age range here?

[rock345]

I know....i was thinking of trying the fail every course I take so i can stay for a little while longer.  The sad thing is that I may end up staying in school with the way this job market looks.  Nothing like applying to grad schools last second to fill up your nights.  And you know i'm looking forward to another year of student loans to pay off grad school if i don't get a job in time.  BTW anyone hiring any computer programmers?  

[rock345]

it's called Linux...but I didn't make it

[SirPoonga]

Yep, I'd call it linux too, that or Mac OS X.

[Nailz]

33 here...  I noticed more than few responses of people hovering on that age, musta been a good year  

I remember played Atari Football and always pinching my hands in the trackball, and playing Sprint 2 without any money...  (was still fun to just wing the steering wheels really hard)  

Then came Pac Man and I was out there memorizing patterns and making that quarter last for 3 or 4 hours until I was ready to go into seizures.  Track and Field using that pencil trick, the guys that used to love that game know what I am talking about    

I now have a wife, a 12 year old and 1 on the way and I am STILL the most immature in the house, ain't life great?  

[Rasher2k]

I'm 23 years old and have actually been lurkin' around these parts for a few years now, but only recently have I decided to post (boredom I guess). Anyway, ever since I started getting pocket money me and my best mate would run down to the local fish 'n chip shop and blow it all on arcade games. They were always getting newer games to replace the older ones, but some like Ninja Gaiden, Pacland, Sky Adventure, Bubble Bobble, Galaga, Ghosts and Goblins, P.O.W., Street Smart and Spy Hunter just hung around for ages.

The only game I ever finished (with one credit mind you) was U.N. Squadron, and there was nobody there to see it. It was a combination of these experiences that planted a seed in my brain that would eventually grow into a fixation of all things arcade (and retro), and encourage me to build my very own arcade controls. Well, I'm still gettin there, but when I do look out!

Hey brandon: C64 rules yeah, bring on the space taxi!

[Brax]

I now have a wife, a 12 year old and 1 on the way and I am STILL the most immature in the house, ain't life great?  

One on the way?
Can somone say Oops!? hehe

[Nailz]

LOL, I actually inherited the 12 year old from my wife    The 1 on the way is my first!  We find out today if it's a boy or a girl!  Wish us luck!!!

[Brax]

Ahh very good! Wasn't quite what I assumed!  

Good luck!!!!

If one is good, two are better right? I wish you TWINS!!!! hehe

[SNAAAKE]

The only game I ever finished (with one credit mind you) was U.N. Squadron, and there was nobody there to see it.

  HOT DAMN DUDE  

You actually did that?..i mean un squadron is pretty hard game..best i could do is upto the jungle stage with 1 credit.

But I am like you too..

I could beat Cadillacs and Dinosaurs withs ONLY 1 credit.I cant always do it but i did it several times .
THATS RIGHT..even the dual slice boss cant stop my mighty Mustafa .

[Rasher2k]

Topic: OFF

You actually did that?..i mean un squadron is pretty hard game..best i could do is upto the jungle stage with 1 credit.

Well, I play it nowdays and it really is a very simple shoot 'em up. The slowdown when busy (Intended I think) does help a LOT when dodging enemy fire! But I was young, and I was proud... you want an old one to try, go Prehistoric Isles - now that was my favorite back when it came out, and there was no WAY you could finish it on one credit!

Topic: ON

[SONIC]

Am 27, born in 1975
First machine ever was a Commodore 16.
After that I had a ZX Spectrum, not for long though.
After the ZX I got the allmighty Commodore 64, and was finally able to play R-Type at home, even though it looked far better on the arcade!!!
Then came my amiga... wonderfull days with that machine!!! Not only had allot of cool games, but also had a fawking kewl demo-scene
Suddenly the amiga-scene kinda got quite... very quite... people was leaving for the PC!!! I still remember how upset I was by this, and how I tried to refuse switching to the PC! So some years went by before I got my first Pentium I... Was not far as exciting as the Amiga, and I still don't think it is!!! It's gotten very advanced nowadays, and it's getting better, but I just got so tired of the PC that I bought a mac! So now I have one mac, two PC's (a server and the arcade) and the amiga500
I still sit and dream of the good ol' days, was all so cool back then

[AceTKK]

I'm 22, about to finish college and start my "real life".  I'm a product of the Street Fighter 2 craze that kicked off around middle school.  I still remember vividly the first time I pulled off the dragon-punch on purpose (forward, down, down-forward was very difficult for me to grasp at that young age) :-)  From there I moved on to Mortal Kombat 1 and 2, and finally on to Killer Instinct.  I switched to console gaming after that as all the arcades around me started to die off.  God I miss those days

-Ace-

[AlanS17]

I'm 23 years old. I've been playing games my whole life though, so it's hard to say I really had a particular generation. I've just played them all. (At least since the early 80's).

I started playing video games really young at the athletic club where my dad was a member. So I've played Pacman, Defender, Joust, Centipede and the like. Then when I really got into it, it was all about (original) Street Fighter 2, Bad Dudes (which is my cabinet now), TMNT, Terminator 2...

By the time I was in high school it was all about beating the CRAP out of people (at least in arcades) so my games were Mortal Kombat 2 (still the best MK ever), Super SF 2 and Killer Instinct (which nobody will beat me at so don't even think about it). In fact, I liked that game so much I bought the same machine I grew up playing from the mini golf place.

