I'd have to say the most fun I've ever had in a video game was back playing an early version of the original Team Fortress for Doom. For those that don't know it's a "class" based game. You pick a class like a medic, demo man, spy, etc. The game allowed observers that didn't play to watch in game as the action took place. Medics could infect people with one of their weapons. The infected people could then infect other people if they didn't get their infection cured before they died.

The FUN part was that observers were invulnerable, could fly/move anywhere, and were completely invisible. So there was this bug that initially, VERY few people knew about, that allowed you to get infected as an observer, and you could then pass on the infection to anybody. Man I must have played for 5-6 hours straight laughing myself horse as I ran around infecting the other team and killing everybody. They could NOT figure out WTF was going on and why they were getting infected without anybody even being around. It was freaking hilarious. One of the medics that originally infected me had a score at 200 or 255 kills (limit of the scoring system I think) in a game where you usually had 30-50. Even he had no idea what I was doing. He kept telling everybody that he stopped playing as a medic long ago. God those were the days. Fucking with those   teenagers in that video game was so goddamned fun. I don't think I could talk the next day. They quickly fixed that bug a day or two later though.

The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy on the NES.  Frickin' awesome!  

NES:
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!
Contra
Paperboy
Metal Gear
Double Dragon
Ninja Gaiden
Megaman series
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Tecmo Bowl

SNES:
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Street Fighter II
Mortal Kombat

It seems like the games were more fun back then.  I can't wait for MGS3: Snake Eater to come out though

I remember I used to be a badass in Dark Froces 2 Jedi Knight.

Atari: KABOOM!
Arcade: Space Harrier
Apple IIE: Rescue Raiders
PC: Archon

Great games, great times

My frame of reference for "video"  games was Pong, Atari 2600, Colecovision, Nitendo, and then Sega.  

I bought my first PC in 1999--a 450 mhz PIII with 128 mb of RAM and a Rage 128 video card--the fastest system available at the time---AND with full surround sound.

I first played Riven--the follow-up to Myst.  It was a stupid puzzle game with graphics that amounted to a CGI slideshow.  I was very disappointed and wondered if that was all PC games had to offer.  

I was a PC neophyte.  

Then, I bought Half-Life.  

I was totally blown away.  The real time, first-person rendering of another universe was something I had never imagined possible with a "video game."  It was like something only seen in the movies I grew up watching.  

Then, the game play of Half-Life itself got me.  It had a great story-line, cool weapons and enemies, and actually managed to scare me at times, especially when playing it at 2 a.m. (I was hooked), so much so that I actually had to stop and turn it off a few times.  

We now know that Half-Life is perhaps the best PC game ever (HL 2 has the potential surpass it) and I had the good fortune of busting my PC game nut on it and did it on a  top notch PC that made the most of the experience.  

Nothing else has come close since.  

I will post for my father, who isn't a member, btw.


He always played pac-man and asteroids.

he loved those games when he was in college.

old school:

Playing Asteroids in my basement (in the winter) for so long that my fingers not being used on the joystick became incredibly cold from not being moved for 6 hours. Ok, not really a fond memory, but it reminds me of how much time I used to spend on the Atari (and later intellivision).

Recent:

Playing QuakeII CTF online with ISDN (when most still had 28.8 or 33.6 modems). Joined a game and got trash because some idiots didn't like my name.  Proceded to completely destroy them repeatedly with the grenade launcher in every round. When they started bitching about that, switched to sniping with the rail gun, vaporizing them in my base camp and theirs.

Ah, the grappling hook was so much fun. Grapple to a hidden position, switch to the rail gun, narrow FOV  for sniping, and ruin an idiot's day.

So I d/l Applewin and the ROM for rescue raiders and am trying to remember how to order all the stuff, I have T=tanks A=AAjeep and E=Engineers, but can't remember tham all, anyone out there know how to activate 'help' or a menu? (not the cheat codes) so if you find a keyboard map out there, POST IT!

Getting my Texas Instruments ti-994a for x-mas, along with the speech synthesizer, and cassette recorder t o"save" programs to load later.

Going to this one arcade that had the "Disks of Tron" environmental cabinet and the regular Tron arcade game.

Try this one out:
Build your own arcade controls
Relive your old arcade days again. This is a very helpful site. BUT, they have heard every question 40 times, making any Noob question into the proverbial "What gun was in Heat"?

BTW, anyone wanting to relive old time 80's (and some 90's) arcade fun should look at the TV games series.

www.jakkstvgames.com/

Just plug it into your tv and play.

