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Thread: Games that did and did not launch with the Sega Genesis in September 1989

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    Quote Originally Posted by parallaxscroll View Post
    Oh gawd all of that sounds funny to me now, and I am sure it sounds silly to you guys. Heh I am almost embarrassed I wrote that. Anyway, that's how I found out about, and got, Sega Genesis.
    Don't be. The Mega Drive (yes I live in the US, but I always prefered the JPN & Euro name over "Genesis") is my all time favorite system. Still have my original Japanese Model 1 MD that I bought in 1994 too, many things have come and gone but not that system. Though strangely enough, my father had actually purchased the JPN MD system BEFORE buying me the Genesis, but he didn't realize it was an import, as he was doing business Internationally and picked one up without a box and what not. Got it home (no convetor) and it wouldn't work, thought it was broke. Then we saw the "Genesis" and bought that in Febuary 1990, and I shit bricks. The rest is history really.

    I also remember being confused early on in the Genesis' life due to "differences" from pictures shown for upcoming games and what we actually got. Point in case, there was a fold out advert that came with Alex Kidd or Mystic Defender, (don't remember which anymore) that showed the box cover for "Revenge of Shinobi" but it was still titled Super Shinobi like the Japanese version and I was like WTF? for quite awhile. Also pictures for RAMBO III, showed Rambo on stage 3 on a bridge that was blown up, and it looked like he would have to swim ala' IKARI... and 3 Lorry's were parked nearby with some barracks up ahead. THIS NEVER APPEARS IN STAGE 3! much to my dissapointment. Guessing it was a early beta version, but I liked the idea we'd have to fight from the water, instead that stage has two bridges you can cross, and no Lorrys (deuce-n-a-halves), right after passing the area where a area of Jeep riding Spestnaz Commandos are. Things like this used to confuse me as well as piss me off. ***Ahhh, the memories indeed. Of course I literally freaked when upon using my first Honey Bee Mega Drive convertor cart I was able to bring up the JPN versions of Super Shinobi on Revenge and Kujaku Oh II on Mystic Defender, then thought EVERY game would do this only to learn that other than MERCS going back into Battlefield of the Wolf 2 (Commando II), not many games would.

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    Peach (Level 3) parallaxscroll's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RASTAN View Post
    Also pictures for RAMBO III, showed Rambo on stage 3 on a bridge that was blown up, and it looked like he would have to swim ala' IKARI... and 3 Lorry's were parked nearby with some barracks up ahead. THIS NEVER APPEARS IN STAGE 3! much to my dissapointment. Guessing it was a early beta version, but I liked the idea we'd have to fight from the water
    Oh! I *think* I know what you mean! This, right?




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    Quote Originally Posted by parallaxscroll View Post
    Oh! I *think* I know what you mean! This, right?




    THAT's the photo alright! Guess the fog of my memories added (2) more Lorrys is all. To this day I want to KILL through that version of Stage 3. Though I won't lie, when I first powered up RAMBO III, I was seriously expecting the Arcade version by Taito, and figured that SEGA had reprogrammed the game to the Mega Drive, ended up being something totally different as we all saw/played. Not sure which one I prefer to this day in all honesty, but the MD version of RAMBO III did become an all time favorite, and I finally tracked down the JPN MD version (no difference other than Kanji). Thanks for digging up that photo BTW.

    With swords & guns, I kick ass. The future beware!

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    Peach (Level 3) parallaxscroll's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RASTAN View Post
    THAT's the photo alright! Guess the fog of my memories added (2) more Lorrys is all. To this day I want to KILL through that version of Stage 3. Though I won't lie, when I first powered up RAMBO III, I was seriously expecting the Arcade version by Taito, and figured that SEGA had reprogrammed the game to the Mega Drive, ended up being something totally different as we all saw/played. Not sure which one I prefer to this day in all honesty, but the MD version of RAMBO III did become an all time favorite, and I finally tracked down the JPN MD version (no difference other than Kanji). Thanks for digging up that photo BTW.
    I've played all three completely different Rambo 3 games

    -Master System
    -Arcade
    -MegaDrive / Genesis

    I like them all, don't have a favorite. Although like you, I really wanted that beta area from level 3 of MD/Gen Rambo 3 to be in the game. I had no idea it was not gonna be there, that it was changed, until I played through the released version. I bought the game based on those pictures.

