People Are Sharing The Video Games That Got Them Into Gaming, And The Nostalgia Of It All Warms My Heart
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A little while ago, we asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the games or consoles that made them become gamers! Let's get into these responses:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega / Nintendo / Via giphy.com
1."One of my earliest memories is being around 5 years old and playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on my Sega Genesis. The video game love must be genetic, because my son has been playing games like Minecraft since he was 3 years old. Video games are the best!"
2."My first gaming experience had to be Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis my dad saved up to buy for us. He was initially renting the console from Blockbuster, back when you could do such a thing, but realized he could save money by just buying one."
Final Fantasy X
Square / Virtuos / Via giphy.com
3."What really hooked me into gaming was when I was 13, my cousin brought his copy of Final Fantasy X to our grandparents' house, and I watched him play for about 10 minutes before I was absolutely entranced. We convinced our parents to let us spend the night and we stayed up all night playing it. I remember asking him if we could finish it that night, and he laughed at me! But ever since then, I've been a gamer."
4."I've been playing games all my life, starting with my dad's NES when I was practically a baby, but looking back there are two games that really solidified my love of gaming. The first was Pokémon Blue for the Gameboy. My sister and I were ~obsessed~ with this game. The second was Final Fantasy X. This was the first time I realized that gaming could be more than just getting good at it and winning. They are a completely unique way to tell long and complex stories with interesting characters. This was the first game that made me cry, that made me feel."
The Last of Us
Sony / Naughty Dog / Via giphy.com
5."The Last of Us is what made me a gamer. It just had a really great storyline that had a lot of depth to it. I felt so accomplished when I finished it and went straight back to play it on the different levels."
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Bethesda / Via giphy.com
6."For me, it was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I'd never played a game so emotive, so beautiful, and so immersive before. It was like getting lost in a book for hours and hours on end."
7."My parents didn’t really go for consoles or gaming, so at home, I mostly had demo discs from cereal boxes and old DOS games until I got my first console and was introduced to Skyrim. Looking back, I’m super grateful to the people in my life who encouraged me to play games and shared my passion. Gaming is such a happy part of my life!"
8."As a kid, I would play on my sibling's gaming systems with the usual '90s games like Sonic and Mortal Kombat. Though as my siblings and I got older, I sorta got abandoned as the baby of the family. The game that got me hooked back into playing video games, though, was Skyrim. I bought a PS3 just to play it on a bigger screen. I still have that PS3, and also have a PS5, a VR headset, and a Nintendo Switch. It's all thanks to Skyrim."
Pokémon
Nintendo / Via giphy.com
9."My first gaming experience was Pokémon Blue on the Gameboy Colour. I'd literally never played a video game before, and it took me 30 minutes to figure out how to get out the front door. I'm a bit better at them now!"
10."Pokémon Yellow on the Gameboy Color — it's incredible how far games have come!"
—nevl
Marvel's Spider-Man
Sony Interactive Entertainment / Via giphy.com
11."I’ve been a casual gamer since I had a Gameboy Colour at 6 years old. However, the game that really got me back into gaming as an adult was Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4. I gave up so much sleep to play through that game — from the story, the style, and the fight sequencing, it was just perfection."
The Legend of Zelda
Nintendo / Via giphy.com
12."I received a Nintendo 64 for Christmas when I was a child. Despite expanding my gaming universe considerably since then, I still have a deep love for the N64 and its games. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will always be my favourite, and I replay it every few years. It’s held up incredibly well! After a lifetime together, even the Water Temple feels as familiar as home."
13."The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess definitely got me into video games. The things I’d do to relive the experience of playing it again for the first time — it’s so nostalgic for me thinking about it."
14."It was The Legend of Zelda for me! I started with The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap since that's the one my siblings had. All the games are awesome and super creative. Plus, they're not too scary design-wise (no zombies thank you very much) and have a nice learning curve."
15."The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was the first game I played that wasn’t a Mario platformer. Even though it’s regarded as a not very good Zelda game, I was absolutely blown away by the fact that it had a storyline, characters you could talk to and puzzles to figure out. It was the only game I had on my Nintendo DS and I think I completed each save slot to 100% completion."
Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar Games / Via giphy.com
16."I didn’t actually game until my sister introduced me to Red Dead Redemption 2 during quarantine. I now game religiously."
Mario
Nintendo / Via giphy.com
17."I started gaming with the original Mario Bros game. Super Mario Sunshine and Mario Kart on the GameCube were my next steps — they can’t be beaten in my opinion."
18."I'm old, my first gaming love came from individual handheld Nintendo games, we had a double-screen Donkey Kong one, and a Super Mario one that was a small single screen."
19."Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo was my first game ever but when I played Banjo-Kazooie on the N64 I was forever hooked!"
20."The Sims 2 was my first game but the Nintendo GameCube was my first console, and to this day Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the GameCube is the best game in existence to me."
Chrono Trigger
Nintendo / Via giphy.com
21."Chrono Trigger is still my favourite game of all time. It features simple graphics and gameplay but it has a beautifully complex storyline."
Little Nightmares
Tarsier Studios / Bandai Namco Entertainment / Via giphy.com
22."I used to play games as a kid on PC and the Nintendo DS, but recently I re-ignited my love for video games as an adult through the game Little Nightmares. It is by far my favourite game I’ve ever played. The graphics, storyline, gameplay, and soundtrack are just perfection. My boyfriend actually gifted me the soundtrack on vinyl after I was done playing the game because I loved it so much."
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Nippon Ichi / Via giphy.com
23."I played some things casually when I was younger, but the one that hooked me on RPGs, specifically, was Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. I didn't know that video games could have such good stories before playing that — the ending of this one was a tearjerker. I've never met anyone else who has even heard of this game, but it holds a special place in my heart and I still remember most of the songs!"
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