My oldtime favorite was "Moon Patrol" for the Atari 5200. There was also a cool space game which I've forgotten the title of, but your ship started out as a "garbage scow." We had probably 150 games for the set of Ataris. Good times for sure, I've often contemplated buying an old Atari and some games. If I could find moon patrol it would be a done deal.

Quoted: I also had lots of fun playing the old BBS turn based games, remember the doors menus?

Ah yes...doors and the original MUDs.......

In retrospect it was absolutely amazing the amount of fun that could be had with a text-based game and a 300 baud modem.

Damnit, I feel old now.

We used to play Pimpwar online at work, they stopped it when they realized how much production it was eating.

BBS Games were crazy; my friends were all about them when we were kids.

Duke Nukem 3D (modem to modem in Jr high school) only game I ever modded my self, making levels and skins, textures, weapons, physics, etc.

X-Com is still one of my favorites

RBI baseball (NES) and Super Mario Kart (SNES) my friends and I played it all through collage (2000-2004)

DoD I've played for years and only recently stopped.

Doom
X-wing
Quest for glory
Jagged Alliance

there are so many...

Quoted: The music to a (C-64?) Activision game called Master of the Lamps. I would love to have an MP3 of that!

You can't say no one ever did anything for you.

Master of the Lamps

I only encoded the first song.  There are 7 in the game.

Quoted: Quoted: I also had lots of fun playing the old BBS turn based games, remember the doors menus? Ah yes...doors and the original MUDs....... In retrospect it was absolutely amazing the amount of fun that could be had with a text-based game and a 300 baud modem. Damnit, I feel old now.

Yup, was a SysOp in the 'ol days, think I was 11 years old or so.  Lord: Legend of the Red Dragon & Usurper were the flavors of the day.  I wasn't around for the 300 baud modem, but I remember connecting at 2400.  

Quoted: BBS Games were crazy; my friends were all about them when we were kids.

Anyone remember a BBS game called Food Fight?  You were only allowed 1 attack a day, so my strategy was to attack someone just before midnight and then again right after midnight.  I rose up the ranks pretty quickly that way.  

Ahh, the BBS days.  I miss them sometimes.

Quoted: Quoted: BBS Games were crazy; my friends were all about them when we were kids. Anyone remember a BBS game called Food Fight?  You were only allowed 1 attack a day, so my strategy was to attack someone just before midnight and then again right after midnight.  I rose up the ranks pretty quickly that way.   Ahh, the BBS days.  I miss them sometimes.

Yup, I didn't play it that often but I do remember it.

Speaking of BBSs, I just found this.  If you're a BBS user of old, it might be interesting to watch.

Kid Icarus +1-  it's a shame nintendo never had a follow up.  
Metroid & Metroid Prime
Street Fighter 2 (I used to rule this game, lol)

GTA Vice City-  This is quite possible the best game i've ever played.  sometimes i'd just drive around and listen to the music.  I don't think i've everm played a funnier game either.  trying to steal a tank was an epic challenge.

Star Control 2-  Even though this game is about 12 years old, I just played it for the first time this year, and it still hold up.  One of the finest sci fi games ever.  Midi music never sounded so good.

Legend of Zelda- the Windwaker- the most beautiful game i've ever seen.  it's like a living breathing cartoon.

Resident Evil- Code Veronica
Resident Evil- Zero
Silent Hill 1 & 3
Fatal Frame 2
Eternal Darkness
These were all scary as hell, and a blast to play.  Few video game monters are as nasty as RE's Hunters, giant frogs with teeth like a bear trap and the ability to decapitate you with one hit.  Silent Hill- the scariest, freakiest, disturbingest franchise ever.  Fatal Frame... scary ass ghosts... Eternal Darkness lets you play through the eyes of characters who are slowly going insane.  

Final Fantasy III (the best of the old school games), Final Fantasy 9, and Final Fantasy 10, with Chrono Trigger (Fabulous music and multiple plotlines!) thrown in for good measure.  some of the finest role playing games ever.  Moogles are the shit!

Final Fantasy Tatics- this game is like crack.  I've got about a hundred hours on my current game.

Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 & Yuri's Revenge- RTS at it's finest.  Kari Whurer as Tonya?  I'd hit it!

X-wing, Tie Fighter, and X-wing Vs Tie fighter-  old school star wars, in the days before greedo shot first.  (Fianlly picked up a LEGO Y-Wing!)

Legend of the Red Dragon, lol... man those bbs games were great.  my brother had a BBS and i reset that game so that i got there first and built up my character before anybody else could get it.  the game is set up so that a limited number of enemies can be killed and i killed as many as i could to keep anybody else from getting any experience.  the fun thing was that people would try and pick fights with my character and get wasted, lol.  my character was so good that i loaned it to a friend of mine, and he was still unbeatable months later, lol.

