Young people today will never get to understand just how enjoyable it was to live during a time of no social media, spending hours in an arcade, multiplayer = couch co-op only, and the sheer joy of just roaming around a dedicated toy store, especially around Christmas time which came with the added bonus of circling the things we wanted from the massive catalogs. I was already a teenager by 93 but there was still a bit of rollover from the 80's magic in the air.
I feel the exact same way. I’m so glad I got to experience what the world was like without the social media overload. I have such a nostalgia for these times that are forever lost but still fresh in my memory
Yess exactly, I don't know if it's bias because I was born at that time but even when I try to think objectively the only thing "better" nowadays is the technology, but even then it also comes with severe drawbacks. And in a way the limitation of the tech back then makes things more interesting if you think about it, not having everything easily accessible makes a lot of things more valuable and makes you appreciate it more because it requires more effort.
@@rafe9852 "not having everything easily accessible makes a lot of things more valuable and makes you appreciate it more because it requires more effort." - Yes, 100% that. Certain modern technology I really appreciate, such as GPS on my phone. It's so strange when I think of how I used to have to navigate in the car with awkwardly huge paper maps, esp in the dark. And before GPS, even just being able to print step by step directions off of MapQuest was a welcomed luxury. Things like Spotify make listening to music easier, since when I was younger I'd have to wait by the radio so I could record songs I wanted from "Casey's Top 40 ", but man, when the song you wanted finally came on the air and you had that tape ready to roll, you felt awesome. And maybe it's just because I was younger at the time, but I had a lot more fun on my Atari, NES and SNES back in the 80's and 90's than I do today on my PS5. Hell, just going outside was an enjoyable thing back then. I'd go to my friend's house and we'd just sit there for hours shootin' the breeze. Now I don't even have friends 😧
I love social media. We're living life more efficient than eve before. Meaning I get more time to do what I want bc I don't have to wait in line to order food, rent a movie, checkout when shopping. I do everything on my phone. Those minutes add up on the long run. Time is very expensive. I'm using it wisely (;
Today I have a collection of games from this time period that would've completely blown my mind as a kid then. And while I enjoy owning and playing them, there's something hollow and sad about buying them from dusty antique shops and flea markets. This video makes me realize a big part of the the thrill back then was the shopping experience: the dim lighting, the neon signs, the sounds of the kiosks all competing for your attention, the smell of the new plastic, the crowds of kids your age all bonding over this shared experience. Sure I can scroll through eBay and Facebook marketplace, but where's the Fun Factor in that?
What a great comment! And remember the fun shopping with dad or mom? Or your best friend? Those memories are absolutely priceless after they're long gone...or you've moved to a different city in another state. Great comment 👍
Yes indeed, today when you buy games you do it digitally through a screen and some days later it arrives at your home or you just find some guy selling it on the internet. I think we have lost a bit of humanity when we lost this experience and the arcades.
I miss being excited about video games. I remember buying Mario games from early consoles and being really amped up. No modern video game really moves me much as I’ve largely grown out of them unfortunately
I absolutely have the same conflicts. The one time I'm thankful for being an only child and my game time turned into sacred me time. Glad that fell off...now I read too much lol.
I was born in 92. Im just barely old enough to remember the 90's. I remember as a kid in the early 2000's being really upset that the 90s were over and having this feeling of doom that things would change for the worse. Boy I wasn't wrong...
You sure weren't. The later half of the 90's was drenched in fear over Y2K, with everyone thinking that all of the computers would stop working and our world would come to a halt. The 90's also saw the release of Terminator 2, though we had no idea that just 30 years later, we'd be facing the actual risk of A.I. wiping out human civilization. Y2K was nothing compared to what was actually to come. 🤖
It's interesting, I actually had that same feeling when the 80s were over, although the year 1990 was a good one for me. The 90s as a whole was a bit of a mixed bag, but still a better time than today, particularly when it comes to freedom. It was probably the most free we've ever been in the western world. Things got a lot worse though after 2001 with the 9/11 event.
@@Kai0nTheMoon I wouldn't want to exaggerate that. It was really only in the last 2 years or so before Y2K that the media started to ramp up the fear for the big 'millennium bug' that would supposedly bring society to a halt. Before that time the general public was hardly aware of it. Some people in the IT industry might have been worried about it for a longer time, but not the average person.
Grew up extremely poor, my parents would drop me off at Toys R Us, Sears, Target, Funcoland, etc.... to play for hours. Went to FAO Schwarz in NYC around winter 2000, was very expensive but very cool visit.
This has become one of my favorite channels. I have such a sadness and nostalgia watching these videos from the 90s. This was my middle school and high school years. I miss life before social media took over every aspect of society. There’s just something about these times that were so special. I’m glad I got to experience them
yep. social media has completely changed the world forever. in ways i cant even describe. people just need to slow down and be happy with what they have
Just want to say thank you for compiling these videos together. Seriously, I hope you realize how magical this is for those who grew up in the 80s/90s.
I was 11 years old as well as my best friend of mine who recently passed away a unexpectandly over a month ago...We both were living it up as kids in much simplier times back then. I grew up with Snes with Super Mario World and he had Sega Genesis with Sonic. Sad I'm not able to share these cool nostalgic videos and reminisce about the good ole days with him now. RIP Mike 😢
I remember thinking CD-I was cool. Best Buy kept it in a separate section away from the other game consoles. I guess it was in a special section for "home entertainment consoles" or whatever they called it. I remember the CD-I was over in that aisle, along with at least one other machine. I don't think it was the 3DO though, but could have been. Amiga CD32 is the only one I can think of, but I had an Amiga computer at home and would have remembered if I saw Amiga stuff in Best Buy. Do you remember if there was something similar to CD-I at the time, or am I just misremembering the 3DO? They played VCDs or something on it most of the time though, not always games.
