Hello fellow gamers, this is not necessarily about your favorite video game, but rather about a game that you think changed your life in a more meaningful way than others: inspired you to write fantasy, compose music or take game design courses, helped you through an illness or gave you the opportunity to meet people and make friends...

In retrospect, I owe the most to the old spectrum game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_World_Dizzy. I was 9 or 10 and wasn't even remotedly interested in computers or video games when I saw some kids playing this game @ the recreation center. I was taking dance classes there and we've never had a computer (or gaming console) in our house. I loved this funny egg so much that I started the most dedicated and shameless persuasion campaign ever, and it took about one more year until my parents caved and bought me an import spectrum clone. I like to believe that was a life changing opportunity, as due to this new magnificent tool that introduced me to Basic I became interested in informatics and maths, which would later become my job. I was more inclined towards poetry and painting before Dizzy "rocked my world"

Computer Space. Never played it, but if it wasn't for that game there's a chance we might not be here now!

Oblivion and Mass Effect for me. Between them, they actually helped me get my life together: which probably sounds like hyperbole, but I'd had a bad case of living in denial and the form that their roleplaying took actually helped me find myself, so to speak.

World Of Warcraft brought me this beautiful girlfriend from Brazil.... supermodel and dedicated gamer... soon to be my wife.

Crap, I can't do this but I wanted to give the WoW fans a reason to keep playing, or at least a heart attack

Seriously, I think TES is my most treasured gaming experience. It changed my standards for RPG forever, Morrowind more precisely. This series is probably the reason I buy less games than I used to, my interest in many series especially RPG dropped as they can't match the scope, the freedom and the lore of TES.

The Fallout, Mass Effect, and Witcher franchises have had the biggest impact on me in recent years. Helped me through some rough times.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, for showing me just what the medium is capable of.

Nice try, you overdid it @ supermodel though

Can't say is was a specific game, but video games in general have inspired me to do voice acting. I suppose a game I was playing while getting these idea in particular was Fallout New Vegas or Mass Effect 2. Both of which have a particular voice actor that inspires me.

I still recall having my mind blown by the first King's Quest game, back in the day. Just the idea (especially to impressionable mind) that you could tell this little guy on the screen to do whatever you wanted, and he'd do it. That was pretty much it for me, and I've been a big videogame fan ever since.

GTA V, It defined a generation. Rockstar saved us.

I loved the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizzy_(series) games, they were my first taste of puzzles and adventure. Later on it was Monkey Island and pretty much every Lucasarts adventure which shaped my gaming expectations. As an advlt I think Oblivion might be the game I'm most grateful for, some may scoff at the idea but it was the first game to open my eyes to RPG mechanics and my first taste of what a modern open world game could really be, it also led me down the path of playing loads of classic RPGs.

LOL!!! This is a great meme. Too bad it doesn't start with CD Projekt Red's... CD Projekt Red's should open every phrase even when it's about other games!

Actually I knew two (YES TWO!!!2222) real girls playing WOW regularily. At least they did when we last talked. And they weren't ugly or fat or anything just students and gamers But you don't have to judge by appearance, don't flirt with sixy Blood Elfs or sharp looking human female rogues those are most often than not hairy men with naked inflated beer bellies

Zelda OoT and MM. It had a huge impact on me as a child gamer and it has influenced me in several ways.

I'd say Persona 3 and 4 has influenced me more than any other game I've played, particularly 3. I think they're one of the things that helped me decide to become a less [censored]y person.

Star Wars 'unlocked' my interest in space and that type of stuff when I was younger and the Halo franchise fueled it when I got older, and now I'm in college to be an Aerospace Engineer.