3:30 AM and the Glow of Possibility
The Joy of Discovering New Games While Everyone Else Was Asleep
The romance of a 3:30 AM alarm clock used to call to me like a siren song.
Back then, sleep was negotiable, and dawn adventures felt like stolen treasure. Now, inching toward forty, I've made peace with the fact that my most daring early morning escapade involves stumbling to the coffee maker before sunrise.
Yet when I was 14 years old, I often awoke for a mere twenty-five minutes of gaming wonder, broadcast into the darkness of my bedroom.
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Gaming had its fair share of representation in the 90s and early 00s. Gamesmaster, Bits, Games World, and Bad Influence, to name a few. But my favorite? That was Cybernet.
On the face of it, that might seem a bit odd.
Cybernet? Really? Cybernet over Patrick Moore in Gamesmaster or Emily Booth in Bits? But yes, really. And while I generally watched anything game-related that I could, it’s Cybernet that holds a special place in my heart.
It’s Cybernet that I still have recorded on some VHS tapes in the attic somewhere. Among old PlayStation demo discs and posters of popular culture from that era.
If you’re not familiar with Cybernet, simply put, it was a magazine-style show that showcased up-and-coming games for console and PC. It was a tried and true format that spanned the globe under different guises and featured in many different languages.
But even through syndication on a global scale, there’s one thing that remained the same: the show squeezed in as many games as possible. Wall to wall news, previews, and reviews.
Think of it a little like a weekly State of Play. All killer, no filler.
So while Gamesmaster and Bits are genuinely fantastic shows, there was simply too much chatter in between the actual games for someone who just wanted the meat without the potatoes.
And Cybernet delivered the meat.
Solitary Nights Experiences
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Cybernet must have lacked any charm or appeal, given the nature of the show. And perhaps it did for some. But I always felt it had that perfect late-90s energy.
Part of that appeal came down to timing. This was years before YouTube existed, which meant that if you wanted to see the games you fawned over in magazines in motion, you had to pay attention to the TV schedule. Hard to imagine, especially so if you’ve always had access to the internet.
I remember seeing Gex's wise-cracking gecko antics, Gran Turismo's photorealistic cars that made you question what was real, and Croc's colorful platforming worlds that seemed to leap off the screen.
It was truly wonderful.
And while screenshots of games were always appreciated, seeing them in motion just stirred something in my soul. Dare I say in my youthful gaze, I felt hope, joy even, as the technology I was so wrapped up in promised to continue entertaining me for a good while yet.
I Still Remember the Excitement
I remember the anticipation more than the specific segments now.
The way my heart would race when they'd tease an upcoming preview. The careful mental notes I'd take about which games to ask for at Christmas or save my allowance toward.
It was scripted heavily. But at times, there was genuine excitement in the hosts' voices when they discovered something that genuinely impressed them.
After each episode, I'd climb back into bed with my head full of digital dreams. School was just hours away, but those twenty-five minutes of Cybernet had already made the day worthwhile. I'd drift off thinking about the games I'd play, the worlds I'd explore, the stories I'd live through.
That period of gaming held a particular kind of innocence.
We hadn't yet learned to be cynical about promises. We hadn't been burned by overhyped launches or disappointed by hollow sequels. Every new announcement felt like Christmas morning. Every screenshot was a portal to adventure.
Yeah, the alarm would sound at 3:30 AM, and I'd answer it gladly. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to be part of something bigger. A community of dreamers who understood that the best stories were still being written, pixel by pixel, in the quiet hours when the rest of the world wasn't watching.
Looking back, those early morning gaming sessions taught me something valuable about enthusiasm. About the willingness to lose sleep for something you love. About the joy of discovery in its purest form, before controversial reviews and metacritic scores, and social media hot takes could shape your opinions.
Cybernet may have aired at an ungodly hour, but for those of us who set our alarms, it was perfectly timed. We were there for the beginning of something beautiful, and we knew it.
So while the world slept, I'd slip from warm sheets to cold carpet, fumbling for the remote in that blue-black hour when night refuses to surrender to dawn.
I was happy to.
The television's glow felt like a campfire in that quiet house, and I was the sole witness to whatever gaming magic the hosts would unveil.
If you enjoy my work and want to support it, consider buying me a coffee. It helps keep the words flowing and the ideas brewing!
Lots of good memories playing MGS
I definitely remember Gamesmaster and Bad Influence, but never heard of this. And why show it at such a ridiculous time? 90's TV shows about video games could be so cringy, but gotta love them for it.