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An entire generation growing up who will never know the thrill of renting a game
- Thread starter Krejlooc
- Start date
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Uh, OP...
Their selection is beyond pathetic and even if they do stock something you want there's a good chance that there will be a photocopy of the disc in the case.
Also, PSNow is a huge ripoff.
GuessMyUserName
Member
Pokemon Snap printer was the best thing about Blockbusters
I have some fond memories of renting a coop game or two from blockbuster with a buddy and just playing until ungodly hours of the morning over the weekend. More times than not we actually finished the games. Renting games now doesn't really suit my gaming style even if there was more options. PS Now just doesn't do it for me, prices need to come down before I even consider using the service.
7DollarHagane
Banned
My childhood routine was wednesdays both because it was rent 1 get 1 free and because I had to go to get weekly allergy shots and they were an incentive to get me to not complain too much about getting shots every week.
I played so many good NES games like this that i never owned. Almost all the MegaMan games, Ninja Gaidens, Castlevanias, Turtles Games, Final Fantasy, etc.
I never actually owned any of those. Most of the NES games I owned were Zelda and Mario.
I played so many good NES games like this that i never owned. Almost all the MegaMan games, Ninja Gaidens, Castlevanias, Turtles Games, Final Fantasy, etc.
I never actually owned any of those. Most of the NES games I owned were Zelda and Mario.
Shattered my world when I begged my mom to take me to one of the first pokemon tournaments 6 hours from home. Beat my opponent in the first round and was given a Mew. The woman from Nintendo insisted the tournament was the only way to get Mew. That week I was the town crier at school spreading the news. No one ever bothered going to that truck again.
Canis lupus
Member
It's illegal here now but I loved it as a kid. Would not turn off the PS1 when I stopped/went to sleep because I didn't have memory cards initially to save the game...
Games were more expensive before then, actually.
constantstatic
Member
Uh, OP...
They don't carry any next generation games in my area. Family video is still around though but they charge ridiculous 20$ Deposit that they refund you when you return the game.
The Albatross
Member
Yep. Friday nights were marked by getting out of school and going to the local video rental place, looking through the 50 - 75 Genesis / SNES games, picking one out, usually getting a pizza for dinner, and camping in front of the 13" TV for the weekend beating the game... then returning it on Sunday.
I still remember the game boxes being velcro-ed to the wall and having to rip them off the wall, study the box, then place them back. Pretty awesome.
What people don't get now is that stores didn't carry *every game* like they do now... It was hard to find a lot of the games you might want to play, and because there was no (or little) internet, discovering a good game mostly came down to renting it. You didn't have every game available to you for instant download, or purchasable on amazon, or being able to go to a Gamestop, Best Buy, Walmart, or Target. There was one retailer near me that sold videogames, and they had usually a pretty lousy selection. Those were also the days where, for Christmas, my mom would go to the store and ask the guy at the vieogame counter which game to get for Christmas or my birthday, and it'd be up to him to decide. I remember I wanted NFL '96 PrimeTime starting Deion Sanders, but the guy at the store told my mom that Madden '96 was better... I was pretty disappointed when I got Madden for Christmas, but then ended up realizing a couple weeks later how much better Madden was than Sega's NFL series. I owe that guy a lot.
Not the same as what OP is talking about.
I still remember the game boxes being velcro-ed to the wall and having to rip them off the wall, study the box, then place them back. Pretty awesome.
What people don't get now is that stores didn't carry *every game* like they do now... It was hard to find a lot of the games you might want to play, and because there was no (or little) internet, discovering a good game mostly came down to renting it. You didn't have every game available to you for instant download, or purchasable on amazon, or being able to go to a Gamestop, Best Buy, Walmart, or Target. There was one retailer near me that sold videogames, and they had usually a pretty lousy selection. Those were also the days where, for Christmas, my mom would go to the store and ask the guy at the vieogame counter which game to get for Christmas or my birthday, and it'd be up to him to decide. I remember I wanted NFL '96 PrimeTime starting Deion Sanders, but the guy at the store told my mom that Madden '96 was better... I was pretty disappointed when I got Madden for Christmas, but then ended up realizing a couple weeks later how much better Madden was than Sega's NFL series. I owe that guy a lot.
