It’s hard to overstate how central going to a video store to rent video games was as part of being a gamer in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Whether it was a local mom-and-pop small business, a small rental selection in a grocery store, or a mainstream chain like Blockbuster Video or Hollywood Video, there was no shortage of options for gamers wanting to try something out for $5 without shelling out at least $50 a pop to buy something new. Although the process to rent a game in person may seem comically slow now (get in the car, drive to a rental store, see if the game you want is in stock, wait in line to pay for your rental, drive back home but return it in time to avoid the dreaded late fees), it became a regular ritual in many people’s lives.
For a short window in the mid-’90s, Blockbuster Video allowed people to rent PC CD-ROM games. This was when multimedia computers were….
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