The DP! True VideoGame Story.

[ShinobiMan]

OK fellow gamers, time recount on one of those classic moments in your video game life. Come on, you have to have not one, but many, so spill your guts and give us the low down on some treasured memories. Maybe it was the time you opened your first game for *insert system here.* Or the time you got stuck in a glitch causing your points to rise inevitably (It's happened to me before). So dig deep down in that memory bank of your's and start typing!

[lionforce]

I remember seeing the advertised commercials for the Sega Genesis and the group of kids in the commerical and one boy playing "Altered Beast" on a Big Screen and as he played he moved his arms with the controller and I thought "Wow the character moves when the player moves the controller around in his hand" you better believe I was one little frustrated 10 year old when I found out that the Great Risen From The Dead Roman Warrior did not move forward when I moved my controller to the right (but after alot of crying I accepted the facts) and still own and play that cart til this day :wink:

[ShinobiMan]

You guys not in the mood to type or something? Anyway:

I remember when I was around the age of 3 I won my first game. Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout for the NES. It was such a big ocassion once I go to the last level in the castle (I had been playing the game all day) that I made my mom tape me playing it. So on tape, as we speak, I am watching myself play and win Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout. Rather difficult fo me at the time and pretty damn good fo a thee year old. I die so many times on the tape... it's pretty funny, but nostalgic. Those were the days. I rememeber taking a polaroid of the screen once I beat it. I sent it in to Nintendo Power hoping they would publish it in an upcoming issue but it never happened. Oh well, I guess I'll never be famous. Hah!

[Achika]

I remember crying when I was like 6 or 7 years old because my parents told me to give the copy of Zelda I was borrowing back to a friend. Eventually I stopped when they bought me my own copy.

[ubersaurus]

Heh, i got a zelda related story, too, it's weird though.

Back in the day, when we bought our first NES, the games we had were ninja gaiden, mario/duck hunt, operation wolf, and zelda 2. Well, I had made Zelda 2 my game...but I couldn't get past the caverns to the final palace. One day, I turned on the game to try and beat it again...and my stats had glitched out! I was level X for everything, sword strength, magic, life...it was far beyond the level 8 you should be able to reach. With that, I was able to easily rip right through the end of that game. I've never been able to reproduce that, whatever it was, but I have beaten the game since, so it doesn't weight heavily on my mind.

[ashbourn]

I have a fond memory of playing donkey kong country the day it game out for hours with my 2 friends if someone died then the got game to the person not playing man that was fun. Another is when I got a 13" tv in my room and hooked up all my systems it was just a great moment of knowing i could play my games wth out haveing to lisen to all the other noise in the house.

[Kid Fenris]

I fondly remember the first time I made it past Quick Man's level in Mega Man 2 for the NES. For days I had been stymied by those laser beams in the stage's latter half, until my little sister, who'd been watching me play while her My Little Pony tapes were rewinding, suggested that I use "the thing that stops everything." (Meaning, of course, Flash Man's weapon.)
And by cracky, it worked. After that, Quick Man proved to be a real pain, but I was finally able to gun him down and earn the right to gaze upon the menacing facade of Dr. Wily's castle. At the time, I honestly thought that no other video game would ever be able to manage such an awe-inspiring display.

[zektor]

Getting VERY pissed off at Phantasy Star for the SMS. I had played the game day and night wanting so eagerly to beat it. I finally get to the island in the sky and defeat Lassic. Now, I defeat him, but my trusty flying cat is dead, along with the rest of my crew except for Alis. I couldn't get off the island! I didn't have any of those transport doo-dads, so that wasn't an option either. I call 1-800-USA-SEGA and ask for help. The operator says "Well, there is no way off the island. You have to start the game all over again". ARGH! I don't know why I just remembered that....


That actually wasn't a "treasured" moment, but a moment I will never forget nonetheless!

[ShinobiMan]

I'll give this one a nother bump. I know you guys are holding back.

[hades]

Heh, i got a zelda related story, too, it's weird though.

Back in the day, when we bought our first NES, the games we had were ninja gaiden, mario/duck hunt, operation wolf, and zelda 2. Well, I had made Zelda 2 my game...but I couldn't get past the caverns to the final palace. One day, I turned on the game to try and beat it again...and my stats had glitched out! I was level X for everything, sword strength, magic, life...it was far beyond the level 8 you should be able to reach. With that, I was able to easily rip right through the end of that game. I've never been able to reproduce that, whatever it was, but I have beaten the game since, so it doesn't weight heavily on my mind.

