re: First video game that blew your mind

I remember hanging out in the student center in college and a friend telling me about this game where you are progressing through the map and get attacked by a sniper. You then have to backtrack to an area you've been before, find a sniper rifle, and then go back and finish the fight. I thought he was crazy. Games just didn't do that.

I've had memorable gaming experiences before that, but as far as "blowing my mind" in terms of what games could do, MGS1 was the first.

Second was walking into a 3D Hyrule Field.