How did you get into gaming?

My mum bought me a console when I was 6-ish. As she was helping me figure it out she really got into gaming too and I basically grew up with gaming being a serious hobby in the household. I mean serious. We gave up the family vacation to pre-order a PS2. We imported from all over the world. I got into tech from messing with machines, fixing broken consoles and computers etc. (she still games even though she's 66 - we co-op on genshin at the moment).
 
I got a PS2 for Christmas, I'd sit in my room for hours playing games, stopped going outdoors, lost contact with my friends and bathed less often. When I stopped doing my homework and studying my grades fell so my teachers stepped in and contacted my parents. My parents somehow weaned me off gaming, took me places, Nascar races, baseball games, museums, went out cycling and hiking. Gaming was like a drug and it had (temporarily) turned me into an addict.
 
I think my introduction to video games was when I was like, 5 and it was via an old IBM XT clone running something called "Beast" where you had to push blocks to crush ASCII monsters. Went from there to tooling about on my mother's AT clone with various games until I got an NES for Christmas one fateful year.
 
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Very early in their own special way. When it started to matter in the platform wars was when they had a Mega Drive/Genesis card that made a PC into a Mega Drive, while also porting games to the PC. Same thing with the Saturn.
There was an MS DOS 5.0 PC from Amstrad that could play Genesis/Megadrive games. It was only available in Europe and Australia. Sega developed a Japan only IBM compatible PC that did the same thing called the Sega Teradrive.

Nvidia had a card with Saturn controller ports called NV1. It didn't sell well.
There was a laserdisc player called the LaserActive that could play Genesis games with an add on.
 
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My first console was a Gamecube. Sonic Mega Collection, Sonic Adventure DX, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Mario Sunshine, and Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom, among others, were all great to 6-year-old me, but I became a gamer for life one fateful day visiting my dad in Pittsburgh. We went to The Exchange (a local media shop there who're still open(!)), and I saw this box art:

skies-of-arcadia-legends-box.jpg

Being a HUGE fan of pirates at the time, I BEGGED dad for a copy of this game ('twas only $20). Went home, excitedly plopped it into my Gamecube, and my (not-insubstantial) interest in video games blossomed into a outright passion that hasn't gone away since. Sadly sold it to pay for a PS4 (a decision I'm STILL kicking myself over), so replayed it on Dolphin last year with my newly-built PC. Still holds up pretty damn well, I'm happy to say! REMAKE IT ALREADY, SEGA, YOU COWARDS!
 
As with many hobbies, gaming started from something or someone. A family member, friends, events, commercials, anywhere in between.

What made us start gaming and what keeps us engaged with video games?

Share some earliest gaming memories and how they evolved from t
The first game I ever remember playing was some 3d digimon fighting game in the same style as those dbz tenkaichi games that were really big in the early to mid 2000's at my kindergarten's after school daycare. The first home game I ever played was tekken 3 on my dad's ps1. From there I got a ps2 for Christmas a few years later and really got into mdk2 armageddon & gta vice city. From there I got into the dbz budokai tenkaichi series & the gta franchise. I was pretty much hooked the second I played through tekken 3, but getting my own ps2 & sweating mdk2 & gta vice city really solidified my love for the hobby.
 
Not sure. The Olivetti PCS 286 has Ports of Call. My Dad's workplace had a computer club which had shareware titles like Captain Comic and Commander Keen.
 
The first game I ever remember playing was some 3d digimon fighting game in the same style as those dbz tenkaichi games that were really big in the early to mid 2000's at my kindergarten's after school daycare. The first home game I ever played was tekken 3 on my dad's ps1. From there I got a ps2 for Christmas a few years later and really got into mdk2 armageddon & gta vice city. From there I got into the dbz budokai tenkaichi series & the gta franchise. I was pretty much hooked the second I played through tekken 3, but getting my own ps2 & sweating mdk2 & gta vice city really solidified my love for the hobby.
Was that Digimon game one of the Rumble Arena games?
 
When I stopped doing my homework and studying my grades fell so my teachers stepped in and contacted my parents. My parents somehow weaned me off gaming, took me places, Nascar races, baseball games, museums, went out cycling and hiking. Gaming was like a drug and it had (temporarily) turned me into an addict.
Anybody recall times where gaming got them in trouble?
 
Can't edit so double post
Yeah my dad took my copy of modern warfare 2 when he saw me playing no russian.
 
Can't edit so double post
Yeah my dad took my copy of modern warfare 2 when he saw me playing no russian.
Did you get it back?

I had a PS2 and PSP around middle school. I wanted one of the new consoles for Christmas after playing Gears of War 2 at somebody's house.

That Christmas, I got an Xbox 360 Elite with Lego Batman and Pure. Later, my uncle came through with Modern Warfare 2. "One of the hottest games out there," said the clerk.

I've never seen graphics like that. I was hooked.
 
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