@@chrisrj9871 Well, yeah, of course the critics hated it. But for a guy who’s only playing it for probably 10 mins in a store when it’s brand new he might’ve thought of it differently. I don’t remember what part in the video it was, you’ll have to find it.
I hate that I missed all of this. I was born in 2001 and I love playing video games from the 90s and 2000s, but none of my friends feel the same way and say this stuff is too old for them, if I was born back then, I would have friends that liked N64, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, or OG Xbox. As a gen z, even I’ll say that being a millennial is way better. I also hate how when you try to spend time with people and play video games/watch tv with them, they would just use their phones constantly watching videos with headphones on or just playing crappy mobile games when they can do that ANY OTHER TIME, this is a time to spend with others.
I'm as old as you and feel the same way. But no all hope is lost real friends appreciate your hobby and try to joyn a match of streetfighter without doing tictocs
Yeah nothing like going to the game store. Seeing mortal kombat reminded me of mortal Monday. I went with my friend who had the arcade machine in his basement. the store employee didn't want to give him the blood code and mom said he has the arcade machine give him the code. She bought me a copy as well on Sega. Good memory, both of them have since passed away
@@brianmeen2158 Toys R Us was the best, and there was so much competition during the console wars of the 90's there was just so much to choose from in the video game isle. Nothing can come close to it today.
from the Atari 2600, to the Super Nintendo/ Genesis era ,I spent lots of time of playing games in Dept/computer stores lol , also I never subbed a channel so fast in my life, I will literally binge every video on here!! AMAZING!!!
I was 23 then and I remember how they kept every one of these consoles behind locked plexiglass. And you were stuck waiting for 30 minutes for someone with a key to unlock it and give you what you wanted LMAO! Good times!
The good times were 88 - 95 ;) Was never a fan of the late 90's. Either 95 and especially 96, as far as pop culture were concerned, felt like the beginning of the end imo. 1991 compared to 1999 felt like living on a completely different planet. the former being 1000x better :P
The teens are in their 40s, the kids are in their 30s. 20s and under are spoiled by free cell phones every Christmas since age 5 and now they're parents who think that's normal so their kids are getting free cell phones and it's like, _does adulthood even exist anymore??_ What's the point of adulthood if everything great about it is hand-gifted to children _right there??_ How do we define it? Beer, driving, magic lala's? All of which have a myriad of problems themselves?? I don't get this world. I think parents are just looking for an easy way out of responsibility.
But those days were when you would actually communicate with people and ask questions in person, it’s a sad thing of today but hopefully we get back to normal-I will forget about asking pacific questions about what comes packed with the game in the box especially when it was a hot upcoming release for that console!
@@Trance88 - it wasn't like modern console fans where they'd love a system until the next one arrives, then they'd throw that first console away like it was nothing. NES was like family for us at our house, they all are, but even I never knew SNES had any games in 1997... so I guess I'm a victim of that as well, but I was ending high school so I had other matters.
There's a strange warmth and comfort in watching these recordings! I was 7 in 1993, and not long afterwards I would become a gamer for life, haha. Also crazy that a lot of these games now cost full price again, or even more if they're rare.
10:37 - Looks like parents buying some Genesis games for their child. I wonder if the child who received those gifts has ever seen this film footage of his parents buying them?
This was wonderful seeing these classic retro games in their prime and knowing that they are still loved so much today. These were when games were true timeless classics. Towards the end the guy looking at the Super Nintendo games front and back many gamers in the future will not know that fun experience due to everything becoming digital only. Those were fun times. Cool video. ^_^
I just got my Big6 Sega Genesis controller yesterday technically, and the packaging is the same as the Genesis games there, and the boxed ones in my collection! I'd do anything to go back to the old days when all you needed was a cartridge or disc, with the usual console and TV, with no DRM, microtransactions, and all those subscription services. That's what I loved about the N64, PS1, PS2, SNES, NES, Dreamcast, and the Sega Genesis.
During this time you would look at the screenshots on the back of the box to determine if you wanted to buy it. You would have to ask employees to unlock the storage case so you could take a look. 10:38 Eventually they got smart and created this type of display. 13:06
I like how all the older kids/young adults are in the SEGA area. Nintendo was very much labeled as being for little kids and Genesis was for the cool older kids back then. I remember that's why I asked for one during Christmas instead of a SNES.
I remember the same thing. But even though I have a very healthy Sony collection these days I still have a huge collection of Nintendo even though I'm middle aged. As it turns out, you don't outgrow Nintendo. I'm looking forward to what they give us next.
Yes it is. He was voicing Mario for Nintendo display kiosks for years. I remember it being really jarring. I didn't like the "official" voice because growing up with the Super Show, Mario always sounded like a guy from Brooklyn.
Man do I miss going to the store and just browsing games and playing demos like this. It's crazy to think how fast time passed us by! Great times man..
@@mayen67as much as I love the nostalgia I get from old consoles, I couldn’t give up my modern ps5. I mean imagine showing red dead redemption to these people, they’d never leave the room !
What kinda cam recorder you were using back in the day? Love all your footage. What made you record during all those years? This is golden footage here in your channel. Rare ones.
The nostalgia! 😭 this footage is absolutely amazing! I used to visit the FAO Schwarz in Bellevue, WA at the Bellevue Square Mall which now known as Bellevue Collection. I can’t explain how emotional this video made me. As a retro gamer this footage really hits home for me
FAO Schwarz looks like it was the coolest toy store in the world. Never been there growing up on the west coast but I'm real life jealous of East Coast kids that had a store like that in there backyard
Hell yeah! 11:44 I clicked on this just hoping I’d see zombies are my neighbors, my favorite game ever still to this day somewhere, a poster or someone playing it n was about to the end and then bam right in the middle at the top of those racks that games used to be in , the store clerk would have to unlock it to get them out. Made me so happy. I fuggin love this TH-cam channel man, n so does a lot of other people in their 30s I see lol
Beautiful times in the '90s. I miss being a kid. I remember the super Nintendo was always against the Sega Genesis. The advertisement was that Sega Genesis is faster than the super Nintendo. I appreciate the fact that the customers here take their time and find the right gaming fit. It's kind of like shopping for activewear for long distance runs.
