atarilovesyou Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Mine was Sub-Roc for the Colecovision. No idea what we paid for it, but we loved it back then (not so much now). After that experience, we were hooked on renting because nobody really owned Coleco around me. One place to rent games for that system, only. I remember they had a Roller Controller for sale in the window for years...box was faded, lol. Funny, cause the one I bought NIB on ebay a few years ago has that same sunfade...lol. Creepy. Another one I remember was Miner 2049er. After Sub-Roc, I thought for SURE this one would be a winner; after all, my cousin spoke so highly of it! WOW were we disappointed!....of course, the graphics were terrible (to our 'sophisticated' eyes) and the thing looked like a 2600 game (kind of an insult to CV owners back then)...but by the next morning we were so sad to return it, once we finally figured out the addictive nature of it: fast paced fun, with a ton of levels! Good times. Lastly, my first NES rental: Double Dragon, Rambo and Metal Gear. Stayed up all night. Laughed at DD. Angry about Rambo. Metal Gear had us confused and there wasn't enough time to find all the cool shit from the one page adverts we were drooling about from the comics of the time (where there's every single flipping weapon and piece of equipment, with descriptions....I'm still drooling)...we didn't even figure out how to use the keycards! No instructions, and the idea of pressing a button other than 'start' was bewildering. Fun stuff. Good while it lasted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I can't say that I've ever rented a game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 My video game rentals were all NES games from our local A&P supermarket in New Jersey, starting some time around 1990. I don't remember which was the first, but some of the rentals I can remember were BattleToads, Legacy of the Wizard, Blaster Master, Ninja Gaiden, Contra, Code Name: Viper, and Captain Skyhawk. Most of these are still favorites of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevideogamecollector Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 my first game system rental was a sega genesis with cd system with sonic cd and night trap from suncoast video. Was so happy carrying home that hard suit case they had it packed in. I think there was a fifty dollar sercurity fee and a 24 dollar rental fee. Bought my own system soon after. www.thevideogamecollector.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I think it was Bubble Bobble, from Top Hit Video, 1989 or 1990. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82atari5200 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I think it was Bubble Bobble, from Top Hit Video, 1989 or 1990. First one I can really remember is SMB2 at a little movie store in MT. Pleasant, SC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 My video game rentals were all NES games from our local A&P supermarket in New Jersey, starting some time around 1990. I don't remember which was the first, but some of the rentals I can remember were BattleToads, Legacy of the Wizard, Blaster Master, Ninja Gaiden, Contra, Code Name: Viper, and Captain Skyhawk. Most of these are still favorites of mine. Same here, though mine was a video rental place. I don't think we rented any VCS games in the 1980s -- though confusingly, we did buy some of our VCS games from a video store -- so I think 1990 would've been my start date too. I have no idea what NES game was the first one I rented. The main candidates that come to mind are Deadly Towers, The Guardian Legend, and Gyruss, since I know I never owned those and I don't think I borrowed them from friends/family either. (Then again, for all I know it could've been a game I promptly put out of my mind, like Clu Clu Land, Magmax, or Seicross.) I have a list of all the games I've beaten, but unfortunately the first 40 entries aren't chronological. It's fun to go back through the list, though, and remember which games I rented & under what circumstances. I remember playing Deadly Towers at my friend's house, with a malfunctioning console to boot. What a strange, demoralizing game that was. (I didn't beat it until many years later, with the help of walkthroughs and emulation.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameGirl420 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 The first game I rented was back in 1988 and it was Athena on NES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 The first game I rented was back in 1988 and it was Athena on NES. Ouch, what a way to start! I think that may be the NES game I dislike most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqoon Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 (edited) Many years gaming and nary a single rental to my credit. Edited June 6, 2012 by sqoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 All I remember right now is that it was for the NES. Now that this thread has moistened my mind, the details might surface in a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 No idea. My dad used to rent tons of games back in the NES and SNES days. Usually we'd rent from Blockbuster, and sometimes we'd rent from a grocery store called Punches... The earliest place I can remember buying/renting games from, though, was Hills, before they closed. I remember when SMB3 came out, I asked my dad where SMB2 went, so we went out and rented it. He kept calling to keep it for another week...we must've had that game for months >_< 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 The first game that I (well, technically, my Father) ever rented was either Cosmic Ark or Adventure (for the 2600, of course). It would probably have been in early-1983 (as I sold that 2600 around June of 1983). The cost was $7/week. The place was a local, independent video store very close to where I went to elementary school in Halifax. Ironically, I never rented anything for another/more modern system. After the 2600, I had a PSX (a few places rented games for it, but not many) and now a PS 2 (even fewer places rented games for it). I completely skipped gaming during the NES/SMS/SNES/Genesis eras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarilovesyou Posted June 6, 2012 Author Share Posted June 6, 2012 The first game I rented was back in 1988 and it was Athena on NES. Holy crap, I totally forgot!...we rented this one before the Big Three!...memory is going: rented Athena and Lifeforce, lol...goodtimes, and I seem to remember Athena not being terrible...but I tried it again the other day and questioned my sanity. Lifeforce, though...classic awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltigro Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I'm not sure if it was the first, but it is one of the earliest I can remember. I remember I rented the NES, too because we didn't have one at the time, but the game was Tiger Heli. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqoon Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I remember when SMB3 came out, I asked my dad where SMB2 went, so we went out and rented it. He kept calling to keep it for another week...we must've had that game for months >_< You had good taste. SMB2 is the best in the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I can't remember exactly what my first rental was. SMB2 maybe? I do have vivid memories of renting Friday the 13th and not knowing what to do. I also remember renting Famicom SMB3 with adapter. R.C. Pro-Am. Punch Out. Ice Hockey definitely. Now that I think about it some more, there's a good chance that my first rental was NES Ice Hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameGirl420 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 The first game I rented was back in 1988 and it was Athena on NES. Holy crap, I totally forgot!...we rented this one before the Big Three!...memory is going: rented Athena and Lifeforce, lol...goodtimes, and I seem to remember Athena not being terrible...but I tried it again the other day and questioned my sanity. Lifeforce, though...classic awesome. LOL yep.... Athena isn't a bad game but the graphics hasn't held up well I think. Obviously it was based on some sort of anime. I remember my family used to rent at this video store called Magic Video in Hayward,CA and I remember we would rent NES games once and awhile. Oh gawd some memories are coming back to me now...now I remember the one time we rented Friday the 13th for NES the same night my grampa rented Road House on VHS on a hot late 80's summer night. I also vividly remember the last NES game I ever rented was Little Mermaid back in 1994 and then my first job was working at a video store called Ultimate Video in 1997 with one of my brothers and he used to take alot of Super NES rental games from there for "free" when nobody was looking lol. Still remember playing the NBA Jams SNES game my brother got.I haven't seen a video rental store in years. Do they still exist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameGirl420 Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 The first game I rented was back in 1988 and it was Athena on NES. Ouch, what a way to start! I think that may be the NES game I dislike most. lol uh okay. How was i supposed to know that game wasn't good? Back in the late 80's, if you were 10-11 years old just about any NES game was good imo. Plus that game really isn't that bad. I could name several NES games that are way worse than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 The first game I rented was back in 1988 and it was Athena on NES. Ouch, what a way to start! I think that may be the NES game I dislike most. lol uh okay. How was i supposed to know that game wasn't good? Back in the late 80's, if you were 10-11 years old just about any NES game was good imo. Plus that game really isn't that bad. I could name several NES games that are way worse than that. I was expressing sympathy, not belittling or making fun of you! Heck, I rented it too (I think -- maybe I borrowed it), and would've been about the same age. My point was just that it'd be rough for a kid to pick out their very first rental, bring it home all excited...and then get hit with Athena's maddening, frustrating, cheap-shot gameplay and horrible controls. I can't immediately think of another NES game that's so aggravating for so little return, and it's that way right from the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGQuarterly Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Some of you guys have much better memories than I do. My first console was the NES, which I got in 1987, but I didn't start renting games until 1988 or so. Not only can I not remember the first game I ever rented, I can't really remember most of the games that I rented. I rented Marble Madness for the NES once, and Monaco GP II for the Genesis. Other than those two, nothing specific really comes to mind. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenegg Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Mine was Ken Uston's Blackjack / Poker for the Colecovision. My parents were actually the ones who rented it (I was only 4 at the time). We all really enjoyed the game and ended up buying a copy after returning it. Given how young I was, I'm actually surprised how much time I spent playing this. I still find it enjoyable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Synergy Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 HERO and Pitfall for the 2600... probably around 1984? Then nothing for a while. In the early 90s we'd sometimes rent a SNES and a few games for a weekend and then played the heck out of them non-stop, just to make sure we got our money's worth. I think our first weekend rental was Super Castlevania IV and Super Contra 3. We actually beat Castlevania, and came close in Contra. I think the last time I rented a game was Rogue Squadron for the Gamecube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seob Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Can't remember that game rental was available in the region in the Netherlands where i lived. So the only time i rented a game, was when i was in the U.K. for my internship. It was Lethal Enforcers with a Konami Justifier for the Sega Megadrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 I think the last time I rented a game was Rogue Squadron for the Gamecube. Last rental, now there's a challenge. I have no idea. Had to be something for PS1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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