The 1st Video Game You Ever Purchased.

DeshDildo · 04/22/2015, 10:31 PM

Just as the title states, what is the first video game you ever purchased (with your own money)?

Don't laugh, but the first game I ever bought with my own money was none other than Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge on the NES. Sure, I used to get money for Christmas and birthdays and such but that all had to go into a bank account. I would get 50 cents at a time for doing household chores or if grandpa or someone would give me a dollar I could keep it. Finally, in the summer of 1991 (I was 6) I had saved up $46 and some change. I knew the only thing I wanted to buy with that money was a new NES game.

I didn't yet own a racing game but, had rented Days of Thunder and played Bill Elliott at a friend's house. I really wanted to buy Days of Thunder because I thought it was so cool that you had to "pit" your car manually. I also thought the graphics were "sweet". Unfortunately, when we arrived at Toys R Us they were all out of Days of Thunder. When you're 6 you just stick with what you know. I knew I wanted a racing game and the only other one I knew of was Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge. There was nothing like that smell of cracking open a brand new game.

Obviously, by today's standards this game is not very good. I still love it though. My only gripe is that the road courses are not even recognizable compared to real life because they just programmed them to be flat. Other than that I don't have any major gripes. I can really appreciate what the developers were trying to do with the minimal capabilities of the NES. You could choose between 3 manufacturers and tune many parts of your car just like the modern simulation racers. In fact, this game is probably what started my love for racing sims in the years to come. I even once played and won a full distance "Daytona 500" in the game while my dad watched he actual 1992 Daytona 500.

Notable things about this game include: being the first officially licensed NASCAR game, the first game to feature the likeness and name of a real NASCAR driver and all of the manufacturer and sponsor licenses in the game. Another fun fact is Daytona is a track that would not officially appear in a NASCAR racing game again, until the release of NASCAR Racing 4 on PC in 2001.

thesteve · 04/23/2015, 12:14 AM

i bought a NES with 100 $1 bills

ToyMachine78 · 04/23/2015, 12:33 AM

Quote from: Desh on 04/22/2015, 10:31 PMJust as the title states, what is the first video game you ever purchased (with your own money)?

Don't laugh, but the first game I ever bought with my own money was none other than Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge on the NES. Sure, I used to get money for Christmas and birthdays and such but that all had to go into a bank account. I would get 50 cents at a time for doing household chores or if grandpa or someone would give me a dollar I could keep it. Finally, in the summer of 1991 (I was 6) I had saved up $46 and some change. I knew the only thing I wanted to buy with that money was a new NES game.

I didn't yet own a racing game but, had rented Days of Thunder and played Bill Elliott at a friend's house. I really wanted to buy Days of Thunder because I thought it was so cool that you had to "pit" your car manually. I also thought the graphics were "sweet". Unfortunately, when we arrived at Toys R Us they were all out of Days of Thunder. When you're 6 you just stick with what you know. I knew I wanted a racing game and the only other one I knew of was Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge. There was nothing like that smell of cracking open a brand new game.

Obviously, by today's standards this game is not very good. I still love it though. My only gripe is that the road courses are not even recognizable compared to real life because they just programmed them to be flat. Other than that I don't have any major gripes. I can really appreciate what the developers were trying to do with the minimal capabilities of the NES. You could choose between 3 manufacturers and tune many parts of your car just like the modern simulation racers. In fact, this game is probably what started my love for racing sims in the years to come. I even once played and won a full distance "Daytona 500" in the game while my dad watched he actual 1992 Daytona 500.

Notable things about this game include: being the first officially licensed NASCAR game, the first game to feature the likeness and name of a real NASCAR driver and all of the manufacturer and sponsor licenses in the game. Another fun fact is Daytona is a track that would not officially appear in a NASCAR racing game again, until the release of NASCAR Racing 4 on PC in 2001.

