robin2099

So who has any memories from either renting a video game from a video store, or buying a video game from a retailer? For me the ones that come off the top of my head are:

-Renting X-Men for the NES as a kid from my Mom n Pop store. I didn't know who they were since this was the late 80's but I picked the game out because. it looked cool. Even as a kid I knew this game was shit.

-Renting Tekken 3 for the PSX. It was the first game after I got my PSX that I rented. I bought the PSX for RE2 if anyone's curious.

-A Mom n Pop video game store that I went to had a bunch of arcade machines in the back and I'd go there every Saturday just to play some games.

-Constantly going back to Blockbuster hoping that TMNT 2: The Arcade game was in stock.

DthRdrX

First day SNES games were available .... local VHS store had a ton of games available, NES games got moved to the back that day.

nasesco417

My most vivid memory pertaining to video games as a kid is begging my mom to buy me the SNES version of Street Fighter 2...and then playing the shit out of it for the next year or so.

Michael Corvin

I remember renting Double Dragon many times before my parents got it for us as a gift.

Rented Ninja Gaiden 2 and beat it on my first life. Never died once. That was a disappointment.

KingSmoth

- Turtle Video was a local chain in the late 80's-early 90's with good prices and a rewards card. Every rental would get a sticker on your card, and after so many rentals you would get a free rental (duh). My parents took me there every weekend to rent NES games and get pizza from Little Caesar's next door. I remember sheer disappointment from Mario Is Missing...

- Walking down the aisles of video games at Toys R Us, flipping over the display cards to look at screenshots on the back, then grabbing the game sales slip from the pack, taking it to the locked game counter at the front of the store, and impatiently waiting on the associate to slide the game under the window

- Visiting my grandmother in Florida when Super Mario Bros. 2 launched. I can't remember what mall we went to around Daytona Beach, but I remember getting Chick-Fil-A and spending a week locked in the room playing that game

- Putt-Putt Golf used to have game system stations where you would pay $5 for 15 minutes of gameplay. I was so excited when they finally got Splatterhouse for the TG-16, because I had seen it at Toys R Us, but never had a chance to play it

-Once the Genesis and SNES had taken over the market, one local video store that had a massive NES section started rentals at 29 cents for 5 days. My mom would take me there on Friday night and I would grab a stack of games to play through the week

- Buying a "used" copy of Resident Evil 2 for PSX right when it released. I went to BBV to rent the game, but they had a whole rack and all were already gone. I walked away dejected until I spotted a lone copy for sale near the exit, next to a copy of the Director's Cut with RE2 demo. My friend worked there and said he had no idea why they had a used copy of a new game for sale, but I got them for $25

- My friends and I were huge fans of GTA 1 and 2 on PC and were anxiously waiting for GTA III on PS2, even though none of us had a PS2. When the game launched I rented it and a PS2 from BBV, with a $100 deposit and a rental fee of $19.99 for five days. My friends and I had an absolute blast playing that game all weekend, leading me to finally buying a PS2

nickdawgy

I did the same thing. My Mom bought me SF II at Toys R Us (remember the old take the tag to the front system?) and it was $70

She also got me Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3 when they were released. I was a bit spoiled.

As for rentals, I remember I rented all types of games. Battletoads, Maniac Mansion, Dragon Warrior II, Shadowgate, etc.

RichC2

Phar-mor. 3 Games, 5 days, $5.

I miss that.

DthRdrX

I used to love looking at the NES/16 bit games at Toy's R' Us. They had an aisle set up that spanned the entire length of the store! Miss those days.

DthRdrX

One of our local stores did 5 Movies, 5 Nights, $5, but I don't think it applied to games.

KingSmoth

For around 20 years we also had a store that did 5 movies or games/5 days/$5, and I lived there for several years while I was working on my BA in Film. Unfortunately, they closed down around 2007 - they had a massive selection on hand, and one of the employees told me the owner didn't want to invest in building a similar catalog of Blu-ray, 360, etc.

redcat

I worked in a mom and pop video rental store in the early 90s, and I remember the flood of people coming in release week when Mortal Kombat and Star Fox were released.
I also remember playing some game on my TI-99 in the 80s, and there was a number to call to see if you were the first to complete the game. I was, and I think they sent me a free copy of their next game. I was 11 or 12 at the time. It seemed like a big deal.

beavis69

Other than being a fan of the first two GTAs this story is exactly like mine. I rented from the video store I worked at and had it for 3 weeks straight. The system came in this giant pelican case that reeked of cigs and weed.

I remember calling around to every KB toys in the Charlotte area looking for a copy of WCW vs NWO World Tour. Paid $70 for it. I still play that game off and on.

starseed1981

I passed on two used CIB copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga for $7.99 a piece when my local mom and pop went out of business cause I thought they'd be cheaper one day......haunts me to this day.

In 2001 I also passed on buying a local retro stores complete Turbo Grafx 16 collection which was all CIB and included Magical Chase cause I thought it was overpriced at $450.00......also, haunts me to this day.

But I did buy three CIB Earthbounds in 1997 for $12.00 a piece. Sold em on EBay in 2012 for about $600 a piece.

KingSmoth

Eeesh, I didn't pass on Panzer Dragoon Saga for that low of a price, but I should have bought it for $50 when I had the chance. I kept putting it off, and it has just kept on going up. About 10 years ago you could still get it for ~$100 on eBay, but not anymore.
I remember around 1995 when the NES was finally killed off, I went to K-Mart and they had a massive stack of the top-loader systems for sale, for something ridiculous like $9.99. I briefly thought about buying 10 or so of them since I had the money on hand, but quickly changed my mind and walked off. Back then, video games were still for nerds and I never thought that values could skyrocket like they have - I just wanted to buy so many of them because I was a tech packrat.