So here we go with another special showcase, one from
Blockbuster Video & GamePro Now I have explained the whole history of
Blockbuster of them as a business and many of My actual & personal experiences in My Odds & Ends with important showcases so head on over there if you haven'y seen all of this great stuff from Me before
So it was in around
1993 (30 years ago this year!) that Me & Grandma was doing Our rounds and We stopped at Our local
Blockbuster that I have spoke about & showcased in My
Glory Days of Video Rentals in My Odds & Ends and elsewhere. It was during the time when I played in their game tournaments featuring
Clay Fighter. They had shelves & bins there with special marked down prices on used and even brand new videos & games which I got a lot from them possibly as much as I did with
Star Video & Hollywood Video whom I also greatly done in said showcase and possibly even as much as I did from
Schnucks' Video Club whom I have talked about as well many times. I mean you could find a ton of great stuff over at any location of
Blockbuster Video & Music, you just had to go there and want it which was so fun back in the
late 80s, 90s & early 2000s when times like this existed. So that one day I found these nice goodies
Gamepro Tips VHS: Yep, I found this and believe it or not I never opened it up as it is still sealed. Look at that cool cover with all of that great game coverage as it has
Street Fighter, The Simpsons & TMNT I mean this is just a great example as to how fine the
90s was and what a time to be in. It also has
Joe & Mac which was great prehistoric game & the incredible
Lemmings. It also has the superb
Super Castlevania IV that I recently cameo-ed here within the topic and the
SNES classic that is on
PS4 Super Star Wars which I have showcased in My
Star Wars which in fact I covered THE WHOLE
SNES ORIGINAL TRILOGY over there
The video includes many more titles including
Splatterhouse 2 & Sonic the Hedgehog which if you saw in My other video game topic then you know I'm a huge
Sonic gamer and just not a
Mario gamer as you just recently saw in around Christmas time within this very topic
This VHS covers both major game systems, the
SNES & Sega Genesis and is jam packed with great hints, codes & passwords via
GamepPro's GPTV (remember that
and if you saw My great
Codemasters & Galoob Game Genie showcase earlier on then you already know that I'm a big gamer that will take advantage of these cheatful situations
Here's the little
Sticker and the
Copyrights of 1991 & 1992 which they just had their anniversaries not long ago
Notice that they chose
Chun Li from
Street Fighter,
GamePro was always big on her and I don't blame them as she is wonderful and one of the very first fighting females in gaming history
I also got this
California Games II Trading Card. Truth is I do not recall how it got it but I'm betting (I'm not a betting person mind you) that this was a
FREEBIE or sample promoting the game. Now I know I rented the game and wasn't crazy about it whatsoever however I really digged that cover of the game & card. Notice the
logo on the bottom left corner as it says
TEAM BLOCKBUSTER, it was part of their
Trading Card Series but I cannot talk about that much cause I never collected it nor did I ever look into it in the future as I just kept this
Card as a stand alone Collector's piece but little did I know then that
Blockbuster would be no more many years later and be part of pure history that many plebeians don't talk about today much less this generation
So here is the back of the card. It's a mighty detailed one with tips & info with the card number, now that's cool
Now I don't know about most kids & teenagers back then (except for My friend Donnie was a horny but good boy and he had his thing going on about women when We were buds, now in this androgynous day & age kids want to dress in drag and schools are teaching them this among other things...can you believe what this era has come too
) but I was really liking girls and especially women during this time so this card truly caught My attention with the two lovely women on there. I always liked the blonde more because of her nice
90s curvy body & large boobs & cleavage however over time I learned to appreciate the nice looking brunette and her type as well
This is still one of the best pictures of this nature IMO
Here is the
Copyright of 1993 (30th Anniversary this year
of the
DTMC & EPYX as well as
Blockbuster's Team BLOCKBUSTER, look at all of that
Blockbuster history
Gamepro VHS & California Games II Trading Card Together: So here is these two Video Game beauty items together. It's so cool displaying these together after all of these years
Now as a special entry & bonus here is
GamePro's S.W.A.T.Pro game supplement that was included with
GamePro's magazines (remember when they did this
I have misplaced most if not all of My Vintage
GamePro magazines but thankfully I located this little darling in a recent stash I found with other Video Game Magazines which in time I may showcase them. Like
Blockbuster,
GamePro was never a company that I thought would ever go out of business, they were My fave of all Video Game magazines (I always thought they were like the
WWF of the Video Game Book industry in the
90s) and whether you saw them at the newsstands or subscribed to'em or both you may have had the same feeling I as did. So as I said before, this is just a small supplement that was included within one of the magazines (hence the custom logo I made above) I believe in the great year of middle/late
1995 that briefly covers many fantastic systems of the time period. First here is the
Super Nintendo/SNES still on top but would only last for about a year and a half or so but would still be on the gamer's' minds for many more years to come and still be a desired console to play despite the changing times with systems with compact disc games of the future (the nostalgia was already starting then
Then here is
Sega Gensis which has the same story as it's competition
SNES (see above) and then we have the new player in town
Sony's Playstion We then have
Sega's new grand system the
Sega Saturn and the
3DO. Now there's a lot to talk about here. First off Many times on the board I expressed about the video game consoles that I have and never did. One of'em that I always desired was the
Atari Jaguar but that's a conversion for another time. Above you just saw
Playstation but out of the two major new ones of
1995 I always preferred the
Sega Saturn, it always appealed to Me visually and games wise especially since I loved
Sega over
Nintendo in that everlasting see-saw relationship of Mine. Still if I had the opportunity to get one right now I sure as heck would believe you Me
Now on the other hand,
3DO was a system I really didn't pay attention too much because the exposure just wasn't there for Me even though I saw it from time to time in
GamePro & Electronic Gaming Monthly. However it was a fine looking multiplayer console and had some really stunning looking graphics. The thing is it was really a brief system as it as well at the company
3DO itself (founded by
Tripp Hawkins, the founder of
EA was out of business of only years of it's existence, it's really a sad gaming story) which really when I found this little booklet after seeing it after 20 years or so later I was quite surprised that
3DO was in it
Notice that
Gex the Gecko is on the page, he was originally going to be
3DO's mascot (like
Sonic is/was for Sega, Crash is for Sony Playstaion) but it was quickly turned over due to the company failing but the game wasn't lost in limbo as it was popular enough to be on the competing disc systems as well as others. Amazingly the
The Geico Gecko would appear years later
Here is the
Back Cover and the
Logo Cover once more
As a special
size comparison here is My
GamePro's S.W.A.T.Pro next to My
Blockbuster Special VHS & Card you just saw with this very presentation.,,really rad & far out if I do say so Myself
So that's it for this one. I hope you enjoyed it
Don't forget check out the
Mario Holiday Special as well as tons of other great Video Game related items from Me within this very topic of Mine
Next up will be a special of one of
GamePro's last magazines EVER from
2011/2012 which is going to be a big one, until then I'll see you around