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[Jigsaah]

Not sure if everyone has been lucky enough to have such a moment, but I'm asking because I was just thinking about whether or not I would pick up Demon's Souls when the Pro comes out.

On June 25th, 2010, I was on a mission to buy Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I had recently bought a PS3 BC 80G system and Naruto Ninja Storm from Gamestop a few months back second hand to play and wanted to see what all the hype was about with Uncharted.

Back at Gamestop, I find the game on the wall and take it to the register. Shootin' the shit with the Gamestop employee as they often do when the guy says "Yo, you heard of this game, Demon's Souls?". I hadn't, but decided to humor him.

He goes on telling me about how it's like a dark medieval game that's supposed to be extremely difficult. Huge boss battles, unforgiving enemies. He was really selling this...and I was into it. He was obviously trying to upsell me, but I didn't have enough money for both so I had to choose.

Get Uncharted 2 and discover what the hype was about, or take my chances with this unknown game....Demon's Souls. The "fuck it" in me said I already know what I'm getting with Uncharted...let's try this Demon's Souls out.

Get home, pop it in and play for 2 hours....3 hours...4 hours and I'm still on the first level. I still haven't beat the first boss. And I was loving every second of this pain. So much so that I ended calling my buddy and practically started begging him to buy a PS3 for this game alone. IT was good...too good!

Ever since then I been a die hard Souls fan...played and beat every game multiple times and in some way my opinion is always slightly jaded towards other games because of this one experience.

Ok...so shoot...is there an experience you've had like this?

 

[Fess]

Yeah when I bought Marlow Briggs for a crappy laptop at a Steam summer sale about 10 years ago. My first PC Steam game. It changed everything. I used to be a dedicated console gamer but now I barely play on console at all.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I used to be mouse and keyboard only, But I eventually picked up a controller and a rocker recliner and now I don't want to go back.
Feet up and a beer next to me.

 

[R3TRO]

Making PC my primary gaming device about 3 years ago changed everything for me. A high end pc+OLED tv+Dolby atmos surround sound is living.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

1. Doom on a shareware disk during a rainy day in 1996

2. Friend let me borrow Dark Souls.

 

[Kurotri]

Hmm...not sure if it fits, but the first memory that comes to my mind is the original Assassin's Creed. I had played video games before like everyone else did as kids, but I wouldn't say that I was overly invested in it or even viewed it as some hobby. When I first saw the cover art for it, at some random mall, I was completely taken aback. It looked like the coolest shit I had ever seen.

Those robes, the concept of the hidden blade, and the people around Altair being faceless, with him just standing in the middle of the crowd. That was enough for me to get myself to save up money and eventually get a 360. The visuals completely blew my mind when I was playing on a 720p TV in our living room. I was even telling my dad constantly "look at how lifelike this looks!!". I was enthralled with the concept of the game and its execution. Love at first sight.

Getting a 360 in itself changed everything. I experienced the golden 360 era and was fully invested. Been gaming actively since then. Don't know if I would've jumped in like this if it wasn't for AC1.

 

[SlicedBread3]

Really wanted an N64 for Christmas as a kid. But the EU release wasn't until the following spring.

So my parents were pestering me, asking me what else I wanted instead. When about half an hour later a TV advert for the PS1 with Crash Bandicoot popped up. Not having any other ideas I kind of just said "I don't know, maybe that" to get them off my back about it.

Been a Playstation main ever since.

 

[digdug2]

Not sure if everyone has been lucky enough to have such a moment, but I'm asking because I was just thinking about whether or not I would pick up Demon's Souls when the Pro comes out.

On June 25th, 2010, I was on a mission to buy Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I had recently bought a PS3 BC 80G system and Naruto Ninja Storm from Gamestop a few months back second hand to play and wanted to see what all the hype was about with Uncharted.

Back at Gamestop, I find the game on the wall and take it to the register. Shootin' the shit with the Gamestop employee as they often do when the guy says "Yo, you heard of this game, Demon's Souls?". I hadn't, but decided to humor him.