    Do you also notice how Genesis games in those print ads tend to look better than the actual game on your TV? Maybe they're using an RGB monitor. Everything looks more colorful than it really is.

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    Quote Originally Posted by parallaxscroll View Post
    Do you also notice how Genesis games in those print ads tend to look better than the actual game on your TV? Maybe they're using an RGB monitor. Everything looks more colorful than it really is.
    I played all my NES and Genesis games on a 13" color TV in my bedroom. Hooking up the systems to the TV in our living room was a privilege. Can you imagine? It didn't even phase me at the time. Even my computer monitor now days is 20". A 13" screen still boggles my mind.
    "One of the ways I gauge a DS game is by recharges. "...Tycho (Penny Arcade)

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    Quote Originally Posted by parallaxscroll View Post
    That sounds right. That's the test launch in a few cities.

    Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was one of the first 4 MegaDrive games released in Japan, so it makes sense that it would be a launch game for Genesis.
    I would like to make a correction that Alex Kidd for the Genesis/Mega Drive was not a launch title. The US version actually came out in the first half of 1990, at around the same time Herzog Zwei, Zoom, and Phantasy Star II came out. I know because I used to work at a local Babbage's back in the early 1990's.

    Only three games were launched with the JPN Mega Drive in late 1988: Altered Beast, Space Harrier II, and Super Thunder Blade. Notice that all three games have a copyright of 1988 on the title screen.

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    Quote Originally Posted by parallaxscroll View Post
    Years ago there was a thread asking what games launched with the Sega Genesis. Most of the true launch games were listed, a few were not, and some people insisted some games like Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi, Pat Riley Basketball, Herzog Zwei, Phantasy Star II, After Burner and Ghostbusters were at launch, when they were in fact not.

    Genesis had two launches in the U.S. - A test market launch in New York City and L.A, on or around August 14th, 1989 and a nationwide launch in mid September 1989.

    I can't really speak about what was out for the test launch since I didn't see it, I've only read about it online years after the fact.

    I can tell you what games were out in September for the nationwide launch, going by memory of the actual roll out that I remember. I lived in the Chicago suburbs at the time. Toys R US and Babbage's in Niles, IL. is where I bought systems & games.

    These are the Genesis titles that were available day one, at the places I bought games and for the most part, nationwide, on or around September 15th 1989:

    actually out at launch

    *Altered Beast (packed in with the Genesis for $189)
    *Space Harrier II
    *Ghouls 'n Ghosts
    *Super Thunder Blade
    *Last Battle
    *Tommy Lasorda Baseball
    *Arnold Palmer's Tournament Golf
    *Thunder Force II
    *Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle


    within days or weeks of launch / upto 1 month after launch

    *World Championship Soccer (Sept - Oct 1989)
    *Super Hang-On (Oct 1989)

