Keatah

The Amiga just screams "cool". I owned one very briefly in the late 90's, the A500 I believe. I found it in a thrift store but not the way you'd think. It was sitting in a shopping cart by the office door with the monitor. I asked if it was for sale and the woman said it was there to get it out of the way because the Amiga was their thrift stores office computer but they had just replaced it with a Windows PC so although they hadn't intended on selling it she actually said that sure, she'd sell it and I was floored when she said I could have it for $10. 

Thing is most folks don't realize right away is that as time goes on it isn't hard or costly to update to the next model Pi for better performance. And that performance will certainly be needed as emulation accuracy continues to improve.
 
Man I tell ya, if they had this stuff back in the 80's..!

While I do not currently (at least intentionally) collect any gaming magazines I used to, boy did I ever lol. Various video gaming and computer magazines because of course many of those early computers were something we SAID we wanted for "school work" but really wanted for the videogames. As far back as I can recall I would say I really started with Electronic Gamines Magazine in the early 80's which I thought was a brilliant magazine, by the way some nice online digital archives can be found here:
http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/electronic_games/electronic_games.htm
and HERE:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=Electronic%20Games
 
I suspect like many, who could not afford many videogames it was delightful to pour through these magazines and dream. OF COURSE they would help to ignite our imagination and anticipation with various articles and images and give us some insight we pretty much could not get anywhere else. Taking them to school and comparing and discussing with our fellow gaming friends what sounded like the next or current cool video game or accessory was always great fun. I would wear those magazines out from wear reading them over and over. There were of course other magazine or articles in typically non gaming publications wanting to give their opinion on this new powerful wave of entertainment (often not flattering as that nonsense started early) as well there were offshoots and one off magazines that were mostly forgotten or quickly discontinued. Of course after the rise of the mighty originally 8 bit Nintendo there was a resurgence in the video-games scene and revised and new publications to reflect that. I would go on to collect many of the usual suspects like GamePro, various dedicated Sega / Nintendo / Amiga Computer magazines. Eventually covering all the 8 bit and then following up with all the 16bit era. I was still reading and collecting when the new powerful consoles hit, I had collected many Dreamcast magazines as well. 
 
Most of my collection was lost or given away over the years stupidly now that I think back on it, I have of course Gigabytes of various gaming magazine related PDF's sitting on the hard drives. A few years back though through various videogame and computer acquisitions through my collecting phase I would end up with a video game or computer magazine here and there, usually an issue I had read many years prior but still, I admit there is something so nostalgic as the retro games themselves, so fun to read through them with the fresh eyes and excitement many of the articles and images gave you and to remember looking at them the first time and wondering what it would be like to play them yourself first hand! Good times and a huge part of the history, memories, preservation of the video games era right from the start. 

I used to. Back in the 70's and 80's. Typically what I could get at the drugstore or supermarket. Nowadays it'll be pdf for me.

I used to. Back in the 70's and 80's. Typically what I could get at the drugstore or supermarket. Nowadays it'll be pdf for me.

Maybe this is a little gross to say but I do this all the time. I bet a lot of people do. Am I the only one? I think it's some kind of weird leftover strand of Neanderthal in our DNA that makes us curious about our own scent. And it's weird how you can cup it in your hand and keep it there while you scoop it up to your face, like the air doesn't really escape your hand. Sorry if that's gross but we're all guilty of it at some point. Just a random thought.

I remember that well.  The must fun part about it was pressing the # button, then it would malfunction and the speech synthesis would produce some very interesting and hilarious garbled speech sound effects...

I didn't have one, but wanted one.  I remember it wouldn't say "bad" words, but if you spelled them more cleverly, you could get close.  Now THAT'S learning, folks. 

Did anybody else have a Speak & Spell growing up? Texas Instruments found a tremendously clever use of their speech synthesis chip. The Speak & Spell was introduced in June, 1978 at the Summer CES, making it one of the very first handheld electronic devices with a visual display. Speak & Spell enjoyed a very similar lifespan to that of the Atari 2600, retailing from 1978-1992.

I would love to get into real Neo Geo, but it’s more expensive now than it was when it released! Emulation seems like the smart choice for that system.

I had a new VCS when I was a kid in 1977-1978. And today I still enjoy playing the original games, maybe not for as long, but enjoying them all the same. I eventually acquired many many other cartridge based systems and the same holds true for them as well.
 
