What Was Gaming Like In The ‘90s?

The 80's and especially the 90's really were the wild west of videogaming. It wasn't completely clear for game companies which direction to go with game or console design, or which technology to adapt, and so there was a lot more creativity and risks taken. Many of those risks may not have worked out but it did make for a very interesting time to be a gamer as a result. There were a lot more surprises as well, since there wasn't an internet to spoil things early with leaks. You'd get a new gaming magazine in the mail and BAM, suddenly get hit with announcements for cool games you never saw coming.

Gaming today has it's issues but while it's not all bad either, it definitely isn't nearly as exciting. Leaks make sure we know must stuff coming a mile away. No more surprises. Few new ideas. Game consoles all seem kinda the same apart from the hardware/controller design and a handful of exclusives, and aside from maybe Nintendo doing their own thing, consoles are starting to become barely distinguishable from a PC. They almost are prebuilt PCs at this point, just with a custom OS.

I remember 90s gaming far better than I do the Pythagorean Theorem! (Even though I remember that too 😉)

There were times I often had to wait either a few months or a couple of years for the video games I wanted, or my mom would buy them at the local pawn shop for cheaper because we couldn't always afford to go to Toys R Us. Either way, I was happy 😊

ETA: Speaking of video rentals, I found out a while back that renting (out) video games was illegal in Japan; that was why games across the Pacific were easier than our North American counterparts. They thought folks would lose interest in buying the product after clearing the whole thing

Nerds of the day got into hustling to make that sweet gamestore bread.
I mowed lawns, detailed cars, babysat, even sold homework and blank office-runner passes to get out of class.
The CD stores often had game sections (and later the reverse would be true as CDformat began to die) where you could scan for big gets.
Nabbed a lotta stuff like MotBQ, Arc the Lad, Persona 2, and Kartia for like 3 dollars a pop there.

Games were borderline impossible to complete, it was an amazing time

In 94 and 95, as a 10 year old, I totally checked out of gaming. I had gotten SO BORED of 2D platformers. The N64 pulled me back in tho.

Napster 🤘 baby. Still a torrent user once in a blue moon lol

i wish my country had times like american 20-90s, we never had that wonder feeling because of iron curtain that kept most of stuff unreachable even after it fell for some time

I was born in 92 and Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis was the first game I played at 2 years old. My mom was shocked to see that I understood the game at that age. As I got older, I was then diagnosed with ADHD and my parents thought games were messing my mind up but in reality they were expanding it allowing me to become more creative.

i m a 92 born and got my first knockoff sega in 2002 and still have it...its the best thing i have ever got.

I have those ninja turtles bed sheets.

Games were hard because they were arcades first, which were designed to take your quarters.

I've been extensivile thinking about gaming in that era . I intend to write a paper and I've done some research already. It is strange because now I feel it was better thatn I had in mind. Everybody has their own experience but overall I'd say it was better than one can tell.

All of this was so spot on, especially sweat vs blood in Mortal Kombat! Man I miss those times. Thanks for putting this awesome video together!!

That clip of Einhander just sent me back in time.

Better

Amazing how u was able to narrate gaming in the 90s, pure quality video thanks for the experience

Glorious, that simple

GamePro magazine was good in the 90s too. For some reason, I remember Coconut Monkey from GamePro lol. "Hello!! I'm coconut monnnnkey. Welcome to my island paradise..."

Hello. i had NES in 1988 (which was stolen by a "friend") , Genesis in 1990 (which i played with my grampa), SNES in 93 (for the anecdote i first played SF2 in 92 in a friend's house built in the middle a rice field, itself in the middle of nowhere in Madagasikara) , NeoGeo cdZ in 96, PS2 in 2000, Dreamcast in 2002.

" Try spending 80 $ .... when the minimum wage was 3$/hour".... Man i think i am living in the 90s all over again....

this guys didnt once mention the LAN party scene at all, obviously Console gamer only, most of his 90s kids clip were movies set in the 80s!

Not covering the birth of RTS is a glaring omission! Age of empires, total annihilation, starcraft, warcraft - all huge!

"tryna finish the water temple in 1999??" lmao

I’m so glad I experienced the mid 80s through to the late 90s gaming boom. It was the wonder of it all for sure. Owning a single game or two, you felt as if you were so lucky. You could purchase a game, bring it home and not have to download a single thing, just play what you bought. I think we seriously take for granted what we have available at our fingertips today. You’re right, you had to be there to understand. I’m a proud 47 year old gamer and because of those years, it will remain my hobby. I can still squeeze some of that wonder out of my games today, even if only a little.