    over 1 month after / several months after / well after launch

    *Forgotten Worlds (Nov 1989)
    *Rambo III (Nov-Dec 1989)
    *Zoom! (late 1989 or very early 1990)
    *Golden Axe (December 1989, ~3 months or so after nationwide Genesis launch. Golden Axe was most definitely NOT a launch game, nor was it out within a few weeks of launch, or even a month after. I pretty much do remember seeing it at TRU in December, before the new year. IIRC it was LATE in December. Golden Axe was the most significant Genesis game actually released in 1989, since after launch. If the english version of Phantasy Star II for Genesis had actually made it out in 1989 (it did not) then that would've been the most important game for Genesis of 1989, but Golden Axe took that position.
    *Revenge of Shinobi (December 1989 ~ January 1990) I don't remember for sure the actual month it was released. I'm pretty sure it was Dec or Jan. I know wasn't a launch title though. It wasn't out in Oct. and probably not Nov. either. According to Gamefaqs the Japanese version, Super Shinobi, wasn't out until early Dec 1989 and it obviously came out at least shortly before the retitled Genesis version.
    *Mystic Defender (late 1989 or early 1990)
    *Truxton (late 1989 or early 1990)
    *Phantasy Star II (March or April 1990, 6-7 months after launch)
    The big one! Phantasy Star II was not out until sometime early 1990...Even though copyright 1989 is on the title screen, box and manual. The Japanese Mega Drive version of PSII came out about a year earlier, in March 1989, which was before Genesis launched here, and before most gamers including myself even knew the Genesis existed! I got my Genesis in April 1990. I bought PSII soon after that, also April 1990. My reciept for PSII says 4/17/90.
    I know I did not see PSII in TRU or Babbages until after I got my Genesis. For me that puts it at mid April 1990. That's the best I can do. during those months I visited TRU and Babbages usually once a week, and not more than 2 weeks would go by at most between visits. It is possible PSII came out a little bit earlier than mid April 1990, but not by much. Maybe other parts of the country got it earlier, but that was still early 1990. Just for fun I did a narrowed-down usenet search on google groups. People were talking about PSII as if it had been released , and as if they had it, in March 1990, and not before that. Amazingly, Phantasy Star III came out in Japan in April 1990, about the same time that we got PSII !! (if only a month later) We would not get Phantasy Star III in the U.S. until about the middle of summer 1991.
    *Herzog Zwei
    (about the same time as Phantasy Star II, maybe shortly before. I first saw Herzog Zwei in April 1990)
    *Air Diver (probably March-April 1990 but as early as Jan-Feb)
    *Super Hydlide (about the same as Air Diver)
    ( I noticed Herzog Zwei, Air Diver, Super Hydlide on April 17 at TRU. IIRC, I had not been there for a few weeks. The TRU flaps/cards for the game boxes of these 3 were all lined up together. This was the same day I bought Phantasy Star II)
    Pat Riley Basketball (early or mid 1990)
    Ghostbusters (summer 1990)
    Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (August 1990)
    After Burner II (August ~ September 1990, about a year after launch)
    Super Monaco GP (around the same time as AfterBurner II)
    Buster Douglas Knockout Boxing (late summer, early fall 1990. This was one of the first games used in Sega's "Genesis Does" campaign)
    Sword of Vermilion (fall 1990)
    Thunder Force III (fall 1990)
    Strider (November 1990, more than a year after launch)

    any corrections, additions are welcome.
    Again, I feel the need to make a few corrections here:

    The correct launch titles in the US during the September launch were:

    *Altered Beast (packed in with the Genesis for $189.99)
    *Space Harrier II
    *Super Thunder Blade
    *Last Battle
    *Tommy Lasorda Baseball
    *Thunder Force II

    I remember that day vividly because that I purchased the system and 3 of the 5 launch titles at Toys R Us in Evanston, IL.

    *Ghouls 'n Ghosts
    *Arnold Palmer's Tournament Golf

    Both of the above titles came out about 1 month after the Sept launch. Also not available at launch in September was the Power Base Converter. I believe the Control Pads were available about 1 week after the launch date.

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    Quote Originally Posted by parallaxscroll View Post
    I've played all three completely different Rambo 3 games

    -Master System
    -Arcade
    -MegaDrive / Genesis

    I like them all, don't have a favorite. Although like you, I really wanted that beta area from level 3 of MD/Gen Rambo 3 to be in the game. I had no idea it was not gonna be there, that it was changed, until I played through the released version. I bought the game based on those pictures.

    Do you also notice how Genesis games in those print ads tend to look better than the actual game on your TV? Maybe they're using an RGB monitor. Everything looks more colorful than it really is.
    #1> Yeah, I totally bought RAMBO III based on that picture too. Which is kind of odd, because I should've known that it would be a different game than the Taito arcade version due to the top/down perspective versus the behind-Rambo quasi Cabal, Nam-1975, Blood Bros. perspective. For some reason though, that one picture SOLD me on the game. I remember saying outloud after the onslaught of jeep riding Spetsnaz Commandos I'd blown up with my bow & explosive arrows. "WTF? Where's the barracks and Lorry and the blown up bridge!" Only to hear my mother in the living room yell back at me: "LANGUAGE!"

