Problems Only 90s Gamers Could Understand

NowGamer: "With the PS1 turning 20 this December it’s got us thinking about gaming in the 90s. We complain a lot these days, but there were a lot of problems with gaming back then that we all seemed to ignore. If you were a gamer in the 90s you’d know all about these particular problems…"

[darthv72]

"Having a friend who owned the ‘other’ console

You think console wars are bad nowadays? You’d fall out with a friend who adamantly insisted that Aladdin was better on the Mega Drive than it was on the SNES (come on, that’s just not true) and not speak to them again at least until the Monday after the weekend.

Console wars, man…"

Not true. Friends can agree and disagree and still be friends regardless of console loyalty. Personally I enjoyed it when my friends had the other consoles as it gave us reasons to swap now and then.

I'd borrow a friends PS1 or anothers N64 while they borrowed my Saturn or other systems. We were pretty satisfied with what we played. We werent cheating on our brands but sharing the joy that gaming brings as a whole.

The memory card thing...I still go through that even though i have like...4 memory cards for each system. you always find one with a game save you can live without.

[lemoncake]

Aladdin on the SMS was better, good day to you, sir!

[UltraNova]

I went through all those phases except the Mario film which I have to give my thanks to the movie's producer for my six pack rock solid abs after the end of the movie...

EDIT: Who else besides me finished Superman 64?

(Another fellow masochistic :-p)

[Kingdomcome247]

Yeah, even though I've had my preferences I always enjoyed the opportunity to try something else as a kid. Now as an adult with my own money I can personally find reasons, and afford to own all consoles. I still have preferences. Sony stills holds the top spot due to their exclusives appealing to my tastes more, but I still find redeeming qualities with each console. Console preferences never have nor never will be a cause for disdain in my opinion. The way some people go about conveying their preference is another story. I wasn't here last gen, but I would've said the same thing I'm saying now. It's dumb.

[Nerdmaster]

Even Shinji Mikami, who made the SNES version of Aladdin, agrees that the Genesis version is better.

http://www.polygon.com/2014...

[NukaCola]

Aladdin was best on Sega Genesis...nuff said

[Snookies12]

Heh, that's what I had it for. Aladdin on Sega was freaking awesome...

[Qrphe]

Decades later, we can all objectively agree the Genesis version was indeed better.

[3-4-5]

* Cartridges were more fun to own and collect.

They felt i guess more " special" in a way...I like that Nintendo still uses them for 3DS/DS.

* Memory cards...there was never enough space...and the knock off ones would erase data.

* I remember EVERYONE being excited about almost all games though. Not a ton of fighting and arguing and if there was it lasted for like minutes and then we started up a game.

* I was lucky enough to have friends who weren't shat talkers so we would game together a lot and try to be games together, and not really against each other.

People in the 90's were more open, honest, and got along a bit better......or maybe that was because I was younger.

[caseh]

"People in the 90's were more open, honest, and got along a bit better......or maybe that was because I was younger."

It's because discussions were in person rather than hidden behind the anonymity the internet provides.

If half the things said on this site were said in person it would more often than not result in someone getting a beating.

[rainslacker]

I remember arguing with friends about which console/games were better. We were mostly civil, although somewhat young(I was actually an adult 20 years ago).

What I also remember is that we'd go to each other's houses and play each other's games and not worry about the console wars while doing so until the next day on the playground.:)

[Derpy]

I agree, real friends, can at the very least, agree to disagree. Though memory cards and batteries had their issues, I never really had the other issue as all my friends and I were multi-console, we brought any system that we thought we would have fun with. None of us thought then or now that we should miss out on great games for something as silly as being loyal to business. I miss how in the 90s there was always something new coming out and the console market wasn't flooded with boring FPS. Some of the best RPGs ever came out during this decade.

[MRMagoo123]

arguments have been going a lot longer than those old cartridge systems, when I was at high school we used to argue about which pc was better out of the spectrum the c64 and the amstrad. The games on cassette tape and floppies were the days.

[CerealKiller]

Turning the PS1 upside down? I never heard of this.

[darthv72]

Yeah, it was a 'thing' in the earlier models. I usually kept mine elevated to allow for proper airflow and never had to resort to the flip mode style of playing.

[GamingSinceThe80s]

I remember that all to well as I had to do the same thing.lol

[Gazondaily]

Haha yeah I did this.

Oh man I went through so many things. Freezing the adapter on the megadrive, turning my PSone upside down, blowing on cartridges (standard)....man. You younger gamers have no idea what you missed! I feel sorry for you!

I feel old.

[rhap]

During the PS1 era it was extremely common here in Brazil to see some upside down PS1. People used to say that it's because of the use of pirated games and bad quality of the CDs.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

I had to start doing it to mine right about the time when Resident Evil 2 came out, just so scenes and audio wouldn't skip. Upside down. So it wouldn't skip. Technology.

[Rebel_Scum]

Yeah we never turned them upside down in NZ but had it on a 45 degree angle. It wasn't for cutting down load times but to ensure it started the game.

The early PS1's had overheating issues so you had to provide space for the heat to escape. You also couldn't just have it on the carpet either.

[rainslacker]

It was actually caused because Sony tuned the lasers a bit too low to increase their yield. If those lasers were faulty-ish, then that tuning could cause the laser to not focus properly.

When you turned the system upside down, the slight pull of gravity on the disc would cause the focal length of the laser to increase, and then it could focus properly on the tracks.

