My local games store put all their past catalogues online -- this is awesome shit.

https://www.gamesmen.com.au/old-catalogues

There was really only one good computer game shop in Sydney back in the 80s and 90s, and this was it: The Gamesmen. It was (and is) only 15 minutes away from us but people would trek for hours just to browse there. They are, to this day, independent (and awfully overpriced, because they're independent).

Starting from the early 90s all the way through to 2016, The Gamesmen put out a quarterly catalogue. It was one of the most valuable things for a younger gamer to receive in the mail. I remember poring over all the titles, pining for an Amiga (we had a shitty EGA PC!) and later having my mind blown by the notion of a 'cd-rom' and the hyper realistic sounds of a 'soundblaster'. You'd read a catalogue to death, waiting for the day when the folks were like 'let's go check it out'. Fucking yay for gaming parents. They were NOT that common back then.

Anyway, bit of history for you if you're interested. Flicking through these makes me love the internet and what it can do for the past and the present -- hard to take all *this* for granted when you're reminded of what you used to have to do just to get a computer game, and how much you played the SHIT out of that one game.

Oh man, Soundblaster. That brings me back.


Amiga was awesome.


Back in the days I used to get my games from people with lists. As in, printed out lists and you could choose which you wanted. There weren't many game shops, especially not where I lived. The network (of people) you had was it, and you even had to somehow hook up with the 'cool guys' and be nice to get in.


Hah. Reminisce.

Ahh, turning 52 in August.
This brings back a lot of good memories.

Look at how long MYST was in the offering. Any wonder that game is an icon now.

Also I really had forgotten how badly I wanted an Amiga back then. Prestige gaming machine.

Pretty cool to look through. Even had the page turning noise that made me smirk a bit as well.

The page-turning was such a nice throwback to late first gen web design, back when putting sounds and animations on your page was like, SO RADICAL.

I got a little misty-eyed... So many memories of those consoles being gifted during the holiday season. Was a tradition with the younger crowd in my family... Looking under the xmas tree for that box that may be a console, lol.

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solwitch wrote:

I got a little misty-eyed... So many memories of those consoles being gifted during the holiday season. Was a tradition with the younger crowd in my family... Looking under the xmas tree for that box that may be a console, lol.

One year, I was convinced the box was 'Diablo'; it was 'Red Alert'. I managed to hide my disappointment and give it a fair go, and I'm grateful I did. That was a very cool little RTS. Also, Diablo came out in January here, so...in hindsight, it couldn't have been. Thankfully that's my birth month so the end of my world and the beginning of the darkest period of my life wasn't that far off. :) :) :)

OH man some pure archaeology in there....lol

I remember getting PC Gamer (my mom charitably called it "Pissy Gamer") every month, and before that, finding game stores and exchanges in the back of OMNI magazine...it was still a while before I could afford any games or hardware. Mentally building the omega rig or browsing games and watching friends play them. Good times.

Pissy Gamer. LOL. Gold.