Quoted: Playing QuakeII CTF online with ISDN (when most still had 28.8 or 33.6 modems). Joined a game and got trash because some idiots didn't like my name.  Proceded to completely destroy them repeatedly with the grenade launcher in every round. When they started bitching about that, switched to sniping with the rail gun, vaporizing them in my base camp and theirs. Ah, the grappling hook was so much fun. Grapple to a hidden position, switch to the rail gun, narrow FOV  for sniping, and ruin an idiot's day.

Camper.  

I did much the same on the "old" Action Quake.  I miss that game, it was the first 1st-person-shooter I got good at.  At my last job, there was a group for five or six who would play over lunch.  I miss sneaking up on people and blowing them across with map with the sawed-off.  (Yeah, I know that's not realistic.)

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Galaga.  .25 after .25 after .25 after .25.......... You've got to be kidding!  I could put one quarter in and play all day... and frequently did. That was the only "arcade game" (i.e., not at home) that I ever really played - man alive, I wish I had back the countless hours of my youth wasted on that thing! All day? I routinely posted 500,000-700,000 point scores.......with no continuations. Friend of mine has the horizontal version, with Ms PacMan as the other game, and I post 300,000 point scores on one credit....... All day? Not a chance.

Believe it or not, but I'm not kidding.  With the exception of the consoles with crappy trigger buttons , I could keep earning extra lives, rolling the score back around to zero, and play - literally - indefinitely (or at least until I lost all feeling in my hands and fingers ).  I kid you not.


ETA:  FWIW, my wife tried to buy me a refurbished Galaga unit for the playroom a couple of Christmases ago, but the deal fell through at the last minute.  She remembers how much time I used to spend in front of one of those... come to think of it, it is probably for the best that she didn't get it.

hardshell-- just go to walmart and get the jakks pacific tv games system - less than $20 and it will get you galaga, ms pacman and a few other games that you can just plug directly into your TV and play.

Quoted: hardshell-- just go to walmart and get the jakks pacific tv games system - less than $20 and it will get you galaga, ms pacman and a few other games that you can just plug directly into your TV and play.

Yeah, I've seen that... but there's just nothing like leaning on, "nudging," and sometimes kicking () that big old stand-up console.  You just can't put the proper "body english" on a home system.  

Heavy Barrel - You go throught the entire game shooting people so that you can get parts to build an even BIGGER gun for shooting people.  I was the only person at my college who could beat it on one quarter.  It had the joystick that you could turn to change the facing of your character.  Lots of fun as long as the machine is in good shape.

Played "asteroid" when I wasn't playing pool.

Quoted: Finding the "dot" in the Atari 2600 game Adventure.

This was my favorite game when I was a kid.

+1

Quoted: Quoted: Finding the "dot" in the Atari 2600 game Adventure. This was my favorite game when I was a kid. +1

I never played that game when it was out.

I tried playing it a month or so ago.

I couldn't understand why anyone would have paid money to buy that game.

Quoted: Quoted: Playing QuakeII CTF online with ISDN (when most still had 28.8 or 33.6 modems). Joined a game and got trash because some idiots didn't like my name.  Proceded to completely destroy them repeatedly with the grenade launcher in every round. When they started bitching about that, switched to sniping with the rail gun, vaporizing them in my base camp and theirs. Ah, the grappling hook was so much fun. Grapple to a hidden position, switch to the rail gun, narrow FOV  for sniping, and ruin an idiot's day. Camper.

Hey, in CTF quake, it's not camping, it's sniping! I was performing a valuable service by either killing people who came in to our camp for the flag, or hanging out at their base waiting for them to return with the flag for the win.

Other guy: Woohoo! I got the flag! We own you! You guys suck!
Me: [line up with rail gun. Click] PFFFFFT.
[teammate picks up flag and returns to base]
Other guy: F*$&#n' A!!!!!

Ah, those were the days.

The time that my step-sister and I, after spending 6 weeks everyday after school, finally won Raiders of the Lost Ark on Atari 2600.

Oh man some of you guys are way too young!! Haha.

My fondest memories were 1) Playing tons of games (almost all bootlegged) with my brother on our C64 and 2) Walking down to 7-11 with my brother, each with our 50 cent allowance, to play arcade games.  They always had a couple of them there and rotated them regularly.

Now I have this baby I built, running MAME with 3500 old arcade games on it: (This picture was taken before the marquee and T-moulding was installed).

getting knifed on Delta Force (DF1)

Oh man... I loved games from way back when I was a little one... I remember friends having atari and c64's, but we never had one till I was probably 8 or so (atari).