Didn't have this store in the midwest, as far as I know. I'm still a gamer to this day (mid 30s) and it's fascinating to see how the industry has changed, loads of people playing on the kiosks, and nowadays it's largely a solo/isolating experience in the home.
I was 12. I remember the toy section of our department store was just computer games! Nintendo, Sega! Same as this video: rows of TVS and different games you could play, and then a massive big screen where they were featuring the latest blockbuster game to hit the market. Kids everywhere! Now you walk past the kids section and its empty. No video games. No kids either. So glad I grew up then and not now!
Even the stores and buildings themselves and their interiors and decor were much more colorful and pleasant to look at back then. Everything is so bland and "minimalist" looking today. I was going to say all the modern buildings remind me of prisons, but most of the prisons I've seen are better looking lol.
@@vampirerobot That's very kind of you to say! Thank you! I have to ask, did you record this amazing footage or have you archived it from other sources? It's amazing.
@@MyRetroLife I would love to lie and say I did it all. But I did not unfortunately...so this is all from various sources. Just have fun doing it I guess 😃
Street fighter 2, mortal kombat, this is when those games were just ported to the snes and genesis and could now take the arcade home! Exciting time! Games were more and more getting closer to arcade quality!
i remember playing that paint game that lil kid was playing it was so imersive but i never owned it nor did i know anybody that owned it this brings back memories of how awsome video game shopping was and how the electronic section at stores was the best part
Back then we were all talking about the future and what life was gonna be like after the year 2000. Now we’re in the future, and we just wanna go back to 1993. We had no idea then that it was as good as it was gonna get. Everything changed after 2001😒
Something about the sliding door that grants you access to look and touch the items that really gets the customers happy and excited to possibly buy . I remember when I worked at a Kmart back in the early 2000s I saw how people love when you open the case
0:37 Lol, the CD-i is such a piece of crap that even the demo kiosk for it is broke. At 1:32 you can see a guy playing Wand of Gamelon! At 2:21 you can hear Charles Martinet doing one of his early promotional gigs as Mario!
1993 featured sgt joe Waltman on season 5.cops his segments mainly involved gang related shootings even at a restaurant between a butcher and employee. Sgt joe walman of Pomona pd is one of my all time favorite cops on cops sadly he passed away 4 29 2022 1959-2022 thanks for all the years of service and for your time to he filmed on cops.
The coolest part about game stores back then was that their store / video game place was always full. Full of kids, teenagers, adults alike. Like a huge hype around gaming. There are always games to test too, so you can try out some mario games or whatever. Now, these places are essential empty here. From time to time a teenager looks around, then walk away. Barely any kids, mostly adults. It's not so fun visiting modern gaming stores. Old school feels like a store and arcade at the same time.
I liked the part around he part around 9:41 where the older teen lets the younger kid play Sonic 2. Really liked that. Gaming was such a joy and social event for many back then and was cool to share in it with others of all ages.
I still have some of these games I bought from a local mall back in 92’ and 93’. I also still have my original Genesis, SNES, and Neo Geo. Ahhh, brings back good memories!
Damn this place looks awesome. We had one kiosk at Zellers with Super Mario World and a a mechanical bar would automatically reset the machine every 3 minutes. I would have lived here.
1993 3do system released it was 700 at launch. The manufacturer Panasonic stated the hefty price tag was to payback employees who had helped out and weren't part of Panasonic
The people here are discovering the games in the store itself. It was a magical experience not knowing everything about a game before it came out. It was a bit of a gamble sometimes but it was more of an experience than browsing games online now.
This was one of the last solid years of the 90's until pop culture took a major decline at about 96'. The late 90's paled, and I mean paled in comparison to the early. 1991 Vs 1998 felt like living on two completely different planets. the Former being 1000x greater for numerous reasons. But compared to 2023, 1998 is looking mighty nice! :P
If I may ask, what did that decline involve or what would be an example? I was only 7 years old in 96, so unfortunately I hardly understood anything aboyt the world. I kind of remember the vibe people had though.
@@tonymarcuscassani9465 don't ask some dunce "talking about the good ol days" on a TH-cam video about a game store the "decline of pop culture" wtf are you doing man
@@tonymarcuscassani9465 The very very early 90's still had a bit of that amazing left over 80's pop culture injected and sprinkled in. Mostly 90-92. There was a big shift in pop culture towards 96'...Fashion, music, the cartoons, etc imo, were no where near as great nor fun compared to what came before it. In the 80's(85-90), and very early 90's, the world was full of imagination, when you stepped outside your house it felt like magic. I still had some great times in the late 90's in regards to video games and certain techno/dance pop music. PS1, N64, the release of the Sega Dreamcast, Aqua and the venga boys etc. :P
I remember going to FAO Schwarz, in the Mall of America, I believe, and asking my dad why the games didn't have prices on them. That's when he taught me "if you have to ask it means it's too expensive".
wow awesome footage. i like where at 13:13 those SNES boxes in poster-style turn flaps. i'd love to have a display like that in my man cave! at 1:09 i was expecting robocop to walk in and say "isnt this a school day?" lol! i've heard of FAO, but dont have one where im at. it had better displays back then than even Circuit City and other big places. but in the video.. those glass display cases.. wow. all those games back then. wrapped up new. beautiful! too bad most of those games sucked lol! to think, back then, parents used video games as a way to shut their kids up lol. parents considered games a waste of time. which, i guess, is true to an extent. but little did those parents know gaming would go on to be a multi MULTI billion dollar affair. with games in some cases costing 100 million to produce today, more than most blockbuster movies. many games today have better scripts and stories than movies. there's literally a game for everyone today. even VR has come into its own now compared to chioppy, blurry, low frame rate "VR" of the early 90s.