Uh, OP...
Not the same as what OP is talking about.
The joy of spending $8 to play video game.
Some games are perfect rentals. I truly believe that rentals dying off had a negative effect on certain franchises, especially B-tier ones. You know those games that you would never buy, but some asshole already rented the game you wanted so you gotta pick out SOMETHING.
I remember having amusing arguments renting games with my friends.
Me: How about Mario Party 5?
Friends: Didn't we JUST rent that?
Me: That was Mario Party 4.
Friends: ....fine
Some games are perfect rentals. I truly believe that rentals dying off had a negative effect on certain franchises, especially B-tier ones. You know those games that you would never buy, but some asshole already rented the game you wanted so you gotta pick out SOMETHING.
I remember having amusing arguments renting games with my friends.
Me: How about Mario Party 5?
Friends: Didn't we JUST rent that?
Me: That was Mario Party 4.
Friends: ....fine
JimmyRustler
Gold Member
A lot more expensive. SNES games.... Gives me a cold shiver just to think about the prices back then. I could not imagine that there were people that could actually afford to buy some of those.
Gaylord Sweetwood
Member
The thrill of renting games was going to the store and seeing that the game you wanted that was always rented out was in behind the case on the shelf. I remember it took weeks to be able to finally snag the only copy of Lufia 2 during a time when Playstation was out.
Hell, i was guilty of hiding games at Pharmor on a week day in hopes I could come back and rent it on Friday. 3 copies of Hellraiser 1 on the shelf? I'll just stick it behind those.
Hell, i was guilty of hiding games at Pharmor on a week day in hopes I could come back and rent it on Friday. 3 copies of Hellraiser 1 on the shelf? I'll just stick it behind those.
It still kinda sucks. At least in my experience, you get a bunch of games that are in really shitty condition
That feeling of renting a game again a few weekends after the initial time, and still having your save file intact...
I ended up working at a local independent video store during high school with one of my friends, years after renting my first NES game from there (Mega Man 2, FYI) when I was a kid.
It was the greatest job ever when you're 16. I could take games and systems home with me at night after a shift. I had first crack at crazy hardware (at the time, anyway) such as the 3DO, PSX, Saturn, etc. It was amazing at the time. I still have a bunch of old games and hardware (two Saturns, a 32X, and a Dreamcast) that I bought off them for cheap when they would replace their consoles periodically. Good times.
I ended up working at a local independent video store during high school with one of my friends, years after renting my first NES game from there (Mega Man 2, FYI) when I was a kid.
It was the greatest job ever when you're 16. I could take games and systems home with me at night after a shift. I had first crack at crazy hardware (at the time, anyway) such as the 3DO, PSX, Saturn, etc. It was amazing at the time. I still have a bunch of old games and hardware (two Saturns, a 32X, and a Dreamcast) that I bought off them for cheap when they would replace their consoles periodically. Good times.
Is getting a new release game the month it comes out still hopeless?
Captain N. Tenneal
Member
We never had much money growing up when I was a kid, and games were extremely expensive back then (80-90 bucks brand new, sometimes even more in Canada). I could count on getting a game for my birthday and for Christmas from my parents, and that was about it. So I had to be really particular about which games I would ask for on these rare occasions. Scouring game magazines, looking at game box art at the video store, renting games, word of mouth on the schoolyard...these were my methods to determine what I should eventually ask for for my precious 2-3 games per year.
My friends and I would rent so many games, it was truly a magical experience. When it would be cold outside and we couldn't walk, one of our parents would drive us to the store and wait patiently outside in the car or in the video store while my group of buddies and I debated which game to rent while looking at the game boxes. Trying desperately to pick the best game for us to play that Friday evening/weekend.
The scarcity of information -- the mystery, as many have already said, it really contributed to a magical feeling. When you found a really good game, a hidden gem, and then would go on to rent it multiple times to try to maintain your save file, or see if your save file was still on the cartridge... that whole experience is ingrained into the core of me as a great time in my life.
