What was BlockBuster like?
>>331422863
Pretty shit compared to today desu
People have fond memories of it but in reality the rental and late fees sucked. The systems in place today are much better.
>>331422863
Imagine Netflix but you have to walk around to find the movie or tv show you want and they also have video games but it's rarely new video games unless it's some new release like MADDEN 2004.
basically just a worse Ritz Video
thanks, America.
A place where you went to rent the newest games which were already gone by the time you got there so you had to settle on a shitty Army Men game for the week instead
Hollywood Video was better.
>>331422863
Like a video store OP. Don't you have homework to do or some shit? Where are your parents?
>go to Blockbuster on a Thursday night
>get co-op game and movie
>spend night at friend's house
>pizza
>play game all night, trying to beat it
>bike to park and play soccer
>play more vidya that night
it didn't even matter if the game sucked
The local mom n' pop shops were better.
>>331422863
A place where they would never notice a missing copy of DK64 and they had all the Crunch bars you could eat.
The "no late fee" policy wasn't as bad as people thought. I miss it for game rentals since you could take em out for a whole month at a time.
It was a good place for a "decent" part time job. Stand around and be a useless customer service douchebag, but around movies too!1
>>331423238
this
One time they had a deal where you could pay like $15 a month and rent any 2 games you wanted and keep them as long as you had the subscription. That was a sweet deal. Other than that, it was pretty shit, honestly. They were always out of anything that was good unless you were really lucky.
Comfy.
I remember renting Super Mario RPG from there and then putting a small dot on the outside of the rental box so I could tell which one had my save file on it when I got a chance to rent it again. Luckily it hadn't been erased by anyone else.
I remember renting a playstation game, finding out it doesn't work, bringing it right back, and them trying to charge me saying I caused it. I never used them again.
>>331423647
Such righteous indignation
>>331422863
It was the most beautiful video rental store to live
You could grab a copy of your favorite video game and toss in a fuckload of candy bars at the same time
The indoor music was relaxing and the small layout was wonderfully comfy
It was never packed so you were always first in line
They even had a little drive thru like window to drop your returns in if you wanted to avoid social interaction
Ahh, good times
>>331422863
Good smell
>>331422863
>>331422998
>>331423084
>>331423114
>>331423148
I really like it unlike you guys.
I had the $20 unlimited game rentals.
>>331423238
Family Video a best and still around.
>go to blockbuster
>20 copies of madden no one wants
>vanquish is always rented out
>walk out
And they wonder why they went out of business? I don't know who chose the number of each game the stores got, but they are a retard.
The only PS3 games I was ever able to get was that Enslaved: Journey to the West game and Final Fantasy XIII. Beating FF XIII is one weak so I could return it on time was a nightmare.
>>331422863
bags of sand
>>331423114
Also if it's a game you want to rent, count on it already being checked out.
>>331422863
What >>331423373 and >>331423380 are talking about was a pretty big scam. I remember subscribing so I could get a free rental any month when they started advertising no late fees. I would use it to rent Gamecube games that I had no interest in buying, it is how I played Wind Waker.
The problem was that it was actually a scam. Blockbuster made headline news because the advertised no late fees weren't actually being honored. I remember having to fight with the store manager because she wanted to charge me $59 for when I tried to return Wind Waker.
>>331422863
Magical, some would say.
But honestly, I don't think there's much to it, waltz right in, grab videos and videogame to rent because you're poor, play over the weekend/few days of the week and then get it returned and repeat the cycle.
>>331422863
felt like a movie theater
smelled like popcorn
>games you wanted always rented out
>scams
>late fees
>awful smells
>scams
>no hardcore porn section
>99% of employees hated being there
>scams
>more late fees
>broken discs/cartridges
However it was pure magic as there's multiple threads about them weekly despite it sucking on a ridiculous level. So the WoW of retail stores.
Blockbuster seemed only good if you were a kid and had an Arcade place near by.
here is my only experience with blockbuster
>rent mgs2
>get home and put in the disc
>turns out it was the fucking demo
>nowhere on the box did it say demo
>drive back to blockbuster
>get called a liar when I tell them about it
>they think I stole the game and brought them a demo disc
>argued long enough that they gave up and I got my money back.
>>331424356
It had some ambiguity in its marketing but the the policy was pretty transparent. You keep it for more than a month and they assume you purchased it.
>>331424010
>Family Video
My nigga
>>331422863
>tfw 16 trying to get M rated games and that fucker behind the desk tells you no
I JUST WANTED THAT XXX SKATING GAME FAGGOT
Bought Hitman Contracts there for $7, my first game in the series, so it holds a small place in my heart.
That being said the rental fees/times were crap but thats all we had back then so it was fine.
>>331423278
Holly shit, I know that feel very well. Except for the bike part.
Will we ever be this comfy and happy again?
I remember not being able to find games I wanted many times. The early memories were good then I quickly realized it was shit.
>>331425616
lol no
you're gonna die
>>331425691
kek
>>331425616
>Will we ever be this comfy and happy again?