Speaking of God stories I stated playing gta 5 again. Hard to believe that itself is 10 years old. Newer games don't do it for me. I wish I wouldn't have traded all my old saturn, dreamcast, nes, and Sega away
whats encouragement to me and but also shocking but good, IS TO REALIZE just HOW MANY of you commenters, and people posting comments, regret the years of social media. Good. You had it better in the 90s, where social media didn't control everything you did. I TOO miss those days in the 90s. I miss the malls and the shopping and noises and the bright lite and I miss the great arcade games.
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Young people today will never get to understand just how enjoyable it was to live during a time of no social media, spending hours in an arcade, multiplayer = couch co-op only, and the sheer joy of just roaming around a dedicated toy store, especially around Christmas time which came with the added bonus of circling the things we wanted from the massive catalogs. I was already a teenager by 93 but there was still a bit of rollover from the 80's magic in the air.
I feel the exact same way. I’m so glad I got to experience what the world was like without the social media overload. I have such a nostalgia for these times that are forever lost but still fresh in my memory
Yess exactly, I don't know if it's bias because I was born at that time but even when I try to think objectively the only thing "better" nowadays is the technology, but even then it also comes with severe drawbacks. And in a way the limitation of the tech back then makes things more interesting if you think about it, not having everything easily accessible makes a lot of things more valuable and makes you appreciate it more because it requires more effort.
@@rafe9852 "not having everything easily accessible makes a lot of things more valuable and makes you appreciate it more because it requires more effort." - Yes, 100% that. Certain modern technology I really appreciate, such as GPS on my phone. It's so strange when I think of how I used to have to navigate in the car with awkwardly huge paper maps, esp in the dark. And before GPS, even just being able to print step by step directions off of MapQuest was a welcomed luxury. Things like Spotify make listening to music easier, since when I was younger I'd have to wait by the radio so I could record songs I wanted from "Casey's Top 40 ", but man, when the song you wanted finally came on the air and you had that tape ready to roll, you felt awesome. And maybe it's just because I was younger at the time, but I had a lot more fun on my Atari, NES and SNES back in the 80's and 90's than I do today on my PS5. Hell, just going outside was an enjoyable thing back then. I'd go to my friend's house and we'd just sit there for hours shootin' the breeze. Now I don't even have friends 😧
I love social media. We're living life more efficient than eve before. Meaning I get more time to do what I want bc I don't have to wait in line to order food, rent a movie, checkout when shopping. I do everything on my phone. Those minutes add up on the long run. Time is very expensive. I'm using it wisely (;
you could simulate it for your kids though..... don;t give them phones
Today I have a collection of games from this time period that would've completely blown my mind as a kid then. And while I enjoy owning and playing them, there's something hollow and sad about buying them from dusty antique shops and flea markets.
This video makes me realize a big part of the the thrill back then was the shopping experience: the dim lighting, the neon signs, the sounds of the kiosks all competing for your attention, the smell of the new plastic, the crowds of kids your age all bonding over this shared experience. Sure I can scroll through eBay and Facebook marketplace, but where's the Fun Factor in that?
What a great comment! And remember the fun shopping with dad or mom? Or your best friend?
Those memories are absolutely priceless after they're long gone...or you've moved to a different city in another state.
Great comment 👍
Yes indeed, today when you buy games you do it digitally through a screen and some days later it arrives at your home or you just find some guy selling it on the internet.
I think we have lost a bit of humanity when we lost this experience and the arcades.
I miss being excited about video games. I remember buying Mario games from early consoles and being really amped up. No modern video game really moves me much as I’ve largely grown out of them unfortunately
@@EUROCORP2027same thing with movies. We used to go to the store to rent them - now we scroll through endless apps and just pick play.
I absolutely have the same conflicts. The one time I'm thankful for being an only child and my game time turned into sacred me time. Glad that fell off...now I read too much lol.
I was born in 92. Im just barely old enough to remember the 90's. I remember as a kid in the early 2000's being really upset that the 90s were over and having this feeling of doom that things would change for the worse. Boy I wasn't wrong...
You sure weren't. The later half of the 90's was drenched in fear over Y2K, with everyone thinking that all of the computers would stop working and our world would come to a halt. The 90's also saw the release of Terminator 2, though we had no idea that just 30 years later, we'd be facing the actual risk of A.I. wiping out human civilization. Y2K was nothing compared to what was actually to come. 🤖
@@Kai0nTheMoon I know right???
the real 1990s kids were those born in the 1980s specifically around 1985-1986
you are more of a 1990s toddler.
It's interesting, I actually had that same feeling when the 80s were over, although the year 1990 was a good one for me. The 90s as a whole was a bit of a mixed bag, but still a better time than today, particularly when it comes to freedom. It was probably the most free we've ever been in the western world. Things got a lot worse though after 2001 with the 9/11 event.
@@Kai0nTheMoon I wouldn't want to exaggerate that. It was really only in the last 2 years or so before Y2K that the media started to ramp up the fear for the big 'millennium bug' that would supposedly bring society to a halt. Before that time the general public was hardly aware of it. Some people in the IT industry might have been worried about it for a longer time, but not the average person.
Grew up extremely poor, my parents would drop me off at Toys R Us, Sears, Target, Funcoland, etc.... to play for hours.
Went to FAO Schwarz in NYC around winter 2000, was very expensive but very cool visit.
