Retro Gamer

Altered Beast. Streets of Rage. Golden Axe. These are just a few titles people think of when the subject of the Sega Mega Drive is raised. Although the most iconic would have to be the Sonic the Hedgehog series. As with a lot of people my age the Sega Mega Drive was a defining part of my childhood. It was what made me fall in love with video games. As opposed to the games of today the old school market leaders Sega and still current console giant Nintendo, in my opinion actually encouraged us to get off our fat lazy back sides and get out of the house. After playing NBA Jam we wanted to go and play basketball for real. After playing Sonic we wanted to charge around the back yard like at a million miles an hour until we just couldn't run any more.

Then that fateful day arrived when Sony reared it's ugly head and emerged with the Play Station. Immediately we were sold. A few short hours of game play and we were hooked! Crash Bandicoot. Spyro the Dragon. Gran Turismo. We loved every minute of it. No longer did the control get thrown across the room when saw the Game Over screen because our progress was saved at the last Check Point. We played Tenchu and suddenly wanted to be a samurai, we played Tekken 3 and wanted to be a fighter, we played Tomb Raider and wanted to be an adventure, but what we did we do? We kept playing the Play Station. We took it for granted. A game console had become a standard household item as opposed to an individual's symbol of status. Remember when the only person who could make your Sega or Nintendo work was you? Only you could insert the cartridge at just the precise angle. The Play Station marked the end of the consoles' individual quirks and smacked us in the face with games that wouldn't work if they got scratched too much but it was convenient as CD's used less storage space than cartridges.

Along came the Play Station 2, Nintendo Game Cube, and evil Microsoft's pride and joy; the X-Box. Hello and welcome to our screens Halo. Our inspiration to be something we were not had now been completely quashed. We no longer wanted to be heroes, we no longer wanted to be fit, healthy, and admirable. We wanted to be something else, something we already were, something made to look new and fashionable. We wanted to be...

...a gamer.

We didn't want to use the garbage bin as stumps on the driveway any more, we just wanted to play cricket by pressing buttons with our thumbs. We didn't want to muck around wrestling with our friends and siblings, we just wanted to win the Royal Rumble in Smack Down Vs Raw.

As much as I like to play my X-Box and PS2, as much as I put the Sega Mega Drive up on a pedestal, I refuse to get a PS3 or X-Box 360. As much enjoyment as these electronic devices give me, if I have children these things would be packed away. Because I look at children these days and they all have the belief that a toy only qualifies as a toy if it has, batteries, flashing lights, or plugs into the TV. Kids are no longer hammering nails into blocks of wood, chiselling happy faces into sand stone, or running around pretending to be Superman. I don't know how the rest of the world feels but as a member of the generation soon to inherit the earth it's a scary thought that children are more interested in pressing buttons with their eyes glued to a screen than what the weather outside is doing.

I am not one of today's "Gamers" The way I see it I am one of the few true "Retro Gamers" because unlike the people like to play these old games for nostalgia or simply for the sake of playing them, I like to bring them out every so often to remind myself:

A) That they were just as fun if not more so, as the latest games.
B) That there is more to life than having the latest greatest everything.

You know it's true.

$$$

I remember the days when petrol was under 80c per litre.
I remember when a new release video game cost no more than $30.
I remember milkos and redskins at 10c each.
I remember a packet of crisps was 60c.
I remember paddle pops for 80c.
I remember when the take-away down the road sold small chips for $1.50, medium for $2, and large for $3.50.
I remember the burger meals at KFC costing $4.95.

What happened? I know one thing for sure. The GST was introduced and all of a sudden petrol cost more than $1, paddle pops went up to $1, crisps doubled in price, and out of nowhere video games were up around the $100 mark.

And who's income increased to help cope with prices of everything going through the roof? The rich bastards!

You know it's true.

One Day At A Time

It's been a little over a month now. Where did that month go? I'm now at the stage where I forget about my coffee and it goes cold because there's no one there to hurry me up about giving her the cup. I'm now at the stage where I'm slowly starting to talk to more friends again. I'm now at the stage where I don't think I see her out the corner of my eye. I'm now at the stage where I occasionally think I feel her lying beside me. I'm now at the stage where I'm not going to get rid of my car because it was her's. I'm now at the stage where I'm feeling like we should get another dog but Tammy's things are still everywhere and we're really not ready. I'm now at the stage where I'm just taking one day at a time.