How We Played Video Games WITHOUT Buying Consoles in the 80s/90s/2000s | Nintendo, Sega, PlayStation

[@JamesNGames]

During the 90s, visiting popular retail stores such as Walmart or Toys R Us on weekends to explore the latest video game releases was considered an exciting and highly anticipated activity. I find myself nostalgic for those days.

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

Who here remembers renting video games from Blockbuster?

[@RichKnight36]

Renting? I remember competing in a game competition at Blockbuster. NBA Jam/Judge Dredd

[@Nintendofan781]

I do. That was my favorite place to go to in general. when i was younger my parents didn't have alot of money so we had to wait to get games whether if it was birthdays or christmas so we would just rent games. i remember to this day renting kingdom hearts 2 and never getting pass the whole roxas bullshit.

[@Swift96]

Yes

[@nmgg6928]

I remember the before time when there was no blockbuster in my area lol

[@donli197]

Blockbusters, Sears and in the south Media Play

[@wstine79]

I worked in the R-Zone at Toys R Us from 2000 to 2003. I remember building the first XBOX display. So much black and neon green pieces to put together.

[@Dargonhuman]

The Toys R Us I worked at still had XBox 360 and PS2/PS3 in R-Zone at least until 2010 when I quit to move to a different town.

[@Theagames10]

I remember during my childhood, I went to Best Buy and even Gamestop and tried Nintendo games out on their display. It was some fun times!

[@MikeyBats]

Remember when Walmarts used to do it too

[@wstine79]

Babbage's store and Electronics Boutique were my favorite video game stores in the mall. They even had demos for Mortal Kombat on SNES and Genesis.

[@TheArceusftw]

Ah yes, my favorite kind of core memory; Playing the GameCube Kioks at Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, or Target.

[@Mockingbird0014]

They're some of my favorite memories of some games: watching by brother play Pokémon XD in a Kmart, playing Zatch Bell: Mamodo Battle and being afraid I'd get separated from my family, and getting distracted by a Destroy All Humans demo and actually getting lost in my local Walmart for like roughly 30min to an hour, my mom was pissed.

[@robertg6339]

Circuit city.

[@jessragan6714]

@@Mockingbird0014 I'm convinced that K-Mart was the ONLY way anyone ever played Go! Go! Hypergrind.

[@MotorworldHype]

A big YES to more gaming content on this chanel!

[@wondiefive]

Man, the tsunami wave of nostalgia in this vid is amazing!!! 🤗 I was having a talk recently about missing arcade cabinets in the store/movie lobbies before you walked in, and all that's left are the stuffed animal claw machines. Every Blockbuster we had around my way is now a Mattress Firm. Lol I remember Service Merchandise and especially Montgomery Ward. MW is where I got my first PS1 when they were down to $100. I still have my video store membership cards, the local ones and the Blockbuster one.

[@BlackNerdComedy]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@ethanwilliamsjr.1365]

Maaaan! Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward 😢

[@sunlitegodis]

I remember getting Super Mario Bros. 3 game at Montgomery Ward because there was a special ad price at Sears, Kmart and ToysRus and all the stores we went to were all sold out. MW even price matched when my parents asked if they had the game. I was amazed because my parents refused to pay full price and I learned a valuable sales lesson- and FINALLY got the game.

[@diegoramirez3257]

Not gonna lie, I like this series better than your Trailer reactions 😁 keep it up Andre! You’re awesome

[@BlackNerdComedy]

Wow, thanks! Appreciate that!

[@MikeyBats]

I like both…but this was more fun tho

[@anweezzysworld9936]

This was amazing it took me back to my childhood I felt like I could relate to everything thing you said . Keep up the Great work

[@sunlitegodis]

Yes! You mentioned Number Munchers and it took me back! I always tell my kid about Sticky Bear and the alien space Math Blasters game and he was like “wait- they had computers when you were in grade school?!”

[@awesomedez]

Sears and Toys R Us for sure. And Service Merchandise was the first place I saw Sonic.