This has become one of my favorite channels. I have such a sadness and nostalgia watching these videos from the 90s. This was my middle school and high school years. I miss life before social media took over every aspect of society. There’s just something about these times that were so special. I’m glad I got to experience them
I hear ya Chris. You were lucky to grow up then. And thx for the nice words. 😃
yep. social media has completely changed the world forever. in ways i cant even describe. people just need to slow down and be happy with what they have
Just want to say thank you for compiling these videos together. Seriously, I hope you realize how magical this is for those who grew up in the 80s/90s.
I was 11 years old as well as my best friend of mine who recently passed away a unexpectandly over a month ago...We both were living it up as kids in much simplier times back then. I grew up with Snes with Super Mario World and he had Sega Genesis with Sonic. Sad I'm not able to share these cool nostalgic videos and reminisce about the good ole days with him now. RIP Mike 😢
I know that feeling of having a childhood friend who passed away. I'm sorry for your loss.
I know exactly what you mean. 😔 So sorry for your loss.
Oh my gosh this is absolutely surreal. Like going back in time obviously but the memories that are conjured up as well are intense …wow 🥰
Dude is playing Zelda CD-I, probably going like “man, this is awesome!”
I remember thinking CD-I was cool.
Best Buy kept it in a separate section away from the other game consoles. I guess it was in a special section for "home entertainment consoles" or whatever they called it. I remember the CD-I was over in that aisle, along with at least one other machine. I don't think it was the 3DO though, but could have been. Amiga CD32 is the only one I can think of, but I had an Amiga computer at home and would have remembered if I saw Amiga stuff in Best Buy.
Do you remember if there was something similar to CD-I at the time, or am I just misremembering the 3DO? They played VCDs or something on it most of the time though, not always games.
I don't think so. EGM in the 90s hated the games for that system, so I'm pretty sure he hated it too. Where's that part in the video? I can't find it.
@@chrisrj9871 Well, yeah, of course the critics hated it. But for a guy who’s only playing it for probably 10 mins in a store when it’s brand new he might’ve thought of it differently. I don’t remember what part in the video it was, you’ll have to find it.
I hate that I missed all of this. I was born in 2001 and I love playing video games from the 90s and 2000s, but none of my friends feel the same way and say this stuff is too old for them, if I was born back then, I would have friends that liked N64, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, or OG Xbox. As a gen z, even I’ll say that being a millennial is way better.
I also hate how when you try to spend time with people and play video games/watch tv with them, they would just use their phones constantly watching videos with headphones on or just playing crappy mobile games when they can do that ANY OTHER TIME, this is a time to spend with others.
Well the good news is that most of the media from back then is still available today. I really wish i kept all of my games from back then
Yeah well.. you're lucky. As happy as I am to have experienced the 90s, I would trade it in a second to have 8 years back (I was born in 93).
i agree. just get some oldschool friends they will play the classic way :P
I'm as old as you and feel the same way. But no all hope is lost real friends appreciate your hobby and try to joyn a match of streetfighter without doing tictocs
@@supermegayoshi64 for me the 90s was the good old days. im glad there are people younger than me that appreciate the classic days of gaming
I was 10 years old in 1993, video game stores were the best experience as a kid, my how the times have changed.
Yeah nothing like going to the game store. Seeing mortal kombat reminded me of mortal Monday. I went with my friend who had the arcade machine in his basement. the store employee didn't want to give him the blood code and mom said he has the arcade machine give him the code. She bought me a copy as well on Sega. Good memory, both of them have since passed away
Going to toys r us was great as a kid too. I remember the video game aisles
Super facts! It was Heaven to us as a kid. Lol
Same. Same age and all. Feel the same way...Nothing could top it
@@brianmeen2158 Toys R Us was the best, and there was so much competition during the console wars of the 90's there was just so much to choose from in the video game isle. Nothing can come close to it today.
from the Atari 2600, to the Super Nintendo/ Genesis era ,I spent lots of time of playing games in Dept/computer stores lol , also I never subbed a channel so fast in my life, I will literally binge every video on here!! AMAZING!!!
Thank you Tony. You made my day! 😃
I miss the NES and snes/genesis era. So many hours spent with friends n family gathered around the tv playing all sorts of games. Great times
Do they even have kiosks like this anymore where you can play new games at stores?
Best era of gaming honestly.
1986 up until the end of 1994 > NES, Game Boy & Super GameBoy, Geneses, SNES, the Arcades and with a hint of Turbo GraFx & Game Gear. :P
16-bit saw the classic styles of arcade gaming take a back seat and saw the rise of modern story gaming.
I'm looking at this and going, "HOW THE HECK IS THIS THIRTY YEARS AGO!?!?" I thought plaid bell bottom pants, Disco, afro's and Pong was 30 years ago.
🤣🤣🤣
💯
Scary isn't it
Crazy stuff, it's freaking me out how fast time is going by.
I was 23 then and I remember how they kept every one of these consoles behind locked plexiglass. And you were stuck waiting for 30 minutes for someone with a key to unlock it and give you what you wanted LMAO! Good times!
is it any different now?
it's hard to believe this is 93. doesn't look that old. I was 22 years old now I'm 50 . where have the good days gone man
Yeah unfortunately our Generation X is getting old now in 93 I was 19 years old but I still remember collecting these greats! 😎
The good times were 88 - 95 ;)
Was never a fan of the late 90's. Either 95 and especially 96, as far as pop culture were concerned, felt like the beginning of the end imo. 1991 compared to 1999 felt like living on a completely different planet. the former being 1000x better :P
@@NintenZoid84maybe you weren’t into Limp Bizkit and Korn… or the Backstreet Boys 😅
The little kids are now in their 40s....
yes..."we" know. (1982) 😱🥺
Not quite in my 40s! ('86) but Im on my way there!
