I was gone for awhile playing Current Day games, silly me!

[Anthony1]

I actually left the world of Retro Gaming for a few months.


Did anybody notice that I didn't come around here? I just started to get into this mode of playing XBOX games. I went and got a Rental pass from Blockbuster, and I just started playing tons of XBOX games for awhile.


Then I built my Garage home theater with the 118 inch screen, and I kinda left Retro Gaming for a little bit.

I even sold my entire NES collection of hardware and games and accessories, etc, etc.


I actually thought that my whole retro gaming period was just a little fad that I went though, and I felt foolish for a little while, because I actually spent several thousand dollars on Retro Gaming during my first year in it! I bought tons of my old systems back, and tons of games and accessories and cables and all kinds of crap. So I felt kinda stupid for spending so much money for what turned out to be a mere "phase" that I went through.

But it turns out that I was incorrect about that. I found a few Die Hard Game Fan's lying around, and I started reading them, and then the juices started flowing again. Next thing you know I went on a crusade of playing tons of early Playstation games.

For some reason I've been going PS1 crazy very recently. I've been especially trying to play the very, very early PS games. Those games just have a nice late 1995, early 1996 flavor to them that I like.

So, it looked like I might give up Retro gaming to some degree, but then now I'm right back, smack dab in the middle of it.


I'm assuming that what happened to me is a normal thing for people that have recently just gone retro, and have only been retro for a few years or less. You go back to Modern games for a period of time, and begin to think the retro love was just a crazy phase, and then what do you know, you go back to the Retro love.

I'm sure alot of guys just get into a cycle where they bounce back n forth all the time. Sometimes going on a modern game binge for a few months, and then returning to retro land.

I will however say that I've changed as a retro gamer though. I no longer spend any actual money on the retro hobby anymore. I don't go to thrift stores or GameStop or anything like that any more like I used to. I no longer spend countless hours on Ebay trying to buy a particular Saturn game. Now, I'm no longer interested in the hunt and the buying of games. I just like to play them. I already have a ton, so I don't feel like I need to constantly buy like I used to. And if the games are CD based, I just trade backups with other dudes. I know some people are very much not down with that, and I understand their reasoning, but F it, it's not a big deal to me. I've got a gargantuan collection of Saturn and 3DO and Sega CD and PS1 and DC backups, and I don't really care that I didn't buy them. Color me guilty. I just want to play those suckers at some point. I know I can't play them all, but I just like having them on a shelf in my Garage that I can go to whenever I want. In my lifetime, I've probably spent more than 30K on games, so I don't feel like I'm ripping off the industry, but having backups of games for systems that are basically forgotten by the modern gaming public.

I'm strickly a gamer now. No longer a collector. I do collect gaming magazines however.

Anybody got any early GameFans?

Peace Out.

[-hellvin-]

I just love all games period. I am totally partial to the retro side though. No matter how many xbox games/current gen games I play in a day or week it won't stop me from coming to this site and talking about games old and new. ;D

I gotta hand it to ya though, I can't even fathom parting with any of my retro stuff. Everytime I get to thinking it's a waste of money and it takes up too much room, I just can't get rid of anything.

[Anthony1]

Well so far the only thing that I've gotten rid of is my NES stuff. And there were a number of reasons for that.


Probably the biggest reason was the fact that there is a perfect NES emulator that will run on the XBOX, and it's just so freaking convienent. Normally, I'm not a big fan of emulators, but this particular emulator will let you play NES games in 720P on a HDTV via the XBOX. Plus, I can choose from basically every NES game in existence, and it doesn't crash and there isn't a blinking light or blowing carts or anything like that. The sound is in stereo, and I know there is nothing like the real thing, but I can live fine with this NES emualtor. I was never really huge into the NES anyways. Plus the NES doesn't do RGB. If the NES outputted RGB, I would have never, ever gotten rid of it. I will never sell a system that displays analog RGB. No emulator can recreate analog RGB, so my TG-16, Genesis, Sega CD, SNES, Jaguar, 32X, Saturn, PSX and N64 are all safe from ever being sold.


To be completely honest though, I must say that part of me is sad for gettin rid of all the NES stuff. I once had a vision that said that I would re-acquire every system, and every game that I ever owned. Well, I once owned a NES, and I once owned about 24 NES games, and now I no longer do.

But it's all gravy, things change.


