# First video/computer game you ever played **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2005, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658 "2005-05-13T09:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/1 "2005-05-13T09:51:46Z")
The first video game I can remember playing was back in the early 90s, the Mario Bros. on the NES combo cartridge (the one with Duck Hunt) The first computer game I can remember was ironically a Nintendo rip off on the Dragon 32. A game called King where you had to run up a series of platforms jumping barrels thrown at you by a large gorilla who had kidnapped a princess. Familier no? ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/2 "2005-05-13T09:57:12Z")
We had Atari when I was very young, I can remember loving Pitfall and Grand Prix but wandering around in ET wondering what the fuck I was supposed to be doing. Fifth grade, 1987, the first computer game I ever played was called Superbunny, I believe. A rabbit had to cross the screen on a series of lifts going up and down. My mom was a teacher at my school, so I’d often play it after school while she did her last hour or so of work. One afternoon I beat it but nobody was around and nobody ever believed me. It was very sad. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/3 "2005-05-13T09:58:45Z")
I _think_ the first game I played to any extent was Outrun on the Commodore 64. I used to love that game, shame about the soul destroying load times though 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/4 "2005-05-13T10:00:04Z")
PONG in a friends house. I was blown away that my actions could actually make something on the TV move. It was like magic. I couldn’t pull myself away from it. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/5 "2005-05-13T10:03:08Z")
I was lucky enough to have an Atari when I was a wee 'un. The earliest I remember playing would be either PacMan, Asteroids or Space Invaders (still beloved favorites). ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/6 "2005-05-13T10:31:53Z")
Wolfenstein 3D. I still remember sliding up against the walls looking for secret rooms and then getting shot dead because I was, well, up against the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/7 "2005-05-13T10:38:04Z")
Frogger. The arcade version, at a little Hot Dog shop that I believe is either a Baskin Robbins or a packaging store, now. Good days, good days… ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/8 "2005-05-13T10:45:15Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > PONG in a friends house. I was blown away that my actions could actually make something on the TV move. It was like magic. I couldn’t pull myself away from it. Likewise, Pong at the house of a friend down the street. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/9 "2005-05-13T10:53:19Z")
My first video game was probably in a video arcade. Do not remember which one. My first console game was something for the 2600. I’d guess Adventure. My first computer game was on a terminal at a public school in Philly. It was a star trek game wherer you duked it out with a single Klingon or Romulan ship. It was all done with text, and the commands were bascially “Fire forward Phasers”, “Fire rear phasers” “Fire forward photon torpedoes” etc. There was no screen, it was all text priinted out in front of you, teletype style. You could rip off the paper at the end of the game, roll it up (it was one contstant sheet like a roll of paper towels) and take it home with you. ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/10 "2005-05-13T10:58:03Z")
I was fortunate enough to have a Super Pong console. IN COLOR! It used 4 D cells and had a built-in speaker. 4 whole games, woooo! I think the first arcade game I played was the original Pong. Although it could have been Space Invaders, it’s been a while. The first computer game for me was Pyramid, on an Apple II at school (do text adventure games count?). ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/11 "2005-05-13T11:48:09Z")
The first arcade game? Space Invaders. The first home computer game {remember when they were still _home_ computers}? Jetpac, for the Sinclair Spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/12 "2005-05-13T12:10:46Z")
_Asteroids_, the arcade version, was available before Pong. That was my first taste, & it was horribly expensive. $.50 High price, at the time. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/13 "2005-05-13T12:24:25Z")
Like many others, I bought an Atari 400 computer when I was 16 years old, mainly so I could play [_Star Raiders_](http://www.sonic.net/~nbs/star-raiders/). I’ve played computer gaes before that; arcade games were huge at the time, and some of my friends had Atari 2600 and Intellivision game systems. I remember playing the original Atari _Pong_ at a shopping mall video arcade when I was six years old. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/14 "2005-05-13T12:32:38Z")
First computer game was tic-tac-toe played on a deckwriter against a mainframe computer all the way back in high school. The computer itself was owned by a nearby university and my high school purchased time on it. This was in the 70’s. First true video game was pong. First home video game was the Magnavox Odyssey. First home computer game was something on the order of Lode Runner I manually programmed into a Texas Instruments computer from a program printed in a magazine. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/15 "2005-05-13T12:33:51Z")
Difficult question. Memories from that far back tend to run together in my mind. No idea what my first arcade game was. Maybe Star Wars, Gorf or Tempest. One of that generation. First console game…probably a 2600 game. Pacman or Combat, I think. Maybe Asteroids. Computer game…probably Haunted Pinball on the Commodore Vic20. Damn, that was an awesome game. Pinball and breakout all in one. Genius! ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/16 "2005-05-13T12:38:08Z")
First video game I played was on the Atari 2600. So it was either Combat or Pac-Man, can’t remember which. The first computer game played was Scorched Earth. As for the first arcade game, I believe that was Centipede. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/17 "2005-05-13T12:49:27Z")
BC Racers for the C120 (Slightly newer C64). It had the guy of the same name, from the (now horrible) comic of the same name, and I was suppose to race up, or maybe down a mountain. I could never figure it out, and was always attacked at random intervals by that hairy little freak, who I think was the comic’s writer. Nowadays, I am keep entertained by my battles against Deathmachine, and the last console I had was a Dreamcast. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/18 "2005-05-13T12:50:15Z")
Pong, set in a table in a restaurant. Since I was a kid, I handily trounced my mom and her boyfriend. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/19 "2005-05-13T12:52:53Z")
I can’t remember the exact one, but it was certainly on the COmmodore 64. It might have been a game involving a penguin and a bunch of letters that were used to make a city…_Alphabuild_, is that it? First console was a NES, and first game was, of course, the Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt combo. i was jealous of my cousin, because her NES system came with Bubble Bobble somehow (we still to this day do not know if it was a mix up, or some systems intentionally had different games with them.) The fist “modern” computer game (by modern I mean on a computer running a Windows platform) was probably either the original Duke Nukem or one of the Commander Keens. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658/20 "2005-05-13T13:01:51Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Pong, set in a table in a restaurant. Oooh, those things rocked! I wonder why they aren’t popular anymore, considering how prevelent video games are. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-video-computer-game-you-ever-played/303658.md?page=2)