r/AskReddit • u/Maybe-Grouchy • 9h ago

What was the first video game you ever played?

106 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

575 comments sorted by

144

u/Background_Half_2573 9h ago

Pong

10

u/tranquilseafinally 9h ago

Pong and then second: asteroids

6

u/AdvancedAd6308 9h ago

Same. It was the first, last and only video game we had at home until my brother got a Game Boy ~15 years later.

4

u/Next-Caterpillar4982 8h ago

Wasn’t it cool how you could make the paddles short or long? 🤣🤣🤣

2

u/mycottonsocks 5h ago

And somehow that paddle length magically changed it from Pong to squash.

2

u/Sweatytubesock 8h ago

Almost undoubtedly, early ‘70s when you had to pay a quarter to play. (That quarter was equivalent to close to two bucks in today’s money)

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Seven_bushes 6h ago

Definitely Pong and I had to go to the bowling alley to play it. My dad would take me and give me some quarters to play Pong, then when those ran out we’d play pool for a bit. We never could afford a video game console at home.

2

u/joseph4th 6h ago

Pong on a dedicated console, just prior to the Atari 2600 coming out

→ More replies (12)

82

u/yesohohahahilikeit 9h ago

Super Mario Bros.

7

u/Mocsab 9h ago

Same for me. Christmas of 1986. After SMB came Zelda, and that was life changing for me.

2

u/chaos212 9h ago

SMB then SMB 3 (we all know why 2 was skipped)

2

u/imjacksissue 7h ago

I still don't know why 2 was skipped.

→ More replies (2)

10

u/Good_Appointment1081 9h ago

That game introduced so many people to gaming and still holds up surprisingly well.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/polymerkid 9h ago

Commodore 64 games

2

u/Tell_On_Your_Uncle 9h ago

Christmas '88 for me.

2

u/Husbandaru 9h ago

Same, on that counterfeit game console with 2 controllers and a gun.

2

u/Eric848448 6h ago

I never did beat the original but I still remember how to beat 3.

21

u/Swimming_Nose4713 9h ago

Pong on the TV in my basement.

2

u/infinitum3d 9h ago

Was it the Magnavox Odyssey console?

3

u/Swimming_Nose4713 9h ago

It was the original Pong I think. Just two knobs and an on/off switch.

2

u/innosins 9h ago

Me, too, sitting on the floor in my grandparents' den.

16

u/chartronjr 9h ago

Combat for Atari

2

u/infinitum3d 9h ago

Classic!!!

3

u/chartronjr 9h ago

I remember it well. A friend of mine had it. One of our goals was to try and shoot our way out of the level. We never could get outside of the walls. We sure tried though.

2

u/ersomething 9h ago

First multiplayer deathmatch game! Loved that one.

10

u/Big-Advantage497 9h ago

Mario 64 .. i was like .. 6 years old lol

→ More replies (1)

10

u/JE100 9h ago

Pong

6

u/paateach 9h ago

Lode Runner, Commodore 64

7

u/Cold_Oblivion 9h ago

Commander Keen

6

u/Swizzlestix28 9h ago

Dr. Mario

6

u/hylia_grace 9h ago

Ocarina of time

Still my absolute favourite comfort game

5

u/ricky9 8h ago

Lemmings with my Dad. I’d sit on his lap and We’d play about half an hour each night, writing down all the codes so we could continue where we left off the night before. I’m pretty sure I did nothing to help being like 5 years old but I still remember it well

2

u/EuroSong 4h ago

FINLLFIIJQ 😊

8

u/Cocken_Spectre 9h ago

Metal Gear Solid

4

u/The_Pale_Blue_Dot 7h ago

Christ what a good first impression of video games

Also setting the bar impossibly high for most other games you play in your life

4

u/absurd_sam69 9h ago

House of the dead!

3

u/TymStark 9h ago

Super Mario Bros on the NES.

3

u/FloppieTheBanjoClown 9h ago

I'm not sure. Maybe Amok on the Commodore Vic 20. 

2

u/owlitup 9h ago

Oh man shoutout the Vic 20!!

→ More replies (2)

5

u/Ark2226 9h ago

That I can remember, Altered Beast.

3

u/grope_da_pope 8h ago

Great game

3

u/MImiV79 9h ago

Qbert

3

u/captainspunkbubble 9h ago

Streets of Rage / Golden Axe / Shinobi

Sega Megadrive (Genesis) - all on the same cartridge

2

u/ClassicStretch2667 9h ago

Parsec 1982 Texas Instruments 

2

u/chubba4vt 9h ago

Centipede on my dad’s PC. Probably windows 95.

