Gateway Games

[Handaar]

http://www.techtv.com/xplay/features...657283,00.html

check out the video highlight

Psst. Hey kid, wanna play a game? First one's free.

[Jinheim]

I did:

Zelda/mario -> final fantasys -> MUDs -> Everquest.

I wish my parents had never bought me an NES. I wish my friend had never showed me this space trading MUD called 'Federation', and I wish my other friend had never let me install EQ.

[Skidogg]

I did.. Caleco? sp? Vision ---> Nes - Mario/duckhunt ect ----> sega mastersystem - spy vs spy ------> sega genisis- Sonic 1 2 3 ect ----> super nintendo- super mario world ect -----> SegaCD/32x.... shitty games i dont even remember =( ----> playstation - MGS! FFVII! some of the best games ever =) -----> dreamcast-- Sega rally.. bomb ass game ----> PC - Starcraft/ warcraft2, W O R M S! one of the best games i ever played.. any one who has played online in a roper knows what im talking about. I even invented a trick... Skidow... lol good times. then came EQ.... what a great way to waste 200+ days. =)

[EnigmaticParadigm]

Am I the only person that remembers "Elevator Action" for the NES? That game, while the graphics were slightly above Pong, was pure ownage. You basically snuck in and out of doors in this hotel type thingy, while blasting enemy agents that looked like the guys from Spy vs Spy. What was even better is that there was an elevator shaft (sometimes more) in each level where you could travel floor to floor. It was ownage to push the enemies down the elevator shaft and/or crush them. Still don't know to this day if there was an objective to the game, heh.

Bah, sue me, it was 1986 and I was 10 .

Oh, and Crystalis > Zelda. Why they never made sequels to that game I'll never know. Damn you, bankrupt SNK!!!

[Fluffya]

Games and systems that marked my videogaming life, in chronological order :

It all started with a CPC 6128 and the game Strider.

--> NES (over 50 games played) / Original Gameboy (Mystic Quest was the own, first RPG I played. At the time it took me several hours to grasp the concept and the mechanisms since it was my first game of the genre) ;

--> Sega Mastersystem (Alex Kidd, omg) ;

--> Super NES (I remember I was litterally DREAMING about playing Street Fighter 2 at the time) and Genesis (yes, after the SNES...) at the same time, switching between the two depending on the games that were coming out.
My favorite games on the sega system were Landstalker and the sonic series. On the SNES, they were too numerous to count but FFVI definitely was a gateway game for me. It really got me addicted to the RPG type of games and I easily spent more than 100 hours on it.

--> Playstation : Lots of Combat, racing (Original Gran Turismo) games and of course, the FF serie ;

--> PC : Almost every RPG coming out ranging from the original Arena to NWN, favorites being Daggerfall (another Gateway game for me), Fallout 2 and Bioware games. I also played all the major FPSs coming out, and Half Life was the first game I played hardcore multiplayer (Did the CS beta from day 1).

--> Dreamcast, the most underrated gaming system in the world. Tons and tons of great games. Then PS2 and Xbox.

--> Everquest, back in July '99. Quit in 2002, just before the release of PoP : Over 250 days played in 3 years. Another gateway game for me since it represented the climax of intense gaming. Never again will I play a game as hardcore as I did with original EQ, though I intend on playing WoW, maybe EQ2 and Vanguard if they're any good.

edit : Huge fucking spelling mistakes.

[DiscW]

Good gateway games nowadays, other then what they listed :

Amplitude
Dance Dance Revolution
Any of those ps2 eyetoy games
ICO
Madden(or any other good one) for sports fans
Hydro Thunder(in arcade)
Any other "arcadey" racing game
Simple puzzle games(bust-a-move)
Mario Party
Gun-games. (Time Crisis, Revolution-X)


Any good game that either doesn't seem like a normal video game(ddr, eyetoy), is really simple but still fun(mario, bust-a-move), or both.

And that video is awsome

[brookesy]

I think you are all forgeting the fuckin most own system of all.

Game and Watch!!!!

Manhole > * (and yes i realise that sounds really gay)

[EnigmaticParadigm]

One of the best "space shooter" games I've ever played (besides Eihander on the PS1), was "Blazing Lasers" for the Turbo Grafix 16. That system also had "Bonk's Adventure," "Legendary Axe," etc. Lots of good games for a system that lasted maybe all of one year.

As far as RPGs go, my favorite of all time was probably the original Final Fantasy for the NES or FF2 for the Super Nintendo. The first Final Fantasy was an awesome game and it was hard. No internet to look things up, no cheats, just pure assbeat if you weren't strong enough to explore. Great game.

FF2 was also one of my favorites due to the plot twists and how you really got into the characters...except for Edward...fuck Edward. I liked how the end of the game pulled a Star Wars and the big "bad guy" in the game turned out to be your brother and then you had to go put the hurtlock on someone even bigger and badder. That game also had a TON of hidden treasures littered about the world. It was awesome trying random things and ending up passing through an invisible wall and discovering a chest with a god-like sword in it.

FF3 was great for the SNES, don't get me wrong, but I was waiting for the same kind of plot twist at the end. When I killed Kefka and the credits rolled I was left with a "m'eh" feeling.

FF7 was also a really, really great game. It would have beaten out FF2, but by that time I was already too biased. FF7 was the first game where the "end boss music" blew me away. I was like, holy shit, they hired some opera singers to blow notes while I put the smack down on this gay angel bitch." Yes, he was far, far too easy.

Then there was Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, Starcraft, Warcraft, etc.

Overall though, if I had to pick three video games from each genre that "gatewayed me," it would be as follows:

RPG:
Legend of Zelda - The original 8 bit on the NES
Final Fantasy - The original 8 bit on the NES
Crystalis - Only came out for the 8 bit NES...why, WHY?!

Adventure:
Contra - Up up down down left right left righ B A Select Start
Ikari Warriors - That shit got hard as fuck towards the end
Castlevania - The original 8 bit NES game in all its "I can't control my jumping, aww fuck I died again" glory.

RTS:
Starcraft - who doesn't like making script "hacks" with invincible marines, invisible lurkers, or map vision?"
Warcraft - I'll admit it, I could never build fast enough in this game compared to some people...they were just nuts.
Don't really have a third.

FPS:
Counter Strike until it all went to hacked shit.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein - I still play that almost everyday; awesome game.
Call of Duty - FPS with an awesome plot...no way!

[Fluffya]

Contra - Up up down down left right left righ B A Select Start

Haha, you've just made me remember I used that cheat too. The timing's still in my head.

[Skidogg]

Up down left right a b a b start? Wasnt that the lvl skip for Sonic 1? Also how can i for get street fighter, the day that came out for Super nintendo the local video rental store was sold out for like 4 months. Crazy.

[bmarcus]

My gateway games were Choplifter and Oregon Trail on my Apple IIe

[Fluffya]

Speaking of cheats, anyone remember which game was A - B - B - A - Select - Start ?

[Qalar-Drinal]

CONTRA MOTHER FUCKER!

[Debaser]

[Solariss]

my parents bought me an NES when I was 3 for christmas and I beat mario...that was definately my gateway game. Went on to play tons more nintendo games like duck hunt and the track and field game with the power pad. Zelda was also a huge game for me back in the day. Can't forget baseball stars (I think that's what it's called) where you could make your own team...loved that game. Also owned a sega master system and played the game that came with it a lot, and this one ninja game that I can't recall the name of. Also played some turbo grafix 16..Bonk's Adventure was a great game. Then I went from snes to playstion + n64 to a ps2. Always been a huge mario and zelda fan though, so I love nintendo.