You redneck lol my first game was Kid Icarus which I still have

ClodBusted · 04/23/2015, 01:35 AM

The first game I bought with my own money must have been Terranigma for SNES via mail order. I think the shop was called F.R.E.A.K.S. Shop or something like that.

wildfruit · 04/23/2015, 01:43 AM

I remember it was duck tales on the nes. That shiny blue box. I had £40 birthday money and spent it all. From an actual independent video game store. Something that doesn't really exist in UK any more. Needless to say I was very pleased with the purchase.

NightWolve · 04/23/2015, 01:50 AM

Was it Xevious for NES ? Hmmmmm... I remember blowing $50 bucks on it, and after beating it 3 days later, it helped move me in the direction of mass weekend rentals from the local videostore since I found I could beat most NES games on a weekend.

(If you're not counting the Super Mario Bros. pack-in game that came with your NES, then yeah, this might've been my own first purchase. Do recall my dad buying us some Atari 2600 crap way back.)

Otaking · 04/23/2015, 04:42 AM

Not sure, but probably was Daley Thompson's Supertest on the Spectrum.

SplatterTrigger · 04/23/2015, 06:27 AM

I believe mine was Super Mario 3. I honestly can't remember though. But I do remember saving up for SM3 when I was 10 (1990) and going to Toys R Us to buy it.

LostFlunky · 04/23/2015, 07:07 AM

Mine would have been Combat - the Atari 2600 pack in. I saved up my paper route money and bought the system myself.. It was around $300 at the time...

The first cartridge I bought for it was Pac Man. Whoops!

DeshDildo · 04/23/2015, 07:12 AM

Quote from: thesteve on 04/23/2015, 12:14 AMi bought a NES with 100 $1 bills

This is awesome! My brother and I bought our Nintendo 64 with mostly 1 ' s and 5 ' s and a decent amount of rolled change too.

NightWolve · 04/23/2015, 07:18 AM

Quote from: thesteve on 04/23/2015, 12:14 AMi bought a NES with 100 $1 bills

I had saved up money from Christmas cards from my wealthy godmother and from some birthday cards as well to buy mine. ;)

majors · 04/23/2015, 07:54 AM

First system in my house was a NES Action Set, so SMB/Duck hunt was the pack-in. I got Metroid as a 8th grade graduation present. But my first cart bought with my own moneys was Castlevania.

MNKyDeth · 04/23/2015, 08:23 AM

Honestly I cannot remember. Most of them were bought by my dad. So I figure when I was in high school when I got my first job I know I used to buy a game or two every week.

I always bought TG-16 games, SegaCD or Jaguar ... JaguarCD games. I remember when I traded in all my Jaguar gear for an N64 and a hand full of games I wanted. The guy at the shop said he never saw such a large Jaguar collection.

I had two Jags, one cd-rom unit, the link cable, two Dooms for multiplayer. And almost every single game out at the time. Not sure how many were released for the system but I think I had somewhere between 40-60 games for it.

Meh, first game was most likely Neutopia 2 or Dungeon Explorer 2.

NecroPhile · 04/23/2015, 09:35 AM

I'm not certain which title it was, but it would've been some 2600 game picked up at a garage sale for a quarter or two.

DragonmasterDan · 04/23/2015, 09:44 AM

I recall being about 5 years old and going to a dollar store that had a bin of 2600 games. I bought a few that had cool looking covers and got around 2 dollars and some change back. The games were terrible and I can't even remember what they were.

CrackTiger · 04/23/2015, 09:54 AM

Lifeforce NES.

NightWolve · 04/23/2015, 10:08 AM

Quote from: guest on 04/23/2015, 09:54 AMLifeforce NES.

An excellent choice, everything a shooter should be. That had a lot of replay value for me.

GohanX · 04/23/2015, 10:19 AM

My memory is fuzzy, but the first one I clearly remember is Double Dragon II on the NES for $25. I still love that game.

