What was your first video game?

[Kyriakos]

First computer game i saw was likely Arcanoid, on an Amstrad or similar.
First game i played on my own computer (Amstrad cpc6128 when i was 9 or so) was likely Jet Set Willy, an infamous platformer in the Manic Miner series of games.

Hm, wait, actually that is false. First game i ever loaded up in my Amstrad was Roland in Time...

Messed-up platformers. The intro to Jet Set Willy was altered and played Beethoven's Moonlight sonata, which i was amazed by and thought it was composed for that game

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I think the first computer game I played might have been Manic Miner on the Amstrad CPC 464. The first console game I played was Alex Kidd in Miracle World on the Sega Master System, and my first PC game was SimCity Classic.

 

[PhroX]

I can't remember the first one I ever played - my best friend had an old Amstrad (the games came on tapes!) and I played some things on that, though I forget exactly what they were - but the first I owned was Wing Commander, which came free with my first PC (a 386). And I've been a gaming addict since...

 

[Smellincoffee]

Mario on the NES. It came with Duck Hunt, and that orange gun.

First computer game...that would be SimCity 2000, using the Walmart display computers.

 

[WickedSmurf]

 

[nc-1701]

Civilization 3

 

[Kyriakos]

Civilization 3

Get out of the thread

-

My own Amstrad (i think all 6128) had floppy-disks, and back then each computer had its own (different for Amiga, Amstrad, Pc, and iirc also IBM).
Atari and Acorn likely had custom-floppies as well.

 

[Harv]

Atari 2600 Asteroids, then Combat.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Atari 5200 came with "Super Breakout" so that would have probably been the first video game I ever played.

 

[EgonSpengler]

The earliest video game I can remember is Space Invaders, circa 1978.

The first desktop computer game I remember is The Oregon Trail, probably around the same time.

 

[REDY]

 

[Kyriakos]

^Prince of Persia was a rip-off of a much older game, by the name of Karateka:

I remember that from my elementary school's computers, likely IBMs in the late 80s...

 

[warpus]

WickedSmurf posted mine actually. I got a "video game system" while I lived in communist Poland - it came with 9 preprogrammed games (you could press large orange buttons to load each one) and a controller that allowed you to either turn to the left or turn to the right - no other options, no buttons, etc.

The first game was classic pong, the second game was pong with 2 rackets each, the third one had a thing in the middle, and so on.

Having said that, I might have played a game or two at an arcade before I got this for my birthday - it would have likely been Centipede.

 

[Tahuti]

Some weird racing game on the MSX I don't remember the name of. It was isometric and prominently featured a red car. It was Pac Man like in its gameplay, and you had to avoid black cars. It also had a distinctive theme song.

 

[Sommerswerd]

^Prince of Persia was a rip-off of a much older game, by the name of Karateka:

I vaguely remember playing both Karateka and the original version of Prince of Persia. Those two games were not that much alike aside from being side scrollers. Prince of Persia was more like "Pitfall" or "Jungle Hunt". Karateka was more like a prototype for games like Double Dragon Streets of Rage or even Street Fighter II.

And anyway, cant we say that any game that came out later than the late 70's/ early 80's is a rip off of some earlier game?

 

[Snerk]

Hmm, I can't remember. But I'm guessing something on the NES. Although I never owned one myself. Didn't get my own console until the PS1.

 

[Kyriakos]

^Animation of the characters/scrolling was also similar in Karateka and POP ^^

 

[Kennigit]

Not sure. I watched my father play video games before I played. So any number of the DOS games that were kid-friendly to watch (e.g. Gorillas, Oil Cap, quite a few from Soleau Software [balloon challenge, bolo ball, etc]).

The first independent games I probably played by myself were Captain Comic, Math Blasters, or Lemmings.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Thinking about it again... I think the first video game I actually played was TV Pow!. I won a contest to get the play the game through my local radio station.

You played the game on your television by yelling "Pow!" over the phone when the alien ships flew into the target on your screen. There was a split screen on your TV, for your target, and your opponent's target. When you yelled "Pow!" a lazer would shoot at the target. Whoever hit the most alien ships won.

I had been watching people play for weeks (they would air the matches during commercial breaks on afterschool cartoons) so I had figured out that all I had to do to win was just keep yelling Pow continuously, as there was no limit to how many times you could shoot. Other kids waited to "catch" the ship in the crosshairs before yelling Pow, but I realized there was a lag which caused them to usually miss. So I just yelled Pow non-stop and hit most of the targets

So anyway I won obviously and my prize was a miniature "Galaga" cabinet game. This was the first thing in my life I ever "won" and it was awesome!

 

[Timsup2nothin]

The earliest video game I can remember is Space Invaders, circa 1978.

I remember some racing games were in my local arcade before Space Invaders. I couldn't put a name on them though.