HuguesJohnson.com - Electronics Boutique Spring 1996 CD

The images on this page are from the "Electronics Boutique 1996 Spring CD". This was a promotional CD catalog given out at Electronics Boutique & Waldensoftware stores in early 1996. The images are only 256 color because that was the depth of the source files (keep in mind this was 1996). Click on the thumbnails to see or download the full-size images (~488x480).

This site is in no way affiliated with Electronics Boutique/Waldensoftware (now EBGames/GameStop) or the publishers of these items. These images are simply up for nostalgic value. If you take video games way too seriously then I guess they even serve a historical purpose by documenting the state of gaming in early 1996.

This page has items 42-62 from the catalog.

I'm getting sleepy just reading the description of Silent Hunter. "Prowl the shipping lanes", thrilling.

I'm moderately surprised there hasn't been a MMORPG based on Warhammer yet.

The entire AD&D franchise was in a bit of a rut in 1996. Magic: The Gathering was all the rage with nerds who wanted non-electronic role-playing experiences. The days of great AD&D PC games seemed a distant memory and we were stuck with DeathKeep, an unremarkable dungeon-hack.

Allied General, yet another war simulation from SSI. Then again, the second 'S' stood for 'Simulations' so I shouldn't be surprised or whatever.

Angel Devoid: Face of the Enemy - "In a bizarre accident, you're left with the face of the very criminal you pursued". Isn't that the plot of some crappy Nicolas Cage/John Travolta film that came out a few years later?

I own some book similar to Hacking Doom, Heretic, and Hexen. Doom and Doom II never got old for me. I've tried making levels at various times but never managed to complete one for various reasons. The predominant reason was typically becoming frustrated the buggy & difficult level editors. I wonder if there are any better ones 10+ years later..

Ah, Doom II, probably the game I've logged the most hours at. I enjoy it more than any other 3D shooter because of the simplicity of game play. There's nothing complicated about the Doom mechanics, it's easy and fun. Plus there are more levels floating around than I could ever hope to play.

The extra levels in Ultimate Doom are almost worth the $39.99 (I'm assuming everyone owned the original by 1996). Despite the overwhelming number of high-quality fan levels, the ones by the folks at id were always the best.

Cool box art on Heretic, for reason this game never really took with me though.

Deathknights of the Dark Citadel was a $60 add-on for the original Hexen, makes Ultimate Doom look like a bargain.

The original Wolfenstein 3D still sold a few copies here and there.

Cyberia² didn't sell especially well, of course I don't think the first game did well either.

"Lead an elite fighting team battling for freedom from the sinister forces of the Earth Hegemony" WTF?

Flight Unlimited was obviously going after the venerable Flight Simulator. It sported better terrain graphics but lacked all the city add-on packs.

Speaking of knock-off games, here's another King's Quest imitator - The Legend of Kyrandia Book 3, Malcolm's Revenge. Don't get me wrong, although a tad uninspired the Kyrandia games were alright.

I never fully understood the appeal of pinball, let alone pinball simulators like Full Tilt! Pinball.

Now back to some real classics of the era. Sim City 2000 has obviously been established as one of the greatest PC games, you can still by portable versions of it today.

Not sure why Redshift 2 is with the games instead of reference section?

At $32.99, SimClassics Collection 2 was kind of a rip-off. The original SimCity is stale compared to SimCity 2000, SimEarth is alright if you like crashing comets into planets, and SimFarm has limited appeal.

Game Parlor is a collection of freeware quality games for the Mac.

At the bottom of the Mac gaming barrel is Mac Arcade Pak. Wonder what classic arcade and Atari 2600 games they're cloning: Mac Man, Bricklayer, Hemiroids, Patriot Command?