LOL

I swear my first memory is of having the NES controller in hand and dying by the first goomba in Mario Bros. Thats when I learned how to jump...from there, tis history.
~Peace~

when i was 6 months sat with my dad on the lazyboy as he played coleco.

for my entire childhood that was at least half of my bonding time was playing video games with my dad.

Asteroids and Pacman at the Pizza Hut, followed quickly by Galaga, 10 yard fight, and Robotron at the Laundromat. I still remember how happy I was when I made it on to the high score list on Galaga and 10 yard fight.

My brother had an NES, and I'd constantly bug him to play it. Once we got both an SNES and a Genesis, it was a constant rotation of StarFox, Super Mario All-Star Collection, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Our mother had given us Gameboys randomly one day too, so when Link to the Past was beat, we still had Link's Awakening to fool around with. That and Super Mario Land.

1994. Sega Mega Drive.

Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter II and Streets of Rage.

Those were the days.

That is awesome and a great memory to have.

I can't remember the first game I ever played. :(

My parents have had video game consoles since I can remember. It started with the Atari (don't know which one), but I only played this one a few times. The one I really started to play was the NES. I sucked horribly at the age of like 4, but it was a blast. I didn't play it too often though as I was more interested in playing outside with my friends. We still have the Nintendo though... and I play it every once in a while (duck hunt is just too much fun to give up).

Nowdays I'm the only real gamer in my house. My dad plays his PSX every once in a while, but he doesn't really do anything newer.

I believe my first run-in was when I was 3 playing Super Mario Bros. 3 at my cousin's house. Probably one of the best times in my life that I had since that game was so epic.

Me and my brother got our first console when I was 5, it was a SNES with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Mario Paint. Both were fun as anything at the time and I could repeat playing these games for hours.

Back then, my parents were cool with video games. As long as I kept up my end of the bargain with school, they would continue to agree with my video game hobby. Nowadays, that doesn't happen. Both of my parents believe that it's a huge waste of money and I should be investing my money in more "sensible" things. The ironic part though, is that my mom is a casual gamer who plays games like Gem Shop or Zuma on the PC.

I just ignore them though. Gaming is now and forever in my blood and there's nothing they could really do about it.

My first game was an Atari Breakout/Video Pinball machines that I played nonstop. And when the Atari 2600 came out, I begged and begged and my parents gave in. I haven't looked back since.

My mom bought me a NES when I was 2. That was around 1990.

Been a fiend ever since :D

My big brother was my gaming educator I used to love going to blockbuster with and my mother and begging for her to rent us megaman X. I used to lve spending weekends watching him beat megman Z and never beating super mario world. Those were the good times.

My father really discourage us from playing video games. He like GO OUTSIDE when there is light out. Come back and play at night if you have to.
But I still love my dad. I would've never learned to fish or hunt or work ethics without his presence.

1994, my parents bought me and my sister a Sega Genesis bundle complete with Aladdin and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. A couple years after that my dad bought us a used Playstation, and the rest is history...

hehe I'm not that cool.
when I was 2y old I played Adventure for the atari 2600 with my nanny.

altought my real introduction to the real world of a gamer (the one who can apreciatte all kinds and features of all games) came with megaman 2, my very first wind-powered game ; It needed some blow to work

I honestly don't remember what my first game was, but I do remember that it was on a 386 computer. It was absolutely top of the line back then. (VGA graphics! Wow! :p)

I wouldn't say my parents encouraged it, no - it was more like the necessary evil in my life that they allowed. Rarely did I receive a videogame as a gift, thus I had to buy them all myself, especially the more violent ones, which at times I wasn't even allowed to. That all changed when I got older though.

I think the first "console" I came in contact with was the GameBoy and the first real one I owned was the N64. Both birthday presents that I begged for. Once I got old enough to make a little money I bought consoles and games as I pleased, starting with the GameCube.

Space Invaders Stand Up Cabinet. Had to stand on a milk crate to reach the controls.

The glowing phosphors had me hooked.

I can't remember the exact year or my age but I must have been around 6 or 7. My Dad had an Atari 2600 that he'd let us play with. Many hours were spent on that thing before we got a SEGA Genesis.

My dad just turned 42. He is the reason I'm a huge gaming nerd.

He didn't have games when he was a kid...only knew of his friends who did.

So when I was young we had a sega and snes(those were my first gaming consoles).

We also had a PC and would play games like Freespace, Tomb Raider, Baulder's Gate, etc.

One day he sold the Snes and Sega for a ps1.

And still since there we've been gaming ever since.

I have 3 other brothers and we all play games on our computers(we have 7 in the house) and our consoles.

we have pretty much every console since the snes and sega.

and recently...he pre-ordered the GTA IV special edition before I had the chance to..lol

My folks encouraged gaming and now as a parent I play video games with my daughter. Nintendo was the great inducer for her as it was for me. I believe it was Mario Kart on the N64 I first started playing with my kid. Gaming is a great way to bond with your child because once you bond that way,you can have good talks while you are playing.

