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Thread: That "feeling" of buying a new NES, Genesis, or SNES game back in the day....

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    Cherry (Level 1) TheRetroVideoGameAddict's Avatar
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    Default That "feeling" of buying a new NES, Genesis, or SNES game back in the day....

    Remember back in the day when you would go to a Toy Works, Toys R Us, Funcoland, or a random department store like Sears and they would have all that great "World of Nintendo" signage up and the games would be displayed in giant glass cases? Remember that feeling you'd get when you were out with your parents and you want to walk by the video game section of whatever store you were visiting just to catch a glimpse of the games or that insane feeling of fun and wonder you'd have if you were actually there to buy a game?

    Man, I miss that feeling and I'll always hold dear the great feeling of going into a toy store or department store and seeing NES, Genesis, and SNES games proudly displayed and a console set up for you to play demo's on.......those days were the best. You know something? I don't even know why I wrote this or posted it but I guess it's because I want to see if anyone remembered those glorious days? I don't get that "feeling" with todays consoles.....
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    Great Puma (Level 12) skaar's Avatar
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    That's because the price tags actually mean something to you now.

    And the internet has already told you everything about all of those games. You barely even have to look at the boxes anymore.

    Oh, and they're just CDs in a case now. No weight, no manual, and there's stickers all over it.

    And the sequel has already been announced. It'll be out in 8 months.
    <Sothy> its the internet <Sothy> who cares

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    This is a classic gaming site and the most active thread is a load of people wanking off to my little pony.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Custom rank graphic
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    Oh man, totally! I used to walk through the video game section of department stores just to soak up the atmosphere. Looking at the back of the boxes to see the graphics and wonder at what awaited in the games. That and the awesomeness of the actual console packaging -- complete with screen-shots.

    I think these images really capture a lot of the excitement:

    http://www.colecovisionzone.com/page...neous/you.html

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    Peach (Level 3) fluid_matrix's Avatar
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    We had a Service Merchandise store in our local mall that had those giant glass display cases. I remember going in and salivating over all the gaming hardware, like the TG-16 CD-ROM add-on, etc. That's actually where I bought my 1st gen Sega Genesis from that came pkgd with Altered Beast. Loved that thing, never should have gotten rid of it.

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    I loved the way TRU was back in the NES/SMS days. Giant plexiglass wall with the game boxes behind it, with little tags you took up to the register to buy the game, then after you paid you took the tag and receipt over to a little window and collected your game. It really made things seem special somehow.

    Of course if they were down to the last copy, you'd have to get a clerk to open up the wall and get your game out, that really felt like a big deal.

    Then in the SNES/Gen era, they replaced the plexiglass wall and gameboxes with those "flaps" that had the box art and stuff on them, somehow it just didn't feel the same (probably didn't help that by then I'd discovered EB and Babbages).

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    Cherry (Level 1) PizzaKat's Avatar
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    Oh for sure. I remember and miss these days greatly. I also remember the smell of the NES when you opened it. I had this experience when I bought a ROB NES Deluxe some years back it was practically new! Gyromite and Duck Hunt looked mint box, manual everything. Im so glad I got this before the prices went insane on anything R.O.B. related especially the set. But back to seeing the World of Nintendo signs the displays to play games. i remember some stores had them in the glass displays so you would look down or a wall of games behind the counter. I also remember the poor Sega Master System having a small space for their games and systems. Same with the TG 16.
    Having that feeling when I was going to get a game that day was such a thrill or getting a game rented for the weekend on a Friday night. Thanks Mom!
    I think the feeling has gone for me mainly because its easily attainable to get a game. It was an event back in the day. Now its just like, yeah I think I want the game, jump in my car and just go and buy it and just tell my parents "yeah I'll be back."
    Also someone mentioned we can easily see everything about the game. I picked games based on the cover and screenshots on the back.
    I'd probably get excited if I went to a retro store that had affordable prices and great inventory. There are still some things I would want. Turbo Duo or Turbo Grafx CD for starters.

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    Wow service merchandise, how about Montgomery wards! I remember getting the little slips of paper from toys r us, and they would get the games out of a little room. It's a shame how much has changed, the box and the manual ment as much to me as the game itself. Now a days it's a case, and one piece of paper with an online code or other such nonsense inside.

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    I love the smell of a freshly opened SNES or NES game box. Prolly toxic fumes from the ABS plastic gassing off, but it smelled like sweet, sweet candy to me.

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    Don't forget reading the manual and staring at the box on the ride home.

    When Street Fighter 2 for SNES came out (remember that long awaited holiday?) My family was on an out of state vacation, and we had no SNES. We found a store in a mall that had SF2 the day it was released, my cousin and I snatched up our copies fast. It was DAYS of reading the manual and staring at the box before we could get home and play it. Long, long days of agony.

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    Quote Originally Posted by XYXZYZ View Post
    Don't forget reading the manual and staring at the box on the ride home.
    Haha yes!! Oh god yes...

    For my circle of friends and I, we would also bring in the manual of a new game we got and talk about it... quick reviews, etc.

