Sacred Timeline Arcadium Edition - Core Gaming Memories

[PS5 Pro]

(Lowkey thread based on @Gizmo_Duck revealing he has the gaming experience of a 12 year old child)

What are some "canon events" when it comes to your memories of gaming?
(I have a ton that come to mind but I'll try to stick with the ones that stand out the most in my mind)

• Stacking Sonic games in the Sonic and Knuckles cartridge and playing the different versions
• WCW Nitro and FF7 were the first PlayStation games I ever played. At the time, we had no idea you needed a memory card. I played FF7 all the way until you leave Midgar and turned off the game. My soul was crushed when I realized the games didn't save internally and you needed to buy a memory card.
• Playing Mario 64 at a Toys R Us kiosk is a major memory for me. I couldn't believe the graphics at the time and getting a turn at one of those kiosks was special for two reasons: 1) You hardly ever found it unoccupied. 2) My parents would typically want to be in and out of the store. Sticking around for longer than a couple minutes was a luxury.
• Tekken 3 and Marvel Vs Capcom 2 were THE games to play at the arcade. (Shout out to arcades with actual fighting games in them while I'm at it). We use to hold our place in line by putting a quarter up on the deck. There used to be 5 or 6 quarters lined up at all times.
• Demo Discs- I played the Underground JamPack disc that had Spyro and Metal Gear Solid NON-STOP. A core life memory for me was falling asleep passed 2am from playing the Metal Gear Solid demo. I woke up and kept playing the game.

Where the rest of the old heads at?
I know @MeachTheMonster @Rekkapryde and a bunch more old heads that got kids have some fond gaming memories.
Shoot, most the Arcadium OGs in here been posting for since forever. We all old at this point.

I was always considered an elite gamer in comparison to most gamers I played my whole life. And I used gaming to remember core memories.
So I'll just replay a few. Earliest memory is being 2yrs old, maybe still 1. It was Christmas, I'm playing Atari Combat, Pac-man and Boxing.
And Pong. We had two sticks and two paddles. I remember chewing on the sticks and when the black rubber casing comes off the stick itself was a white tube. I chewed on that bytch too Later playing Pitfall 1/2, Spiderman. ET almost forgot, terrible game but I didn't care.

Atari classics just released in Game pass last month, I downloaded and cried for a sec cuz my brother and I would have 100% gotten on that. We randomly talked shyt to each other about who was better at it over the course of our lives. My son is a gamer so I played it with him, and it was everything I remembered. Just I'm the big bro who allowed my son to stay close. But in that game, once you get trapped, you trapped And he figured that shyt out quick, so we been battling.

Going to a friends house and he has an NES with SMB.. in his bedroom. Now, before there was Walgreens and Rite-aid or whatever you have near you today. Peoples Drug was the main pharmacy back in the 80s. And my local one had like 10 arcade games next to the magazines. One arcade was a Nintendo cabinet which was bigger than the other arcades. It had SMB and Donkey Kong. I was a big fan of Mario. You know, it never registered to me that I played Mario first in the Arcades. But yeah, now my friend has it and I never heard of Nintendo. Never seen a commercial, there was no internet/etc. I remember letting mom dukes know what it do this Christmas and I got one.
Mario/Duck Hunt, the Zapper. later I got a Max controller. And I'm pretty sure I got Zelda that Christmas as well. If it was out, then yeah.

The black cases or sleeves for the games, I would smell it. I'd smell the box, that new game smell. I would study the books because you had to, they don't teach you how to play in games back then

My brothers friend let me borrow Megaman 1... Most amazing graphics I ever seen until SMB2. When you beat the game and you see Mario sleeping. That was full screen. Now you just showing off Nintendo
That same friend, let me borrow Mike Tysons Punch Out on Christmas. I asked for it on my birthday but we couldn't afford it.
So I was like cool, I can wait til Christmas. Didn't ask for anything else. We still didn't get it. (Mom dukes was single, worked 2jobs to keep us in a great neighborhood but we was broke in this nice hood)
My brothers friend, who had 3 younger brothers himself, took the game he got but they all was excited for and brought it down so I could play it while he and my bro hung out. They didn't get back til late, like 10pm and he dropped my brother off and left. Said he'll get the game tomorrow. It was a friday night this chritmas. And dude doesn't come back to scoop it until Sunday afternoon.
With me having a timeline to play it, and the desire to have it for so long? I played it non stop and beat it Saturday night.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm the first person to beat Tyson (pause) Nintendo Power Magazine had a contest asking people to send in proof they beat it to be the first and they didn't get pics until 2 months later. I just recall this going down. Word to Howard & Nester
I end up with a copy of Punch-Out because my next condo over neighbor got the game for Christmas but not a Nintendo because they were sold out. His dad promised he'd get one as soon as they become available...

