We who grew up with games

I feel I grew up in the very beginning of electronic game development on this globe. It's been a pleasure indeed. Started all the way back with the first "Game&Watch" machines, C64, Nintendo, Sega Master, Sega Megadrive, Gameboy, Lynx, Gamegear, Super Nintendo... then I got pretty much caught up in life with other things and lost contact with the gaming world for a while. Now there's been Saturn, PS2, Dreamcast, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA... and for the coming PS3, Xbox 360 etc, not to mention all the PC games and online games....

I think I started with traditional RPG's actually, back at the time when people actually got together physically with books, papers, dices and created worlds and adventures by talking with each other. Then RPG live going out in the woods or the city with many people playing different roles dressed up like robin hood, merchandisers, knights and bandits, haha, those were fun times.

Sure has been many fantastic moments with games in my life at least. Great deal of fun. I could go through a loooong list of games and favourites of different times that all had me stuck for hours and hours.

How about we share some favourite game titles and what we like(d) about those games.

I'll go first with Nintendo's ole time classic: Ballon Fight

One of the first Nintendo games real funny for two players. Both cooperation and competition possible. Had me laughing with friends too many times. I remember the music was kinda funny too.

I feel I grew up in the very beginning of electronic game development on this globe. It's been a pleasure indeed. Started all the way back with the first "Game&Watch" machines, C64, Nintendo, Sega Master, Sega Megadrive, Gameboy, Lynx, Gamegear, Super Nintendo.

Wow, that does take me back. My very first game machine was a Commodore Vic20 and the cartridges plugged into the back of the keyboard.

I too had many great gaming moments back in the day. My favourite game from that era has got to be Wonderboy III: The Dargon's Trap. This game just kept me going for weeks. It had, for the time at least, beautiful graphics, an involving storyline, many just out-of-reach areas that could only be accessed as you progressed in the game. It was the most addictive game I had ever played prior to GTA.

It was just the other day that I was thinking about all my favourite "classic" games. Games such as Shinobi, Ghouls'N'Ghosts, Psycho Fox and Probotector (Known in the States as Contra). Ah, memories.

Nowadays my favourite games are all to be found on Xbox and PC: Halo and Halo 2 just take the cake for me. Also making the list are Spiderman 2, for the freedom to just swing idly around a huge city, GTA San Andreas and Call of Duty.

Hey,

Ive been playing games since the Atari 2600. However, it was my first purchase of a PC that turned me into a gaming freak! Yep, I couldnt get enough of 'Pools of Radiance' on my brand new state of the art 386. (Woohoo!) My husband and I would play for hours, sometimes until the sun came up.

Nowdays, we are the epitome of folks who "play too much". We play games on our PC, XBOX, PS2, Dreamcast, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, and Super Nintendo. Crazy huh?! The games that I have either just finished playing, or are currently playing are: Half-Life 2(PC) Halo 2(XBOX) Gods of War(PS2) Super Puzzle Fighter(Nintendo DS) Untold Legends(PSP). (Ive had HL2 and Halo2 since launch day, but I had to start both of them over due to hardware crashes. )

What do I think the best game of all time is? I would have to say Half-Life. To say the game is astoundingly great is an understatement. It certainly changed the whole genre of FPS and was a great influence for the next greatest game HALO. I really prefer role playing games(especially since I used to play pen and paper D&D), but now days I will play anything that is truely a good game. One of my goals in life is to gain full access to every single company booth at E3. OMG, talk about heaven!!

I hear they have a clinic for game addicts like me, but Im not going!!

Originally posted by Jeremiah25

Wow, that does take me back. My very first game machine was a Commodore Vic20 and the cartridges plugged into the back of the keyboard.

I also started on a Vic 20,it came with the programming codes for a few games and you had to type it all in,one mistake and you had to go through line by line...

The best PC game ever was Frontier Elite 2, by David Braben.You started with a hundred credits and a small spaceship and you could become a trader,mercenary,Imperial agent etc.The star systems were all in their correct places relative to earth and you could go as far as you liked if you had fuel.I was absolutely addicted to it for years,but I've upgraded my computer a couple of times and the old floppies won't read anymore...Gee I miss it.

Just got Halo2 last week,and have been putting in the hours on that,great to be able to man the guns on the Warthog instead of driving...so cool.

I got into gaming when the nintendo came out. I was 7 and my first game was super mario bros. 3. I fell in love ever since. After that it was sega with sonic the hedgehogg, general chaos, jurassic park, and so many other addicting games. However my passion for video games didn't come until the nintendo 64 came out with duke nukem, 007 golden eye, and perfect dark. I could never get enough of first person shooters after that . Now i'm largely into both halos, republic commando, brothers in arms, and a few others that i aspire to be ulimately great games with un-endless fun. I have a softer side of gaming that was exposed though as well with games like Zelda, and Fable. But i have to give the best game ever to Halo 2. Its the most involving, epic, moving and "put you in the place of the character" type game i've ever experienced.