I’m 35(1987) lol see ya in the 40’s soon! Lol
The teens are in their 40s, the kids are in their 30s. 20s and under are spoiled by free cell phones every Christmas since age 5 and now they're parents who think that's normal so their kids are getting free cell phones and it's like, _does adulthood even exist anymore??_
What's the point of adulthood if everything great about it is hand-gifted to children _right there??_ How do we define it? Beer, driving, magic lala's? All of which have a myriad of problems themselves?? I don't get this world. I think parents are just looking for an easy way out of responsibility.
I had never been to one of those stores but holy cow 30 years ago. I feel really old. Crazy they still had a Nintendo action set for sale in '93.
Surprisingly the NES was pretty popular all the way up until the mid 90's.
make sense since the NES was discontinued in 1995 (in the USA) anyways.
I fart to the music of Nintendo Action
But those days were when you would actually communicate with people and ask questions in person, it’s a sad thing of today but hopefully we get back to normal-I will forget about asking pacific questions about what comes packed with the game in the box especially when it was a hot upcoming release for that console!
@@Trance88 - it wasn't like modern console fans where they'd love a system until the next one arrives, then they'd throw that first console away like it was nothing. NES was like family for us at our house, they all are, but even I never knew SNES had any games in 1997... so I guess I'm a victim of that as well, but I was ending high school so I had other matters.
Just an FYI everyone, start recording mundane stuff you care about today...... because one day, today is going to be 20 years ago.
There's a strange warmth and comfort in watching these recordings!
I was 7 in 1993, and not long afterwards I would become a gamer for life, haha.
Also crazy that a lot of these games now cost full price again, or even more if they're rare.
Somebody gettin the rings knocked outta them. 10:53 😂😂
😂
I subscribed because i'm a gen x'er (born in '76) and like to torture myself watching this stuff....a mixture of nostalgia and depression.
Thanks for the sub Jake! .. 🙂
@@vampirerobot no problem,thanks for the videos.😉👍🏻
Born in 71..totally feel ya on that. Very sentimental and nostalgic.
It's tough watching these. Good memories of more innocent times
@@Jim26D exactly.
Such an awesome blast to the past. Thank you for uploading these!
10:37 - Looks like parents buying some Genesis games for their child. I wonder if the child who received those gifts has ever seen this film footage of his parents buying them?
This was wonderful seeing these classic retro games in their prime and knowing that they are still loved so much today. These were when games were true timeless classics. Towards the end the guy looking at the Super Nintendo games front and back many gamers in the future will not know that fun experience due to everything becoming digital only. Those were fun times. Cool video. ^_^
6:03 I like how the radical 90s music kicks in right as the radical 90s kid comes into frame 😎
lol..good eye. That is the money shot!
The maximum carnage music. That game had a sick soundtrack.
Back then you had to go to video game stores to PLAY video games, if they had any. Now we can just download demos at home!
I hate the future ;_;
I just got my Big6 Sega Genesis controller yesterday technically, and the packaging is the same as the Genesis games there, and the boxed ones in my collection! I'd do anything to go back to the old days when all you needed was a cartridge or disc, with the usual console and TV, with no DRM, microtransactions, and all those subscription services. That's what I loved about the N64, PS1, PS2, SNES, NES, Dreamcast, and the Sega Genesis.
Great comment 👍
During this time you would look at the screenshots on the back of the box to determine if you wanted to buy it. You would have to ask employees to unlock the storage case so you could take a look. 10:38 Eventually they got smart and created this type of display. 13:06
Wow....so glorious.....in 1993, wall fell down, my country was in a crisis, and Ice Cube was trending all over the world
Now everything is falling down, we're in crisis, and no one knows who "Ice Cube" is.
@@Anarchist86ed I still know who he is or I'm generally confused how I worded it
Is that when today's was a good day was out.
Today these kids from this day are my compatriots at everyday work, great people all of them 👍
@@Anarchist86ed I'm pretty sure more people know who Ice Cube is today than back then.
I was so happy I got a Super Nintendo in Christmas of 93. I remember most of these games. Such a joy seeing these memories from the past.
I like how all the older kids/young adults are in the SEGA area. Nintendo was very much labeled as being for little kids and Genesis was for the cool older kids back then. I remember that's why I asked for one during Christmas instead of a SNES.
I remember the same thing. But even though I have a very healthy Sony collection these days I still have a huge collection of Nintendo even though I'm middle aged. As it turns out, you don't outgrow Nintendo. I'm looking forward to what they give us next.
Sega was ass. Nintendo was always cooler in every way.
@@Skazellino Found the uncool kid lol
Yeah, Sega had more adult games like slaughterhouse and showed more gore. Mortal kombat didn't show blood on the snes
@@muffythevampirelayer_ SEGA blows and so do you.
I got my copy of Kid Icarus here. Was never able to find it locally before then. Also remember the Virtual Boy having a big display.
Is that Charles Martinet at 2:13, performing the voice of Mario three years before the release of Super Mario 64?
Oh my gosh, it could be him!
Yes it is. He was voicing Mario for Nintendo display kiosks for years. I remember it being really jarring. I didn't like the "official" voice because growing up with the Super Show, Mario always sounded like a guy from Brooklyn.
Before voicing the Real Mario in Mario Games in 1994.
Amazing the CD-i was worthy of 3 kiosks even then (and one was broken).
🤣🤣🤣
Man do I miss going to the store and just browsing games and playing demos like this. It's crazy to think how fast time passed us by! Great times man..
Feels weird seeing CD-i Zelda cutscenes outside of YTP
Back when games where made to be fun not monetization.
Correct. Developers discovered it's far more profitable to sell video games as a service rather than a product.
