Omnipresent Games

[Waffles]

I distinctly remember how everyone I have ever met had International Super Star Soccer Deluxe on their Genesis collection as a kid, even if some of those people didn't even care for it (but it was widely popular).

And when I finally got my PlayStation 1? One of the games it came bundled with was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, a game everyone seemed to have, but no-one seemed to have played more than a few minutes of (but again, I did like it).

In the case of the aforementioned ISSD, I can kinda get why even non-sport fans would get it: it was a crowd pleaser, and an easy thing to pick up and play for when you had friends over. Did the lack of playing it yourself affect you? Of course, you'd get trashed mercilessly. But that was part of the fun.

For the other one... I guess it looked cool? I love the game, but no-one ever went out of their way to suggest we played it, and I only had one multiplayer experience with it. Last year.

Can you think of any other game that just seemed to be a part of everyone's collection for some reason?

 

[Thegurdian1936]

I remember that for some reason everyone I know has or had a super mario bros emulator in their computer, i dont say a famicon or GBA emulator specifically a collection of super mario games, even some obscure bootlegs.

 

[Yousef]

Great topic idea. It resonates with me in particular as someone who had a pretty unique exposure to gaming.

Crash Bandicoot and GTA were always seen as MANDATORY additions to ANY collection. Ps1? Ps2? PSP? Doesn’t matter. If it can run a gta or crash, it’ll have one. And you’ll play it.

Pepsiman was similarly huge. There’s even an Arabic dub for pepsiman which I plan to upload the google drive file for and do some testing… whenever I’m feeling unlazy.

Sonic was similarly inescapable.
Sadly when 7th gen hit the scene and some of these game’s reputations became somewhat muddy, it became somewhat murky determining the “omnipresent” game. Although CoD, FIFA and PES persisted. And of course, GTA 4, which was the most important game to my life. GTA V was too. They both still are.

Oh YEAH, WWE too. Can’t forget. Although people stopped buying them when THQ stopped making because THQ did a classic THQ move and hilariously made themselves go bankrupt by spending 50 million dollars on darksiders 2, oops!

Some folks I knew had uncharted but nobody took it seriously cuz it’s a movie game. Too much English talking, not enough shooting. Plus the local multiplayer modes were unironically ass. Meanwhile FIFA, PES, CoD and WWE all had fantastic local multiplayer, something which was seen as sacred due to how highly extroverted gaming communities used to be in kuwait.

I’ve mentioned being still a gigantic gta fan, but the other games? I have more “unique” experiences. I still think the wwe games were great but I never went back to them because I’m satisfied with my childhood memories and don’t really need a rerun. CoD I’m still really fond of and plan to replay the entire series one day. It’s a great franchise imo. FIFA I’ll need some time. Got too much on my plate. My taste in video games is a lot more “dudebro-y” than I might come off.

 

[MistHunter]

Uhhh... what about doom?
this game is omnipresent in other senses
on the other hand, we have pokémon videogames (most of them, gameboy advance + hackroms).

 

[Clippy]

Oh man, I don't want to step on anyone's toes but whenever I see people claiming that there are as many or even more women than men playing video games I always have a hearty chuckle. Why? In my experience growing up, girls not only didn't play video games, they actively despised them. They had no idea why us guys were so enamoured with them. I didn't meet a single female gamer until I was in my 20s

BUT. There was one exception - The Sims. Everyone had to give the sims a whirl at least once. Every single PC in my local area back in the day has seen The Sims at some point in its life. So there, The Sims is my nominee for an omnipresent game.

 

[Yousef]

Oh man, I don't want to step on anyone's toes but whenever I see people claiming that there are as many or even more women than men playing video games I always have a hearty chuckle. Why? In my experience growing up, girls not only didn't play video games, they actively despised them. They had no idea why us guys were so enamoured with them. I didn't meet a single female gamer until I was in my 20s

BUT. There was one exception - The Sims. Everyone had to give the sims a whirl at least once. Every single PC in my local area back in the day has seen The Sims at some point in its life. So there, The Sims is my nominee for an omnipresent game.

