How old were you when you started playing games

[Mara]

By games, I mean computer or console games. And what was your first game?

I was around 45 or so (can't really remember) and the game was Myst.

[RangerRick]

I played the very first game, pong, when I was 27-28..

That was a few years ago!

Cheers!


Rich

[RHooks]

Computer games would be around 28. Console games, depending on your definition, would be around 14 or 15. I had a Pong game when they first became available for home. I got tired of it in about 2 weeks and talked my parents into trading it for a small black and white TV.

:lol:

[Cloudw4lker]

8 or 9, warcraft 2 a burned copy that I shared with Tom Servo although it was his.

[Impresario]

Pong when I was 12 - but what got me into gaming was Combat on the 2600 when I was 14.

[DanTheManPR]

First video game I ever played was a Mortal Kombat game on god knows what system, when I was maybe four or five years old. The first video game I really played was Zelda: Links awakening, which came with the Gameboy I nagged my parents to get.

[Bruenor]

Combat on the Atari VCS when I was 4. Played it with my mom, because it was a two player only game. The next day, my Mom went out and bought about 4 single player games.

[Ojnod]

I played Doom when I was 10 or so. But I didnt acctually *get in* to PC games until I was about 14. I started playing console games at my cousins everytime I would go over there when I was about 5, I got super nintendo when I was about 8 I guess.

[Feuerwizard]

I played the first game when I was.....hmmmmmm let me think........when I was like 5 or 6.

[Meigger]

I started dabbling with computer games around age 47. Do not remember any particular game though.

[Nova]

I started playing games at 6 with the first Mario game on the NES. I have been hooked on video games ever since, and you can bet I'm not getting tired of it. It's by far my favorite hobby.

[DanTheManPR]

We have two camps here:
1) The people who grabbed a controller when they were still sucking their thumbs
2) The people who grabbed a controller when they were having mid-life crisis's.

[Ravanor]

Can remember now exactly, but got a C64 when I was 3 or so. Playin games would have just come naturally. :) Hmm childhood is just a blank, hardly remember a thing.

[Frans]

I'm in neither camp. :) I started using programmable calculators (HP-34 & HP-41) from 17 onwards, and played and programmed (or converted from other calculators) games on those. Graphically very primitive of course, as those machines only displayed text and numbers. Then came an Atari 1024ST, mostly for programming and text processing, but also to play some "real" games like Starglider and Crystal Castles. But I didn't really get "into" gaming at that time as I didn't want to "waste" my time on such things. :rolleyes: :lol:

Then I saw Wolfenstein 3D on the PC in Spring 1993 and it blew me away. At the end of that year Doom was released which multiplied the immersion factor ten-fold. I was hooked. :D: I became heavily involved in the Doom community, which in turn led to 3D Gamers' first incarnation being launched in the Summer of 1996. We are presently working on the fifth incarnation. :shades:

I'm a PC gamer to the core and the only two times I touched a PS2 were at trade shows. :crazy:

[Shaolin K]

I don't remember exactly, but I think it was on the Sega Master System (might be a different name here in the U.S.). I think I was somewhere around 10-12years old at that time; give or take a couple of years. The first game I played on the PC was Doom, I think. Long, long time ago

[Gaim Mastr]

I was around 5-years old when the Sears store in Chicago got the original Pong on the shelves. As a 5-year old, I really worked those paddles !! :lol:

Then came the first Atari console (very early 80's I believe).

Fast forward to the release of the Commodore Vic-20. It was only a text game that I'd played at a friends house, but that was my first computer game. It was a strategy game, of course. I was hooked on computer games ever since.

My first home system was a Commodore 64. Many a fond memories of that system. I ran my first BBS off of it back in '83. Had something like 4 5.25" drives on it. Still remember when 9600 baud was going to revolutionize communication between systems.

Here I am, two decades later, STILL using slow dial-up. :geek:

But through it all, it was that first Pong console that got me hooked. Ever since then, video games of any sort (console or computer) have always grabbed my attention.

Know what ??

I've still got that old, original Pong machine, paddles and all. :D:

[DanTheManPR]

Gaim is in the thumb-sucking group!!! I woulda never guessed.

[Shardos]

Think I started playing when I got one of the old school original gameboys from my Grandpa when I was 2, but I don't remember it ;)

[DanTheManPR]

http://www.iarmst.demon.co.uk/images/machines/gameboy-grn.gif
I still have my old gameboy, and it works like the day I bought it!

