Anybody here get into gaming kinda late in life?

[Anthony1]

When I mean "get into gaming", I mean become somewhat of a Hardcore Gamer.


Myself personally, I became a "Hardcore" gamer rather late in life, at least in video game terms. My first video game system was a Atari 2600 at the age of 7 years old. Me and my brother played the 2600 for several years, but I was not anything close to being a "hardcore" gamer. Then my dad bought us a Atari 800XL computer. I played around with that a little bit, but then I basically stopped playing video games for quite some time. I didn't start playing them again until my Mom got me a NES system for Xmas. At that time I was a teenager, and not reallly into games that much either. After awhile, me and my high school buddies started playing sports games on the NES, and we would have little tournaments and leagues and stuff, but all we played were sports games. I had no interest in any action type games at that time. So I still wasn't hardcore in any way. More of a casual sports gamer.


Then in 1989, at the age of 19, I bought a TurboGrafx-16. The main reason I got one, was because I saw pictures of the TV Sports games in a GamePro and the graphics looked really good at the time. I bought that system hoping to play more advanced sports games. Me and my buddies played World Class Baseball quite a bit, but again, I was still more of a casual gamer.


In 1990, at the age of 20 is when I really started to become more "hardcore" into gaming. The TG-16 really didn't have much in the way of sports games, and to justify all the money I spent on it, I started buying a bunch of non sports games. Games like Legendary Axe and Splatterhouse and Bonk's Adventure. It was at this point that I started to become more hardcore.


Not long after that, I got into trouble with the law, and I had to go live with my Brother in L.A. I had a TG-16 and a Genesis at the time. My brother worked 16 hour days, and was always gone, so there was nothing to do for me, but to play games. So I got really, really into the Genesis and TG-16 and video game magazines. I even found a place in Woodland Hills that rented TG-16 and Genesis games. Not only that, but they had the TG-16 to PC Engine converters. You could rent the converters and a PC Engine game. So I started doing that. I also read every single video game magazine that hit newstands. What a dumbass, because I was paying the full newstand price for all of them too!!!

Basically at age 21, when I bought the SNES the day it came out, that is when I truly became a hardcore gamer. From that point on, I've bought every single game console on the day of release (except 3DO, got that about 4 months after release).


Anyways, the bottom line is that I became a hardcore gamer at the age of 21, which is kinda late to become a hardcore gamer. I would imagine that most people get really into gaming when they are much younger. I was kinda late to the party.

Now I'm 34, and still hardcore, and I don't imagine that I will ever tire of this hobby.

[lendelin]

I was 30 when I got seriously into gaming.

I always liked Pong, and in my twenties I played for about a month almost every evening Galaga in an arcade; but studies, libraries, and teaching came first, gaming wasn't on my schedule. But the NES got me into gaming bigtime.

I'm a native German, and in '89 I decided to move to the US. I remember that I read in the Herald Tribune in Germany an ironic column about parents fighting in stores for a game named Zelda for their kids as a Christmas present; I wrote on a piece of paper the name of the system...Nintendo.

One week after my arrival I bought a NES, and when I discovered a warp zone in SMB (WHAT??) I was lost. Since then I'm a game maniac. My interest in games never slowed down since then.

[Xantan the Foul]

I'm proud to say that I've always been a serious gamer... I think I've been gaming since I was 6 :D

[it290]

Yeah. I had a Genesis as a kid (as well as a C=64 and later an Amiga 500), and I enjoyed them a lot, but I sold my Genesis when I was 15 or 16 and didn't play games much until the Dreamcast came out. I just had to have the new Sega system. I amassed a fair number of games for it, but I didn't start collecting anything else until about 2002 or so; now I have a bunch of systems. I started out with just the Sega stuff, but eventually got into Nintendo, Neo Geo, etc.

I blame part of my addiction on my parents -- they finally caved in and got me a Genesis in 1991, but for the longest time they wouldn't let me have a game console, and I wanted an NES or Game Boy sooo bad.

[Anthony1]

I was 30 when I got seriously into gaming.

I always liked Pong, and in my twenties I played for about a month almost every evening Galaga in an arcade; but studies, libraries, and teaching came first, gaming wasn't on my schedule. But the NES got me into gaming bigtime.

I'm a native German, and in '89 I decided to move to the US. I remember that I read in the Herald Tribune in Germany an ironic column about parents fighting in stores for a game named Zelda for their kids as a Christmas present; I wrote on a piece of paper the name of the system...Nintendo.

One week after my arrival I bought a NES, and when I discovered a warp zone in SMB (WHAT??) I was lost. Since then I'm a game maniac. My interest in games never slowed down since then.


wow, so how old are you now?

[FlufflePuff]

I played lots of games as a kid. Atari 2600, NES, and SNES being my main systems. I got out near the end of the SNES's life, but I was never hardcore. I got back into gaming at 20 and I would call myself a hardcore gamer now. So while I had my start at an early age, I didn't really collect or obsess over gaming until I was an adult.

