I'm about a decade younger than you guys, but I still relate to most of what you described about gaming in the past. One thing that resonated with me in particular was that feeling of a more personal experience with games in the past. The hobby was still very niche, and you might only have a handful of friends who shared your interests. There was no online component, no crazy hype machine, just you buying a game, sitting down, and having an adventure. You had to work harder to have that experience. It was like hunting for treasure.

@lethalphenomenon6061

2 жыл бұрын

But, also, it's so hard to find that experience TODAY. The experience of discovery.

"You try to find a family member...they were usually f**king usless!"...best quote ever!

@JS-sy8do

11 ай бұрын

I remember trying to ask an adult for help and realizing they were useless at games. Screaming and trying to make characters jump better by yanking the controller.

I'm so thankful that arcades are still prevalent in Japan. I make an arcade run at least once a week to play some Street Fighter, Tekken or a couple of shooters if they have them. I'm so out of the loop when it comes to modern gaming, I don't have a single current gen console. Most of my gaming these days is still 16 and 32-bit. I definitely miss the good old of days of gaming magazines, renting games on weekends, sharing code sheets at school and loaning games back and forth. Good times.

@jd-py5nm

6 жыл бұрын

my hometown is decent for old school arcade stuff though not japanese titles as much makes me wanna move to california or japan

@raggeragnar

6 жыл бұрын

I envy you , my friend. There haven’t been an arcade in my proximity since 1993. I miss those days.

@Randhrick

6 жыл бұрын

The cool thing about modern games is you have old school games now like Shovel Knight and other indie games with retro look. So while I enjoy retro stuff I also like playing new games discovering new games is always fun. It's also one of the reason why I like import games, to discover old new stuff :)

@MadPanicGaming

6 жыл бұрын

I've got a nice arcade near my apartment, but there are a lot all over the city that I like to go to when I'm away from home. Pretty much any neighborhood I've been to in Japan has at least a Taito Station or Namco arcade.

@MadPanicGaming

6 жыл бұрын

It definitely feels good to be out somewhere at night after work or whatever and pop into the local arcade. I spent a lot of time in Aladdin's Castle as a kid.

Yay! These Johnny and Rob memories videos are always my favorite.

@PeteOliva

6 жыл бұрын

Stefan Homberger It's the best. I feel like these guys understand the way I think more than many of my own friends. Love these discussions and reflections.

@DreamyDawnMusic

6 жыл бұрын

Couldn´t have said it better myself :) True feels!

@MediaFuzz

6 жыл бұрын

The best!

@karnagefails333

2 жыл бұрын

Always come back here!

Best thing about the old days of gaming was showing up to your arcade after school, seeing a crowd around a new machine and then having your mind blown because you didn't know Mortal Kombat 2 was coming out. It's like if today you showed up to your local Walmart and they suddenly had Grand Theft Auto 6 available to buy.

No microtransactions, no lootboxes. Expansions that most of the time felt like a complitely new game instead of DLC. Couch gaming. You had to unlock everything through multiple playthroughs and the list just goes on. These are just some of the gaming memories i miss from the old days.

@faalonikdovah982

6 жыл бұрын

Gamerfan2000 No auto save, I hate it. No tutorials. The first time I remember tutorials really f'n up a game was Ocarina of Time, it seemed like you were being taught how to play the game all the way through. Would have been way better to read a manual then be thrown into the world. Imho

There was a rumor in my neighborhood that in a link to the past you could get a black master sword if you fell at the right spot while fighting Ganon.

These two riff off of each other so much, it's the only channel on KZread I know of that has this kind of old school friendship with genuinely endearing, heartfelt stories. I find it so interesting because it's like a time capsule for me! I'm 26 and was only a kid when these guys were teenagers. I would have loved to have experienced the late 80's/90's like these guys have

With games being downloaded digitally nowadays, my friends & I share each others accounts so we can play each others games. I do miss the good ol days before the internet where you went to a video rental store and picked a game out based on the cover and not knowing anything about it.

Im 41 now and I'm still so passionate about video games. The stories you've told on this video is/was totally me. I miss the old days. I love our current times too though. You guys are my kind of guys.

