Sometimes I think all the bullshit about which console is better than another, etc, gets in the way of what this is all about. What is this all about? Simple, we love video gaming. That's the one reason above all others that has brought us together in this community. So I wanted to take a step back away from the bickering, and get back to our roots. So what is it about gaming that you love? What memorable experiences stick out in your mind? In short, what is(are) your favorite moment(s) in gaming? I'll post mine later because I'm in the middle of watching a movie with some friends, plus it will give me some time to look back and compose my answer.

Well that's cool and all, but I meant more like the whole experience. Like what about did you like, how did it make you feel, why does it stick out in your mind, what makes it memorable?

playing all night long gaming session of arch rivals on nes against my dad, he never could beat me and always ended up with his pants around his ankles..................

Xenogears - fighting the "demon" for the first time in the desert, from the beginning to the end where he throws something BIG on your character, combined with the music, just gives me chills. :) Final Fantasy IV - Defense of Fabul Castle

Still the same moment...

cloud using his ultimate weapon in ff7. "this is the coolest thing i have ever seen in my life!" thought ran through my mind.

I remember the games that I had the most fun with more than anything else, and I'm going to include the Wii in these experiences since it really stands out for me: Atari 2600 - playing combat with siblings and parents. Lots of fun with this one. Too many hours to count. NES: Super Mario Brothers, the first game: Within the first five seconds, the game's controls had me hooked. Nothing plays quite like a mario title, I can still jump back into a Mario session and remember the secrets. Genesis: Dune: The Battle for Arakkis. RTS on the Genesis done right. Way too many hours spent here. Dark Wizard on the Sega CD sucked up even more of my time, although it wasn't real time. Dreamcast: Crazy Taxi! Many many hours blown away on this game. I still play it. I also played imported DDR titles at home first on the Dreamcast. Wii: Swinging the remote, and actually feel like I'm playing tennis in Wii Sports. Other tennis games feel little different from pong; I played that out in the late 70s. EDIT: Just remembered one experience on the Gamecube: Watching the main character's head explode in Eternal Darkness, only to find out that it was only a low sanity meter and going right back to that spot in the game. I remember bugs crawling on the screen, volume controls apparently changing, walls slanting, and various other tricks obviously aimed at the player instead of the in-game character. That's something I'd like to see more of in games, the experience hasn't been duplicated since.

If I wanna count classics... :P Playing an Atari 2600 to death playing joust with my brother.

Wow, I have so many..... Ace combat 4. Last stage. You fly to attack a huge military weapon/base called the Megalith. While you are in the last dogfight a meteors are raining around you. Most cinematic scene ever. The music, the ambient sounds, the setup of the stage made this one most involving scenes I have played a game. Ace Combat 5. Without spoiling story you have to fly unarmed planes normally used for trainig purposes to escape aggressors with ful blown fighter jets. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. Any battle after Jehuty learns to Zero Shift. Xenogears. For some odd reason I enjoyed the city of solaris. Super mario RPG the inroduction of geno. Shadows of the colossus. the entire game Many many more but it would take me forever to list them EDIT: I don't know hoy I forgot to mention this but Codename viper for the NES. My first experience in video game betrayal and the coolest music and enemies ever