[@IchibanVictory]

I’m feeling called out, because yes, so much of this was my childhood! We even bought games from the local rental stores when they were phasing them out. A weird footnote in history. And we had the Super Nintendo arcade unit at the Seattle ferry terminal, and we poor kids would cluster around it to stare at it in awe. It was so cool. Thanks for this walk through my fellow childhood. The times were rough, but they were good. …except when friends letting me play Super Mario Bros. would pause the game as Luigi (me, always!) was jumping over s pit. UNCOOL!

[@newfiekiyaygaming2139]

😂

[@hirohamada1234]

Great video but can we talk about Andre's FIRE NEW INTRO! 🔥🔥🔥 that was awesome!

[@beartackle]

I remember reading so much on the Nintendo 64 and was so interested in feeling how the analog stick would feel playing Mario 64. There was a group of us in Toys 'R Us and I remember being so amazed with the graphics and I would stare at the weirdly shaped controller as the game was being played. I finally got to try it and it felt great! A weird memory I had that day was I guess someone was there for a while and his back wasn't feeling well, so his friend lifted him up from behind to crack his back. Ahh, the weird memories! Edit: Oh yeah, Doom, Oregon Trail, and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing were my games back in school!

[@JustAPrayer]

Fun fact Andre, I’ve work at a library and within the last two years my library started buying video games and lending them out with books and DVDs and such. And I mean modern switch, ps4 and Xbox 360 games. Only popular easy to get titles though, nothing indie, and you still have to have your own console at home to actually play them. And there are other libraries in our area that have started doing this too, although who knows if libraries in other states do it. So if you want to bring back those Blockbuster days, there you go

[@redbuick]

Andre this may be one of the greatest videos you have ever done. I grew up on all that. I'm old but I'm proud!!! I still have my old Nintendo, Sega Genesis, the original x box,PS2,3 my PS1 but the dust. Love the new intro too. This was video game nostalgia done right 👍😎😎😎😎

[@TheToyRoom]

Never forget about the days of the DS Lite, going into Target stores and being able to download demos onto your system via the stores wifi. The best part about it was even if you left the store, the game would still work until you quit the game. So many times I would go into the store just to download a demo and then go home to play it over and over for hours!

[@jvaca6]

Great video Andre! Going down memory lane is the best. Nothing beats the awe of going back to the department stores to try out new games and consoles. It was the closest thing we could get to being at an arcade which was such a great environment in our youth. A center for likeminded people to just have fun and escape everything else in the world. Thanks for taking the time to put this video together.

[@Mondo26]

So we aren't gonna talk about the awesome new intro for Andre's videos🔥 These nostalgic series he's started definitely is reminding me of the 2012-15 andre again💯 love it

[@jp3813]

I remember a gaming room just outside a local supermarket where you can pay for a set amount of time to play any available game on any console, and I believe they let people save their progress though there's no guarantee that it won't get erased. If you were broke, then you can just watch in envy. They'd have titles that didn't even have English translations, and also some bootlegs. I recall everyone freaking out the first time Resident Evil was played. I wanted a Neo Geo system so bad, but then I learned about the price.

[@NJR1984]

Blockbuster was my first job when i was 15. I had a blast. I was always out on the floor putting videos away and giving my recommendations.

[@CherubClover]

I was born in 2002, so a lot of this I can't relate to, but it's so much fun hearing you talk about retro games and shows. I did have my sister's Atari growing up, then later got into the Gamecube and Wii. I also faintly remember Blockbuster😂

[@willienelson3606]

Damn millennials. JK!

[@escritora84]

Nice intro!!!! This was a trip down memory lane - I remember going to Toys R Us and there was a whole Nintendo section... my mom could leave me there while she ran her other errands, it was great. I also remember using Number Munchers in 4th grade math and testing out games at the mall.... I wish those days. Now everything is live service bs and DLC.

