WHEN DID YOU BECOME HARDCORE?

[RCM]

Hello people-
Your old pal RCM here. I was just thinking about the holidays and what it means to me. Christmas is a very important time in my year, It signifies the birth of my lord JC and it also signifies on the 24th of December, the date when I became a hardcore gamer. Next week will mark the 12th anniversary (I was 12 at the time) that I got my Genesis w/ Sonic the Hedgehog and Spider-man. I've been playing games my entire life but not in the way that I have since that night. When I saw Sonic race past the Sega font for the first time and heard the SSSEEEGGGAAA I knew deep down inside that I was going to be gaming forever. I was wondering if anyone had specific stories, dates, etc. as to when they became hardcore. I'm almost positive that this topic has been covered atleast in some form before. I don't really care though, share some stories! Have a happy holiday season even if you don't celebrate or believe in anything!

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[GamecubeFreek]

According to some people, I have been somewhat Hardcore since I was very young, but I didnt consider myself one until about 6 years ago when I went from being a fan of games to being "obsessed" with games. This transition occurred when I was 11 and I got a SNES for Christmas along with about 15 games as well as about 20 Genisis games. Since then, I live for everything game related. 8-)

[VACRMH]

Christmas is a very important time in my year, It signifies the birth of my lord JC

Is that a rapper? ;) Just playing.

Hmm, I've been big into playing games from the age of... hell 4 or 5? But I wasn't into the "track down every game i've always wanted" mode untill 3 or 4 years ago.

Happy Holidays to you too :)

[MarioAllStar2600]

the first time I played Dig DUg. I was crazed by teh fun. I got sucked into this hobby permantly.

[maxlords]

I guess it was when I was banned from video games. My parents wouldn't let me have them unless I could buy them myself, and with the prices of systems and carts, and no allowance, I became obsessed with getting video games. Bought all the mags, read em cover to cover, etc, and when I finally GOT the systems....that was it. :)

[lostsage]

when in highschool, i would wake up, go to school, go to work at kb toys, come home, play videogames all night, take a shower, go to school, go back to work, and then pass out with a controler in my hand. that was about 5-6 years ago. (it was also the first time i cried over a character. FFVII, ya'll know what i'm talking about).

[Duncan]

You'll probably love my signature, then... :)

Anyway, I had a similar Genesis reception on Christmas morning in 1991, in which my brother and I received both Sonic and Quackshot. Five holiday seasons later came the N64, with which we received Mario 64 and Wave Race.

Everything since then, thanks to our age and the higher expense, has been self-purchased. But that's okay, I guess...

[tholly]

I guess buying on a regular basis all started last year and strangely it started with the 4 new systems. I originally wanted an indigo cube when it first came out, but my friends all convinced me that a PS2 was the way to go, so I made a bet with my mom and won so she paid for 1/2 of my PS2 and bought me 2 games, extra controller, and a memory card. All was good and I played that for awhile. Then came my first year of college and took it with me. Me and my buddies played GT3 a lot but I still wanted my Cube. So I found out a Platinum cube was coming out so I pre-ordered that. I was excited, but I had to wait awhile. While I was waiting for the Cube, the Xbox with the 2 sega games deal came out and I figured I wanted something to hold me out until the Cube came in so I bought that. Now I had 2 systems before the one that I really wanted. Then I saw the Platinum GBA before my Cube came in and figured I had to get that to match my Cube, which I did. Then I finally got my Cube and found out about the GBASP Platinum, so of course I needed to get the next Platinum Nintendo system.

After all this, I couldn't stop reading about video games and buying new old games. I started buying everything from the NES to the new systems and I haven't been able to stop since. Then I found place. I visit it at least once a day, usually a lot more (I don't want to miss anything.)

Seeing all those Game room pics just made me want to buy more and more. So someday I will have an awesome room of doom. I guess that is my how i became hardcore story.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Many,many moons ago..

I think it was when I was young..

My parents had the Pong systems/Mattel handhelds etc. then they bought me an Atari 2600..
My Grandmother would constantly give me games so I had a big collection when I young already..She got the addiction started.

But the day that really kicked it off was the day the next door neighbors kids(my friends) came home to find a shiny new Vectrex sitting on the kitchen table..

Oh man,I was in love with that thing and have to have one..
My parents were not hearing the price tag of that machine..
I made a promise to myself to own one someday,that coming true when I was i became an adult.

Though I've been collecting games for over 20 years,it's the last 7-8 years that I've become really obsessed...and as you may call it "Hardcore"

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Hardcore? Bah. I still have a soft, creamy center. Probably nougat.

For me, it was probably the third or fourth quarter I put into a Pac-Man machine. That was when it finally clicked. The sad thing is, after all this time and all the practice, I still haven't gotten much better at Pac-Man...

[D_N_G]

when did this board become gamefaqs? answer that and that's the day i will settle on

[Sotenga]

EDIT: It's not early Saturday morning, it's late Saturday morning. I can think a bit more clearly now, so here's the account of the VG freak within me.

