jawa asks... When did you start playing videogames?

jawa_ wrote:

Moggy wrote:I'm sure I had played games before this, but my earliest memory is being over a friend's house and playing Ghostbusters on his Amstrad. I guess I'd have been about 6 or 7.

I'm a little surprised... Amstrads were popular... but not *that* popular compared to the C64 and the Spectrum... and yet so many GRcadians have used one. Tons of CPC action!

I ended up with a C64, but I've never forgotten my first experience on Alan Sugar's dream machine.

jawa_ wrote:

Carlos wrote:Maybe 1986-7? I remember borrowing my neighbours Atari 2600 and playing Bonanza Bros and Yar’s Revenge. I later got a Vic-20 around 1989.

Those two systems were my first gaming, too, Carlos! I played on a pal's 2600 (around 1981) and my first system was the Vic (1984). Sandwiched in-between I played a couple of games on the BBC B computers at school; I recall Yellow River Kingdom and Killer Gorilla.

I couldn’t tell you any games I ever played but I remember my dad typing in a game called ‘Red Alert’ without realising you could record it to tape and it was lost upon powering off.

Carlos wrote:I couldn’t tell you any games I ever played but I remember my dad typing in a game called ‘Red Alert’ without realising you could record it to tape and it was lost upon powering off.

I did some investigative work and...



...Red Alert!

This was a type-in listed by Computer & Video Games magazine issue 16 (Feb 1983) in the Book of Games 1 supplement, pages 13-14.

It was a Scramble clone and, on appearances at least, looks decent!

The first game I ever saw running was Hungry Horace on a 48k ZX Spectrum+.

I think i was around 2 or 3 years old at the time and my brother had received it for Christmas.

It's hard to pin it down exactly but some time in the late 80s I would imagine, so when I was maybe 5.

My cousin had a Commodore 64 as well as a NES and I remember visiting my Nan's house one Sunday and they had it set up on the lounge TV there, I was mesmerised by it! Spy vs Spy and SMB1 are the two things I remember experiencing that day

Shortly afterwards my parents bought myself and my two brothers a ZX Spectrum +3 (on the classic grounds that it would be educational as well as for playing games... and to be fair I've ended up working in IT so maybe it paid off! ) Very fond memories of playing the likes of Treasure Island Dizzy, Manic Miner and Elite on that thing.

Vermilion wrote:The first game I ever saw running was Hungry Horace on a 48k ZX Spectrum+.

I think i was around 2 or 3 years old at the time and my brother had received it for Christmas.

Vermi, dude, you were super-young when you got into gaming! It's neat that you have such memories.

Jenuall wrote:...My cousin had a Commodore 64... Spy vs Spy ...

What a fantastic game, Jen - it was so much fun setting up traps for the other player :-).

Jenuall wrote:Shortly afterwards my parents bought myself and my two brothers a ZX Spectrum +3... Very fond memories of playing the likes of Treasure Island Dizzy, Manic Miner and Elite on that thing...

The Speccy sure did have a broad library of titles. I loved platform games like Manic Miner!

Can't seem to vote but mine was 1983 to 1985 on this bad boy

Rubix wrote:...mine was 1983 to 1985 on this bad boy

The classic VCS! Slam in the cart and - blam! - straight into the game. Single button action!

Carlos wrote:

jawa_ wrote:

Carlos wrote:Maybe 1986-7? I remember borrowing my neighbours Atari 2600 and playing Bonanza Bros and Yar’s Revenge. I later got a Vic-20 around 1989.

Those two systems were my first gaming, too, Carlos! I played on a pal's 2600 (around 1981) and my first system was the Vic (1984). Sandwiched in-between I played a couple of games on the BBC B computers at school; I recall Yellow River Kingdom and Killer Gorilla.

I couldn’t tell you any games I ever played but I remember my dad typing in a game called ‘Red Alert’ without realising you could record it to tape and it was lost upon powering off.

Are you sure he wasn't trying to tape Basement Jaxx off the radio?

Moggy wrote:

Carlos wrote:

jawa_ wrote:

Carlos wrote:Maybe 1986-7? I remember borrowing my neighbours Atari 2600 and playing Bonanza Bros and Yar’s Revenge. I later got a Vic-20 around 1989.

Those two systems were my first gaming, too, Carlos! I played on a pal's 2600 (around 1981) and my first system was the Vic (1984). Sandwiched in-between I played a couple of games on the BBC B computers at school; I recall Yellow River Kingdom and Killer Gorilla.

I couldn’t tell you any games I ever played but I remember my dad typing in a game called ‘Red Alert’ without realising you could record it to tape and it was lost upon powering off.

Are you sure he wasn't trying to tape Basement Jaxx off the radio?

It's a catastrophe!

jawa_ wrote:

Carlos wrote:I couldn’t tell you any games I ever played but I remember my dad typing in a game called ‘Red Alert’ without realising you could record it to tape and it was lost upon powering off.

I did some investigative work and...



...Red Alert!

This was a type-in listed by Computer & Video Games magazine issue 16 (Feb 1983) in the Book of Games 1 supplement, pages 13-14.

It was a Scramble clone and, on appearances at least, looks decent!

Legend! That’s the game and the book I got from the local library. It wasn’t an easy game to play.