    Funny thing is Rambo's bullets ended up being red and not white like in the picture, and ontop of all that, SEGA did the wickedly cool thing by somehow getting the actual sound of Rambo's AKM-47 from the movie's Prison-escape scene into a 16-Bit cart. Most RGS games don't have an actual assault rifle noise to accompany their on screen actions, to this day I find this awesomely cool... kinda' like Stitch Jones (Mario Van Peebles) pre dating the Acky Breaky Moon Walk by 5 to 8 years. "Earl of funk, Duke of Cool... Atollah ah rock 'n Rolla!"

    #2> I also noticed that the Mega Drive games looked worlds better in photos too. Both back in the day and looking at photos now. I always figured it had something to do with them being played using computer monitors, and back then my dad just wasn't going to buy a computer. Didn't get our first one until the fall of 1991, a Tandy 1000 without a harddrive.

    Quote Originally Posted by heybtbm View Post
    I played all my NES and Genesis games on a 13" color TV in my bedroom. Hooking up the systems to the TV in our living room was a privilege. Can you imagine? It didn't even phase me at the time. Even my computer monitor now days is 20". A 13" screen still boggles my mind.
    Hey now, I play all my Mega Drive, Famicom, PS2 and 7800/2600 games as of the year 2008 on a 13" SANYO TV! Nothing to be upset about. Personally I find in our High Def day and age, I prefer playing on smaller TV. I remember awhile back I had my MD hooked up to the 20" SANYO Flatscreen along with my then CMVS 2-Slot system (since I needed the S-Video hookup for the CMVS) and the MD games looked horrid on it. Go back to a 13" and it looks fine. Good times either way though.

    Quote Originally Posted by segagamer View Post
    Again, I feel the need to make a few corrections here:

    The correct launch titles in the US during the September launch were:

    *Altered Beast (packed in with the Genesis for $189.99)
    *Space Harrier II
    *Super Thunder Blade
    *Last Battle
    *Tommy Lasorda Baseball
    *Thunder Force II

    I remember that day vividly because that I purchased the system and 3 of the 5 launch titles at Toys R Us in Evanston, IL.

    *Ghouls 'n Ghosts
    *Arnold Palmer's Tournament Golf

    Both of the above titles came out about 1 month after the Sept launch. Also not available at launch in September was the Power Base Converter. I believe the Control Pads were available about 1 week after the launch date.
    Yes, THANK YOU for correcting that list. I knew I wasn't crazy in thinking that Last Battle was a launch title. It's just that I didn't buy my copy (well, the parents didn't buy) until almost 1990 in my case.
    Last edited by RASTAN; 01-22-2008 at 01:21 PM.

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    It was not until late 1989 or early 1990 that I finally bought Last Battle (after I played it at a friend's) and Tommy Lasorda Baseball (when I started getting into the sports games and picked up both Soccer and Golf as well).

    I too always wondered how those pics looked so good. I always thought it was because they were shown in RGB mode, versus composite.
    Last edited by segagamer; 01-22-2008 at 02:35 PM.

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    Peach (Level 3) parallaxscroll's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by segagamer View Post
    I would like to make a correction that Alex Kidd for the Genesis/Mega Drive was not a launch title. The US version actually came out in the first half of 1990, at around the same time Herzog Zwei, Zoom, and Phantasy Star II came out. I know because I used to work at a local Babbage's back in the early 1990's.

    Thanks segagamer.

    I am torn, if I should change my OP again. Yet I also think you're right. See, my memory used to be razor sharp with this stuff. Bare with me a moment. My "memory of my memory" seems to keep remembering that Alex Kidd was not actually part of the launch line-up, that it came out sometime after launch. I trust your memory on this more than my own. I know that by the time the middle of April rolled around, Phantasy Star II and Herzog Zwei were both out at Toys R US.

    I didn't buy Herzog Zwei until the summer at Babbage's in Golf Mill shopping center in Niles IL where they were selling it for $45.