I just convention hop. the Arcades still exist but they also upgraded to a Game Room so the feeling is still there.
it's weird to think aboout it, but cost aside, me renting a movie from the blockbuster would have been faster, less irritating, more fun ( having to walk onto a patch of green and entering a fresh building filled with movies) than searching and downloading the movie right now.
>>331425785
So you're shit at private trackers and the internet in general. Good to know. Please kill yourself.
>>331425874
It was a lot more fun renting Eraserhead and then ripping the dvd onto my computer than it was just downloading it
>>331425785
>blockbuster
>fresh building
>>331422863
i swear they mass stocked movies in the back and only put a few on the shelf cause they were always fucking out of what i was looking for
>>331422863
Imagine if Netflix just told you no every time you tried to rent something good, because someone else already rented it. Then you had to stand in line for ten minutes to rent a half-assed substitute for what you really wanted. Then the faggot at the counter kept trying to push popcorn & candy bars harder than Gamestop pushes preorders.
>>331422863
It was a lot of fun as a kid/teen, but only because it took like 5 minutes to download a picture and several hours/the entire day to stream one 1 hour video. You couldn't just watch anything you wanted whenever you wanted unless you either paid a lot to cable companies, paid a lot to movie rental shops, or religiously kept a closet full of VHS tapes.
The main joy of Blockbuster was going in looking for particular movie, only to notice a whole bunch of movies you didn't know about so you could rent them.
>Renting a stack of weeklies for chump change
Loved that shit. I find it harder to look for new stuff on the internet and I don't even know how. It was so easy just noticing something interesting looking on the shelf.
>>331426112
>Then the faggot at the counter kept trying to push popcorn & candy bars harder than Gamestop pushes preorders.
This. why the fuck would you upsale something that only Theaters do? Get the fuck out with that shit.
>>331423238
>tfw there is still an open and popular Hollywood video in my town
>>331426171
They always got all apologetic when I would tell them I was a diabetic and keep talking to me about how hard it is for like 10 minutes.
>rented Goodburger one time from Blockbuster
>fucked up my VCR
>had to get new VCR and replace their copy of Goodburger
Thanks Blockbuster
Who here /stole from blockbuster/?
Share your catches
>>331424010
>>331425501
When I still had a console I used to go there for fixing/cleaning my disks. The only thing that they couldn't fix was when my xbox ate my disk entirely
>>331422863
Inferior to Hollywood.
>>331426375
I almost stole Paper Mario, the building I rented it from closed down the day after I returned it
RIP
>>331422998
>>331423084
>>331423114
>>331423148
>>331423186
fuck right off
>>331422863
It was a magical place. I rarely had any troubles with my games or movies and when I did the staff was always helpful. Same goes for movie gallery too because we had one closer to us than blockbuster for a while. Netflix is nice, but it will never be the same.
It was shit.
>>331427234
No, you fuck off for thinking your experience was the norm.
>>331423943
The one by where I lived got replaced by a cigar shop. That smell is forever gone
Used to work there during college. Shit was miserable. Expected to upsell snacks, that $20 unlimited rentals with no due date thing, and later Dish satellite packages.
Having first dibs on the new games was the only reasonable perk since the pay was not that good and there were no benefits. No one really liked working there.
>tfw my parents would let me walk to the local video store to rent a N64 console, 4 controllers and two games once every couple months to have a videogame party with my friends
>always went with WCW vs NWO and Mario kart
Simpler, better times, my friends.
>>331422863
You went to go get something and it wasn't there so you got something else instead.
>all the copies of the game you wanted are gone
>>331422863
Network Video was cheaper.
>>331422863
Pretty shit but since it was the weekend and people were kids with no worries or responsibilities of course it'll be magically associated with those halcyon days and elevated beyond it's true value.
>>331427517
this about sums it up
>tfw you won a free game rental from the gumball machine and got to rent TWO games for the weekend
>>331427517
This.
It was the only way to get movies for my computer impaired parents. Now the only way is to wait for a torrent to pop up and then looking up the appropriate subtitles, and I get the privilege to do it every time they see a random trailer. Digital services cannot grasp that people here are not going to pay $25 for a digital movie download.
And Netflix catalog is still limited as hell here. Fuck licensing bullshit.
>>331424010
Family video died with the rest off them but nobody ever got around to telling family video that.
I have no idea how they're still around. Who is their market?
Like warm Apple pie my man
It was shit, customers in my town were basically trailer trash that ignored their kids while they sprinted through the store shouting. Store had a BO smell. Employees clearly were miserable there. All for sale games and movie prices were marked up to the fucking max. The new games and movies for rent were always understocked so everyone else grabbed them before you got there. They had hefty late fees until their last days in business and then their attitude generously adjusted to "Bring it back whenever you feel like it" Nothing like seeing the game you made the trip for rented out so you found a second choice, took it home, popped it in, and after 10 minutes of playing realized it was cash-in shovelware (I'm looking at you Terminator Redemption) and you wouldn't play it again until it had to go back to repeat the process over again. Goddamn my childhood was dissappointing.
t
>>331429181
>Who is their market?