Ive had the following systems:

magnavox odyssey 2
nintendo
super nintendo
nintendo 64
dreamcast


Ive had tons of games over the years, the only systems I have left are the odyssey 2 (circa 78 baby) and the dreamcast.

I now play some pc games. I believe over the times I have played nearly every game system at least once. The only one I never tried was one of those old neo geo's....

-Best game on Nintendo: Original Final Fantasy... should not have sold that one.. eep.
-Best on SNES: cant remember, had tons.. mortal kombat 2 was fun...
-Best on Nintendo 64: goldeneye or perfect dark. great games
-Best on Dreamcast:Seaman. hilarious.

I still have all original boxes and manuals for the odyssey 2.

For you young folks the pioneers of gaming started with extremely simple codes. Before people started writing games like "nibbles" in Basic/Qbasic language on the DOS platform for PC, the evolution went from Commodore to Amiga in all kinds of serial numbers and I remember it took like half an hour to load a game like pac-man from a tape recorder connected to the C64 keyboard. It's really fantastic how the games and software has developed during these 20+ years.

Just have to name some favourites in different categories:

RPG
Final Fantasy has been around for I don't know how long, and it's really one of the greatest. I'm still playing FFX on PS2 but I remember the 1,2 & 3 ones that were really revolutionary at that time. Also one early one that got less attention but was equally great and addictive was "Fantasy Star", I think a new version came out just some year ago. Then there was "Seiken Densetsu" or Secret of Mana as it was called in English. Came out 1994 and you could play 3 players at the same time... in an RPG..! With outstandingly cute graphics, music and story. I still recommend that one for ROM download with a Zsnes emulator these days since it's truly a beautiful creation. Then there's Zelda of course... ah... from the first NES version to Majoras Mask and the new ones coming out today, my god. Pure fun.

Action
This genre is pretty wide. Some of the good oldies I played I don't remember the names of. If Mario belongs to action than thats sure one of the goodies. Goonies, Castlevania, Probotector, Bionic Commando, and a whole bunch of shooters that were all great fun. And then there was Metroid. OMG, that game was a revolution back in the 80s or when it came out. Running around by aliens, upgrading, shooting the heck out of ugly monsters, and it just didn't end. Traps, bonuses, hidden features and that one had me running over to a friends home for a whole summer vacation and long after, haha

Simulators
As games developed into 3D the whole thing got a new boost. Games like Spectre 3D came out, Wolfenstein, Doom, Elite, Super Mario Kart (!!!), Pilot wings.. All of a sudden we could run around in more or less realistic worlds and explore a whole new dimention. Along came flight simulators, space simulators, golf simulators and whatever simulators... My first game career ended pretty much when Doom came out for PC. By that time I'd played everything I got my hands on on all machines available

Online Gaming
Now here's where I came back after the education finale ended, I had got my ass over to Asia and got myself a respectable work, wife and lifestyle. In China when young people are bored they go to netbars, unless they have a computer at home of course. Early on in China I also spent some idle days in netbars to check out the culture over here, and games it was, all over yes. Starcraft became Warcraft, that turned into World of Warcraft... Runescape, and my absolute favourite even at the moment: Knight Online, all provided massive worlds to discover and conquer.

Some additional all time favourites
Hard to say, but here's a bunch beside the ones mentioned above:
Civilization, Sim City, Sam & Max Hit's the road, Ice Climber, Zuma, Star Wars Tie-Fighter, Street Fighter, Double Dragon, Tekken, Dune 4000, Rock & Roll Racing, Counter Strike... etc etc.

Much to say about all of em. I'll pop in more later.

Originally posted by Far Out Man
I also started on a Vic 20,it came with the programming codes for a few games and you had to type it all in,one mistake and you had to go through line by line...

OMG that's right. I remember. I must have spent hours diligently typing in every symbol, making mistakes and starting again. It used to make me insane!

It was all worth it, though, when I finally made that slalom game. Look! He's going through the flags!!!

Originally posted by chinalurker
I remember it took like half an hour to load a game like pac-man from a tape recorder connected to the C64 keyboard.

Oh yeah. And when it was nearly loaded, half the time there would be some inexplicable error, or it would simply freeze. Remember the psychedelic colours that would flash in lines across the screen while it was loading? Good times, good times.

I'm showing my age here but how about Intellivision baby??? Yeah!!!!

I rocked at baseball with the little stick figure guys who ran so slow you could go to the kitchen to get something to eat and get back before the guy finished his homerun trot.

Peace

Originally posted by Dr Love
I'm showing my age here but how about Intellivision baby??? Yeah!!!!

I rocked at baseball with the little stick figure guys who ran so slow you could go to the kitchen to get something to eat and get back before the guy finished his homerun trot.

Peace

Intellivision? You are a mere fetus!!!

Try:

PONG!