[@Styrophoamicus]

I played Super Mario 64 for the first time at a Toys R Us kiosk and my little 8-year-old mind was blown. I also remember playing Pokemon Snap at the N64 stations at McDonald's. Good times.

[@enggarbaskara5326]

Nice intro. I love retro games, and i am still using Nintendo wii, where i can play gamecube, nes, snes, n64, sega, ps1,arcade etc. It’s like revenge, when i was kid, i just sit and watched my friends, neighbors, cousins playing video games and they NEVER LET ME PLAY.

[@alexanderklepp]

Learning about your early memories of getting into gaming is so cool. I don't think I ever played games at Radio Shack, etc. as I wasn't into those games. But I really got into gaming thanks to my Nintendo 64 which I remember getting for Christmas. I used to play a lot of games on my computer like the Humongous Entertainment games.

[@riotd.r.8363]

In fond remembrance of E.B. Games, Radio Shack, Game Crazy, og Toys R Us, and Blockbuster. R.I.P.

[@shareofmoney]

Man, the nostalgia in this video is amazing. And those commercials gave me the feels..Lol It was a great time in the video gaming era in my opinion. While it is great to be able to game like we do now, but I do find myself more nostalgic for the way I grew up with games in the 80s and 90s. For me, gaming was much simpler and more fun then.

[@kab6754]

I relate hard to having friends who had most if not ALL the consoles, including the retro games I wanted. But the truly best place to play games was at the adventure zone in Circus, Circus in Las Vegas, Nevada. That place was the place to be and spend your (parents') hard earned quarters/tokens.

[@animehunter]

This video is great as always Andre, but man! That Circuit City joke made me crack up!

[@BlackNerdComedy]

Glad you liked it!

[@vinnietheanimationgod8149]

Very awesome video Black Nerd Comedy I used to see kiosks at target toys r us and Walmart. 👍❤️

[@spaghethenoodle]

I remember when McDonald's had a video game console i remember playing the first pikmin there. They have game cube and N64 there

[@MichaelNewmanII]

Andre... Are you sure we're not twins separated at birth?? Identical childhoods my guy, my brother from another! 😂

[@Krex_YT]

This was a great video. I used to love the kiosks at Walmart and even Montgomery Ward as well. The latter that was near me had about 6-7 consoles at one point. And yes. I remember Funcoland and vaguely remember Service Merchandise, lol. Also, I saw a Play Choice 10 at an arcade years ago and, at the time, had no idea what it was. I forgot about that.

[@BlackNerdComedy]

Thanks for sharing!! I forgot to mention Montgomery Ward!

[@andylindsey]

Whoa, new retro/synth wave intro caught me by surprise. That's awesome! Is this the new intro going forward?

[@txl17]

That new video opening is noice. Andre is making the most of this SAG strike pivot.

[@bunneh3000]

and don't forget the Lemonade Stand game at school too!

[@mr.honeycomb]

8:41 3 of my most favoritest games of all time!

[@army103]

The shout-outs to Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego and Number Munchers really warmed my icy heart.

[@jayb329]

Man,, you brought back so many memories!!! I remember everything you talked about……I love our childhood!!!! 80, 90 kids stand up

[@lisamarieligreci-newton7804]

Service Merchandise...damn, that's a deep cut, lol. I would definitely enjoy more of this type of content, haha. Just watching you reminisce about various geek nostalgia is great. Man, I remember always being excited to go to my cousin's in part because she had Excitebike, haha. Another cousin of mine had a Nintendo Power subscription which was awesome.

[@Larper64]

My first video game memory was my mom renting a Super Nintendo and a copy of Joe &Mac Caveman Ninjas for a weekend. I know I have earlier experiences with video games, but this is my earliest clear memory.

[@carriefernandez8705]

I'm here for Black Nerd History tbh, I've been on a big "historical/vintage/antique/retro everything" kick lately so this is right up my alley. also props on the new intro!

