Gaming Nostalgia

[DukeOtakuNukem]

I was writing a journal about how angry I felt towards humanity, and then all of a sudden, a powerful, jolting feeling of nostalgia rushed towards me, relieving my childhood. It was back before I knew what depression or even autism was. Back when Sega was at its last breath, but still had something left. Yes, you all know what I am talking about. The Sega Dreamcast. Those days were gold, though short-lived back before anyone knew anything about modern first person shooters, back when games were actually worth playing.

I will never forget playing Evolution 2: Far off Promise, and Evolution: The World of Sacred Device, they both were my first exposures to RPGs and perhaps the most memorable ones. This was 11 years ago in 2002, I was just a carefree 11 year old, enjoying the genius of the Dreamcast, and Sting, the amazing Japanese developer that made those two Evolution games. I also enjoyed Sonic Adventure 2 greatly, as it was one of my favorites.

However, that all has ended when not only Sega has departed from the hardware industry, but has become a mere 3rd party developer. I will always miss those days, the departure of Sega resembles the departure of my happiness; not affecting it immediately, but a few years down the road, it hits. They still made great games for a while, but around 2005-2006, they degrade to nothing, and have degraded further, just like my happiness. At least I can relive those days when I was a happy, carefree child, before I even knew what rejection, pain, or pricks were.

 

[EscapeArtist]

Lol... all the gaming nostalgia from when I was 11 was maplestory and runescape. /shame. Hey, maplestory was good once when it was all about community though. >.>

 

[DukeOtakuNukem]

Yeah, around the same time period, I had an interest in classic gaming, and collected systems such as the SNES, Sega Genesis, and NES, all of which I have missed out on in earlier years, and I had the fortune to happily game on those and have such fond memories of them before I was struck with depression in 2005. Gamestop even stopped carrying all the classics I enjoyed starting in 2006, another symbol of disaster for me. The late 90's-early 2000's were certainly better days. These days are somewhat better than high school on a somewhat good note, though, but I still have trouble connecting with the human race to the point where I start to doubt the human race itself, and wonder if people with feelings even exist? Needless to say, those days were gold, the happiest years ever, before I was ever struck with depression, before I knew psychiatrists existed, before Sega became a mediocre 3rd party developer, and before I knew what being bullied was like. If I could, I would step into a time machine to take me back to 1999, 2000, 2001, or 2002, heck even 2003 or 2004 wouldn't be so bad. But then again, at least today is better than 2005, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, or early 2011.

 

[SilentBird]

 

[Hoppy]

Geez, I played Flight Simulator on an Apple II, that was on a 10" amber screen, and it was loaded from a floppy. And at some stage you had to turn the floppy around since it could only read one side at a time.

(Now I feel old....)

 

[HH]

I had a Dreamcast, it was awesome!!! Such a underrated machine at the time although it's getting a lot of love now from the gaming world. My fave games were Le Mans 24hrs and Metropolis Street Racer. I now have a xbox 360 which is great but I still love the classic consoles mainly the SNES which I owned through my early teenage years, Street Fighter 2 Turbo is one of the best fighting games ever made and if anyone disagrees then they are sooo wrong

 

[Ithior]

I had a mega drive and I only had sonic games for it.

Later I got a dreamcast, didn't have many games and I don't really remember the names of them, but I loved a vertical shooter one, a football one, a racing one that I played with my cousin many times, another about robot fights (ended up breaking the CD in a fit of rage, I was really sad after that; never had any fits of rage after that, guess I learned my lesson) and of course Sonic Adventure.

As for portable consoles, I still remember the day (christmas eve) where I received my first game boy (color; blue) and Pokemon Blue. I was really happy that day. I think I already had the mega drive back then, but it was both mine and my sister's. I still remember the feeling of opening my own first console and my own first game.

 

[corranhorn]

dukenukem, your post was awesome and made me have that same feeling. I grew up playing frogger on DOS, NES, Super NES, sega, playstation 1... Then I got into Blizzard and spent my remaining years playing Diablo 1/2, Warcraft 2, and then WoW until I forced myself to give it up some years ago. The best game I ever played was The Secret of Mana on SNES, with Wild Arms II on playstation being a close second. It makes me smile when I think about playing it as a kid.

 

[BlackPuma]

My early life revolved around Majora's Mask, Super Mario 64, Sonic Adventure 2 and Pokémon Red/Gold.

Happy memories.

 

[Remus]

First game I bought for playstation 1: UFO enemy unknown.

It kinda spoilt me as I thought all strategy games would be that good!