I don't remember the first time. I think I've always been at games > : D.

I was born on console... lol.

Well, somthing like that at any rate :D.

My mom made me a Pac Man costume for my third Halloween -- as the story goes I watched my folks play Pac Man on their 2600 and mocked the noise he makes when he eats pellet. In 1987 I got an NES for Christmas. Good times.

My cousin in New Orleans setting up his nes for me at his mom's house. Only game he had was wizards and warriors. I still love that game.

According to my parents i started at 2 years old with the atari 2600 and havent stopped since.

I have a 7 year old son who i got into gaming and we play all the time.

Oh yeah, and my childhood dentst, perhaps the coolest dentist ever, had a Donkey Kong and Space Invaders cabinet in the waiting room on freeplay.

Mmeeeeemoriees....

Was probly around early 80's I had an Atari 2600 Combat, Pac-Man, Spider-man, Enduro Racer I had a tarzan game or something like that an a game that you had to flip and it had a game on each side.

My parents bought me that for Christmas and my gaming life begun at the tender age of 5, spent endless days playing enduro racer trying to pass the snow/night stage LOL.

My kids started gaming with xbox they have their own xbox and x360 and a gamecube so they started playing about my same age and they love it to :D

We had Pong.

As far as I recall it was Miner 2049er on the 2600. But it may have been earlier. What age I was at this point is lost to me. Though I don't think it was much earlier than 5 or 6.

I was conceived on a N64.

From what I recall, it all started when my parents borrowed an Atari 2600 from a friend.
They never got into video games (except for that one phase where they were totally hooked on GB Tetris, but that's just a phase EVERY single Human Being seems to go through), but it shaped pretty much the rest of my life.

Frogger is the first game I can recall playing.

I started gaming on old Dos and Atari Games when I was 2. I got my first console, the NES when I was 4. Havn't stopped since. I don't have offspring to pass it on, but I do have my niece.

I was about three and got a sega genesis for my birthday, my mom says the present was the biggest mistake of her life, i say its the greatest things she ever done for me

Playing Sonic at mates' houses. Everyone had Mega Drives (or Segas, as we called them), bar a few who had Master Systems. My brother picked up a second hand SNES from somewhere with Aladdin, Street Fighter 2, SF2 Turbo and a region bypass cart so that we could play an American copy of Super Star Wars.
The graphics bugged out eventually and we had to toss it, by which time we'd moved onto the PS1, which we bought together, and then started buying games together... a tradition that ended 3 years ago when he left to go to university, and I soon after bought a 360. Good times, those early days.
I do remember both our gaming tastes being guided by our friends', who'd had those Mega Drives, and then hd PS1s. We bought FF7 in platinum because we'd spent so much time in awe of it at their houses, then the same with 8 when that came out. When 9 came out, we determined that we shouldn't wait this time, and were rewarded with my fave FF of all time.

@amanohyo: "Mmeeeeemoriees...."

If that's a Ren & Stimpy quote, you win this thread ;)

My mother bought the NES for my 5th birthday. I guess it had only been out for a month or 2 when she got it. I remember playing Super Mario / Duck Hunt like a madman.

And my mother would play Duck Hunt with me, which I still think is cool to this day.

I don't know how old I was when I was introduced to gaming, but my Dad had an atari 2600 and ever since I could remember, he was the best bomberman player I have ever seen.

My dad also used to play airwrolf with me on the NES and again, he was much better than I was, but I was only 3 or 4 so what can you expect?

He doesn't play games anymore, which is too bad because I'm sure there are some he would really enjoy; it's just that he doesn't understand why I just don't read stories instead of playing through them.

My recollection may not be entirely accurate here, but I remember an Atari 2600 magically appearing out of nowhere in my living room one day when I was about 5 years old. This must have been about '87-'88. I played the crap out of it (mainly Pitfall, Combat [with my brother], and Pac-Man. The funny thing is, even then I knew E.T. was a horrible game.

Not too long after that, I made friends with some kids on my street who had NES'. First games I played there were Mighty Bomb Jack and Mappy Land. Good times!

Sadly for my I was the younger brother of the rightful owner of the Atari. I would always sneak in a few games before I got beat up and forced to eat his socks. *sighs*

Sad times for me until I got old enough to own my very own NES. HAHA! Brother, eat that you "Bantha Poodoo"!

When I was a little older my Father would "Attempt" to play Mario with me like everyone else in the world. However, when we made the jump to 3D my Dad said screw it. I think I was playing "Krazy Ivan" when he decided games got too complicated.

I guess my greatest accomplishment was I got my Wife to play video games. She was only familiar with Nintendo games and never experienced the fascinating world of violent gaming. She loves to play FFXI and the Civilization series with me. Good times.

Also, we used to play Mario Bros. for the NES and he would be Mario and I would be Luigi.

I guess we played a lot because my nickname from my dad was Luigi for the longest time. My middle name is Luis, so that has something to do with it... man... those were good times... When my dad gets home I'm going to give him a hug and thank him for playing games with me.

