What real-life adventures did you overcome to play video games in the 80s & 90s?

[cwpab]

Nowadays we take video games for granted, but decades ago, even in the late 90s, many houses didn't have a computer or console. And sometimes they only had one machine and parents loved to disable it or hide it. So often kids or teenagers were forced to "borrow" things (or money), sneak into places, have spare components and even travel to other towns to play video games.

In these past times, sometimes getting to play video games was already the first achievement of a real-life adventure: it meant you had won some kind of preliminary round that unlocked the game itself.

What kind of interesting real-life adventures did you overcome to play video games?

[Nich]

When I started university in 1997, I didn't have a PC or a laptop, and one of the first things I wanted to try out was an Amstrad CPC emulator. I spent a lot of my time over the next few years at university sneakily playing games in empty (or nearly empty) computer rooms. Students could buy an access card for £5 to get into the computer rooms after normal working hours. I certainly got my money's worth!

[cwpab]

MY CASE: While not terribly exciting, perhaps these 2 count:

1) In spring 97, I was 17 and, my mum "kindly recommended me" to live with my dad for a few months due to a tense relationship among us that basically consisted in me not attending classes and her getting hysterical. My parents had divorced 2 years before and I was living without a computer or console in my house until I bought the Game Boy early 97, but that wasn't enough (not enough games!). I was saving for a PSX, but I needed some more months to collect all the money. My dad had a Pentium 133 and soon I learned my exile was a paradise: you could play 8 bit computer emulator with thousands of games, some classic MS-DOS VGA adventures and action games that came in pirated CDs and some new 32-bit games like Quake or a mysterious game I tried a few days before going back with my mum and to our apartment in a town at the beach in July... Tomb Raider. So basically I knew I was going to spend all August with my mum in the city, but my dad was going to be in a town in the mountains all July and August. So what I did was a secret copy of the key and the cool thing was that every night, I waited until my mum was in the bed, finished my early digestion of dinnner, watched some TV and then left my mum's house, walked around 15 minutes in warm, emtpy streets in August and played Tomb Raider for several hours. I remember going back at 3AM and feeling like Lara Croft, the exploration in that game is so intense and I spent so much time walking through those caves than the city streets felt like a new level.

2) About a year later, I already had my PSX, and in late winter my mum, sis and I went on a 1-week vacation to our house at the beach (250km trip). I had managed to get a nice setup with a CRT small TV and the console in my regular room in the city. And then a saw a TV that was exactly like "my" TV in the house at the beach. I remember finding that interesting, but I never asked about it because I assumed my mum would not take the TV from me. Well it turns out she had done just that. I learned when we were back in the city, so the adventure was doing a trip alone for the first time in my life just to get the TV back without spending the night there. In the return trip, I had the TV sitting on my legs, lol (not sure if there wasn't enough space or I just wanted to stabilize it). And I had no car, so I took the TV manually to both bus stations. I remember the feeling of relief when that night I played some games on my PSX.

[Gryzor]

Oh boy what a story 😁

My most adventurous thing was picking the lock to the disk case to play during exam week 😂

[Shaun M. Neary]

Before I get started, these really need to be seen from the point of view of the age I was at the time these happened, and not now. What was blatantly obvious when we are older isn't that obvious when we're children.

1) I guess the first biggie is discovering how easy it is to pirate cassette games. Christmas 87 when I was 11, one of the things I wanted most for Christmas was a twin deck cassette player just to copy music cassettes from friends. It was my mothers bright idea to try copying a game, which in my naive 11 year old mind, thought it was completely daft. Well I made a copy of a friend's Paperboy and sure enough, it found the first block and I sat there in suspense watching the loading screen flash up almost like it was a sports game! When the game loaded, you could hear the triumphant scream in the UK from Dublin, Ireland!

2) Anyone ever rent games? We had a place in Dublin City where you could rent out the games for a quid or two, or a fiver for a big box compilation. Needless to say, I spent a lot of money on rentals and blank tapes between 1989-1991! But there were just some games that I knew they had, but were never available when I went in. Until I went in one morning, stupidly early for a Saturday and caught it on opening. The Sega Master Mix compilation was one in particular as I wanted it for Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Too bad the tape loader was so bad, it crashed almost every time.

