Gary Bowser

Back then, I never owned a Super Nintendo or a Nintendo or even an Atari. I wasn't interested in it. But when Windows came out, things started to change. My business started to go downhill. People were moving on. They were starting to build PC computers. There was no more a market for tech system and stuff. So I switched my business with another partner.

Back then, I never owned a Super Nintendo or a Nintendo or even an Atari. I wasn't interested in it. But when Windows came out, things started to change. My business started to go downhill. People were moving on. They were starting to build PC computers. There was no more a market for tech system and stuff. So I switched my business with another partner.

We formed a company called GenX Computers, and I started building custom PCs based on people's orders. And from that type of business, I started repairing video game systems. So by 2001, there was a lot of video game consoles. People were coming in with PlayStation 1s, original Xboxes. And it went from building computers to fixing the video game systems.

We formed a company called GenX Computers, and I started building custom PCs based on people's orders. And from that type of business, I started repairing video game systems. So by 2001, there was a lot of video game consoles. People were coming in with PlayStation 1s, original Xboxes. And it went from building computers to fixing the video game systems.

So that's where it slowly slid because there was no more market for the tech systems during that time period.

So that's where it slowly slid because there was no more market for the tech systems during that time period.

The biggest difference with the video game systems is the original computers that were manufactured in the 70s and the 80s, they allowed you right out of the box to do programming. They came with a language. They came with a manual that told you how it worked.

The biggest difference with the video game systems is the original computers that were manufactured in the 70s and the 80s, they allowed you right out of the box to do programming. They came with a language. They came with a manual that told you how it worked.

You could just sit down and start typing code and using it, recording it to cassette tape if you didn't own a floppy drive or recording it to floppy drive yourself. But with the video game systems, That wasn't possible. So that's where the slide came in. It's like, well, why? This is a computer. It has memory. It has everything in it. Why can't we just sit there and program it ourselves?

You could just sit down and start typing code and using it, recording it to cassette tape if you didn't own a floppy drive or recording it to floppy drive yourself. But with the video game systems, That wasn't possible. So that's where the slide came in. It's like, well, why? This is a computer. It has memory. It has everything in it. Why can't we just sit there and program it ourselves?

So that's where I slowly started switching to the dark side. I wanted to see these systems unlocked. And it was difficult to repair the systems, too, because you couldn't just source the parts. The computer, it was easy. You could order new memory chips from Future. You could order new processors from the original company. You could remove them and put them in. Now they had custom stuff.

So that's where I slowly started switching to the dark side. I wanted to see these systems unlocked. And it was difficult to repair the systems, too, because you couldn't just source the parts. The computer, it was easy. You could order new memory chips from Future. You could order new processors from the original company. You could remove them and put them in. Now they had custom stuff.

And you couldn't just put a new device in. So there was more of an intrigue there. It's like, well, how come I just can't replace the lens in the PlayStation 1?

And you couldn't just put a new device in. So there was more of an intrigue there. It's like, well, how come I just can't replace the lens in the PlayStation 1?

Not originally. I mean, the original stuff that was done like on the PS1 and the original Xbox, there was no pushback whatsoever. They looked at it as just a percentage of loss in business. And they would take more protection on their discs if piracy started happening. Like in the PlayStation 1, when the first ship started to come out,

Not originally. I mean, the original stuff that was done like on the PS1 and the original Xbox, there was no pushback whatsoever. They looked at it as just a percentage of loss in business. And they would take more protection on their discs if piracy started happening. Like in the PlayStation 1, when the first ship started to come out,

that bypassed their boot up system, they added more checks on the game itself to look and shut it down. Electronic Arts, the publishers themselves were the ones that were more into locking out system. Electronic Arts was one of the first ones that started adding anti-piracy stuff on the PS1.

that bypassed their boot up system, they added more checks on the game itself to look and shut it down. Electronic Arts, the publishers themselves were the ones that were more into locking out system. Electronic Arts was one of the first ones that started adding anti-piracy stuff on the PS1.

So the original PS1 ships wouldn't shut down. They would just keep injecting the signal. So Electronics Arts, they added code in their game itself to check to see if that signal was still being injected. Then they realized, well, it must be modified because we're not sending a signal anymore from the disk. Why is the signal still there? So then newer ships had to come out.

So the original PS1 ships wouldn't shut down. They would just keep injecting the signal. So Electronics Arts, they added code in their game itself to check to see if that signal was still being injected. Then they realized, well, it must be modified because we're not sending a signal anymore from the disk. Why is the signal still there? So then newer ships had to come out.