I got money for mowing the lawn in the summer, and this was when the nes was still current but old enough to have plenty of $10-20 games at the used store, so I'd usually mow, get paid, and bike to the store and grab a game. Good times.

xcrement5x · 04/23/2015, 10:49 AM

I was a video game renter for the most part, and my parents bought the NES and the couple games we had for that growing up, but after playing the Sega Genesis at my cousin's house I knew I wanted THAT. I had saved up for a big ticket item before (I bought myself a 19" TV for my room), so I knew I could manage to save up for the Genesis with enough willpower.

Looking back it feels like it took years, but it was probably 6-8 months or so for me to do as many chores as possible and save every dollar I got to buy the Genesis outright. My Mom had made sure I understood the concept of taxes (essential if you live in Illinois apparently) so I had enough cash in my little Lifesavers Holiday Tin and then some to buy a Sega Genesis Model 2 with the Sonic 2 packin game. I still have that system, that game, and even the original box which young xcrement5x had the foresight to put in the back of his closet. Started me on a love of Sega that still hasn't ended

As an aside, if you want to read a truly moving story about a young man getting his first Super Nintendo, Game Over Johnny wrote a phenomenal one here:
http://www.gameoverjohnny.com/2014/09/the-true-story-of-my-first-super.html

Mishran · 04/23/2015, 12:25 PM

Maniac Mansion for NES. Still a great game.

MotherGunner · 04/23/2015, 12:42 PM

PCEngineHell · 04/23/2015, 12:48 PM

I don't remember the very first game I purchased with my own cash on Nes. Most games were bought for me at that time. I don't recall buying my own games for Nes till like 6th or 7th grade. I can however tell you what my first Nes games were. Outside of SMD/Duckhunt with the system I got for xmas, a couple of weeks later my mom got me Raid on Bungling Bay and Gotcha to keep me busy. Back then no one I knew really talked about Raid on Bungling Bay or what the goal was, so I barely played it since it seemed like mostly just mindless roaming about. I did a lot of renting and borrowing of Nes games in my first year or so of owning the system.

SignOfZeta · 04/23/2015, 01:30 PM

Something shitty for 2600, probably Star Raiders.

I had a lot of Coleco and Atari crap in the 80s that I either got used or on sale back when everything Atari was $1 at KMart. I honestly spent most of my money at the arcade back then. I didn't really start taking a real interest in consoles until the Genesis came out, when I was maybe 16 or 17.

MotherGunner · 04/23/2015, 02:13 PM

My second game every was definitely Star Wars Empire Strikes Back on Atari 2600. The first game I ever bought myself was Super Mario 3 after having done a summer's worth of chores.

Dicer · 04/23/2015, 02:45 PM

My first purchase was an Atari 2600 Jr. and a pile of game when stores were giving them away...

If memory recalls the system was $25 and the games were like $4 each

I'll call Yars revenge my first game cause it's just so badass...

esteban · 04/23/2015, 04:13 PM

BRAND NEW: Tiger Heli (NES) (1986 or 1987?)

Used: Garage sale handhelds (old, old skool).

ParanoiaDragon · 04/23/2015, 06:12 PM

I think I saved up for my NES, but I could be totally wrong. Either way, it came with Super Mario 1. However, I think we bought at the same time, Track n Field at Music Plus. I recall calling places looking for one, & got all excited when I called Music Plus, & they told me the price, I was flippin! Prior to that, we did have some sort of system from Sears(?) that had a bunch of games built in, but they were all the same essentially, I think they were some kind of moto cross games on it.

cjameslv · 04/23/2015, 06:28 PM

Well first game i bought with my own money is san francisco rush 2049 for dreamcast. Bought it for me and the wife when i was 18 lol damn that seems forever ago.

bob · 04/23/2015, 06:31 PM

Hmmm... I wish i remembered. By the time i had my own money to buy a game it would have been in the NES days. And being my OWN money i probably dug something out of the clearance bin in 7th or 8th grade.

