Our memories shape us — the good and the bad experiences influence our decisions and define who we are today. While we’re all very different people here at Quest Daily, one thing unites us: our love of gaming.
Looking back on our gaming lives, we’ve all had moments that seemed unimportant at the time but have since become core memories we’ll never forget.
From obsessions with peripherals to building a first PC, here are some of our favourite gaming memories:
Drive-by Gaming
– Shaun.
As a kid, there was nothing better than getting a new video game, especially when I could play it on the drive home thanks to the magic of the Game Boy. Unfortunately the original Game Boy didn’t have a backlight — you were reliant on external sources to light the screen — so playing in the car at night was a no-go.
I was nine years old in 1996, when I first got my hands on a little game called Pokémon Blue. I booted it up as soon as my seatbelt clicked, and was instantly hooked by the title screen and opening theme. To my dismay the light faded quickly as we left to go home, and the 30 minute drive ahead was an unbearable wait… I had to take drastic measures. I held the Game Boy up to the car window, and was able to catch a few seconds of light every time we passed a street light. I VERY SLOWLY made my way to Professor Oak and picked my starter Pokémon; soon after we arrived back to civilisation and the bright lights of home.
It was a lesson in patience and perseverance, and my earliest memory of being utterly obsessed with something. I picked Squirtle by the way.
Armchair Rockstar
– Rivers.
The plastic instrument craze was such a massive part of my gaming life that it’s crazy how short a time it actually was. From Guitar Hero‘s surprise success in 2005 to Rock Band 3‘s underwhelming 2010 launch, this brief fad gave me some of my favourite gaming memories. This era lined up perfectly with me transitioning from high school to uni, making it easy to round up friends and rock out.
I have never (and likely will never again) been so excited for a game as I was for the first Rock Band. From the ecstasy of seeing the teaser site, with its four instrument icons, to daily check-ins for rumours and news on the official message boards, I was obsessed. This made it all the more difficult when the game took nearly a year to release here in Australia… Not to mention that it cost a small fortune when it finally dropped. And yet, it still remains one of my all-time favourite games.
The massive popularity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band feels so locked to that time and place. Perfectly intertwined with my youth, it was a special multiplayer experience that feels impossible to match now that I’m a boring old adult. While I still have my peripherals and a copy of Rock Band 4 ready to go, the glory days of plastic instrument dominance will remain a nostalgic peak for me.
READ MORE: Bops and Earworms: Our Favourite Video Game Soundtracks
Game Boy Pocket-money
– Sam.
The year is 1999. Or was it 1998? I’m not sure (neither was my Dad who I quizzed prior to writing this). But there are two things I know for certain:
1. My brother had an original Game Boy and Pokémon Red.
2. I was DYING for my own.
We weren’t a family of pocket money, nor were we a family that commonly received money as presents for birthdays. We sometimes got some spare change on the second Friday of the month to use at the school tuckshop — sherbet bombs remain top tier — or spending money on our annual camping trip to Wilsons Promontory. So imagine my surprise when I received a kingly gift of $50 for my sixth (or seventh) birthday, from a somewhat forgotten family member! Not knowing what I could do with it, I asked my Dad “can I use this to buy a Game Boy?“. He said that he knew someone, who knew someone, who worked at Nintendo who could get us a deal. So he took the $50, and I waited (im)patiently.
Some period of time later — likely days, though it felt like weeks — my Dad returned with a fiery red Game Boy Pocket, Pokémon Yellow and a Game Link Cable! In hindsight it’s pretty obvious that my Dad must’ve tipped in some extra money… Did I recognise that at the time? Absolutely not. But I played that thing daily for years afterward.
Now, 25+ years later, when I asked my Dad about it, he said “I can’t believe you can remember that“, but I can’t imagine ever forgetting it.
DIY Desktop
– Elly.
When the launch of Fallout 4 was looming, I was still stuck on the shared, wheezing family PC; the whole ’30 minutes per sibling’, “Mum said it was my turn” sort of the deal. So, I made it my mission to build my very first gaming rig in time for the release, scraping together savings from selling odds and ends on Facebook Marketplace. When the parts arrived, I spread them across the kitchen bench, loaded up a Linus Tech Tips video, and got to work. PC building was the world’s most fascinating puzzle; it made me feel brilliant and clueless all at once. I loved it!
There WAS one small oversight on my part… I didn’t own a monitor. I eventually managed to snag a second-hand TV, only to find that I also needed a VGA cable to connect it. It was already late on the day of the Fallout 4 launch, so I sprinted to the nearest store and arrived just before closing. Luckily I got what I needed and finally powered on my very first PC. I had just enough time to set up Windows for the first time before heading to the midnight launch.
