What Game Literally Changed Your Life?

[c0y0te]

I am creating this topic, because I haven't seen another similar one on this forum, and I'm interested in what games affected some people, and maybe even what age/point in their lives it happened..

The game which has had the biggest affect on my life would have to be Thief: The Dark Project, released in 1998, if I remember.. I was in college and had just put together a sweet system, with huge surround sound speakers, 21" monitor, a first-generation IR mouse (still have it!) And the first game I bought was Thief..

I played the game, and it was hard, and engrossing, and had wonderful AI.. I would get an increased heartbeat every time I slipped up and a guard would stop and say "What was that noise? .... Oh nothing, must have been a rat.."

The second level on that game scared me so bad, I had to stop playing for 3 days before I could sit down at it without getting shaky as soon as I opened up my savegame.

It changed the entire way I played games, once the "Lytha-style" playing term was coined, where you finished every mission on the highest difficulty without dealing any damage and collecting every item, and the seemingly limitless ways to finish every mission were truly staggering (and I still play as many games as possible this style, and drop the game if you can't..) Years later, IRL, I still tend to avoid loud surfaces, and I tend to move toward shadowed areas.. I read the "1000 reasons You've Been Playing Too Much Thief," and most of the 1000 points given, still apply to me even to this day..

[pkt-zer0]

There are none. Okay, there were a few games I really enjoyed, and some ideas in games I liked... Namely, the masterful AI in Halo, and the interactive world in Fallout.

Okay, maybe there is one game that's going to change my life, but it's the one I'm currently developing (as part of a bigger team).

[Cookie Monster]

None that I can think of, no game has had that great significance in my life, at least not consciously.. I enjoy playing them, but thats all.

[Gare]

Umm, I don't take games that seriously. Although Thief 1's zombies scared me too, maybe because I was very young when I played it. Anyway, a game that would "change my life"... meh, as the others have said, I play them, and that's it. They're just games.

[MegaVolt]

Fallout...enough said.
Thanks to this one I really get into RPG's and I prefer
those kind of games since then.

Yes I may add something more, but I don't think it's necesarry.

[20by20]

I would have to say Super Mario World and Mega Man X for the SNES because those games introduced me to video games.

[DeputyDon]

Counter Strike changed my life. I used to hang out with friends everyday, until I started playing CS. I played like 16 hours of the day everyday, for almost a year. So yeah that pretty much changed my life.

[Cosmic]

I wouldn't say it changed my life, but the original Deus Ex was awesome the first time I played through it. No story-based game I've ever played has managed to beat it. I don't really care for the majority of RPG type games I've played, but wow. Best PC game ever, hands down.

[Mr E]

Ninja Gaiden(Xbox) has changed the way I play games. Now, I always play on the hardest difficulty the first time through, just to see how hard they really are.

[pirates dc]

getting an xbox really didchange my life it made me stay inside more and kept me out of trouble.. as soon as i sold it thats when all th drama started again

[D]

Definitely Goldeneye. I had never had so much fun in all my life. Instead of a computer being anti-social, it had the reverse effect on me. Absolutely brilliant times I had with that game, and it's a testiment to its quality that I still play it now.

[Ninja Kurosai]

Frogger for the Intellivision, and Mortal Kombat for the Arcade. Both games introduced me to the world of gaming. And gave me something to do other than watch Saturday morning cartoons . Although I do miss The Tick...

[TobyNY]

The only time a game can really change your life is when your in your child years. Theres a difference between a game changing your life and being obsessed with one. That being said, when I was REALLY young:

Sonic the Hedgehog, all games - the speed was incredible at the time, the levels ,everything was insane and greatly detailed.

Mortal Kombat - Probably the most influential game on children ever. I remember playing this over and over again desperately trying to figuire out the Fatality's. One day this kid in 2nd grade brought a piece of paper to school with every single Mortal Kombat code/fatality. Kid's were litterally tackling the kid trying to write down everything so when we got home we could try the stuff out. I even remember screaming "DO THE UPPERCUT" to older kids in the arcades when they were about to finish the enemy.

Gunstar Heroes - Till this day still my favorite game ever, I have no idea how they were able to develop this game on the fucking Genesis.

Street Fighter - Was highly addictive. I used to play this game with my 2 cuzin's who were way older then me. They would always win. I don't think I've played any game longer then this one. I remember wanting to find the stories of the fighters so bad. You know your obsessed with Street Fighter as a kid when you try to beat M.Bison with Zangief over 20 times, and then you start crying. Pretty soon I'm going to get a Street Fighter 15th Anniversary tattoo on my left arm. (My girlfriend approves of it because she knows I'ma nerd)
I don't even care about the next gen systems, my goal is to get an X-Box and play Street Fighter 3 online on XBox Live for the rest of my life.

[Megalith]

That's too much of an overstatement. No game has the magnitude to change my life. A few though, have the power to influence my thought to a certain degree. Perhaps story driven games like Metal Gear Soild and Xenosaga helped develop my philosophical views, thoughts and weave a loop between my own perspective on things and others'. That is the extent of the influence videogames have/had on me.

[crusher]

I was thinking of making exactly this kind of thread yesterday when I beat MGS3 for the 8th time...

Oh and I agree with what Mr. Megalith said.