 

[squidgee]

I was born in the late 90's so I never really got to experience all the older gaming classics when they were at their peak and when there was a lot of hype around them. I did have a SNES emulator though on an older laptop. Played some great RPGs like Chrono Trigger and Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

 

[mikebird]

Whoa yeah

I liked Silent Hill, Res Evil on PS, Castlevania on SNES, Ghosts & Goblins, Wizball, Phantasy Star, SHENMUE
Still got a MegaDrive. All else I regret disposing of. Nothing is ever worth eBaying as old tronics loses value. Jungle Strike & Road Rash II. Rage, Golden Axe, and the japanese classic shuriken-throwing game on one cart.
Double Dragon and Operation Wolf in arcades. Pulled an Atari 1040 STE out of a skip when it was raining, with mouse & monitor. Just the floppy drive got a bit rusty and makes bad noises

Regretting getting a secondhand xBox 360, years ago. Not one good game. Bo!

Putting Slpatterhouse in gooogla remembering sideways scrollers like progressive classics... r-type, Nemesis, Hellfire, and top-down games..

Splatterhouse now mega-3d 1st-person swirling camera stuff - virtual reality

If I had a kid, I'd make sure they go outside on the swings, run about, go swimming, keeping 'em away from TV

Start 'em on ancient Atari pong 2-player with analog rotary controls... B&W
Good for the head

I'd get old 8 colour games for em. Thos who start life on MEGA expensive, immersive consoles with textures and shaders...with touchless controls, which might be good for all of us, but thinking simple might be good for everyone small.

I wouldn't want a 6-month girl to be dressed up in make-up with stilettos, trained to be a pole dancer in diapers, smokin cigars, drinking vodka and smoking crack, ballet, squash and kickboxing wearing heavy loaded balloons in a bra to be a whore or teach 12 €uropean languages and a Hollywood star, driving a supercar until later in life

 

[Amitush123]

Deus Ex FTW!!

"What a shame"

 

[jaim38]

I would enjoy gaming more if I'm better at them. Too bad I suck at almost every game I ever played. The only game I was able to finish was Myst III: Exile. The other games like Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy, and God of War are too hard for me because they require good hand-eye coordination to fight enemies. I once spent hours trying to defeat some high level monsters in FFX-2 and finally gave up. Even Super Mario is hard for me, especially towards the end. My brother on the other hand is a gaming genius. He has finished more games than I could count. I don't know if it's a gender thing (i.e. guys good at games, girls suck) but I'm trying not to stereotype here.

 

[GraybeardGhost]

Interactive Fiction, anyone?

The old Infocom games: Zork! Planetfall! Enchanter!
More recently: Theatre! Christminster! Curses!

Emphasis on plot and puzzle solving, rather than coordination and speed.
No graphics at all, just words and imagination.

"You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike."

Anyone still have a brass lantern?
Anyone been eaten by a grue?

Anyone?

:alone:

 

[coyote]

Interactive Fiction, anyone?

The old Infocom games: Zork! Planetfall! Enchanter!
More recently: Theatre! Christminster! Curses!

Emphasis on plot and puzzle solving, rather than coordination and speed.
No graphics at all, just words and imagination.

"You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike."

Anyone still have a brass lantern?
Anyone been eaten by a grue?

Anyone?

:alone:

Leisure Suit Larry :thumbup:

(played on my amber screen, 286 mhz PC that had a 32 MB hard drive)

 

[coyote]

my family got Pong when i was in high school

hooked it up to our 15" black and white tv and turned the dial to channel 3

we were livin' large, my friend

 

[Phoenixx]

My life basically revolved around video games as a kid. Pokemon Blue and Spyro the Dragon were my first two video games.... Well, Pokemon Blue was originally my brother's, but he never got into it. I kinda just took it over and I've been a Pokemon fan since. :bigsmile:

Other games I played...
Sega Genesis: Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic and Knuckles, Ecco the Dolphin (didn't play this one much though), and Kid Chameleon (also didn't play this one much)

Playstation: Spyro series (1, 2, and 3), Crash Bandicoot and Crash Bandicoot: Warped (I totally skipped 2. I could never find that game anywhere!), Gran Turismo 1 and 2 (these were my brother's games, but I played them a little too), Frogger, Bust-A-Move.

Gameboy/Advance: Pokemon Gold/Crystal (Crystal is hands down my absolute favorite of Gen II. I still have it!), Pokemon Sapphire, and Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons.

Gamecube: Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, The Sims: Urbz In The City, Tony Hawk's Underground, and Metroid Prime. I didn't have much with Gamecube, as I couldn't really keep up with video games anymore -- and I still can't. I had so much fun playing it though.

PC: Sim City Classic, Sim City 3000, RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 and 2, plus expansions, Sim Safari, and good old classic Sims. I still play the Sims 2 every now and then. I never could get into 3. It just doesn't feel right.


Before I had my own video games, my parents had the classic NES and so many games. I remember my brother and I watching them play when we were little, and then we eventually started playing too. Our favorites were Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3 (We also skipped 2 since we could never find it anywhere. What's with missing second games in a series?), Legend Of Zelda, and Shadowgate. Oh so many memories playing Zelda and Shadowgate. I also really enjoyed Kirby's Dreamland and Metroid too. Oh and Monopoly!