People who still haven't gotten with the times in the year 2016 like old folks and trashy families who still can't into internet/the redbox etc and probably never will. There is still a Hollywood video in my town right now.
you know how when you wanna watch a movie you torrent it? And when you're done you delete it?
imagine that but you have to pay ten bucks and drive to a store. Also if you don't return it within a week or so you have to pay way more.
>>331429281
this
>work at blockbuster for a time
>every night i got to take a small cardboard box and fill it up with whatever movies and games i wanted for free
>just had to return them and restock them
it was okay, they were too expensive and their selection sucked from what I Remembere
In fact, you might say Blockbuster was the fucking gamestop of the rental days.
>>331429450
I still go to the local family video sometimes, they get new game releases pretty readily and I like renting before I buy if I don't know how I feel about the game. Considering doing it for Pokken Tournament.
>>331427818
>this shit right here
>All copies of the game you wanted are gone
>Go to the front desk and make them check the recent returns, since you know they're lazy assholes
>They find a copy
Best feeling ever.
>>331429450
Rental place called Hastings here. I'd really like to know how many rentals they get a month. They sell all kinds of other entertainment stuff but they still do video game and movie rentals and there's always been a sizeable selection of both.
I remember renting ocarina of time and getting stuck in the deku tree
I look back on how easy that dungeon was today and laugh
I'd go to blockbuster on Wednesdays when new games would release and copy them to my chipped xboxs hard drive and return it the same day saying it didn't work so I'd get a refund
>>331429927
>USER GUIDE IS STILL THERE
>Take it so some other little dickass fucker doesn't do it first.
I've only been there once or twice in my life. My childhood memories are mostly of Hastings instead.
It was pretty good if your mom rented the games for you. The selection was decent.
>>331425009
The locations were for arcades and shit was GOAT when I was a kid.
>10 minute walk to mall from friends for Arcade
>Ma and Pop video store that gave me the entire Xmen animated series on VHS for free when they closed a 5 minute walk from my house
>Toys R Us was right next to Blockbuster
A gamble every few weekends to pick something you could only judge from the box art. You could find something you really enjoyed and show up to see it had already been rented out.
>>331422863
When they switched to month long subscriptions where you could trade games in that was mind blowing. Biked there like two times a day.
>>331425009
I never really liked arcade places the games were always so mediocre. I stuck around lan centers though and miss those days fondly.
>Go to Blockbuster closing sale
>2000s Vince Vaughn movies
>Xbox 360 shovelware
Blockbuster is still open in Anchorage and El Paso.
>>331427570
this is literally it. That was the whole experience
Why the fuck do I still see Adult Video stores still open?
Are there that many adults who buy physical porn?
Are there people that actually BUY porn?
>>331432857
Some of those Adult Video stores have gloryhole rooms and shit.
>>331432857
It's kind of like the mobile games market, some people are whales and buy a fuckton of porn
Also, there are usually glory holes in the back
>>331432964
>You drop em' we mop em'!
When I was a kid my older brother was a lower manager at the Blockbuster near our house. By the time everyone knew what bad shape the company was in he'd just rent us games and tell us never to return them. Said it actually cost Blockbuster more to chase you down over them.
First time we could ever afford to own games.
>go to Bill Grays
>order delicious cheeseburger
>go next door to Blockbuster while you wait
>go home with game and delicious cheeseburger, onion rings if lucky
match made in heaven
>>331422863
It was good.
I remember me and my dad renting tomb raider 2 when it came it.
>rented it three times and eneded up buying it.
>3 days for £3.50
Good deals and it was good because it meant I could try a game before buying it.
Not gonna lie, I miss it.
>>331424010
>Family Video
HELL YEAH
You in the Midwest too?
>>331422863
I bought Caesar 3 for £5 from Blockbuster. Only time I've ever spent money there.
>Live in San Diego
>All Mexican and Vietnamese video rental stores
I could drive to 3 different family videos within 15 minutes right now. There are too many dumb normans who think internet is their data plan. They don't even think you would stream real content from a service if you had true unlimited, just youtube or whatever the new phone radio is.
>>331422863
what do you mean "what was it like"?
HOW FUCKING YOUNG ARE YOU?
REEEEEEEEE
I still owe them $10 for Arkham Asylum.
So fun fact: Australia still has Blockbuster that likely won't go out of business because it's a completely separate entity entirely.
Also fun fact: back in the 90s Blockbuster tried a Japan extension and it failed miserably, a local chain here (Tsutaya) bought them out.
>>331433768
Nice my friend, I had a Hollywood Video/GAME CRAZY here, then it got torn down and now is a charter school
>>331423238
Hollywood video was where I watched all of Neon Genesis Evangelion on VHS. Also had rent 3 for the price of one for SNES after PS1 and N64 came out.
>>331433619
Aren't we all?
>>331422863
who /xtravision/ here?
>>331422863
>ausfag
>watching tv a few weeks ago
>ad for blockbuster comes on
>wait what
>turns out there are still a handful of them here
I never went to blockbuster. Network video 4life. Also my local Network Video super store is still operating.