[mr_nihilism]

I've been hardcore since I was 5 and the Atari 2600 was a thing of newness. Alright, not really hardcore, but by the time the NES came around games were my life.

[YoshiM]

Hey, hey. Lendelin's still around. Where've ya been?

Not sure what one means by "late" in life. There's always, always been some sort of electronic entertainment in the house but I really didn't get serious (as in beyond just playing a game now and then) about gaming until 1987 when my parents got me a NES. Probably to their dismay I became a video game nut and made that my hobby. I would have been 12 at the time.

When the magazines started coming out for that era was when the interest really kicked in and hasn't really stopped.

[imanerd0011]

I guess I have been a hardcore gamer for quite some time now. I didn't have a ton of games when I started (I was only like 5 years old), but I would play the games I did have , ALL THE TIME!!! My dad started playing games when he was in his mid -late 30's. He has since become addicted, and is one of (if not the) most hardcore gamer I know.

[Nature Boy]

Wait a minute. You consider 20 to be "late in life?!?" Since you're already 34 I guess that means you're planning on checking out sometime soon... :)

I'd pick my mid to upper 20s personally. More or less it's the time I started buying less CDs and more games.

[Retsudo]

My first system was a Pong machine I got back in 1977. Didnt know anything about being a gamer.
The second system I got and still have is an Intelivision back in 1982. Back then I just played it ocassionally. I was'nt too big on videogames because I spent a lot of time hanging out in the streets. Most of my gamin was in an arcade playing Defender Stargate.

In 85 My brother bought a NES. I only got to play it when I got home because I was in the Marines Corps.

Then came 1992 when I first saw Streetfighter 2 on the SNES. I became a hardcore gamer ever since.

So yes, I really got into real gaming later in life.

Ohyeah, BTW, Im 39

[lendelin]

I was 30 when I got seriously into gaming.

I always liked Pong, and in my twenties I played for about a month almost every evening Galaga in an arcade; but studies, libraries, and teaching came first, gaming wasn't on my schedule. But the NES got me into gaming bigtime.

I'm a native German, and in '89 I decided to move to the US. I remember that I read in the Herald Tribune in Germany an ironic column about parents fighting in stores for a game named Zelda for their kids as a Christmas present; I wrote on a piece of paper the name of the system...Nintendo.

One week after my arrival I bought a NES, and when I discovered a warp zone in SMB (WHAT??) I was lost. Since then I'm a game maniac. My interest in games never slowed down since then.


wow, so how old are you now?

47...in my best years :) and still not smarter.

[lendelin]

Hey, hey. Lendelin's still around. Where've ya been?


I was in Germany for nine weeks (pleasure and for a research project). I came back last Saturday. No games, no videogame website, no playing...it was terrible. :) I tried to compensate for it with good old German traditional food and watching soccer...AHHH...you should try a good German sausage, bread and rolls, and the pastries. I miss them already. :)

[jdc]

I'm 45. I didn't even TOUCH a controller until the launch of the N64 (a friend bought one and showed me it), I bought an N64 ASAP and I decided that I liked gaming enough to spend 4 years in the industry. Then I decided that I liked it enough that I had better get OUT of the industry before it ruined the fun of gaming.

I collect the N64. I have a Cube, NES, Genny and Dreamcast as non-collecting permanents. I rotate owning a PS2 and Xbox every few years. I'm back with the Xbox now.

[Big Papa Husker]

Ive been a gamer since I was about 5 when I got my NES... which would have been 1990. I was a NES kid :)

[Fungus]

I was never not a gamer. I was deep into the EM games and pinball when that was all that existed.

[Dr. Morbis]

I didn't own a "true" gaming system till I got a NES when I was 10 (I had a Mattel Aquarius before that). I consider that to be rather late in life, especially in modern times. Nowadays I think you would have to search long and hard to find a 10 year old boy who had never really played video games on a regular basis.

[Anthony1]

Wait a minute. You consider 20 to be "late in life?!?"


Well, not in general, but from a gaming standpoint, yes, somewhat. Most people get into gaming as young kids, and then become gaming nuts around 11 or 12 years old, and then get really hardcore in their teens and late teens.

I basically became hardcore at about 21 years old, which I guess isn't that late in the game, but it's probably quite a bit later than most kids growing up today.

[Aussie2B]

Well, not in general, but from a gaming standpoint, yes, somewhat. Most people get into gaming as young kids, and then become gaming nuts around 11 or 12 years old, and then get really hardcore in their teens and late teens.

Eh... I don't know; I don't honestly believe that most of us, regardless of how much we liked games, were truly "hardcore" gamers/collectors that young. Kids just don't have the kind of funds and gaming knowledge for that. While I really loved games as a kid, played them a lot, and never sold any of them, I didn't have the ability to really collect until my late teens/early twenties, nor did I have a wealth of gaming knowledge until I acquired a large library of games and read up on a lot of stuff online.