3) By 1990, I had changed a lot. I had turned into a metalhead and school and I didn't have a lot of attention to pay as far as school was concerned. I was hooked on my CPC and as my studies declined, my mother had locked the main CPC in her bedroom leaving me with the monitor and a load of wires hanging out of it. I was so unamused that I ended up picking the lock to play it, and put it back 10 minutes before she got home from work. I did this for months until the point where the lock no longer worked. I really was a bratty teenager.

4) One of the least likely places I'd ever meet an Amstrad guy was Fibbers, a rock bar in Dublin. By 1993 I had persuaded him to sell me his DDI-1. I experienced disk loading for the first time after the torture of loading from tapes. Over the course of the mid 90s, I'd be buying ex software house disks (absolute shit quality but it's all we could get by 1994/1995!) and finding all sorts of ways to transfer the tapes to disk. Elite games were the best as they were BASIC loaders and required no real additional software. Then there was likes of soft-lok, Bonzo utills etc which I spent a lot of time figuring out. I eventually ended up getting a Multiface 2, surprised that I could still get one in early 1995!

5) And then there was downloading the games from NVG and extracting them to 720k formatted disks and then copying across from a borrowed 3.5" drive over to 3" format. I think I spent the entire Christmas holiday period of 96 to New Years 97 doing that!... only to forsake the machine a year later for my trusty PC and a copy of CPCEmu, which in turn, meant my CPCs ended up in the attic, and stuck up there as I moved house. Thankfully I've re-purchased most of what I had back and still keep to this very day.

I think that's about all I got for now.

[cwpab]

I wish I could share some cool real-life adventures I overcame to play the CPC, but sadly, my dad just left the computer in my room in 1989 until the disk drive belt broke in 1992. Ironically, I wasn't even asking for an Amstrad CPC 6128 with a color monitor at all! (I just knew there was one in my dad's "study room" since 1986 or so).

Perhaps not an adventure, but one CPC anecdote I can share is that well, I don't remember many moments from when I was 9-11 years old, as I normally just played and played and that's it, so all the surprises happened on the screen. But I distinctingly remember waking up one day in the middle of the night, pretty unsual for me at that age, not sure if it was 6AM or something, and thinking: "I must play some CPC". And guess what game I loaded... GHOST N' GOBLINS. It somehow seemed appropiate. I think I went back to bed after a bit.

[cwpab]

I wish I could share some cool real-life adventures I overcame to play the CPC, but sadly, my dad just left the computer in my room in 1989 until the disk drive belt broke in 1992. Ironically, I wasn't even asking for an Amstrad CPC 6128 with a color monitor at all! (I just knew there was one in my dad's "study room" since 1986 or so, but for me it was "the computer with hangman and the game with the bouncing ball", you know, those little games included with the machine).

Perhaps not an adventure, but one CPC anecdote I can share is that well, I don't remember many moments from when I was 9-11 years old, as I normally just played and played and that's it, so all the surprises happened on the screen. But I distinctingly remember waking up one day in the middle of the night, pretty unsual for me at that age, not sure if it was 6AM or something, and thinking: "I must play some CPC". And guess what game I loaded... GHOST N' GOBLINS. It somehow seemed appropiate. I think I went back to bed after a bit.

[Bryce]

2) Anyone ever rent games? We had a place in Dublin City where you could rent out the games for a quid or two, or a fiver for a big box compilation. Needless to say, I spent a lot of money on rentals and blank tapes between 1989-1991! But there were just some games that I knew they had, but were never available when I went in. Until I went in one morning, stupidly early for a Saturday and caught it on opening. The Sega Master Mix compilation was one in particular as I wanted it for Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Too bad the tape loader was so bad, it crashed almost every time.

There used to be a PD* library in Cathal Brugha Street (Dublin). I used to go in there to get PD software. There was a lot of crap, but sometimes you'd accidentally stumble across some cool games or tools.

Bryce.