Blockbuster was a scumbag company. One of the most egregious things they did was get involved in the MPAA film classification process and use that position to practice national censorship.
They were a very moralizing company and would refuse to stock certain films and censor their own rental copies of things they found "objectionable" but that was giving them a bit of a bad reputation and hurting their business so they got in with the MPAA and started making sure everyone would get the same censored shit they would.
Anytime I think of BlockBuster, Hollywood Video/Game Crazy, I think of the movie Clerks. It gives me the same nostalgic feeling with a mix of beginning autumn.
>>331422863
Consoles
>>331425572
>BMXXX
he did you a favor, son
>>331423612
>mfw i use to completely erase all the save files on any game i rented, even if there were multiple free slots
>>331434545
>not enjoying bmxxx
what are you, a faggot.
It was a fun game mate.
>tfw Matt Hoffman and bmx games are no longer vogue
I just want to ride a bmx and do tailwhips and 360 backflips.
>tfw the roller community had it even worse.
Fucking Skaters taking all the altsprt attention.
Anons if you're interested there are still a few franchises operating - they didn't close with all the corporate stores: http://www.blockbuster.com/franchise.html
Blockbuster put all the little guys out of business, the ones who build up a vidya collection to rent out and carried older games for longer.
Thank you for making it impossible to rent SNES games in 1997, Blockbuster.
It was pretty shit.
One thing I liked doing, if I owned a game and the disc was messed up, I would rent the same game then keep their disc and give them my fucked up copy.
>>331435042
>closest one is ten hours away
Fug
Road trip ruined
>>331429495
Wait, are you meant to delete a movie after you watch it? I horde everything I download.
>>331434726
Dumb frogposter
>>331422863
Used to stop there with my mom and she'd let me pick out a ps2 game to rent, also rented games there with my friends for sleepovers
Was pretty cool at the time, reasonably expensive though
It was always exciting to go almost every weekend with the family to rent some movies and my brother and I would rent one game each.
I remember I would annoy my dad in the middle of church service and ask him if my behavior was good so we could go to Blockbuster
I never found Let's Plays entertaining but watching my brother play Paper Mario and a bunch of single player games was fun.
>https://www.familyvideo.com/apply_today.php
C'mon Anon's, they're hiring. Don't you want a job?
I still have a Blockbuster Store Card in my wallet.
It got shut down and replaced with a Verizon Store a few years back.
>rent Hitman Contracts way back
>let you have it for 4 days
>would play it to death
>don't rent anything for a year
>Hitman BM comes out
>take it home for 4 days
>return it
>mom's account gets hit with a huge fucking late fee, like 30 bucks + the cost of the game
>dudewhat
>go in and ask what the deal is
>said I never returned it
>obviously did, because I put it in the box
>guy tries telling me we didnt return game
>come back when manager is there
>pulls up that game was returned and the other guy was an idiot
>still had to pay 30 bucks or whatever exorbitant price it was
>never went back again
Blockbuster's downfall was way overdue.
>>331423373
I recall this bring a pretty late-stage swing at staying relevant.
The one near my house still does the rent one get one free Wednesday.
>>331424010
Midwest bois where you at
Michigan here
810
>>331424010
>we missed you ;_; free rental coupon
>wanted to get alekhine gun for giggles but it's gone (kek)
>get The Division instead
Can I make an Asian waifu in this game to ease the slog?
>>331422863
You ever go to the drug store and they had an electronic aisle? It was kinda like that but they had movies and snacks.
>Used to be Manager of Hollywood Video
The best fucking job I ever had. Didnt know it at the time because it was my first job, but holy shit it was great once I was able to hire people.
>>331429181
I've heard they're actually doing pretty well. I thought they'd be dead too but no.
A lot of locations around me have rented out space to stuff like pizza places, which could deliver both pizza and rentals.
Guess that's how they're still alive.
Ok anon, you can get one videogame, one snack and one drink
>tfw my dad asked me if these where music CD's I keep renting, and he picked up a wrestling N64 game and asked me if it was a video or a game.
I remember I was a poorfag growing up and blockbuster was all I had. For the most shit of games (like dude bro stuff), they'd have like 50 copies. For any game that was actually good, they had 1-2 copies max. And there was always some autistic fuck that kept them rented out forever. Once in a blue moon would the game you wanted actually be there to rent. I remember for some reason I got really hyped about Kirby Super Star, and my Blockbuster only had 1 copy. It was rented out on the day they got it in, and every time I went there for like 2-3 years. When I got older I even called them occasionally to see if they had gotten it in. There's no way it just happened to keep getting re-rented by different people before I got to it; I'm sure it was the same autistic faggot. Just buy the game you fucking nigger and stop ruining childhoods.
All I remember was that in 2003 I would rent PS2 games every week, 1 or 2 of them. Then suddenly, their rental periods started shrinking and shrinking, with prices going up and up, until you went from paying $7 to rent a game for 5 days, to paying $9 to rent a game for 2 days, but not before putting a credit card on file so they could hit you with "late fees" when their lazy ass employees forget to scan the return bin items on time.