He goes on telling me about how it's like a dark medieval game that's supposed to be extremely difficult. Huge boss battles, unforgiving enemies. He was really selling this...and I was into it. He was obviously trying to upsell me, but I didn't have enough money for both so I had to choose.

Get Uncharted 2 and discover what the hype was about, or take my chances with this unknown game....Demon's Souls. The "fuck it" in me said I already know what I'm getting with Uncharted...let's try this Demon's Souls out.

Get home, pop it in and play for 2 hours....3 hours...4 hours and I'm still on the first level. I still haven't beat the first boss. And I was loving every second of this pain. So much so that I ended calling my buddy and practically started begging him to buy a PS3 for this game alone. IT was good...too good!

Ever since then I been a die hard Souls fan...played and beat every game multiple times and in some way my opinion is always slightly jaded towards other games because of this one experience.

Ok...so shoot...is there an experience you've had like this?

Your experience is my experience. In 2010, I picked up Demon's Souls because I read a lot online about how it was "Nintendo hard" and reminiscent of the games that I used to love as a kid. I started playing DS, made it to Boletaria Castle. It hadn't clicked, so I didn't make it far, said "fuck it", and stopped playing. A few weeks later, I couldn't stop thinking about Demon's Souls. So I "got gud" and From Software has ruined gaming for me since.

Nearly the same exact story that we both shared happened with my wife in 2015. She started playing Bloodborne, and when it clicked, it effectively ruined nearly every other game for her. She has somewhere around 550 hours spanning 3 or 4 characters.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Not game specific, but focusing on PC gaming and therefore focusing on mouse and keyboard. I've never really been able to get the hang of controllers and sticks.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

For me it was walking into a store and buying a copy of the first game me and the team worked our asses off on...then taking said game back to the office starting it up and reproducing a crash we were working on 5 weeks prior.

It was a very surreal moment because conceptually, sure, the game in the retail packaging is going to function EXACTLY like the master that went off to press...but it still left an impression on me and it took away some of the magic I used to feel when buying a new game.

I kind of wish that didn't happen, but at the same time, I wouldn't change any of the experience that lead up to that moment or any that came after in the industry (17+ years at this point).

Some advice (from an old ass 45 year old): Be very careful if you choose to do what you love for a living. I see it like this: sex with someone you love (and who loves you) is amazing. Its going to be WAY better then the first time you had sex, or all the times you (may) have had "brief interludes" with other people. Doing something you love for a job can have the opposite effect: You started off loving that thing and doing it brings you an incredible amount of joy, but doing it for a living will expose you to the entire process and can leave you feeling good (I just had sex) but not as good as it once did (I love my partner etc etc) and it rarely ever feels that good again.

 

[Solidus_T]

I got Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen for free on PS plus in 2013. I had mostly stopped gaming back then until that day, and now I still game a lot.

 

[crazyjah2003]

I was laughing at my friend in College's Diablo 2 lifestyle....

Now I have like 10 000 hours in POE... at least 500 in D4.... I used to write him every league start.

 

[Jigsaah]

Hmm...not sure if it fits, but the first memory that comes to my mind is the original Assassin's Creed. I had played video games before like everyone else did as kids, but I wouldn't say that I was overly invested in it or even viewed it as some hobby. When I first saw the cover art for it, at some random mall, I was completely taken aback. It looked like the coolest shit I had ever seen.

Those robes, the concept of the hidden blade, and the people around Altair being faceless, with him just standing in the middle of the crowd. That was enough for me to get myself to save up money and eventually get a 360. The visuals completely blew my mind when I was playing on a 720p TV in our living room. I was even telling my dad constantly "look at how lifelike this looks!!". I was enthralled with the concept of the game and its execution. Love at first sight.

Getting a 360 in itself changed everything. I experienced the golden 360 era and was fully invested. Been gaming actively since then. Don't know if I would've jumped in like this if it wasn't for AC1.

Yes! This was a huge one for me. I also discovered that game devs could be hot AF (Jade Raymond).

 

[rodrigolfp]

Seeing and embracing the light of PC gaming.

