For me the the game that literally changed my life was the first Max Payne. Back in 96 or 97 when I saw the first promo pics of the upcoming game I decided that one day I would work in the Finnish game industry. Aaaand then, 12 long years later in 2009 I got my first job at a small studio called Chat Republic Games where I worked as an environment artist. And from that point on the rest is history. ^^

So in my case, games really did change my life.