Personal Gaming Landmarks

[Dog Pants]

I'm sure we've done this before, but everyone likes threads like this and I predict being bored this afternoon. What games were your gaming landmarks?

First gaming experience
First game bought
First PC game (or substitute for favourite platform)

It's really just an excuse for nostalgia, but we all love a bit of that.


As for me:

First gaming experience
Some tank game on the Atari 2600. I can't remember what it was called.

First game bought
I think[/s] it was an isometric game for the Amiga that I thought was called Vigilante, but I can't find it anywhere. Whatever it was, I took it back and swapped it for Rainbow Islands claiming it didn't work because it was shit.

First PC game
The first game I played on the PC was Mechwarrior 2. I was blown away by the intro, and the game was pretty good too. I think the first game I bought may well have been Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries, as I was still besotted by the series. It could have been Doom, but I think I played that later.

[Grimmie]

First gaming experience
Very first? Possibly some bombing game on my sister's Sinclair Spectrum.
Then it was Sonic 1 on the Master system, and Wolfenstein 3D on my dad's laptop.

First game bought
Christ.. Probably California Games on the Master System. Or populous.

First PC game
Might have been Starcraft on my PC, but I don't remember for sure.
Theme hospital? Worms United? Something old and 2D.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

oooh, fun.

I'm not sure on the first two, but they're the first I remember.

First gaming experience
Sonic, master system.

First game bought
some random crap for said master system.

First PC game
Various demos of stuff, I think the first I bought was doom, then a fair while later, Half Life

Most important for me was probably CS1.2 in some cyber caff.

[friznit]

I'm going to add a few categories, if I may

First gaming experience

I think it was Bipbop on the Dragon32, a tennis type game that I copied from the programme manual in BASIC when I was seven. There was a power cut while I trying to record it onto cassette.

First game bought

Bought for me, was Horace Goes Skiing on the Dragon32. Bought myself, Gunship!

First PC game

Somone gave me a copy of MS Flight Simulator 4. I didn't know you could buy games until I found Gunship! I never looked back.

Most Profound Game

The game that changed my expectation of games forever. Tough one, probably have to give it to Civilisation in the end.

Longest Life

Eve, no contest. Coming up for 3 years and I'm still playing it.

[Lateralus]

First gaming experience

Not sure on this. I think it was Lander on a BBC when at Primary School.

First game bought

First game I actually bought, I have no idea. Probably Sonic on the Mega Drive.

First PC game

It was probably Lemmings, although Keen and Zool both feature in my early PC gaming days.

Most Profound Game
Delta horse was the first game that introduced me to playing online with random twats and game modes like CTF. It's probably thr game that really got me hooked. Doom was my first FPS, unsurprisingly, and other games of significance were Command and Conquer (which we used to play out-of-hours on the school network) and Keen IV, just because I loved it so much.

[amblin]

.

[Dog Pants]

Most profound game. I thought about putting that in myself, but couldn't pick one game out for my answer so I took the easy option and ignored it.

Syndicate was a revolution for me, because it was the first living city, sandbox game I encountered. You could argue Populous did sandbox way before though.

Hired Guns was the first game that ever immersed me in a first person environment. Sure, there was Eye of the Beholder, but that wasn't nearly as rectum twitchingly immersive. Doom took it to a higher level a little later, but Hired Guns sticks in my memory as being the first.

Delta horse was my first online gaming experience (that could be a good category actually), but it was a pretty hollow one. I didn't start enjoying (or really even playing) online games until COD:UO here on 5punk.

[deject]

First gaming experience:
Watching my dad play Wolf 3D, hearing the guards shout "ACHTUNG!" and the first time you open the door to find Hans Grosse yelling "GUTEN TAG!" in your face was totally awesome.

First game bought:
The first game I can remember buying was this little game called Assault Trooper coded by some dude in Sweden. I stuck a $10 bill in an envelop and mailed it to the guy. Honestly I didn't expect to actually get anything back, but like a month later or something I got the full version of the game and I played the shit out of it. I still have it actually, it's unplayable now but it was pretty awesome at the time.
http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=75

First PC game:
The first game I played was the original Commander Keen. Those green Martians with their single eye were so cool, I felt bad when I shot them. The Jackal-type dudes that were jumping all over the place scared me though.