It's sad to say, but ever since Killer Instinct the games have just gone downhill. Each new Street Fighter is just like the last one, MK3 and 4 sucked, and Tekken is a joke... (My 2 cents)

[Distortion]

It's sad to say, but ever since Killer Instinct the games have just gone downhill. Each new Street Fighter is just like the last one, MK3 and 4 sucked, and Tekken is a joke... (My 2 cents)

We've had a Soul Caliber and a Soul Caliber 2 machine in the old student union building, but they built the new one and tore down the old one, so at this point I would like to know what happened to them and the stand-up Crazy Taxi.  I think both of those games are great fighters, but as far as 2d fighters, I'll have to agree.  I still have a special place in my heart for Virtua Fighter 1 as well.

[Isometric Bacon]

Being only 17, (wait, scratch that, 18 as of last saturday ) I was too young for any of the arcade booms, and my parents always made sure I would stay away from them. (Never gave me any money for them... hmmph.) I still was actively fascinated by them however, and went to as many "lock-ins" (where they close of the arcade for an hour and set all the games to free-play) as I could.
I always was into the retro games however, as I would constantly play the commodore 64, and old PC games even though there were the newer consoles like Super Nintendo's etc. out.

My first real console was a nintendo 64, but I still played as many PC/retro Commodore games as I could as a kid, which gave me a wide love for games of any genre.

I originally got into cabinets when I was around 15/16 and I saw someone who converted their Dreamcast into a cabinet. I thought, what a great idea and planned to build it, much to the dismay of my parents. Of course, like almost everything I do, I lost interest eventually and gave up on the idea. Then 3 years later I stumbled across MAME, and within two weeks I was all ready to build a cabinet once again. This time however, I had an excuse... I could do it for a school design project
killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

So here I am!

[BobA]

ok, who's the 50+???  hehe

1 month from being 25.

I guess I will have to admit to it.   Can you believe a teen life without arcades and school without PCs or calculators.  

I learned IBM JCL language, Fortran, used punch cards and paper tape for input. Actually graduated in electronics with a controls option back in 73. We used slide rules.

BobA

[SirPoonga]

Wow, old age is geting you you, took you long enough to respond

Not suprised at someone being that age though, my uncle is about that and he has an asteroids cabinet that he still plays.

[gyruss]

I'm 43. I guess I'm in Birdtales' category.

I remember arcades that didn't have ANY videos.

Please someone tell me I'm not the oldest one here!

It's pretty funny seeing some of you say things like, "I'm 18, but I'll be 19 in one month", well I'm 43, but I was 42 3 months ago.

[SirPoonga]

I remember arcades that didn't have ANY videos.

I know, I am looking for a Bally Skill Shot.

[BobA]

Please someone tell me I'm not the oldest one here!

OK.......You are not the oldest one here!      

I am

BobA

[gyruss]

Whew ... Thanks!

(I also worked with JCL, but I missed punched cards by a little bit.)

[SNAAAKE]

It's pretty funny seeing some of you say things like, "I'm 18, but I'll be 19 in one month",

I am 19 .
(allright man stop crying already...lol).
s'all good.Its just a #  

[Tailgunner]

I just turned 38. I started with pinball at the convience stores near my house. Saw my first PONG machine at the skating rink, was more interested in pinball so I ignored it. The first video game I remember playing was Boot Hill at the mall. I turned 16 in '81 so I got to hang out in the arcades during the golden age.

[gyruss]

(allright man stop crying already...lol).
s'all good.Its just a #  

I'm not crying. I'm just kidding around. You're right. age is in your head. 43's not old, 50's not old. I wouldn't want to be any other age than what I am, but I wouldn't mind having the energy I had at 19.

By the way, Snake, I really like your cabinet. My current project was going be a black box with the standard MAME marquee, but your artwork inspired me to do a little more. Nice work!

[RandyT]

I just turned 38. I started with pinball at the convience stores near my house. Saw my first PONG machine at the skating rink, was more interested in pinball so I ignored it. The first video game I remember playing was Boot Hill at the mall. I turned 16 in '81 so I got to hang out in the arcades during the golden age.

Heh.  Cool, another '65er

Almost the same as my beginnings, except I had a chance to play some rudimentary computer games (text stuff) before they figured out how to make people feed them quarters.  I still remember my first game of PONG.  Kmart lobby.

I would still take a good pin over these fighters re-hashes

RandyT

[joeblade]

34 pushing 35 (getting closer and closer to 40 every day, but thats cool, as hitting 30 wasn't so bad).

First machines I remember were Phoenix (at the local chippie) and Moon Patrol and 1942 (at the local squash court).

We had an actual arcade where I lived, but it was mostly the local heavies that went there. It was rare to find a machine in the place without cigarette burns all over it !

At the time I had a mate with an atari 2600, another with an intellivision. Needless to say I didn't spend much time at home (until I got my Vic-20 that is !).

Thank god for emulators I say, I am sure that is what has gotten a lot of the young 'uns interested.

Cheers

 

[Tailgunner]

I would still take a good pin over these fighters re-hashes

RandyT

I know what ya mean. All of the arcade roms for games I actually play would fit on a few floppy disks. I actually play Virtual Pinball more than the video games, but all that does is really make me want to hunt down and buy the actual pins.

Butch...