Packman to keystones & capers (is that what it was called?) to rampage... the list went on, I loved so many games...

But it wasn't until I found "marathon" for the MAC that I found a truly inspired 3D game. Marathon led to some other nazi game where you search thru a monster infested Pyrimid in the middle of a jungle, to Marathon2. I was overwhelmed by the actual PLOT compared to stupid games like doom...

Then the PC market finally got some good storylines intertwined with their games... Halflife was amazing, and Unreal...

Then came plenty of strategy games that could be played well online with a dialup... starcraft, age of empires, etc...

And lastly, the introduction of broadband has led to many fun times with online wargames, halflife TFC, Counterstrike, Day of Defeat, Americas Army, etc.

But I'd have to say of all my fond memories of playing games. The most entertaining times have alwasy been pissing on other people's parades. I thoroughly enjoy messing with people who like to talk crap all the time. Or with people who want to do stupid stuff, instead of actually playing the game like you're supposed to.

The one single moment in gaming history that I about pissed my pants from laughing so hard from:

The scene: Counterstrike
Map: Militia: about 2:00AM CST.

I'm on a rampage with the scout as a terrorist, doing pretty well, and at the time I have stockpiled a large sum of cash. When I die, the admins (clan whose server it is) are talking about how they want a new super screenshot of both CT's and T's out front of the house. They're instructing people what to buy, where to go, and what pose/circus act to make (I dont really care for this type of thing).

The next round starts, amidst a flurry of "nobody shoot", "everyone meet out front", etc...

Well, I'm about ready to go to sleep anyhow, so I decide to have a little fun.

"B82B14B51B84,,,,,,......" (for those of you not familiar with CS buy menu: kevlar/helmet, p228, para, HE grenade, and lots of ammo)

When I arrive in the front yard, things are taking shape. everyone is milling around out front while text instructions fly across the screen. I patiently await my prime opportunity...

Starting to see things come together (they're congregating and starting to make a pyramid), I blurt out "I think it's time for me to go to sleep, this stuff bores me". but amidst the flurry of instructions, I fear my message is lost...

Behold!!! All the CT's have gathered close to each other in hopes of building this human great pyramid... Opportunity knocks!

I whip out the HE grenade, and make a toss that lands right in the middle of the would-be acrobats. as it explodes, I rush in yelling and screaming (well, I would have if I had a mic hooked up), blazing away with the 100 rounds of pure para-power!

within seconds, 4 CT's die... I hear the ominous "multi-kill" that the server has sound off when someone gets 3 kills in a row (UT flashback). The stats graphic pops up saying "steenkybastage, multikill, 4 kills, 358 damage, 2 hs" (Or something to that effect, I'm too busy plowing away with the para to put my full attention into it)

The remaining CT's (it was 10v10 before my attack) start running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to figure out what's going on... Several must have been disoriented from falling off the pyramid, when the bottom layer got mowed down.

All in all, 7 CT's fell victim to my ambush before an admin booted me. Man, I wish I had thought to make a demo.

I can't help but grin every time I remember how much I must have pissed off those wankers who were trying to be so cool instead of playing the game.

That was one of the few times I've actually laughed that hard at playing a video game. My sides hurt, my eyes were watering, and I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom in order to save my underwear... and at 2 AM, I probably woke up the neighbors from laughing so hard... Truly the first time I can recall literaly pulling off a LOL from a computer game.

Aren't I a jerk?

I'm just waiting for some group of twits to try something like this in Americas Army (the only game I play on occasion anymore) so that I can once again pimp slap some kids around for being so foolish.

