Weekend Question: Do you remember the first thing you searched the web for?

[PCG Jody]

I ask the PCG staff a regular Weekend Question and post the answers on the site. If you'd like to throw in an answer here, I'll squeeze the best into the finished article!

This week's question is: Do you remember the first thing you searched the web for?

Doesn't matter if it wasn't videogame-related, though the odds of it being a walkthrough or cheat code are probably pretty high. Were you searching for song lyrics, music videos, or RuneScape? Free games, god mode, or Pokémon? Or was it something far too embarrassing to own up to?

 

[Colif]

it was in 1995, so no idea

the web wasn't very good back then. It was at work so it wouldn't have been very exciting.

 

[Sarafan]

Not so sure to be honest, but two things come to my mind. First thing was a patch for Starcraft 1 which added new features to the map editor. Without them there was no option to force units to use a certain special ability. I tackled with the editor back then making new maps and I missed this feature a lot, because it was a core thing when it comes to creating custom cut-scenes.

Second thing was probably CD Projekt's website. Not everyone knows, but in the early 2000s CD Projekt was a local distribution company which introduced and localized many games on the Polish market. Their website was a good source of news on the newly released games in my country. Besides that you could find tons of additional files there that were related to the games they distributed. These were the reasons why I searched for this website during one of my first contacts with the Internet.

 

[Brian Boru]

90s was my decade of enthusiasm for software, so in '97 it would likely have been something about a shareware program, or else Command & Conquer or Red Alert.

 

[DXCHASE]

Napster, Limewire, AIM, WMP skins... generally sites that i could download music/movies/games for free from.

 

[Pifanjr]

I'm not sure what the first thing was, but one of the first websites I can remember memorizing the URL of was just for looking up cheats.

I don't think I finished a game without cheats until I was in my early teens and it took several more years before I quit using cheats almost entirely.

 

[mainer]

Seriously, I have no clue what the first thing I searched for was. I do remember I was on "dial-up" at the time the Web came into existence. AOL, America Online! There's a high probability that one of the first things I looked for was patches released for various games. No auto -patching back then (at least not that I remember).

 

[Zloth]

Jeez, who knows? I was probably using Archie or Veronica to hunt down some Apogee shareware. I think there was some app for searching multiple BBS boards for files, but that wasn't even the internet.

 

[spvtnik1]

Oh, jeez. This is oddly specific, but when I got my hands on the internet in the early 90s, my first search queries were Sonic the Hedgehog related, as I imagine were most 10 year olds' at the time. When America Online was introduced to me by a friend, it became framed to me more as this social tool (Public chat rooms, instant messaging) than a search database (I already have that almanac on CD why do I need google?). Most of the websites you would find information on simply didn't exist yet anyway.

 

[Alm]

I think the first time I really used a search engine was for my work experience placement in 1999 or 2000. It was before Google, and the engine was really bad at giving you results. I think it was called robo-something. Can't quite remember what I was searching for though.

Edit: I think it was HotBot. I found this link of old 90s search engines which brought back memories:

Popular Search Engines in the 90's: Then and Now

We're taking a look at popular search engines from the 90s; we'll look at AltaVista, HotBot, and more! Learn how search engine design has evolved here!

www.webfx.com

 

[KingPSPC]

First time i hopped on google on my own I remember very clearly asking my big sister to type in "Games" for me
Born a gamer lol

 

[Pr0udCh0sen1]

As far as search terms, no I don't remember. But way back when I was a kid in 90s I liked Newgrounds and Ebaumsworld to get some daily laughs etc.