Before there was the internet?

[dan2357]

Remember back before there was the internet, how did people figure out moves in games? example: Mortal kombat 1, how did people know how to do fatalitys on the day it hit the arcade? I know you could try to figure them out, but the button controller combinations are limitless.
another example.
Where did I get the blood code for MK1 on the genesis?
I know I had it on release day, but I don't remember how I got it.
you get the idea.
Did all these things spread by word of mouth, did someone call the company to ask, and they actualy tell them?

Just wondering.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

There were magazines. And there were also store-and-forward networks composed of bulletin board systems across the country and around the world - even before the 'net, there was a pretty good interstate/international e-mail and message board thing going on, it just took a little longer for messages to reach their destinations.

[rarecube]

Remember back before there was the internet, how did people figure out moves in games? example: Mortal kombat 1, how did people know how to do fatalitys on the day it hit the arcade? I know you could try to figure them out, but the button controller combinations are limitless.
another example.
Where did I get the blood code for MK1 on the genesis?
I know I had it on release day, but I don't remember how I got it.
you get the idea.
Did all these things spread by word of mouth, did someone call the company to ask, and they actualy tell them?

Just wondering.

We had things like Magazines and nintendo hotline. :D

[ae.tc]

;) Don't forget GamePro TV (1990) hosted by J.D. Roth! LOL

http://www.ae.tc/STF/gptv8.jpg

[jajaja]

Yep, magazines, BBS and hotlines. Remember calling a hotline back in the NES days when I was stuck on games. Was a private hotline, not those expencive ones to several of dollars each min hehe.

[anagrama]

Word of mouth played a big part too, especially in all the arcade fighters. The mystique of it all, especially when a new title or update arrived really added something to it - "Whaa - how the heck did he do that?!!". :D Certainly different to today when anyone can look up an FAQ and be an instant 'expert'.
And it of course gave rise to all the classic SFII/MK myths ;)

[squidblatt]

I wrote to Scorpia for hints sometimes.

[vulcanjedi]

Hmm

BBS's were pretty common in 1985. 300 baud modems that were slow enough to read the files as they were downloading.

In 1989 I downloaded all the dungeon maps to Phantasy Star 1 from an Atari BBS. By then they had file areas for things like that.

VJ

[pookninja]

yes,the good ole days before the internet.pretty much got the info from egm,gamepro,nintendo power,and from friends.or would walk into a game store or arcade and start trading moves and codes with each other.thats how it pretty much went for me.

[SoulBlazer]

Before the Internet, I got information one of five ways:

1) Magazines, mostly Nintendo Power
2) Talking to friends
3) Slow ass BBS sites
4) Nintendo Power Hint Phone Number
5) Unofficial strategy guides

[Push Upstairs]

Before the internet i got all my game codes via smoke signal.

[NE146]

THE ARCADE of course :D You hung out. You traded secrets, you watched, etc. :)

[shoes23]

:cheers: I remember the fond memories of those BBS systems, tying up my phone line for hours while I gamed away on Red Dragon (I think that was the name of the adventure game) and downloaded shareware versions of Jetpack and Raptor.

[Snapple]

Word of mouth and magazines mostly. I tried to stay off the hotlines as much as possible, but I believe I used a hotline for a couple of games like Link to the Past and such.

That, or we sat down and tried to figure them out for ourselves. That worked with a lot of fighters, but not the fatalities in MK. Those would've been too much stress to figure out by hand.

[mezrabad]

Edit: Ya, know, I just realized I went completely off topic with this post. You were asking about finding out about secret moves and I went off about release dates. Sorry 'bout that.

I can remember still being surprised by new releases. Walking into Electronics Boutique and seeing Ultima Underworld II for the first time and having had absolutely no idea that it was coming out was the greatest surprise! I kinda got a clue after that and started the long distance calls to Origin System's BBS. That was fun because I got to see some of the hype in the "community" for Wing Commander III and Ultima VIII.

I also remember calling an EA 800 number that used to give release dates. Damn, I used to call that friggin' number every day while I was at work (at a supposedly "grown up" job) and it would kill me when a date was pushed back. Serpent Isle was late and so was Ultima VIII, if I recall correctly. Then I'd go down to Egghead Software (on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia) and see if they'd gotten their UPS shipment for the day. Once there was a half opened UPS box of Ultima VIIIs just sitting around on the day it had come out and the guy couldn't sell it to me because he hadn't done something "inventory"-like with them. The dirty bastard!

Anyway, I lived in relatively isolated, blissfull ignorance about games back then and really only played what I saw on the store shelves if the packaging got my attention.

I would so love to be able to walk into a store again one day and be surprised by a new sequel to a game I had loved. Of course, that's impossible, since all I do online is read about games and all the Ultima sequels get canceled. :(