I’ll just say this.. you should bring Rob more often, I LOVE THE ENERGY, you guys sound so passionate about it there wasn’t a moment where any of you stopped talking. Awesome video! Takes me back to the old days

This is gonna sound controversial but the thing I miss most about gaming is how unpopular it used to be. You can lump anime into that too. Hell, I miss when people thought of Japan as an impossible place to reach. Everything felt special to me back then and now everything is oversaturated.

@Kerannnng

6 жыл бұрын

SufamiDan I completely concur with this. Stupid hipsters

I really miss manuals. Back when they weren't just Manuals for customer support numbers and warnings, but mini art books with background lore, developer commentary, tips, tricks, hints, ads for more games you might want, etc. I never really needed to read a manual for the manual part, but I absolutely loved reading them over to see all of the extra content packed in around the manual content. XSEED is one of the only publishers I know still offers manuals (and BIG ones) in recent years. Every Story of Seasons or Rune Factory game comes with a really nice manual. It just feels so wrong for me to open a new 3DS game case and see only a single sheet with generic Nintendo support info and health and safety warnings. Even more wrong when I open a new Nintendo Switch case and there's literally *nothing* there. I own 9 or 10 physical copies of Switch games and all of them have clips for Manuals cut into the plastic and yet none of them have even a health and safety sheet, let alone a manual.

@TheHatefulBuddhist

6 жыл бұрын

Exactly what higher flower said. Nicalis is a wonderful company.

@GedH-316

2 жыл бұрын

Same, I have a few with manuals but you're right it would awesome if they all came with manuals

Allways cool when Rob is on a episode ,) Loved the video guys. Thanks you for sharing theese Awesome memories.

I also miss the phisical copies. Digital releases suck, unless the company really doesn't have the resources to release it otherwise. But having the game in a cool box with beautiful artwork is awesome. It'll always be the best way to have games for me.

@derek-64

6 жыл бұрын

people who talk about digital media just don't get physical. it's not just games either. it's games, movies, music, whatever. you get the actual cart, or disc, or cassette, or whatever format it's on. you get a nice case or box, manuals, maybe a map or poster, you get to see concept art sometimes. special or limited editions are nice as well for those who really want something awesome. it's really cool getting stuff like that and not just a copy of a file.

@Punkpsychobilly

4 жыл бұрын

I still buy physical copies of everything, especially music. I guess that’s why I have a closet full of CD’s and video games. I don’t fully trust this whole digital movement yet. When shit goes down and people start losing tens of thousands of dollars worth of media, I want my physical copies to rely on.

@Apptend0

4 жыл бұрын

@@derek-64 I feel like it's nonsensical to buy a +$100 collectors edition to a game you may not even know that you will even like and everyone has the physical space to store their games either and alot of times nowadays physical is more expensive than digital ( especially when it goes on sale. ) I pretty much only buy games with an anime artstyle ( and Yakuza ) as a physical copy anymore. Also music is way more beneficial as digital than physical .

@derek-64

4 жыл бұрын

@@Apptend0 i prefer having the actual product and not just a copy of a file attached to an account stored on a hard drive. plus, i didn't say i was getting the collector's edition. there's standard editions and i actually want the standard edition. collector's editions are nice for those who like them and i have a couple myself but i mainly prefer standard. still, i just want the actual product itself be it disc or cart and if they include extras like a manual or whatever that's nice too. also, maybe i will like the game. i think it looks good and i want to play it. it's like when people bought games back in the day based soley on box art. they saw it on the shelf and gave it a chance.

@Punkpsychobilly

Жыл бұрын

@Apptend0 Collector’s editions are probably one of the best investments you can make in this hobby, especially for Nintendo games. Since when is digital less expensive? I’ll buy used physical copies in mint condition and usually pay less than half of what digital costs. Just bought a copy of Chernobylite for PS5 for $24 and the digital is currently $50. You can’t even resell digital, so that right there makes zero sense to me.

This whole video is why our generation, Gen X, those born in the 1970s are the luckiest ones. We were born into the earliest wave of games and got to watch it grow and evolve as we grew up, and by the time were gone from this world, we will have truly seen and experienced everything

@bryonmiller4326

4 жыл бұрын

We also got to witness the birth of the microcomputer, the introduction to the bbs and then the internet. We were very lucky...

