Famicom Blues Part III: Cabinas de Juegos

Lets take a look at the popularity of the "Cabinas de Juegos" which translates to Game Cabinets or in other words, a game lan party. This is before the internet but unfortunately, I can't seem to find a photo that will reference to it. It was just very epic and limited to be able to game in one of these places. It was also quite interesting as many homes would offer this as opening a business like this was very common. I wish my family would have done something like this, but I probably would have played video games to death and I was already gaming like a maniac as is. An addict without a cure...

The gaming scene back in the early 90s was quite astonishing. We didn't have the internet and could only find information through magazines and friends. This was the case when it came to the gaming cabins as I'll refer to them. I remember one of the biggest rumors was the Street Fighter 2 Chun Li stage in which you were told you could pick up a rock and throw it at your opponent. It was ridiculous but quite popular. The other one was Sheng Long as a rival in the same game if you did certain things. Here is a photo of the same magazine article which I read about years later of hearing the rumor when I moved to the USA.

Now, that was some good photoshop skills! What was Photoshop, on version 1.0? Something like that. Nevertheless, it was the rumors that kept us gaming even more. What if it were true? What if we were the next to discover something amazing. I didn't have many SNES games when I was a kid (I have around 300 now YIKES!) But that was the reason I would go to the Gaming Cabins in order to experience games I didn't have the funds to afford. Hmm.. I should've gotten a job back then...my collection would've been crazy huge! Anyways, I remember the first time I played Super Mario World for the SNES and was just in awed playing the game and trying to get through the entire game only to run out of time. Finally, after around a month of going to have my hourly game time, I beat the game! It took me so many tries but I was so happy to accomplish it! It was a milestone for me, It was just an awesome game to finish! 
The first NES Game So, I've been jumping a little ahead to the SNES era, but you gotta know that everything for me started in the NES. Yes, the NES I believe I got around 1989 but I'm not quite sure to be honest, it could've been before that too. I still remember the first day I got it. My parents got me the set with the gun and the power pad. The sheer excitement that I had while opening the box was indescribable. I still remember the scent of the NES like it was yesterday, engraved into my mind as if it just happened. As a matter of fact, around 8 years ago I found a NES which had the same scent, some things just never change. So yes, the NES was epic and I didn't even needed help from my parents to put it together, I figured it out and then we started gaming. My siblings gathered as we started an epic adventure game called Super Mario Bros. You know, now that I think about it, I have no recollection of asking for a NES or talking about the NES before I got one. I probably asked my parents to get me one on their many trips to the States. I just don't remember!  The NES I'm talking about is this one by the way...

 It looked something like this. Regardless, the introduction to video gaming through the NES will never ever be forgotten! I know it's what got me a blog that I've been running for over a decade which involves everything about video games. I think I'll start going over the seven games I had for the NES. Yes, only seven for the longest time!
To be continue...