* PD = Public Domain. For those too young to know, it was closed source, but free to distribute software. You just paid for the disk they put it on.

[eto]

In the early 80s in Germany we had Pinball and arcade machines in many places. Pure arcade areas could only be visited if you were at least 18 years old but in some pubs, restaurants or public swimming pools and other recreational areas, you could find a pinball and/or one or two arcade machines in a side area. I usually spent my school holidays with my grand parents and my grand dad went twice a week to the local pub. Tuesday and Saturday evening. And it was clear, I will join him as they had one arace machine in a room. There I got my 3 Deutsche Mark and could play 3 games on Asteroids, Phoenix, Donkey Kong, Galaga (just to name a few). The arcade machines changed every couple of weeks so usually when I visited them, there was a new game. That's how I got interested in these kind of games - and computers in general. And I remember that one day I saw a falling star - and my wish was, that at home, there will be an Arcade machine... ( * )

When I was back at home, I didn't have such an easy access to an arcade machine - and I also couldn't afford it so easily. But I recognized that in Munich city, many of the big houses had the Atari VCS and later Sega Master system for demo. And I started to go regularly to the city by train at the age of nine. The stores opened at 9 and latest at 9:30 me and a couple of other boys were standing there, playing the games until the store closed at 2pm. And then I went home again by train.

I also visited any public place, museum, event where computers were available or exhibited and spent a lot of time there. All on my own as my parents had absolutely no interest in that. I signed up for a "BASIC course" in the local youth center, where I was the only interested child - but the guy who gave it was so kind to still teach me BASIC. It was a ZX81 - and for one school holiday he even lent me the ZX81 so I can play with it at home. No storage device though ;-) I typed in my programs and wrote them down on paper! And when I turned of the ZX81 I had to type them in again.

All of that dedication probably at some point convinced my parents to support my wish for my own computer. First it should have been a C64 - but then the Schneider CPC 6128 was introduced and friends and colleagues of my parents (thankfully) adviced them to go for the CPC - which then became my first computer in 1986.

A few years ago I was again in the village of my grand parents - and actually I met the innkeeper of that local pub from almost 40 years ago who was still alive. And I told him, that he, his pub and the arcade machines were actually the root cause for my later career in IT as I probably would not have gotten SO into these things if I wouldn't have had the access to the arcade machines in his pub. That was quite a nice moment.

( * ) As the wish was of course not granted I later bought a arcade cabinet case and built my own Mame machine with it. It's now here in my basement and so somehow that wish was fulfilled - just later and with a bit of work ;-)

[cwpab]

Great story! Coincidentally, I recently did some online research about 80s gaming in Germany. The reason? I just wanted to know why Germany didn't create more games like Spain or France. And I found out that it was partly due to the country's economy in the 80s, but the peculiar legal approach to arcade centers, banned for kids under 18, may had some impact too.

This ban made me re-evaluate my general perception about arcade machines... Let's be honest, they couldn't afford kids (or adults) spending more than a few minutes playing because they needed more money to be inserted, so they made the games unfairly hard. So in a way, they are some kind of "gambling" even if you don't win money because they suck the money off the more innocent people, just like in-app purchases today. I wish video games in public places would have taken a more human-friendly, and less business-friendly, approach.

Oh by the way, I love arcade games, I played a lot and they look and sound fantastic. It's good that you can master them with all the time in the world for free today, but I still find them too hard. Perhaps this sounds too communist, but I honestly believe governments should have created free arcade centers with focus on multiplayer, and I also believe governments should force video game developers to keep the source code and take care of preservation.

[Shaun M. Neary]

2) Anyone ever rent games? We had a place in Dublin City where you could rent out the games for a quid or two, or a fiver for a big box compilation. Needless to say, I spent a lot of money on rentals and blank tapes between 1989-1991! But there were just some games that I knew they had, but were never available when I went in. Until I went in one morning, stupidly early for a Saturday and caught it on opening. The Sega Master Mix compilation was one in particular as I wanted it for Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Too bad the tape loader was so bad, it crashed almost every time.

