Question When did you start and what that?

[MR.TSA]

Hi all

it was lovely when I started playing e. Games at the age of 7 in 1985... when did you start and what that?

 

[Frag Maniac]

I started late in life at about age 42 in 2001, and have only ever played on PC. At first I got into it by playing free demos, which most games had back then. Some demos could be played for hrs on end because they offered MP play with a dozen or so maps you rotated through (Medal of Honor Allied Assault Spearhead). Then I was officially hooked and started buying PC games used. Some places had them for 5$ to 15$, with buy two and get the 3rd of equal or less value free deals.

The main games I started out on were Deus Ex, RTCW, and Medal of Honor,. Really miss those days, games have gotten better looking, but more buggy, and I really don't like the digital download only trend.

 

[Alm]

I think the first gaming I experienced was super Mario land on the Gameboy in 1989 when I was 6. We got a PC in 1992 and I think I've always had a preference for PC since. I got my own first PC in 2001 when I was 18.

 

[Zloth]

Far enough back that the definitions get fuzzy... mid 70's when the games showed up along side the pinball machines at the bowling alley and pong consoles appeared? I think it might have been right around when cable television showed up because I remember wondering how it would work with those A/B switches.

 

[DXCHASE]

I can remember playing games at 4 with zelda on a nintendo, got a little older and played sonic/rampart/mk on sega, super nintendo, n64 etc. My father got a dos only pc around 1994 and had some obscure dos games that i cant even remember the names of and then a gateway around 1998-99. I loved playing on pc but was relegated to console pretty much up until 2014 when i built my first real gaming pc (i had built one for college a decade before but couldnt afford it to be a gaming rig).

 

[Brian Boru]

Far enough back that the definitions get fuzzy

Same here, it would have been arcades, probably late 70s—Asteroids, Defender etc. ETA Space Invaders & PacMan—thanks @mainer
Introduced to PC games in '85 when I went to work for a computer manufacturer—I can only recall some golf game…

Got my own PC in '90, been PC gaming ever since. Milestones:
Prince of Persia—first humanlike movement I'd seen;
Wolfenstein 3d—first 3D shooter I played;
Command & Conquer—one of my top 3 franchises to this day;
Half Life 2—seminal FPS game, got me interested in shooters again;
Far Cry—my first open world game, another of my top 3 franchises;
Civilization 4—my 3rd top 3 franchise, Civ4 is easily my most-played game.

games have gotten … more buggy

Yeah, that happens with lots of software when it gets more complex. Could take a decade until the advances cool off and the respite allows devs to discover ways to improve quality.

I really don't like the digital download only trend

To each his own—the idea of something on DVD would give me hives
I still have some ancient CDs just because, but I require all my software to be downloadable these days.

 

[mainer]

I was around awhile before pcs even became common (no pcs in high school or college). Got my first PC in the early 1980's (Pentium something ), played a few obscure games that I don't even remember, but the turning point came around 1984-1985 when I played Ultima 4, 5, 6. I was so, so hooked at that point, completely immersed in the stories & the graphics (graphics!). Been playing games on the PC since that time.

If you want to count arcade games, I played (and spent a lot of quarters) tons of Space Invaders & PacMan which were around in the arcades in the early 1980s.

 

[mainer]

it was lovely when I started playing e. Games at the age of 7 in 1985... when did you start and what that?

I started about the same time, 1984-1985, but I was 30 years old.

 

[Brian Boru]

my first PC in the early 1980's (Pentium something )

Pentium didn't arrive until '93, yours was likely a 286

 

[mainer]

The main games I started out on were Deus Ex, RTCW, and Medal of Honor,. Really miss those days, games have gotten better looking, but more buggy, and I really don't like the digital download only trend.

While most of the games I buy today are digital downloads on Steam or GOG, I also miss those days of buying a boxed game, installing it from DVD's (or even CDs, or 2 1/4" floppy discs), and reading the game manual while it loaded. Deus EX was also a huge game for me, played that many times.

And while games have gotten better looking with great graphics, and far more complex in many aspects, they do seem to be far more buggy. Although I remember playing Daggerfall and having hordes of bugs. One good thing about the digital download age, it's far easier to get your game auto-patched than it was tracking down patches to download.

 

[mainer]

Pentium didn't arrive until '93, yours was likely a 286

Yeah, memory is a bit fuzzy about the technical aspects of my first PC, so I'm sure you're correct. Pentium was just the first name that popped into my mind.

 

[NuclearBalls1]

How bout PONG. Yes, the very first arcade video game, long before home PCs. I've definitely graduated to much more, including the recent build of my deathmatch Quake 1 map, viewable and downloadable on youtube.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah, I know a lot of the latest gen of gamers are fine with digital, and even some old gamers that could never manage to take care of their discs well, but the disadvantages are more easy to see for some than others. For one, it takes a pretty fast ISP to make digital comfortable, which isn't cheap. Lately I've noticed Sony offering their latest console as a digital version with no disc drive, but there's a HUGE caveat, no Blu ray player!!!

 

[Zloth]

For one, it takes a pretty fast ISP to make digital comfortable, which isn't cheap.

Google Fiber for the win! Steam is normally the bottleneck for me.

I definitely don't miss the disks. Please insert disk 3. No, that's disk 4, put disk 3 in. And, if a disk is bad, it's back to the store and hope they still have copies. Oh, and don't forget the endless "but when will the game get to MY store?" questions... oh, we think it's coming on Tuesday morning's truck - but it might be next week. Now, just click the install button, go away for a few minutes, and play. I do miss the printed manuals but that's about it.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Google Fiber for the win! Steam is normally the bottleneck for me.

I definitely don't miss the disks. Please insert disk 3. No, that's disk 4, put disk 3 in. And, if a disk is bad, it's back to the store and hope they still have copies. Oh, and don't forget the endless "but when will the game get to MY store?" questions... oh, we think it's coming on Tuesday morning's truck - but it might be next week. Now, just click the install button, go away for a few minutes, and play. I do miss the printed manuals but that's about it.

All I have to say is I noticed you didn't mention saying just how much Google Fiber costs, but I know 1Gig speeds ain't cheap on the west coast. It's one thing that really bugs me about internet costs is east coast prices and speeds are generally better. The only reason I can see for that is the east coast is more population dense, so likely has more customers per service area.

 

[Alm]

I guess digital is better but I share a 100mb connection with others and don't play so often any more. Games like Warzone require a download nearly every time I go to play it which makes it a bit pointless so I know the pain.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Well I totally get why games went digital. The file sizes of games anymore alone pretty much warrants it. Like it or not, it's a convenience focused world anymore, and convenience always comes at a price.

 

[Zloth]

All I have to say is I noticed you didn't mention saying just how much Google Fiber costs...

$70 per month in Kansas City. One gig download and upload speeds. No data cap. Service has been really good, too.

 

[Frag Maniac]

$70 per month in Kansas City. One gig download and upload speeds. No data cap. Service has been really good, too.

Oh yeah, Kansas City, that's the very first city that had it, right? To compare, my current 100 Mb Down, measly 5Mb Up, is the same $70 at full price, and that's with a paltry 400GB monthly cap. Right now I'm paying $56 for it with unlimited data, but it's getting to the point now where they're telling me I can't keep getting promo deals. Even Comcast Infinity internet in nearby areas is same up and down speed, but $55 full price, and a whopping 1.2 GB monthly data allowance. My problem isn't the services I have, but the crap area I live.