The 1st Video Game You Ever Purchased.

[Black Tiger]

Lifeforce NES.

[NightWolve]

Lifeforce NES.

An excellent choice, everything a shooter should be. That had a lot of replay value for me.

[GohanX]

My memory is fuzzy, but the first one I clearly remember is Double Dragon II on the NES for $25. I still love that game.

I got money for mowing the lawn in the summer, and this was when the nes was still current but old enough to have plenty of $10-20 games at the used store, so I'd usually mow, get paid, and bike to the store and grab a game. Good times.

[xelement5x]

I was a video game renter for the most part, and my parents bought the NES and the couple games we had for that growing up, but after playing the Sega Genesis at my cousin's house I knew I wanted THAT.  I had saved up for a big ticket item before (I bought myself a 19" TV for my room), so I knew I could manage to save up for the Genesis with enough willpower. 

Looking back it feels like it took years, but it was probably 6-8 months or so for me to do as many chores as possible and save every dollar I got to buy the Genesis outright.  My Mom had made sure I understood the concept of taxes (essential if you live in Illinois apparently) so I had enough cash in my little Lifesavers Holiday Tin and then some to buy a Sega Genesis Model 2 with the Sonic 2 packin game.  I still have that system, that game, and even the original box which young xelement5x had the foresight to put in the back of his closet.  Started me on a love of Sega that still hasn't ended

As an aside, if you want to read a truly moving story about a young man getting his first Super Nintendo, Game Over Johnny wrote a phenomenal one here:
http://www.gameoverjohnny.com/2014/09/the-true-story-of-my-first-super.html

[Mishran]

Maniac Mansion for NES. Still a great game.

[MotherGunner]

[ProfessorProfessorson]

I don't remember the very first game I purchased with my own cash on Nes. Most games were bought for me at that time. I don't recall buying my own games for Nes till like 6th or 7th grade. I can however tell you what my first Nes games were. Outside of SMD/Duckhunt with the system I got for xmas, a couple of weeks later my mom got me Raid on Bungling Bay and Gotcha to keep me busy. Back then no one I knew really talked about Raid on Bungling Bay or what the goal was, so I barely played it since it seemed like mostly just mindless roaming about. I did a lot of renting and borrowing of Nes games in my first year or so of owning the system.

[SignOfZeta]

Something shitty for 2600, probably Star Raiders.

I had a lot of Coleco and Atari crap in the 80s that I either got used or on sale back when everything Atari was $1 at KMart. I honestly spent most of my money at the arcade back then. I didn't really start taking a real interest in consoles until the Genesis came out, when I was maybe 16 or 17.

[MotherGunner]

My second game every was definitely Star Wars Empire Strikes Back on Atari 2600.  The first game I ever bought myself was Super Mario 3 after having done a summer's worth of chores.

[Dicer]

My first purchase was an Atari 2600 Jr. and a pile of game when stores were giving them away...

If memory recalls the system was $25 and the games were like $4 each

I'll call Yars revenge my first game cause it's just so badass...

[esteban]

BRAND NEW: Tiger Heli (NES) (1986 or 1987?)

Used: Garage sale handhelds (old, old skool).

[ParanoiaDragon]

I think I saved up for my NES, but I could be totally wrong.  Either way, it came with Super Mario 1.  However, I think we bought at the same time, Track n Field at Music Plus.  I recall calling places looking for one, & got all excited when I called Music Plus, & they told me the price, I was flippin!  Prior to that, we did have some sort of system from Sears(?) that had a bunch of games built in, but they were all the same essentially, I think they were some kind of moto cross games on it.

[cjameslv]

Well first game i bought with my own money is san francisco rush 2049 for dreamcast. Bought it for me and the wife when i was 18 lol damn that seems forever ago.

[bob]

Hmmm... I wish i remembered. By the time i had my own money to buy a game it would have been in the NES days. And being my OWN money i probably dug something out of the clearance bin in 7th or 8th grade.

[roflmao]

My parents never got me any video game stuff as a kid so in High School I saved up and bought a Sega Master System. My first game was either After Burner, Shinobi, R-Type, or Kenseiden. I remember playing those on a little back and white TV my grandparents gave me.