[@ljgil850]

omg i havnt seen number munchers in 25 years!! wow!! what a memory unlock..i forgot all about that game in my youth

[@GregsGameRoom]

I remember playing Mario 64 at a Blockbuster and Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast at a Toys R Us. I was blown away both times!

[@wilshady775]

That's why we love you Andre, the nostalgia...😂

[@Alejandro333777]

Thank you for making me feel young because I don’t remember most of any of this stuff I barely remember radio shack

[@ShinKyuubi]

Ah man...bringing back the memories. I went to a local mall for my B-day this month and went into Macy's...why? They had a small Toys R' Us section...like legit with the Giraffe and everything. I've been hearing rumors that they are trying to make a comeback and that was the first time I saw them. I remember going to places and trying games...heck Toys R' Us is where I decided NOT to get the Virtual Boy...I played it and that red screen gave me such a headache I KNEW it wouldn't be worth the money...cool...but not worth the cash for the neck pain and headache it'd give me. I miss places that you could try demos and games at....its why I have Gamefly so I can try a game before I buy it. There ARE a few "Red Box" rental things scattered around my town...but if I buy a movie it's usually one I was already interested in and for games it's more important for me to give them a test drive than rent a movie.

[@jmcmonster]

Oh man, I remember a lot of this. Specifically, I played the Genesis at a local Sears every time I would go with my parents. They only had Ecco the Dolphin, but I played the heck out of it. We also had a local video store that would rent out the consoles. I did that for many weekends until I finally got that Genesis and Ecco one Xmas morning. It was glorious.

[@kingsupreme3146]

Man you are taking me back, everything you said I have a life story about, thank you for the good memories my brother.🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@EthanCrossMedia]

Wow, I remember as a kid playing on the PlayStation (PS1). I played a lot like Rugrats: The Search for Reptar, Studio Tour, Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Musical, Lilo and Stitch, The Powerpuff Girls: Chemical X-Traction, and Ford Racing. Even I remember seeing and playing Nintendo and PS1 games at video game kiosks at McDonald's and I saw ones at Toys R Us a long time ago back in the 2000s. I played on the Wii as well, as I played Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Kirby's Epic Yarn and Nintendo GameCube on the Wii as I played Super Smash Bros. Melee. As I have Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, I have NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Sega Genesis, and Nintendo 64 games.

[@snbks4ever]

Mentioning Odele Lake just unlocked some childhood memories from grade school. What a shout. Great video down memory lane

[@dygrdqjzco7j]

What an incredible story Andre!

[@TheLazyShell]

Really digging this recent crop of videos! Gives me a real throwback vibe to your older stuff.

[@JMan1380]

I played games at TRU, Best Buy, and Blockbuster all the time! I loved it when the time limit wasn't placed on the kiosk. I remember falling in love with Super Mario World at Woolworths at my mall. Thanks for the Pizza Hut memory! I thought it was a treat to go to my Pizza Hut and actually eat inside there. It was so close so it made sense to take out but I was always thrilled to eat in.

[@gunpeiyaboi5280]

Andre getting that BOSE sponsorship LETSFGOO 💪🧐 sorry Raycons 🤷‍♂

[@BlackNerdComedy]

Bose has been a great partner, plus their headphones are legit!

[@soulglo45]

I miss arcades of the 80s and 90s, pure gold.

[@brycevo]

I really miss demos and demo discs. Demo discs were so awesome how they had demos, trailers, and occasionally E3 vertical slice demos.

[@Hokagevigo]

This video touches my heart. This brings back so much nostalgia. Hollywood Videos introduced me to Kingdom Hearts and borrowing games from my cousins while we let them borrow a game. We all had different consoles and we spent the night at each other's house on the weekends. Raising Chao babies, playing Rampage on the SNES, Crash and Spyro, Lion King and Mario RPG, Mario Kart on SNES and N64, Diddy Kong racing, the Ren and Stimpy game, South Park racing, the Tom and Jerry game on PS1 and the WWF games. What a time it was.