I didn’t know your heart could chuckle.
A lot of female gamers seem to be attracted towards games with a particular atmosphere or vibe like professor Layton, persona, corpse party, ace attorney, danganronpa, animal crossing (just naming a few off the top of my head)

 

[RustySK]

Back in the day it seemed like every single kid out there had at least some sort of Tony Hawk game lying around. Personally I never understood the appeal and found the series really frustrating to play, but I suppose it was the style at the time.

Aside from that... Oh! Tekken 3 was everywhere as well. That one I did enjoy though - we were a really competitively viable neighborhood back then.

... Also FIFA and/or PES. Bleh.

 

[Waffles]

Oh man, I don't want to step on anyone's toes but whenever I see people claiming that there are as many or even more women than men playing video games I always have a hearty chuckle. Why? In my experience growing up, girls not only didn't play video games, they actively despised them. They had no idea why us guys were so enamoured with them. I didn't meet a single female gamer until I was in my 20s

Maybe a cultural thing, but I actually knew an overpopulation of female gamers growing up, with one in particular also becoming the first webmistress I have ever met (and her site still exists, despite being last updated in 2004 and linking to dead sites -- seriously! Yahoo! Groups, forums and sites that didn't last the decade, even her own guestbook. It's a time capsule).

 

[Clippy]

I didn’t know your heart could chuckle.

Mine does that sometimes to shake off some of the soot that makes it so black.

Maybe a cultural thing, but I actually knew an overpopulation of female gamers growing up, with one in particular also becoming the first webmistress I have ever met (and her site still exists, despite being last updated in 2004 and linking to dead sites -- seriously! Yahoo! Groups, forums and sites that didn't last the decade, even her own guestbook. It's a time capsule).

Must've been nice. My gaming circle was an utter sausage fest

 

[Cu-Neo]

Those two are the definition of omnipresent games

It was a law having these two on your ps2 when your friends came to your house to play

 

[middler]

In the long long ago when I was a kid, the game was WOLF3D. each full episode fit on a 3.5 so even if you didn't have a computer at home they were easy to load and use at school or the public library. All you needed was that magical double density 3.5 and you were in.

 

[Yousef]

Must've been nice. My gaming circle was an utter sausage fest

a vegetarian’s worst nightmare

Post automatically merged: Dec 15, 2024

Those two are the definition of omnipresent games View attachment 4537View attachment 4538
It was a law having these two on your ps2 when your friends came to your house to play

 

[Waffles]

In the long long ago when I was a kid, the game was WOLF3D. each full episode fit on a 3.5 so even if you didn't have a computer at home they were easy to load and use at school or the public library. All you needed was that magical double density 3.5 and you were in.

Yes! One of the first PC games I ever played.

 

[middler]

Yes! One of the first PC games I ever played.

My first PC game was Scorched Earth. popular but not like WOLF3D

 

[Waffles]

My first PC game was Scorched Earth. popular but not like WOLF3D

Scorched Earth... Scorched Earth... *Googles it*... OMG! I played that on the school's computer lab as a weelad! I can't believe I didn't remember it

 

[DunkeyKong]

It isn't a Retro game but, for some reason almost everyone I've met have at least played a Moba or Battle Royale

But what I do think is a game that everyone have played (Retro and not Retro), gotta be Grand Theft Auto series (no explanation needed)

 

[ConanTheDestroyer]

When I was growing up everyone loved playing this game , from my friends to my cousins. I'm not even a big racing game fan but I loved playing Most Wanted( not to mention those live action cutscenes were amazing). Plus all the kids wanted to have the BMW M3 GTR.

 

[RageBurner]

GTA, Soccer video games, two things I despise with great fervor.

 

[ATenderLad]

I remember, for a time, being able to expect one of two things in every home with a game console;

either NFL Blitz,

or a THQ pro wrestling game.

 

[JustLooking123]

Where i live, there was two pc games that could be found almost anywhere you look!
Crazy Taxi and Mortal Kombat 4 (no kidding)