June 18th 2023.
I remember the days of video game rentals fondly. After school on a Friday, I would rush to my local video rental store. I had to make it to the far corner, past the snacks and huge posters for sale, to get to the video game section. It was the '90s, and the Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive were at the peak of their popularity. The shelves were filled with the best games for both platforms, but new games could cost up to £60!
Renting games was the perfect solution for me and many other children. We could play almost any game without having to save up for months for our birthdays or Christmas. Plus, many games were quite short, so I could rent them, play them over the weekend, and return them on Monday.
Video game rental stores also became more popular with the introduction of the Sega Saturn and Playstation. Some stores even rented out the consoles themselves. In a nearby town, there was even a store that rented out NTSC machines from Japan!
Sadly, the popularity of video game rentals began to decline in the mid-2000s, due to the shift to disc formats and lower prices. I'm grateful for the opportunity to experience some of the finest games in history at an affordable price. Without video game rentals, I would not have had the same experience.
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