-99/4a, or the Atari 2600.

[Rob64]

I forget which one I did first but I remember my first arcade and first home game.

My first arcade game was pacman at a pizza hut by me.

My first home game was the games my parents still have for the 2600. I forget if the very first one was Video Olympics or Pitfall, but I think Video Olympics.

[sonic-boom]

My first video game memory would have to be playing Sonic the Hedgehog, I can't really remember anything about it except the title screen.

[HurricaneAndrew]

The first video game I remember playing would have to be (vague memory) a racing game for Commodore 64 or a Texas Instruments computer. Not very sure, though. All I remember is that it was set up in my brother's room. It MAY still be in my basement somewhere. I may look for it after while...

[Game Freak]

I remember playing Tetris Attack with my mother. She would always beat me of course, but now i can beat her 3 times over >:E

The first game I bought with my own money was a Grape GBC and a copy of Pokemon Red. Gooood times.

[vivaeljason]

Pac-Man for the Atari 2600. I was maybe 4 at the time (this was 1988). My mom got it as a hand-me-down from her sister and she gave the system to me.

Not long after, we got an NES.

[Nebagram]

Combat for the 2600, used to play it loads against my brother. Also video pinball. :) First one I played that I owned and can actually remember was likely Alex Kidd in Miracle World, awesome game. :)

[vivaeljason]

Oh, and my first arcade experience was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I had a blast as Leonardo.

[kandied91z]

pitfall/pacman 2600 but in my own era it was standing at the nes display with excitebike... That first nintendo christmas was like no other... might as well had been a red rider bb gun under the tree! :)

[PentiumMMX]

I think I'll go a little further in-dept than I did in my previous post.

My very first game ever, and first game on a console, was, as I mentioned in my last post (Nearly 6 years ago...wow, I've been here for a long time), Pac-Man on the Arati 2600. It may be hated by just about everyone for not being an arcade-perfect port, but I still look back on it fondly; it was good for it's time.

The first game I can remember playing on a PC was Reader Rabbit 1. I loved that game as a kid; it probably being my most-played PC game back then...until I discovered Ancient Empires when I was older (Which, I admit, I still occasionally play Ancient Empires because it was that damn good).

My first game on a handheld system was Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins. It left a big impression on me, and was what made me decide to get a Game Boy Pocket over a game.com, which was a wise choice on my part.

I believe the first game I bought with my own money was Donkey Kong 64. I played it to death, and even though it was frustrating as hell, I kept at it until I beat it. Finally beating it, coming close to getting a full 101%, was one of the most satisfying moments of my childhood.

[Fatalstar64]

I'm not sure either when I was like 5 played sonic and mario all the time at friends houses, first console I ever owned and game though? NES and Super Mario Bros 3.

[Baloo]

I want to say my first game was one of these: Mortal Kombat I or II, Paperboy, or Sonic 1 on Sega Genesis. Hard to say though, the former two I remember playing the earliest.

[gum_drops]

Tarzan for the Colecovision. Its also the first game I beat.

[ezbman]

My earliest is the 2600 playing donkey kong and yars revenge. Also spent alot of time in my Uncles garage playing on his Donkey Kong Jr arcade machine.

[Shellshock!]

First arcade played: probably Pac-Man. I was around 10 years old and somehow managed to clear the first stage, and thinking I had beaten the game I walked away celebrating.

[BiggerBoo]

My VERY FIRST game system was a Philips/Magnavox VIDEOPAC, for which I had one game - it was called PICKAXE PETE - and I LOVED IT. The system originally belonged to my mother as a child, and I still have the console. It is, however, out of commission. :(. I'm working on the research it takes to be able to repair it, though!

Other than that, my FONDEST memory is opening up my very first OWN console, a Sega Genesis I opened on Christmas '94, a bundle with Sonic 1, a game which I absolutely wore out as a kid, which is funny, because I specifically remember asking for an SNES all year that year, and I never did get one as a kid, I had to accrue SNES time at my friends' houses. At first I was pretty disappointed, disoriented, but eventually I grew to love the Genesis so much, that for a time everything else pretty much was out of my mind.

[DOAsaturn]

This is actually pretty hard for me to recall the absolute first. I remember going to friends houses that had the Atari and the NES. I remember Super Mario Bros. and I remember a football game for Atari (that had like five men aside). I also remember an Atari game where you ran around a screen with a shopping cart, grabbing airplanes whizzing by or maybe dodging them, I don't recall lol. My best guess is that these were both Atari Football and Keystone Kapers. I also remember playing Centipede and Millipede in arcades and Donkey Kong in arcades and at someone's house.

My first game was Super Mario Bros. though, I remember the sheer joy of opening that NES on Christmas Day.

