What first amazed you about pc gaming?

For me it was back in the day.  My friend had 2 computers right next to each other with statcraft on it.  Every weekend i would go over there and vs. him.  I don't know why, but at the time, it was awesome. :Dmisterjoe100

i loved pc gaming not only because it's so customizable...but because it introduced a new genre...."RTS" games (which i love)

Amazing Multiplayer CapabilitiesStephenHu

When I first played Everquest

Amazing Multiplayer CapabilitiesStephenHu

Torrents. Lots and lots of torrents.explicthangnail

shhhhh... :roll:

I was exposed to Doom Shareware version. From there, I just started playing a lot of mainstream PC games.

- Escape from reality.

- Being the protagonist in an interactive media.

- Dont need a quarter to play again.

- PC games are cheaper then their console counterpart.

- Save game to HD not memory card.

- Faster load/save times.

- CD/DVD tray doubles as cup/beer holder.

When I played a game at the tender ago of about 5 called Police Quest which was a very early RPG, in fact, it was a command line RPG and I was just like "wow!" because the idea of open ended gameplay where you have a free roam environment and can do whatever the hell you want was just mind boggling as you can imagine.  Keep in mind I was a kid and had never even heard of RPGs.

I played it a few weeks back for the first time since then and it was still pretty amusing, mind you the pixels were so big you could play checkers on them.

Lol, it even had responses to stupid commands like "hit on girl" and "take clothes off" and "drop pants" you could just type anything into it and it would somehow know exactly how to respond or it'll actually do it! :P

PS if you decide to look it up and play it, remember to type "draw gun" before  you shoot your gun..... the number of times I just typed in "shoot" and the console says I died because I shot myself in the leg is just silly :roll: 

My initial foray into the realm of PC games started with Quake. The game is an elementary run and gun shooter by today's standards, yet I played it on normal settings and remember developing a complex system of tactics to vanquish my foes. Since I didn't read game walkthroughs at the time, the later levels were very difficult and took me a good three months to finally master them. Most recently, I was blown away by WoW's ability to create a massive virtual world that completely redefined my pereception of immersion. 

[QUOTE="explicthangnail"]Torrents. Lots and lots of torrents.mimic-Denmark

shhhhh... :roll:

Really not the place man.

Back on topic.  There is a whole array of games on the PC from shooting to flight sim.  Also, multiplayer options are way better on the PC.  The Online Community is WAY better.  More maps, mods, etc...  

Long story, short... EVERYTHING! 

Y'know, given that I got into PC gaming in 1984, I can't really recall what drew me in.

I think part of it was that I got into computer programming at a very young age, and I thought it was so cool that I could make the computer do stuff. That was probably the number one reason I stuck with PCs and never had much interest in consoles. Never stuck with the programming thing, though.

 Plus, playing on the computer was a family thing at the time, so that might've helped too.

How hard it was to get the games going.

> CD Games

> CD Aladdin

> aladdin.exe

"Not enough EMS memory"

And boy was I confused when I was playing. NES controller had like 4 buttons. Imagine the terror seeing how many buttons the keyboard had. No way I was going to remember what button did what. But no way I was going to give up either. Those games kicked console games asses so hard it was unbelievable. In every game I could save. In One must fall there was like a dozen different characters you could play as, but you could also UPGRADE them. How cool was that. And so I gave up sports and became a nerd. Damn, I wish I had gotten a SNES.

rofl, does everyone remember when shareware games boomed? :P

Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Doom, Blake Stone, Shadow Warrior, all the greats :D 

For me it was back in the day.  My friend had 2 computers right next to each other with statcraft on it.  Every weekend i would go over there and vs. him.  I don't know why, but at the time, it was awesome. :Dmisterjoe100

Thanks for making me feel old.  I didnt know that Starcraft qualified as "back in the day".

Anyway, the thing that first amazed me about PC gaming is the sheer fun of it all!  Whether it was Chip's Challenge on my parent's work PC with Windows 4.1 or Wolfenstein 3D (with the chaingun cheat code, of course!) at my sister's friends house, the gameplay drew me in and didnt let go.

I think thats why I am so focused on gameplay, and readily skeptical of any game that claims to have the best graphics or be "innovative" or "revolutionary".  Fun is fun, and you really dont have to try anything new to make a good game.  Just give us solid gameplay and a decent story and we will have a ball.

Iv'e had a few WOW moments.

1: Picking up something in HL2 and droping it. Sounds silly but i was like WOW THATS MAD!

2: Logging onto Guild Wars for the first time, I was like... so all these characters are.... real people? :o WOW! 

Amazing Multiplayer CapabilitiesStephenHu

Nailed it.

2: Logging onto Guild Wars for the first time, I was like... so all these characters are.... real people? :o WOW!

Samulies

I had the same thoughts when I logged first time onto guild wars ... wow all the characters being controlled by real people

On the topic, strategy games and half life got me into PC gaming 

My fascination with computer games started when I was just a little boy. I remember the time when I would just die to get a chance to play prince of persia or doom or age of empires.

first PC game was early NBA Live game ...nothing amazed, just fun...

then came the amazing Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, Fallout I&II...eventually it's BG2 and its wide-spread and long stand fan and modder community.