How old are the "retro" gamers here? Or how old is everyone, really?

[Daria]

I'll be 32 this year. I grew up with an Atari, and then NES. But I don't really remember the gaming culture of the 80s. Even the Genesis was just a toy I had, wasn't something I really discussed with other kids. I got into gaming as a social thing online in the late 90s early 2000s with my PSX and emulation of classic systems.

[Tanooki]

I don't think I ever replied in this before, but I'm 38 and have been for some months now. In the arcade my first was Pac-Man not too long after it came out. At home I got the 1985 launch Nintendo Deluxe Set (before it was called that) along with also Super Mario Bros and Hogan's Alley. I did have some exposure to older stuff as my mom and her friend had the Fairchild Channel F system with a pile of many games, and I had friends who had the 2600 too which much of it did little for me but I did like the arcade ports (even the Nintendo ones.) First portable games were the Tiger things, but really it would be the 1989 release of Gameboy I got that year for Christmas too like the NES 6 years earlier.

[AdamAnt316]

32, here. Grew up with the Atari 2600 (briefly) and NES, followed by the SNES and Sega Genesis. I consider the beginning of my retro-gaming interest to be the day when I found a boxed Atari Super Pong Ten on the side of the road when I was in the 5th or 6th grade. I eventually started numerous other pre-NES systems (starting with the Intellivision and Atari 7800, of all things), and now have a pretty good collection of systems ranging from the original Magnavox Odyssey to the Nintendo Wii.
-Adam

[Gamevet]

I'll turn 40 this year. I did not start with the NES. I started with the VIC-20 and the ColecoVision.

Oh yes, the VIC-20. I had a friend that had a VIC-20 that we goofed around with when I was @ 15. He got a Colecovision the following year, and had about a half dozen games for it.

[wizardofwor1975]

Oh yes, the VIC-20. I had a friend that had a VIC-20 that we goofed around with when I was @ 15. He got a Colecovision the following year, and had about a half dozen games for it.

My VIC-20 originally belonged to my dad and he passed it on to me when he upgraded to the C64. He bought his VIC in 1982 and it still runs like a champ. Back in the day I remember playing Radar Rat Race aka Rally-X and Avenger aka Space Invaders on it. Good times.

[deltoidsteep]

27 years old! The first game I played was Super Mario Bros. on a neighbours NES. The first system I owned was a model 2 Genesis. The Genny remains one of my favourite systems to this day and my original one is still running smoothly.

[A.C. Sativa]

I'm 33, started with the NES.

[Gamevet]

My VIC-20 originally belonged to my dad and he passed it on to me when he upgraded to the C64. He bought his VIC in 1982 and it still runs like a champ. Back in the day I remember playing Radar Rat Race aka Rally-X and Avenger aka Space Invaders on it. Good times.

I picked Radar Rat Race for the C-64 (cart) last year from Half-Price-Books. I don't think it's quite as good as Rally-X, but I do remember the hype that the game got in computer magazines of the time.

My old man bought a 32k TRS-80 (CoCo) back in the early 80's. It was an okay computer, but nowhere near as cool as the Vic-20. I ended up buying a C-64 @ 1985, after experiencing all of the great games for the system at a friend's house. I still love that computer.

[kai123]

32, and my first system was my Dad's custom 386 I am guessing at the time. He even had a case he made from wood because the other ones were too bulky. I remember he and his friends shared games all the time and he would come home with floppies all the time with new games. The one that blew my mind was Wolf 3D. I will always remember when I got a sound blaster 16 with a cd-rom drive bundle from Radioshack for my birthday. It was so amazing to me at the time that my PC could change with just swapping some hardware out.

My first home console experience was a Colecovision that we also had the 2600 adapter for. My brother and I were always playing Smurfs and Galaxian on that thing. It was always so amazing to me. The colors and sound were so great and everyone would sit around and play trying to beat each other's scores. My first system that was mine was a hand me down 486 and then a NES system a little later.

[wizardofwor1975]

I picked Radar Rat Race for the C-64 (cart) last year from Half-Price-Books. I don't think it's quite as good as Rally-X, but I do remember the hype that the game got in computer magazines of the time.

My old man bought a 32k TRS-80 (CoCo) back in the early 80's. It was an okay computer, but nowhere near as cool as the Vic-20. I ended up buying a C-64 @ 1985, after experiencing all of the great games for the system at a friend's house. I still love that computer.

Agreed. Rally-X was a groundbreaking game. According to GamesRadar it was the first game to have continuous background music. Kinda crafty though how Radar Rat Race's developers cashed in on some of Rally-X's success. Radar Rat Race was IMO the best of the Rally-X clones. I think the NES had a clone too. I think it was called Jovial Race. These days though I prefer Rally-X or New Rally-X but who can forgot Radar Rat Race's Three Blind Mice background music. Its very cheesy...

http://www.gamesradar.com/gamings-mo...utions/?page=2

Nowadays, I also play a lot of Sword of Fargoal and Key Quest on my Vic. Have you tried Key Quest? Its very similar to Tutankham. If you like Tutankham then you'll probably love Key Quest. Its very addicting.

http://www.retrogamer.net/top_10/top...-vic-20-games/

+1 on loving the C64. Recently, I really scored and picked up for my C64: Parallax by Ocean, Archon (Still in shrink wrap!!!), Navy Seal by Cosmi, and Infiltrator. July was a great month for C64 pickups!!!