I remember playing Sonic 3 and having to get my mom to put in the up,up,down,down,up,up,up,up code for me cause she could do it faster than me. Still took her a shit load of attempts, but she'd always get it. I love you, mom!

Who else used to collect used bottles and cans to turn in at the local convenience store, then pump those quarters back into their arcade game? I lived in developing suburbs where house builders left these behind, and they funded by gaming obsession.

@faalonikdovah982

6 жыл бұрын

Not proud of it, but I used to throw a few crushed cans with gravel in them in each bag just to add a little weight. I needs my games.

@spursdynasty7378

2 ай бұрын

I use to make slugsto play games and buy sodas ,damn I was poor back then 😂

Atari boxes fooled me so many time back in the 80s, I was always expecting something similar to the cover LOL

@shaggy92279

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah. And those games were $40 back then. That’s why I always laugh at these people now who complain about a game being bad and costing $60. That $40 would be like $100 now. For math Grand Prix or something!

@yozza4978

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah..and if you accidentally brought a bad game back in the day...it was really bad, sometimes even to the point of almost unplayable, these days even bad games are not so bad.

game magazines were the best thing, highly sought after for any information, screenshots, etc. sometimes you'd pay $5 or something for a magazine just so you could stare at the 2 or 3 screenshots for secret of mana 2 or whatever for hours at a time, day after day lol

@jd-py5nm

6 жыл бұрын

yeah I miss good gaming magazines used to read them during recess under a tree

@josepartida1711

6 жыл бұрын

Yup! I looked forward to my gamepros every month. If only I had kept them.

@kodoyama

6 жыл бұрын

Simpler times. Damn I miss those days.

@DaRealKing303

6 жыл бұрын

I remember those days, fucking Gamefan!

@faalonikdovah982

6 жыл бұрын

EGM was the real deal back in the 16bit and into the 32bit era. I still have a couple of issues with over 300 pages, for a monthly publication that seems insane. But god, I loved every page back then and still pull them out occasionally now. A quarter of a century later they're like holy relics from before the dark times, before the mainstream got its claws into our little corner of the world.

One of my favorite talks of y'all's in a while. So much nostalgia and yes-you-understand-my-life moments. Don't ever stop, Johnny!

Putting the graphics aside the best things that we have now are wireless game pads and bigger, more clear TVs. I don’t get how I could play NES on 19” old TV sitting 1 meter from the screen. My eyes hurt even when I just think about it.

I’m a PS1, Dreamcast, N64 era guy and I miss how gaming was in the late 90s and early 2000s!

I bought zone of the Enders just to play the Metal Gear 2 demo. I played that demo over and over. I miss those days.

when yall had to cut because Rob got too hyped, I laughed so hard!

Another amazing video. The way you talk about reliving your past capitalizes on everything nostalgia. Love every single one of these videos!

This is my fav video so far. I can totally relate to both of you Johnny and Rob. Congrats with the 10 years of HCG!

I remember as a kid going to Blockbuster and renting a video game with a manual and reading it on the ride home. That’s the only way(besides video game mags ) that I could learn about the games. Even in my early teens , we didn’t have net. And I was super left out in junior high in the ps1/2 era and not being able to “look” things up. But you know, I like that. I almost miss that. At 32 , I totally feels a lot of these memories. I work with students at work, and it makes me feel hella old lol. Instead of saying “oh I heard this rumour” they say “I seen it in a playthrough” which is no way as special

@TheHatefulBuddhist

6 жыл бұрын

That was a HUGE part of the experience for me. My mom would take me to rent or buy a new game while she was running errands and as soon as I got that game and got into the car, I'd crack it open and take out the manual and read it while waiting to go home.

Man I'm so thankful for watching this vids it just gives me that excitement when I talk to my friends about the games

U guys are a fantastic duo. Reminiscing over nostalgia and experiences together is the best. Continue doing so!

You the man! I really enjoy your channel. Some of the videos really take me back, like this one. Keep up the good work!

Great to see Rob back, and what a nostalgic trip this episode was.

