Off-Topic: Shell Casing and a Video Game Tourney

Seen on reddit:

i simply can't think of a game's case of late that's nearly as badass as this. Halo 4 comes closest but still nowhere near as cool. And am i the only one who'd like to see more crossover games like this? i think it's based on a comic book (not one that i ever read) but i don't need source material as a reason for making a game crossover this epic. The Capcom/Marvel mashups are the closest we get anymore and i feel like they're really tired. 

I vaguely remember playing Robocop vs Terminator. Partly because it was a forgettable experience of a game that was created almost solely to cash in on the uber-popularity of both franchises but mainly because i only had it for a week since it was 100% a rental from Blockbuster.

Thinking back, my parents would only buy me games for good report cards, birthdays or Christmas but my parents also maintained a steady Saturday night "date night" throughout my childhood where they'd go out to dinner or a movie most saturdays and get a babysitter for my sister and me and they'd let me rent a game for the weekend. That babysitter must have had the easiest job ever. My sister and i were really well behaved and i could zone into a game for hours. Hell, i still can. While it makes me sad that i never owned wonderfully obscure games like Clayfighter or Road Runner's Death Valley Rally, i got to play so many games like that thanks to Blockbuster, i'm genuinely sad to see it fade into just a memory.

remember this shit?

editor note: i'm emulating this as soon as i get home

Continuing on my Blockbuster tangent, i remember our local BB participated in a national video game tournament one summer, i think right before fifth grade (internet says it was 1994). My friends and i really dug the idea, got jazzed about it like only little kids could. It was a three week tourney and each week you'd play a snippet of a different game. Two quarters of NBA Jam for week one, first level of Sonic 3 week two and one race in Virtua Racing (the one with a bridge if memory serves) in week three.

I was only ok at NBA Jam. Charlotte Hornets for Alonso Mourning and LJ were my team and i'd drain threes from the bottom corner like clockwork but only wound up posting a middling score in the first round of the tourney, fifth or sixth place on the scoreboard.

Look at LJ! Best 16-bit likeness ever. 

Sonic was next and i knew that level inside out, including the special stage hidden in it. I rocked a HUGE score, felt like fucking Jimmy Woods in The Wizard when he finds the warp in Super Mario Bros 3. Apparently i was the only one who used that special stage trick (they asked my mom if i cheated after my session) and that jumped me up to second place on the scoreboard after week 2.

Cheating! Ha! It's called having SKILLS. 

I knew i was close and really wanted to win. I also LOVED racing games (still do, have i told you about Forza 5?) and really thought i could take it down. I practiced my little balls off. I drove laps on that track like i was competing for the Winston Cup. Tweaked my strategy, cut seconds off my time, even realized that the timer on the HUD of the game was a distraction that was hurting my score so i brought a little piece of tape to Blockbuster to cover that part of the screen when it was my turn. Sure enough, i got to the store that Saturday and rocked Virtua Racing. I had the top score in two out of the three weeks, that had to guarantee me a victory.

You knew the graphics were good because it was an oversized cartridge

Alas, it was not meant to be. Final results put me in second place overall. Billy M, some fucking 16 year old kid who's only high score came from NBA Jam in the first week, took the spot that belonged to me at Great Adventure (where the semi finals took place). My little 11 year old self was outraged.

Fuck you Billy M and fuck you Blockbuster. I retired my polygonal racing stripes and never played Virtua Racing again after that.

-joker