Blockbuster was fucking shit.
>>331439280
>Legend of Dragoon
>Gummy worms
>Brisk
I miss it.
It remind sme of a time when I was less jaded.
I would get a game because the cover art was cool. I couldnt tell if it was a bad game or not, I just had fun regardless.
Now I just read a review online to see if a game is worth my timeThey never are
>late 90's - about 2005
Candy shop of game rentals, huge variety could even rent consoles
>post 2005
JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN FIFA
When renting movies was still relevant Blocbuster was too far, so I went to Movie Gallery. Their game selection was pretty shit. They had a lot of weird movies though. Thanks to them I got to see a lot of cool movies I wouldn't have seen otherwise.
However I always remember being 12 and asking the clerk if they had SkyGunner.
>If it isn't on the shelf, we don't have it.
Fucking dick.
Hollywood Video >>>>>>>>>> Blockbuster
Fight me, homos.
>>331422863
Picture this.
It's Friday afternoon, and you're off for the weekend.
Before dinner, you cruise down to Blockbuster to pick up some weekend entertainment.
You enter the store and see row after row of movies and video games being perused by customers.
Most of these customers are cute girls.
You cruise over to the horror section and grab copies of Day of the Dead and Friday the 13th, then head over to the video games and snag Turok 2 for the N64.
While waiting in line to check out, you see a box of Snow Caps and think, "Hey, why not?"
The cashier tells you that your haul is due back in five days as she checks you out.
When you get home, you call a few of your friends to come over and have a movie night.
They show up with their N64 controllers and packets of microwave popcorn.
We didn't know how good we had it in the 90s.
>>331439714
>MGS3
wake me up
>>331439792
>If it isn't on the shelf, we don't have it.
This is what I tell people at my job
What, you think we have some magic stash of secret shit hidden in back you have to ask me for?
Fuck you.
>>331439505
>>331439914
>I'm >>331439124
>Have a return box with some foam at the bottem
>One movie gets caught under there
>Some poor old lady is racking up late fees by the day for a month
But some people were legit shit
>Guy has literally $200+ in late fees
>Everytime he comes in, he has to put something down towards it. One inbreed trailer park skag lets him put a penny toward it.
>I take over, he comes to my register
>Yea no, this has to be cleared up, 90% of this shit never came back to us
>Flips the fuck out, asking for regional manager
>On the phone infront of me with him
>He starts to stutter when he has to tell the regional manager he has $200 in fees.
>>331439961
>you think we have some magic stash of secret shit hidden in back you have to ask me for?
Yes.
I wouldn't know. There have never been any Blockbusters in my area. I always rented movies and games from local mom and pop stores or a nearby grocery store.
>>331423238
>Paying a security deposit to rent something from Hollywood Video
>on top of the fucking rental fee
Hollywood Video sucked dick.
>>331439961
I hope you get fired. When somebody asks that, it usually means they're having trouble finding it. I understand getting annoyed by customers but if some dumb kid was asking me a question I would never just brush them off. Its just rude.
And yeah idiot, most stores do have more product in the back. Where the fuck do you work that you don't? I work at Target and we usually always have more of everything in the back.
>>331434109
our xtravision just closed recently, never thought it would ;_;
>>331429450
This. My sisters family is literally white trash and she always takes her 7 kids into family video because her and her husband refuse to get jobs so no internet and would rather slide by on welfare which they blow on pills and weed while spending the bare minimum she can on her kids. Also, she hasn't rented a house in the past 5 years that she's been able to live in for more than 6 months. This is the customer base for family video.
>>331422863
It was a nice place to get tons of candy and popcorn
Sometimes I sort of hate knowing random shit about games and having a lot of disposable income so the choice of vidya I have isn't limited when I browse them in stores.
Even inadvertently, from browsing /v/, other gaming websites and forums, or just knowing it's a bad game from the people who made it. There isn't any of that whole mystery of picking up a game, thinking "Whoa, this looks cool" and then renting/buying it.
All these random opinions I have about the game (that may be wrong) really hurt the whole mystery factor of the game. I mean, it's not totally gone. I randomly saw Skies of Arcadia in a charity shop once, and bought it (mostly because it was a Dreamcast game, and you don't see many of those anymore) and turned out to be the best game I ever played.
It's just a shame to have all these games to choose from and I don't want any of them.
>tfw late 90s
>your dad would take you to blockbuster every week
>he had some type of membership thing where he could rent a movie and get a free game rental
>played every single PS1 and N64 game they had
>watched all those movies with my dad
>Did this throughout 6th gen too
>All of those games
>All of those memories
>tfw Blockbuster is dead
>tfw dad is dead
>>331441219
NEVERRRRR MEANT
>Used to go to Blockbuster like twice a week
>Stopped doing it as much as the years dragged on because I basically rented it raw
>Plus the internet and piracy had become a thing
>Say to myself I'll visit it one more time before it closes, say goodbye to a over a decade of memories as I hadn't been in it in a few years
>Find out closed a week before I went to go.