My friends and I would rent so many games, it was truly a magical experience. When it would be cold outside and we couldn't walk, one of our parents would drive us to the store and wait patiently outside in the car or in the video store while my group of buddies and I debated which game to rent while looking at the game boxes. Trying desperately to pick the best game for us to play that Friday evening/weekend.
The scarcity of information -- the mystery, as many have already said, it really contributed to a magical feeling. When you found a really good game, a hidden gem, and then would go on to rent it multiple times to try to maintain your save file, or see if your save file was still on the cartridge... that whole experience is ingrained into the core of me as a great time in my life.
perfectchaos007
Member
???
What country do you live in where renting games is illegal? Did Microsoft buy a country?
Off hand I know renting games is illegal in Japan. You know, the exact opposite of Microsoft-land.
I remember being a kid and renting a Sega CD with my dad.
Whenever I was there to rent a Genesis game I'd always end up looking at the Sega CD games and wishing we had one, but my dad would never drop the money on it because he didn't like the look of any of the games.
One day he surprised me by having already rented the system and he took me up to the store to pick out some games. I'd always had my eye on Ground Zero: Texas but for some reason it was NEVER there. I had played quite a bit of Sewer Shark already because that was nearly always the game that was running on the demo kiosk for the Sega CD, so I ended up getting Sonic CD, Hook & Prize Fighter.
Prize Fighter blew my tiny child-mind since it was the first FMV game I really had time to sit down and play... but the first disc didn't work at all. The second disc worked fine, but the only match that was on that disc was the final guy, and it was SO hard to beat that I cried for hours until my dad took me back to the store to try and exchange it.
Prior to that, I also ended up with a copy of Mega Man 2 and Deja Vu for the NES after the video store I rented them from closed down during the two days that I'd had the games. The drop box was locked shut and there was a note on the door essentially saying "If you are trying to return something to us, we don't want it so just keep it!"
Renting games was awesome.
Whenever I was there to rent a Genesis game I'd always end up looking at the Sega CD games and wishing we had one, but my dad would never drop the money on it because he didn't like the look of any of the games.
One day he surprised me by having already rented the system and he took me up to the store to pick out some games. I'd always had my eye on Ground Zero: Texas but for some reason it was NEVER there. I had played quite a bit of Sewer Shark already because that was nearly always the game that was running on the demo kiosk for the Sega CD, so I ended up getting Sonic CD, Hook & Prize Fighter.
Prize Fighter blew my tiny child-mind since it was the first FMV game I really had time to sit down and play... but the first disc didn't work at all. The second disc worked fine, but the only match that was on that disc was the final guy, and it was SO hard to beat that I cried for hours until my dad took me back to the store to try and exchange it.
Prior to that, I also ended up with a copy of Mega Man 2 and Deja Vu for the NES after the video store I rented them from closed down during the two days that I'd had the games. The drop box was locked shut and there was a note on the door essentially saying "If you are trying to return something to us, we don't want it so just keep it!"
Renting games was awesome.
Gamefly is great to me. I get just about everything I want to play in the week of release. I've never gotten games in poor condition. It's not the same experience as driving to BLockbuster and browsing the shelves but it sure beats buying games and reselling them. I get through probably 3-4 games a month, which I'd never do if I were buying games full price.
perfectchaos007
Member
lol wow I would have never guessed. We all know Microsoft really tried to make renting games impossible on their new console before the backlash became overwhelming. The fact that Microsoft's gaming division can't even buy success in Japan, where renting games is already illegal, makes it even more sad for them
IrishNinja
Member
oh? that's kinda reassuring, was wondering when they'd start transitioning...this is what i get for not living in a nicer neighborhood, haha
Hockeymac18
Member
Same. It was so worth it.
Exploratory
Banned
I use GameFly. Which is better anyway. They'll be fine.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Um, PSnow?
Negotiator
Member
You assume that everyone had tolerant and/or tech-savvy parents. Your assumption is wrong.