I had a similar experience. (I got the NES in 1986 -- so this may be off topic a little bit) but like you in Zelda, I did the same thing in Dragon Warrior 3. I was on level 5 or 6 I believe with my fighter, and he jumped up to level 30 for some odd reason. Boy was the game a bit easier then, but it eventually erase my information before I got to beat it. I never went back and played it due to the frustration. :-)

[hades]

Getting VERY pissed off at Phantasy Star for the SMS. I had played the game day and night wanting so eagerly to beat it. I finally get to the island in the sky and defeat Lassic. Now, I defeat him, but my trusty flying cat is dead, along with the rest of my crew except for Alis. I couldn't get off the island! I didn't have any of those transport doo-dads, so that wasn't an option either. I call 1-800-USA-SEGA and ask for help. The operator says "Well, there is no way off the island. You have to start the game all over again". ARGH! I don't know why I just remembered that....


That actually wasn't a "treasured" moment, but a moment I will never forget nonetheless!

yeah -- speaking of those untreasured moments with the game support people -- I was playing Shadowgate around the time it was first released and I was stuck. I'm not completely sure what part, but I needed to use the fire burrows thing (sp) on something, but I didn't know that. I called the Nintendo Game hotline and the guy on the line kept asking me "Well what do you think it is?" I kept telling him "I have no clue." After a few battles of this, I came out and said "Would you just please tell me, I'm paying for this phone call and you're getting paid to talk. Tell me."

Well -- he told me and I went on to beat Shadowgate that day. Oh the memories. :-)

[bargora]

When I was growing up, we had only a 13" black & white television in the house. I never thought much about being deprived, happily blasting the white asteroids on the family's 2600.

Then one day I went to a friend's house, where we played Adventure. ON A 25" COLOR TV. :o

To this day, just seeing the saturated hues of Adventure on a big honkin' color TV makes me unreasoningly happy. :D

[YoshiM]

It was Las Vegas. 1982. My family was scraping by and we couldn't really afford much. One evening, K-Mart had their moonlight madness sale with a raffle. Figured we'd go in to cash in on the deals. If memory serves, my parents found a raffle ticket in the parking lot that was "still good", probably from someone who just couldn't hang around anymore to see if they won. Well, we stuck it out until close to midnight. I was practically passed out in the booth in the Eatery when the announcement for the last prize was made: An Atari Video Computer System. They rattled off the numbers, my Dad looked at the ticket-twice. He jumped out of the seat and practically RAN to the front of the store, waving the ticket in the air. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, being in a half daze from lack of sleep. He came back, big smile on his face. In his arms was the gigantic Atari VCS box with all the trimmings that came with it. It was probably one of the coolest things that I have had happen to me (I usually don't win things in raffles/lotteries).

[MarkM2112]

I remember back in college when my friend and I pulled an all-nighter and beat Zelda on the NES for the first time. He was controlling, and I was mapping and "strategizing". It was quite a moment when we finally beat the game, and through the window in the background, the sun was just peeking over the horizon... It was almost a blessed moment! :-)

[spoon]

I have tons of Tecmo Super Bowl stories

If any else is a die hard fan of this game like I am then they know what I'm tlaking about. The Comp. cheats so bad.

But on to a heartbreaker

Around my 10th Birthday, my family an I went to the store so I could pick out two NES games. Well of course I was wanting The Punisher, because I was a big comic junkie at the time. So then it was time to pick out a different game. I checked the game boxes and a particular box art caught my eye. So i bought the game, got it home, and have never been more dissapointed in my life.

Damn You Dash Galaxy And The Alien Asylum!

[Nature Boy]

I've got two for ya (both in the 2600 era when I was 8-10ish).
-----
I asked for Dodge 'Em for Xmas and bragged to my parents that I'd know I'd gotten it without even opening the wrapper because of the shape of the box.

Xmas comes and I don't see a 2600 box wrapped under the tree. I open a gift and its ... vanilla wafer crackers?!? Needless to say I'm a little stunned at this point. My parents tell me to try one and low and behold - Dodge 'Em! And the smart-aleky kid gets his just desserts :)
-----
My dad was a big game player (still is actually), but was frustrated that he was never able to beat me at anything.

For Xmas that year I asked for Defender. He bought the game two months in advance and played it when I was asleep or not at home. So when Xmas finally comes and I start playing against him he's *totally* killing me. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what was going wrong...