Spoiler

He NEVER got a Nintendo

His first console was a TG-16, and those games were clearly from an alternate reality/future. Legendary Axe 1&2, Bonk, Ninja Warrior.

Now in 2nd grade a friend and I started a gaming rental business. And everything was working out better than we'd imagine for the first month. But there was one bully at the school that we both said off jump, Don't rent to Kenny. This fool rented to Kenny (and it was punch-out)
Kenny obviously never brought the game back. It was his copy that was lost. I was like lesson learned, lets keep getting it.
But HIS dad stepped in. And didn't step to Kenny. His dad carried it like "its a business so you both have to take the loss"

I'm a logical dude, and I would agree with that except WE BOTH KNEW GOOD AND WELL NOT TO DO WHAT HE DID.
I was like nah, that's your fault. And the business ended like that. In a months time tho, we made about $100 which isn't too shabby for some 2nd graders. About 5yrs ago I seen my old partner on Facebook and we chatted for a split second. When I mentioned this story, he acted as if he didn't remember that part, the ending. How the fukk can you forget what ruined our good thing? He did live in a big ass house tho so that $50 might not have been shyt to him. IDK. Oh and Kenny? He's Pastor Kenny now. Its funny how life usually works out like that. Good become bad and bad becomes good.

I had to google it and once I seen it, I smiled.
I saw that robot controller like twice in my life time but never saw the game or even knew it existed.

That's crazy talk This commercial sums up how I felt emotionally about Nintendo at the time

Colecoviision playing Rocky at my cousin's house in South Bronx in '85

(Looking in the freezer and seeing two big white bags of sugar....and later knowing it was )

I forgot you had them BX connections. I can't tell you the street we lived on, even tho my brother would say it on demand when asked. I never I guess cared enough to remember. I know we was near Fordam rd. We was near Yankee Stadium.
We lived in South Bronx but I was Born in North Bronx Central

 

[Khalil's_Black_Excellence]

- First gaming memory, playing Pitfall on the Atari over at someone else's house. It had my interest in gaming...but it didn't quite capture me yet. I was 3.

- First time playing Super Mario Bros. 1 at a friend's house. It was here that I knew...I was in it for life. At the time, I was 4.

- Getting my own first video game system, original NES at 5 for Christmas. Took my uncle a whole fukking hour just to get it hooked up. Years later, I found out how to set it up myself and was like...WTF, this shyt takes 5 minutes, at best to plug in, lol!

- So many gaming memories, habits, preferences, friendships, etc. were formed after that. Chief among gaming landmark moments for me during this period include:

Lifeforce and Contra completion being a weekend ritual with my friends. Mario 1 being the first game I ever beat alone. Megaman 1 played at my cousins and it being really difficult, only to getting 2 sometime later and beating it on like a daily basis. TMNT being damn near fantasy turned reality with the ninja turtle craze going on (took me years to realize how trash that game really was tho). Going over other people's houses of families with older kids having like a smorgasbord of NES collection games that I, being of 1-2 games a year only on birthdays/christmas, had no idea of and playing through all of them, being the likes of The Karate Kid, my first taste of Metroid (and not quite understanding that kinda game yet), Kid Icarus, Metal Gear and countless others. Mike Tyson's Punch Out wrecking me and my whole gaming friend crew (either that or Tecmo Bowl being my first sports game). Dueling it out against them on the NES Floorpad controller for the Track N Field II Olympics game. Ninja Gaiden being my first cinematic game (Yeah, it was first of its kind at the time in that department). Beating 'Bad Dudes' over my cousins house and me being so excited I very literally had heart palpations, to which I thought I was having a heart attack and my moms took me to the ER. (I've spoke on this on here before). Seeing 'The Wizard' in theaters and it literally being a trailer for Super Mario 3 and it blowing everyone's mind and it coming out very shortly afterwards.