[Anhamgrimmar]

First gaming experience

I dunno to be honest. everytime i think back and go "Yeah, it must have been ..." and then almost imediately think "no, hang on, what about ..." I won't count the ones i copied out of the 'Osbourne Computer games for basic' book my dad bought me on my 5th or 6th birfday, cos they never really worked (Have you tried ZX-81 programming? HAVE YOU FELT THE HORROR OF THAT KEYBOARD!)

I'd tentativley put it down as either Imogen, Repton, or Elite on the primaryschool's BeebBeebCeeb, but i'm bound to have forgotten sommat!


First game bought
C.R.E.A.T.U.R.E.S (Thalamus). I'd had games before, but this one was the first i saved up for rather than shoplifting/recieveing as a prezzy/copying (God, how much of a boon was highspeed reel to reel dubbing!)



First PC game
Lesure suit larry. My dad had an amstrad PPC (No, not a CPC, a PPC), and he'd managed to get a copied version of this game. Man i loved it, even though i didnt get half the jokes.



Most Profound Game
Several honorable mentions, but no clear winner:

Starglider (Argonaut), Driller/Farside (Domark i think?), and a really shoddy flight 'Sim' called ATF (I think it was EA, waaaaay back in the late '80s). All of them were only single player games, but i remember 'helping' my dad play them, up into the wee hours of the morning.

Dizzy (Codemasters). It's a motherfucking egg with motherfucking boxinggloves. 'Nuff said

Zub (Ihaventgotafuckingcluesoft). The very first game to scare me. cracking soundtrack, but the way the healthbar worked (Fully space suited representation of your character, as he took damage, some wierd spaceman skeleton was revealed). Oh, come on, i was only about 8 at the time!
I played the game about twice, and then binned the tape. I've got the soundtrack since then, but i refuse to search for the game itself!

Longest Life
In second place:
Planescape torment. Such a well written, fantastic story, and i've still got it installed now. Morte is one of the best sidekicks EVAR!

In first place however, there can be only one:

Elite.

Elite in all its forms (Elite, Elite+, and all the sequals)

Elite in all its clones (Freelancer, I-War 1/2, Oolite, Vegastrike etc etc)

Elite in its Mmorpugger variant (Yes EvE, i'm looking at you!)

Elite.

I've been playing this Sodding game, in one form or another for over 20 years now. and i'm still not bored. God bless you Braben and Bell, god bless you indeed

Oh, and aparently Zub was by mastertronic

[Akiakaiu]

First gaming experience

Burgerteim for the Intellivision my folks bought when I said I wanted an atari.

First game bought

I think the 1st game I ever bought was Bard's Tale for the C64. It came on 1 5 1/4" floppy.

First PC game
See above unless the C64 does not count as a PC. Besides that it was um, maybe Wolfenstein on my 286. Too long ago to remember.

First console game bought

Dragon Warrior for the nintendo followed closely by Phantasy Star for the Sega master system.

Most Profound Game

After thinking about it, I guess I'd have to go with Bard's Tale as it was the game where I fell in love with all things RPG. Besdies that, I'd have to go with FFVII as it's the only game where I almost shed a tear.

Longest Life

Hmmm, tough question, I still play Phatasy Star II at least once a year since it was released just since I love the game so much, other then that I'd go with FFXI, been playing it since NA PC release in '03, so going on 5 years for that.

[Grimmie]

pre-history prehistoric

[Dog Pants]

Aha! After a long search, it was Vendetta that I bought back in 1990.

[Chickenz]

First gaming experience

I'm pretty sure it was either Sonic or Robocop vs The Terminator on one of the Sega consoles.

First game bought

Ermmm. It was Rayman 2 on the N64. I got a remote control car for Christmas and may have accidently on purpose broken the battery lead to get the car replaced with the N64.

First PC game

Freelancer. Managed to blag it when I got my first laptop. Brilliant, still play it every now and again.

Most Profound Game

I can still remember going to a mates in 1998 after he'd been given some game called The Ocarina of Time for his Christmas. I spent the next three hours utterly speachless. Brilliant graphics, one of the most engrossing game story lines I have ever encountered and MOTHER FUCKING FISHING!!. The only game I have ever considered to be worth the 10/10's it received.

Longest Life

Too many to choose just one. Golden Eye, Perfect Dark, Mario Kart, GTA3, GTA IV, Freelancer, Beef and Farcry. Zelda always makes an apperance when I have Man-Flu. It's easily the best medicine just lie back, start a new game and play till it's done.

