Days gone by: Buying games blind

[jvalentine98]

Anyone around 30+ knows what I mean when I say buying games blind. Now days you can be sitting at an Arby's, pull out your phone and literally watch an entire game being played through to decide if you like it or not.

But back in the early to mid 90s, we didn't have that luxury. The PSX, among its other innovations, can be credited with the widespread issuance of demos. The cds were cheap to make so you could literally order from Pizza Hut and receive a PSX demo disc.

I can remember only a few options prior to that:

1.) Going to a large retailer, asking the clerk to remove the game from the security case and look at the screenshots on the back of the box

2.) Renting from Blockbuster/Movie Gallery - which still required a purchase of some sort

3.) Borrowing from friends at school. Problems was games were $50+ and none of my friend's parents were eager to see those games leave their house...

I got burned many a time. Some games ruined Christmas memories for me. But every now and then I'd go in and blindly buy a game like Shadowrun for Sega Genesis. Knew nothing about it, aside from a screenshot in Gamepro. Fell in love with it.

I'm not sure if it's a completely bad thing that this is gone now, because when you did find a nice surprise, it was awesome.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I have a theory that the games we purchased "blind" as a child geatly influenced whether we are video game enthusiasts today.

Personally, I had the good fortune of purchasing some pretty awesome games, like Faxanadu and Zanac, completely blind. (I also had the good fortune of living near a movie rental store with an ample selection of Nintendo tapes.) I did, however, purchase AD&D: Heroes of the Lance (NES) based exclusively on my enjoyment of the first book in that series, which was a huge, huge mistake...

[jvalentine98]

I have a theory that the games we purchased "blind" as a child geatly influenced whether we are video game enthusiasts today.

Personally, I had the good fortune of purchasing some pretty awesome games, like Faxanadu and Zanac, completely blind. (I also had the good fortune of living near a movie rental store with an ample selection of Nintendo tapes.) I did, however, purchase AD&D: Heroes of the Lance (NES) based exclusively on my enjoyment of the first book in that series, which was a huge, huge mistake...

Well movie licensed games were a big deal. Every kid bought Batman on NES after the movie came out.

I also think arcades helped a lot. I knew Street Fighter II SCE was gonna be good because it was eating my quarters at Wal-Mart. Same with Mortal Kombat and Golden Axe. Beyond that, it really was a crap shoot.

[SNESdrunk]

The absolute worst for me was SimEarth for SNES. I lost my SimCity cartridge (long story) and asked for SimEarth that Christmas as a replacement without even playing it, since I figured, "It's just like SimCity only a whole planet!" Good lord I hated that game.

Renting games blind was such a blast though. There were so many great games my friend and I discovered this way, I remember Journey to Silius for NES in particular.

[Ghudda]

I think I purchased games "blind" up until the end of the original xbox. Blockbuster and funcoland were the main source of my video games as a kid. The process was as simple as walking down the aisles of games at Blockbuster or the wall of games at funcoland, gamestop, etc. and contemplating playing the game based off of the cover art and summary on the back of the box. The mystery element to playing games back then is something that I almost always miss out on these days. Now, when you buy a game, you know exactly what you're buying, whether or not you watch someone stream the entire thing on Twitch or watch a video review of it before hand. It was a form of playing games that has somewhat dissipated due to me getting older as well as just the way we consume and experience games (not to mention the development and popularity of the internet). On top of all that, hearing about games via word of mouth and small magazine ads was exhilarating, making some of the most classic games sounding like myths or legends.

I'm only 22, so I started renting/buying games primarily with the genesis/SNES era, as I really only played what NES games my brothers/sisters bought. I'm curious to hear peoples experiences renting during pre-NES generations.

[SNESdrunk]

A game my dad blind bought for me from CompUSA (because it was like $5, "But it comes on 3 CDs!" he said, I think he was more excited than I was)...

Maabus

Kind of a cool novelty for the time, but a barely-playable sprawling mess.

[mas]

I have a theory that the games we purchased "blind" as a child geatly influenced whether we are video game enthusiasts today.

Personally, I had the good fortune of purchasing some pretty awesome games, like Faxanadu and Zanac, completely blind. (I also had the good fortune of living near a movie rental store with an ample selection of Nintendo tapes.) I did, however, purchase AD&D: Heroes of the Lance (NES) based exclusively on my enjoyment of the first book in that series, which was a huge, huge mistake...

Well movie licensed games were a big deal. Every kid bought Batman on NES after the movie came out.

I also think arcades helped a lot. I knew Street Fighter II SCE was gonna be good because it was eating my quarters at Wal-Mart. Same with Mortal Kombat and Golden Axe. Beyond that, it really was a crap shoot.

The thing with arcade ports back then is when we only seen a screenshot on egm or gamepro or nintendo power, back in the 80's and you find out that a game you loved like cobra command or bad dudes is coming to the new. You buy it and garbage. Hated that.

[isiolia]

I don't think underinformed purchases are gone at all. Really, they're probably more common than ever, with mobile games, bundles, Steam sales, and so on.

The bigger difference, in my mind, is that there's a lot less holding you to a particular game. Having that one new game that you just spent all your money on, or rented for the weekend, created a lot more motivation to keep at it to learn it. Or, at the very least, created a greater perception of value.

[jvalentine98]

I don't think underinformed purchases are gone at all. Really, they're probably more common than ever, with mobile games, bundles, Steam sales, and so on.

The bigger difference, in my mind, is that there's a lot less holding you to a particular game. Having that one new game that you just spent all your money on, or rented for the weekend, created a lot more motivation to keep at it to learn it. Or, at the very least, created a greater perception of value.

Well, the way I got Shadowrun was like this: My family went to Six Flags over Georgia for a weekend trip, which was a big deal to a 12 year old, I passed on all the novelties at the Six Flags shops and instead used my lawn mowing money on a game at an Atlanta area Wal-Mart. It was Shadowrun. I'd never played an RPG before. But this wasn't sword and sorcery, it was guns and thugs and taxi cabs, etc. I didn't have a guide or anything. I had to figure it out on my own. Loved it

[Ghudda]

Well movie licensed games were a big deal. Every kid bought Batman on NES after the movie came out.

I also think arcades helped a lot. I knew Street Fighter II SCE was gonna be good because it was eating my quarters at Wal-Mart. Same with Mortal Kombat and Golden Axe. Beyond that, it really was a crap shoot.

Also, this. The majority of games I played as a kid all pertained to what I was watching on TV at the time. Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, batman, etc.