Quoted: Oh man... I loved games from way back when I was a little one... I remember friends having atari and c64's, but we never had one till I was probably 8 or so (atari). Packman to keystones & capers (is that what it was called?) to rampage... the list went on, I loved so many games... But it wasn't until I found "marathon" for the MAC that I found a truly inspired 3D game. Marathon led to some other nazi game where you search thru a monster infested Pyrimid in the middle of a jungle, to Marathon2. I was overwhelmed by the actual PLOT compared to stupid games like doom... Then the PC market finally got some good storylines intertwined with their games... Halflife was amazing, and Unreal... Then came plenty of strategy games that could be played well online with a dialup... starcraft, age of empires, etc... And lastly, the introduction of broadband has led to many fun times with online wargames, halflife TFC, Counterstrike, Day of Defeat, Americas Army, etc. But I'd have to say of all my fond memories of playing games. The most entertaining times have alwasy been pissing on other people's parades. I thoroughly enjoy messing with people who like to talk crap all the time. Or with people who want to do stupid stuff, instead of actually playing the game like you're supposed to. The one single moment in gaming history that I about pissed my pants from laughing so hard from: The scene: Counterstrike Map: Militia: about 2:00AM CST. I'm on a rampage with the scout as a terrorist, doing pretty well, and at the time I have stockpiled a large sum of cash. When I die, the admins (clan whose server it is) are talking about how they want a new super screenshot of both CT's and T's out front of the house. They're instructing people what to buy, where to go, and what pose/circus act to make (I dont really care for this type of thing). The next round starts, amidst a flurry of "nobody shoot", "everyone meet out front", etc... Well, I'm about ready to go to sleep anyhow, so I decide to have a little fun. "B82B14B51B84,,,,,,......" (for those of you not familiar with CS buy menu: kevlar/helmet, p228, para, HE grenade, and lots of ammo) When I arrive in the front yard, things are taking shape. everyone is milling around out front while text instructions fly across the screen. I patiently await my prime opportunity... Starting to see things come together (they're congregating and starting to make a pyramid), I blurt out "I think it's time for me to go to sleep, this stuff bores me". but amidst the flurry of instructions, I fear my message is lost... Behold!!! All the CT's have gathered close to each other in hopes of building this human great pyramid... Opportunity knocks! I whip out the HE grenade, and make a toss that lands right in the middle of the would-be acrobats. as it explodes, I rush in yelling and screaming (well, I would have if I had a mic hooked up), blazing away with the 100 rounds of pure para-power! within seconds, 4 CT's die... I hear the ominous "multi-kill" that the server has sound off when someone gets 3 kills in a row (UT flashback). The stats graphic pops up saying "steenkybastage, multikill, 4 kills, 358 damage, 2 hs" (Or something to that effect, I'm too busy plowing away with the para to put my full attention into it) The remaining CT's (it was 10v10 before my attack) start running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to figure out what's going on... Several must have been disoriented from falling off the pyramid, when the bottom layer got mowed down. All in all, 7 CT's fell victim to my ambush before an admin booted me. Man, I wish I had thought to make a demo. I can't help but grin every time I remember how much I must have pissed off those wankers who were trying to be so cool instead of playing the game. That was one of the few times I've actually laughed that hard at playing a video game. My sides hurt, my eyes were watering, and I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom in order to save my underwear... and at 2 AM, I probably woke up the neighbors from laughing so hard... Truly the first time I can recall literaly pulling off a LOL from a computer game. Aren't I a jerk? I'm just waiting for some group of twits to try something like this in Americas Army (the only game I play on occasion anymore) so that I can once again pimp slap some kids around for being so foolish.

NERDS!!!

Quoted: Learning that 5-1/4" disks can be made double-sided with a hole punch, effectively doubling my bootleged game storage for Atari computers.

I remember doing that for my Apple IIe games!

Castle Wolfenstein and the Defender games!


My favorite 80's video memory is when my dad and I went to a local tavern to get take-out burgers. (GREAT BURGERS, and yes, they're still making them).

While we were waiting, I hopped on "BattleZone" - the old tank-killer game. The bar used to be divided by a taped line on the floor. Kids could come in the back door, and order food and sodas, or play vids, but couldn't cross the line from the back "tavern" to the front "bar" portion without parents.

After ten or fifteen minutes, I made it all the way to #1 or 2, IIRC. Dad started walking homw without me, because I was taking too long.

I remember the Final Fantasy games, mainly 3 and 7.  Plus a few other RPGs, I wish I could find stuff to hold my interest like that these days.

Odessy

Quoted: This from the not so distant past, but I played the hell out of multi-player Goldeneye for N64. Also super dodge ball for the NES.

Goldeneye is the reason I almost flunked out of college!  

Well, when Grand Theft Auto 3 first came out, I bought it.  I remember giggling as I beat a pimp in with a baseball bat.  Still warms me to this day.

Also many intense Halo multiplayer moments.  Capture the Flag games in that are usually very rewarding when the teams are well balanced.

Quoted: Quoted: The music to a (C-64?) Activision game called Master of the Lamps. I would love to have an MP3 of that! Use Bit-Torrent and Check around Suprnova and their forums and I bet you will find it!!

What is Bit-Torrent? I went to the link but the download I tried wouldn't open...I'm confused!

Quoted: Quoted: The music to a (C-64?) Activision game called Master of the Lamps. I would love to have an MP3 of that! You can't say no one ever did anything for you. Master of the Lamps I only encoded the first song.  There are 7 in the game.

HOLY CRAP! Thanks, man!!!

Ah, memories.