I'm curious as to the moment, or event or situation, that headed you into the world of Retro Gaming. What was it that led you onto the path of being so interested in games and systems that the mainstream population has forgotten about?



Here is how I got into it:


I was just your average video gamer. I had a XBOX and about 5 or 6 games, and a GameCube and a couple of games. I would basically play my games and maybe buy a new game for one of the systems every other month or so. During Xmas time, I would always buy like 4 or 5. I would also rent an occasional game from Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. I didn't play games that often, probably only about 3 hours a week. I only had one subscription to a video game magazine. So I really wasn't much of a hardcore gamer at all.

Of course, all this changed......


I can trace it back to me visiting a Hollywood Video store, to look for a DVD movie to rent. When I went to this Hollywood Video store, I noticed that they had this Video Game store attatched onto it, called "Game Crazy". I decided to stroll over there and check it out breifly, and while I was in there, I saw alot of games from systems past. Game Systems that I had sold a long ago, while they still were somewhat viable. I was looking around and I saw a old Sega Genesis game, Madden 93. It was 99 cents. I can remember back in 1992, when me and my buddies used to play that game over and over. We had tournaments and leagues, and wagered money on that game. It brought back alot of special memories.

But, I really didn't care. That was the past. No need to dwell on it. So I left and went home with my DVD rental and that was that.

Then a couple of weeks later, I was at a friends house, trying to help him erase a bunch of stuff off his computer, to try to make it run a little faster. He had gotten the PC from a friend who had a million things on the hard drive. I was trying to help him clean it up a little bit. While I was erasing all kinds of programs, I noticed that there were some emulators and Roms on his computer. There was a Sega Genesis emulator and a Super Nintendo Emulator, and a bunch of Roms.

I had remembered that a couple of years back, I had a MAME emulator and Roms on my PC to play old classic arcade games like Defender and Galaga. Back then, they had Genesis and Snes emulators, but I think that they only ran in DOS, and I didn't want to screw around with DOS.

When I got home, I thought, "You know I should see what emulators they have nowadays. They probably have some really good ones that run in Windows. I ended up downloading a Genesis and a SNES emulator and some Roms. After playing some of those old games for awhile, I started thinking. "Man, these old games are so simple compared to today's latest games, but they have a special charm to them."

So I started downloading even more roms. And I discovered that what I love about the older games is that the world within the game is more defined. What you can do, and what you can't do in their game worlds are much more defined and regulated then todays modern games. Especially the old 2D classics.

Then I happen to go into Hollywood Video again, looking for another DVD movie to rent, and I go back into that GameCrazy store. I see that Madden 93 for the Genesis for 99 cents and decide to buy it. At the same time I also bought NBA Live 95 for the Super Nintendo. Another one of my all time favorite sports games from back in the day.

Why did I buy these games? I don't even have a Genesis or a Super Nintendo. Well, I thought that I better buy these games now, before somebody else buys them and I can't get them again. I would just try to find a old Super Nintendo or Genesis really cheap somewhere at a later date.

That particular Game Crazy didn't have any old Super Nintendo's or Sega Genesis. So I started calling around, at some of the different gamestores, and I found one that had a Sega Genesis, with one controller for $19.99. I decided to drive over and buy it. While I was there, I also bought Sonic 2 for a couple of bucks.

When I got home, I got out my old RGB Monitor from back in the day, and found my old Sega Genesis RGB cable. I hooked everything up, and I was transfered back in time to the early 90's! It was great. The emulators were nice, but there is nothing like plugging the old cartridge into the slot and flipping the power switch and holding that controller in your hands. Seeing Sonic run around on that RGB Monitor was just beautifull!

And that is basically where it all started for me. Since then, I've gotten a Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, Turbo Grafx and a Nintendo 64. I've also bought about 30 or so games. Now I'm on the hunt for a Atari Jaguar, a Sega CD, a 32X, a 3DO, and at some point a Turbo Duo.


So what are your guy's stories?