There used to be a PD* library in Cathal Brugha Street (Dublin). I used to go in there to get PD software. There was a lot of crap, but sometimes you'd accidentally stumble across some cool games or tools.

Bryce.

* PD = Public Domain. For those too young to know, it was closed source, but free to distribute software. You just paid for the disk they put it on.

That's where Computer City was located too. Wonder if we're talking about the same place? Didn't know they did PD stuff as well.

[Bryce]

2) Anyone ever rent games? We had a place in Dublin City where you could rent out the games for a quid or two, or a fiver for a big box compilation. Needless to say, I spent a lot of money on rentals and blank tapes between 1989-1991! But there were just some games that I knew they had, but were never available when I went in. Until I went in one morning, stupidly early for a Saturday and caught it on opening. The Sega Master Mix compilation was one in particular as I wanted it for Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Too bad the tape loader was so bad, it crashed almost every time.

There used to be a PD* library in Cathal Brugha Street (Dublin). I used to go in there to get PD software. There was a lot of crap, but sometimes you'd accidentally stumble across some cool games or tools.

Bryce.

* PD = Public Domain. For those too young to know, it was closed source, but free to distribute software. You just paid for the disk they put it on.

That's where Computer City was located too. Wonder if we're talking about the same place? Didn't know they did PD stuff as well.

I think Computer City moved into the same building after the PD library went out of business. Wasn't Computer City the company that was on the top floor of Clery's for a while?

Bryce.

[Shaun M. Neary]

2) Anyone ever rent games? We had a place in Dublin City where you could rent out the games for a quid or two, or a fiver for a big box compilation. Needless to say, I spent a lot of money on rentals and blank tapes between 1989-1991! But there were just some games that I knew they had, but were never available when I went in. Until I went in one morning, stupidly early for a Saturday and caught it on opening. The Sega Master Mix compilation was one in particular as I wanted it for Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Too bad the tape loader was so bad, it crashed almost every time.

There used to be a PD* library in Cathal Brugha Street (Dublin). I used to go in there to get PD software. There was a lot of crap, but sometimes you'd accidentally stumble across some cool games or tools.

Bryce.

* PD = Public Domain. For those too young to know, it was closed source, but free to distribute software. You just paid for the disk they put it on.

That's where Computer City was located too. Wonder if we're talking about the same place? Didn't know they did PD stuff as well.

I think Computer City moved into the same building after the PD library went out of business. Wasn't Computer City the company that was on the top floor of Clery's for a while?

Bryce.

Nah, that was Tomorrows World. It then moved from there into the Ilac Centre across from where the Argos is. I actually bought the 4 Amtix Accolades compilation when TW was upstairs in Clery's.
It then became a health food shop when it went under circa 1990. I've no clue what it is now!

[dodogildo]

When my school grades dropped in the 7th grade, my physics teacher and my father met at the parents' meeting. My father said to my teacher, "Actually, our child is smart. I don't understand why his grades have dropped. For example, he can beat computer chess at the 9th level." he teacher's answer was the same as many ignorant people at the time: "Computer games? That's why his school grades dropped. It should definitely be banned!" 
 
Guess the result! So in the years that followed, I was banned from Amstrad during the school term. Of course they thought so. Every day when I returned from school, I would take my computer down from where it was stored in the closet, and when my parents came home from work, I would put it back in the closet (as soon as I heard the door key click, at the speed of light). A few years passed like this. During these years I played endless games but under constant stress. 

[Gryzor]

When my school grades dropped in the 7th grade, my physics teacher and my father met at the parents' meeting. My father said to my teacher, "Actually, our child is smart. I don't understand why his grades have dropped. For example, he can beat computer chess at the 9th level." he teacher's answer was the same as many ignorant people at the time: "Computer games? That's why his school grades dropped. It should definitely be banned!" 
 
Guess the result! So in the years that followed, I was banned from Amstrad during the school term. Of course they thought so. Every day when I returned from school, I would take my computer down from where it was stored in the closet, and when my parents came home from work, I would put it back in the closet (as soon as I heard the door key click, at the speed of light). A few years passed like this. During these years I played endless games but under constant stress. 

