I don’t know where else to put this, but this is an extremely Insert Credit video right here.
This is a family’s home movie shot inside Ray’s Video in Chico California. There were two locations and my grandparents (RIP) lived around the block from this big one on the corner of East and Esplanade. It was a monstrous location and the property has been split into both a Harbor Freight and a Save Mart store.
Ray’s had isles and isles of movies for rental. They had a small arcade where I would stop at every day on a bike ride and play a few games of Daytona USA. My Grandpa would take us there to play pool at one of their 8 or so pool tables. I didn’t ever play in the indoor playground/ball pit thing as I was a teenager at this time. Somehow we never bought ice cream from them either which is surprising because Chico is hot in the summer.
The big draw for teenage me was the several isles of NES, SNES, and Genesis consoles that were pay-per-hour, and when you payed per hour for a game station, you could play any of their rental games. The first time I played MegaMan 4 was at Ray’s. I also remember playing the Genesis port of Samurai Showdown.
Ultimately, the market shifted and Ray’s big site went out of business. It was a moment in time and like so many, they kind of sublimate into the air when the moment passes. Thank you also to the family that I don’t know for putting your video up on YouTube. Also thank you for happening to shoot it on my birthday!