I mean THE Pong, the entire system was just one game with several variations. PONG!!!

Why has Atari not been mentioned?

I think PONG was Atari if I'm not mistaken.

I used to have a ton of those handheld games that were nothing but little tiny blinking lightbulbs.

Peace

Originally posted by Dr Love
I think PONG was Atari if I'm not mistaken.

I used to have a ton of those handheld games that were nothing but little tiny blinking lightbulbs.

Peace

No No No, this was the very first console available of any kind. It was a freestanding console that did nothing but pong. Im talking 1977-78 here.

OMG, other oldies around besides myself??

C64 was the bomb back in the day. Before that was the Apple IIE (remember, big 6" floppy disks, and alot of games made by Microsoft when a young Bill Gates was still a partner?)

Another system we had, in the early 90's was called Neo-Geo, with credit card size cartridges for the console. That system didn't last very long, heh.

Originally posted by skippytjc


No No No, this was the very first console available of any kind. It was a freestanding console that did nothing but pong. Im talking 1977-78 here.

Yep that was on the system before the one I mentioned. I cant remember its name.

My first game system, still have it, my Atari! Play Pac Man, Missle Command, Barn Storming, love it! Then Nintendo with Mario1-2-3 and Duck Hunt, hate the dog that laughs when you miss. Super Nintendo, still play Mario, Zelda, and Star Fox. Then my PS1, replaced by PS2, love Nascar Games and the Final Fantasy Series. Now my Xbox is cool, love Fusion Frenzy and Evil Dead: Fistfull of Boomstick, along with DDR Ultramix.(My fav of all time, play it for hours! I know, I'm a loser)

Also play Pong on my PC, so cool, so entertaining, like Araknoid(Niontendo!) and Super Breakout.

Originally posted by nathraq
OMG, other oldies around besides myself??

C64 was the bomb back in the day. Before that was the Apple IIE (remember, big 6" floppy disks, and alot of games made by Microsoft when a young Bill Gates was still a partner?)

Another system we had, in the early 90's was called Neo-Geo, with credit card size cartridges for the console. That system didn't last very long, heh.

Ah, the Apple IIE. It would take several NASA computers working together in tandem to calculate how many hours I spent playing the original Police Quest, not to mention Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego.

As for the Neo Geo, I remember how much they hyped the fact that it was 24-bit in an era dominated by the 16-bit consoles. That, and the fact that the controllers were bigger than the console itself, which here in Australia cost about $1200, with games seeling for about $400 each if you could find them.

age 3-4: Atari
I remember the superman game was really hard, and I had this one where you could dog fight like a big pink airplane against 3 helicopters, and a racing game.
age 4-4 1/2: NES and Sega Masters (CHOPLIFTER OWNED!)
Mario 2 and 3 were so awesome use to come home and play those every day after school. Can't forget excite bike either, i mean damn you could build your own race track and then race on it all in 8 bit!


age 9: SNES and Genesis
Let see there was super mario world, sonics, and two of my favorite games ever, Shadowrun and Phantasy Star IV if you don't know what they be then be sure to check the links, those games need to be remade for the new consoles, I heard they are making Shadowrun for xbox360 and it'll be a FPS. Thats going to kick serious ass!
Also anyone remember that doom style FPS for genesis, i think it was called Zero Tolerance? that was hella awesome!

age 13 or so: 3DO, PSone, SegaSaturn

Remember Battle Arena Toshiden? lol My favorite was the 3DO too bad it went to crap, Some seriously good games that i wish I could play RIGHT now are Syndicate, Star Control II, Gex, The Horde. 3DO was going to come out with and expansion system but they went to crap Sega Saturn was cool too. Also I remember having the sega 32x and the sega cd, i think 3do was out before any other 32 bit system or either it was a 64 bit one, I always wanted the atari jaguar just for that highlander game.



and now its just ps2 and pc dunno if i'll get an xbox360 but i'll get a ps3 for sure

[edit on 16-9-2005 by Lysergic]

I grew up with board games. snakes n ladders, monopoly, taboo, and then came along nintendo, the very first one. I had one, I will never forget the theme song...

we had duck hunt (nintendo came with an orange gun) a golf game and mario brothers, oh yeah and tetris. That game was addicting.

Then my guy friends at school started getting obsessed with games and stayed inside after school, and us girls had to find other things to do other then beat them up.

Monopoly and Lego was nice!
I even played with the old star wars toys, transformers and HEMAN (!)

Ehe, okie, I'm the nerd of the century, but what the heck. Aren't we all

(Oops forgot Atari. Never had one myself for some reason.)

Did any of you remember "Game&Watch" btw? Those hand-held, two-max three button game machines that ruled before Gameboy came out. I can't remember any game name. Small round batteries, no animation whatsoever, just hit a button and another light bulb lights up with the guy on another place or something like that. Avoiding, barrels, bombs, moving platforms etc.... haha