[dan2357]

The one that sticks out in my head the most is....
The year was 1987 I was in 5th grade, I was out on my first date, I had taken my girlfriend to Friendly's for her birthday, I don't remember much from the date except I had to take her home at ??:?? o'clock cause her mother was taking her to toy's R us to get a NES for her. I think this might of been the event to permanently stick classic video games in my head, maybe some type of association thing with woman and games ( this could lead to problems). This lead to many days of sitting at her house playing SMB and Zelda. This could also explain my Zelda fascination also. Well that was a long time ago I don't speak to her anymore haven't in 12 years, but I still play my NES.
So the moral of my story is........
Games will last longer then woman.

The poster of this reply in no way meant to or planed to offend anyone of the female gender.Any offense taken by this post was purely accidental and coincidental.

[Ed Oscuro]

My memory would be playing Super Metroid at a Toys R' Us (remember those?) in 1994.

Then I took an 5 year hiatus from console gaming, and didn't see that game for 8 years.

Playing it again through emulation was a really great experience. I found out, for example, that your ship wasn't gray, as my memory had literally become faded over time. Yeah, I own the game, but it's an unplayed Japanese cartridge and...

[Chakan]

I conquered my first game when I was very young as well. I can't be certain of how old I was. It was Deadly Towers for the NES, and I beat it thanks to my uncle's rapid-fire pad. I still remember how excited I got when I won. I wish I could say finishing a video games since have made me so emotional, but it just doesn't happen that way.

I did, however, start to get Misty toward the end of Shenmue I. I remember getting goosebumps from that game when I rescued Nozomi. :)

[Neo-Jorge]

I conquered my first game when I was very young as well. I can't be certain of how old I was. It was Deadly Towers for the NES, and I beat it thanks to my uncle's rapid-fire pad. I still remember how excited I got when I won. I wish I could say finishing a video games since have made me so emotional, but it just doesn't happen that way.

I did, however, start to get Misty toward the end of Shenmue I. I remember getting goosebumps from that game when I rescued Nozomi. :)


LOL...you actually beat that horrible excuse for a game. ?
Boy did that game ever aggravate me .



Thanks

[autobotracing]

Heh, i got a zelda related story, too, it's weird though.

Back in the day, when we bought our first NES, the games we had were ninja gaiden, mario/duck hunt, operation wolf, and zelda 2. Well, I had made Zelda 2 my game...but I couldn't get past the caverns to the final palace. One day, I turned on the game to try and beat it again...and my stats had glitched out! I was level X for everything, sword strength, magic, life...it was far beyond the level 8 you should be able to reach. With that, I was able to easily rip right through the end of that game. I've never been able to reproduce that, whatever it was, but I have beaten the game since, so it doesn't weight heavily on my mind.

that happened to my zelda 1 game i turned it on and i had every item all the triforce.i saved the game and tried to go back and it was gone

[ManekiNeko]

Did I already mention the Fester's Quest story? Well, here it is again. After hours of gameplay, I finally reached the last boss in this game. It was a lot like Blaster Master, having been designed by the same company, so I don't need to tell you how hard it was. Once I finally managed to finish off the enemy, I was so excited that I lept from my chair screaming, "I BEAT FESTER! I BEAT FESTER!"
My brother and his friend were outside. I heard a constant stream of masturbation jokes for over a week.

JR

P.S. All right, now for some positive moments. Out of all the systems I ever owned, the NES was my favorite, so I have the most vivid memories of those games. I had to make some tough choices each Christmas, or whenever I had enough money to buy a new game. Section Z or Mega Man? Athena or Rambo? Fortunately, I made the right decision in both cases, picking up Mega Man and Rambo. Rambo was a little silly, but it was a fun and very challenging adventure... I certainly don't regret all the time I spent with it.
I could never afford many NES games, but thanks to wise choices and a lot of renting, I don't think I ever bought a bad one... at least back then. However, now that Nintendo games are as cheap as dirt, I can afford to own both the great games AND the duds.

[buttasuperb]

me an a friend were playing age of the empires 2 online. we were on the same team playing against 4 computer opponents. we were playing regicide so the object was to kill your opponents kings. we took out 3 of the computer kings and had one left. at this point in the game, all of the gold in the map was mined and we both had minimal armies to try and take out the last king, and they still had a pretty formidable army. anyways to get to the computer's camp i had to go through my friends camp. when i got there i decided to catch him off guard and change him to an enemy and attack him. unfortunately my army wasnt strong enough and i got taken out. of course he got pissed and turned his attention to killing my king and since i had no gold left it should have been easy. hehe, wrong. i built a bunch of town centers to buy some time, then built a dock and a transport ship. i put my king on the boat and just sailed around the lake. he was getting pissed that he couldnt find my king, and while all this was happening, the computer opponent killed him because he wasnt paying attention. hahahahaha.

