Poll of the Day > How and when did you become a gamer?

(+) Yeah! (+)

For me, I was probably like, 3. I loved playing Super Mario Bros., though I didn't realize that I was using the player two controller and my sister was doing all the actual playing. Gradually, she let me actually try playing with the first controller more and more often, and the rest is history.

How about you?

I've never been a gamer. I just play video games.

I don't recall exactly but probably around 4 or 5 with super Mario bros on nes.

Played Frogger on my mom's Colecovision when I was like 2

My stepfather was a junkie. He would spend weeks on the road driving truck high on coke and uppers, then come home and drink and do heroin to come down. It was a roller-coaster of narcotic mayhem.

He was always trying to sleep off the coke binge when he was home, and if we made the slightest noise he'd become enraged and beat us severely using whatever tools were within arms reach: belts, books, a hairbrush, clothes hangers, rolling pins... or just his good ol'-fashioned fists when he was feeling sentimental.

We learned quickly to play quietly, which was a difficult task in our small and squallid one bedroom apartment. We lived in a poor part of town, and many of our neighbors were violent druggies just like our stepfather. Playing outside wasn't always an option for us. My two brothers and I did not have a proper bedroom of our own. We lived and played in the parlor, except on those rare days when we had company and our parents would tidy up our cozy little shithole in an effort to give our sad family some sort of facade of normalcy... Like spit shine on a three-day old turd. The three of us slept crowded together on a sagging, well-worn fold out couch, lulled to sleep by late night talk shows and early AM infomercials.

That TV nanny would prove to be our saving grace. For Christmas one year our mother bought us a second-hand NES at a yard sale over in one of the more affluent neighborhoods.

Many an afternoon we spent in the glow of that old CRT, dust dancing in the dusky haze. We would have to play with the volume turned all the way down, suppressing our squeals of joy when we finally felled Bowser and rescued the princess (for real this time!), or gulp down our awestruck gasps when we discovered there was a whole second quest in The Legend of Zelda.

Even with that menacing junkie threat slumbering in the next room over, there was no denying the joyful escape afforded us by that electronic angel. Which is in large part why all three of us PROUDLY call ourselves gamerboyz to this very day :)

#gamer4lyfe #gamersriseup

At age 12 I was bitten by a radioactive video game.

My dad loved video games, which at that time meant going to arcades, so I spent a lot of time around arcades as a kid. Then there was the 2600, early text based PC games, etc..

We had a Home Pong unit, a Kaypro 10 with a bunch of games on it, an Atari 400, an 800, and a ColecoVision that had a bad sound chip. We also used to eat a lot at Straw Hat Pizza and they had a video arcade, and we had a pass to Disneyland and after they closed we'd go to the Disneyland Hotel and play video games in the Video Adventure underwater arcade.

About age 6-7, parents gave me sega genesis and Sonic the hedgehog for Christmas and I was hooked on Green Hill Zone act 1

*shrugs* It's a form of gaming that just appeals to me, from the first time I began playing them (starting with the TI-99/4A).

teenage mutant ninja turtles fighting game on the snes when i was like 5

I was 5 years old, living in San Diego, California. Me, my sister, and my mom were at a roller skating place having a grand old time (Dad was in the Navy and was out to sea).

I was taking a break from skating and hanging around a Pac-Man machine - Mom called me over and gave me a quarter, the rest is history.

I had an old Intellivision given to me and the game, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Don't remember the year but I was much younger. The next big game as I got older was OoT and even that was old by the time I got it.

As with everyone else more or less forever: Atari Pitfall, arcade Caterpillar/Pacman, etc...they've been around a long time.

Early elementary school, probably like 5-6 years old. The place I went to daycare as a kid had an NES, then my parents bought me an SNES.

Probably when my husband bought me a Game Boy Original and a bunch of games to go with it. Spent hours on NBA basketball and NFL Quarterback games but didn't really get into gaming until my daughter became involved with Pokemon games years later.