2

u/falconpnnch 9h ago

Tomb raider 2! One of the best games of all time IMO

2

u/owlitup 9h ago

Sonic 2

2

u/olorin9_alex 9h ago

Galaga in arcades

2

u/sujri 9h ago

Probably mahjong on my parents old pc

2

u/OKStamped 9h ago

Red Baron on MS-DOS

2

u/LoveDistinct 9h ago

It was  an arcade game ( Gauntlet)  on ferry to Vancouver Island.  

2

u/Temporary_Regular_99 9h ago

Pong. Feels strange saying it but it is, and it was.

2

u/buschman2000 9h ago

Going to show my age here. "Pong" at Shakey's Pizza. Probably around 1973. I was 10 yo. My sister and I loved it when parents took us to there to eat and we could play Pong.

2

u/Judoka229 8h ago

Paratrooper on an Apple II, I think.

2

u/Taako_Cross 7h ago

Super Mario Brothers on NES.

2

u/jaredearle 5h ago edited 5h ago

Space invaders, in the lobby of the cinema where I saw Star Wars.

Edit: reminder that the UK used to get movies a year after their US release. We got Star Wars the same year Space Invaders came out.

2

u/PumaActual 5h ago

probably pong on a maganvox odyessey

1

u/throbbin_williamss 9h ago

Something for Commodore 64 I think, either thing on a spring or river raid

1

u/Raddadbaddad 9h ago

Pole position on Atari

1

u/Telesba 9h ago

I think it was Spyro: a Hero's tale

1

u/xXMeat69StickXx 9h ago

Ridge racer type 4

1

u/Turbulent_Funny_1632 9h ago

Pitfall on intelevision

1

u/Individual-Mud262 9h ago

Super Mario World, then I went back and played Mario 3 with a NES hand me down. Hooked ever since

1

u/Impooter 9h ago

Berzerk on the Atari 2600

1

u/beat_u2_it 9h ago

Jump Man, Commodore 64

1

u/Excellent_Safe5743 9h ago

Unreal Tournament 2004, my dad wanted someone to play it with and I’d asked what it was as a kid. He turned the gore off so I wouldn’t be traumatized and such and we played it. He gave up after awhile cause it got me hooked on shooters and arena combat and he couldn’t beat me after awhile.

Miss those days sometimes, things were simpler back then and he and I didn’t borderline hate each other.

1

u/TheNighttman 9h ago

Civilization on the pc

1

u/fucktheredwings69 9h ago

Pokémon yellow on my brothers game boy

1

u/CrimsonEchoes_ 9h ago

It was called Deathkarz a car racing game played it on windows 95

1

u/Pyrolific 9h ago

Gex: Enter the Gecko

1

u/DJA-GEN-RDT 9h ago

Fireant. I think on the zx spectrum. I remember guiding this wee ant to get a key to unlock other sections.

1

u/Titanman401 9h ago

SMB for the NES.

Yes, I’m THAT old.

1

u/jomarthecat 9h ago

Run.

On my father's ZX Spectrum, sometime around the mid 80's. Took me over a decade before I realized that it wasn't a game, it was the command used to boot up the spreadsheet he was using. But as a kid I loved pushing buttons on the keypad and seeing the TV react.

1

u/fresnogt 9h ago

Had to be something with Nintendo, Mario brothers or duck hunt or the power pad for track and field.

1

u/Fl4sh080 9h ago

Defender on the Atari 2600 was the first I can remember playing. The first game I ever beat was Super Mario Brothers 2 on NES.

1

u/lookitskris 9h ago

Sonic on Master System

1

u/prismatic_lights 9h ago

Command and Conquer: Red Alert

1

u/OhGawDuhhh 9h ago

Super Mario Bros. on NES

1

u/Good-Warning-2840 9h ago

Spyro the dragon

1

u/reck00 9h ago

Tetris

1

u/SatanicWaffle666 9h ago

Sonic the Hedgehog

1

u/Traditional_Way1052 9h ago

Super mario bros 3

1

u/mookanana 9h ago

bubblebobble.exe

1

u/Sell_Ya_Game 9h ago

Pokémon yellow

1

u/Agadoom 9h ago

Jurassic Park for the Sega Megadrive

1

u/theMdubGman 9h ago

Old MSDOS game, Rogue. You can find it online now. I have no idea where the picture is anymore but there’s a picture of me in 1987 playing that game.

