'Blowing dust out of your cartridges’: Gen X Gamers Share Old Issues That Gen Z Gamers Will Never Understand

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
May 24, 2024 5:00 PM EDT

Remember having to go rent video games from the store?

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  • Evolution is natural when it comes to human technology. You want things to improve, that's why there is always a new update just around the corner or a brand new version of your favorite video game coming out. Gamers love the video game evolution. Games have changed drastically in just the past few decades, it's amazing. It went from a couple of dots you hit back and forth to each other, to virtual reality RPG games that make you feel like you are actually in another dimension. With new tech, comes new problems, but tech nerds and gamers are always expecting them, so it's not really a big issue. However, there are issues that some gamers will just never understand, and that's the issues of the past. Long gone are the days of blowing the dust out of your game cartridges. Gen Z probably doesn't even know what MSDOS means. It's weird how, in tech and video games, you can look back fondly at issues instead of annoyance. Let's get nostalgic and remember the gaming issues of the past that will never be again. They sure brought us some good times!

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    SUPER INVENTI SUPER NINTENDO POWER EJECT RECEY V "I have 1 word for you... SUPER NINTENDO MSDOS.” + SELECT START SELECT START
    via Joe Haupt via Flickr
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    Gamers of Reddit from the 90s or earlier, what are some of the issues in games back then that younger gamers would never understand?
    via craig_nintendo
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    ash_voorhees • 7h ago That game you rented from the store was hard on purpose or and you're stuck playing it for the weekend. ✩ 1.5K Reply ...
    via ash_voorhees
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    MysticalKitty Herder • 7h ago Having multiple config.sys and autoexec.bat cause some games wanted more conventional memory and others expanded memory If the game required a lot of conventional memory, you'd have to prevent your CDrom drivers from loading to get a little bit more for your game + 409 Reply
    via MysticalKittyHerder
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    nogood... • • 7h ago Edited 4h ago If you didn't know what to do you had to go find a friend who had beaten it or a friend with a strategy guide as there was no internet or Google to figure out the puzzle or how to beat that boss or find the chest with the last fairy in Majoras Mask. 902 Reply
    via nogoodgreen
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    PheonyXtreme • 7h ago Trying to not look at the loading bar, as it could sense your fear and stop loading. 1.3K Reply Chosen Character 6h ago It also stops entirely if you don't look at it enough 117 Reply
    via PheonyXtreme
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    Denebola2727 • 7h ago The proper form for blowing dust out of your cartridges 488 ☐ Reply simionix 6h ago • what amazes me more is that we all collectively decided to do it without like the internet to tell us to. 111 Reply
    via Denebola2727
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    LuciPichu • 7h ago I have 1 word for you... MSDOS. 159 Reply ...
    via LuciPichu
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    agha0013 7h ago Edited 7h ago vast majority of games had very punishing game over scenarios. Lose that last life? Well you're not starting at a checkpoint, you're re-starting the entire game from scratch, enjoy! Also, "multiplayer" meant two people sharing a keyboard playing a game for the most part. WASD (*had a T there for some reason) motion controls or mouse aiming also wasn't much of a thing 611 Reply
    via agha0013
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    Far_Adeptness9884 7h ago Most games didn't save your progress, if you couldn't finish the game in one sitting or ran out of lives, that's it, you have to start over, and they _hard! were 261 Reply
    via Far_Adeptness9884
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    • twonha 7h ago You buy a magazine that comes with a dozen or so demos. The magazine has an article gushing over half of them. You won't like seven of them, three are too heavy for your system requirements, one doesn't run all. Two are alright, one of which you might have wanted to buy, if you had any money at all. Try again next month. Stuck in a game? That's right, you're stuck. No internet means no online guides, no forum, no hints, no Youtube playthroughs.
    via twonha
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    The developer doesn't get any feedback, so they don't know you're stuck either. If you're lucky, you figure it out within the week; if you're unlucky, it might be a game-stopping bug. Either way, have fun staring at the same twelve polygons for the next two hours. There's a popular game you love. Thousands of people have created thousands of maps for it. There might be three you like, so good luck finding them. It was awesome. <3 225 Reply
