Must-have "gaming experiences"

[RJ]

Much like Homer Simpson's list of things to do before dying, I wonder if we if we could put together & decide on a definitive list of gaming experiences we as gamers should have before passing on. It could be a Top 5 or Top 10, & it wouldnt necessarily have to be games to beat/finish- just things people who consider themselves gamers (& even non-gamers!) should experience in the video gaming realm.

Ideally, they should be ob/attainable by the average gamer, not some Billy Mitchell-esque feat, & nothing too strenuous or difficult. Here's a sample list I thought up:

1. Play through DOOM's final level
2. Trash talk someone after fragging them in HALO online
3. Reach/see the final Pac-Man intermission cartoon
4. beat someone/the computer in Madden, Pong, etc
5. See the Sephiroth/Aeris death scene in FF7 for yourself
6. Wait outside overnight for a console launch

Get it? Just gaming experiences we ought to all have at least once before it's too late. The above list is ONLY AN EXAMPLE; no need to shred what I wrote. Things will obviously be of varying importance to different people, but that's what'll make this FUN.

& for the smart-@$$es out there- no, I dont plan to off myself- immediately or otherwise!

[Veepa]

1. Curse the screen, and throw your controller.
2. Shoot Natalia in Goldeneye during the escort missions, just for the hell of it.
3. Type "ASS" as your initials, when you receive your high score.
4. Play any videogame while you're completely nude..(Trust me,.. it's exhilirating)
5. Do that pointless "World - 1" trick on Super Mario Bros. atleast once.

[RJ]

Hoo boy.... :roll:

Thanks for your input- anyone else?

[youruglyclone]

Hoo boy.... :roll:

Thanks for your input- anyone else?

you wanted responses and you got them

- Play "make a moon" in Katamari Damacy in it's timed form or eternal
- Throw someone in a locker in MGS2
- Beat Star Road and the Special Levels in Super Mario World

I'll post more when I think of others

[njiska]

Play the original MGS
Defeat The End in MGS3 the hard way.
Beat the original Contra without cheating.
Play at least one game on the Famicom.
Experience Half-life 2.
Play at least one Infocom game, preferably Zork.

How's that?

[GrayFox]

Hoo boy.... :roll:

Thanks for your input- anyone else?

His responses were good.

Also, online voice thrash talking was being done 10 years ago. Atleast for me, with badass games like Action Quake 2. Just sayin'

[tuxedojoe]

-Play through Shenmue.
-Get all 120 stars in Mario 64.
-Play any version of Twinbee, two-player-style.
-Play Christmas NiGHTS on Christmas Eve.
-As a kid, wake up Christmas morning to find the newest console (and a few games) under the tree (the one that you've been talking about for months), and spend the ENTIRE week playing it.
-Beat Super Mario RPG: LoSS at least a billion times.
-Have a HUGE gaming tournament with a bunch of your closest friends... preferably with a fighting or racing game.
-Stay up all night to beat a game.
-Stay up all night to beat a game with a friend (this and the preceding spurred from a recent thread).
-Break something because of a game, at least once (preferably gaming hardware).
-Multi-player Saturn Bomberman.
-Get addicted to a MMORPG.

That's all I got as of now, but I will try to post some more later.

[smokehouse]

-Experiencing that drive home from a game store when you just picked up a copy of that new “must have” gave (the worst for me was Final Fantasy VII). THE ANTICAPATION!!!!!

-The first time you beat Super Mario Bros as a kid (kid for some of us, adult for others).

-Getting all 96 worlds in Super Mario World for the fist time.

-The fist time playing a new console.

-Finding the “big score” at a local pawnshop, thrift store, flea market…etc. Man, what a great feeling.

-Beating almost any of the Final Fantasy titles for the first time.


I have to second the all niter comments above. Playing a titles for 8 hours straight is something to be experienced by any die-hard gamer.

[njiska]

Oh i forgot a good one.

Buying a new game sitting down and completely beating it in one go. Especially rewarding if it's something with a really compelling "can't put down" story.

[BrokenFlight]

I have to second the all niter comments above. Playing a titles for 8 hours straight is something to be experienced by any die-hard gamer.

When GTA Vice City came out I played it for 13 hours a day for 1 week then 8 hours a day for another week when I went back to school.

Gaming experiences,
The only ones I can think of are sort of lame, like playing all the sonic and mario games. Or they've been said before.

[Xexyz]

3. Reach/see the final Pac-Man intermission cartoon


"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, wo, wo ,wo, wo, woah... Lois, this isn't my Batman glass"

Okay, I'll be serious now :)

Are yous aying there is a fourth intermission cartoon? Are we supposed to beat 256 ****ing levels in order to see it?

[FooFighter]

1) Wait in line for an hour at the arcade to play the latest game. I remember doing this for Dragon's Lair at Aladdin's Castle.


2) Make a game memory with your dad. My dad and I used to play Atari X's and O's football.


3) Make a game memory for you and your kid. That would be Bomberman for me.


4) And for the guy in the second post you forgot to put in FUK when you got high score at the arcade.