[Eddie Ismail]

My family tell me I was 2 years old when I started playing, but I remember playing video games *and comepeting against my older siblings* when I was 4

[Circlebreaker]

I was probably 8-10 years old when I started gaming on a gameboy (still have that one, though I haven't touched it in years). But I only got serious into gaming when I was 13, my parents got a new computer (with a stunning 16MB ram!!), and I got C&C. Almost as soon as I started that game up I was hooked. :):

[Chylde Roland]

I started on an Intellivision back in the early 80s, then in the mid 80s, we got a good old Tandy 1000 EX computer, and I discovered Sierra's adventure games. Then I was toast.

[Terry Penrod]

.

I was probably already in my mid-thirties when Windows-based PCs became so dominant and all the "newer" games started to come out. Until then, I'd only played a handful of old arcade classics, puzzlers, card / board games and a few old text-based games after hours on the Macs we had at the ad agency. Virtually nobody had a full fledged system at home back then due to the high cost and lack of everyday consumer software. But Windows changed that in a fairly short time once DOS, Win3.1 and Win95 came out. From there it took took no time at all for a whole new generation of graphical adventures, 2D action titles, early CRPGs, sims and strategy games to spawn. These things in turn led directly to inexpensive graphic accelerators, CD-ROMs, shareware demos, MP via modem and the first mod tools for players that expanded and revolutionized our hobby.

It was long about then (when Doom first hit) that I finally took notice, upgraded my home PC, bought some cool new games, downloaded a bunch of demos and instantly got hooked. Haven't looked back since and still enjoy the hell out of PC games of almost every kind.

Cheers, Terry

.

[Jagndeke]

I was in my early 20's when I first tinkered around with the gaming tech available at the time. I didn't get serious about it until about 5 to 6 years ago. Ever since then, I've been hooked and I'm still amazed to this day my wife is still around of her own free will! :wink:

[Gotanypop]

I was really young, probably 5 or 6 when i got a Pong game. Then Atari 2600 > Intellivision > NES > Sega Genesis > PSX. Those were the consoles. I had an XT then a 286. Then took a long break from PC gaming until I decided to go with a new gaming PC instead of buying into the current generation of consoles. That is almost 3 decades of gaming and I STILL pretty much suck! :):

[MasterChief]

The first game I really "remember" playing heavily was Earthbound. My parents tell me I played some before that but I don't remember much before SNES.

[Shardos]

the very first game I actaully remember playing is either pitfall or joust, for atari, don't know how old I was other than I was younger than 7, because it was in our old house :):

[TWC_Orgazm]

Kings Quest on my Wang 386 many moons ago, and the good ol' Atari 2600 games

[O'C]

but what got me into gaming was Combat on the 2600 when I was 14.

I loved Combat. You could ricochet your shot of the wall or steer your shell a little bit toward the enemy tank. Come to think of it, they have that same thing in a game today--it's called the AVRiL. Games really have come full circle.

I also enjoyed Atari's Football. It was like two teams of trash cans playing each other. Other favorites were Adventure and Night Driving.

But it was always just a passing interest until one day when I was 25 and a co-worker handed me a demo for Quake. End of story.

[DejaFu]

First game was DOOM and I was probably 7 or 8

[Terry Penrod]

.

First game was DOOM and I was probably 7 or 8


Assuming that you played it when it was first released by Id for DOS in 1993, then that would make you either 18 or 19. Or did you play the 1994 Windows version or the Windows 95 version?

BTW, it also came out for the SNES, Jaguar, Amiga, Sega 32X, Saturn, PlayStation and Game Boy Advance as well as the Linux OS. Not sure but I assume that they also had a Mac version along the way.

Cheers, Terry

.

[Ojnod]

They had N64 doom also :p

[Terry Penrod]

.

They had N64 doom also :p


Ugh, I'll bet that was a hideous, dated mess with terrible controllers and sucky MP - assuming it even had it. Also, how did any of the consoles handle player-created mods that are usually readily available for free download on PCs via the net? Did the mod tools even come with the games and if so, how did people create, save, distribute and play them?

I just can not understand wanting to play any first-class PC shooter on any video console with a gamepad or any of the other silly restrictions, especially split-screen MP on a low-res TV set. That alone renders them totally unworthy IMO.

Cheers, Terry

,

[OldsterHolster]

Mid-fifties, a few years ago, and Doom for Win 95 on a P-120. I'm younger, now, and I just finished Far Cry. Heh, heh, heh. Edward.

[the_zapper]

i was like 3-4 years old when i started playing. back then i played Captian Comic

[Terry Penrod]

.

Mid-fifties, a few years ago, and Doom for Win 95 on a P-120. I'm younger, now, and I just finished Far Cry. Heh, heh, heh. Edward.


