I did the math once. With only my recorded hours, I have, in the last ten years, played Battlefield 1942 on average 20 minutes a day, everyday. It has had a profound effect on my life, both in positive and negative ways, and even to this day the theme song remains a reminder of my child hood. Hell, I even met my best friend in a clan that played the game, and I don't know what I'd do now without them.
Thanks to Battlefield 1942, I know now how to use Photoshop, 3ds Max, Sony Sound Forge, Sony Vegas, and a whole host of other products.
But far from being a shining symbol of my childhood, the meeting place for my greatest friend in the world, and a learning platform for so many things, Battlefield 1942 installed, and has forever kept my ending interest with military history. First with FH1, and now with FH2, and other games.
I recently bought the entire Anthology again for 12 dollars, so many years after its release, and still play whenever I get the chance. I keep all the mods installed, in hopes that maybe somebody will be playing FH1, Pirates, or Desert Combat, and I still to this day, think Battlefield 1942 is the BEST battlefield game ever released.