Best 5 year period of game development?

[Skykid]

Wow, there are a lot of young people on here! For me nothing can beat the magic and excitement of the UK import boom of the late 80's. Monthly game magazine coverage of exotic games machines from Japan were almost to much to handle for a videogame obsessed 10-year old. Independent import shops were the norm back then with lush Scart powered RGB TVs showing off near-arcade perfect conversions. Going to London's Tottenham-court road in the late 80's/1990 at the peak of imports is an experience that will never be bettered for me.

Same boat.

Also if you were going to TCR to buy import games in the early 90s there's a good chance I was shopping alongside you! If it was 99' then I probably sold you something.

[MintyTheCat]

Wow, there are a lot of young people on here! For me nothing can beat the magic and excitement of the UK import boom of the late 80's. Monthly game magazine coverage of exotic games machines from Japan were almost to much to handle for a videogame obsessed 10-year old. Independent import shops were the norm back then with lush Scart powered RGB TVs showing off near-arcade perfect conversions. Going to London's Tottenham-court road in the late 80's/1990 at the peak of imports is an experience that will never be bettered for me.

Same boat.

Also if you were going to TCR to buy import games in the early 90s there's a good chance I was shopping alongside you! If it was 99' then I probably sold you something.

I lived right next to Console-Concepts up in Staffordshire and they had new releases on the shelves before the games were released in Japan.
I saw my first PC Engine in the flesh and lots of NeoGeo AES back then - nothing comes close to that time for me and it was very underground in those days - you'd have people learning Japanese just to play the RPGs

[Ex_Mosquito]

@Xyga: Yeah I know what you mean. Gaming magazines were the catalyst for the import boom back then. I could hardly control myself with excitement when a new issue of C&VG/Mean Machines came out and to see what new Japanese stuff was coming out.

@Skykid: I went to London maybe twice a year back then but it always left a huge impression on me. I had a few local indie shops that sold imports but nothing like TCR in its prime. Shekahna console sticks out for me, it blew my mind walking in there and seeing Contra Spirits when it was first reviewed in Mean Machines. Great times. Where did you work in TCR in 99'? I thought all the import shops where gone by then? I remember in the very early 90's when the old CEX was down the end of the road where it is now before it changed to a retro CEX for a while and moved downstairs in the current branch. I loved that place, whenever I went in there it was always rammed full of people. If only people knew what CEX used to be like and not a glorified cash-generator type in of place it is now :/

@MintyTheCat: Ah console concepts, a legendary UK import shop, former PC Engine supplies. Regrettably I never visited their shop :/ I used to order Japanese Gameboy and MD games from there. Hah yeah I remember hearing that they had the SFC SF2:WW a day before Japan had it, great times

[MintyTheCat]

@Xyga: Yeah I know what you mean. Gaming magazines were the catalyst for the import boom back then. I could hardly control myself with excitement when a new issue of C&VG/Mean Machines came out and to see what new Japanese stuff was coming out.

Yes, and I cherish my magazine collections now such as Superplay, EGM and CVG. It felt amazing to find out what was happening in Japan, it was like a portal into another, more hardcore world and I was hooked instantly from 1991 onwards

@Skykid: I went to London maybe twice a year back then but it always left a huge impression on me. I had a few local indie shops that sold imports but nothing like TCR in its prime. Shekahna console sticks out for me, it blew my mind walking in there and seeing Contra Spirits when it was first reviewed in Mean Machines. Great times. Where did you work in TCR in 99'? I thought all the import shops where gone by then? I remember in the very early 90's when the old CEX was down the end of the road where it is now before it changed to a retro CEX for a while and moved downstairs in the current branch. I loved that place, whenever I went in there it was always rammed full of people. If only people knew what CEX used to be like and not a glorified cash-generator type in of place it is now :/

Yes, I remember CEX and it still had a Retro shop into the early 2000s as I recall but, sadly, it all dropped off and I think maybe even Raven Games gave up in the end - not sure though.
For me, it was seeing all those games, all those PC Engines, NeoGeos and Super famicoms - it was amazing.

@MintyTheCat: Ah console concepts, a legendary UK import shop, former PC Engine supplies. Regrettably I never visited their shop :/ I used to order Japanese Gameboy and MD games from there. Hah yeah I remember hearing that they had the SFC SF2:WW a day before Japan had it, great times

Yes, it was a great shop. You kind of did not realise how lucky you were at the time and just took it to be normal CC were the first I think to get the PCE in the UK.

[Stevens]

Yes, and I cherish my magazine collections now such as Superplay, EGM and CVG. It felt amazing to find out what was happening in Japan, it was like a portal into another, more hardcore world and I was hooked instantly from 1991 onwards

Ugh. My one gaming regret - I must have had five years worth of Gamefans that I tossed.

[MintyTheCat]

Yes, and I cherish my magazine collections now such as Superplay, EGM and CVG. It felt amazing to find out what was happening in Japan, it was like a portal into another, more hardcore world and I was hooked instantly from 1991 onwards

Ugh. My one gaming regret - I must have had five years worth of Gamefans that I tossed.

I have a load of mags that are doubles if you want to buy some from me. I have lots of Superplay that I know too but would need to check what I have.

[Skykid]

@Skykid: I went to London maybe twice a year back then but it always left a huge impression on me. I had a few local indie shops that sold imports but nothing like TCR in its prime. Shekahna console sticks out for me, it blew my mind walking in there and seeing Contra Spirits when it was first reviewed in Mean Machines. Great times. Where did you work in TCR in 99'? I thought all the import shops where gone by then? I remember in the very early 90's when the old CEX was down the end of the road where it is now before it changed to a retro CEX for a while and moved downstairs in the current branch. I loved that place, whenever I went in there it was always rammed full of people. If only people knew what CEX used to be like and not a glorified cash-generator type in of place it is now :/

Where did I used to work? CEX ha ha

I was fortunate enough to be a Londoner, so I used to visit CEX's original branch behind Warren St. Station as a kid all the time. That's where I first saw everything Japanese gaming was, which tied into Super Play's import coverage at the time. Despite being tiny, it was literally like being in a treasure filled cave; genuinely magical. That little shop made a million in its first year apparently.

I bought and traded all sorts of stuff in there before Rathbone opened up further down the road and became the flagship. That was where I was working in 99 incidentally.

I consider CEX of that time to be the highest point of import gaming trade in the country. We literally had thousands of imports either arriving new, pre release, or in trade passing through daily. I basically used to spend my entire salary in the store lol.

It's completely different today of course, and I admire them for surviving and being smart enough to know when to evolve. I think John Cronin probably had a lot to do with that. Of course when the retro section shrunk and finally dissapeared all the old boys were dismayed, and moved on.

But they were amazing days. Never a dull moment!