Sooo what happened with your grades? And which chess game were you playing? 😀

[dodogildo]

Sooo what happened with your grades? And which chess game were you playing? 😀

Of course they went going down and down 
And of course it was Masterchess from Amsoft 

[Shaun M. Neary]

When my school grades dropped in the 7th grade, my physics teacher and my father met at the parents' meeting. My father said to my teacher, "Actually, our child is smart. I don't understand why his grades have dropped. For example, he can beat computer chess at the 9th level." he teacher's answer was the same as many ignorant people at the time: "Computer games? That's why his school grades dropped. It should definitely be banned!" 
 
Guess the result! So in the years that followed, I was banned from Amstrad during the school term. Of course they thought so. Every day when I returned from school, I would take my computer down from where it was stored in the closet, and when my parents came home from work, I would put it back in the closet (as soon as I heard the door key click, at the speed of light). A few years passed like this. During these years I played endless games but under constant stress. 

We could actually be twins at this point! Amstrad was king and school went complete hell!

[BSC]

parents came home from work, I would put it back in the closet (as soon as I heard the door key click, at the speed of light). A few years passed like this. During these years I played endless games but under constant stress. 

We could actually be twins at this point! Amstrad was king and school went complete hell!

Actually, we could even be trins, because it was the same for me, at least for one year of school I wrote listings on paper in school, only to type them into my CPC and see them come to live as soon as I came home.

[BSC]

I just remembered an adventure from back in the days. I think it was around 83/84, before any computer would arrive at my home, but at least an Atari VCS 2600 was around with just a few games (I fondly remember Pac-Man, Air-Sea-Battle and Demon Attack). Then there was this store in downtown Cologne where you could buy new and used video games, sell your games (for ridiculously low prices) or actually play games on systems like the Atari VCS, Colecovision (utterly impressive machine at that time) and the likes. All you had to do was to rent a plug for like 1 hour and then go to any of the free machines (hooked up to a big TV set), insert the plug and the machine would turn on. I think there were around 10 of them in the store. One day there was this other kid who I got to talk to and who, as it turned out, also had an Atari VCS and we talked about the games we owned and there was mutual interest in borrowing games from each other. I was already used to borrowing from/lending to some neighbour kids and never had any bad experience, so I thought this was a sure thing. This kid told me that, amongst quite a selection of games, he owned Miner 2049er, a game I already knew and really liked, even though it was pretty hard (and totally not affordable to buy), anyhow, I absolutely wanted this game. That kid lived literally at the other end of town (and was basically drowning in games, as I later found out), but since we were both as earnest as 11-year-olds in the early 80s could be about games, we decided to take the tram/subway to his place so I could borrow the cartridge. Turns out, this kid was for real! He owned the game and, after playing it for a while at his place, let me take it home after we exchanged telephone numbers. So I  embarked on a long ride on public transport back to my place, full of anticipation ..

I still remember spending hours and hours trying to reach all parts of all platforms at least once, while avoiding those mean creatures lurking on the platforms and not running our of time. I found this game really difficult, but this difficulty paired with an enigmatic overall appearance got me hooked for quite some time. I think I even ended up keeping the game in exchange for one of my not-so-exciting-anymore games.

[stevensixkiller]

Don't know if it qualifies but I got my first PC for christmas 98 (Cyrix 133Mhz 8Mo) but didn't had internet access. I got a cpc emulator from a magazine but no rom of course. I was searching for a way to download cpc roms and try games I never played before on my trusty greyscale  464+. So I convinced my reluctant older sister to take me to the university computer room with internet access. Trying to type the longest url found in a magazine with varying luck. I think i wasn't able to download anything that day. Finally I took advantage of connected demo computer at the FNAC (virgin megastore-like) and found a guy that was selling burnt cd with a few roms. So my first roms came from snail mail, and I was happily surprised that it contains a huge number of roms. If, by any chance, the guy selling rom's cd is on the forum, thank you!

[Gryzor]

Ah yes the University days with me packing my trust LS-120 in my bag and filling disks (slowly)...