- SNES dropping years later and moms letting me know that we were not able to afford it. I get my first chance to play it upon meeting my brother, for the first time, shortly after finding out that I even had an older brother (half, just on father's side). Super Mario World was crazy. Turns out, my dad had a whole lil new family and I had fun with my brother and his siblings. Which I thought he was all good...until I experienced the drug infused nightmare that he turned out to be, overhearing him beating the shyt outta his "wife", my brother's mom, in their room while I try to keep his lil sister and other siblings calm. Ionno where my brother was at this time when I was over there, as he was 4 years or so older than me and was in the street life by then (he got killed 5 years later). So it was pretty bittersweet when just couple months later that year, I got a Super Nintendo, from father, that he stole from my brother's family to give to me (Moms informed me of such much later). shyt didn't even have any controllers, or games, or even the power cords, just the deck. Moms had to buy all that later for me for Christmas. I was 9-10 during this ordeal.


That was a lot. I'll have to get into other shyt later, lol.

 

[Rekkapryde]

I forgot you had them BX connections. I can't tell you the street we lived on, even tho my brother would say it on demand when asked. I never I guess cared enough to remember. I know we was near Fordam rd. We was near Yankee Stadium.
We lived in South Bronx but I was Born in North Bronx Central

My mom and her sisters grew up in Bronx. They left in '76 to move to SC after my mom turned 18. Her two older sisters stayed in NYC. My mom and her 5 younger sisters went to Charleston SC. But yeah she grew up near Fordham Road on Creston Ave and 184th. My mom sister 2 years older who stayed had a husband who had a Colecoviision I used to play when visiting. That Rocky game was fire. But yeah that nikka was moving and doin coke

 

[PS5 Pro]

- First gaming memory, playing Pitfall on the Atari over at someone else's house. It had my interest in gaming...but it didn't quite capture me yet. I was 3.

- First time playing Super Mario Bros. 1 at a friend's house. It was here that I knew...I was in it for life. At the time, I was 4.

- Getting my own first video game system, original NES at 5 for Christmas. Took my uncle a whole fukking hour just to get it hooked up. Years later, I found out how to set it up myself and was like...WTF, this shyt takes 5 minutes, at best to plug in, lol!

- So many gaming memories, habits, preferences, friendships, etc. were formed after that. Chief among gaming landmark moments for me during this period include:

Lifeforce and Contra completion being a weekend ritual with my friends. Mario 1 being the first game I ever beat alone. Megaman 1 played at my cousins and it being really difficult, only to getting 2 sometime later and beating it on like a daily basis. TMNT being damn near fantasy turned reality with the ninja turtle craze going on (took me years to realize how trash that game really was tho). Going over other people's houses of families with older kids having like a smorgasbord of NES collection games that I, being of 1-2 games a year only on birthdays/christmas, had no idea of and playing through all of them, being the likes of The Karate Kid, my first taste of Metroid (and not quite understanding that kinda game yet), Kid Icarus, Metal Gear and countless others. Mike Tyson's Punch Out wrecking me and my whole gaming friend crew (either that or Tecmo Bowl being my first sports game). Dueling it out against them on the NES Floorpad controller for the Track N Field II Olympics game. Ninja Gaiden being my first cinematic game (Yeah, it was first of its kind at the time in that department). Beating 'Bad Dudes' over my cousins house and me being so excited I very literally had heart palpations, to which I thought I was having a heart attack and my moms took me to the ER. (I've spoke on this on here before). Seeing 'The Wizard' in theaters and it literally being a trailer for Super Mario 3 and it blowing everyone's mind and it coming out very shortly afterwards.

- SNES dropping years later and moms letting me know that we were not able to afford it. I get my first chance to play it upon meeting my brother, for the first time, shortly after finding out that I even had an older brother (half, just on father's side). Super Mario World was crazy. Turns out, my dad had a whole lil new family and I had fun with my brother and his siblings. Which I thought he was all good...until I experienced the drug infused nightmare that he turned out to be, overhearing him beating the shyt outta his "wife", my brother's mom, in their room while I try to keep his lil sister and other siblings calm. Ionno where my brother was at this time when I was over there, as he was 4 years or so older than me and was in the street life by then (he got killed 5 years later). So it was pretty bittersweet when just couple months later that year, I got a Super Nintendo, from father, that he stole from my brother's family to give to me (Moms informed me of such much later). shyt didn't even have any controllers, or games, or even the power cords, just the deck. Moms had to buy all that later for me for Christmas. I was 9-10 during this ordeal.