Holy shit! I just discovered you guys and it's so refreshing to see dudes so humble, sincerely excited and enthusiastic about video games. Where I live it's a rarity but I share the same enthusiasm, have been playing video games since I was 5 (remember when my cousin got the PlayStation, he was like a god to me). Great content and you made me happy!

Loves yalls genuine energy!!! You guys took me back. Love all the passion in this video!!!!!!!!!

These are the best episodes Robman and Johnny just talking about anything love it.

You guys hit on everything. The manuals, the box art, plug and play. I miss it.

I love this video. Takes me back to my childhood. This channel makes me feel like I'm not old !

Always nice to see Rob on the channel. Great video, great discussion.

The most amazing conversation ever. Watched every second and enjoyed it, agreed with everything you said. I'm 29, so little behind you guys in the times but I remember a lot of what you were talking about. SNES, Genesis, PS1, N64, Gamecube, PS2, Xbox were my childhood.

Man I just knew about your channel, and thank God it's one of the best things that happened to me in the last 3 months. About trading games me and my friends still do it, but most of the time I'm the one who's giving the games, just to let them try it and we can have conversations about them.

Now gaming is one of the biggest things in the world, but I'm an older gamer like you two and I remember back in the day you told nobody. I remember dating girls in school in the early 90s and there was no way I would tell her I played games, coz she would dump my ass lol... The thing I love about games now is the fact that I can play multiplayer and fighting games with friends in other countries online, and also the sheer amount of new and cool genres that have come with it. I just don't like the day one patch, the micro-transactions, etc etc... Oh, yes the jacket over the hand playing Street Fighter 2, how I remember :P

@Punkpsychobilly

4 жыл бұрын

Haha man the funny thing is girls are still like that. Only thing is now, at 42 years old, I’m proud to tell them I love playing video games and if they don’t like it... take a hike! I’ll waste my time if I want to and nobody’s telling me different!

I love how excited and animated they are getting simply for the pure love of gaming.

love the videos with rob in them! you guys are so much fun :)

Things have changed so much over time when it comes to gaming. I really do miss the excitement of coming home and opening up the box to check out the manual and look at the box art some more, it was all part of the experience. Great video, thanks guys.

When you guys are together it reminds me of my friend and I just magic pick right up where you last left off, this was great thanks.

You guys made me cry I had that Cloud T shirt and now I have no idea where it is!!! That sparked sooo many memories!!!

Fantastic vid agree with most of your points, I miss finding those hidden gems that you hadnt heard about

I loved that episode :D It's awesome to hear about the past since I was only born in the 90s but because of my older brother I grew up with a lot of retro games, movies and music and its cool to kinda get a journey to the past with your videos :D

Game releases were spread out more and I miss that. I remember treasuring a game because it would be the game I’d be playing for the next few months without distraction of other games coming out during that time. It was such a social experience too because all of your friends were likely playing the same game and like you said, without internet, you relied on your friends for help, and you shared all your discoveries. Good times! Great video! Never have I shouted out and talked to my iPad while watching a KZread video. 😋

ah, damn I didn't even realize I really needed a Johnny&Robman video right now. keep it up guys!

Growing up video game magazines were just as big a part of the gaming experience as the actual game itself for me. I remember spending hours pouring over the articles talking about Metroid Prime, Killer 7 etc. I completely agree that a big part of the excitement for me around games as a kid was the personal lore and theories my friends and I would discuss when we were playing through certain games (Morrowind was a big one, as was gen 3 Pokémon). Dragon Quest 11 was the first game in years that I did not watch/ read a single video/article for outside of its initial announcement and I have I say I was so thrilled to legitimately be surprised by the twists and turns I experienced playing that game (finishing up post game now). The one thing I would say is a massive positive when it comes to the modern gaming scene is the KZread community as it allows to watch videos of people around the world gushing about games I love, or making lore videos for games I want to know about and just don’t have the time for in adulthood. Thanks to you and Rob I just finished downloading Mega Man 11 and am excited to play it in the coming days. I sincerely want to thank you for putting so much work into this channel. It makes me feel like a kid again talking to a good friend about a video game we really really love

i love this channel, it makes me happy too!

I remember marching in snow storms with friends for gaming, good times

You and Rob always have the best videos together

Yeah, it has to be fun and that's it! Good to see Rob again. Best channel of all, The HappyConsoleGamer show!