 

[cormack12]

When I accidentally sold my loot with no buyback.

 

[cash_longfellow]

I rented a PlayStation 1 from Blockbuster.

 

[Business]

Really wanted an N64 for Christmas as a kid. But the EU release wasn't until the following spring.

So my parents were pestering me, asking me what else I wanted instead. When about half an hour later a TV advert for the PS1 with Crash Bandicoot popped up. Not having any other ideas I kind of just said "I don't know, maybe that" to get them off my back about it.

Been a Playstation main ever since.

Had pretty much the same situation, seeing the delay I was entertaining the idea of just getting DKC3 for xmas instead, but the price of this one SNES game was more than a third the price of a new Playstation console. It felt wrong because Mario 64 and whatnot was coming, I missed N64 and the first year lineup was killer, but at the end of the day Playstation delivered way more than I ever imagined and I think it was worth it.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

One of my dad's friends had pawned an Xbox with a few games and was not going to be able to make the payment on time, so he told my dad that if he wanted to get them on the cheap he could just make the loan payment. It was 2004 and after school one day my dad walks-in with an Xbox and Halo: Combat Evolved. I was 8 years old at the time and it was my first introduction to modern console gaming and first person shooters. Before that I was mainly a Nintendo kid who played Pokemon, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Bros religiously.

 

[A.Romero]

I was a Nintendo only kid until I borrowed a Playstation from a friend. As a big time Chrono Trigger fan when I played Beyond the Beyond I was hooked.

A little later I got my hands on a Playstation, sold my N64 and didn't really go back to the Nintendo ecosystem since then.

Later I got a PC and got to play Half Life and Counter Strike and eventually other stuff. Now I played mostly on PC and Playstation second.

 

[Jack Videogames]

This might be a little early to say "it influenced my entire career", but

I sold my PS5 a month or so back and I'm more detached from console gaming than ever. With GamePass, the SteamDeck , the Oculus Quest and the fact that game exclusivities seem to be a thing of the past for the most part, I believe I have finally abandoned consoles for the first time in 35 years. Except for Nintendo, though. As long as the marios are exclusive they will always have room in my living room

 

[March Climber]

One day I just stopped caring about building PCs. It was fun in my earlier years, but over the years I've learned to appreciate the idea of what consoles are and what their strengths are.

I am very pleased that the Steam Deck exists. It is bridging a gap for me, and I truly feel that one day in the far future, the last console manufacturers left will be Valve and Nintendo.

 

[Woggleman]

During much of my high school years I was pretty much done with gaming but a friend of mine wanted to camp out for a PS2 so I went with him and bought one for myself. It pretty much went unused until GTA3 came out and made me a lifelong Rockstar fan. I then started venturing out to other games and now it is a favorite hobby of mine these days.

 

[nowhat]

Really wanted an N64 for Christmas as a kid. But the EU release wasn't until the following spring.

So my parents were pestering me, asking me what else I wanted instead. When about half an hour later a TV advert for the PS1 with Crash Bandicoot popped up. Not having any other ideas I kind of just said "I don't know, maybe that" to get them off my back about it.

Been a Playstation main ever since.

Growing up, for quite some time, we only had a C128. Don't get me wrong, I absolute loved it (and if anyone dares to challenge the divinity that is the SID I'm all for a duel at sunrise), but it was getting long in the tooth. Then we got a glorious 486 DX. Ultima Underworld, Wing Commander 2, Doom. Good stuff.

Then one xmas me and the siblings got a PS1. It came with Crash 3 and Tekken 3, and two Dualshocks. We didn't pester our parents for a new game for a really long time, because there simply was no need.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I had stopped gaming for a long time until I saw Demon's Souls at a friend's house. He let me play for a bit and I went out to buy a PS3 and Dark Souls that weekend. Demon's wasn't in stock.

That shit got me back into gaming, and more than ever, within 5 minutes.

 

[DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy]

When I was a kid I got a GBA for a present. I went to Walmart to pick out something for it, but wasn’t sure what to get. At first I asked the guy to open the case and get me some Tak game because I remembered the Nickelodeon ads.