[Jumpman Jr.]

- Play the Zelda games on the CD-I
- Get 30+ extra lives in the second level of Super Mario Bros. by bouncing on the heads of the goombas coming out of the sideways pipe.
Put on "Invincibility" in Goldeneye and play the "Facility" level. Then, go to the end of the level and blow up the tankers. Let the room fill with smoke and kill every guy that comes to kill you.
- See the Speed Run of Super Mario Bros. 3
- Beat Ocarina of Time
- Play Beserk on the 2600

[RJ]

@ Xexyz- Hmmm- I thought there were only 3 cartoons, like in Ms Pac-Man- dunno about a 4th. Beating 256 levels would be...hard.

& that Family Guy line is one of the best ever! LOL

Anyhoo- looking good, people! Keep'em coming.

[cityside75]

Good topic. Here are some that I've attempted to share with various people over the years, some get them and some don't...

1. Open up and play through the final level of Rez, amazing music and special effects.
2. Achieve that "zen" moment in Robotron 2084, probably only possible playing with arcade sticks.
3. Already said...Half Life 2 - a breakthrough experience
4. Going on a tank rampage in GTA

I'll add more as I think of them.

[nate1749]

- Play the Zelda games on the CD-I


I've heard these games are terrible and are best forgotton - or is that why we should play them?

As for the topic, I would say play the games you like in the arcade. Different environment (and controls) really add a whole new element and you end up having to master the game all over again.

Plus you get to meet new people and see totally different playing styles (other than your friends and the regular AI). There was a thread on here about how often people go to the arcade and I was surprised by how rare people go - I think it's a fun experience you should have, even if you're not a huge gamer =)

Nate

[Vectorman0]

Breaking a controller by throwing it out of frustration
Having a game freeze up on you upon reaching am milestone

[sabre2922]

1. Play the original Silent Hill ALONE in a dark room with surround sound on a large TV with only a candle burning a few feet away :devilish:

2.Play Panzer Dragoon Saga all the way through and experience the REAL greatest RPG of all time (if you can find it that is)

3.Try ICO on PS2 most gamers either love it or hate if you happen to like it is truly a great gaming "experience".

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/weblogs/upload/50/31848062542edfa83617ec.jpg

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/weblogs/upload/50/10914004442edfa641ab0e.jpg

[jdc]

Hmmm.....I'll try to be different.

1/ Stumble across "the game that you've always been searching for" COMPLETELY out-of-the-blue and unawares.

2/ Play ALL of the N64 games that were made by Rare.

3/ Take a sealed game from a system past, crack it open and play it.

4/ Accidentally erase a huge game save file.

5/ Turn off a system after a lengthy gaming session....and realize that you forgot to save.

6/ Experience a power failure in the middle of a long gaming session.

7/ Savor the packaging from any game made by Working Designs. Fall in love with the glorious hardcover instruction books.

8/ Marvel over the character modelling in DOA Beach Volleyball. :D

[bargora]

Get thoroughly owned by R-Type, wonder how the hell anybody could possibly beat that infernal game.

[Damaramu]

Play 8 player linked Daytona in the arcades.

[Gunstar_Hero UK]

- Be reduced to tears by 4 Player Mario Party..

- Experience Ocarina of Time..

- Play through a lengthy game with a great story (shenmue II perhaps?) with a friend..

- Get 8 Buddies together for System link Halo/Halo 2..

Im sure theres more..

Joe. :)

[MrSmiley381]

Beat any version of Street Fighter II - at an arcade.

Break a controller (preferably a cheap one, and while playing a hard game.)

Beat Castlevania on the NES. It's possible, and eventually gets quite easy.

Play through at least one Japnese import RPG where you really don't know what you're doing. It's like being a tourist, really.

Host a game tournament.

Win a game tournament.

Win a game tournament by using Dan. Yes, that Dan.

Buy at least one game sealed years after its release, and never open it.

Buy a game sealed years after its release and opne it (thanks to above poster who mentioned this.)

Scream a fighting game move at several random times at people on the street. Yelling "Hadouken" or "Are you OK? BUSTER WOLF!" come to mind.

Fairly random list. I'll think of more.

[tuxedojoe]

- Be reduced to tears by 4 Player Mario Party..


Melikes! I don't know if I have ever been reduced to tears by multiplayer Mario Party, but I sure have gotten pretty darn frustrated at times.

[Hep038]

Play a game until you are stuck, assume you must have missed something, start game over from beginning, get back to the spot you stopped at. And find out you did not miss anything, you just did not see the door you needed to open to get to the next room. ( This happend to me and my friend playing RES 3)

[GamecubeFreek]

-Beat a game that a close friend or family member was never able to beat, then rub it in their face.
-Play monster themed games on Halloween (I like to play CV3 and Resident Evil)
-Preorder a game 6 months early, then show upat the store the day of release a few hours early in anticipation (I did this with both Zelda:Minish Cap and RE4...I even bought lunch next door and brought it in the store... of course I had permission to do so from the store's workers)