1. Super Mario Bros. (1987) - I was a fan of video games before 1987, but it wasn't until SMB that everything clicked for me. That game was brilliant. The graphics were large and colorful. I could actually tell what everything was, without having to use my imagination. The music was great, and frankly it was kind of mind bending. "Okay let me get this straight... the guy from Donkey Kong jumps on turtles, eats mushrooms to grow big, picks flowers to throw fireballs, and climbs into the clouds on a beanstalk to collect coins?" It was the strangest concept but it worked and I loved it.
2. Final Fantasy (1990) - The series is now everything I hate about about RPGs, but back in the day was an eye opener. For the next 10 years RPGs were essentially my focus of gaming. As a side effect it was the first search term I ever looked up on the internet when I first got on it back in 1995 and I learned about all the games that never made it stateside. That actually propelled me to learn more about the Japanese gaming scene and influenced my habits further.
3. Harvest Moon SNES (1998 )- The game that introduced me to non-traditional gaming. No dragons to kill, no princesses to save, no headshot... just turnips. Oddly enough the game would become one of my biggest obsessions and was my gateway to other games like Katamari Damacy, Flower, etc.
just 3 games wont be easy but here i go.
1:chrono trigger (1995) the first rpg that had a epic deep story with epic music and just about the first game with a new game+ that gave 5 different endings
2. resident evil(1997) the game that started the whole surivial horror series 2 different main characters with different stories and a perfect b movie feel the game was just perfect for the zombie lover that i am i still play the ds re make every few weeks and it never gets old.
3. karamari damacy(2004) the whole concept that you are a mini alien pushing a gum ball to get random items and the bigger it gets the bigger items it picks up while the most catachy music played in the background it blew my mind it was so different while everything was coping the same game types.
- Super Mario Bros. (1990-ish) - No better way to start. What else can I say? It's Super Mario Bros. That should be enough. My gaming can be attributed entirely to this one game.
- Final Fantasy (1992-ish) - The idea of videogames having no benefit was lost at an early age when this was the biggest factor in helping me to read.
- Rainbow Six (1999) - Computers. The Internet. A life reborn. Despite what may seem natural, I have not always been versed in the language of the computer. Our first home PC was a Windows 3.1 machine, which got some use, but not explored. Not until I traversed the jungles of Windows ME with Rainbow Six, did I make the jump to the next level. A first real intro to Internet culture, the first online game I played, I even created my own mods.
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1. Super Mario Bros. (1986) - This might as well be a requirement for all lists. My first true gaming experience and still one of the best. It changed our industry, it created an entire generation of gamers which still game today. This is the game that got me into this hobby.
2. The Legend of Zelda (1987) - My favorite game on the NES, maybe it was the amazing gold cart or the awesome music. But it was probably the fact that I didn't have to walk in one direction. A game where I didn't have to do stage 1 then stage 2. Where puzzles were as much a part of the game as fighting enemies. A game where there are hidden items and power ups for you to find while you explore a world. Explore a world that concept is what made my little mind explode with imagination. What kind of places will I see? What adventures can I go on? This game is probably most responsible for me liking the action/adventure genre more than any other.
3. Resident Evil (1996) - Like Gabe with Doom this game made me rethink my view of games. Till then I was a stupid sega fanboy taking sides as if gaming was a war where you could not enjoy all games. This game comes and blow my mind and makes me realize this medium is the future. I just played a game that felt like a movie, I was controlling the freaking movie. I knew then that I would be playing games my whole life.
GG you did not answer.
Can I choose 3 arcade games and 3 PC or Console games?
I think we should all choose 3 arcade games.
gamingeek said:Can I choose 3 arcade games and 3 PC or Console games?
I think we should all choose 3 arcade games.
Its your thread do what you want? 
Arcades did nothing for me. Yeah of course it was probably my first interaction with a game but its not until you take the game home with you that it becomes magical.
3 arcade games that really changed my gaming life would be tough. I certainly liked arcade games, but only Pac-Man and Street Fighter II could possibly be considered big "game changers" for me. Pac-Man was really more about collecting merchandise rather than the game itself and most of the time I played SFII on a console.
3 huh? That's fucking tough man. Almost unfair to many games. But if I had to say the 3 games that really changed my view at the time...
#1: Super Mario Bros. (1986)- It wasn't my favorite game on the NES, but like most kids who grew up in the 80's, it was my 1st experience playing a game and you couldn't ask for a better drug to get you hooked for life. 
The game had a lighthearted, anybody can get into this vibe to it that I don't really think has ever been matched, even though that was Nintendo's plan with Wii.
#2: Zelda: A Link to The Past (1992)- My favorite Zelda game of all time, and my most memorable gaming moment of that generation. Every time I think of this game since the 1st time I played it, I instantly think of the scene with Link in bed and the rain pouring down outside his house...at the time it just seemed magical and totally immersive. You know something is pretty badass when you just instantly think of a certain part like that. I played this game non-stop for the whole summer that year.