    via twonha
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    Blazer FS231 • 7h ago Remembering if you needed to be on channel 3 or 4. Add ons for systems and peripherals like rumble packs, memory cards, expansion packs, etc. Corded. Controllers. ↑ 197 Reply
    via BlazerFS231
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    Certain-Beet • 7h ago Back then there were really few Games. I played the same Games, sometimes Shareware Demos over and over again. Nowadays there are so many Games, lots of them even F2P. If I was a kid I would never waste time on Demos or some nowadays, I'd play like of these stupid F2P Games. Also LAN Parties in the 90s were fun, especially dragging your 40kg huge CRT monitor to your friends basement. 116 Reply
    via Certain-Beet
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    Solesaver • 7h ago Edited 7h ago When memory cards first came out, it was not a given that you had one, or had enough space on the ones you had for a new save file. No cloud backup either. Younger gamers will never know the feeling of deciding which saves to keep and which to delete. They also will never know about trying to beat an entire JRPG without a save file by never turning off the console and never wiping. It's not that we were trying to play mode, we just didn't have a choice. Early mem
    via solesaver
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    I laugh when people get their in a bunch over cloud back-up being locked behind a subscription. So much entitlement and angst over your precious save files. They've never learned that save files are ephemeral and preservation is a gift. Also on the save files front is renting a cartridge game and seeing what the last player left for you. You would also make a save file, return the game, and hope that by the next time you got a chance to rent it again nobody would have deleted it or 111 it up to
    via solesaver
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    _UrsusArctos .7h ago Finding the right sound drivers to load in Dos games! How many versions of Soundblaster could there be?! ✩ 104 Reply
    via _UrsusArctos_
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    laikahass 7h ago • As a non English speaker at the time, playing RPG games with a dictionary to understand some of the instructions. Renting a game and finding out that you can't play because the game is in Japanese and you can't go past the menu. Waiting for walkthrough to be released on a magazine or getting a strategy guide. ⇧ 29 凸 Reply
    via laikahass
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    TheGravespawn 7h ago • More people need to be traumatized by battletoads. 29 Reply
    via TheGravespawn
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    Travis_Maximus • 7h ago Multiple floppy disc games and painfully slow load times. Moved to a new area? Flip to disc 2! Please wait! 8 minutes later. . . 24 Reply
    via Travis_Maximus
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    Roook36 7h ago Edited 7h ago • Having the game but not the code wheel or manual that came with it to answer copy protection questions. Having to write down something like a 25 digit alphanumeric code on a piece of paper to reload your save Installing a game that has 15 3.5 floppies and getting an error message on disk 9 13 Reply
    via Roook36
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    amb kenlasalle 7h ago • There were arcade games before Pong. They were horrible. It was like putting a quarter into a You Machine - But It Was All We Had. This is why Pong was such a revelation, because everything before it was the kind of that makes players of Gollum love Gollum, that makes Redfall look like a masterpiece. It really was . Like, they would slap a picture of a track on a screen and the game would shine a white dot on the picture and you have to pretend that was cool (because what
    via kenlasalle
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    Crono_Magus_Glenn • 7h ago Some games had copywrite protection that had an answer key that shipped along with the game. Picture a little wheel with different words and symbols on it that you could spin and line up. A game would ask for a specific key from the wheel before you started, god help you if you lost it. Other games, like Leisure Suit Larry, had multiple questions before you could play it as an age verification check. "Who was the president in 1983?" kind of thing. ↑ 7 B Reply
    via Crono_Magus_Glenn

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old school gamer playstation oldies throwback gaming reddit gaming nerds msdos gaming vintage video games nostalgia gamers nostalgic gen x gaming fandom gen x gamer video games nintendo
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