[Flashback2012]

I've really no idea but if I had to hazard a guess it would have been either Speedway, Gunslinger, or Combat for the Atari 2600. I don't remember which one we played first but I remember we got those three games with our wood grain system when I was a little kid.

[onReload]

I was born in '87, and I'm not sure what the earliest specific game was, but it may have been Duck Hunt, when I was around three or four or so. I remember that also being one of the only video games both my father and I have understood and enjoyed.

Others include Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Land (my male babysitter would bring over his GameBoy and we would be fascinated with it), and Super Mario Bros. 2...which we never beat.

Basically, a lot of 8-bit Mario...and a fuzzy recollection of Contra somewhere.

[tentencanidae]

Pitfall on my Atari 2600. Then came Asteroids, Centipede, and The Empire Strikes back. Was born into Atari, but quickly diverted over to the Nintendo Age when I was 5.

[Zama]

The very first video game I ever played was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the SNES back in late December 1997. :) It was a great time to be a kid. xD

[AllP0werToSlaves]

January 1993; my 5th birthday :) That day/evening will go down in infamy as the start of my gaming career, thanks to my parents who bought me a Sega Genesis. It came with Aladdin and WWF Super Wrestlemania. I was blown away! I had never seen anything like it before, and I was hooked on Aladdin for weeks. I eventually started renting games and the rest is history. Oh, how I miss the early 90's.

[BioHazardx3]

My first ever games console was the Super Nintendo, I remember my grandfather giving it to me and then my father setting it up. It came with Super Mario World and two controllers so my father and I started playing it.

I was 4 at the time so I was amazed by how colourful the game was, being amazed with using the feather to fly and also being able to use Yoshi. xD

It took me a while to get good at the game, to this day this is one of my favourite games.

[adsfgk]

The first console I ever had was my cousin's Genesis, which I got back in about 1995. I can remember playing Sonic 2, Ecco the Dolphin, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors a lot.

[Tsar]

My first game I remember playing was wonderboy(I was four years old at that time)

It was not my last game:p This was back in 93 but I do remember at the same time playing mortal kombat 1 by a corner cafe arcade machine.

My first console was a "golden china" in my country it was the only nes we got here and dit was a fake:( but still had a great time with it:D

[NME]

My first console was the Atari 2600. Opened it up Christmas morning, 1979. I remember opening a few games also. I belive they were Combat, Baskeball, Breakout and Blackjack. The next few Christmases brought me Space Invaders, Popeye, Kangaroo, Yars Revenge and Missle Command. To me those were the greatest gaming memories.

[Collector_Gaming]

god i don't remember cause i been playing since i can remember lol

Probably if i was to take a guess. It would be either Pac Man for the 2600 or Asteroids for the 2600 or Pitfall for the 2600 or Combat for the 2600.. one of those

[jammajup]

A very good question indeed...i can often remember the first game i loaded up/played on a newely purchased system thats quite easy
Spectrum 48K -JetPac
Amiga-Sidewinder
Master Sys-Ghost House
Megadrive-Altered Beast
Snes-F-Zero
But the very first game on any system will be Atari 2600 at a school friends house but which game exactly iam not sure as it was early 80`s... either Combat,Peles Soccer,Space Invaders or Pacman i know he had those four.

[SpaceHarrier]

I'm pretty sure it was Duck Hunt, but it was definitely something on the NES at my cousin's house, several months before my parents got me one.

[Polygon]

My earliest memories of playing games were at my cousin's house on the 2600. I vaguely remember playing Frogger and Pitfall.

[FrankGarret316]

I can't remember the VERY first, as I was probably around age 5, but it was Famicom when I was in Japan, and I remember games like Pitfall, Super Chinese, Mario Bros, Rolling Thunder, bunch of weird games people here wouldn't have heard of.

[jwmollman]

I think the first video game I remember playing was Super Mario All-Stars.

[kafa111]

Super smash bros on my friends N64!

[That Book Nerd]

I'm 95% sure that it was Dragon Warrior, on the NES.

[buzz_n64]

god i don't remember cause i been playing since i can remember lol


This^^

Most likely it was on my brother's Atari 5200 (now mine). Pitfall II, Dig Dug, Pac-Man, Galaxian, Kaboom, Qix...

I distinctly remember going over to the neighbor's house to play Super Mario Bros. for the first time, and loving the hell out of it. (later got my own with a NES)

[ANDYARKLAY]

My first videogame was biohazard 1 .Now i'm biohazard/resident evil collector

[Gamevet]

I believe it was Kee Games Tank, at the local roller rink.