[ubersaurus]

I have another weird one from the days of my youth...

I had gotten the NES game Battletoads, loved it, but couldn't get anywhere it in, despite warping. Extremely hard, as anyone can remember. Well, one day I went to bed, tired from trying to beat that game. I had the most bizarre and vivid dream of being able to tear through the game, warping here and there, going through stages I had yet to reach, and eventually beating it. Well, I woke up in the basement, on the couch, with the lights and tv on, holding an NES controller. I had apparently beaten Battletoads IN MY SLEEP. I still can't do it consciously, and let me tell you, that really drives me mad.

[Neo-Jorge]

Did I already mention the Fester's Quest story? Well, here it is again. After hours of gameplay, I finally reached the last boss in this game. It was a lot like Blaster Master, having been designed by the same company, so I don't need to tell you how hard it was. Once I finally managed to finish off the enemy, I was so excited that I lept from my chair screaming, "I BEAT FESTER! I BEAT FESTER!"
My brother and his friend were outside. I heard a constant stream of masturbation jokes for over a week.

JR

P.S. All right, now for some positive moments. Out of all the systems I ever owned, the NES was my favorite, so I have the most vivid memories of those games. I had to make some tough choices each Christmas, or whenever I had enough money to buy a new game. Section Z or Mega Man? Athena or Rambo? Fortunately, I made the right decision in both cases, picking up Mega Man and Rambo. Rambo was a little silly, but it was a fun and very challenging adventure... I certainly don't regret all the time I spent with it.
I could never afford many NES games, but thanks to wise choices and a lot of renting, I don't think I ever bought a bad one... at least back then. However, now that Nintendo games are as cheap as dirt, I can afford to own both the great games AND the duds.



Man o Man did those SunSoft Nes games Rock, They were some of the toughest games on earth to beat, I wonder what happened with that sunsoft nes team I would enjoy another Challenge like that. Even the batman game by sunsoft was great on the Nes and Megadrve ahhhh memories.


Thanks

[++Valis++]

January 2, 1982, 9 years old. I'll tell you how I know the exact date in a minute.

Activision's Skiing just recently came out for the 2600. I wanted the game SOOO badly! I don't remember many details of getting the game, but I remember my Dad took me to Sears that day and I was the happiest kid in the world on the ride back and couldn't wait to start playing. We got back, me and him went into my parents bedroom (the room the Atari was in at the time) and started playing. But it was SOOOOO hard at first to this over-excited 9 year old! Just impossible. I couldn't figure out how to turn, kept crashing into trees and poles, a real nightmare. An hour, two hours - still couldn't do it. Even started crying like 9 year olds are prone to do. My father gave it a few shots and did better, but not much. So he suggests turning it off for a while.

We started watching football on TV, and it turned out to be one of the best NFL games I've ever seen, and it's often called the best playoff football game in NFL history. It was a playoff game between the Chargers and the Dolphins, which the Chargers won in overtime 41-38. It was real hot in Miami, both teams were playing as hard as they could, and I still remember to this day Kellen Winslow being carried off the field by teammates from exhaustion. It was really captivating for a 9 year old.

So I just did a Google search for the game and found a page on it:

http://www.geocities.com/wgh1986/1982_chargers_dolphins_playoffgame/san_diego_miami_1982.html

Which told me the date, 1/2/82.

My father and I had a fantastic time watching the game, all sprawled out on their king size bed instead of in the living room, and I totally forgot about my disappointment with the game. After it was over we started playing Skiing again, both finally got the hang of it and had a blast playing it all night long. I'm sure it's a totally pointless story for anyone but myself, but it's a great memory for me.

[mezrabad]

I cried a single manly tear when

(spoiler alert!!!)

floyd died in planetfall. (on my C-64).

(end spoiler)

Oh and me and a friend nearly wet ourselves late one night playing Gateway to Apshai when 1) the Mamba Snake came out like lightning and 2) when we encountered the first vampire . . . vampires creep us out.

[TVs Hasselhoff]

Always dreamed of fighting the Master Control Program from Tron, then the day came. Tron Deadly Discs for Intellivision. Can't remember when I wasn't playing it. Only once did I get to a million points. (yeah, yeah, I know the cheat now, but i didn't way back when) Then the guards came out, with the big stick. You know the big stick. The big stick is always bad news. No matter how much I would hit them with my disc, the guards just kept coming. They captured me and took me away.

