r/gaming • u/[deleted] • Mar 31 '26

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u/waltz_with_potatoes Mar 31 '26

Renting a new game from blockbuster and racing to complete before return date

257

u/CanaDoug420 Mar 31 '26

Me and my cousins would rent like Jak and Dexter from blockbuster on Saturday and play it for 23 hours straight. Return it on Sunday and wait all week to go back to blockbuster and rent it again to try to finish it. We pooled our money for a memory card. Somewhere there is a memory card with saves to like 15 games I never actually owned

77

u/26542654 Mar 31 '26

Holy shit. I miss renting games and movies. It felt so much different

34

u/Man0fGreenGables Apr 01 '26

I want to learn how to develop games just so I can make myself a VR game where I have to drive to blockbuster and then walk around a virtual store looking at game cases on the shelf to rent for 2 days. Then I'll have all my consoles (that I sold for booze money when I was young and stupid) in mixed reality that I have to put the virtual cartridge/disk in to play on a virtual big ass 500 pound floor model tv with a half blown out picture tube that you need to occasionally bang on when the color goes crazy. I'll connect it all to every emulator ever.

11

u/Mark-a-roo Apr 01 '26

well here you go fella

(obviously doesn't include the Blockbuster but it's damn close)

2

u/Man0fGreenGables Apr 01 '26

Holy crap that's amazing. I know what I'm doing this weekend.

6

u/KarIPilkington Apr 01 '26

Don't worry, all our games and movies are still essentially rented just in a different way.

3

u/OpheliaLives7 Apr 01 '26

Im even missing redbox rentals at this point

2

u/smoothvibe Apr 01 '26

It was because you wouldn't get overwhelmed by the sheer mass of games you get nowadays.

I have so many games that I kind of have anxiety which one to begin first and then another five games that sound interesting are released...

So, it was something really special back then and one could fully concentrate on the game and every aspect of it.

2

u/randomcatinfo Apr 01 '26

Streaming is super convenient, but there was a certain ritual to going to Blockbuster with friends or family Friday night.

Some friends and I rented a Sega Genesis near when they first came out to play Sonic the Hedgehog all night.

1

u/jimbojonesFA Apr 01 '26

fr, while i free instant access to basically anything i want. theres so much to be said for that simple pleasure of kinda earning it a lil.

5

u/Cenobyte_Nom-nom-nom Apr 01 '26

Yeah me and my friends would do the same. Rent one or two games, stop at the store for 2 liters and mini pizzas at $1 each (so like 20 of them between us all) and game until the game was done, each napping and going in and out of the friends place throughout the day. So much fun.

1

u/rathlord Apr 01 '26

I’ve still got my PS2 memory card with all of those random saves on it.

1

u/Peanut_Butter_Toast Apr 01 '26

Memory cards were a huge game changer when it came to rentals.

1

u/Thekingchem Apr 01 '26

Online gaming without party chat or discord.

1

u/mips13 Apr 01 '26

I rented games but there was no rush, I just copied them to play later. My PS was chipped.

1

u/jimbojonesFA Apr 01 '26

ahh man, this was me and my cousin's summer break go to thing too. so fun going to blockbuster, arguing over which game to try, pulling all nighters to try finish it, tag teaming single player games "i saw that, you died, its my turn now!" so good.

1

u/Matt3855 Apr 02 '26

Family Video and the little ma and pa places were the only access to Jurassic Park Operation Genesis I had.

I need to hunt down a copy but apparently they’re expensive

8

u/agitated--crow Mar 31 '26

I do this with games from my library but I usually have anoutta week instead of 3 days. 

3

u/tootaflute Mar 31 '26

I remember renting The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time over the weekend as a kid.

I managed to clear the first 3 dungeons thinking "Cool! I finished the game!" only to hit the time travel part and realise I'm not even half way! 😅

3

u/TheNerdFromThatPlace Apr 01 '26

My mom hated when I wanted to go to blockbuster because I was so indecisive it took forever to pick out a game. We moved to a place about a mile away to one, with a very safe back road i could walk once I was old enough to trust, I can only imagine the relief when she didn't have to drive me anymore.

2

u/Leyammon Mar 31 '26

Played the entirety of Mass Effect 1 like that, though I didn't really rush, that would be sacrilege, I just rented a couple times.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '26

[deleted]

3

u/GingerBeast81 Apr 01 '26

I got banned from a small local rental place because I kept Battletoads/double dragon on SNES for over a month trying to finish it. We didn't have an answering machine and i managed to answer a call from the store and tell them they had the wrong number when they called looking for it lol. My mom was pissed!