In the 90's I got into PC gaming and that continues to be my platform of choice. Today currently I enjoy complex simulations, but haven't really moved away from the simplistic games of the 80's either. Combat, VideoPinball, Phoenix.. Love'em all the same.
 
The passing of time has added MORE richness and variety to the hobby. But the desire to simplify is stronger than ever. Modern hardware and emulation allows one to do just that. Most people dislike emulation, that much is clear. But it's just a vehicle and a means to an end. As nostalgia gestates we become more interested in the software. It's the essence of the game.
 
If anything i've grown totally and utterly impatient in dealing with physical hardware. So it's going to be emulation all the way. Not to mention the easy portability factor. I clearly recall having and hating to lug consoles and carts to sleepovers and " game conferences". Today it's different it all fits on a microSD card, and yet its still a novelty for me to bring an entire library of VCS and Apple II games with me to the north cabin. Still amazing.
 
As we age I think people will start to value convenience and reliability. Those two points are really invaluable. And without such "features" I doubt I'd be in the hobby or play as much as I do.

Console-wise I started with dedicated pong unit, and moved into the VCS on release day. Since then I owned practically every cartridge based system of the day. But I had always wanted an all-in-one system that'd play every game ever made. Today that is possible through a standard emulation box. And that means yes, despite it being virtual consoles.
 
This enables me to sample and enjoy NeoGeo. Something I didn't like bitd, but do now.

Console-wise I started with dedicated pong unit, and moved into the VCS on release day. Since then I owned practically every cartridge based system of the day. But I had always wanted an all-in-one system that'd play every game ever made. Today that is possible through a standard emulation box. And that means yes, despite it being virtual consoles.
 
This enables me to sample and enjoy NeoGeo. Something I didn't like bitd, but do now.

I had a new VCS when I was a kid in 1977-1978. And today I still enjoy playing the original games, maybe not for as long, but enjoying them all the same. I eventually acquired many many other cartridge based systems and the same holds true for them as well.
 
In the 90's I got into PC gaming and that continues to be my platform of choice. Today currently I enjoy complex simulations, but haven't really moved away from the simplistic games of the 80's either. Combat, VideoPinball, Phoenix.. Love'em all the same.
 
The passing of time has added MORE richness and variety to the hobby. But the desire to simplify is stronger than ever. Modern hardware and emulation allows one to do just that. Most people dislike emulation, that much is clear. But it's just a vehicle and a means to an end. As nostalgia gestates we become more interested in the software. It's the essence of the game.
 
If anything i've grown totally and utterly impatient in dealing with physical hardware. So it's going to be emulation all the way. Not to mention the easy portability factor. I clearly recall having and hating to lug consoles and carts to sleepovers and " game conferences". Today it's different it all fits on a microSD card, and yet its still a novelty for me to bring an entire library of VCS and Apple II games with me to the north cabin. Still amazing.
 
As we age I think people will start to value convenience and reliability. Those two points are really invaluable. And without such "features" I doubt I'd be in the hobby or play as much as I do.

I had a new VCS when I was a kid in 1977-1978. And today I still enjoy playing the original games, maybe not for as long, but enjoying them all the same. I eventually acquired many many other cartridge based systems and the same holds true for them as well.
 
In the 90's I got into PC gaming and that continues to be my platform of choice. Today currently I enjoy complex simulations, but haven't really moved away from the simplistic games of the 80's either. Combat, VideoPinball, Phoenix.. Love'em all the same.
 
The passing of time has added MORE richness and variety to the hobby. But the desire to simplify is stronger than ever. Modern hardware and emulation allows one to do just that. Most people dislike emulation, that much is clear. But it's just a vehicle and a means to an end. As nostalgia gestates we become more interested in the software. It's the essence of the game.
 
If anything i've grown totally and utterly impatient in dealing with physical hardware. So it's going to be emulation all the way. Not to mention the easy portability factor. I clearly recall having and hating to lug consoles and carts to sleepovers and " game conferences". Today it's different it all fits on a microSD card, and yet its still a novelty for me to bring an entire library of VCS and Apple II games with me to the north cabin. Still amazing.
 
As we age I think people will start to value convenience and reliability. Those two points are really invaluable. And without such "features" I doubt I'd be in the hobby or play as much as I do.

