I’ve never been much of a collector. I’ve always been one to trade games in once I’ve finished with them, the same can be said with consoles. The PS3 and 360 both went the journey when the current gen launched and I thought that would be me, future-proofed for the foreseeable.
Not for one moment did I expect to find myself buying a new console. And when I say new, I mean old. That’s right; I’m turning retro, I’m going back to the past (not the future).
By chance, I stumbled upon a Facebook advert for an upcoming retro fair (shout out to the Retro Fair in Doncaster) close to home. Out of interest, I thought I’d go along just to see what it was like, not knowing what to expect. Instantly… I was hooked. There were NES’ here, PS2’s there and all sorts of memorabilia in-between. I was like a kid in a sweet shop and could have spent a small fortune.
To clarify, retro to me is anything from my childhood. Being relatively youthful at that age of 25, my childhood gaming memories started with the Mega Drive, Master System and PS1. Until now, I’d always been of the opinion that memories were best left in the past, but how wrong I was.
It all started quite recently when I found myself at a loss between my One, PS4 and Switch. Between them, I couldn’t find anything to play which sounds silly, but I was bored. I had an itch that couldn’t be scratched when I thought ‘I could really play Pokemon right now’. That’s where it all began; I bought a Game Boy Advance SP. Or I should say my partner did and I’ll be opening it for my birthday.
With a selection of games bundled with it, including Pokemon Red, I can’t wait to open it. But with me not doing things by half, I’ve bought a GameCube in the meantime. These might not be ‘retro’ by true definition but they are consoles of my childhood and I feel that looking back may be the future. Very minimal research shows how many games there are for both systems and how little you can pick them up for.
My future plans are to buy an original Xbox next and take things from there. In the meantime, though I’ll be penning my thoughts on all things retro from my purchases, shops I visit, games I play and my general thoughts.
I hope you join me on my journey and see where it takes me…
original xbox is great, i had some great times with that. One game in particular was Mechassault, which was for the online mostly. Sadly I don’t think you can play it online anymore 🙁
I imagine if it was online it will have been wound down some time ago! I was tempted when I was at the fair by a Halo/Midtown Madness 3 console double-pack which is exactly the same as what I had when the Xbox first launched. Some good memories on that system and I hope to return to it soon!
Hi Stephen! I love classic games, particularly on SNES (before your time). I don’t know if you are into classic RPGs,but if you haven’t played Chrono Trigger, it is my favorite classic RPG of all time (next to Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IV). Anyway,I am interested in what you discover on your journey.
Thanks for the comment and I’ll welcome any suggestions for games that I should play as I’m a fan of all genres really and I am bound to have a lot of catching up to do! I am a fan of RPG’s to be honest so I will have a look into those. Do you have a GameCube and/or Gameboy Advance?
No, I currently have an X-Box 360 and PS3. I have played some games on ROMs on my computer, but it’s not the same for sure.