Don't squander your time /v/
>>331438907
You are a little too close for comfort there, pal.
you know those overpriced candy brands only sold at movie theatres? Blockbuster had them.
>>331423278
>have no friends
>mom lets me rent one game for that weekend
>getBack to the Future 3 for the Sega Genesis
>spend the rest of the weekend crying
>>331424816
That.... is surpisingly accurate.
>>331441903
I got pretty much every wii u game they had for $10 when my local blockbuster closed
>>331422863
Delinquent highschoolers used fake IDs to create memberships, then they would rent the newest VHS tapes, and never return them.
Factually inferior to what we have today. It died for a damn good reason.
Sorry, your personal childhood memories don't make it not shit.
>>331432527
>Blockbuster and local video store was far away
>Only could get there with a 15 minute drive with parents
>Local store closing "Everything must go!"
>"Mom, can I go there!"
>She tells me no because all the games are probably broken
>Kids at school the next few days talking about how they got sacks of games
>Kid with backpack full of games like Mario RPG, Super Metroid, Final Fight etc.
>I only owned a SNES with 3 games at the time
>mfw
>tfw got Lufia 2 for $10 when they were getting rid of their 16-bit selection
>>331442489
Except no one is arguing that it was better you fucking autist.
>>331442494
How far away are we talkin?
>>331439943
Even though you have shit taste outside of turok you're right. I'm gonna kill myself tonight, the world isn't for me anymore.
>>331422863
I want to fulton those signs.
>>331422863
Shit. Their game selection was trash and on Fridays every good game would be gone giving you the choice of blues brothers or superman 64.
The candy was also overpriced, like 5 dollars for something you could get for 2 at a grocery store.
post gems you only played because the game you wanted to get was already taken out
I heard it's filled with ghosts and has something called "DeeVeDees"
>>331442828
I probably should have stole this one looking at the prices of it now
>>331442828
Wasnt that great.
>>331442828
If only I fucking knew I'd never see this disc again
Blockbuster was fucking garbage. My family stopped renting from them after they claimed that we damaged a dvd case (not even the dvd itself) and wanted to charge us $150 to replace it. Fucking cunts, so glad they went out of business.
Hollywood Video, on the other hand, was fucking god tier. It was a tragedy they went under.
>>331427570
I always wondered who the fuck the person was that gets here before me and grabs all the good stuff! Was it some person with literally no life but also have income?! Are they there THAT morning next to the building door before the employees open up shop? That person that jacked the game or movie you wanted is like your arch nemesis that you never meet personally.
>rented game
>played it for 2 hours
>concluded that it sucked
>want a different game
>took the disc and scratched the hell out of it with plug prongs
>bring it back with dad
>cashier looks flabbergasted as if someone would allow a disc in such a condition
>lets me pick another game out instead
>>331443246it was the employees
Im amazed hastings is still alive. Probably because of the corner way in the back with comucs and card games.
>that uncomfortable moment when you spy on autists in their natural habitat
Its pretty funny when they catch a normie watching them.
Strangely enough they all had this certain pleasant smell of plastic from the DVD cases.
>>331422863
Overpriced snacks and bad rental deals.
Jumbo Video was better.
>>331422863
It was great because it was the best we had at the time. But then again most of my memories of it were being taken there after school to have my Dad rent either a movie or game for me for the weekend.
>>331443246
Former employee here, any popular release, pretty much every staff member reserved for themselves. So that would often be 1/3 of the copies gone before we even opened. Then we'd reserve copies for our friends/family.
Most new releases in my store, only about 1/4 of our copies ever made it to the shelf for like the first week.
>>331427517
I remember this, but with Toys R Us
>Just got a PS2 in fall 2002
>Got GTA 3 and beat it, waiting for Vice City
>Not available the week of release (didn't understand preorders at this time, parents insisted it's a waste of money)
>Get Castlevanias Harmony of Dissonance for GBA
>Not available the next week either
>Get MGS 2
>Not available again, go home empty-handed.
>Don't bother looking for Vice City until like after new years
>>331422998
A dream. Always got shit like Golden Eye and Diddy Kong Racing there. Was always sad to have to turn them over on the return box.
I miss it, games like pic related where made to be rentals.
>>331428790
>Netflix licensing is limited
This. My phone has showbox and I can watch everything a lot sooner for free, I just have to deal with ads and retarded downloads, I'll leave a queue overnight and when I wake up, I expect everything to be ready for work the next day but see that nothing was downloaded. Pure fury.
somehow my town still has a singular, family owned video store left and i still occasionally rent console games from there i know i'll beat in 4-10 hours and have no replayability. i'll miss it when its gone. renting games now is more viable than its ever been.
>>331424010
>Walk into Family Video after a party with a group of friends
>Drunk and high as fuck
>One of my friends asks if they have a specific movie in stock, girls behind the checkout counter say they don't
>Another friend says "that's fine we can just pirate it"
>Girls behind the counter give him the angriest look I have ever seen
My friend is a retard
>>331443302
>>331443613
Ugh of course!
did people like using video tapes for movies? i just cant imagine how annoying and ugly the video looks when i see vhs quality stuff on youtube
>>331443994
Did he go to jail?
