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Those Were the Days: The PlayStation Era Arrives
Tantrums Flare Among Siblings With Crappy Games
by Sarah
Those Were the Days is a new weekly article in which Gamervision employees share video game-related memories. If you’ve got a story of your own to share, please do so! We love hearing from the community.
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When I was growing up, my parents weren’t really crazy about the whole video game craze. My brothers and I were the last kids on the block to have a Nintendo Entertainment System, and by that point, the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis were about to launch. Because of this, our house was completely untouched by the 16-bit generation. Oh, sure, we played Sega and SNES games at our friends’ houses, and the NES in our living room certainly got a lot of love over the years. However, there were times when we felt left out, as if our system was a thing of the past.
However, things all changed in 1995, the year that the first PlayStation launched. I don’t even know how, but we somehow convinced our parents to get us one for Christmas, and they delivered. On December 25, 1995, we unwrapped the new system with glee. And it wasn’t just the system—it came in a bundle with two brand-new games, NBA Jam Tournament Edition, an entertaining basketball game, and Street Fighter: The Movie. Yes, that’s right, a game based on a movie based on a game. The bundle also came with a demo disc for several other PS1 games, including Jumping Flash! and the first WipEout game, which we played as much as if it was a regular game.
At this time, I was twelve years old, and my brothers were eleven and nine. We didn’t always know how to distinguish a good game from a crappy one. However, even then it quickly became apparent that Street Fighter: The Movie (the game) was really, really awful. However, we still played it constantly. It was a two-player game, which meant only one of us had to be left out at a time, and the rounds went by quickly enough that taking turns was a viable option. It’s also worth mentioning that one of my brothers has a horrible temper, which really comes out when he’s playing video games competitively. It was like that when we were kids, and it remains that way to this day. Tantrums would flare often while playing SFTM, fists would fly, and tears would be shed. Still, we always went back to more.
Eventually, we moved on to bigger and better games—Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII, the original Crash Bandicoot and Rayman titles, and numerous others that were far more worthy of our time. However, even back then, I liked to go back to older games from time to time, so one day when no one else was around, I opened up the Street Fighter: The Movie game case—and found that only half of the game disc was in there! That’s right, the CD was broken in half, and only part of it remained. Even though it was a crappy game, that seemed like a sad and untimely end for it to have.
I figured that we had left the disc out, or done something with it we weren’t supposed to, and the breakage was the result of our carelessness. I didn’t even give it much thought until about a year ago, when I found out the truth: my tantrum-prone brother had broken the disc in a fit of rage, and then put it back in the case, as if no one would notice. The sad thing was, I’m not sure if anyone did. I still don’t know what happened to the other half of the game, but I do know that because of this, I won’t get to review it for Throwback Thursday anytime soon—and we’re all probably better for it.
There haven’t been very many times in my life when I’ve had the opportunity to be an early adopter for a system—in fact, it has only happened once or twice since the PlayStation arrived. Even though that console is over a decade old now, it remains one of my all-time favorites with an incredible library of games across all genres. I don’t look back upon my time with Street Fighter: The Movie with quite the same fondness, but I will always recall it as one of the first (if not the first) PS1 games I ever played, and for that, it has earned a permanent place in my memories.
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Comments
"Its also worth mentioning that one of my brothers has a horrible temper, which really comes out when hes playing video games competitively. It was like that when we were kids, and it remains that way to this day."
Hahaha I wonder which tantrum throwing brother you were talking about.
And from what I heard, that game deserved to be bitten in half and left for dead.
"Finish Him!"
"Oopsieeee!"
Right, I forgot that, as legend goes, he actually BIT the game in half. I really wish I had seen that happen. The game was not missed.
I remember it all in vivid detail.
The early-morning sun slowly filtered through the blinds, reflecting off the various screens and monitors, turning light energy into a source of heat trapped by insulation in the walls and ceiling, and by thick carpeting on the floor. The cozy little nook on the second floor of our house -- our game room, our computer room, our entertainment center was inviting me inside. I felt only a sense of duty; I was bound by honor to answer the challenge issued some months prior. Indeed, I had been bested every time I set forth down this path. Victory had always seemed to be just out of reach, something hanging overhead that could be glimpsed through peripheral vision, but no matter how I twisted and squirmed and fought my way upward, trying to keep my head above ground, I was banished to the subterranea. On this morning, though, something different coursed through my veins. I felt good; my fingers dexterous, my mind clear and focused on the task at hand; I felt alive. With the best intentions, the highest hopes, and the certainty that this time I would succeed, I crossed the threshold and closed the door behind me.