There is likely to be a time when the 3DO can be emulated absolutely 100 percent perfectly, and at that point, I will get rid of my 3DO hardware. Why? Cause the 3DO doesn't do RGB. So that makes it expendable. Plus the real 3DO controllers suck anyways. But until this happens, I will always have my 3DO too.


Oh by the way, I do own one system that doesn't do analog RGB. The Atari 2600. I have a Atari 2600 with a S-Video mod, and this is one system where you really, absolutely, must have the real freaking controllers. So I don't think I will ever get rid of this puppy, either.

[om3ga]

Games > Sex

[Anthony1]

Games > Sex


Ummm, I'm no so sure about that. I mean, I love games a ton, but Sex?

I guess it depends on who your partner is. If I could do the nasty with Jessica Alba, but I would have to give up games for 365 days, I would seriously consider it.

[swlovinist]

I couldnt give up my nes collection, but that is me. I am only 6 games now from my collection, and I am going to finish it up hopefully in a couple of years. As for me, I go back and forth, because the retro scene and the current scene are so different. New games play so different than the old ones. For me it truly is a historical reason why I mostly collect, to plug in a 25+ year old machine to play is really asking alot of somebody now. I love it, I do it, but I dont expect anyone else to. If I was to get rid of my collection, I would do what Anthony has done. Mod the crap out of my Box and go modern. As for playing, I prefer the older games, but it is because of time restraints. If I have 15min, I can play a game of Robotron 2084, or play my buddy a game of Artillery Duel on my still functioning Astrocade. MOST games today you cant do that, but still there are some. Anyways, as my old football coach once said, if you are going to do something, do it 110%!

[digitalpress]

I've been playing a lot of modern-day stuff too. The Suffering, Burnout 3, Fable, ESPN NFL 2k5. But that doesn't mean I have to part with my retro stuff, or even "leave it". My 2600 is sitting by my TV and last night before finishing up Fable I played a quick game of Reactor.

I certainly understand obsessive behavior: suddenly fascinations with emulators, specific systems, specific games, etc. But I will NEVER understand the abandonment of retrogaming. If you leave it, then you were never really part of it. Call yourself a gamer or a collector - but retrogaming is more than just enjoying a game of Super Mario Bros. It's holding the NES controller. It's plugging in the cartridge. It's powering up and down three times so your NES doesn't blink. That's what it's all about.

And yet, tonight I'm going back to play Fable as a GOOD guy because damn did I play the most evil character ever. :evil:

[anagrama]

Games > Sex

Umm... How old are you?

[Flack]

I think the people that say, "I got into retrogaming a year ago" or whenever are the ones most likely to be getting out of it someday. It's hard to say when I really got into retrogaming because I don't feel like I ever got out of it. I never really stopped playing old games. As I've mentioned in other threads, the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, and several of the other consoles I own now are the ones I owned when I was a kid. I'm sure the Combat cart I own is the one I owned 25+ years ago. Just like 80's music -- it's not like I just started listening to it, I just never stopped!

[AB Positive]

I have to admit I go through a lot of buy/sell with my collection, although because during my run through life I didn't get a chance to play everything. Some stuff I never played (O2, Virtual Boy) I ended up picking up and loving, others (INTV, 7800) I got and then was disappointed and promptly sold. So I can sort of relate. And Nippon Ichi Software is certainly making current get quite fun, but I think we all go through a "Current day/retro" change of pace. It is nice popping in some eye candy now and again.

-AG

[TRM]

I think the people that say, "I got into retrogaming a year ago" or whenever are the ones most likely to be getting out of it someday. It's hard to say when I really got into retrogaming because I don't feel like I ever got out of it. I never really stopped playing old games. As I've mentioned in other threads, the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, and several of the other consoles I own now are the ones I owned when I was a kid. I'm sure the Combat cart I own is the one I owned 25+ years ago. Just like 80's music -- it's not like I just started listening to it, I just never stopped!

I have to agree with you on this one. I added other videogame consoles to my collection as the years went by, but I always went back to my original NES.