Man, I grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s and I can relate to so much of what you guys talked about. Me and my friends still trade games and we're in our 20s, and I loved getting video game magazines and only having an article or a single e3 trailer to go off of for upcoming games because we didn't have reliable internet to look things up back then. I miss the simpler days.

This video is so on point and on top of it you guys are hilarious! Thanks for spreading the word you guys, your awesome! I’m giving you two a shoutout of a video game podcast I’m gonna create soon for sure. I replay this video from time to time. This is honestly one of the best vids on KZread for me, thanks guys :v

great video, really relatable. its funny that i used to get so excited for the stuff in magazines but now when i get them in the mail they go straight into the trash without me even opening them lol

I was born in '78, I feel so lucky to have grown up as a kid in the 80s and early 90s. The games, cartoons, awesome films like Ghostbusters, wouldn't trade it for anything.

Great video! I miss the anticipation of new game’s coming out pre-Internet. I was also a big Nintendo Power fan. I miss looking at the Sunday newspaper to find the circlular advertising the new releases.

this was one of the best vids i have ever seen!! i totally miss the late 80s through the mid 90s era of gaming. I am 38 years old and grew up with the NES then the SNES. i miss gaming magazines which explains by obsession over retro magazines...gamefan, gamepro, EGM....thats where i could fantasize about games because there was no internet...just our imaginations

Awesome video love seeing Rob man on there and damn I miss manuals and video game magazines luckily I still have so many saved in my collection

Man, hearing u guys reliving your memories is just awesome. Though i was born on 1983, my gaming experience is also more or less the same.

I almost couldn't even comment on this video at all haha.... you guys pretty much covered everything i could say about gaming then to now!

the passion for games you guys have is great :-).

I love these Johnny and Rob videos.

I relate so much with you guys, im only 36 but i lived all this too and think the same, i was so lucky to had lived in the 80s and 90s the golden gaming years and arcades...i have nowadays consoles and pc gaming and all of that but its not the same.

Man this video is all over the place lol Love the channel

Great video John en Rob! You guys remind me why i love videogames for almost all of my life. I personally really loved, the PS1/ PS2 demo discs you get with magazines back in the day. Spotting all of the diffrences with the retail version later and discovering many other games! Buying Zone of The Enders for The MGS2 demo! All those memories i really love it!

Arcade gaming was the best for me. I´m from Guatemala, and as you guys I miss those days. The arcades where my second home. Great times. Really enjoy your show BTW

Man, I remember when Shadow Warriors (Ninja Gaiden) came out on the NES. Was totally psyched to be playing the arcade game on the NES... wow, what a shock that was. Thankfully, while different, it was bloody awesome... odd, but awesome :)

Oh getting tips and advice or even help in a game from friends. Miss that. Great episode.

This was a good conversation. Games are always getting better and at the same time the gaming market is over saturated. This creates insane competition for developers which results in rushed games sometimes and then patches. My solution is play only what looks great to you and enjoy the support the game will continue to get.

Love yalls enthusiasm

Love the video. Your both just a little bit older than me so I remember all the arcade sweetness. I must have been in a better area because yes, the arcade was smoky and looked rundown but never had an old guy try to hit on me. Sorry you had to experience that Rob. Anyway, news for Johnny: I heard they might make an offline version of FINAL FANTASY XI. Just a rumor but who knows, it may happen. Keep on Gaming, E3's a coming!!!

Omg, these two talking... the nostalgia. I feel like crying. Bring me back those days!!!!

Oh, I played so much Brave Fencer Musashi! You guys should talk about that game and more from the good Squaresoft days! Good video!

Hell yea bringin out the Ikaruga soundtrack❤️‍🔥I love the og vg memories, the passion was so raw it makes you appreciate the ease of access to games nowadays

".....before the CRASH." and the plane crashes..nice match-up, it def brought out a chuckle! :P

I sooo identify myself with you guys so much, I just turned 40 and grew up playing and enjoying the Nintendo era when I was a little kid, so much nostalgia going on, there's a thing that still itches in my case, I love the Wizards & Warriors series for the NES and in the 3rd game's ending there's a "To be continued" ending leading to a 4th game so keep up with the story which it turns out that it never came out, if I had million dollars I would gather the original team that made the W&W series and hire them back to make the 4th game, I'm dead serious lol, love your show Johnny and also, so glad to see Robman coming back to your show, well anyways guys, until next time! x3

Great topic ! The places where i used to play arcades are still around, bowling alleys, amusement parks, pizza joints, the arcade rooms are still there, but not the cool games, mostly redemption, it's a bummer.