Around 4 as far as I know. Played games and never stopped.

I was 3 or 4. My sister would play sonic 3 on the genesis and I loved playing as the kitty (tails). Later on, I learned that you had to jump on things to kill them in Sonic 3D Blast and that was really what set me up with playing games by myself

I've never seen "gamer" as being someone who just plays games, but someone who defines some facet of their personality around gaming. Where it starts to bleed into other aspects of your life - the sort of people who have video game-related in-jokes with friends, or lots of video game merch, or basically sort of "living" games rather than just playing them. "Gamer" is when gaming stops being an activity and becomes part of your life (and it's not necessarily a competitive mindset - I don't think you need to be a "pro gamer" sort of player to be a "gamer").

For me personally the two have always sort of been inextricably intertwined - gaming came into pop culture right around the same time I started gaming, so it was easy to fall into that sort of mindset where gaming was a huge part of my identity. When I was around 5, my cousin had a ColecoVision and I used to like to play it when I was at his house, then I got one for Christmas. I played Coleco and Atari 2600 games for years, then moved on to the NES and SNES, then the PS1 and PS2, the Xbox and the 360, and now the PS4. There's never been a time in the last 40 years when I didn't have at least one console hooked up in my house (or college dorm). Sometimes multiple ones at once.

Meanwhile, I was pretty much raised on the massive video game themed assault on pop culture in the early 80s. Shows like Saturday Supercade, Pac-Man, Pole Position, and the later Super Mario Bros cartoons. Pac-Man shaped Spaghetti-Os. Donkey Kong and "Nintendo Entertainment System" cereal. Board games. Movies. Even non-game related stuff like Tron that was game-adjacent. I dressed up like Link for Halloween. I've owned Nintendo-themed t-shirts, Atari-themed t-shirts, Final Fantasy themed t-shirts, and even a Halo t-shirt. I've had video game themed keychains. I have video game themed stuffed animals.

I'd play arcade games like Arkanoid, Rampage, and Gauntlet (and later Street Fighter) when my mom took me to the grocery store to shop. Later I'd go to a local bowling alley every couple of weeks and play games with my friends (off the top of my head, I remember Dragon's Lair 2, Time Traveler, Hard Drivin', The Avengers, X-Men, and eventually Mortal Kombat). A few years after that, I'd occasionally go to arcades at the local boardwalk and play games like Revolution X or Mad Dog McCree. As an adult I've taken my niece and nephew to Chuck E. Cheese and played games like Mario Kart or Let's Go Jungle! with them.

If you asked me to imagine a world where video games were never invented, I'm not sure I could - so much of my life has revolved around gaming in some way I can't imagine what it would be like without it. That's sort of what it means to be a "gamer" to me.

And it's basically been a core part of my entire life. Along with comic books and fantasy novels/shows, it defines a large part of my interests and hobbies. And has done for almost as long as I've been alive.

My parents had a nes and snes before I was born, and I played those as young as I could remember but I think it was Christmas of 97 or 98 when I got my own GBC which was my first system/handheld of my own

Played games when I was young. With my Godsister, cousins, and friends. When I was a little older, my cousin got Ocarina of Time. It seemed like a lot of fun, so I asked my mom for it. and I couldnt put it down. I had played the other Zeldas a lot, but none that I really beat on my own That was the first one. Thats when I evolved from playing games to being a gamer, I guess And that was also he start of my love for the Zelda series

When I was a baby my dad had an Atari. I vaguely remember playing it, mostly just the sounds of pong. In the late '80s or early '90s they bought me an NES which was my first gaming system.

round 1989 playing on ibm's and Atari ( got a mega drive around 1991) still remember windows 3.1

before that i was a stupid tree climber lol ( no kidding i would climb trees and builds like a monkey)

Like 2 years old. Brother was old enough to understand the basic concepts and game. I wasn't but wanted to do what my brother was doing

I started gaming at four years old in 1991 and really got into it because I couldn't do other things kids my age did, like play sports.