I guess it depends on how you define a "gaming nut". At that age, I think all kids are just doing whatever they feel is fun with their free time. I played games a lot at that age, but I wasn't putting much thought or effort into gaming as a hobby. I guess you could basically call me a "casual gamer" back then.

Of course, there are some people here who are only in their early/mid teens and they already have hundreds of games (maybe thousands? O_o ), but that is definitely NOT the norm.

[Sothy]

Retsudeo, do you enjoy air strikes or what?

[Raedon]

I can just barely remember a time before pong.. lots of pinball and other electro-mechanical coin-ops at the skating ring. I remember the first three arcade games I played. 500, something like "evil Canival" Motorcycle handlebar game and Lunar Lander.

[robotriot]

I was 12 when I started gaming, I consider that pretty late also ^^

[DynastyLawyer]

8 years old, I think.

I should have been working on that stuff from womb to tomb.

[Dimitri]

My mom bought an NES for me and my sister when I was three years old (it was mostly for my sister who was eight -- she still plays games, too!). I used to not let anyone watch me play then make outrageous claims about high scores.

A few years later I got a Genesis with Sonic and Sonic 2...and never looked back. :) I'm 19 now, so that's a good 80% of my life I've been a gamer...and I don't ever plan to stop. ;)

[xfactor1984]

I started being really hardcore when i went to a video game store called game x change to sell my n64 to, well they gave me like 150$ foreverything I gav them and I started looking around the store and I saw that they sold games for almost every platform out there. I ended buying a saturn and some games, and some NEsS games. I have been collecting ever since that. Thas was in 2000 and I was 16, now I am 20 and have over 20 systems and 300 games and counting.

[Retsudo]

Retsudeo, do you enjoy air strikes or what?

Only in Socom 2 :evil:

[Porkchop]

Hey, hey. Lendelin's still around. Where've ya been?


I was in Germany for nine weeks (pleasure and for a research project). I came back last Saturday. No games, no videogame website, no playing...it was terrible. :) I tried to compensate for it with good old German traditional food and watching soccer...AHHH...you should try a good German sausage, bread and rolls, and the pastries. I miss them already. :)

What! No good German Beer? @_@

[Porkchop]

I think I may take the prize for starting late in life.

I was in college when Pong came out. I played a little Zork on my first computer a Commodore 64, but was not hardcore. I bought my kids a NES, SNES, N64 and PS2. I watched them play some times but never really played.

About 5 years ago I started collecting computers and video games. I now have over 55 systems and over a 1000 games. I play my XBox, PS2 or GC several times a week and long hours on weekends, so I guess I am now hardcore. I guess I crossed over to hard core about age 46.

Will some of you younguns please come play video games with me in the old folks home when I am 80. LOL

[lendelin]

Hey, hey. Lendelin's still around. Where've ya been?


I was in Germany for nine weeks (pleasure and for a research project). I came back last Saturday. No games, no videogame website, no playing...it was terrible. :) I tried to compensate for it with good old German traditional food and watching soccer...AHHH...you should try a good German sausage, bread and rolls, and the pastries. I miss them already. :)

What! No good German Beer? @_@

Nope, I never liked beer! :) (Schnaps, yep, wine, and whiskey; but I'm a very social drinker) ...but I like soccer, I hope that's enought to pass as a German. :)

[lendelin]

I think I may take the prize for starting late in life.

I was in college when Pong came out. I played a little Zork on my first computer a Commodore 64, but was not hardcore. I bought my kids a NES, SNES, N64 and PS2. I watched them play some times but never really played.

About 5 years ago I started collecting computers and video games. I now have over 55 systems and over a 1000 games. I play my XBox, PS2 or GC several times a week and long hours on weekends, so I guess I am now hardcore. I guess I crossed over to hard core about age 46.

Will some of you younguns please come play video games with me in the old folks home when I am 80. LOL

You even beat me. God, I feel suddenly so young again. :) I promise I'll play with you 'God of War' in the old folks home for the ancient system PS2. Then we can rant about the youngens who know only the new mainstream games like 'Drugomania' for the newest system from Toshiba.

[Porkchop]

I think I may take the prize for starting late in life.

I was in college when Pong came out. I played a little Zork on my first computer a Commodore 64, but was not hardcore. I bought my kids a NES, SNES, N64 and PS2. I watched them play some times but never really played.

About 5 years ago I started collecting computers and video games. I now have over 55 systems and over a 1000 games. I play my XBox, PS2 or GC several times a week and long hours on weekends, so I guess I am now hardcore. I guess I crossed over to hard core about age 46.

Will some of you younguns please come play video games with me in the old folks home when I am 80. LOL

You even beat me. God, I feel suddenly so young again. :) I promise I'll play with you 'God of War' in the old folks home for the ancient system PS2. Then we can rant about the youngens who know only the new mainstream games like 'Drugomania' for the newest system from Toshiba.

Yes, I can see it now, two old farts in wheel chairs playing Halo 15 on-line and kick'n'ass. Thats the great thing about video games, all you have to have is someone to push you up to the TV and hand you the controler. LOL