Great vid guys! I miss those days too!

Rob cracks me up, does he have his own channel? Love when you two have videos together.

I did lol when you talked about swapping games with yer friends. I remember having a carry a bag full of snes games, walking round my village, seeing if anyone would swap for afew nights. Great times.

Dude - totally remember that 90s GameFan mag where it mentioned the Castlevania SoTN water effects and the tear shedding! I GORGED that article for weeks back in the day before it came out - my hype was insane real for over a year because of it, and all of the ads for the import games that I saw (Seiken Densetsu 3, Final Fantasy V, etc. that weren't released over here)! Miss the old hype rumor mill days - gaming mags were totally my jam for external info as well - totally awesome you referenced that article line - took me back to it!

Awesome video , please make more videos like this .

Always love some Johnny/Rob mash-up.

Going over to that friend’s house who had a Genesis before you, it was like getting another flavor of your favorite food. It was this thing you liked but the consoles had so many different limitations and features back in the day, so it was like learning a different language.

I remember the old days of gaming just like you guys were discussing in the video, that was something special man when you went to the arcade and the console wasn't nearly good enough hardware wise to bring the experience home. I'm glad I was part of both the retro days and now the modern times (I've got a Switch)

@HollowRick

Жыл бұрын

Then the Dreamcast released and the arcade truly came home :D

Another awesome gaming memories episode

Brilliant video! I also really miss the colour manuals! :( and hate all the updates and downloads we need to do these days... luckily I still have all the older consoles and constantly finding new games to play on them so really do get the best of both :)

The worst thing about today is the load times of new games. Nothing kills hype more than when you put a new game in and it takes forever to install. Especially if you live somewhere with a bad connection. Kills the hype so bad.

@SamusEny

6 жыл бұрын

load times are nothing compared to what it was like for me growing up in the 80s with my zx spectrum having to wait up to 10mins for the game to load from a tape, then just to have a tape loading error and have to start all over again

@Meachumz

6 жыл бұрын

SamusEny lol that’s funny to think about.

@ChemicalCorpse91

6 жыл бұрын

Try playing ps1 games then try talking to us about bad loading times lol

Never really traded games with my friends, though instead we would borrow each other's games, other times we would just stay over and try different game's. Really miss those day's.

@dacypher22

6 ай бұрын

I traded games ONCE with a friend and that bugger moved away with them. Never again!

Great episode! I still remember the worst loss I ever took in the "box art lottery": a copy of "Deadly Towers" (NES) that I picked out as my birthday gift at 10 years old. Ugh.

what do you think about Japan getting a 3ds and 16 bit Dragon Quest 8 and we only get the ps4 version?

Love coming back and watching even the older videos🥲

Great to see Rob on!

What a trip down memory lane, love these type videos also remind me of how buying an album was an experience back in the day too, where you’d make a whole day of it and look at the liner notes and artwork, or renting a movie from the store. I also kind of miss the magazines that would give you a vhs tape with trailers on around e3 time, and i’d be on edge waiting for the next issue to find out more, now though I do kind of like the ability of watch the entire conferences online, and enjoy KZreadrs theorising online about what we just saw, what they like or not etc, so its kind of an oldschool feel just in a modern setting. Also back in the day I kinda appreciated my games more cos i got maybe like 3-4ish a year sometimes more, instead of today where i have nearly 200 sat on steam and psn not played at all, and I buy them whenever i want more or less haha.

Good to know that you guys mentioned the part of taking the manual to the restroom, I still look forward to doing that myself lol I’m about 10 years younger than you guys so I can relate to most of the stuff you talk about, except I wasn’t really an arcade kid, but games now are beyond compare. I remember wishing to play against people from elsewhere. The internet has made that happen in both good and bad ways.

great discussion!