But something made me pause, as I realized I really didn’t like the look of the game at all. Then I went back and saw Metroid Fusion. I had missed it before, but the box art with a cool space suit “dude” and aliens convinced me to want it. So I asked the guy for that instead and he said “Hell yeah, Metroid.” At the time I thought he was being patronizing or something but then I played it and thought the same thing.

Can’t imagine I would’ve liked games as much if I had stuck with a fucking Tak game lol.

 

[Happosai]

I started gaming on PC in the early 90s and for whatever reason, my parents didn't see PC games as video games. Well, my Dad but not my Mom. Anyway, I wasn't allowed to have game consoles. This was due to the irrational fear that possible myself or my siblings would become zombies to video games and flunk out of school like some cousins I had. When SNES was about midway through life, I found one at a garage sale for $75 with Super Mario World. I asked if I could have the console and the response was, "not unless you're willing to work for it." I'd already started working with my Dad's business part-time when I was 12...so I did have the money set aside and took the console home. That choice led me to console gaming which I would likely not have gotten into otherwise as we were never taken to stores selling the consoles new.

I've continued console gaming on into adulthood although PC is still there. However, my wife was never a PC gamer but a console gamer. So now we co-op games as a family. And as a final anecdote, I'm only half-zombie.

 

[killatopak]

Tried out Crusader Kings 2 once.

Now I love map painting simulators.

 

[kazuyamishima]

I went on vacation to the US for the first time in 1998 after getting good grades in year 8th. My parents gave me $500 as expenses as I traveled alone. I had the firm idea of getting my first video games console.

Never liked Nintendo but I was decided to get the N64, after a week I visited my cousin’s house and he told me “do you wanna play soul blade on the ps1”, I was like “soul who, play who?”

Nevertheless, I ended getting a ps1 with mortal Kombat trilogy, an extra controller and another 2 games for about $200 and been a PS main since. I ended eating very poorly due to not having enough money after that but I was so happy!!

 

[Pancakes and Sausage]

Not exactly like you OP but I did have a gaming moment that changed my gaming life.

I grew up with the Atari and then the original Nintendo system. I stopped playing games around 18.

Many years later I spent two hours walking around Best Buy trying to choose between the PS2 and the OG Xbox - I ultimately bought the Xbox because it was bundled with two games - Halo 2 and Fable.

That choice made me an Xbox fan, largely due to those two amazing games

 

[Big Baller]

I used to be Nintendo only growing up. But when I made my own money I bought a Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox. Been multiplatform ever since.

 

[Hudo]

I guess the only "important thing" that happened in my "gaming career" was when my father brought home a big box copy of Command & Conquer (with the expansion included) when I was a wee lad. Got me into video games properly.

 

[Crayon]

I think when I started using button mappers to play PC games with a controller. I was starting to get rsi and other inflammation in my right hand at a pretty early age thanks to various hobbies and had been avoiding playing games on mice for a couple years.

So I got a cheese pizza USB controller without even analog sticks (I was very poor!) And using a button mapper to squeeze quite complex games onto it. Never looked back! Once pcs started to be easy to hook up to TV's with dvi ports and it was on!!!!

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

Making PC my primary gaming device about 3 years ago changed everything for me. A high end pc+OLED tv+Dolby atmos surround sound is living.

start for me was buying some very cheap, on-sale sony floorstanding speakers at best buy when i was ~10 years old.
looked something like this:

didnt have anything to hook them up to (no amp, no receiver)... but knew i would eventually...

~6 years later, i finally managed to get them amplified, and... it was basically a religious experience.
absolutely blew away every set of computer speakers.
this, from a time when klipsch promedia sets were basically the gold standard.

And once pc games started getting widescreen support, i started playing with the idea of using a big TV as my pc monitor.
after a number of years, i eventually switched over to using big ass TVs exclusively, got better speakers, separates, etc.
never looked back.

 

[Danjin44]

"gaming career"?

