Babby's first tech

[Random Encounter]

This thread could also probably go in the gaming channel, but I was curious: do you remember what you first a) video gaming experience was, and b) what your first computing experience was?

For me, my first exposure to video games was through the Atari 7800. I remember being under kindergarten age playing the hell out of Choplifter, Centipede, and Karateka (quite poorly, I might add.) As for my first experience with computers, we had some Apple IIs in kindergarten equipped with educational software that used really rough text-to-speech. I was also sent later on to summer computer camps where I got my hands dirty in DOS.

[Althena]

Great thread! My first gaming experience was when my Dad bought an Atari 7800 (me too, Random Encounter). I was about the same age, and loved playing things like Pole Position, Joust, Jungle Hunt and Ms. Pacman. It was a bit too hard for me but I loved watching my Dad play F-14 Tomcat.

My first computing experience was with my Dad's TI-99, Commodore 64, and a bit later a Zenith 8088. I went to summer programming camps and learned QBasic.

[The Grimace]

I first had an Atari- I want to say it was a 2600, but I don't know for sure. I think it was a relic my great aunt had inherited one way or another. I played quite a bit of Donkey Kong on it, but I don't remember any of the other titles.

I must have been around five years old when I was taught to start saving my money for major purchases. My mom, great aunt, and grandma helped me save up money over a period of several months, and I bought a used NES and a new copy of Super Mario Bros 3. Within the next three years I was gifted a Sega Genesis and started saving my pennies and eventually earned enough to get Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: the Hyperstone Heist. Goof memories.

In retrospect, I feel pity and appreciation for the cashier who helped to count out all of those pennies for my childhood self. I think it was at an Ames or a K-Mart. Thank you for your patience, unsung retail cashier!

[Selbaek]

My first gaming experience was with Tiger electronics. I'm not 100% certain that the F-1 racing game was my first, but my memory serves it as the first. I had a bunch of them, though. NES came a bit later.

For computers, my mom's boyfriend back in 1994 had a Windows 3.1 capable DOS machine with both a 3.5 and 5" floppy drives. I had to learn DOS in order to play the games on the disks he had, and boy did I ever learn it! We didn't have a computer at all before then. My family has a photo of a very young me sitting with my dad at a computer, but I don't remember that at all, and my dad is not a computer guy at all. It may have just been a fun photo op at a very short-lived contrast to my dad's interests.

[Kustom]

I remember playing Oregon Trail on an Apple II in first grade.

Had an old Atari 2600 and I particularly remember a Koolaid man game and a Smurfs game.

[Selbaek]

I remember playing Oregon Trail on an Apple II in first grade.

Ahhh I had forgotten about this, but I also played some Apple II games in elementary school. Mostly Oregon Trail or Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? but I never equate it to computer experience since the games were pre-loaded and we just played the games.

[Kustom]

Ahhh I had forgotten about this, but I also played some Apple II games in elementary school. Mostly Oregon Trail or Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? but I never equate it to computer experience since the games were pre-loaded and we just played the games.

OMG. Carmen Sandiego... Core memory unlocked. Yeah looking back it was more of a free time thing.

[Skunkworks]

I think the first video games I played were an old magnavox odyssey (I remember it only playing a pong clone game) and an atari 2600 (Mostly Combat and Popeye). They belong to my uncle who was living with my grandparents, and were dated technology at the time. Like most people my age, my first interaction with a computer was an apple IIe at school. My school had printshop, a bowling game, and Dogfight. It wasn't until gifted several years later when I first saw Oregon Trail, Hugo's House of Horrors, and Carmen San Diego.