    Only three games were launched with the JPN Mega Drive in late 1988: Altered Beast, Space Harrier II, and Super Thunder Blade. Notice that all three games have a copyright of 1988 on the title screen.
    That's right, even the American Genesis versions of those games have copyright 1988 on the title screens.

    Space Harrier II and Super Thunder Blade launched with the Mega Drve in Japan. Altered Beast followed within days or weeks, still in late 1988.

    Alex Kidd came out a few months later in early 1989. All of this happened before Sega of America had announced its final plans for U.S. Genesis rollout, and before most of the average gamers like myself even knew about the 16-Bit Sega console.
    Last edited by parallaxscroll; 01-22-2008 at 04:17 PM.

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    Peach (Level 3) parallaxscroll's Avatar
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    4/17/90
    I traded in my free Forgotten Worlds, the game I selected from Sega's free rebate program, at TRU after my dad "twisted the managers arm" so they'd accept a game that never came from TRU (got $62 "geoffrey money" / store credit) used that towards buying Phantasy Star II ($79.99), paying the rest with $24 real cash.

    still have the receipt for that:

    note the date, the $79.99 price (Phantasy Star II) the $62.00 store credit (Forgotten Worlds, hehehe), the $24.00 cash I still had to pay. So basicly, for buying a Genesis, not only did I get Altered Beast as everyone else did at the time, I also got free game of my choice. There was no choice of Phantasy Star II, so I selected Forgotten Worlds, used that to help pay for most of the game I really wanted ^__^

    Quote Originally Posted by segagamer View Post
    It was not until late 1989 or early 1990 that I finally bought Last Battle (after I played it at a friend's) and Tommy Lasorda Baseball (when I started getting into the sports games and picked up both Soccer and Golf as well).
    I never did get Soccer or Golf. I played them via emulation sometime in 2000-2001 when I got into emulation but that does not count. I bought the real Last Battle shortly after I got my Genesis. I clearly remember playing Last Battle during spring break. It was either just before or just after I got PSII.

    I too always wondered how those pics looked so good. I always thought it was because they were shown in RGB mode, versus composite.
    I think almost anyone looking at those 1989-1991 magazine print ads could be fooled into thinking Genesis displays more colors than it does. Not only do the screens look really sharp and vivid because they're probably being shown via RGB instead of composite, they look more colorful too. Or maybe that's just me.

    I wish Sega had given the MegaDrive/Genesis the same color capability as their standard System16b board that powered arcade Altered Beast, GoldenAxe, etc. which can display something like 1536 ~ 2048 colors (or at least 1,000+) on-screen at once out of a color palette of 32,768. Not quite as good as NEO-GEO (4096 out of 65,536) but far better than 64 / 512.
    Last edited by parallaxscroll; 01-22-2008 at 04:54 PM.

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    Not a problem, parallaxscroll. Off topic: I used to go to that Toys R Us in Niles, IL, when I was in the general area (Golf Mill) or just browsing their shelves for new SMS or Genesis games. I used to live in Skokie, IL so I was not far from either the Evanston store or the Niles store. I believe the Evanston store has since been closed.

    You are correct about Altered Beast being released shortly after the system launch.

    Do you still live near the Niles Toys R Us?

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    Quote Originally Posted by segagamer View Post
    Not a problem, parallaxscroll. Off topic: I used to go to that Toys R Us in Niles, IL, when I was in the general area (Golf Mill) or just browsing their shelves for new SMS or Genesis games. I used to live in Skokie, IL so I was not far from either the Evanston store or the Niles store. I believe the Evanston store has since been closed.

    You are correct about Altered Beast being released shortly after the system launch.