Well, I've been playing games since I was about two. There are some games back then that I will cherish forever, but lately, I've had many influences in my gaming tastes, introducing me to a plethora of unorthodox, yet kick-ass titles. The prime influence was Dire 51's video game website, the Organization for the Preservation of Classic Forms of Gaming. Back when his Top 100 List only had 50, I actually owned about half the games on the list. I thought it best to play as many games on that list as possible. :D

But even before Dire's influence, I was a little gaming freak, through and through. I didn't start on Pong or Atari. I was part of the very flashpoint of the new wave of electronic entertainment: It was the NES that I loved so dearly growing up. Some of my favorite games on that grey box were Castlevania III, Ninja Gaiden, Ghosts N' Goblins, Contra, and Bionic Commando, among others... all quality titles that were excruciatingly difficult, and I couldn't beat for a while, but as I matured, they crumbled beneath my skillful mastery of the NES controller. If not for the NES... I don't want to think about that. I wouldn't be the person that I am now if it were not for the Nintendo Entertainment system. :)

EDITx2: This has got to be my most revised post. :embarrassed:

[Darth Sensei]

When did I become hard core.

Well, it all started when I was very young and my grandmother gave me a subscription to National Geographic. After that I started sneaking peeks at my fathers Playboy's and went downhill from there. Oh wait, you mean hardcore at video games? I was thinking porn.

I can remember the day I became obsessed with video games. I was around 11 and I had just had my first really successful game at Asteroids. I played for about 3 hours on one quarter. I had a crowd of people around watching and I felt like a Rockstar or Pro Athlete. After that, I was obsessed. I eventually managed to play that game for over 48 hours straight and I could play pacman for around 3 hours whenever I felt like it.

After we got an Atari, well there was no longer any hope for me.

D

[gamergary]

When I played River Raid and Adventure on my parents 2600 when I was like 2 years old that made me want to play video games forever.

[le geek]

It really started in college when I discovered Usenet, the 2600 Connection and the DP Price Guide. That and Odd Lots had Atari games on clearance. I had keet my Atari hooked up in high school (and would pick up a "new" old game here and there), but after discovering all the third party games I never heard of, I went nuts! I remember buying a buttload of games in a cereal box for $2 ea. I also got several items that I didn't keep (because I wasn't completely hardcore yet): Cubicolor, Lochjaw, Xenophobe, Rubik's Cube, River Raid II, Klax. (I've since replaced Xenophobe Rubik's Cube and River Raid II).

The obsessions grew from there :) A close second would be deciding to get an import Dreamcast as I was tired of waiting for games to come out. Then deciding I might as well get the pink Hello Kitty bundle! Then of course most of the good DC games came stateside, so in a happy ending I traded the setup for A Turbo Duo + Turbo Express + 10 games.

Cheers,
Ben

[Dire 51]

Ever since I first played Pong on the standalone unit my family had. The seed was planted that day.

[Oobgarm]

From the first time I played Combat on the 2600, back in the early 80s. I've always been about games. I think I hit my highest "Hardcore" point when I discovered the Playstation, which was right around the time I started working at Funcoland. I'm helplessly addicted, and that's not a bad thing. ;)

[LazingBlazers]

I became hardcore after I got my behind handed to me at the Nintendo World Championships in 1990. I guess it was my strong desire to win in the future. I succeeded in becoming good at games, but I stopped being hardcore in 1994 or 1995 due to time constraints.

[RetroYoungen]

The gaming seed for me was planted in front of the family console TV the first time I played Super Mario Bros. at XMas time, 1986. I sat right in front of that screen, playing as Luigi and doing as little kids do (sort of just pushing buttons, but trying), and I knew then this wasn't the last time I'd sit like this for hours in front of a game.

[Blackjax]

Probably from the moment I opened Pitfall 2 and pluged it into my 2600.

MAN i wish someone would figure out the soundchip... I can't even play this on my cuttle cart now...

[swlovinist]

As a collector, I defined myself as hardcore when I shelled out $150 for Caltron 6 in 1 for the Nes. I knew that not many other people would pay that for "one" NES game. I would say this year when I made my "Room of Doom" and got it published in the newest Tips and Tricks.

As a player, I think when I was pulling all nighters on my Dreamcast on Phantasy Star online did I deem myself worthy of being hardcore. Over 200 hours logged. Since then I have lowered my status as a hardcore gamer due to many time restraints. I am currently working on something that I will announce in time as a game related project.

Happy holidays to everyone, for this site and the people here have helped me soooooooooooo much!

[Balloon Fight]

Right around 1991 when i went over to my cousins house to play some Duck Hunt and Super Mario Brothers. From then on, i was hooked on games.
I only became hardcore into collecting about a year ago when i discovered DP in T&T's magazine. I learned that people actually collected games, and i soon joined the party afterwards. :)

[Classicgamesdepot]

Collecting Wise I probably become hardcore when I first started going to the flea markets and found out about the Trading Site Gametz, In one of my first trades I got 140 DIFFERENT nes games all at once (this was a huge deal especially considering it was over 3 1/2- 4 years ago.. From there I had to get every game and than it went on to other systems

As far as actual childhood gaming goes, I think it was when I Rented Earthbound, and played that game non stop Morning, Immediatly after school, and until I passed out and was extremely close to beating it..I still consider it one of my top 5 favorite games of all time

[Gunstarhero]

I have always been hardcore. I live and breath video games. I am the utlimate hardcore video game playing bad azz. In fact, I'm eating a video game sandwich right now. Bow down muthafuckaz. :rockets:

[GrandAmChandler]

I also have always been hardcore, since birth.


(Insert hardcore gamer with big chin pic here)

[Vice Guy]

I became hardcore the day I went dumpster diving and scored a couple of working 2600s, games and an INTV2. That was back in '95 I believe. :D

Ever since, I've done a gradual expansion of my collection which currently stands at nearly 600 games spanning from the 2600 all the way up to the PS2. I have over 250 2600 games and about 110 NES games so far.