It was a night of firsts: my first custom PC, my first (and last, RIP) EB Games midnight launch, my first ever cosplay (a Vault Dweller, naturally). I picked up my pre-order with the biggest grin, and raced home to wander the wastes until the sun came up.
READ MORE: Bullies and Psychopaths: Our Favourite Video Game Antagonists
Console Abuse
– Sonia.
It’s 2002, I’m 11 years old, and my brother’s cracked PlayStation 2 is my portal to a pirated copy of Kingdom Hearts. The console was janky as hell, sometimes the game booted, sometimes I had to smack the poor thing until it groaned awake… Probably not the best idea!!
Most afternoons I’d rush to squeeze in as much playtime as possible before my mum took control of the TV. On this particular night, I’d made it all the way to the last level ‘End of the World’, and was locked in a heated battle with boss Ansem, grinding through what felt like a thousand phases of the final fight. Victory was in sight… But my mum was not having it. She wanted the TV. I was on the last part of the battle, begging her to let me finish, pleading that the PS2 might not survive another reload. She didn’t budge. Hours later, when the TV was finally free, I tried to boot the game back up… But it never loaded again. That was it, my Kingdom Hearts adventure had ended just before the finish line, suspended in eternal limbo. I chucked a huge tanty.
Three years later, I was at a sleepover, and my friend casually mentioned that she has a PS2 and… KINGDOM HEARTS. I brought over my memory card, slotted it in, and finally — after waiting so many years — smashed Ansem into darkness. It was pure catharsis. Honestly? It was the most beautiful gaming moment of my life… I’m still waiting for my mum to apologise though (spoiler… it won’t happen.)
Blockbuster Bliss
Growing up I spent waaaaaay too much time playing the one game we rented from the local Blockbuster Video. I’d spend most weekends with my close friend, binging the latest rental while munching down pizza and an irresponsible amount of Pepsi!
Back in the early 2000s, we didn’t have YouTubers to talk through all the secrets and easter eggs, or even that many game guides compared to what we have now (some crackers produced at Quest Daily, shameless plug). So when marathoning The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask we had to rely on trial and error — and plenty of stupid ideas — to figure out the games’ puzzles. Naturally solving mysteries, like the toilet hand in the Stock Pot Inn or figuring out how to unlock the Fierce Deity Mask, could be slow going, but was also so much more rewarding.
That carefree lifestyle: hanging out with mates, passing the controller back and forth, spending a whole weekend on one temple or puzzle… That was the life.
READ MORE: From Kratos to Master Chief: Our Favourite Video Game Protagonists
NPC Brother
– Rose.
Growing up with a brother over six years younger than me often felt like one of those escort missions where the NPC walks at an infuriatingly slow pace. I was busy with netball, dance routines, and learning how to apply makeup poorly. He was busy attending preschool and singing “Big Red Car” at full volume (shout-out to the OG Wiggles). But somehow we found a common ground, video games.
We’d sit in beanbags in front of the chunky glow of the GameCube until our thumbs were cramping and our eyes were blurring, but with huge grins plastered on our faces. When we weren’t playing, we were talking about playing, which is basically the same thing but louder (to the chagrin of our parents). Through awkward teenage years and the personality overhauls that come with them, gaming stayed our anchor. From Nintendo 64 to the 3DS, we bonded over Nintendo classics, poured over strategy guides, and attended midnight releases.
These days, as adults, we still don’t have much in common — except for the fact that we’ll both still happily burn an entire weekend playing Pokémon. And honestly? That’s enough.
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A Christmas Miracle
– Tim.
We didn’t have any consoles at home when I was a young kid, so console gaming was a rare treat — mostly through friends and, especially, my extended family. Santa gifted my older cousin an N64 for Christmas in ’97, and waiting all year for those Christmas Day sessions became a highlight of my childhood. Star Wars Episode I: Racer, GoldenEye, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day were mainstays in the rotation (and yes, I was absolutely too young for the latter).
To me, GoldenEye’s split-screen battles felt impossibly cool, and Star Wars Racer seemed like the pinnacle of cutting-edge game mechanics and graphics. Then there was Conker’s Bad Fur Day: totally unorthodox, absolutely off-the-rails, with most of it sailing right over my head — I was just thrilled to drive around in a tank. Those games weren’t just fun — they were the ultimate escape. The gold standard for how to spend a day.
Now, 25 years on, I’ll admit there’s a pang of nostalgia that Christmas Day isn’t spent that way anymore.
What’s your favourite gaming memory? Let us know on our socials.