    Do you still live near the Niles Toys R Us?
    WOW. You lived not far from me then. I lived in Glenview IL, just north of you. It was about a 10-15 minute bike ride to Golf Mill in Niles. So you know where I bought almost all of my games then. I started going to all the places around their for magazines and games. My first stop would be Jewel-Osco on Golf Rd just before TRU if you're headed toward Milwaukee Ave. I'd go to Osco to look for new magazines. Next stop would be the small Crown Books in the strip mall near TRU, again for magazines. Then TRU itself.
    Then sometimes I'd stop around the corner at Egg Head Software, but only once in awhile. Then onto Golf Mill for Babbage's. I would also almost always stop in at WaldenBooks near JC Penny, again for magazines. I would usually buy consoles at TRU and some games, but by mid 1990 I was buying most of my games at Babbage's in Golf Mill. Once in awhile I'd goto the Babbage's in Northbrook Court in Northbrook. but 95% of everything I did as far as gaming was in Niles in or around Golf Mill. I don't live in Glenview anymore, moved in the mid 90s.



    I've been back to that TRU and of course it's changed a great deal. Totally modernized. I miss seeing the glass displays of all the consoles and hardware on the right side of the store. The isles of games (as flaps) nearby. All the actual hardware & games were in a seperate room in front of the checkouts. For those that are too young or don't remember, back in the late 80s and early 90s at Toys R US, when you made your selection of what you wanted to buy, you'd pull out a ticket for the game, console, or game-item you wanted. pay for it at the checkout. IIRC they punch the ticket, then you take it to the very front of the store where everything good was kept. I assume most TRU stores operated like this, at the time.

    Great memories.

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    Quote Originally Posted by segagamer View Post
    Again, I feel the need to make a few corrections here:

    The correct launch titles in the US during the September launch were:

    *Altered Beast (packed in with the Genesis for $189.99)
    *Space Harrier II
    *Super Thunder Blade
    *Last Battle
    *Tommy Lasorda Baseball
    *Thunder Force II

    I remember that day vividly because that I purchased the system and 3 of the 5 launch titles at Toys R Us in Evanston, IL.

    *Ghouls 'n Ghosts
    *Arnold Palmer's Tournament Golf

    Both of the above titles came out about 1 month after the Sept launch. Also not available at launch in September was the Power Base Converter. I believe the Control Pads were available about 1 week after the launch date.
    So even Golf and Ghouls 'n Ghosts weren't launch games. My memory must really be off o_0

    edit: I think I know what my problem is. My list of 9-10 launch games (which I changed to 5) was based on when I went to TRU to see the Genesis for the first time. It was not the day it came out, but within a few weeks or so. Perhaps even a month after.

    I remember seeing the TurboGrafx out first. TRU had a TG16 display with Keith Courage. Yet there was no Genesis. This must have been late August or early September. Then some weeks later I was back, and the Genesis was there. Altered Beast was playing and I checked out all the games. There were more than 5 games. Yet this could have been in late September or even October (no later than Oct though).
    Last edited by parallaxscroll; 01-22-2008 at 05:23 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by parallaxscroll View Post
    WOW. You lived not far from me then. I lived in Glenview IL, just north of you. It was about a 10-15 minute bike ride to Golf Mill in Niles. So you know where I bought almost all of my games then. I started going to all the places around their for magazines and games. My first stop would be Jewel-Osco on Golf Rd just before TRU if you're headed toward Milwaukee Ave. I'd go to Osco to look for new magazines. Next stop would be the small Crown Books in the strip mall near TRU, again for magazines. Then TRU itself.
    Then sometimes I'd stop around the corner at Egg Head Software, but only once in awhile. Then onto Golf Mill for Babbage's. I would also almost always stop in at WaldenBooks near JC Penny, again for magazines. I would usually buy consoles at TRU and some games, but by mid 1990 I was buying most of my games at Babbage's in Golf Mill. Once in awhile I'd goto the Babbage's in Northbrook Court in Northbrook. but 95% of everything I did as far as gaming was in Niles in or around Golf Mill. I don't live in Glenview anymore, moved in the mid 90s.



    I've been back to that TRU and of course it's changed a great deal. Totally modernized. I miss seeing the glass displays of all the consoles and hardware on the right side of the store. The isles of games (as flaps) nearby. All the actual hardware & games were in a seperate room in front of the checkouts. For those that are too young or don't remember, back in the late 80s and early 90s at Toys R US, when you made your selection of what you wanted to buy, you'd pull out a ticket for the game, console, or game-item you wanted. pay for it at the checkout. IIRC they punch the ticket, then you take it to the very front of the store where everything good was kept. I assume most TRU stores operated like this, at the time.

