Oh man, what game got me hooked?
I'd have to say Duke Nukem 3D....now it wasn't the first game I ever played, but it was what got me really hooked.
I remember they included a level editor with an absolutely cryptic manual.
I found a bible-sized third party manual eventually which really helped me make levels.
It was neat learning the tricks they did, like stairs were just teleporters to different areas because the engine didn't support 2 stories or more in a building.
Ah the sprite based fun I had!
Actually that's what got me hooked on messing with games, not really gaming itself I suppose, though the game itself was great for me as a child.
Well I gotta say that it's either Ultima Online...man that game was like a new world in an age of no MMORPGs...well besides AOLs neverwinter but it never reached the success of UO.
UO hooked me on mmorpgs...
Goldeneye for the 64 hooked me on competitive shooters.
Halo took it to a new level, halo 1 that is with 2 xboxes and 2 tvs and 7 other friends....Man the nights we had it was amazing.
It was like all of a sudden you could use surprise because the enemy was on another tv instead of yours.
And let's not forget the Sega games my neighbor had.
Anyone whose played toejam and earl...man that game was a trip. Road rash was awesome, the Mortal Kombats of course, Sonic, so many classics...
WWF Royal Rumble was the one we played most though. Good times...
Switching the to PC....
I also played CS at one point religiously, my cousin got really really good and it pushed me to reach his skill. I never came close though lol.
PC games had their own hook on my young life.
Games like The Incredible Machine were simply amazing to me. It was definitely a brain workout.
Lemmings was pretty awesome too I saw that listed earlier.
Also the Indian Jones Holy Grail game from lucasarts was awesome.
Currently I'm hooked in LoL...it's free and very high quality with a lot of depth.
Anyways, a bit of a rant, thought I'd share.