Around the age of 3 or 4 my mother bought my father an Intellivision for Christmas when they came out. She mostly picked it up due to all the sports games available for it and I was really interested in the fact you could actually make things on the tv move. But I was too young to understand sports, so he started picking up games that I could follow like Night Stalker, Thunder Castle, Triple Action and Tron Deadly Discs. The rest is history. When we werent playing games themselves my brothers and I would be outdoors playing live action versions of our favourite games.

I had a modded PS1 and a fat stack of about 100 games, but I mostly played Spyro

My earliest gaming memory is playing Super Mario Bros. with my older siblings when I was about five. I also remember once while riding in a car I said aloud that I wished we had Mario Bros. 2; next thing I knew we were heading to the video rental store to rent it. (Not buy; we didn't have it like that)

Actually when I was really little my older relatives didn't give me much chance to play games. One of my proudest moments was being home sick from school when I was eight, and managing to beat Super Mario World on my own. I left the it on the ending screen until school was out so I could prove it to everyone. (Side note: my three year old cousin randomly mashing buttons was how we learned that you could replay fortresses and castles in the game.)

Christmas at 5 years old, got a sega genesis with ms pac man and George foreman ko boxing

Can't remember my age, but I know I was pretty new to walking.

Grandma handed me a SNES controller and told me to try and beat the Mario level while she made dinner. The rest unfolded as it did. I love that woman. She had to have surgery to unlock her thumb because she spent too much time on the Nintendo 64 when it dropped.

> How and when did you become a gamer?

I can't remember when I said my first slur

I first started playing video games back in 1993 when I was 3 years old. My grandparents had an Intellivision and an NES at their house that my uncles played with when they were younger. They had dozens of games for the Intellivision and half a dozen games for the NES. My favorites were BurgerTime, Snafu, and Beauty & the Beast for the Intellivision, and Gyromite, The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. for the NES.

I became a lot more into video games in 1994 when my babysitter had a Genesis and an SNES at her house. I asked my mother I wanted video games for Christmas and she bought me a Genesis along with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Ms. Pac-Man, Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Quest, and Crystal's Pony Tale. My absolute favorite was Sonic. The next Christmas I got an SNES, followed by an N64 the following year as soon as it released. I kept getting more and more games and consoles over the years.

i was born into it my dad saved all his childhood consoles and games in working condition he was a terrible father except when we gamed or traveled together

Always, my family had a NES when I was born. Or at least got it early enough that I can't remember us not having one.

I watched my upstairs neighbors playing FF9 basically every weekend. I remember 3 year old me finding it HILARIOUS when Freya used Jump, and the battle ended with her in the air while everyone else did their victory dances.

I also distinctly remember THAT at the end of Disc 3

Other than that, I remember playing Sonic 2 with my sister a lot. And Mickey and Donalds World of Illusion (rerelease this Disney, please)

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I've never seen "gamer" as being someone who just plays games, but someone who defines some facet of their personality around gaming. Where it starts to bleed into other aspects of your life - the sort of people who have video game-related in-jokes with friends, or lots of video game merch, or basically sort of "living" games rather than just playing them. "Gamer" is when gaming stops being an activity and becomes part of your life (and it's not necessarily a competitive mindset - I don't think you need to be a "pro gamer" sort of player to be a "gamer").

For me personally the two have always sort of been inextricably intertwined - gaming came into pop culture right around the same time I started gaming, so it was easy to fall into that sort of mindset where gaming was a huge part of my identity. When I was around 5, my cousin had a ColecoVision and I used to like to play it when I was at his house, then I got one for Christmas. I played Coleco and Atari 2600 games for years, then moved on to the NES and SNES, then the PS1 and PS2, the Xbox and the 360, and now the PS4. There's never been a time in the last 40 years when I didn't have at least one console hooked up in my house (or college dorm). Sometimes multiple ones at once.