Sitting in a wicker chair, watching the excruciatingly lengthy loading screen, my mind did not wander. I could not allow any impurity to distract my command center from the mission that I had so boldly undertaken. Fun? I had my whole life ahead of me to worry about having fun. This was battle; this war must be won.
I felt a tinge of sympathy when it came time to select a fighter. After many years of loyal service, I had knowingly sent my best soldier to be slaughtered at the domineering hands of the enemy. But if anyone could defeat Guile, it was Ryu.
The First Round began. I took an early lead through the strategic placement of hadokens and shuriokens. Luck was on our side, because any attack launched by Jean-Claude was easily blocked and countered. He scored a few hits, but at the end of the round, Ryu was still standing strong. A good start, I thought to myself. But dont let it get to you. Do not dwell on the small victory and forget about the greater battle still to come.
Round Two. Each fighter tried to gauge the other by staying in his respective corner and unsuccessfully tossing projectiles across the screen. Neither one could score the first hit that way, and they both knew it. They were merely testing each other while the clock counted down from ninety-nine. Have to be careful, I told myself. If we win this round, the war is over. Take your time; let him make the first mistake. At last, he attacked. After a series of blocks, kicks, punches, and fireballs, the clock read fifteen. One more hit, I thought. One more hit, and its done. Ryu was hurt bad, though, and it wouldnt take much to knock him down. The two champions from different corners of the world faced each other in those final seconds of the second round and knew that after the next attack, one of them would not rise. Guile attacked; Ryu dodged and countered with a flying, spinning kick. Victory, at last! Finally, I beat that sonofa what? Guile blocked! Sonic boom! Noooooooo!
I tried to keep the morale up. It had been a close round, and we had almost won. The loss was crushing, but the fight was not over. One round remained, and I had to fight it with every ounce of strength, every drop of life I could muster up and pour into my wounded fighter. We can do this, I thought. We MUST do this.
Maybe there was a glitch somewhere in the labyrinth of code on the game disc. Maybe the controller I had chosen, a fine weapon on any other day, was beginning to show signs of its age. Perhaps the electrical current that originated in my brain and was to run down the back of my neck, through my shoulders and the full length of my arms, splitting at the fork of my hands and finishing its journey in my thumbs and forefingers, the current that included the set of instructions on how to destroy the enemy, never made it to its destination, and my fingers remained frozen. Most likely, the American warrior was hungry for victory, and angry that I had almost made him lose. He was out to embarrass me.
Round Three was hardly a contest. From the onset, Guile pounced mercilessly until he had achieved a flawless victory over the crumpled body of Ryu. Rage. Hatred. Anger. A red cloud descended over my field of vision, not unlike in Doom when you come across the Berserk black health box. How did this happen? I had almost achieved victory, I could smell it like I could smell the unwashed head of my unshowered younger sibling sitting in the next room, and yet here it had been taken from me! AGAIN! I slammed the index and middle fingers of my right hand into the Open button on the PlayStation console. The disc drive cover popped open and rose in a slow arc, as if lazily insulting my failure. I jerked it open and snatched the disc from inside, like a diver would hope to find a pearl inside of an oyster. This pearl, however, was a poison trap for unwary gamers hoping to find a legitimate source of entertainment. I decided that it had to be stopped. Muttering some vulgarity in a voice I hardly recognized as my own, I lifted the disc to my mouth and chomped down on it as hard as was humanly possible. I then strained to raise the angle of my head whilst my hands were pulling the game disc in the opposite direction, towards the floor. I did not let up until I heard the crunch.
The disc lay on the floor in three distinct pieces, with tiny shards strewn about the immediate area. After my anger subsided, I realized I would probably get in trouble for such a display of animosity, so I picked up the pieces and placed them, in full-disk form, back in the game case. To any passerby, it looked like a regular compact disc sitting in a transparent disc case. I was the only person who would ever know the truth.
Until now.
wow. best. story. ever. might as well pack it up, nothing's gonna top it.
I had a brother like that.....he claims to still be a gamer although all I ever see him do is trash-talk and/or call other people names and get pissed off while playing Halo.....odd...
After all these years, the truth is finally revealed!
"I could smell it like I could smell the unwashed head of my unshowered younger sibling sitting in the next room"
So, so true.