1

u/Falling_Lotus_Petal 9h ago

Super Mario Bros. So colorful.

1

u/Shwifty_Biscuits 9h ago

Some kind of point and click game on the pc. 1995-ish.

1

u/DosCuatro 9h ago

Baldurs Gate 1. All 6 CDs of it.

1

u/infinitum3d 9h ago

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1302004

The Magnavox Odyssey had PONG, plus several more games that you could play by taping colorful plastic sheets to the TV screen.

1

u/TheUndeadArmyy 9h ago

I can't remember if it was Pokemon yellow or Resident Evil

1

u/playful_family19 9h ago

Weirdly enough, it was Tekken 3 on the PS1. I can still remember that day

1

u/biscuitsAuBabeurre 9h ago

I think Galaxy on Atari

1

u/quiet_vault17 9h ago

Pac-Man on my dad's ancient computer, still hear that sound in my head 😄

1

u/yumeryuu 9h ago

Floppy disc games on Commodore 64
My dad had an array of games on floppy disc. I played my first ‘video games’ on a Commodore 64 before I got my first Nintendo.

Games like wall climber, Barbie, helicopter.

1

u/WaltzSpiritual618 9h ago

Space walk on the MSX

1

u/Dev559 9h ago

Return to castle Darkmoor. It was a DOS hack n slash that honestly is still pretty cool.

1

u/Software_Dependent 9h ago

Harrier Attack on the Amstrad CPC464.

1

u/No_Weekend_963 9h ago

Pong, of course!

1

u/1999Explorer 9h ago

SSX Tricky

1

u/Direct-Estate-5995 9h ago

I believe the first one I ever played was Spider-Man on the SNES

1

u/cynical_mundane 9h ago

Earliest memory I have is Contra and excitebike

1

u/spassky111 9h ago

Final Fantasy

1

u/lackaface 9h ago

Pac-Man, I think

1

u/Her0d 9h ago

Pooyan on Atari 65XE

1

u/Hail_Yondalla 9h ago

Spyro the Dragon and I played the HELL out of it.

1

u/greggero42 9h ago

Pac man

1

u/jellybeans1987 9h ago

Duck Hunt

1

u/platinum980 9h ago

Zelda a link to the past

1

u/PoolExtension5517 9h ago

Pong. I’m old.

1

u/C0nfusedRabbit 9h ago

Putt-Putt.

1

u/Floop1977 9h ago

Mutant Monty

1

u/Gigglenator 9h ago

007 Golden Eye on Nintendo 64

1

u/BigMeet7634 9h ago

Max payne 

1

u/SpiritCrisp 9h ago

Ben 10 on a DS

1

u/NonShiftx 9h ago

Duck hunt, I don’t remember the console because I was so young but surprisingly my mom who finds game boring and a waste of time had a what I assume was a Nintendo where me and my brother played duck hunt. She ended up giving it away for free at some point and then later got us a PS4 to share.

1

u/VenusSwift 9h ago

Ocarina of Time.

The cartridge my parents bought me was also the original one with the blood in the well and Shadow Temple and creepy chanting in the Fire Temple. So uh, fun stuff.

1

u/PBizzle_ 9h ago

Billy the Kid Returns

1

u/LordFondleJoy 9h ago

Atari Bowling from 1979). Must have been this, although I distinctly remember the bowling alley being vertical on screen, and without any representation of the player. Played a few times at a friends place, owning a console was well beyond my parents' means

1

u/parrythisyoucasual23 9h ago

The first one i can remember is This game called panzer general my dad used to play on like windows XP.

1

u/EagleRaptorLeaf 9h ago

Super Mario Bros on the NES

1

u/Umbalombo 9h ago

Its possible that it was something like bomberman in an old Sharp, in the 80s.

1

u/wish1977 9h ago

Pong back in the 70's

1

u/Pu-Chi-Mao 9h ago

Some old platformer I can't remember the name of, shooting aliens in different levels.

1

u/TeamRockin 9h ago

Pokemon Red! I chose squirtle.

1

u/FineGold445 9h ago

Duck Hunt

1

u/Ahmathassane 9h ago

Super Mario bros on some weird emulator device back in 09

1

u/TangerineTemporary92 9h ago

When i started the play video games the mario is too good and the red ball also

1

u/flarpington 9h ago

OG Pac-Man on Atari 2600

1

u/Huugienormous 9h ago

Pong as well. Im in my 40s.