roflmao · 04/23/2015, 11:09 PM

My parents never got me any video game stuff as a kid so in High School I saved up and bought a Sega Master System. My first game was either After Burner, Shinobi, R-Type, or Kenseiden. I remember playing those on a little back and white TV my grandparents gave me.

slinkyturd · 04/24/2015, 05:49 AM

My sister had an Atari 400 with Defender, Pac man, and Star Raiders. MY first game was Super Mario 2 for NES. First game I beat too.

o.pwuaioc · 04/24/2015, 11:55 AM

removed

Otaking · 04/24/2015, 01:41 PM

Quote from: guest on 04/24/2015, 11:55 AMThe other I hated almost immediately and grew to loathe the more and more I played: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Ten year old me had already played and beaten better RPGs for the SNES (it would be a while before I played RPGs on other systems), so I was utterly crushed when FFMQ didn't live up to the expectations built from Final Fantasy II (i.e. IV). I did end up beating it, but only after much eye-rolling (oh, look! The forest level is named Foresta, the fire level Fireburg, the water level Aquaria, how creative. ). Two-party system, non-random battles, easy upgrade system, the game was absolutely bland, but I had beaten everything else I owned, and it was summer time, so I just spent a few days beating it.

Two decades later, and I still have not played it since.

I haven't played Mystic Quest since it was released but if I remember I quite enjoyed it, simple but enjoyable.
It was billed as an RPG for younger players, so I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised to what I thought was a half decent game.

glazball · 04/24/2015, 02:18 PM

This first I can clearly remember would be Defender for 2600, in the early 80s. It was when lots of Atari games were being put on clearance and I think I paid $5 for it at Toys R Us.

esteban · 04/24/2015, 03:42 PM

I had to think about it...

Early 80's: mechanical missile launching game, LED Football, an LCD racing game handhelds from garage sale...first games I bought with my own money.

ParanoiaDragon · 04/24/2015, 08:53 PM

Quote from: esteban on 04/24/2015, 03:42 PMan LCD racing game handhelds from garage sale...first games I bought with my own money.

That's probably the same one I still have, was it this?

esteban · 04/24/2015, 11:44 PM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 04/24/2015, 08:53 PM
Quote from: esteban on 04/24/2015, 03:42 PMan LCD racing game handhelds from garage sale...first games I bought with my own money.
That's probably the same one I still have, was it this?

Ha! I loved that damn game.

I thought it was LCD, but it was LED—my memory is going. I had Mattel's sports LED games, but football was definitely the first one I got from a garage sale.

Later, I had some LCD handhelds that were kool (a Pole Position racing game that was more fun than it should have been).
...I gotta find it now...I think it was red plastic and said "Grand Prix" (of course!) in white on it...

All 1980-1984.

UPDATE: here it is!

Mattel: Speed Freak - Grand Prix - Formula Racer

Galder · 04/25/2015, 04:51 AM

Hmm thats a tough question... It must have been "bill and ted's excellent adventures" for the atari lynx in the early 90s

My father used to buy video games for us all the time (he was and still is a hard core video gamer hehe) so that was the first time I think I bought a game with my own money. BOGUS!

TR0N · 04/25/2015, 06:23 AM

Far as i can remember beside using every penny to buy it back then.

geise · 04/25/2015, 06:14 PM

Space Ace for the Atari 1040 STF.

esadajr · 04/29/2015, 11:33 AM

Goonies 2 was the first game I bought (like Desh said you stick with what you know).

It was this love/hate relationship with this game. The platforming was great but the riddle part not so much. I traded it for Othello. Years later got it back, circa 96 I downloaded a faq and finally finished it. No way in hell a kid will figure out all that (censored).

cr8zykuban0 · 04/29/2015, 02:38 PM

the first 2 games I got with my own money were bio hazard battle, jungle book and golden axe cib at the good will for 2 bucks each like 8 years ago. all from allowance money

esteban · 04/29/2015, 04:10 PM

Quote from: cr8zykuban0 on 04/29/2015, 02:38 PMthe first 2 games I got with my own money were bio hazard battle, jungle book and golden axe cib at the good will for 2 bucks each like 8 years ago. all from allowance money

Dude, how young are you?