It's still a small minority of the market. Gaming today is more fun, more options, more immersive, more realistic then ever before.
and you just got right into playing. No 19 hour tutorial on how to walk or boring never ending cut scenes.
@@mayen67as much as I love the nostalgia I get from old consoles, I couldn’t give up my modern ps5. I mean imagine showing red dead redemption to these people, they’d never leave the room !
@@mephistopheles7545 they would all faint from being so mind blown🤯
What kinda cam recorder you were using back in the day? Love all your footage. What made you record during all those years? This is golden footage here in your channel. Rare ones.
Thanks for sharing This was the start of prime time video games for me at 8 years old! Sega Genesis forever
This is my favorite video of yours so far, I love it
everything i grew up with! gamers nowadays just wouldn't understand!
The nostalgia! 😭 this footage is absolutely amazing! I used to visit the FAO Schwarz in Bellevue, WA at the Bellevue Square Mall which now known as Bellevue Collection. I can’t explain how emotional this video made me. As a retro gamer this footage really hits home for me
My high school Art&Design was a few blocks away from FAO!! We used to cut out early to play the video games on display!! What a good time to be alive😎
If there are more video games like these that are fun, exciting, adventurous, and appealing to all ages, that would be sweet.
FAO Schwarz looks like it was the coolest toy store in the world. Never been there growing up on the west coast but I'm real life jealous of East Coast kids that had a store like that in there backyard
There was a FAO Shwartz in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. I only know that bcuz i worked in Forum Shops in early 90s thru 97.
@@javiermori1710 thats interesting never knew that.
Hell yeah! 11:44 I clicked on this just hoping I’d see zombies are my neighbors, my favorite game ever still to this day somewhere, a poster or someone playing it n was about to the end and then bam right in the middle at the top of those racks that games used to be in , the store clerk would have to unlock it to get them out. Made me so happy. I fuggin love this TH-cam channel man, n so does a lot of other people in their 30s I see lol
What a time to be alive!!!😢😢
I miss fun games, the 80s,90s. Truly a joy time to live
Wait...dude was playing the secret level in Star Fox on a kiosk?
Oh yeah 1993! The SNES generation! I still have my 16?bit consoles! Have times especially with my friends thank you everyone 👍🏻😎
I remember buying those games or preordering those games as well 😳
Can't even go into a Gamestop and browse or even play games like this anymore.
We have the internet
@@DaRealKing303 screw the internet, all the internet has done is make people less happy and angry at each other.
@@Claydood true
Beautiful times in the '90s. I miss being a kid. I remember the super Nintendo was always against the Sega Genesis. The advertisement was that Sega Genesis is faster than the super Nintendo. I appreciate the fact that the customers here take their time and find the right gaming fit. It's kind of like shopping for activewear for long distance runs.
1:55 "MUH BOI" My god a wild CDI Zelda. That's amazing!
Loving these nostalgic videos..!
This is pure gold.
The why the guy sold that family on the gameboy was nostalgia
I miss the Sonic game where Tales could fly like a helicopter.
They didn't put in the blood code for Mortal Kombat. ABACABB
1:55 MAH BOI!
These things were truly exciting because these video game consoles were still a brand new invention. You can see how people are so mesmerized.
9:50 chemical plant zone sonic forever
Didn't have this store in the midwest, as far as I know. I'm still a gamer to this day (mid 30s) and it's fascinating to see how the industry has changed, loads of people playing on the kiosks, and nowadays it's largely a solo/isolating experience in the home.
I only remember one on new York but I'm sure there were others. It was a huge overpriced toy store
Awesome video that captures a lot of history-thanks for sharing!
I was 12. I remember the toy section of our department store was just computer games! Nintendo, Sega! Same as this video: rows of TVS and different games you could play, and then a massive big screen where they were featuring the latest blockbuster game to hit the market. Kids everywhere! Now you walk past the kids section and its empty. No video games. No kids either. So glad I grew up then and not now!
As always with these old videos, I find the variety of colorful clothing so refreshing compared to how bland clothing colors are today.
Even the stores and buildings themselves and their interiors and decor were much more colorful and pleasant to look at back then. Everything is so bland and "minimalist" looking today. I was going to say all the modern buildings remind me of prisons, but most of the prisons I've seen are better looking lol.
Wishing I could go back
What a beautiful channel. I think I'm going to like it here!
Wow.. it's you! Thanks, but your channel is off the charts special. I think it's probably the best channel on TH-cam.
@@vampirerobot That's very kind of you to say! Thank you! I have to ask, did you record this amazing footage or have you archived it from other sources? It's amazing.
@@MyRetroLife I would love to lie and say I did it all. But I did not unfortunately...so this is all from various sources. Just have fun doing it I guess 😃
@@vampirerobot Well it’s amazing historical American pop culture and media preservation. So thank you!
@@MyRetroLife So cool...thanks for stopping by. Very nice 😊
I was 7 years old in 93 good times.
Street fighter 2, mortal kombat, this is when those games were just ported to the snes and genesis and could now take the arcade home! Exciting time! Games were more and more getting closer to arcade quality!
Yo i remember playing that first Mortal Kombat and thinking "it cant get any better graphix than this"😮
i remember playing that paint game that lil kid was playing it was so imersive but i never owned it nor did i know anybody that owned it this brings back memories of how awsome video game shopping was and how the electronic section at stores was the best part
Back then we were all talking about the future and what life was gonna be like after the year 2000.
Now we’re in the future, and we just wanna go back to 1993. We had no idea then that it was as good as it was gonna get. Everything changed after 2001😒
I was only a toddler when this was around but it unlocked some sort of vague ancient nostalgic memories in me I didn’t know I had
We are living in very boring times since around 2007.