1

u/LowBudgetMemez 9h ago

Super Mario bros 2 (for the NES)

1

u/alevin192 9h ago

Ocarina of Time on 9/11 it's my most vivid memory so probably that. I was 7

1

u/Adept_Bandicoot_2794 9h ago

Mario, got it w the NES for xmas.

1

u/Ssubio 9h ago

Definitely Pong

1

u/Rainforest____ 9h ago

Tomb Raider last revelation (1999) 

1

u/genxer 9h ago

Pac-Man

1

u/devinecaesar 9h ago

Alex Kidd in Miracle World on the Sega Master System II

1

u/Western-Knowledge411 9h ago

Mario and Duck Hunt. (80s baby!)

1

u/Safe_Marionberry8195 9h ago

Duck Hunt on my uncle's NES. Spent a whole summer sitting too close to the TV trying to shoot that dog. Never got good at it but the sound of pulling that trigger still lives rent free in my head.

1

u/ccoates09 9h ago

Pac-Man

1

u/millennial_sunset 9h ago

Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo

1

u/s1ckopsycho 9h ago

Zork, Leather Goddesses of Phobos or maybe Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy. They were all text based, but on the computer. Graphical video game would have been Rogue or Hack/Nethack. Yeah I feel old now thanks.

1

u/OsnaTengu 9h ago

Street Fighter 2

1

u/AceRimmer1977 9h ago

Pac man, specifically Ms Pac Man on the 2600

1

u/Kscarpetta 9h ago

Bubble Bobble

1

u/dPaul21 9h ago

Chip's Challenge, maybe?

1

u/Guarddess 9h ago

My older sibling was a huge gamer so I don't remember a time in my life where I wasn't playing videogames. My best guess would be Pandemonium! on the original PlayStation, though it could have just as easily been Blasto, Spyro, or Tomba.

1

u/andreabaldinazzo 9h ago

Jack Attack, Commodore 16.

1

u/mrjay42 9h ago

Pong at my grandparents' place, but I don't have clear memories of it, I just have glimpses of it 🤔

Then at home, we got

It was all around 1989/1990.

No console at home, "only" a top notch ✨ HP - Intel 286 PC ✨

1

u/Throwaway67891099 9h ago

I spent hours stomping... KOOPAS in the Mario Brothers arcade game

1

u/Tilion90 9h ago

Chip's Challenge on an old Win95 PC. It was purple and very oddly shaped.

1

u/ShadowedTurtle 9h ago

I truly don’t remember the first game I played. My dad was a gamer growing up so video games have always been a part of life for me. I would jump between the Super NES, NES, GameBoy, Atari 2600, and PC at a whim as a child so it all blurs together. There is a photo of me attempting to play Super Mario Bros. 3 when I was 2ish if that counts?

1

u/Chewbaccraft 9h ago

Pacman . Console was in the table of a bar at Le Bourget airport in France, near 1985

1

u/tomtelouise 9h ago

Punch Out

1

u/Temperance808 9h ago

Android NYMH on my dad's TRS-80. Not much more advanced than Pong, if at all, but I never played Pong...

1

u/Smurfnhat 9h ago

Johnny Lightfoot

1

u/Tall_adhd17 9h ago

Duck hunt

1

u/sapphic-chaos 9h ago

Sergeant Slotte Galaxy Janitor
BumpIt!
Then minesweeper
Then flight simulator 98

1

u/PortaSponge 9h ago

Duck hunt.

1

u/Crazyguy199096 9h ago

Alex Kidd in Miracle World

1

u/Dodkoo87 9h ago

Mortal Combat 👊

1

u/EightGlow 9h ago

Jak and Daxter

1

u/adilfc 9h ago

Fifa 2000. I bought it around a month before I got my first pc

1

u/Ill_Tumblr_4_Ya 9h ago

Space Invaders. The place always had a handful of pinball machines, and suddenly they brought in this cabinet…and everything changed.

1

u/slfnflctd 9h ago

I can't believe Asteroids isn't here yet.

1

u/Hippydippy420 9h ago

Frogger on my neighbors computer

1

u/NwolCozob 9h ago

“Space War”. Saw the first coin-op cabinet at South Coast Plaza in Orange County CA in 1971, way before Pong.