Casual Friday: The Day I Almost Became World Famous

Yes, that’s me in the middle.

Time for another Casual Friday!

This time I am taking you down a trip on memory lane – lets go all the way back to the Summer of 1994.

At this time Blockbuster Video was still and actual store where you could rent movies (on VHS) and video games (on a physical cartage).

Do you remember the movie The Wizard? The one where Fred Savage competes in a video game competition and Super Mario Bros 3 was unveiled? Well, the Blockbuster World Championship was pretty much the same thing…

Well, minus the Power Glove.

It really is bad.

It really is bad.

Anyways, the tournament was split into Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo, and you were given a certain amount of time to achieve the highest score possible on three games. The highest scoring individual from each store moved on to the Finals held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

I did not win the coveted grand prize of free Blockbuster rentals for a whole year (I think there was a cash prize too?) but I had a great time and made a friend out of the experience.

He was the Super Nintendo Champion from another store (no way I would be friends with the Sega Genesis guy, what are you thinking??)

I’ve since overcome my Sega prejudice, in case you are wondering.

What fond memories do you have of an experience while growing up?