That was a lot. I'll have to get into other shyt later, lol.

Damn, had a very similar experience.... with the games, All that other shyt I was fortunate to not have to deal with
And the part about your uncle hooking up the system and taking forever to do it? What the most likely was imo.. he was trying to hook it up to the VCR that was hooked up to the TV. And you have to change the channel on the VHS to match the output. Now that I think of it, yeah, the Nintendo had a switch for channel 3/4 on it. He likely wasn't aware of all that.

My mom and her sisters grew up in Bronx. They left in '76 to move to SC after my mom turned 18. Her two older sisters stayed in NYC. My mom and her 5 younger sisters went to Charleston SC. But yeah she grew up near Fordham Road on Creston Ave and 184th. My mom sister 2 years older who stayed had a husband who had a Colecoviision I used to play when visiting. That Rocky game was fire. But yeah that nikka was moving and doin coke

Yeah my pops in SC now, assuming he's still alive. He never made time for me so I don't know anybody from that side of my fam.

Spoiler

Its a Wakanda situation

 

[The Mad Titan]

Good thread i'ma rep who I can

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

What y'all know about Gyromite


edit: Christmas '87 The GOAT for me. Got the joint below and Mike Tyson's Punch Out (the commercial that holiday season was fire), SMB (had to buy it separately then) , and Pro Wrassling. The sleeves the games used to come in was lowkey fire. To think I wanted a PC that Christmas.

Now you're playing with POWER!!!

nikkaz didn't leave my crib the whole Christmas Break.

The pictures are dope as hell.
I have punch out with the manual as well.
The original mario box is insane.

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

Security guard at my highschool used to sell Burned dreamcast games.

Needless to say that nikka eventually got fired

I used to sell a bunch of burned dreamcast games and pokemon cards.
Wish I had known at the time how much those first edition cards were going to go for eventually.
I had 3 or 4 first edition Charizards when they first came out and almost immediately sold all of them for video games.

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

I was always considered an elite gamer in comparison to most gamers I played my whole life. And I used gaming to remember core memories.
So I'll just replay a few. Earliest memory is being 2yrs old, maybe still 1. It was Christmas, I'm playing Atari Combat, Pac-man and Boxing.
And Pong. We had two sticks and two paddles. I remember chewing on the sticks and when the black rubber casing comes off the stick itself was a white tube. I chewed on that bytch too Later playing Pitfall 1/2, Spiderman. ET almost forgot, terrible game but I didn't care.

Atari classics just released in Game pass last month, I downloaded and cried for a sec cuz my brother and I would have 100% gotten on that. We randomly talked shyt to each other about who was better at it over the course of our lives. My son is a gamer so I played it with him, and it was everything I remembered. Just I'm the big bro who allowed my son to stay close. But in that game, once you get trapped, you trapped And he figured that shyt out quick, so we been battling.

Going to a friends house and he has an NES with SMB.. in his bedroom. Now, before there was Walgreens and Rite-aid or whatever you have near you today. Peoples Drug was the main pharmacy back in the 80s. And my local one had like 10 arcade games next to the magazines. One arcade was a Nintendo cabinet which was bigger than the other arcades. It had SMB and Donkey Kong. I was a big fan of Mario. You know, it never registered to me that I played Mario first in the Arcades. But yeah, now my friend has it and I never heard of Nintendo. Never seen a commercial, there was no internet/etc. I remember letting mom dukes know what it do this Christmas and I got one.
Mario/Duck Hunt, the Zapper. later I got a Max controller. And I'm pretty sure I got Zelda that Christmas as well. If it was out, then yeah.

The black cases or sleeves for the games, I would smell it. I'd smell the box, that new game smell. I would study the books because you had to, they don't teach you how to play in games back then