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    Quote Originally Posted by XYXZYZ View Post
    Don't forget reading the manual and staring at the box on the ride home.
    I was just as excited about doing this during the Game Boy Advance days.
    [quote name='Shidou Mariya' date='Nov 17 2010, 10:05 PM' post='4889940']
    I'm a collector, but only to a certain extent.
    Not as extreme as Rickstilwell though.[/quote]


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    Quote Originally Posted by BlastProcessing402 View Post
    I loved the way TRU was back in the NES/SMS days. Giant plexiglass wall with the game boxes behind it, with little tags you took up to the register to buy the game, then after you paid you took the tag and receipt over to a little window and collected your game. It really made things seem special somehow.
    My local one didn't use a plexiglass wall. It was just a wall with black and white xeroxed copies of the box cover with the 'take this up to the register to buy it' slips underneath. But everything else was the same. The little window entered into the most secure room in the entire building, wall to wall games all over the place. I remember thinking it must have been a great place to work when I was little.

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    Key (Level 9) wiggyx's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by XYXZYZ View Post
    Don't forget reading the manual and staring at the box on the ride home.

    When Street Fighter 2 for SNES came out (remember that long awaited holiday?) My family was on an out of state vacation, and we had no SNES. We found a store in a mall that had SF2 the day it was released, my cousin and I snatched up our copies fast. It was DAYS of reading the manual and staring at the box before we could get home and play it. Long, long days of agony.

    Oh dear yes! I recall reading the Zelda manual about a hundred times within the first hour or so of ownership, as if I would find something new on that 47th read through :P

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    Quote Originally Posted by wiggyx View Post
    Oh dear yes! I recall reading the Zelda manual about a hundred times within the first hour or so of ownership, as if I would find something new on that 47th read through :P
    I did that too, reading the Zelda manual makes the game so much better. Except when it's wrong, I wasted a lot of time trying to find those "invisible doors" in the "caves where people live". My ass.

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    Cherry (Level 1) GhostDog's Avatar
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    Video games had a huge part in my childhood in the 90s. I loved going to SEARS and running straight to the game section and seeing all of those games behind a glass as well as the full versions of games set up and not demos like you had in the PS1 days that took the fun out of everything. The only places that often had sales on games seemed to be KB Toys where they had a bargain bin. Software ETC. and Electronics Boutique also were favorites in the early and mid 90s. The late 90s became all about Funcoland for me. Nothing beat being able to test out any game you wanted and if they didn't have a used copy of a PS1 game that I wanted to try out, they'd open a new copy. Seriously, I could have died happy as a kid thanks to the joys that video games provided me. Don't even get me started on how awesome arcades were in the 90s. Video games were to me what alcohol is to alcoholics. I didn't necessarily always have to play them but I enjoyed being around them. Simply looking at video game magazines, game boxes or just walking through an arcade would give me a thrill.

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    Cherry (Level 1) TheRetroVideoGameAddict's Avatar
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    The drive home after actually getting a new game was always the worst. The excitement and anticipation of looking at the box and holding the game, reading the manual, envisioning what the game will be like to play, it all created the experience that we know and love. It's sad, I haven't had that feeling since the N64/PS1 days.....
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    Cherry (Level 1) GhostDog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRetroVideoGameAddict View Post
    The drive home after actually getting a new game was always the worst. The excitement and anticipation of looking at the box and holding the game, reading the manual, envisioning what the game will be like to play, it all created the experience that we know and love. It's sad, I haven't had that feeling since the N64/PS1 days.....
    I can totally relate to this. Even with a NES game with its basic graphics even back then, I would get all excited after getting a game from a garage sale for dirt cheap. I remember being so excited about taking Bad Dudes for NES home back in 1993 or so that was bought for me at the garage sale and thinking that I hope my mom doesn't get in a wreck or something and makes it home so I can play the game. I remember the arcade version of the game and I was expecting more of the same for some reason but of course the NES port is nothing to the arcade original.

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    Cherry (Level 1) TheRetroVideoGameAddict's Avatar
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    http://theretrovideogameaddict.blogs...ideo-game.html

    A little something about this topic I wrote up on my blog, check it out.
    On Twitter @OfficialRVGA -- My YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialRVGA
    http://theretrovideogameaddict.blogspot.com <----- The **Official** blog of The Retro Video Game Addict!
    *UPDATED* on 11/4/13 The Retro Video Game Addict reviews: Tekken 2 for the PS1!

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    Cherry (Level 1) ReaXan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRetroVideoGameAddict View Post
    http://theretrovideogameaddict.blogs...ideo-game.html

    A little something about this topic I wrote up on my blog, check it out.
    Nice blog post, shares many of my sentiments

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    Cherry (Level 1) GhostDog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRetroVideoGameAddict View Post
    http://theretrovideogameaddict.blogs...ideo-game.html

    A little something about this topic I wrote up on my blog, check it out.
    I agree. Those places you mentioned were awesome along with Software ETC. and Electronics Boutique. The 90s were awesome to be a kid.

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