I'm not quite in your age group Edward but not all that far behind. So I understand the phenomenon. Like yourself, I have a few older gamer friends but most are much younger. It's amazing how easy it is to talk to someone half my age if PCs, the net and gaming come up and even moreso when they realize that I am a bigger addict than they are.

Cheers, Terry

.

[DanTheManPR]

It's amazing how easy it is to talk to someone half my age if PCs, the net and gaming come up and even moreso when they realize that I am a bigger addict than they are.
Even with us unruly teenagers?

[Kalbrecht]

Ugh, I'll bet that was a hideous, dated mess with terrible controllers and sucky MP - assuming it even had it. Also, how did any of the consoles handle player-created mods that are usually readily available for free download on PCs via the net? Did the mod tools even come with the games and if so, how did people create, save, distribute and play them?

I just can not understand wanting to play any first-class PC shooter on any video console with a gamepad or any of the other silly restrictions, especially split-screen MP on a low-res TV set. That alone renders them totally unworthy IMO.

Doom64 was ALMOST the worst game on the console (Superman 64 took that prize). It was horrible, dated and really silly.

To be honest - playing a shooter on a console can be extremely fun, as long as the game isn't a complete port and compensations are made in the engine for the diffferent sensitivity of a controller vs keyboard/mouse.

At it's worst it feels like playing a PC shooter with the joystick, and at it's best it's Halo, which had some near-sublime, intuitive control.

[Captain]

The first console game i got heavily into was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on Super Nintendo, i imagine i was somewhere between 5 and 8 when I got it. The first pc game i played was probably around the same time, and it was Raptor: Call of the Shadows, i still love that game :)

[DanTheManPR]

Good console FPS's are a real rareity. I don't think game developers for consoles really know what they are doing when they atempt to make a FPS. The N64 had a good graphics engine for it, but the controler was exceptionaly bad for FPS's (case in point: Goldeneye. A great game, sure, but the controls really sucked).

and at it's best it's Halo, which had some near-sublime, intuitive control.
The Xbox has two joysticks, and that makes all the difference for an FPS.

[Mr. Natural]

I used to hang in pinball halls as a teenager. Slowly these newfangled video game arcades started showing up in the pinball halls. Pong and then later Space Invaders, Missle Command, Joust, Defender, Pole Position among a few. My parents bought a pong system when they came out and I played with that a while before eventually getting a NES.
I remember playing Pole Position at a local W.T. Grant store before I was driving, so I would say maybe age 15.

[Rattlesnake8]

I dont remember how old i was when i fisrst started playing games. The first system i had was an old Tandy. I was so young i don't even remember it although i do still have it somewhere. Then i moved on to a Commodore 64 which every few years i setup and play a few games.

[MikeMaster]

I think i probably played on my mates SNES when i was about 5-6, but i started gaming properly on the PC at about 7 and that was with the first doom game :) I owned at doom rofl. I completed the first 6 levels in Nightmare mode wewt!

-EDIT- I'm 14 now btw ;)

[Cherokee]

I remember playing a game when we first got computers at school... it was this turtle game. You had to like tell it what degree to turn and how far to go... it was beyond generic and basic. God, I sooo looked forward to that, it was excitement to an 8 yr old. Someone should have known then that something was wrong with me :wtf: hahahaha

[Cronus]

On a Mac when I was about 9.

[Torsion]

I started when my dad bought me a super nintendo and super mario world. I never really liked it that much but I played it intermittently. My first PC game was doom shareware at a neighbors house during a barbeque.

[uber_soldat666]

Ya.. my first console was Nintendo (Super Mario 3) and down the hall in the apartment was a guy who had Doom Shareware and that was first PC game! :D:

Later,
Uber

[OldsterHolster]

So, do I have seniority? Heh, heh, heh.

[Terry Penrod]

.

So, do I have seniority? Heh, heh, heh.


As a person Edward, yes.

But as gamers, neither of us is even close.

Cheers, Terry

.

[FreemanHL2]

I've always played games. I suppose I started with an old AMIGA at 5 or 6. Then PC. Then SNES. Then PSONE. Then Nintendo. Then PS2.

I don't really play console games. I'm a hardened FPS gamer.

I play Quake III arena on nightmare difficulty. I always win.

Holy ****, i should get into the MP scene... i could make money.

Either way i'm i guess i'll keep playing my version of the quake 3 "demo."