My brothers friend let me borrow Megaman 1... Most amazing graphics I ever seen until SMB2. When you beat the game and you see Mario sleeping. That was full screen. Now you just showing off Nintendo
That same friend, let me borrow Mike Tysons Punch Out on Christmas. I asked for it on my birthday but we couldn't afford it.
So I was like cool, I can wait til Christmas. Didn't ask for anything else. We still didn't get it. (Mom dukes was single, worked 2jobs to keep us in a great neighborhood but we was broke in this nice hood)
My brothers friend, who had 3 younger brothers himself, took the game he got but they all was excited for and brought it down so I could play it while he and my bro hung out. They didn't get back til late, like 10pm and he dropped my brother off and left. Said he'll get the game tomorrow. It was a friday night this chritmas. And dude doesn't come back to scoop it until Sunday afternoon.
With me having a timeline to play it, and the desire to have it for so long? I played it non stop and beat it Saturday night.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm the first person to beat Tyson (pause) Nintendo Power Magazine had a contest asking people to send in proof they beat it to be the first and they didn't get pics until 2 months later. I just recall this going down. Word to Howard & Nester
I end up with a copy of Punch-Out because my next condo over neighbor got the game for Christmas but not a Nintendo because they were sold out. His dad promised he'd get one as soon as they become available...

Spoiler

He NEVER got a Nintendo

His first console was a TG-16, and those games were clearly from an alternate reality/future. Legendary Axe 1&2, Bonk, Ninja Warrior.

Now in 2nd grade a friend and I started a gaming rental business. And everything was working out better than we'd imagine for the first month. But there was one bully at the school that we both said off jump, Don't rent to Kenny. This fool rented to Kenny (and it was punch-out)
Kenny obviously never brought the game back. It was his copy that was lost. I was like lesson learned, lets keep getting it.
But HIS dad stepped in. And didn't step to Kenny. His dad carried it like "its a business so you both have to take the loss"

I'm a logical dude, and I would agree with that except WE BOTH KNEW GOOD AND WELL NOT TO DO WHAT HE DID.
I was like nah, that's your fault. And the business ended like that. In a months time tho, we made about $100 which isn't too shabby for some 2nd graders. About 5yrs ago I seen my old partner on Facebook and we chatted for a split second. When I mentioned this story, he acted as if he didn't remember that part, the ending. How the fukk can you forget what ruined our good thing? He did live in a big ass house tho so that $50 might not have been shyt to him. IDK. Oh and Kenny? He's Pastor Kenny now. Its funny how life usually works out like that. Good become bad and bad becomes good.

That's crazy talk This commercial sums up how I felt emotionally about Nintendo at the time


I forgot you had them BX connections. I can't tell you the street we lived on, even tho my brother would say it on demand when asked. I never I guess cared enough to remember. I know we was near Fordam rd. We was near Yankee Stadium.
We lived in South Bronx but I was Born in North Bronx Central

Man shout out to the generation that experienced actually borrowing video games from friends.
I feel like the NES gun was common as hell.
Did anyone have the power glove?
I only saw it once in person. Never knew anyone that owned one.
The Super Scope for SNES was rare as well.
I didn't know anyone that had one but I always wanted one.

 

[Khalil's_Black_Excellence]

Man shout out to the generation that experienced actually borrowing video games from friends.
I feel like the NES gun was common as hell.
Did anyone have the power glove?
I only saw it once in person. Never knew anyone that owned one.
The Super Scope for SNES was rare as well.
I didn't know anyone that had one but I always wanted one.

I owned the Power Glove. And the game genie as well. The Power Glove felt cool as fukk, but its use case was very limited.

 

[EarlyEarly]

My bros friend lived on the same floor and he would also had an NES and would swap Legend of Zelda and Mario 3 carts
Sega Genesis with the Six Pack, SF2:CE, NBA Live 95-97, Sonic 1 and 2.
I used to go to my cousins house after school over the years and play a bunch of shyt. He had a bunch of NES and Genesis games. Mega Man 2, Raiden Trad, Sonic and Knuckles. GTA 1 on PC.
N64 running Bond and Mario Party at my dads house with my brothers
We installed Unreal Tournament on every PC at school and had huge LAN games after school.
Burning every game on CDs and running the Dreamcast into the ground.

 

[PS5 Pro]

I owned the Power Glove. And the game genie as well. The Power Glove felt cool as fukk, but its use case was very limited.

Only rich fancy muh'fukkaz could afford those, you an ol snobby negrito.

Broke nikkaz only was able to get their hands on U Force

 

[-DMP-]

Me finding out DBZ had psx games back in 2001

I think I paid 50 bucks for an import copy of DB final bout. Game was mid but me and my homies played tf out of it just cuz it was dragon ball

Stayed up all night beating the game cuz the internet said if you beat the game 50 times you unlock gogeta…there was no gogeta