[@wwe682]

Toys R Us I remember playing Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Also😊 Mario Party

[@Undrave]

In the 90's, at La Ronde in Montreal they had an 'attraction' called the Nintendo Megadome. You'd line up and then go into this old bunker looking Expo '67 pavillon to play N64 games for a certain time period. They had like one or two GIANT screens made of smaller screens on the walls and a bunch of free standing kiosks with multiple screens. I think I played Blast Corps for the first time in there? :p And some Mario Kart 64. They had Smash on the giant screen if I recall.

[@sonictonic_]

This was great, reminiscing and totally relating to what you talked about from back in the day, lol.

[@gibsonquest]

Yes I know what Service Merchandise is! I bought Mario 2 and TMNT 1 there with birthday money! Number Munchers, Carmen Sandiego, and Oregon Trail were my go-to games in computer class. I forgot about Odell Lake but definitely played it a lot.

[@lazyuniverse4932]

Hey Andre I love your new intro my dude. Very retro. I can dig it

[@Renedoc82]

No radioshack for me, but I remember that an electronic store in my city had a "pc-fair", they put like 7 or 8 pc clones, and let the children play, this was like 1990 and the games were: hardball, budokan and block out, later that year dad bought a 286...

[@freebobafett]

Your description of the video game friend is perfect. I even made friends with someone when they had a colecovision and I still just had an Atari.

[@DI-QueenmoEMino]

Love the new intro Andre! While I'm not a super hardcore gamer person I do love your talks on retro gaming. I would love to hear you're thoughts on comics you've read or stumble upon!

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

I remember play choice. Hated when the timer ran out. There was also an snes one. Saw em in the skating arena's.

[@elfaulkner84]

The hotel my mom worked at had a Playchoice 10 in the arcade. They also had the Super Mario Pinball machine too. I can't recall if it was at the same time.

[@orinanime]

Awe man! Memory Lane Mondays! This is a great video. I distinctly remember playing Vectorman for the first time at some Sega kiosk when I was young. Those were the days.

[@jamesbounds]

I remember playing the old Nintendo and Sega games at stores. Good times.

[@MBellish]

Aww man! This was a trip down memory lane! I remember during the weekends as a kid I walked to a friend's house who had both the SNES and Genesis with the SEGA CHANNEL! Who remembers that thing?? I was introduced to A LOT of Genesis with that!

[@adeadphish7931]

Your talking TRU breaks my heart. I loved those stores growing up and in college, my first job was working holiday season at one. I was seasonal every year since then and honestly loved the job. Then they folded and I was there to the bitter end those last few weeks. I really loved working there, even if it was retail and being one of the go to R-zone people when all the big holiday titles were rolling out made me feel amazing having grown up shopping the section since childhood

[@taeaface]

Wow Andre, you took it back with this one! I remember a lot of those places, my first job was at a Blockbuster, lol. Great vid man!

[@HoneyMike]

This video was fire, games really were everywhere back then. I used to go to a doctor’s office that had N64’s in the waiting room.

[@doomzilla3568]

Yo Andre!!!! Toys R us, KB toys, Hollywood video with game crazy, how do i miss thee and the days of seeing game kiosks of ps1/n64 games that i can try out and either do fantastic or suck at it lol!!!! I really miss getting getting demo discs where you can try out levels from select games. During our childhood, Me and my brother only had the ps1/snes/ ps2 at the time before the ps2/xbox/gamecube era and boy it was a fun time. Growing up in the 90s to 2000s was a fantastic time for a child. Great video!!!!!

[@star15productions65]

Sir, I LOVED Number Munchers and Reader Rabbit as a kid! Good memories playing those in the computer lab at school!!

[@Boltizar49]

When I was little my family went to Universal Studios in Florida with the Nickelodeon studio. A game kiosk there was when I got to try Yoshi’s Island for the first time.