Well, my parents had an Atari 2600 for themselves before my brother and I were born (last console they touched until the Wii btw), I still have it in my room and it still works, I'm guessing that was my introduction. My first memories on the other hand come from the NES, the basics you know, Mario, Contra, Zelda, and Metroid, even though I had no clue how I did things on the later two, hey I was 4-ish. On and I clearly remember the first games I bitched about getting, they were 3, TMNT 2, Bart vs. the Space Mutants, and Super Mario Bros. 3, ah what good memories

I came home from visiting my grandparents in Palm Springs, CA and my parents had bought me a Sega Genesis with Sonic 2 and Jurassic Park. Rest is history.

@Pombar: FFIX Is the first game I can remember really really wanting. I knew nothing about it and actually didn't enjoy VIII in the slightest but begods I had to own IX. I am so glad I spent £40 of my brithday money on it. Best FF game in the series.

I miss the good old days when £40 was expensive for a game :<

I remember my first experience with gaming. The year was 1988 and my mother had decided to pick up the NES console with Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda. For a 5 year old, this was something to behold. From that day onward gaming has been one of my favorite hobbies. Of course, I wonder how thins would have been if I started on GTA.

My parents mistakenly bought my sister an Amiga, and later bought me a Gameboy Classic oblivious to the massive effect it would have on my life.
My parents don't 'get' gaming and as I'm still at uni studying animation, I don't think they realise that I'l probably end up working in the games industry.

Baby Maggie = SOOOOOO CUTE! ;~; <3

It would be the lovely sounds of the ZX Spectrum loading! :)

The first game I remember playing is Super Mario Bros. 3 but if I had to hazard a guess as to what the first game I ever played was... I'd say it would probably be Pong on the Spectrum.

My first run in with games was a Commodore 64, as far as I can remember. I played NES over at other people's houses, but I started owning Nintendo consoles, when SNES came out.

I was just a poor boy (from a poor family) so video games were easy-come-easy-go at the arcade only. I never had an NES until they were in the bargain bin, I never had a SNES...

Thinking back on it, It's the only reason I played the classics... It's all my family could afford!

I seek to change that for future generations, I just need to finish my schooling.

for me, it was my big sister teaching me pac man back in 1988 when i was 2. first console was a NES, with mega man 4 being my favourite.

when i was 5 my uncle introduced me to Super Street Fighter II Turbo for the Genesis. i havent been the same since

SNES, 9 years-old
do i need to say more?

My first video game I played was Duck Hunt on the NES. That was a long ass time ago. Look how far we've advanced since then! The one who was really addicted to game back in day was my mom. She just LOVED Donkey Kong Country. She had to quit because she was putting off housework. I wonder what life would be like if she still gamed??

My dad was big on the NES, and every time he came home from doing military stuff when we lived in Germany, me and him would go crazy on Duck Hunt and Mario, and I remember sitting on the new gray carpet, watching my dad play The Legend of Zelda, when he killed Ganon with the Silver Arrows. His love for LoZ paved the way to me being not only a ridiculous Zelda craze...person... but also a gamer. So, Mario and Zelda hit the home at a young age....maybe 3/4/5 years old for me?

I still remember the battery acid going into my Gameboy Original, and it frying up like a grenade in a tiny metal box. I managed to save the game. Good ole Star Wars....

back in 1996 when i was 5 years old, i wlaked down the road to a friends house, and when we got their he opened a brand new N64, we played Wave race for 3 hours and from then on i loved video games. the next interaction was in 1999 or something where my paretns rented a N64 for the week, and i was in heaven. a year or two later we bought a gamecube, and more systems followed.

My uncle used to own an arcade, so I would go and hang around there and play a bunch of the machines. I can't remember the name of this one game but it was vertical shooter where you can gain powerups that increase the intensity and magnitude of your bullets. And they had characters like a dolphin and a robot to pick. That was my first game.

first video game....Pong...

1992... My mother bought me a Super NES... and Super Mario World. Still my most favorite game to this day.

I was only 3. Sadly, I sold the SNES and bought a Genesis (biggest mistake I ever made.) However, I made up for it... now I own two SNESs and a boatload of games for them.

I can't remember a time before I was hooked on the NES release of 1942. Guess I'd have more hardcore points if i got hooked on the original arcade release, but I can still play for maybe 5 or 6 levels on one credit whenever I go to Barcade. Great fun.

On a summer caravanning holiday in 1978 (I think but it may have been 79) they had this game called Space Invaders. Nothing has ever been the same. Yes I am THAT old.

Wow! Great photo!

My first memory is playing Atari 2600 with my older sister. When we got an NES I remember playing a ton of TMNT and that damn track game with the pad.

The first console that was "mine" was the SNES. Oh, what a glorious day in the neighbor hood that was! I remember running down to my friend's house and screaming at them while they were watching Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.

I miss those day :*

I'll thoroughly date my self by admitting that my first home gaming experience was on Intellivision (google tha