I'll echo this sentiment. Although I do love some longer game sessions whether playing one of the older Sims games on the PC or a couple of hours of Star Wars Battlefront II on the PS4, I primarily prefer the shortness of the older games. When I have some down time I may dedicate a half an hour to play a few 2600 or NES arcade ports and have a blast in that time and then put it away. 
 
I'm 48 now so closing on 50 in less than a year and a half and I do find that as I get older and particularly in the last year or so that collecting is a lot less important to me than playing is. I don't know if it is a coincidence of age or not but having a small, compact out of the way collection is much more appealing to me now as a 48 year old than a room of doom in my 20's and I actually find that the less I own, the more I play. I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense but as I age the playing is definitely more important than hunting and collecting. I used to be so focused on hunting that I hardly ever actually played anything.
 
I'm sure part of that is because I've owned almost every console that I've wanted to try at one point in the last 25 years of being in this hobby and I've already experienced so much that the pull to get more just isn't there. I'm very happy with this change in my viewpoint as the experience is now so much more important than the physical thing. Getting old still sucks but I'm glad to have a hobby that continues to help me feel young.
 
I still miss my hair though

Don't recall exactly, specifically the very first moment. But close enough.
 
It was a rather pedestrian experience, some nondescript winter evening or Saturday afternoon in 1977. I remember exploring the "worlds" of combat. All the different terrain. That and playing Surround. The full aweseomness of the VCS would be revealed to several decades later, when I could appreciate how much was done with so little.
 
I don't think I ever had a first "wow" moment with videogames because I grew up with them. It's as if they always existed and the exploration of the electronic gaming field was a given. Even back in like 1976 and 1975.
 
The "wow" moment was with the discovery of red LED handhelds. Those were amazing, and I always thought there was a special sort of intelligence inside the chips. I didn't know how they all worked. And it would have been totally plausible (to me) that they were like mechanical mazes inside, with control levers and chutes and valves. Like a big-ass Hot-Wheels track setup going everywhere.
 
Of course each console from the dedicated pong units to my latest emulation PC, each one, had their impressive moment. I was rarely disappointed.

Don't recall exactly, specifically the very first moment. But close enough.
 
It was a rather pedestrian experience, some nondescript winter evening or Saturday afternoon in 1977. I remember exploring the "worlds" of combat. All the different terrain. That and playing Surround. The full aweseomness of the VCS would be revealed to several decades later, when I could appreciate how much was done with so little.
 
I don't think I ever had a first "wow" moment with videogames because I grew up with them. It's as if they always existed and the exploration of the electronic gaming field was a given. Even back in like 1976 and 1975.
 
The "wow" moment was with the discovery of red LED handhelds. Those were amazing, and I always thought there was a special sort of intelligence inside the chips. I didn't know how they all worked. And it would have been totally plausible (to me) that they were like mechanical mazes inside, with control levers and chutes and valves. Like a big-ass Hot-Wheels track setup going everywhere.
 
Of course each console from the dedicated pong units to my latest emulation PC, each one, had their impressive moment. I was rarely disappointed.

Gosh I never thought to go through the "hundreds" of cassettes I still have of the old days. We used to leave a recorder running a lot of the times when playing video games. Not unlike the rambling youtube commentaries of today. There's gotta be some classic moments in there!

Gosh I never thought to go through the "hundreds" of cassettes I still have of the old days. We used to leave a recorder running a lot of the times when playing video games. Not unlike the rambling youtube commentaries of today. There's gotta be some classic moments in there!

Gosh I never thought to go through the "hundreds" of cassettes I still have of the old days. We used to leave a recorder running a lot of the times when playing video games. Not unlike the rambling youtube commentaries of today. There's gotta be some classic moments in there!

Gosh I never thought to go through the "hundreds" of cassettes I still have of the old days. We used to leave a recorder running a lot of the times when playing video games. Not unlike the rambling youtube commentaries of today. There's gotta be some classic moments in there!

Love the first version I played, the VCS version. Honorable mentions go to the Atari 800 and Vic-20 for coming real close to my fav. Abot the other versions.. While I don't mind the boss stages, I dislike backgrounds. Too much ground clutter for my tastes.

For those of you that love the 2600 version....if you get the chance...try the VIC-20 version.  Even in emulation.  It's incredible how close it is to the Atari version, and how that one little change (aliens moving down a row to start firing) makes the game even more frenetic.  And take note...this was done on a machine with no hardware sprites (player/missile graphics). 

Light Sixer, Heavy Sixer, and of course Emulator Stella.