 

[Jigsaah]

I started gaming on PC in the early 90s and for whatever reason, my parents didn't see PC games as video games. Well, my Dad but not my Mom. Anyway, I wasn't allowed to have game consoles. This was due to the irrational fear that possible myself or my siblings would become zombies to video games and flunk out of school like some cousins I had. When SNES was about midway through life, I found one at a garage sale for $75 with Super Mario World. I asked if I could have the console and the response was, "not unless you're willing to work for it." I'd already started working with my Dad's business part-time when I was 12...so I did have the money set aside and took the console home. That choice led me to console gaming which I would likely not have gotten into otherwise as we were never taken to stores selling the consoles new.

I've continued console gaming on into adulthood although PC is still there. However, my wife was never a PC gamer but a console gamer. So now we co-op games as a family. And as a final anecdote, I'm only half-zombie.

So good, I can definitely relate. I had to do the same thing to get my first "self-purchased" console, which was an N64. That's pretty interesting that you were basically imprisoned with gaming on PC like that. Good story!

 

[Jigsaah]

"gaming career"?

Touche...most get what I mean. I thought you were nice...is this the start of Danjin's dark arc?






I'm into it. LOL

 

[Danjin44]

thought you were nice...is this the start of Danjin's dark arc?

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

gaming career....?

 

[rofif]

I got 360 in 2008. Was a hardcore pc gamer before that and then trough out whole gen really.
But 360 was for sure a moment I started giving consoles more attention

 

[Nobody_Important]

Mass Effect 1.


It was the first ever RPG game that I played start to finish that had a cinematic story that let you make your own choices that actually affected how the game went. It completely changed the way that I played games. Before that it was nothing but first person shooters and non-cinematic stuff like Fallout 3. I began to expect more out of my games. I wanted more player choice and more cinematics. I gravitated towards more RPGs and almost completely stopped playing FPS games.

 

[tr1p1ex]

I picked up Duke Nukem 3d after reading the back of the box at Best Buy. And thought if the game does half this shit it will be pretty cool. Blown away.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Back in 1991 I had the opportunity to sell all of my NES stuff to FuncoLand out on the west coast (before they became nationally known). It was time to upgrade to the 16 bit era! So I packed all of my stuff into a box and shipped it out to Cali. It would take weeks for the check to arrive, but my mom was cool enough to have added up all my trade ins and basically fronted me the cash to get a new system.

Now, at the time the SNES wasnt out yet. Yet, being the key word here. The 16 bit systems that were around were the Turbografx 16 and the Genesis. For whatever reason (and Im guessing it was Bonk) I was fiending hard for a TG16. So we venture off to Toys R Us in Moms Jeep Cherokee and I copped the system with Keith Courage. Im assuming Bonk was sold out otherwise Im sure I wouldve gotten a copy. Dont know if it wouldve made much of a difference though..

So I get home, hook up the the pretty black box and slip in that beautiful hu-card. Immediately and I mean immediately I was taken aback by how the game looked. Even as a 10 year old I remember thinking to myself "I got rid of my Nintendo for this?" I was destroyed. I felt lied to. I thought the 16 was going to skyrocket me to the new gen and Id be the new cool kid in class. Big fucking nope to that. It wasnt until years later that I learned that the system was like a glorifed 8 bit machine, like the Dreamcast of the era (that I grew to really really love as an adult).

I held onto the system for a few days, and with enough complaints and convincing, my mom let me return it to Toys R Us for a refund (back when you could do this with game systems!).

Now here's the kicker:

The SNES was coming out in two weeks. I distinctly remember my mom telling me in the store 'You can either get a Genesis now, or wait two weeks and get the Super Nintendo."

And of course little Chuck absolutely COULDNT go without his games for FOURTEEN DAYS. I'd be an adult by then. I wouldve outgrown games by then. No fucking way would I wait that long. What would I do for fun? Fuck that.

"I want the Sega."

And that was that. I went home with Sonic, Batman and Toejam & Earl. It was a-fucking-mazing. I became a Sega kid the moment I shut the car door to head home.

