The reign of the SNES was a troubling time for me. The deluge of great games was seemingly never-ending, but I wasn't quite old enough to buy my own crack (that would come with the next generation of systems).
With my family, video games were very much a Sometimes treat. Here's the main reason why:
The Canadian dollar has never been a strongman—except for a brief stretch of time last year when the US dollar finally tanked entirely and the Loonie vaulted over the Greenback. The US dollar has since recovered (and I've put away the noose I wove for myself; most of my employers are American, and my bank thought I was the butt of a cruel joke), but it's not as powerful as it was in 1995.
So I dished out a lot of money for SNES games. God look back on the day when Nintendo announced it was sticking to cartridges for the N64, and have pity on my broken soul.
The 16-bit game purchase that stands out most in my mind is Final Fantasy VI. I scratched together my quarters and nickels for months, though I fell behind a few times when my brother discovered my stash and “borrowed” money for smokes.
I remember the purchase well because my father remembers it for me. When I got the dosh together, he picked up the game at Canadian Tire because I was busy.
The total, with tax: $115.00 CDN.
The clerk packed up the game and said, “This must be for a very special person.”
My dad said, “Nah.”
He also kept the Canadian Tire Money. There was a lot.
(Image courtesy of RetroJunk)
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