[Petebloodyonion]

Turning the ps1 was a quick fix to solve the optical lens problem with early ps1 model. similar to towel trick for 360 with the RROD.

actually the trick was to put it sideways and ironicaly it's the inspiration for the standing ps2 position.

[annoyedgamer]

Fighting over who gets the dreaded clear controller.

[jaymacx]

Yeah the 3rd party ones? With N64 I had a clear third party controller that had a huge dead zone on the analog stick. I had 3 nintendo pads and the dreaded clear one...

[TheFirstClassic]

Haha We had a rule where last place got the crap controller. Good times.

[BluFish]

Totally forgot about that Mario face at the start of Mario 64. So awesome!

[crusf]

Blowing on the cartridges. Ah the good ol days

[rhap]

I remember when a "friend" borrowed our Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo or something like that and then gave it back not working. My brother took his Streets of Rage 2, removed the chip from the cartridge and put some random really bad game in it haha The guy was really pissed, but couldn't do anything since he broke our SSF2T.

[ThatArtGuy]

DON'T BLOW INTO CARTRIDGES!!! I recently got a NES cartridge from eBay recently and had to take an Emory board to the pins because there was rust on them.

It's really bad for your games.

[NatureOfLogic_]

Gamers didn't care about that back then. I would've done anything to get the game working back then. Blowing into the cartridge gave a glimmer of hope.

[darthv72]

I actually thought my system liked it. it certainly worked better than sweet talking it.

[Godz Kastro]

Wouldve been nice to know 15 yrs ago :)

[ChozenWoan]

Never had that problem... SMS FTW!
3D gaming, headphone jack, and top loading cartridges made it a beast. My friends across the street on the other hand... >.> ... lol

It was all good though as we'd talk trash on each others console while playing on them. Good ol times on the Console War Frontlines.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Blow with your mouth, not with your nose.

[MrSwankSinatra]

I disagree about the whole "fallout out with a friend because he owned the other console" point. While the SNES was better, I had friends who owned a Genesis and we would just debate on SNES vs Genesis, but it never was to the point where we stopped being friends. This whole console flame war didn't really become what it is until the PS3/360 generation. I remember specifically it being the stupid 360 fanboys who started this whole flame war.

When I was in high school people were pretty much appalled that I chose a PS3 over the 360. Those people would say dumb crap like "PS3 doesn't have halo," "PlayStation is the GayStation," things of that nature. I remember one time saying that I though Halo sucked and people actually wanted to fight me over it, LITERALLY!! LOL.....

[darthv72]

6th gen is when things really took off in regards to fanboy this or that. Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox and Gamecube were the contenders.

Who do you think was more vocal/arrogant about "winning"...?

The "gamers" were the rational ones who could play the games and be objective to the pro's and cons and have genuine debates about such things.

The "fanboys" are the real diehard "my way or the highway" views that you can't hold a conversation for longer than 7.2 seconds.

It hasnt gotten any better since then.

[MrSwankSinatra]

Who do you think was more vocal/arrogant about "winning"...?

Xbox community....

I never heard crap like that from either the PS2, Dreamcast or GameCube communities. There was so much to play between those systems that I don't think most people cared. Xbox community did since it was the xbox was the new kid on the block.

[darthv72]

Sorry Swank...Xbox didnt win anything in the 6th gen. Try again as I'm sure will will have already figured it out.

Here's a hint. That same arrogance still thrives today with all sort of "winning" proclamations.

[Godz Kastro]

Them there is fighting words boy! LOL

[Paytaa]

Believe me, my friends and I who all had the original Xbox were bashed because we didn't have a PS2.

[Petebloodyonion]

Fanboys where as present as today.
in the 90's there was no such things as the Internet.
So yeah flame war was reduced to your inner circle of game freaks.
Now the circle is way bigger with morons who actually think that they have stakes in a war and feel the need to educate the rest of the flock about how we should use our gaming time!

[MetaReapre]

I love this article, it's funny and yet acurate at some points. Makes me think back to those days. Nostalgia, man.

[SegaGamer]

I'm a 90's gamer and i never really had many of these issues. I still have that gotta find a save spot feeling though. I always used to worry that the power in the house was going to go out after not saving for ages.

[rainslacker]

I never worried about that...but damn if I didn't get pissed off when it actually did happen. Playing a few hours of a JRPG and suddenly everything goes dark induces gamer rage quicker than a mega-man game.

[PaleMoonDeath]

My problem was not having a memory card for a good while, you could imagine the pain of getting so far into a game like beating the tyrant on Resi 2 and then being killed.. BOOM, right back to square one.

Golden days of magazines and the couch Tekken.

[CorndogBurglar]

Playing Mortal Kombat at my friend's house on his Super Nintendo. Thats when i knew I chose right with my Genesis. No blood or fatalities? Come on now, its Mortal Friggin' Kombat. Don't even put it on your console if your going to take away the one thing everyone played those games for.

[Summons75]

"Somehow you thought this film was the greatest thing ever…"

Nobody ever thought that movie was the greatest thing ever, and nobody was ever jealous of the one person who had a Gameboy Camera... This list made me remember some good times though, and yes the water temple still irritates me.

[DarkZane]

"Picking what to delete from your memory card…"

When that happened, I simply bought a new one.

[rainslacker]

lol. same here. I hate deleting save files.:) Trying to remember which FF save you could safely delete from a collection of 15. Fun times.