Having the Genesis through my tweens and early teens absolutely molded my taste and expectations for games moving forward. Going from Nintendo Kid to Sega Teen was a trip. Instead of Zelda I had Beyond Oasis. Instead of Final Fight I had Streets of Rage. Instead of Squaresoft anything I had Phantasy Star. Instead of SF2 Turbo I had Street Fighter 2 Special Championship Edition.

Do I think about how different growing up for those handful of years wouldve been with a SNES? Absolutely, and there definitely times where I was jealous for sure (Missing out on Chrono Trigger and DKC stung especially hard) but I wouldnt change anything about the decision.

Except maybe to have picked up Blazing Lazers along with Keith Courage that day, I mightve held onto the TG 16 for a bit longer

 

[Jimmy_liv]

Choosing to buy Demon Souls made me rethink my gaming choices.

 

[kiphalfton]

Played Splinter Cell 3. And actually found out I enjoyed stealth games.

However, I've only played SC3, SC Double Agent, and SC Conviction. Have yet to play Blacklist, not for any particular reason other than putting it off (despite people saying it's real good).

 

[Happosai]

So good, I can definitely relate. I had to do the same thing to get my first "self-purchased" console, which was an N64. That's pretty interesting that you were basically imprisoned with gaming on PC like that. Good story!

I eventually bought my N64 when that came out. Well, I was still a minor at the time but my Dad ordered on old eBay. Didn't arrive with any games but was in the box. Well, I got pulled from one of my favorite PC games in 1999 quite unexpectedly which really left me to consoles as a primary. My Dad introduced me to the OG Wolfenstein and Quake 1 on PC. When the Columbine massacre happened in April of 99, newspapers had all sorts of blame early on and our small town paper was what did it too. They published an article listing all the violent video games Eric Harris and/or Dylan Klebold played on PC. Doom, Quake and another were on that list. I was about 13 at that time but still living with parents, so...no more Quake. I took to the consoles and since this was 5th gen, I recall getting the evil eye playing through the first 3 Turok games lol. Strangely enough, handhelds also got a free pass. I do recall getting a Gameboy pocket as a gift but have never been a fan of the OG Gameboy and ended up buying a SEGA Game gear shortly afterward (which I still prefer the Game gear for that gen of handhelds and owned 3 at one point).

Anyway, I came back to PC (although still not as much as the mid-late 90s) upon discovering Steam in about 2014. Otherwise, consoles are still the top dog at home.

Why did you have to self-purchase the N64? By the time the PS1, Saturn and N64 came out; my parents' stance on console games was not as strict but they still refused to buy them because they were too expensive. My first purchase of 5th gen was the N64 as mentioned and a couple years later the PS1. I didn't get a Saturn until the 2010s because I'd completely forgotten about it but love the Saturn too.

 

[-Minsc-]

Seeing embracing the light of PC gaming.

Twas in Jr. high when that movie came out.

"gaming career"?

Considering the hours, an unpaid career.

As for me, this game.

 

[digdug2]

I rented a PlayStation 1 from Blockbuster.

I rented a Dreamcast with Sonic Adventure from Hollywood Video prior to DC's launch.

 

[SHA]

Not a gaming career, it's one of the reasons I'm in the Tech industry, other reasons for high paycheck, my other half in the RE industry, I'm good at both.

 

[ChoosableOne]

That was Demon's Souls for me too I bought it accidentally(I couldn't find how to remove it from cart so I clicked continue), dropped it after dying so many times in front of that beautiful castle, returned to it after 6 months and rest is history. It was a time I was thinking gaming is not for me anymore but I bought a Ps3 anyway. I had Rdr 1 in that cart too so it was impossible to drop gaming after those 2 games.

theypullmebackin.gif

 

[bad guy]

My dad brought home an Amiga500 and my neighbour gave him about 70 games (as disk backups). Computer gamer ever since.

Also the ?second? Humble Bundle woke my interest in indie games. And probably made me make my own games, which I've been doing for 10 years now religiously with GameMaker mainly.