One discussion topic that my friends and I bring up every couple of months when we take a trip down PC gaming memory lane is: The game(s) that really kicked off our interest in PC gaming.
For me, and likely many of us I'm sure, I can date my first adventures into the gaming world with the help of an Atari 2600 or NES system. But I’m talking about PC gaming in particular – the game(s) that might’ve pushed your PC and FPS to the limits and made you think, “maybe it’s time I start looking into building a computer…”
I didn’t seriously start PC gaming until around my early teens. Games like Warcraft 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, and Doom 3 were a few of the games that really kicked off my interest in PC gaming. My uncle even helped build my first PC that had a whopping 4GB of memory, but a generic, integrated GPU. Still, I was over the moon!
This was also during a time before I knew of any voice chat software, so my friends and I would just call each other on the phone to game together. (Yes, my mom used to yell at us to get off the phone since we had hogged the phone line all day.)
I can remember playing custom games like “Footman Wars” and Tower Defenses in Warcraft 3 that really pushed my frames to the limit (so much FPS lag during larger battles that I would just disconnect from the game; example below), and UT 2004/Doom 3 looking like a bunch of pixels (UT 2004 pictured above / Doom 3 not pictured because it still gives me nightmares 😅).
That PC lasted me throughout high school until I got a laptop for college – which essentially became a World of Warcraft machine for years (which also brought back the FPS lag during larger raids, LOL).
I could go on and on about other games that were part of my “PC gaming movement”, but I’d love to hear about your stories of games and PCs that kickstarted your passion as they did for me!
My wife found a box in our basement on a shelf that had many, many old user manuals from the early to mid 1980's in it. Here are a few:
All for Commodore 64 / 128. I have some sentimental ties to a couple.
EasyScript : I wrote my PHD dissertation using this Word Processor. Had to get a daisy wheel printer because they would not accept dot matrix.
GEOS : And you thought Windows 1 was the first Graphic Environment Operating System.
Hope you enjoy these.
I love this question @Wally_AMD , it really made me go back and think about my history with gaming.
I know I started playing PC games with Virtual On: Cyber Troopers
However, this was not what really started my fascination with PC Gaming. That would definitely have to be Counter Strike 1.6 | I even remember where I first played it, at a gaming cafe in Singapore with a friend who took me there to try this new game in the early 2000s.
This was my real first introduction to the world of multiplayer PC games. However, back in the day, we used to play local LAN games with friends at internet cafes, and we would spend HOURS playing. It still lives as some of the best memories of my upbringing.
Adding to this, my first introduction to MMORPGs was through RuneScape
I really enjoyed playing this game, and would even stay up at night to try and sneak in some more sessions, but my obsession (at the time) with MMORPGs definitely started when I started playing SilkRoad Online
I spent a good number of years of my life in this game, until it became overrun with Bots and ultimately died off. After SRO, I was led to World of Warcraft during University, joining halfway through Burning Crusade, and ultimately putting the game down during Legion.
And the rest is history.
I started gaming on PC before anything else. The games I remember most on C64 were,
Later I played quite a few of the Microprose games like "Silent Service" and Sid Meier's Pirates! I also was a huge fan of the Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box RPGs published by SSI.
I started playing several games in my childhood but tech was rare at that time in my country, state secretaries worked with this back then, yes, a QZERTY Olivetti Typewriter, computers were pretty much a rare sight.
So we would self invite just go to the houses of the kids lucky enough to have tech.
One had a Spectrum 48K and we enjoyed playing PSSSST or TMNT
The other would have Commodore Amiga and Street Fighter was the bomb.
Also played ATARI and had the fortune of having a Gameboy (I still have it today!)
But eventually I ventured in the computer world and there I got hooked by the DOOM, that's the game that made all the difference in the world.
😉
I have the original one but I'm afraid it stopped working. 😕 But a colleague of mine can do full restorations, going to put mine back to full glory.
Also have the Advance to keep playing from time to time
I've played the Doom 2016, was amazing a great comeback, kind of short but intensive.
The Doom Eternal had a change in the weapon design (and much more) to look similar to the original Doom and that appealed me a lot! The gameplay also became a bit more chaotic.
If run&shoot without a plan other than survive is your thing, then its on!
Doom 2016 Plasma Rifle vs Doom Eternal and Doom 2
Yes... Multiplayer particularly is a black hole. Time and space have no meaning there.
I had to force myself to stop playing that game. It was starting to become a bit of a problem.
I spent most of that summer playing whenever I got a chance. I'd spend hours and hours destroying Russian bases and equipment. One of the hidden gems in the game though is It Came From Red Alert!
Of course I later played the originals, and the many variations. But to this day C&C:RA is still my favorite.