It was so cool. Could never stop playing that game, but the day they came after me...cool.

[ShinobiMan]

Man o Man did those SunSoft Nes games Rock, They were some of the toughest games on earth to beat, I wonder what happened with that sunsoft nes team I would enjoy another Challenge like that. Even the batman game by sunsoft was great on the Nes and Megadrve ahhhh memories.

Man, did they ever! My favorite NES games were made by sunsoft. Does antone else think the soundtracks to those sunsoft NES games just kicked ass. I still to this day hum the music from Batman NES and it brings a smile to my face.

[Tetsu]

Fourteen years old, playing Secret of Mana on a Sunday morning. Killing some time before church, dressed in my sunday best. I was at the last stage, just randomly running through the game and leveling up. All my weapons were upgraded to their max levels, except for my Mana Sword. There was a single Orb that I needed in order to upgrade it, which I didn't have. Lo and behold, after an hour or so of smashing enemies and picking up treasure chests, what appears but an ultra-rare Sword Orb. I was bouncing off the walls, ecstatic at having found the last upgrade and basically getting everything there was to get in the game. I couldn't wait to fight my way back out of the Mana Fortress so I could take the Orb to the smithy and upgrade my sword. But there wasn't enough time. Church beckoned, and I was forced away from my precious orb. But no matter. I turned off the TV and left the SNES running on pause. It would still be there for me in a couple of hours.

Or so I thought.

When I returned, I discovered that I had absentmindedly flipped the light switch to my room off. The light switch that was wired to a certain wall outlet. The same wall outlet my SNES was plugged into. Sadness. I played the game all day long, trying to recreate the freak accident that had given me the orb the first time, but to no avail. Almost ten years later, I still don't know what the maximum upgrade of the Mana sword looks like. Sigh.

[dreamcaster]

September 9th 1995 (heh! I still remember the date!), Age 10.

This is the day my life changed forever. The day I got my Super NES.

So the story begins...

My birthday had just been a couple weeks before, and I'd gotten quite a lot of money. I'd also been saving all my pocket money for about six months. For the past week my parents had been ringing around to find the best deal for a SNES. We finally rang a K-Mart and they said they had one SNES/Super Mario All-Stars pack with an extra controller for $209 AUS. It was the only one left too! What a great deal! Now, how to actually get there?

My Grandmother was visiting for afternoon tea at the time, and she was then going home to her place to prepare dinner ('cause my parents and I were then going for dinner later on). I suggested I could go with my Grandmother to the K-mart (which was nearby her house). My parents would be leaving home a lot later and the K-Mart would be closed by then. I'd have to wait 'til the next weekend! And that SNES might be gone! So my Grandmother agreed to take me with and stop by at the K-Mart on the way.

Okay, so now I was on my way to getting my first video games console (I was a PC gamer up 'til then). Have about a 30 minute drive, we finally got there. I practically ran through the shopping centre, through K-Mart (why are the video games always at the back?!) and finally reached the games section. There I some some little kid holding the last Mario All-Stars SNES in his hands. I walked up near him. Damn it! This little shit is gonna get this SNES! Bastard! Then (I think there was some divine intervention here...), the kid put down the SNES and called his mum, "Mummy there's a Super Nintendo over here!" and he running to look for her. Now was my chance! I grabbed the SNES and ran full-speed commando-style to the front of the store, where my grandmother was only just entering the K-Mart. I paid for it and ducked out of the store (I swear I could hear that little kid crying...).

Finallly I had the SNES. Now I had to play it. Well, my grandmother decided to go to the grocery to get some vegetables (god damn it!). Just imagning someone wheeling a shopping trolley with this giant SNES box through the fruit and vegetable isle. Ridiculous!

Eventually we left and then it was only a five minute drive to her house. I ran upstairs and plugged in the SNES to one of the spare TVs (they have about six or seven!). I then got my uncle to tune it for me (I couldn't figure it out. Hey! I was only 10!). I then started playing Super Mario All-Stars and didn''t stop until my well after my parents came and it was time to leave.

When we were leaving, my parents were explaining to me that whenever they wanted to watch TV, I had to get off the SNES (we only had one TV at the time). My grandmother then suggested that I take one of her spare TVs. For free! Brilliant!

I left home at around 3:30pm with nothing and I came home with a SNES and a TV that night! Probably the best day of my life!