[HereComesPete]

First gaming experience

The schools 'computer cluster', a bench with wheels that had an acorn and a BBC on it. They got wheeled between classrooms and were utter shit. I loved them though.

First game bought

It was probably dungeon keeper. I bought that and fallout as they released in '97 but I think dk was June and fallout was the end of summer. Before that I'd either borrowed, stolen or been bought for.

First PC game

First pc I owned was a cast off from an uncle and I got it in '94 I think. I got spacehulk and got mercilessly destroyed by it, but kept going back. I got C&c in '95 and was amazed. I wept at how damn good syndicate was but never got that last level despite using gauss pistols and fully upgraded agents. Played delta horse but never online, my old man was a bastard when it came to the internet. I just ended up paying him what I'd spent.

First console game bought

First console/game I owned was a megadrive with sonic. I got that for xmas and went out and bought micro-machines and taz in the sales.

Most Profound Game

Fallout. I bought that game and my life changed (geek tears) I enjoyed it so damn much that I still play it, F2 and F:tactics.

Longest Life

See above. Although the Baldurs gate series gets close. I still have them all installed and play them every now and then.

[FatherJack]

First gaming experience
Space Invaders in the arcade, then a Binatone Pong Mk 4 with paddles and a light gun at home.

First game bought
3D Monster Maze on the ZX81 was a birthday present I think and also where I experienced my first in-game rage. I stamped on the keyboard and broke it.
Also I remember a ZX81 text adventure game which had quite adult themes - I gambled away all my money and got arrested for vagrancy. It was my first experience of hax - as I discovered it was entirely written in basic and I could break out of it and GOTO where I wanted.
Tales of the Arabian Nights on the C64 was the first time I used my own money. £10 and it was fucking shit. Check out the comedy speech systhesis in the cut-scenes.

First PC game
I think this must have been The Dark Queen of Krynn - I had played the previous two games in the series Champions of Krynn and Death Knights of Krynn on the C64, but for some reason this was a PC-only release. Infuriated, I did what any sane person would do, and "borrowed" a PC from work.

Most profound game
Has to be Quake. Had recently started at the University and used to stay late and play it over the interwebs while telling the missus I was working late again. It was an eye-opener of how playing against real people with such freedom of expression in movement and fast-paced ever-adapting strategies was the future of gaming.

Longest life
Football Manager. 25 years and it's still basically the same game. And I'm still going to buy the next one.

Searching those ZX81 titles reminded me of this delightful series of games, truly never since matched in originality: http://www.zx81stuff.org.uk/zx81/genera ... Worms.html
In case it's not clear from those amazing screenshots, the goals of the games included popping acne, performing a vasectomy, infuriating Hitler by putting a whoopee-cushion on his wheelchair, unblocking the Queen's toilet tubes, covering Reagan's grey hairs and pissing into a urinal. Classy stuff.


Yep, it's a cock.

[fabyak]

First gaming experience: Erm... can't remember... something on the Spectrum though
First game bought: again... I can't remember... something on the Spectrum though Hang on, I think that might have been a random purchase of Treasure Island Dizzy
First PC game (or substitute for favourite platform): again... I can't remember... something on the Spectrum though Ahha! Now this one I do know, it was Half Life Game of the Year edition (with Opposing horse)

[MIkkyo]

First gaming experience
Geordie Racer on the BBC, Gordie raaaacer gordie raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacer.
First game bought
Chuckie egg on the Amstrad something or other.
First PC game
Apache longbow, it was the most complicated game in history, but so much fun, I even altered my later versions of windows to let me play it on it. Alas XP won't let me fuck it up enough to play it again.

[fabyak]

First gaming experience
Geordie Racer on the BBC, Gordie raaaacer gordie raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacer.
First game bought
Chuckie egg on the Amstrad something or other.
First PC game
Apache longbow, it was the most complicated game in history, but so much fun, I even altered my later versions of windows to let me play it on it. Alas XP won't let me fuck it up enough to play it again.

1. Get VMWare server
2. Install W98 (or some such)
3. Play gaym
4. ...
5. Profit!

[Dog Pants]

Dizzy was great. I played loads of Treasure Island Dizzy on the Speccy. It even had speech, of a sort.

[fabyak]

It was a damn hard game though, 1 life to see you through the whole game!