What was the first album you owned? A fairly inane question perhaps, but it's one of those stock facts that all civilised human beings are expected to carry around, ready to whip out when awkward silence calls (for the record, my Mum GAVE me New Kids on the Block, Hangin' Tough. It's not like I liked it. Or listened to it. Much).
Being asked to recall your first videogame, however, is something that happens pretty rarely. This is probably due to the preference for discussion of music over gaming in polite company, but its actually a much more interesting question.
Games, for a variety of reasons, mean much more to most (male) children than music does – go to any playground today and I'll wager you'll hear 10 times as much talk about the new Call of Duty than the new Arctic Monkeys album (don't actually go to a playground, you might get in trouble).
Games allow children to escape, imagine, entertain themselves, to play with and relate to other children. The consumption of music, before you're old enough to go to gigs, is a solitary experience. Until adolescence I had little problem deciding where my priorities lay.
While you may have dim memories of listening to your first album in the back of the car on holiday in the Isle of Wight, a game, especially as a child, consumes all your attention for weeks, if not months, on end. When you're not playing it, you're thinking about playing it. When you're not thinking about playing it, you're thinking about what game you want next.
Also, while your first album was probably bought for you by knowing parents wishing to steer you towards their favourite band or simply away from scary rap music, videogames were something the generation before us knew nothing about. If my Dad bought me a Dizzy game, it was because I begged and pleaded him for it, not because of his nostalgic fondness for egg related puzzle games.
Most likely, your first game was an active choice that not only reflected your young tastes but, through the sheer time spent engaged with them, helped develop them too. Games were (and still are) expensive, and deciding how to begin your collection (and then how to add to it) was a big decision - with no personal spending power you could be stuck with a dud all the way until Christmas.
Taking these factors into consideration, it seems fair to say that your first game really says something about the gamer (if not the person) you've become. Had you had happened upon Sensible Soccer, you'd probably be playing Pro Evo right now. If you got stuck with Elite, you'd probably be playing Civilisation. And have become an accountant.
Just as I wish my first album had been London Calling or Astral Weeks, I'd like to be able to say that my first gaming experiences were with a Mario, or a Zelda. But no, the very first year of my console gaming life were spent playing two rather forgettable games – Batman, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, both for the NES. I didn't have any others. My choices were informed solely by my love of comic book characters. Decent games in their own respects (though TMNT was unforgivably tough) they instilled in me a love of platform games that endures to this day.
Largely my likes, and dislikes – racing and flying games in particular – have remained constant ever since. How different it could have been if that NES had come bundled with Excitebike. Or, God forbid, I'd opted for a Master System.
What was your first game? And do you think it made you the gamer you are today?
