Comments on: Poll: How Long Have You Been Gaming?

by: booker

Fri, 31 May 2002 00:10:15 +1000

My first PC was a Fujitsu FM-8. I had Decathalon. That was the early 80s. That was followed by an FM-16 an IBM XT and an Atari 2600 (still got it, still my only console).

;)

by: Bob342

Fri, 31 May 2002 02:07:53 +1000

My first PC was in 1995 and my first PC game was Command and Conquer, but I had been playing the NES since about 1990, so that’s about 12 years. That’s quite scary not that I think about it, I’ve been playing computer/video games for over half my life.

by: Sidean Kar

Fri, 31 May 2002 02:12:45 +1000

Jeez…I think the first game I played was on my Dad’s old Commodore 64…had about 3 games for it, which was a racing game, an adventure game of sorts (couldn’t complete that sucker either) and an Olympics game.

by: splash

Fri, 31 May 2002 02:52:59 +1000

My first computer was a Commodore 64, but that came long after the Colecovision which I had learnt to play before I learnt to talk =)

by: Rowdy McSwaggers

Fri, 31 May 2002 02:58:47 +1000

I remember playing “Tunnels of Doom” on the old Texas Instruments computer. Had to be loaded with both a cartridge and a tape. And “Bards Tale 2″ on the Apple IIe with orange monochrome monitor. Anyone remember the Sorcerers ‘Dreamspell’. i think the code to cast it was ZZGO. classic stuff.

by: jeebus

Fri, 31 May 2002 03:11:49 +1000

I started back on the Coleco Intellivision. The games were very entertaining (especially Qbert), and the control pads looked like telephone receivers. From there I moved to C64, Amiga, and finally PC. Most of my favourite games have been on consoles, but I only got my first one (PSX) two years ago. The dance revolution series was responsible for that. :)

An interesting thing I’m noticing more with modern games is that some of the most popular titles are more work oriented. All of those online RPGs, Diablo, the Sims, are games where the player has to plan their character’s lives out, engage in a lot of (sometimes monotonous) tasks to work their way up the ranks, and operate within a trade driven economy. There is already an exchange rate worked out between Everquest currency and the US dollar. EQ players have a higher average yearly wage in real money than people working in China and India. Maybe in a few decades work and video games will find a middle ground, so that productivity tools in manufacturing plants and offices will function more like Online RPGs. Practicing your skill at photocopying may earn you the level of master duplicator. Secretary training courses will replace their generic software with such applications as Typing of the Dead. Workers will be promoted with special effects and a tune, after which they can allocate their hard points into the categories - vacation, raise, and company car.

Is the simple jump-right-in-no-strings-attached game heading for extinction? Probably not. There’s 4 huge consoles on the market, and a lot of people buying them. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I hope the gaming world stays diverse, and that the pie remains big enough for everyone.

by: Biggles

Fri, 31 May 2002 04:20:02 +1000

I have been playing games since the Vic20 (1984). Just recently I have seen a lot of PcGamers join the ranks of console owners . The reason for these motives are mainly because of high prices for games which most often have more bugs than you can imagine. Plus the constant need for patches and patience. Also all different versions of WIndows do not help the situation plus the drivers you need to keep your system updated, not to mention the hardware too.

The PC game life is coming to an end unless prices drop and some uniformity can be seen.

by: booker

Fri, 31 May 2002 04:21:45 +1000

A friend of mine had a C64 in the 80s. I loved The Ghost Busters game. But waiting for things to load off tape just sucked.

Goonies on the C128 (or whatever the disk loading sequal to C64 was) was a cool game too.

by: devo

Fri, 31 May 2002 06:00:20 +1000

The first gaming machine I owned was the mighty VIC20 - tape drive, 4k RAM, 20k ROM carts (allowing you to play Jeff Minter's Llamasoft classic "Gridrunner"). Lovingly retyped the code from C&VG magazine for classics like Moon Patrol and prayed as you saved it to tape. Even wrote my own Pac Man using Commodore Basic. Still got the machine boxed up, though the tape drive is dead :-( Also played plenty of Apple IIe - including the real Castle Wolfenstein, Bolo, etc. Moved on to Amiga, and now PC. My first console was a PlayStation though - very late into the console scene. Oh, other than a dedicated Pong machine for the TV.

by: Technomancer

Fri, 31 May 2002 07:32:14 +1000

My first gaming experience was typing basic games from a magazine into my trusty old Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Now those where the good ole dayz :-) then the real games started coming out like Jetpac, Jet Set Willy and Attic Attack ….

by: arasta

Fri, 31 May 2002 15:44:52 +1000

mmmm first pc here was a commodore 64.

then we moved to briz and got an amstrad 2080 (ya know the old 8086)

a little bit after that we got a nes - my bro won a drawing in comp of some sort. he and the other bro were married to the nes (and snes) for the next few years after that … :D

i was never sa good as either of them at sf2 or command & conquer

oh well lil bros do that to you :) memories :D

the TRS 8- was that box that tandy resold wasnt it? i believe its affectionate name was the Trash-80 :) gotta love that

Cheers

by: arasta

Fri, 31 May 2002 16:05:37 +1000

OH YEAH! karateka, Loderunner on the IIe and the classic wolfenstein were some of the first games (what i call) REAL games i played. Doom wasnt far off that, or ROTT. some good stuff there!