90s

We Thought Blockbuster Was Over, But It Still Refuses To Die

Man, I miss going to Blockbuster on Friday or Saturday nights. As a kid, it felt as if that was your reward for a hard fought week of school and extra-curricular activities. Unfortunately, the experience of browsing the aisles of your local video store will never be known the current generation of grade school students, except for those lucky enough to grow up in Alaska. indiewire.comI don't know a single one of my friends who didn't spend a weekend evening going up and down the aisles with indecision, wondering what movie they wanted to watch, or what video game

80s

10 Game Consoles We Spent Hours Playing But Now Barely Remember

While game companies like Nintendo have been bringing back their classic consoles, the industry has a very selective memory. Not all of the consoles we owned growing up were global hits. In fact, we spent hours playing games on these 10 forgotten systems:1. Sega DreamcastPolygonAh, take your mind back to just before this console's famous 9/9/99 release date. Remember how excited you were? The console's 32-bit graphics were quickly overshadowed by the PlayStation 2, especially since the Dreamcast was launched with barely any great games.While the console was later home to hits like Sonic Adventure, Shen

90s

Nintendo's Gamebooks Used To Be The Hardest Thing We Had To Deal With, And We Miss That

If you were like me, you can probably thank your childhood spent playing video games for your strong reading skills today.I learned me grammar skills from games too.Know Your MemeNot only did we have to learn to read to master the games we played, but we also honed our skills on countless copies of Nintendo Power, that great monthly supply of tips, tricks and walkthroughs. But there were also a few great book series based on video games, including the Worlds of Power books.Pictured: how to write a book report in third grade and still have fun.

70s

Arcade Photos That Bring Back So Much Nostalgia You'll Reach For Your Quarters

These days, when pretty much every video game ever created can be bought and downloaded in minutes, it's hard to believe we used to trudge down to the local arcade with rolls of quarters in our pockets.Like Totally 80sWhether you lived near a full-blown arcade,KOTTKEa bowling alley with a handful of games, Slateor a local pizza joint with one lonely arcade cabinet,Redditthere was something magical about popping a quarter into one of these machines and playing until your luck ran out. It's an experience that most of us haven't had in years, which is a shame because

90s

The Strange Story Behind The Tetris Theme Song - Including Its Original Lyrics

If you grew up in the '80s or '90s, you can probably still see the iconic Tetris blocks falling when you close your eyes.Abandonware DosThe classic puzzle game of matching blocks and disappearing lines has a long and strange history that stretches throughout the final years of the Cold War. Tetris was originally created by Alexey Pajitnov, an artificial intelligence researcher at Moscow's Soviet Academy of Sciences.Pajitnov and his son.Pajitnov was working at the Academy's Computer Center in 1984, and would test the new hardware's strength by designing simple games. His creations were shared between departments, and

Retro

10 Awesome Facts About The Worlds Of Power Books

If your middle school library was anything like mine, there was probably a huge waiting list for the only copy of the Ninja Gaiden book from the Worlds of Power series.WikimediaThe classic young readers series adapted some of the best NES games into full-length books that doubled as game guides. But who came up with this genius idea? And why were only a handful of titles turned into books?1. They were meant to get young boys to readThe series seems like it was thought up in Nintendo's marketing department, but credit actually belongs to Seth Godin. He was

Toys

We're Officially Old Enough That All Our Childhood Toys Are Headed To A Museum

Have you ever looked back over your childhood toys and been completely confused why everyone keeps calling them "Vintage"? Well, I guess we all are suddenly a lot older then we thought, because all our old toys are now going into a museum. TripAdvisorThere is a museum in Rochester, New York that is called The Strong Museum. It is also known at the "National Museum of Play" and is probably every kids' dream to go there. Trip AdvisorInside this epic and sprawling museum, you can find over 10,000 board games, hundreds of arcade games, thousands of dolls and action