[@WadeLife]

Same, I got to play the Neo Geo, Turbo Grafix at Toys R Us, but Virtual Boy was at Blockbuster. Great Upload

[@TheAnxiousArtist]

Memory unlocked🙌🏻 Target still has Nintendo Switch consoles set up for in store play/testing

[@xxNinTwinDoxx]

This feels like a classic Black Nerd gaming video from 2012 2013 2014. This is my nostalgia

[@TurboSax]

I remember seeing a dude playing Oot at Toys 'R Us. Like, playing it full stop. Guy eventually went and got the strategy guide, bro. He was playing it the entire time we were there. I was very annoyed that I didn't get to play it lol

[@BrandonCroker]

Gaming for the win

[@cuppycakesrawrable]

We had/have something called kids quest in vegas. Basically a place where kids are dropped off at casinos when parents want to gamble. Played so many Nintendo 64 games at that bitch.

[@danielgibson7948]

If a story had a game setup, I was there. I saw Metroid for the first time in a department store and it was amazing.

[@Vek_Zythe]

I loved playing Number Muncher AND Word Muncher. Also loved Oregon Trail. And i miss going to Circuit City and Radio Shack.

[@rmarkley79]

OMG, I remember all those computer games at school, that just brought me back. Thanks Andre! I was a Nintendo kid, my brother was Sega, so it worked out perfectly. I bought a Dreamcast when I got my apartment, loved SoulCalibur and Power Stone. Remember buying a game a Toys R Us was like a three step process. Get the slip where they had all the game wall, buy the game at the checkout, get another slip with the receipt to get it from the fort knox of the store, haha.

[@dan_evilrobot]

When I was a kid, I've always see Nintendo 64 demo kiosk from Wal-Mart back in the mid-90s and whatever a new game comes out and I want to check it out and play it. And obviously we don't buy many games we always renting video games/movies at Blockbuster video or other local video stores.

[@JSeed47]

Dude. Andre. You just unlocked a memory i didnt know I had when you showed the Service Merchandise logo. I think the one near us was at the mall.

[@kingadamus8820]

DUDEEEEE.....service merchandise was the shizzzzz. I was sad when that store went under.

[@supergeoff]

BlockBuster was my good way to try out a bunch of great titles for the Super NES Era to the Wii and 360 era had some great memories

[@JeddHampton]

I loved Funcoland. That place was magic!

[@bbureau12]

Channeling some class fancy MJ, my guy. Keep up the awesome work!

[@master1185]

90s era was the Golden Age of video games. I remember in the mid-90s of trying out the original PlayStation on a kiosk at Sears and thought how weird the controller looked and felt as I was used to play the NES and the SNES. The first game that I played was Crash Bandicoot. Great times!

[@tylerhackner9731]

Love the old skool

[@anthonywheeler2082]

I played Number Munchers as a kid! And the first place I played Sonic 1 was at Hills department store. There electronic department was so cool. They later became Ames. Now it's empty.

[@Caterfree10]

One of my core memories was when my mom used to work at Sears and would let bitty!me go to the electronics department while she worked and I would play game demos there. I don’t think Sears even sold video games by the time it shut down. 😢 Also, I miss when arcades were more popular. I think the closest we have is a handful of games at the local Mr. Gatti’s (a pizza restaurant here).

[@NewGabeOrder]

I remember stopping by someone's house in Escalon, CA just to play Dreamcast games, and that convinced me to emulate these games on my PC. I did enjoy the games, but there were certain games I couldn't play unless I had a Model 0 or Model 1 Dreamcast console. I got one in 2009 just to play Sonic Adventure 2, as it's too slow for my PC at the time.

[@SanithDemil]

So many memories come up! I actually loved the virtual boy. Didn't have my own money at the time though. I only ever played it at Toys R Us. Also played Star Fox, and Donkey Kong Country at Sears.

[@mishking9547]

My experiences with Pizza Hut was playing Joe and Mac with my bro :D

[@willienelson3606]

Damn, man! You're taking me back to the good old days.