My Earliest Gaming Memories

Blaugust Day 8 - Earliest Gaming Memories

Being just a bit older than your average gamer, my memories of gaming seem to be very different to some of those I read about on other blogs and Twitter. We had one of the first home entertainment systems and I remember playing Pong and other games on it. When I checked the Wiki for Pong, it says the home version was released about 1976 so I reckon my Dad was a pretty cool dude back in those days!

I also remember Space Invaders arriving at the local fish and chip shop. It was a place the kids used to hang out at as it was connected to a cafe and the older kids hung out there, drinking coke and putting their pocket money into the juke box. Wiki says Space Invaders was released in 1978 which kind of tallies with my memory but I did think I was a bit younger when I played it but obviously not!

After that, there's a bit of a gap as school got a bit more intense and as I lived in a small village, there was nowhere easy for us to hang out and play games. I do remember Galaxians (1979) and later Galaga(1981) being installed at the local Bus Station cafe where we used to hang out before school. I was a bit of a demon when it came to Galaga and was often late to school because I hadn't died by the time my bus came!

My favorite game though was Mr Do - released in 1982. I had started skipping school and hanging out at the pub by the time it arrived in the UK. It was one of those tabletop versions and I quickly became addicted to it. I must have missed hours of lessons, just sitting there playing that stupid game and I held most of the positions on the Top Ten Leaderboard until it was replaced!

We never had another home based entertainment system after the Pong one though so there are loads of games I have only heard of. I'm not sure I ever heard anyone describe themselves as a gamer in those days and I definitely wouldn't have called myself a gamer back then, I was more of an addict!

Then real life took over and it would be many years before I started playing video games again. But that's a story for anther day.

What are some of the earliest gaming memories you have?

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