Meanwhile, I was pretty much raised on the massive video game themed assault on pop culture in the early 80s. Shows like Saturday Supercade, Pac-Man, Pole Position, and the later Super Mario Bros cartoons. Pac-Man shaped Spaghetti-Os. Donkey Kong and "Nintendo Entertainment System" cereal. Board games. Movies. Even non-game related stuff like Tron that was game-adjacent. I dressed up like Link for Halloween. I've owned Nintendo-themed t-shirts, Atari-themed t-shirts, Final Fantasy themed t-shirts, and even a Halo t-shirt. I've had video game themed keychains. I have video game themed stuffed animals.

I'd play arcade games like Arkanoid, Rampage, and Gauntlet (and later Street Fighter) when my mom took me to the grocery store to shop. Later I'd go to a local bowling alley every couple of weeks and play games with my friends (off the top of my head, I remember Dragon's Lair 2, Time Traveler, Hard Drivin', The Avengers, X-Men, and eventually Mortal Kombat). A few years after that, I'd occasionally go to arcades at the local boardwalk and play games like Revolution X or Mad Dog McCree. As an adult I've taken my niece and nephew to Chuck E. Cheese and played games like Mario Kart or Let's Go Jungle! with them.

If you asked me to imagine a world where video games were never invented, I'm not sure I could - so much of my life has revolved around gaming in some way I can't imagine what it would be like without it. That's sort of what it means to be a "gamer" to me.

And it's basically been a core part of my entire life. Along with comic books and fantasy novels/shows, it defines a large part of my interests and hobbies. And has done for almost as long as I've been alive.

This is stupid AF to me, a true gamer to me just means someone who has played a variety of games throughout their life and actively plays a good amount (has it as one of their main hobbies). You don't have to be materialist and buy tons of BS merch. The games or consoles themselves were good enough, and you might not even own them anymore but you did at some point. You don't have to make it your entire identity or personality if you don't want to, but you should be able to talk about, discuss at length, and critique games to a good extent.

Maybe when I was 4-5 and we had an Atari 2600

Zedonra posted...

This is stupid AF to me, a true gamer to me just means someone who has played a variety of games throughout their life and actively plays a good amount (has it as one of their main hobbies). You don't have to be materialist and buy tons of BS merch. The games or consoles themselves were good enough, and you might not even own them anymore but you did at some point. You don't have to make it your entire identity or personality if you don't want to, but you should be able to talk about, discuss at length, and critique games to a good extent.

I agree. The whole identity thing and gatekeeping is a tad ridiculous.

Zedonra posted...

This is stupid AF to me, a true gamer to me just means someone who has played a variety of games throughout their life and actively plays a good amount (has it as one of their main hobbies). You don't have to be materialist and buy tons of BS merch. The games or consoles themselves were good enough, and you might not even own them anymore but you did at some point. You don't have to make it your entire identity or personality if you don't want to, but you should be able to talk about, discuss at length, and critique games to a good extent.

Yeah it's the same as any other hobby. Your whole personality doesn't have to revolve around it. My late step dad was a bowler. Did he talk about bowling constantly? No, but he enjoyed doing it enough if you knew him you knew he did it.

Early to mid 90s. I was born in 1989 to a father who played Atari and NES. Then my brothers picked it up and I got to play with the fake controller until I was about 5 lol

When I was about 4, my older sister saved up her allowance to buy herself a NES with Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. It was nice and all, but then one of our two babysitters brought over some games for us to try, and I was hooked on the passtime. Our dad added a few games to the PC over the next few years as well.

Dad got an NES for Christmas when I was...2 or 3? I think 2. I began playing Super Mario Bros 1 and 3 a lot.

Parents got me a Nintendo and Atari at age 4. I immediately stopped giving a flying fuck about toys, and call me crazy but I attribute gaming to my high grades and competitive nature.

when Stacy rejected me after I asked her to prom

I was born a gamer

GanonsSpirit posted...

At age 12 I was bitten by a radioactive video game.

I want to read the comic for this super hero.

Toxic Avengers? That Simpsons game on NES.