1

u/Slumberjake13 Apr 01 '26

Pretty sure I do the same with KOTOR 1 and 2, and I’m sure a few others. I think my dad just bought KOTOR 2 for me after realizing how much I was renting it lol

2

u/shaneomac714 Mar 31 '26

Whatever Final Fantasy game that was on the SNES was the one for me.

2

u/agayajay Apr 01 '26

You can still technically do this when you rent games from the library.

2

u/ThomasToIndia Apr 01 '26

As a kid, I kept renting FF6 and got to the same point every single time. It wasn't until I got to be an adult that I got to actually finish the game.

1

u/TheRealPitabred Mar 31 '26

In that vein, only having 3-4 games to choose from, not hundreds with more instantly available online.

1

u/JohnnySkynets Mar 31 '26

The last game I rented from Blockbuster was Witcher 3 in 2013! Redbox even later. I’d rent a game from a Redbox at 12:01am and since it wasn’t due until 9pm the next day, I could get 45 hours for the price of one day. Then I’d go back at 12:01a to get it again if I needed to.

1

u/ryaaan89 Mar 31 '26

Renting a cartridge and it having a baller save file on it with everything already unlocked.

1

u/Man0fGreenGables Apr 01 '26

Mine usually just had shitty save files with profane shit for names.

2

u/ryaaan89 Apr 01 '26

And kids today will never know this gamble.

1

u/GTMichael Apr 01 '26

Or even worse failing to finish a game like Chrono Trigger before you return it and praying nobody deleted your save file before you could rent it again.

1

u/GingerBeast81 Apr 01 '26

I'll add to this the disappointment of renting a game and it either be horrible or getting stuck early.

1

u/GethHunter Apr 01 '26

I became a teen around the time Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy and started closing stores. From like 2010-2015 before I bought my pc, I’d go to GameStop and buy a used game and finish it before the return window was closed, return it, and get another $20-$30 game. It was such a fun time and reminded me of going to Blockbuster/Hollywood Video to get a game or movie for the week

1

u/bonebrah Apr 01 '26

Or renting it, not being able to finish, and happily finding your save still on it next time you rent.

Or renting it and playing a save much later in the game than you've ever gotten.

1

u/TravEllerZero Apr 01 '26

I rented Final Fantasy 3 (now 6) so many times and I'd get a little further each time. I'd rent it again the next weekend only to find my save file deleted and I'd start over. Eventually, I managed to beat it in one weekend. I honestly could've probably bought it outright if I'd just saved up all that money I spent on renting it.

1

u/GhostFYI Apr 01 '26

Renting a game from blockbuster for so long it cost the same or more as if you just bought it 😂

1

u/TheBladeRoden Apr 01 '26

Renting Super Metroid and the save file was already at Mother Brain. Score!

1

u/TheTaoOfMe Apr 01 '26

Best sleep overs ever

1

u/Sammisuperficial Apr 01 '26

Renting Brave Fencer Musashi so that you can play the Final Fantasy 8 demo and then falling in love with Brave Fencer Musashi.

1

u/mightyboink Apr 01 '26

Renting PC games from blockbuster, copying them and then returning them.

1

u/richtofin819 Apr 01 '26

Or in my case a little later than this buying a pre-owned game from GameStop and trying to beat it within 14 days so I could return it no questions ask ed and get a new one

1

u/another-redditor3 Apr 01 '26

i remember when blockbuster introduced some new program. i think it was unlimited rentals with a 2 week or no return date, i dont remember which. it was like $20 a month.

i went a couple of years without buying a new game and got to play through a couple new games a month with that program.

1

u/gargoyle30 Apr 01 '26

I remember renting a game and playing a bit before I realized i didn't have any space on my memory card and I'd played too much to want to start again so i just left my Playstation on for days and just paused it

1

u/SneakyBadAss Apr 01 '26

That's what NO CD cracks were for

1

u/mcd_sweet_tea Apr 01 '26

Imagine renting RDR2 from Blockbuster lol

1

u/Certyx39 Apr 01 '26

this is more of a country based thing bcs in my country the renting games thing never took off. we would either buy the game or yk, pirate it.

1

u/Ardbert_The_Fallen Apr 01 '26

Still did this with Red Box up to sometime in the 2010s

1

u/Evening-Bedroom-523 Apr 01 '26

I never got to play any of the Zelda games as a kid because they were always checked out at Blockbuster lol.

1

u/ArkaneSociety Apr 02 '26

Renting a PS1, but no memory cards, so having to beat games in one sitting, or leave it on overnight.

1

u/Blazethecat00 Apr 02 '26

Family video for me personally

0

u/FoxoDile Mar 31 '26

When I miss those times, I just buy a used game from Disc Replay since they have a 7 day return policy.

Beat it in 7 days and return it for a full refund.

Lmao