what got the ball rolling

[Sephiroth]

well what got gaming started for u. for me it was the first thing i learned in this country, hell even before good english. when i started school we had a apple IIe and a 286 Dell. they both ran similar and i learned to use both DOS and what ever the hell apple used then. i learned it before i could speak english well. the school was interested in this and begane teching me how to program in binary( inputing of those 1's and 0's) also i was trained in basic too. for some reason they stoped in later 1991( does the fall of the soviet union have something to do with that) anyway that got me into gameing. however what really made me love computers and computer games was doom

[KoolKat]

When I was 6 or 7 (15 now) we went to a friends house and played Doom. It seemed like an ultra real and ultra scary game. We played it a few more times and then they got rid of their computer. A few years went by (I was 13) and I found the shareware Doom in a dollar store and bought it. I didn't know what I was getting into.

[Submerge]

I've had a 'puter since i can remember, so that's not a problem. I was at a computer show, and I saw DOOM being played. E1M2, btw. It was awesome. I knew I had to have it. I left with the shareware 2 hours later. I haven't been the same since :)

[DooMBoy]

Heh, I've like computers ever since the third grade or so, when we all used to shuffle into the computer lab and type stuff up (I wasn't as good as typing then as I am now of course :P). Then I got one back in 99, and since then, it's been all good.

[Danarchy]

See, my dad went to technical school back in the 70s, so he was into computers his whole life. When I was born, he owned a C64, so I've been playing computer since day one. We also had a PC before anyone else. Ironic that we are so far behind in technology now.

[Spike]

When i was 10, (now 21) my dad worked in telecommunications, and he bought home a Compaq 'carrycase' PC - i got hooked on Starglider and Elite.
A year or two later i had a choice between a SNES or a 386DX 40Mhz... let's just say that i didn't get a SNES til about 8 years on, second-hand with a shitload of games :)

[Draconio]

When I was maybe 3 or 4 years old, my brother had an Atari system that I got to use occasionally. I barely remember it besides that there was some game that had a knight and the game screen looked a bit like Legend of Zelda only crappier. A year or two after that he got an NES and that's what really got me into gaming. The first actual computer that I had was a Commadore 64 that we got second-hand. That thing was pretty damn cool at the time. When the C64 broke down completely, I got my first PC - a 286 chip, and I didn't have terribly many games on that. I had Commander Keen tho.

So basically console systems got me into gaming.

[nxn]

I alweys wanted a computer for my 'communion' in the 3rd grade. And with all the money I got from all my relatives I was pretty close to having enough money to buy the best pc out at the time. So within a month I got a new pc with the shareware of doom already on it. My atari never looked as sexy again... well not untill I found out they're worth some money again, but I sold it for like 5 bucks a few years ago =\

[IMJack]

Christmas Day 1987. Nintendo Entertainment System. Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt, Pinball, Hogan's Alley, 1943, Top Gun. No turning back.

[Woolie Wool]

Well, for FPS gaming, it was back in 1992 when I was 16 and saw that the directory c:\wolf3d had appeared out of nowhere while I was at high school. Ah, the v1.1 shareware version of Wolf 3-D. Still remember it.

[Sephiroth]

i was always into electronics and machines. back in the old country i would go to the edge of town and take things that people left. i remebr i found a type writer once and it still kinda worked. with the case off it looked awsome. it had a ton of large moving parts and it looked like it could take ur hands off. computers have always been a hobby to me. now i am taking electronics at college