February of 1995 was still more than half a year until the release of the PlayStation.
Honestly, I wasn’t really keeping up with next-generation console news at the time because 16-bit console life was still really good and I was still very much a frequent arcade visitor. At this time, I had a SEGA Genesis (with SEGA CD) and an SNES. There were still two local malls with arcades— the Fairfield Mall in Chicopee, Massachusetts and the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside in Holyoke, Massachusetts. I was living in Chicopee at the time, so the Fairfield Mall was my home base with its Just Fun Arcade. Trips to Holyoke were less common, though the Just Fun arcade there was bigger.
I was still basking in the joy of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES, which had been released just three months prior. NBA JAM still got regular play from me on my SEGA Genesis at home and in arcades, with the release of an upgrade called Tournament Edition just about to roll in. Arcades and video game consoles were still separate; arcade games had the better technology, but home versions were gradually narrowing the gap and delivering experiences that were often “close enough”.
Despite my relative indifference to future consoles, I did find myself interested in the 3DO— a console whose price point left it feeling out of reach for me. It felt like the future. Road Rash, John Madden Football, and The Need For Speed stood out. Unfortunately, financial struggles kept me limited. This would change by happenstance in a few weeks, but that’s a story for another time…
One other notable memory from this period was frequent visits to local video game stores. Fantasy Realms and Video Game Castle were great places to check in. Neither are around anymore; Fantasy Realms folded more than two decades ago and Video Game Castle sadly went under in 2023. Whenever I could put some money together or when I finished certain games and felt I could trade them in, I made it a point to stop by one or both of these places. Fantasy Realms would go on to become a very important part of my PlayStation story a few weeks down the road.
That’s all for this first installment of Turning Back The Clock. See you next time!
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