Play Flower.

Go to the arcades.
Beat a ridiculously hard game.
Beat a game on its hardest level.
Have a few friends around and play some multiplayer games.
Try and break a game by doing something random and bugging it out.
Play against paid professionals and test your skills against theirs.
Play some Super Mario Bros.

Trading or battling pokemon on a schoolyard.

Playing Smash Bros on a couch with at least three friends.

Playing Mario Kart on a couch with at least three friends.

Calling a friend to tell you've figured out the part in Zelda that you were both stuck on.

Trying to beat a friend on Starcraft Brood War with others observing and managing to pull off something cool that gets everyone screaming in their microphones.

People who haven't done this don't know the full joy of gaming ^^

Beat The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Then try again with only three hearts.


Get at least 7 of your friends together for a Halo LAN. Preferably Halo 2/3, but the others are great as well. (Also, while they are there, feel free to follow up with a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament.)


Complete Super Mario Bros.


Find a copy of either F-Zero GX or Conker's Bad Fur Day. Preferably both. Infinite replay value guaranteed.

Build a video game or at least a level yourself. Then you can appreciate the work that goes into those games you finish in an evening instead of complain about their short content.
For example build a level in LBP(2) that last 30 minutes while keeping it playable and interesting.

Mind you...

I agree with SvennoJ, I made a track in Modnation, took me 4 days to get it perfect. It was a great experience and a small look into how they made the game.

Zelda Oot
Zelda MM
Zelda WW
Mario64
Mario sunshine
just ride/sail/jump, explore, search for secrets and enjoy the top audiovisual presentation and masterful storytelling.

You should definitely play a Worms game (the 2D variety... avoid the 3D ones). Had hours upon hours of fun with Worms Armageddon on N64 and Armageddon 2 on XBLA.

Also you should definitely play all the classic 8/16-bit titles like the Marios, Sonics, Mega Mans, etc any way you can, either by virtue of downloading them (legally of course) or picking up the actual carts and consoles.