Something about the sliding door that grants you access to look and touch the items that really gets the customers happy and excited to possibly buy . I remember when I worked at a Kmart back in the early 2000s I saw how people love when you open the case
0:37 Lol, the CD-i is such a piece of crap that even the demo kiosk for it is broke. At 1:32 you can see a guy playing Wand of Gamelon! At 2:21 you can hear Charles Martinet doing one of his early promotional gigs as Mario!
1993 featured sgt joe Waltman on season 5.cops his segments mainly involved gang related shootings even at a restaurant between a butcher and employee. Sgt joe walman of Pomona pd is one of my all time favorite cops on cops sadly he passed away 4 29 2022 1959-2022 thanks for all the years of service and for your time to he filmed on cops.
The coolest part about game stores back then was that their store / video game place was always full. Full of kids, teenagers, adults alike. Like a huge hype around gaming. There are always games to test too, so you can try out some mario games or whatever. Now, these places are essential empty here. From time to time a teenager looks around, then walk away. Barely any kids, mostly adults. It's not so fun visiting modern gaming stores. Old school feels like a store and arcade at the same time.
I liked the part around he part around 9:41 where the older teen lets the younger kid play Sonic 2. Really liked that. Gaming was such a joy and social event for many back then and was cool to share in it with others of all ages.
I still have some of these games I bought from a local mall back in 92’ and 93’. I also still have my original Genesis, SNES, and Neo Geo. Ahhh, brings back good memories!
Neo Geo???
Score one for you Chris!
Do you still have the original boxes?
You must have been rich!
Hearing Martinet voice custom lines for the store as Mario years before Super Mario 64 is pretty mindblowing.
Damn this place looks awesome. We had one kiosk at Zellers with Super Mario World and a a mechanical bar would automatically reset the machine every 3 minutes. I would have lived here.
In those days, there was always a sense of community. You can feel the love through the screen in this video. Now the world has gone so cold…
At 3:23 they don't do this anymore and have consoles in the store where we can just try it out I used to be at mine all the time as a kid
1993 3do system released it was 700 at launch. The manufacturer Panasonic stated the hefty price tag was to payback employees who had helped out and weren't part of Panasonic
That's some reason they gave for the hefty price 🤔
@@vampirerobot yup in April. 1995 gex released and December 1995 ps1 got gex. Gex 1 is my favorite in whole trilogy plus very underrated gem
I still have my 3D0. Return Fire was my favorite. Amazing how when that console came out it was state of the art, for just a little while.
all the SNES demo tables were taken so he had to play Zelda CDI 💀
The people here are discovering the games in the store itself. It was a magical experience not knowing everything about a game before it came out. It was a bit of a gamble sometimes but it was more of an experience than browsing games online now.
This was one of the last solid years of the 90's until pop culture took a major decline at about 96'. The late 90's paled, and I mean paled in comparison to the early. 1991 Vs 1998 felt like living on two completely different planets. the Former being 1000x greater for numerous reasons. But compared to 2023, 1998 is looking mighty nice! :P
If I may ask, what did that decline involve or what would be an example? I was only 7 years old in 96, so unfortunately I hardly understood anything aboyt the world. I kind of remember the vibe people had though.
@@tonymarcuscassani9465 don't ask some dunce "talking about the good ol days" on a TH-cam video about a game store the "decline of pop culture" wtf are you doing man
@@tonymarcuscassani9465
The very very early 90's still had a bit of that amazing left over 80's pop culture injected and sprinkled in. Mostly 90-92. There was a big shift in pop culture towards 96'...Fashion, music, the cartoons, etc imo, were no where near as great nor fun compared to what came before it.
In the 80's(85-90), and very early 90's, the world was full of imagination, when you stepped outside your house it felt like magic.
I still had some great times in the late 90's in regards to video games and certain techno/dance pop music. PS1, N64, the release of the Sega Dreamcast, Aqua and the venga boys etc. :P
I remember going to FAO Schwarz, in the Mall of America, I believe, and asking my dad why the games didn't have prices on them. That's when he taught me "if you have to ask it means it's too expensive".
wow awesome footage. i like where at 13:13 those SNES boxes in poster-style turn flaps. i'd love to have a display like that in my man cave! at 1:09 i was expecting robocop to walk in and say "isnt this a school day?" lol!
i've heard of FAO, but dont have one where im at. it had better displays back then than even Circuit City and other big places. but in the video.. those glass display cases.. wow. all those games back then. wrapped up new. beautiful! too bad most of those games sucked lol! to think, back then, parents used video games as a way to shut their kids up lol. parents considered games a waste of time. which, i guess, is true to an extent. but little did those parents know gaming would go on to be a multi MULTI billion dollar affair. with games in some cases costing 100 million to produce today, more than most blockbuster movies. many games today have better scripts and stories than movies. there's literally a game for everyone today. even VR has come into its own now compared to chioppy, blurry, low frame rate "VR" of the early 90s.
Speaking of God stories I stated playing gta 5 again. Hard to believe that itself is 10 years old. Newer games don't do it for me. I wish I wouldn't have traded all my old saturn, dreamcast, nes, and Sega away
1:32 CD-i Zelda jumpscare
Back then when Mortal Kombat cpus would just trip you non stop lol
1:45 This man on the right is watching a historical TH-cam moment unfold before his very eyes.
2:30 Is that Martinet's voice??
I was so scared that kid was going to buy a Tiger electronic handheld game.
whats encouragement to me and but also shocking but good, IS TO REALIZE just HOW MANY of you commenters, and people posting comments, regret the years of social media. Good. You had it better in the 90s, where social media didn't control everything you did. I TOO miss those days in the 90s. I miss the malls and the shopping and noises and the bright lite and I miss the great arcade games.
Honestly this is better than gamestop. Man 90s was so great
I remember Media play sam goody too
There was less dividing us back then & making friends was easy.