Duke nukem

You cant even pronounce wolfenstein done with your channel

The 80's and 90's, when video games were actual games and not 90% intro, middle and ending film you just sit and watch. My friend showed me what he was playing on his ps3 the day before and it was more movie scenes than actual gameplay (yes I know, the ps3 is not new but its modern compare to 8 and 16 bit)

Gaming in the 90's was riding to your friends house a few blocks away and knocking on the door unannounced in the hopes he'd be home. It was a constant exciting exchange of new games and discoveries since information was learnt through word of mouth and magazines. There were no micro-transactions, POS games as a service didn't exist and generally the industry was not predatory like it is today. The goal of developers was to achieve the maximum amount of fun and my God what awesomeness was achieved with such pure intentions.

I would do anything to live in this era of gaming again. As a kid I enjoyed all kinds of video games in the 90s and the 00s. Today’s era of gaming has nothing. There’s no passion or soul, too much online gaming and streaming, constantly remaking some old classics or making new stuff that just doesn’t fit gaming. I’m kind of glad that I got to experience this type gaming. It was like a once in a lifetime and that’s something the new era gaming will never have.

90s gaming was cool, but also frustrating as hell. Oh and crazy expensive.

Perfectly put into words what 90s gaming was like. Great video.

Neo geo aes was the first console to have memory cards (1990) predating PlayStation memory cards by 4 years.

Everyone from different eras would say their childhood time is the best, but gamers who grew up in the 80s/90s know it's different. The gaming world grew up with us. I'm in my mid 40s now and I hope I will enjoy playing video games into my 80s. There are quotas in things (especially things we love) so please spend your precious time and energy on the really good ones.

I was a somewhat privileged 90's kid, as my father worked in IT. We didn't have a PC, but stayed faithful with the Amiga until it's downfall, but nonetheless we were among the first private housholds in Germany to have internet, which was definitly a thing of wonder. Oh my. I also grew up with Point-n-Clikc-Adventures and Platformers on said computer, long before I got a GameBoy from my uncle (my mother was strictly against consoles, plus she didn't have much money. At that time my parents were divorced - they would re-marry later - and so my only time playing games was either on Arcade machines when I was out with my grandparents shopping in the mall or when I visited my father or friends). I remember playing the free demos later in the 90's in the computer departments of the mall, too. It definitly was diffrent than today in every aspect. You were a nerd and you ade friends over this - as well as enemies (especially as a girl. Lots and lots of enemies).

1981 kid here... I can relate to a lot of things said in this video. The local arcade here is now a fast food joint, but back in the days it was thriving with smelly, sweaty kids desperated to play MK3, SSII or KI and to prove they were the masters of that particular cabinet. We called them "Maquinitas" that is like to say "Lil' Machines"and we absolutely loved them. You appeared in the place and saved your time in the qeue by saying "Who's the last for MK3?" then someone replied "Me!" and then you replied "I'm behind him!", you could watch 15 other kids to play or with luck just three of them and then, your turn arrived. And you had to make it count. If there was any trouble, the guy who was in charge had the last word, he was almost a kid like ourselves, he was a couple of years older but was the authority even when all of us called him "Shaggy", like the character in Scooby-Doo cartoons...

We printed our tips and cheats back in the 90's mate, the phone line being tied wasn't really an issue for that.

Going the games store and talking with another kid that i dont know about which game i might buy,

Telling my friends at school how hard a certain boss was and swapping ideas on how to beat them..

Then as a teenager waiting for a pre-order game at the store and making new friends that lived on my estate,

Multiplayer started, again making new friends to play online with at thr game store when we both pick up the same game,

I miss that era so badly

Remember coconut monkey with pc gamer?

My favorite uncle buying Mortal Kombat 3 for Christmas for my brother and I.
Couch coop of goldeneye.
Whipping the controller CORD when trying to jump in Mario Bros.
RC PRO AM.
Only 3 LIVES, 3 to beat a game.

Dreamcast is probably the most underrated. Such a great line up.

Sonic, Wolfenstein, Quake, Sim City, War Craft.

I remember sleeping over at friend's houses when I rented games, binging 15 hours a day on them.

Planetside 2 is Amazing!!

I remember alot of people having nintendos and segas..later playstations.....turbo grafix 16, and 3do were more obscure

Best time for gaming.

No hope in going to the past come to the loving savior today
Seek his Holy Spirit in prayer today he can give you peace confort and guidance today


Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Come to Jesus Christ today

Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today

John 3:16-21

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus

Games evolved so much in such a short amount of time back in the 80's and 90's, but since like 2005 games haven't changed at all besides slightly better graphics. Who ever makes games today fucking suuucks.