>>331444128
It was the best we had, we wouldn't know different.
Would be like someone asking you in 15 years "How could you people stand 1080p movies?"
>>331444128
No, people just ironically watched VHS.
>>331444128
It had a certain charm. It was annoying though because you had to rewind it all to the start before returning it.
>>331443719
Fuck no, maybe i'm autistic but i played it over and over, best game ever.
But yeah, for normal peoples it's a good rental game.
>>331444172
nah, he just apologized for being the reason their business was failing and we checked out our movies (which my friend never returned anyway). Then we went to the Little Caesars next door and made fun of him
>Working behind counter
>One of the old ladies that works with us is on shift today
>Hear her say "Uh...Yea, guess these are it.". >Hear the beep, go about my business
>Next day, the head of regonal is in and calling us for a meeting
>"Old lady has been fired and fined for $10,000. We would like to go over the dangers of renting out movies before street date again."
Turns out the boxes were there from a shipment earlier that day, boss opened them to have a look. They weren't up for rent for a week.
>>331444128
Fuck no. I used to have what would be these days a small movie collection and it took up half of my room.
>>331425245
I had that happen to me, except I was buying FF13 from Walmart when it came out. Got it home, popped it in, couldn't figure out why the thing wouldn't start up. Took it back out and squinted at the disc and noticed that the fucking thing had a printed label someone had made and stuck on what was probably a blank CD.
Took it back and they gave me the stink-eye the whole time I was returning it like I was trying to pull something. Either someone had bought the game, swapped the discs, and returned it, or else one of their employees had done it because it was in the celophane and everything when I got it. IDK if they re-package games that have been returned or not.
Fucking cunts, if I were trying to pull a fast one, why would I have told them the disc was a fake? Why not just be like, it doesn't work, or I changed my mind, like the first person probably did.
>>331444128
no no one liked it at all. i imagine there probably are some shit-eating hipster nostalgia fags producing and buying shit exclusively for VHS though.
>>331438564
>still had to pay 30 bucks or whatever exorbitant price it was
What. Isn't that illegal? They made a mistake, but you have to pay anyway?
>rent game
>the manual is still in it
>treasure the fuck out it and read it all the way through before playing
>>331443264
Fuck you
>>331422863
Had the worlds biggest selection of stale candy
Past that, I miss it
>>331445175
The age of no manuals is truly a time of suffering. This is why I fall for Atlus preorders -- to make gaming feel like an event with a ritual instead of just the part where you stare at a screen for three days of your life
>rent mg3 subsistence
>came with the game and the bonus disc
>only returned the bonus disc
I wish I could of seen the look on the face of the person who rented it next
>>331425616
Yeah
I'm 22 and hangout with my small close group of friends every Friday and we spend the night and play games and shit
It's a good way to unwind after work and classes all week
>>331445175
I miss manuals. Hell, I even miss getting strategy guides back when the internet was less reliable. I'd always bring that shit to school with me.
>always went to the video rental store with my father when I was 6 to get games for my N64
>one day that video rental store which was located at the bottom of a two floor building moved to the top floor
>when that happened they didn't offer any games anymore
>ask dad why we have to walk upstairs now to get to the rental store
>"Because they moved to the top floor."
>"But what did they do with the bottom floor?"
>"..."
>dad didn't say anything
>after walking up the stairs we look for a movie to rent, but I'm upset that they don't have any games anymore
>tell my father
>"Hey you look here and I will look there, so we find a good movie faster!"
>I walk off and try to sneak to the entrance
>walk down the stairs and jump down the last bit to sprint into the room where the video rental store previously was
>look around in shock and horror
>it's still a video rental store just for porn
>start running around the room in one big circle to see if that's really it or if they still have some N64 games here
>the men in there all look at me funny
>run another lap because maybe I didn't look hard enough
>didn't find any games
>run out the entrance and up the stairs again
>meet up with my father
>my dad asks
>"Did you find something?"
>"... No"
>>331422863
Poorfag divorcekid, here.
Only been there a couple times, and I was 8-ish so I wouldn't have paid for anything myself. Plus, we couldn't afford an N64 or PS or anything, so I have no experience with video games.
I liked it, but video rental was pretty expensive, alongside everything else. I used to sell candy at a booth in a rich kid rec camp, and we hiked up the prices compared to what supermarkets charged, so I assume it's the same there. Besides, Netflix and libraries are a lot better, imo.
>>331445523
>he had the game disc and took the bonus
everyone wins
>tfw I got followed around a blockbuster like I was there to steal the empty boxes.
Not a fucking thing of value was lost when they went under.
>>331440669
Robbie? You sound like my cousin.
>>331422863
was pretty cool sign of the times
would always go there with friends late at night to rent a game, pick up some snowcaps, snacks, and sodas, and a nightmare on elm street movie for the weekend
not as convenient as Netflix, but something special was lost with it all right
>>331446104
To be fair, if it was Hollywood video, we were told we had to in order to "Interact with the customers!". We literally had to follow you around and ask if you need help, ask a fucking trivia question, and give a coupon if they got it right.