[Snesguy666]

Starwing Super nintendo entertainment system one fateful Christmas morning ^^

[duetzFanz1]

The first video game I played was over at my cousin's house. It was called Pro Wrestling. I always played with King Slender. Love the game to this day because it got me started on videogames.

[extra_anchovy]

this thread lies. I don't remember my first videogame

was freaking young though maybe 2 or 3. my family only had a 2600 back then, I think it would of probably been Space Invaders. could of been a number of others but I'd say Space Invaders is most likely as one of my earliest memories is my dad playing that game

arcade - possibly Snow Bros

computer - possibly Repton on BBC

[mb7241]

I can't believe I didn't see this thread and reply earlier o_O ...

My first home video game was Jr. Pac-Man for the Atari 2600. I still remember my mom and dad sitting me up on the bar in the kitchen, where the TV and the Atari were hooked up, and my mother put the joystick in my hand. I found the game quite fun, of course, being but a few weeks shy of my 3rd birthday (this being either August or September '88). I remember playing the heck out of this and Space Invaders, posting 5-digit scores on Jr. Pac-Man before my 5th birthday. In 1989, concurrent with my Atari days, my brother let me play Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, Baseball (black-box Baseball), and Bases Loaded on his NES (and later, Tetris, Zelda, and Metroid).

The first arcade game I ever played was Super Mario Bros., on a PlayChoice-10 single-monitor cab at one of the local laundromats (this would've been probably 1989 or '90). It took me until World 3 to finally lose all three lives (of course, it helps having had some experience playing SMB at home).

Because of these early experiences, I was a pretty die-hard Atari and Nintendo fan back in the day, even all the way up until 2002, when I finally bought a (used) PlayStation and Final Fantasy VII and VIII. I'm still a gamer, then and now :) .

[nameless hero]

Prince of Persia on the 286 my mom got for free. If we´re strictly talking videogames, the multicart that came with the (ugly european) Atari 2600 we got slightly later.
First Arcade was Wonderboy in Monsterland, which stood in a holiday camp in the East of Germany. Not many Arcades in Germany...

[Cass]

Super Mario Bros. NES. Played it at my cousins' house when I was 4. I was enthralled, it's all I wanted to do, and they didn't even like it. So, Christmas that year they gifted it to me. It was a little dated by that point, but I didn't even need a new console until the Nintendo 64.

Good times...

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

It was October 1998, and I was very sick at Vanderbilt Hospital with an asthma attack. All night, I lay on a folding bed. I needed a nebulizer and had to throw up a time or two. But one of the greatest heroes in the room that night was not in the room at all - he was in Japan. His name was Shigeru Miyamoto, and he was responsible for writing a game called Super Mario 64. I may have been sick, but I was having a blast on this thing. Pretty soon, I asked for a video game myself - I got a Sega Genesis (my family was cash strapped) with Eternal Champions, Justice League Task Force, and Williams Arcade Classics... but the Genny was soon traded out for a Nintendo 64, and put in a drawer in my grandparents' desk... and the Nintendo 64, was, in turn, quickly replaced by a PlayStation by the end of 1999, which saw my first game I ever became addicted to... Crash Bandicoot Warped.

[Colorado Rockies]

The first videogame I remember playing was Tetis for the gameboy. The fist videogame I ever owned was Dr. Mario for the gameboy.

[superfamicast64]

My first videogame was Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on the Sega Genesis. Sonic 3 still remains as one of my top favorites from the entire franchise. I remember seeing my cousin play it, and I was instantly hooked. Even as a 3 year old, I just had to have it.

[shifted]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World (in-built into the SMS) followed by Taz-Mania on SMS. Always fun to play it even today. :D

[klax]

Animal Crossing Gamecube

[TheShireGamer]

For me I remember this vividly, the first game I played was a link to the past (which also happens to be my favourite game of all time), I remember specifically being left of Links house in the narrow trail in the trees and I was running into them not knowing what to do, funny how long its been, I was probably about 4-5 years old then and Im 18 now so.

[Genesaturn]

Oregon Trail on Apple II was my first game...when I was in elementary school we used to get to play it if we finished Typing Tutor in time! ..if PC games don't count..then Super Mario Brothers :)

[elmsa114]

Lucky for those who only have a few years of memory bank to search, for someone like me with decades to go through this is a hard one….I think it’s a toss up between super Mario bros and donkey kong

[Genjackson]

Pitfall on the Atari was my first played.

I got my first games in a cardboard box for Christmas one year (an NES and like 10 games) Super Mario Bros. was my first owned game played.

Megaman 6 was my first and only game ever bought new. (toys r us)

[Darth Binks]

My mom had an Apple IIe back in the day. We had two games for it- Frogger and Threshold. I played the crap out of those games!