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#3: Tomb Raider (1996)- Well there was a point in time when I was in my mid teens that I deemed myself "too cool to play games anymore". Tomb Raider is the game that changed that for me. It got me back into gaming. I just instantly fell in love with the gigantic 3d levels which were unlike anything I had seen, and the realistic atmosphere...the gritty, isolated vibe. Of course, if I had played Resident Evil before Tomb Raider it would be here instead...but these games were a testament to how important the Playstation 1 was to gaming....for people like me, it brought us back and made gaming cool again.
robio said:3 arcade games that really changed my gaming life would be tough. I certainly liked arcade games, but only Pac-Man and Street Fighter II could possibly be considered big "game changers" for me. Pac-Man was really more about collecting merchandise rather than the game itself and most of the time I played SFII on a console.
We are far too similar in our game choices. 2/3 on the console games, then arcade the only ones I could have named would have been Pac-man and SFII.
I don't know what's going on here, but I'm suspicious.
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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile
Gabe has pretty good taste for someone who made Half-Life.
Anyway great thread to read through. i can't really think of any games that changed my life so to speak, or even how I saw games. I could always make something up, though!
Foolz stole my answer. I can't think of three games that have changed my life -- or even one. Without games in my life I'd have a few tens of thousands of dollars more and more free time.
Hmm, so maybe somewhere along the way my life did indeed get changed by this hobby.
I guess it would be whatever game I first spoke with Geek about, since that relationship lead me to this site, which in turn plays a major part of my day.
aspro said:I guess it would be whatever game I first spoke with Geek about, since that relationship lead me to this site, which in turn plays a major part of my day.
I believe it was Leisure Larry Deluxe Edition - Pantless Fun 2
gamingeek said:I believe it was Leisure Larry Deluxe Edition - Pantless Fun 2
Now that's that sort of game that should change one's life.
1. Super Mario Bros 3
Fucking hard choice this was. On one hand, I think Mario World 2 is the single best platformer ever. On the other? First video game I ever played. Damned great game.
2. Metal Gear Solid
Even though Snake eater is a fucking amazing game, can't go past the original. Fostered my love of long winded/brilliant cutscenes, mindscrewy and much more.
3. Tekken 3
The game that GOT me into fighting games. Everything about the game is pretty much spot on - visuals, gameplay, music, extra content...amazing. Easily the best thing Namco have ever done that's not named Ridge Racer Type 4 or Pac-Man.
Okay, for me it's unsurprising that the N64 claims two of the top spots.
Going from 2D Genesis and SNES games to a world of full blown 3D was eye opening to say the least. And two of the best were based on two franchises I already loved.
Lastly the first game that came bundled with the SNES, by the end of the SNES era was still the best game of that console.
I actually physically fought my elder brother over this game which he wanted to sell for £4 which is about $7, the cheapskate SOB.
Yodariquo said:We are far too similar in our game choices. 2/3 on the console games, then arcade the only ones I could have named would have been Pac-man and SFII.
I don't know what's going on here, but I'm suspicious.
It's pretty clear really. You're starting to realize that I'm your role model, and frankly you couldn't set a better goal for yourself. Since I'm your role model now I think it's time to give you a little Robio backstory. I believe I first realized I was destined for greatness in 3rd grade. We were working on a unit about instruments and while in the library I found someone's notes from the previous year accidentally left in an encyclopedia. With those notes I created a paper that gave me an A. Now in 4th grade things got even better. . .
robio said:It's pretty clear really. You're starting to realize that I'm your role model, and frankly you couldn't set a better goal for yourself. Since I'm your role model now I think it's time to give you a little Robio backstory. I believe I first realized I was destined for greatness in 3rd grade. We were working on a unit about instruments and while in the library I found someone's notes from the previous year accidentally left in an encyclopedia. With those notes I created a paper that gave me an A. Now in 4th grade things got even better. . .
Three games? Pffft! I only need one: Breakout for the Atari 2600.
First video game I ever played, all the way back in 1979. 
This is what Honest Gabe had to say:
1) [Star] Trek on a Burroughs mainframe when I was in High School
This was the first video game I ever played, although it's hard to call it a video game when I was playing it on punch cards. My brother and I would type out a move on a punch card machine, grab our deck, put it into the punch card reader, and then wait for our line printer output. Each move took about ten minutes. I was hooked.
2) Doom (1993)
Doom was the game that made me rethink everything I thought about games - control systems, design, rendering. It convinced me that games were the future of entertainment.
3) Mario 64 (1996)
Still my favourite game of all time. I still have vivid memories of all the different levels. The control is still pretty much unrivalled. It convinced me that games were art.
So what are the 3 games that changed yours?