9/10 times, we would just walk out from behind the desk and just attempt to walk towards them if we had an idea we were being watched, because corporate would send secret shoppers.
>local rental place went under a year ago
>barely ever went there, family owned and most of the employees were assholes
>went right before closing and snagged Kirby's Return to Dreamland for 10 bucks
I also remember going to them around 2010 or so and seeing the wall behind their counter lined with in-box Dreamcast rumble packs. Never bothered to get any of them, but I do wonder why they were even there. Also where they might've ended up.
>>331423306
Well, they wouldn't notice the missing expansion pack anyway. Still in my 64.
>rent Megaman Legends, the disc looks like it was rubbed on a cheese grater and had audio problems
>rent Akira, someone recorded over it with an old HBO comedy special
Other than that is was pretty cool.
>>331445618
The owner of that store sounds like a real genius. Why didn't he just put the porn on the second floor and save everyone a lot of time and hassle?
>tfw always wanted to rent the Virtual Boy at the Blockbuster and only realized later what a pile of shit it was
>>331446104
Nigger
>>331423114
you must live in some really poor place. My Blockbuster had tons of copies for new games the day they came out.
>>331426375
I "lost" Pokemon Stadium 2 and got to keep it for $20. Same with Starcraft 64. Really wish I had the box and manual for that.
Fuck Block Buster. Jumbo Video is where it's at. They gave you free popcorn when you went into the store, shit was great.
>>331422863
>use to buy chocolates and eat em inside while playing mario 64 on the console it was there
Those days were pretty good man.
Blockbuster had the chance to buy netflix early on and turned it down thinking it would never catch on.
funny how that works
>>331447394
A L P H A
L
P
H
A
>>331422863
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TrPwOrf4sM here you go OP this should give you a fairly accurate idea of what it was like. Also you other guys too.
>>331427570
>>331429729
>>331424816
>>331445618
>Go to blockbuster
>Walk down the horror movie isle
>Get scared of the covers
fug
>>331443068
>posts like he knows what he's talking about
>doesn't post Sculptor's Cut
>>331447578
I really don't get the people in this thread that cry so much about Blockbuster not having the movies or games they needed. They always had all the stuff I needed everytime I went there, and the thought of they not having it had never even crossed my mind. I guess it was just different here in Brazil.
Shit
you had to drive to rent it, drive to return it, pay late fees if you didn't feel like returning it on time and was expensive
now you can rent games on Steam for a dollar.
you didn't miss out on anything desu
>>331423238
This x1000. Hollywood Video and Gamecrazy were the bomb, and the fact that they were often paired together in the same building only solidified that fact.KB Toys was also better than Toys R Us in some respects.
>>331448324
I still miss KB Toys
In hindsight it was shit, any good game was always the first to be gone.
>>331427234
>being this nostalgic over a shit system
top kek. Video rental places were shit. They were strictly worse than the system we have today.
stay mad
>>331422863
I worked at BlockBuster. Was a fucking blast. Two kids I worked with used to get high or do whipits in the back room and I banged the new chick in the video game section since it didn't have any cameras.
It was literally the best job to have in high school.
>>331422863
I don't know man, I used Hollywood Video.
Great in a time when there was sub-1MB/s download speeds, completely irrelevant now, as is everything similar to it that still exists.
>>331423084
The economy was significantly better, money was worth a lot more (measured in real dollars), people were making a ton of money, the late fees were trivial.
>>331422863
Who NewZealand here?
Who CIVIC Video here?
>>331439714AEIOU AEIOU
>>331426116
>Browsing the cartoons
>find a vhs called genocyber
>woah mum this looks cool, can we rent it!
>well it's only a cartoon anon, sure
That was a fucking traumatic anime to watch as a kid. Rest in peace central park media.
>>331429281
Finally an accurate one of these stupid comparison things
OP, alotta people here are gonna go maximum nostalgia on how great the "rental era" was but trust me when I say that what we have now in WORLDS more convenient and the selection is at least 10 times greater.
>>331426116
I do this at the uni library every other day
>>331422863
>tfw I worked at Blockbuster during the rise of DVDs
One of the worst jobs I ever had and holy fuck were the customers DUMB.
>rent dragon ball z: budokai tenkaichi 2
>leave it in the ps2 at school one day
>mom takes the game back while I'm gone
>Blockbuster never calls
>still have it to this day
>>331453493
Your Mom's CC account was probably charged the full amount and she just never noticed.
Trust me, they were FULL JEW when it came to loss prevention.
Used to work at a UK video rental place called Prime Time back when VHS was still the big thing and DVD hadn't entered the public consciousness. It was pretty great. Legit got to sit around watching movies all day, and you almost never got any customers who weren't regulars and you weren't on first name terms with. Simpler times.
Netflix is way better than what happened once movies became disc-based, though. Those fuckers got way too easily damaged and ruined the entire rental experience for everyone involved.
