In November 1998, a new game known as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time came out and took local video stores, such as Blockbuster, by storm. It was a huge hit for the Nintendo 64 upon release, and finding a copy of it in the wild was rare. Back in the good old days of game and movie rentals, places such as Blockbuster were a dime a dozen. Weekends were famously dubbed “Blockbuster weekends” because families would rent the new movies or games that came out, and they could even purchase microwaveable popcorn at these stores too.
My best friend Nate owned a Nintendo 64 at that time, but no matter how early we went to Blockbuster on a Friday or Saturday, the hit Zelda game was never available to rent. It was so disappointing to go there looking for Ocarina of Time, only to leave the store with NHL ’97 for SNES for the millionth time. But not being able to rent a copy of the game led to me pulling one of the greatest and most memorable pranks of my entire life — and believe me, I have pulled a lot of pranks over the years.
If I remember correctly, this prank was set up sometime in January of 1999. Nate and I would always rush over to the shelves that had the new N64 games, hoping to see those elusive clear cases behind the actual game boxes, signaling to us that there were copies available to rent. Alas, we never did see those cases behind an Ocarina of Time box, and trust me, there were plenty of them. I remember seeing an entire row, if not two, reserved for the newly released games back in the day, yet we could never find a rental copy. My best friend always wondered how funny it would be to take any other game and put it behind Ocarina of Time, to trick somebody into thinking that they were one of the lucky few to find the game to rent for the weekend.
While Nate always thought of these funny pranks, he either lacked the courage or had too much of a moral compass to actually perform the prank. This is where yours truly would always shine. The next few times I visited Blockbuster, I always made a point of grabbing some random game like Waverace 64 or NHL ’99 and placing it behind the box for Ocarina of Time. I always left the store snickering about my sneaky prank, never actually seeing some poor sucker fall for it.
That is, until one fateful day.
I remember that the store was relatively empty on this particular day. But even so, Ocarina of Time still didn’t have any copies available to rent. So, just as I had done before, I inserted the clear box for a random game behind an Ocarina of Time box on the very bottom row of the shelf. I started browsing some other games near the aisle, and just a short while later, I heard a high-pitched gasp! I looked to my left and saw another kid, who appeared to be a year or two younger than me, approaching the Ocarina of Time section. He looked at me and realized the gravity of the situation: he had to grab the game before I could!
Without thinking twice, he sprinted towards the shelf and — I kid you not — dove face-first towards the ground to make sure I wasn’t able to grab the game before him. I can still hear the sound of his body smacking hard onto the floor as his arms lunged out to grab the copy of Ocarina of Time.
When he got up, he looked so proud of himself. Relief washed over his face as he dusted himself off, as well as a look of disbelief; he was finally going to be able to dedicate a weekend to playing the game. Another thing I will always remember is how he looked back at me with a kind of smug grin, like he was so quick and smart and I was either blind or dumb for not having seen it first.
I kept watching, waiting for him to look more closely at the game he had just grabbed. The way he tried to beat me to the game, that smile he gave me as if he had won the lottery — I was going to make sure this kid knew it was me who played this prank on him.
Then it finally happened: he looked at the clear case and, instead of seeing the cartridge he had dreamed of, with the gold label and bright red Zelda logo, he saw Bomberman 64 or some other random game staring back at him. He stopped moving, his mouth hung slack, and when he looked up at me, I could not hold back my laughter any longer. I remember pointing at him and laughing so hard, I practically ran him out of the store! As he awkwardly placed the game back on the shelf, he looked down at the ground and walked out of Blockbuster, with his tail between his legs.
My pranks were usually planned out in advance and kept a secret, so I rarely stuck around the scene of the crime to watch them unfold. That’s what makes this prank truly memorable for me. This kid really thought he had pulled one over on me by diving onto the ground to reach the bottom shelf, and because of that, I have never felt sorry for pulling this prank.
All of these years later, when people ask me about the best prank I have ever played on someone, this is the moment I share with them. It was truly a prank for the ages, and unfortunately, because most video and game rental stores have since gone out of business, it’s one that can never be recreated. I hope that this memory inspires you to play a prank this April 1st that will be just as legendary.