Holy crap, I'm ancient.

TR0N · 04/30/2015, 02:58 AM

Quote from: esadajr on 04/29/2015, 11:33 AMGoonies 2 was the first game I bought (like Desh said you stick with what you know).

It was this love/hate relationship with this game. The platforming was great but the riddle part not so much. I traded it for Othello. Years later got it back, circa 96 I downloaded a faq and finally finished it. No way in hell a kid will figure out all that (censored).

Yeah before the nintendo official guide book.It was easy to get lost in goonies II unless you draw a map to get around.Though,i all ways find it odd the first goonies game had a famicom release but not the nes.Beside the only way to play goonies 1 was in the arcades in the 80's.

geise · 04/30/2015, 02:30 PM

Quote from: esteban on 04/29/2015, 04:10 PM
Quote from: cr8zykuban0 on 04/29/2015, 02:38 PMthe first 2 games I got with my own money were bio hazard battle, jungle book and golden axe cib at the good will for 2 bucks each like 8 years ago. all from allowance money
Dude, how young are you?

Holy crap, I'm ancient.

word. pushing 40 in not to long. haha, some already hit the big 4.0. here. One thing I do like over at Neo-Geo.com forums is the AARP fan club sig haha.

SuperPlay · 04/30/2015, 02:37 PM

The first game that I had purchased for me was Space Invaders for the Atari 2600.

As for the first one purchased with my own hard cash would have been Starquake for the ZX Spectrum:

Image source: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0004873

esteban · 04/30/2015, 03:34 PM

Quote from: geise on 04/30/2015, 02:30 PM
Quote from: esteban on 04/29/2015, 04:10 PM
Quote from: cr8zykuban0 on 04/29/2015, 02:38 PMthe first 2 games I got with my own money were bio hazard battle, jungle book and golden axe cib at the good will for 2 bucks each like 8 years ago. all from allowance money
Dude, how young are you?

Holy crap, I'm ancient.
word. pushing 40 in not to long. haha, some already hit the big 4.0. here. One thing I do like over at Neo-Geo.com forums is the AARP fan club sig haha.

Yes, I've seen the AARP sigs over there (not that I go there often, I was reading some crazy thread).

Hilarious. Sad. And true.

We are old.

Gentlegamer · 05/01/2015, 02:38 AM

I never had money, from any source, to buy games until I had my own job after high school. I don't remember the order, but I bought ActRaiser and Tecmo Super Bowl on clearance sometime around buying an N64 and Star Wars Shadows of the Empire in 1997.

seieienbu · 05/01/2015, 05:57 AM

When I was in first grade I managed to scrounge together $100 and buy an NES with Mario/Duck Hunt. I don't recall how I got the first $50, but I magically found a $50 bill floating in a breeze when I was with my father one afternoon. I asked him what I was supposed to do with it, he told me to look around and see if anyone was looking for anything. I looked all around, saw no-one else, and told him that, to which he responded that it was my lucky day and that I could keep the money.

o.pwuaioc · 05/01/2015, 10:44 AM

Quote from: geise on 04/30/2015, 02:30 PM
Quote from: esteban on 04/29/2015, 04:10 PM
Quote from: cr8zykuban0 on 04/29/2015, 02:38 PMthe first 2 games I got with my own money were bio hazard battle, jungle book and golden axe cib at the good will for 2 bucks each like 8 years ago. all from allowance money
Dude, how young are you?

Holy crap, I'm ancient.
word. pushing 40 in not to long. haha, some already hit the big 4.0. here. One thing I do like over at Neo-Geo.com forums is the AARP fan club sig haha.

You should try AtariAge, though you'd be surprised at the (unwelcome) influx of younger users (15-20) that trickle in.