[dethink]

honestly, the appeal to collecting games is like that of collecting vinyl - pulling all that stuff out and listening to it is an occasional indulgence, and the collection of the physical medium is the appeal, not necessarily the content.

almost 7 out of 7 days of the week, i'm gonna listen to my albums ripped to MP3 on iTunes, or play my NES games on my powerbook. even though they serve the same purpose and function alike to my visual/auditory senses, having the tangible CD/album or the cart is a completely different thing.

for some of us, there is no substitue for plugging in an NES cart, and playing it with the un-ergonomic brick. some people just want to play the games, and not go through the hassle of finding old hardware, and crossing their fingers that it works - in this sense, emulators are like the VCR or DVD of the gaming world. why is it so easy to find classic movies? because someone has moved them to the media standard of the day. video games have no standard format really, so until the game console is an entertainment industry-wide standard like DVD, we'll have to make due in the meantime with emulators.

the purist will always seek out the original format, but for the rest of the population the only way to keep these things alive is by adapting them into other formats, like on to a PC.

[NE146]

I think the people that say, "I got into retrogaming a year ago" or whenever are the ones most likely to be getting out of it someday. It's hard to say when I really got into retrogaming because I don't feel like I ever got out of it. I never really stopped playing old games. As I've mentioned in other threads, the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, and several of the other consoles I own now are the ones I owned when I was a kid. I'm sure the Combat cart I own is the one I owned 25+ years ago. Just like 80's music -- it's not like I just started listening to it, I just never stopped!

I have to agree with you on this one. I added other videogame consoles to my collection as the years went by, but I always went back to my original NES.

Yeah. How am I a retrogamer having never been into "retrogaming" (that term still seems like such a misrepresentation to me). To me I just acquire new games but never gave up on any of my consoles I already own.

I guess the equivalent would be.. if you are playing Burnout 3 (or Outrun 2) on your nice new Xbox. Well, if you keep that Xbox around and still revisit it to get a round of Outrun 2 or Burnout 3 in every now and then.. and this continues on and off for the next 20 years... would THAT be considered "retrogaming" in the year 2024?

You've never gone back.. you've just always played it. Sure there might be a couple of years where you haven't touched it, but it was always in your collection and you've played it since it was new. You also have never stopped getting new games. Is THAT retrogaming?

Or is retrogaming just those that take a look at the nifty older consoles and go out and acquire it as a new experience.

[Fuyukaze]

Every time I ever gave up on a system I later came to regret it. It happened with the 2600, NES, and SNES. For myself, I consider emulation to only be good for one thing. The time between not having the game, and getting it. Everyone goes thru spurts of playing whats new and whats old because they enjoy the old stuff and want to know what all else has came out recently. To use emulation as an excuse to save space and cost on the otherhand I dont consider to be justifiable. Cause the same applies to any new systems. My X-box and PS2 takes up alot of space with all 30 games I have for them. That doesnt mean I should try to find emulators to play burnt copies for either system. I think the same applies to the old systems as well. When a new version of an old game is released, I generaly check to see if the new version adds anything to the old that was needed. If the two play the same and the new additions are good I sell or trade off the old one. An example would be Dragon Warrior 3 for the NES. It's re-release was for the Game Boy Color. I compared the two to see what was new, if they played the same, and after finding out the differences felt there was nolonger a reason to keep the old NES release. This is my opinion though.

[whoisKeel]

i sorta understand your rgb/720p thing, but a large reason i play my nes games is out of nostalgia. and i didn't have rgb or hdtv when i was 10 (nor do i now). i do play nes games on my pc, and they do look alot nicer, but i just can't part with my (small) collection, and i don't think i ever will. i still have my original nes and all the games i had as a kid, i never sold them.

unfortunately, i did kind of give/trade away my snes and games. i have re-aquired them all, but its not quite the same knowing they aren't the same exact carts i grew up on.

sure, i go through phases where i won't play any old games for a few months. or might not even play games at all for a month (gasp), but then i fall right back into it. i'm like that with all my hobbies tho, its just the way i am.

[MarioAllStar2600]

If you leave it, then you were never really part of it. Call yourself a gamer or a collector - but retrogaming is more than just enjoying a game of Super Mario Bros. It's holding the NES controller. It's plugging in the cartridge. It's powering up and down three times so your NES doesn't blink. That's what it's all about
Joe speaks the truth.

I have taken 2-3 month breaks from gaming (2 times) cause other stuff arises or you just need a break. But each time I come back I just find myself needing it more. ;)

[jerkov]

I don't think retrogaming can be summed up any better than the comments left by Flack and digitalpress. I agree wholeheartedly with both of you.