Internet access in 1989? You're a lucky SOB.
Unbound By Death
Member
It's not us , so who cares? : P
The day Killer Instinct came out, Power Rangers Fighting Edition came out as well. Guess which one I accidentally rented for a friends birthday, only to ruin everyone's night? It wasn't even a bad game, it just wasn't KI. Thank goodness, my dad knew how to be a proper parent in that moment and had already bought the game by the time I got home.
My family would rent out the systems, so that's how I got my first taste of Jet Moto for the PSX and Ready to Rumble boxing when we rented the Dreamcast, before shortly buying it. Nothing like that walk over to the aisle, hoping that game you've been thinking all week about, is still there. And you're lying if you didn't try hiding your second pick(no one ever watches that weird hamlet movie).
I'm pretty sure my brother and I ruined blockbuster over the course of a summer. They let you pay $20 for a months worth of unlimited rentals, only one at a time 30 for two, and the movies were automatically 2 at a time for 20. Trying to beat a game in a day, everyday for a summer, does things to a person.
My family would rent out the systems, so that's how I got my first taste of Jet Moto for the PSX and Ready to Rumble boxing when we rented the Dreamcast, before shortly buying it. Nothing like that walk over to the aisle, hoping that game you've been thinking all week about, is still there. And you're lying if you didn't try hiding your second pick(no one ever watches that weird hamlet movie).
I'm pretty sure my brother and I ruined blockbuster over the course of a summer. They let you pay $20 for a months worth of unlimited rentals, only one at a time 30 for two, and the movies were automatically 2 at a time for 20. Trying to beat a game in a day, everyday for a summer, does things to a person.
Mexican Sting
Member
Huh...? Your words... they make no sense. How can they be more than what they were, before they got there? I know how much I used to pay for games.
If you're getting tied up in semantics, what I'm strictly referring to was the fact that I payed $50 on the reg for PS2 games (and N64, I'm pretty sure), and was pretty upset when all of the newer PS3 games started costing 60 bucks.
Augemitbutter
Member
i used to rent NES, SNES, Master System and Mega Drive games and even Neo Geo. didn't rent many disc games when they went mainstream because people are disgusting and i could afford more games by then anyway. i did rent by the boxart or the screen on the backside sometimes. the information flow was different back then, so sometimes you found a great game nobody knew anything about. it was easier to just grab a new release and try it at home for a low price. i remember experiencing gunstar heroes like that. many good memories, but i'm not sure if i would go out and rent games nowadays.
petran79
Banned
it is just that back then wages were lower too and pocket money as well.
XShadows69
Member
Nothing compares to going into Blockbusters and seeing the aisles of games and finding that one last copy of the game you wanted and snatching it. It was a great alternative to buying games too.
Pellegri Testament
Member
Renting a game? not so much with redbox and gamefly still existing in full force. Being screwed over by a company like Blockbuster and having to pay double the rent fee for even having a game for 10 minutes past the due date? sure, but I wouldn't really call that a thrill (I did this many a time as a kid and it eventually led to a $60 bill that built up and they decided to drop on my mom one day when we returned a few things, last time I ever rented anything).
(I did this many a time as a kid and it eventually led to a $60 bill that built up and they decided to drop on my mom one day when we returned a few things, last time I ever rented anything).Dreamwriter
Member
You are thinking too recent. In the cartridge era (the golden age of video rental stores), games were often more expensive than they are now. For example, Final Fantasy VI (III in the U.S.) cost $75 in 1994 dollars, which equals $118 in 2014 dollars. And most N64 games had an msrp of $70, even Mario 64 and Pilotwings (though stores often sold them for $60). The $50 AAA game didn't really become standard until around the Dreamcast/PS2/XBox/GameCube generation.
I'm always there, expecially for the old ass Gaf who experienced the greatness of LucasGames and the p'n'c rise and fall
You gotta experience it to understand. It's not just renting, but the traditions behind it. We were kids back then and it's fun to reminisce about good times.
onken
Member
I don't know why but this cracked me up.