    Great memories.
    Actually, I worked at Babbage's for a few years (@ Evanston, IL), and knew the managers at both the Niles and Northbrook stores.

    I used to go to some of those very same stores that you did (book stores). But I did my purchases between Toys R Us, Babbage's and Gamer's Paradise. It just depended on which store had the newest games first. Price was not an issue then since they all had the same prices (ie, mfg suggested retail prices). Once I left Babbage's, I stopped shopping there and instead went to Electronics Boutique at the Lincolnwood, IL store.

    Like you, I remember how it used to be shopping for video games at Toys R Us, and all those glass cases were definitely cool to check out.

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    Quote Originally Posted by segagamer View Post
    Actually, I worked at Babbage's for a few years (@ Evanston, IL), and knew the managers at both the Niles and Northbrook stores.

    I used to go to some of those very same stores that you did (book stores). But I did my purchases between Toys R Us, Babbage's and Gamer's Paradise. It just depended on which store had the newest games first. Price was not an issue then since they all had the same prices (ie, mfg suggested retail prices). Once I left Babbage's, I stopped shopping there and instead went to Electronics Boutique at the Lincolnwood, IL store.

    Like you, I remember how it used to be shopping for video games at Toys R Us, and all those glass cases were definitely cool to check out.

    I remember getting along with one of the manager's at Babbage's Golf Mill during most of 1990. However there was this one guy, I don't know if he was an assistant manager or what, but he didn't like me. I would trade in games a little too often and one time he got really mad. He may have been the manager for the Northbrook store, but I saw him at a total of 3 Babbage's stores. I always tried to avoid him if possible. medium height, medium build (not skinny, but not really heavy either) sandy hair, glasses. IIRC.

    I always joked that Babbage's changed their return policy because of me, lol.


    Gamer's Paradise in Deerbrook mall in Deerfield, IL is the first place I saw a NEO-GEO item. It might've been just a NEO-GEO cartridge if not the system itself. That was when GP actually sold video games. I'm not really familar with GP's history but it seems they quit selling video games at some point. You probably know more than I do.
    Last edited by parallaxscroll; 01-22-2008 at 05:59 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by parallaxscroll View Post
    Gamer's Paradise in Deerbrook mall in Deerfield, IL is the first place I saw a NEO-GEO item. It might've been just a NEO-GEO cartridge if not the system itself. That was when GP actually sold video games. I'm not really familar with GP's history but it seems they quit selling video games at some point. You probably know more than I do.
    That was the GP store that I used to go to as well...And yes, they have stopped selling video games for quite a number of years now. The last time I bought anything from them was a PS2 game for <$20.

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    Quote Originally Posted by segagamer View Post
    That was the GP store that I used to go to as well...And yes, they have stopped selling video games for quite a number of years now. The last time I bought anything from them was a PS2 game for <$20.
    The only game I bought at that GP store was Phantasy Star III in summer 1991, the day it came out. I don't remember the exact date or have the receipt for that one. IIRC, it was at least $70, if not $80 like PSII was the year before.

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    I managed to take decent, readable pics of EGM Number 3 (Aug-Sept 1989) Genesis preview

    The preview in EGM Number 2 that I already posted was actually a pretty bad article but this next one is better.

    Both articles are pre-launch so nothing has been released yet in America. Upcoming games for Genesis goes from a handful of MegaDrive games one month, a severe lack of software, to the next month of over a dozen games shown at CES (back in June) and many more on the way from Japan. Dramatically changing the excitement for Genesis before launch.

    There are some mistakes in this article (Hollo Fighter *is* Hydlide) and some of the games announced never came out at all (Omega Fighter, Falcon, Power Drift, Tele-Genesis Modem / Baseball) but this was an article that solidified my choice of Genesis over TurboGrafx.






    Last edited by parallaxscroll; 01-08-2009 at 11:05 PM.

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    I have to say, this is one of the better threads I've seen in a while. Thanks for the stories and scans, parallaxscroll!

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