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…