[MarkN]

About the earliest that I can recall becoming aware of eletronic gaming was at age 9, almost 10, when we moved to a new town far, far away. We ate at a pizza place that had a bench little kids could sit on and watch pizzas being made. The place is still there but the bench is now much, much too narrow for this old bod to sit in. ;)

Anyway, they had one of those giant duck hunting games that was actually rather static and noisy. The ducks were all basically cutouts with lights and each light would flash to portray the duck in flight and if you could "shoot" the duck with the electronic gun (or whatever it was), it would "fall" and then a dog would go after it. Neither the ducks or dog weren't very fast, though.

A couple years later I went with a church group to Marriot's Great America when it was only a year or so old and saw games like air hockey, a Star Trek one and one with sharks that you had to shoot with a speargun and if you did then the shark would "squirm" in pain before dying. I forget its name but maybe something like "Shark Hunt".

[Darth Nader]

I was about 6 when I played my first console game(s). It was a brown, triangular system with 3 games, a racing game, a light gun game and pong. It belonged to my neighbors and they game it to me when they moved :) The first arcade game I believe I played was the Star Wars arcade game...I had of course seen the movie not to long before. I remember it well, it was at a TSS store...for those that don't know, the precursor to the Targets and Walmarts (Kmart was also around then and used to have a handful of arcade games).

[Drewby]

I started playing computer games, and really got into gaming, in 1994 when we bought our first computer. I was born in 87 so that would make me 7 playing SimCity, Oregon Trail, and Storybook Weaver!

[Ravanor]

Around age 2 or 3 I think with a Commodore 64.

[Piksa]

my father bought me an Atari 800 XL when i was 8 or something like that.
i remember Builderdush, Zorro, Zepellin and so on. Now im 23 and im still playing...

[MayheM]

I remember playing Pac-Man and Space invaders when I was around 8-9 while waiting for my father to finish playing hockey. Besides watching the hockey game, I used to love playing video games while the o'man would drink a few beers in locker room then we'd drive home!

Wow the drinking and driving sounds bad, but the was not a problem in the late 70's.

My first console was a Atari 2600 in around 83 but I was more of a coin ops gamer.

I forget when the family bought its first PC, but I remember playing Bard's Tale. I too had a BBS and remember those old days!! Good times! I was hooked on multiplayer PC games in the DOOM/Duke Nuke'm 3d Eras

-MayheM

[wildwildwest301]

I started gaming at about 13 with NES. Everything progressed and now Im buying computers jsut to game on!

[Rattlesnake8]

I said before after my Tandy of moved onto my C64.. im not sure if it was before the C64 or after, but i played games on my mums 286. I think it was after the C64. Cause after that there was the 486, P1, P2 400 etc etc.
I still have all of them as well. Wheneven i want to go back and relive some old school classics i can anytime i want. :D

[Beowulf]

When i was like 7-8 years old.And im now 15.

[fivex684]

I started around 5yrs old and I'm now 20.

[Lazarus]

I started when I was about 3 years old when my parents bought me console named Terminator(at least I used to call it that). Man, I played it all day and night, I still remember Tarzan, Tetris, Space(or whatever) Invaders, Bermude and other games. My first PC game was(as I remember) Starcraft in 1996. After that, my love towards PC games kept growing, and now I'm addicted. We all are..haha :joker:

[Horatio]

I was about six years old.

[neilv]

My first computer was a ZX81 with 1k ram and a 16k Ram pack and a Mag with game codes never got one to work I then moved on to the ZX Spectrum and I think the first games on that was harrier attack and jetpack been through various computers and console since then first pc games was Duke nukem 2 and wolfenstine and been a pc gamer ever since

[Phone(6644)]

Played pong etc when i was 9 or so, but loved Gorf at around 11 - a game that talked to me!!!!

[NFS Bullet]

I played the very first game, Roadrash, when I was 8-9..
& I Played first game in my PC Max Payne when i was 11-12

Thanks

GeForce

[tacoking]

Man I don't remember this stuff....I do remember playing Duck Hunt, the Mario games, Zelda on the NES (Burgertime anyone?), but I don't believe it was then when I became the "video game freak".

Games like Super Mario RPG and Donkey Kong helped the cause with the SNES, but what made me what I am today is the N64. Games like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Ocrania of Time, and Super Mario 64 converted me into the gaming guy I am today. So I have been playing games for as long as I could remember, but didn't really get into them until I was maybe 12.

[mandrake]

I was about 7 or 8 and was playing combat and pacman on Atari 2600. First computer game was a Radio Shack TRS-80 ripoff of Defender (circa 1983). :):

[MatW]

about 5 or 6 :)

[One-Winged Angel]

I wanna say I was 3, but to be honest I can't remember all that well. I remember playing QBert on my Atari 2600, though. Been gaming ever since :thumbup: