How long have you been gaming and what are your top 5 games of all time?

[Forge]

Mother was in a bowling league, so I started playing Galaxy Game in the alley's arcade/pinball section when I was 5 or 6. That would be 1975. One of my uncles also gave my parents a home pong-game to hook to the tv around the same time.

1. Legend of Zelda (the first one)
2. Final Fantasy (the first one)
3. Rouge/nethack
4. Duke Nukem 3D
5. Super Mario Bros.

[CyberJ]

Well glad I'm not the only geezer on here so far. I've been playing video games since video games were invented. Throw in board games and it would be since I was probably 6. So let's put it at 40 years...

Favorite games:
1. Space Invaders - had it on the Atari 2600 and used to pump quarters into the arcade machine at the roller rink every Saturday.
2. Elite Plus - Commodore 64 space sim that I spent way too much time in flying cargo runs until I could afford to outfit the Military Lasers. Then I hunted pirates.
3. Simcity 2000 - Played most of the early Simcity games but Simcity 2000 was my favorite
4. Empire Deluxe - Turn based strategy games have always been a favorite of mine. I like spending time planning out what to do and how to conquer the map.
5. Master of Orion 2 - My first 4X and still favorite.

Those games used to keep me up way later at night than I should have been up. Yes I do play and enjoy more modern games as well but I'd have to say those five hold a special place for me.

[Whiskycat]

Started around 97-98. Used to play on a Taiwanese knock-off the NES. Later we got a PC and that's when it really started.

1. Quake 2
2. Half-Life
3. Deus Ex
4. TES IV: Oblivion
5. WoW

Can't comment much. Quake 2 and Half-Life were the rage when we got the internet in our apartment. Quake 2 was very popular on our local provider servers, everyone I knew played it online. It was fun. Half-Life was popular as well mod-wise. The modding community was on the rise, and then came Sven-Coop which once again was very popular with everyone who was using our internet provider.

Tried getting into Deus Ex multiple times and maybe after the third attempt I finally started to enjoy it.

Oblivion is my all time favourite game. I think I sank the most hours into this game after WoW. I don't know why but it just clicked very well with me, I felt at home when playing it. WoW is just too big and has been a part of my life for a very long while already. I've met most of my close friends through it, it helped me through bad times as well. I always loved the warcraft franchise and an WC mmo was just a dream come true.

[Overloaded_Wolf]

Been gaming since late 90s, these are my favorite game series.

1. Kingdom Hearts
This game man... The most confusing and convoluted story to ever exist in gaming. I played this game around the first time it came out. Loved the game and have been subsequently playing every title the series has to offer. Even the remakes. Hype is uncontrollable now for KH3.

2. Sly Cooper
Childhood favorite I would put hours and hours into and playing it again and again. Couldn't help myself with such a colorful cast and such good gameplay.

3. Ratchet & Clank
Deadlocked is the best. Fight me!

4. Jak & Daxter
This was probably one of the most inventive games for its time. Gotta say Jak & Daxter 3 was my favorite, solely for the Mad Max vibe!

5. Spyro the Dragon
Loved them all. Still wanting the reignited trilogy. Must... get... next... paycheck...

[NorthernNikki]

Reignited is amazing. Same old Spyro, just prettier. I totally agree on Deadlocked.

[Firaphex]

Since 1987.

Not in any particular order but top 5:

1. Sim city 2000 - snes
2. Resident Evil 1 Remake - gamecube
3. Final fantasy 7 - ps1
4. Sega rally - sega saturn/arcade version
5. Secret of mana - snes

There are so many more that it is hard to choose. But these are the ones I have the fondest memories of. Sure there is a fair bit of nostalgia and/or childhood involved, but over 30 years of gaming these stand out as the best times I've had in games.

[DeeFunct]

So I vaguely remember playing on my father's Spectrum or Grandad's Amstrad when I was really young, but think I would pin point the early 90's as when I became a gamer. A point at which I managed to convince my parents to buy a NES. Whilst I only play on PC now, almost all of my favourite games were on consoles.

1 Final Fantasy VII - This game blew me away when it arrive in 1997, it seemed so complex and so massive that I couldn't believe it was a video game. I've played it multiple times and still love it just as much through each playthrough.

2 Secret of Mana - The SNES era was when I started falling in love with RPG games and the fact I could play this with my younger brother made it even more magical.

3 Kingdom Hearts - Gee whizz, another Square game! I remember reading an article in a magazine about Square and Disney teaming up to make a game and thinking it was going to be the most ridiculous, stupidest thing ever. Boy was I wrong! I loved every second of Kingdom Hearts.

4 Civilization II - I cannot tell you how many hundreds of hours I spent playing this. Civ II was essentially my gateway drug into PC gaming, and I didn't even have a PC! I was lucky enough to have a friend with the PC and CIV II, whilst he played on the MegaDrive, I played Civ II.

5 Super Mario Bros. 3 - My mum was waiting for me at the school gates on my birthday, holding a WoolWorths bag with a beaming smile on her face. Handing me the bag, I opened to pull out the bright yellow box that was Super Mario Bros 3. I still think the game is gorgeous and for the time, it was huge! I still fire up an emulator on a regular basis and play this for nostalgic feels.

[zehcoutinho]

I started gaming in 1988 with an Atari console. My last console was a Nintendo 64, after that I started gaming on PC.

Favorite games:

1: Civilizations Series
2: The Elder Scrolls series
3: Mass Effect series
4: Counter Strike 1.6/GO
5: Stellaris

[JackofTears]

I answered the favorite game question in a couple other threads, as this is a popular topic, so I won't repeat that here. I have been gaming since I was about 6, in the early 80's; started with a precursor to the Atari 2600 but they stopped making new games for that machine so we downgraded to the Atari. I owned about 50+ games, acquired between the ages of 6-12, when I finally saved up enough money from my part time jobs to buy a Nintendo Entertainment System. I played the hell out of that until the Genesis game out in my teens and I upgraded. Became so good at the games that I could beat any Sega Genesis game in the 48 hour rental window.

I didn't really play on my first computer until my mid twenties, whereupon I played the old dos games like "Strahd's Possession", which were cutting edge and amazing at the time. Later I picked up "Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny", which was one of the first games I played which offered expansive exploration and non-linear gameplay. I never did finish that game, despite many hours exploring the world and seeing what trouble I could get into. For years, I shared a computer with my roommate, before getting my own in my late twenties.

I've lived and played through most every major game evolution in the last 40 years - making me a lifelong gamer.

[007]

I've been gaming since around 1990. I willingly admit that some of these are not the BEST games, but they are probably my favorites.

1. Full Throttle
2. Half Life 2
3. A Link to the Past
4. Yoshi's Island
5. Duke Nukem 3D

[isturbo1984]

Since I was 1. So... almost 34 years of gaming. Favorite all-time would have to be Chrono Trigger, World of Warcraft and Persona 5.

[Gogo Govnar]

I've been playing games for about 15 years I think and top 5 would be
1. Bastion
2. either Metro game both are amazing
3. the Monkey island series can't pick just one
4. Fallout: New Vegas
5. Warcraft 3

Also this list would probably change each time I was asked

[Good Apollo]

I've been gaming also since 3 years old and I am 34 now. I have so many favorite games but these 5 are the most important to me and are games I will still go back and play

1.) Super Mario Bros (first game I ever played)
2.) Super Metroid
3.) Castlevania Symphony of the Night
4.) Final Fantasy 7
5.) Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time

I'm a big fan of metroidvania style and side scrollers since that's what I grew up with. Since these are all older games, my favorite 2018 games are:

1.) Red Dead 2
2.) God of War
3.) Dragon Quest X1
4.) Spider-man
5.) Monster Hunter World

[ryan_]

About 25 years probably. I'll give 4 because after 4 I kind of have a list of about 30 games that could be #5.

1. Suikoden 2
2. Xenogears
3. Final Fantasy Tactics
4. Final Fantasy 7

I realize those are all 90s jRPGs, but in the past 20 years nothing's topped them. As for number 5, some newer RPGs like Persona 5, Borderlands 2 and Fallout 3 come to mind. Some indie RPGs like Shadowrun Dragonfall and Valdis Story. Some games from other genres like Castlevania SOTN and Under a Killing Moon. Some other older jRPGs like Vagrant Story, Valkyire Profile, Breath of Fire 3 and Seiken Densetsu 3. But nothing's beaten those four. Usually it's because the story just doesn't even come close in terms of scale, structure or emotional impact and the holistic package of story, art direction and gameplay feels weaker.

[Necromancerx69]

I was introduced to video games with the Atari (I think the game was moon landing, but I could be wrong, I was little back then).

My top favorite games of all time in no particular order, I love them all the same:

StarCraft / Diablo 2 / WarCraft 3 / C&C Red Alert 2 / C&C Generals [ These solidified my love for Pc gaming. ]

Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 [ I loved these games as a kid on my Sega Dreamcast. ]

Arcade Game The Ocean Hunter [ I played this one at the arcade way 2 many times as a kid, I would KILL for a remake / remaster. ]

Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 [ Me and my brother had a great time hunting survivors or crowing witches. ]

Pokemon Sapphire [ My very first Pokemon game. I also like Absol <3 ]


[ I know it's a top five, but I seriously, love, LOVE, these game a lot. I can't pick only 5. xD ]

[Mad Pauly]

If you count Pong clones, since Christmas 1977. Otherwise, Christmas 1981 (OK, shortly after, since we had to build the ZX81 from components).

Top 5 all time games? Damn, that's a hard one... but here's what I'd go for in terms of games that I've got fond memories, in no particular order:

1. Doomdark's Revenge. I spent months playing this on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum during the '80s. I spent more months playing it on a Spectrum emulator on my Amiga during the '90s. Now there appears to be a mobile version released, so I might end up spending even more months on my phone...

2. Morrowind. Never really thought much of it when I first got it, preferring Neverwinter Nights. Then I discovered mods. Then I ended up running a mod site for a couple of years. Then Oblivion came out, so I played that for a while until I realised Morrowind, despite its flaws, was far more compelling.

3. Rome:Total War. Without this (and the superb Europa Barbarorum mod) I'd probably never have been interested in history. Now half my bookshelf is filled with history books. Along with Medieval II:Total War, Creative Assembly's finest moment.

4. Final Fantasy VII. The secondary reason I bought a PC (the first being I needed one for work). I never thought I'd well up over a computer game. Then came the end of disk 1. Yeah, I was one of those types...

5. Europa Universalis IV. Damn you, Paradox, and your annoyingly addictive grand strategy games.

There's plenty of honourable mentions out there: Planescape:Torment for being incredibly detailed; King of Dragon Pass for being set in Glorantha; Witcher 3 for being just That Damn Good; Sims (and Sims 2) for being the architectural tool I wish I'd had at Uni; any of the Artic text adventures which got me into adventure/rpg games; and of course, that Pong clone without which I might never have had an interest in gaming.