Take a trip back in time to 1986

ghettodoghammer · 12-03-2011, 05:28 PM

Back then, I was 10 years old and Nintendo hadn't happened yet. There was no internet, no walkthroughs or hint books. Nor was there any such thing as Windows, everything was on MS-DOS.

What we had instead was Software Etc. and Babbages in the mall. I went there to read Computer Gaming World(which was the only magazine about computer games) and find out about all the games, which were usually either flight simulators, wargames or adventure games.

Does anyone remember Babbages and Software Etc.? Or are you all too young to remember them?

zane · 12-03-2011, 08:31 PM

Yeah i remember them, they pretty much morphed into gamestops/EB games. Theyr pretty much still the same stores as i remember them, except with alot less focus on pc gaming.
Theres one store nearby thats been around for 20ish years and its had just about every electronic boutique name you can think of, at one point or another.

mohok · 12-04-2011, 01:45 AM

Sadly, I was BORN in 1986, so don't remember any of it.

The earliest memories I have of going to a store to buy PC games was going to a shop near our house when I was in primary school and buying games on floppies in plastic sleeves, which were actually shareware I'm pretty sure but they were quite cheap so i wasn't that upset about it. It was in like a general PC store, they seemed to mainly sell hardware.

The first adventure game i remember having .... was probably Grim Fandango! I got that for my birthday a year after it came out. I remember playing the demo off one of my imported PC gamer magazines from the UK. Those coverdiscs used to be the best time of the month for me.

Talk about a great way to start my adventure gaming habit!

rottford · 12-04-2011, 08:01 AM

I remember three chains: Babbages, Software Etc. (spent every Friday eve there reading magazines, talking with the sales staff, and wishing the release dates on the board behind the counter would come faster) and Softwarehouse -- which became CompUSA, in the end. And I definitely read CGW religiously.

I was born in '83, but I started playing AGs when I was five, so I do remember all this (even picking up SoMI the day it came out).

thejobloshow · 12-04-2011, 04:18 PM

Yay, I was born in '83 too and got into adventure games around 1994. I asked my mother to buy me a LucasArts adventure pack that included Sam and Max because at the time they were all over the gaming magazines. Very good memories, but generally I don't like looking back now as I start yearning to return there.

inm8#2 · 12-04-2011, 04:32 PM

Waldensoftware for the win.

Jaesun · 12-04-2011, 06:37 PM

Yeah, we had Waldensoftware here. Got my first Amiga 500 from there.

TimovieMan · 12-05-2011, 04:56 AM

Thread reminds me a lot of this one.

Hamham Chan · 12-05-2011, 10:33 AM

I got my Commodore 64 in 1988. That was when I discovered Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken. Been hooked on adventures ever since.

12-03-2011, 05:28 PM	#1
ghettodoghammer Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Germantown, TN Posts: 11	Take a trip back in time to 1986 Back then, I was 10 years old and Nintendo hadn't happened yet. There was no internet, no walkthroughs or hint books. Nor was there any such thing as Windows, everything was on MS-DOS. What we had instead was Software Etc. and Babbages in the mall. I went there to read Computer Gaming World(which was the only magazine about computer games) and find out about all the games, which were usually either flight simulators, wargames or adventure games. Does anyone remember Babbages and Software Etc.? Or are you all too young to remember them? Share Share this post on Twitter

12-04-2011, 01:45 AM	#3
mohok Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 17	Sadly, I was BORN in 1986, so don't remember any of it. The earliest memories I have of going to a store to buy PC games was going to a shop near our house when I was in primary school and buying games on floppies in plastic sleeves, which were actually shareware I'm pretty sure but they were quite cheap so i wasn't that upset about it. It was in like a general PC store, they seemed to mainly sell hardware. The first adventure game i remember having .... was probably Grim Fandango! I got that for my birthday a year after it came out. I remember playing the demo off one of my imported PC gamer magazines from the UK. Those coverdiscs used to be the best time of the month for me. Talk about a great way to start my adventure gaming habit! Share Share this post on Twitter

12-04-2011, 08:01 AM	#4
rottford Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Chicago Posts: 140	I remember three chains: Babbages, Software Etc. (spent every Friday eve there reading magazines, talking with the sales staff, and wishing the release dates on the board behind the counter would come faster) and Softwarehouse -- which became CompUSA, in the end. And I definitely read CGW religiously. I was born in '83, but I started playing AGs when I was five, so I do remember all this (even picking up SoMI the day it came out). Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ "Reading/writing people, we are finished; we are ghosts witnessing the end of the literary era." -E.I. Lonoff

12-04-2011, 04:18 PM	#5
thejobloshow Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 303	Yay, I was born in '83 too and got into adventure games around 1994. I asked my mother to buy me a LucasArts adventure pack that included Sam and Max because at the time they were all over the gaming magazines. Very good memories, but generally I don't like looking back now as I start yearning to return there. Share Share this post on Twitter

12-04-2011, 04:32 PM	#6
inm8#2 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 569	Waldensoftware for the win. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ *Read the bolded part* "You ever wish you could just follow your instincts, live for the moment?" - Gabriel Knight Now playing - Legend of Grimrock Need to finish - The Whispered World Finished - Botanicula, The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time Up Next - A New Beginning, Monkey Island 2 Special Edition Anticipating - Asylum, Bracken Tor, The Last Crown

12-03-2011, 08:31 PM	#2
zane Schattenjäger Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 572	Yeah i remember them, they pretty much morphed into gamestops/EB games. Theyr pretty much still the same stores as i remember them, except with alot less focus on pc gaming. Theres one store nearby thats been around for 20ish years and its had just about every electronic boutique name you can think of, at one point or another. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Currently focussing on: Book of unwritten tales On deck: lone survivor Recently finished: donna: avenger of blood, machinarium, botanicula, grim fandango, corpse party Last edited by zane; 12-03-2011 at 08:36 PM.

12-04-2011, 06:37 PM	#7
Jaesun Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 77	Yeah, we had Waldensoftware here. Got my first Amiga 500 from there. Share Share this post on Twitter

12-05-2011, 04:56 AM	#8
TimovieMan Filmfreak Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Belgium Posts: 1,049	Thread reminds me a lot of this one. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Currently playing: Again, Escape from Monkey Island (replay), King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow Next in line: King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, The Last Express, Time Hollow Recently finished: King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder, The Curse of Monkey Island (replay), The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (abandoned), Mass Effect 3

12-05-2011, 10:33 AM	#9
Hamham Chan Fulci lives Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sweden Posts: 981	I got my Commodore 64 in 1988. That was when I discovered Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken. Been hooked on adventures ever since. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ - And you will face the sea of darkness and all therein that may be explored -

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