About Retro Replay

Introduction

My name is David Becker and online I am known as dmb062082. I am a retired prison guard, a father of three wonderful sons, and a lifelong lover of retro gaming. I have always been fascinated by the world of emulation and classic consoles. For me, video games are not just entertainment, they are part of my personal history and a way of staying connected with the joy and imagination of my youth.

I have been active in the emulation scene for decades and I have built Retro-Replay.com as a place to share my passion with others. This site is a home for stories, tutorials, interviews, longplays, reviews, reflections, music, and anything else that keeps the history of gaming alive. Beyond the website, I also run a YouTube channel and a few Facebook pages where I interact with other retro enthusiasts. If you are reading this, you are likely someone who loves the same things I do, whether that is reliving the classics, exploring hidden gems, or learning about the history of emulation. I AM ALWAYS looking for old and new friends to join me in this amazing hobby.

How It All Began

Although Retro-Replay.com officially came online in December of 2008 (and I have not done much with it either), my journey with emulation began much earlier. Around the summer of 2000, I saved enough money to buy my very first personal computer. It was a Compaq Presario running Windows ME, and although that operating system was famously terrible, the machine was life changing for me.

Growing up, my family could not afford a computer, and I had wanted one my entire childhood. When I turned eighteen, I finally had a steady job and saved enough to buy one from Sears. It was not a powerhouse by any means, but it brought me into the world of emulation. Through that computer, I discovered MAME and began playing arcade classics such as Pac-Man, along with other emulators like RockNES.

Very quickly, I stumbled across online communities that shaped my understanding of emulation. I learned from sites such as DCEmulation, the MAME homepage, EmuUnlim, Zophar’s Domain, Retrogames, VG-Network, and Arcade@Home. These forums and websites were a lifeline for me. I was not a programmer or developer, but I absorbed knowledge and began to contribute in smaller ways.

Discovering the Dreamcast

The Sega Dreamcast was the first console that made me fall completely in love with the potential of emulation and homebrew. Through DCEmulation, I discovered how powerful the Dreamcast was for running emulators and custom software. I began experimenting with it endlessly.

For the first time in my life, I had a console that could be hacked, modified, and expanded into something far greater than its original purpose. Being able to play the entire SNES library on a Dreamcast in the year 2000 was beyond imagination. It scratched every itch I had as a gamer and turned me into an emulation addict for a while.

During this period, I interacted with many names that still stand out to me, others who were always around the DCEmulation community offering help and sharing knowledge. These were the people who fueled my passion and encouraged me to keep learning and exploring. Just a few names I recall, from a list of many more.

I was never a coder, but I wanted to give something back to the community. Around 2000 or 2001, I worked on a small contribution by creating an image file that was used as part of a graphical user interface for one of the early emulators ported to the Dreamcast. It was a small thing, just a GUI image really, but it was my way of trying to contribute to a scene that meant so much to me. Even today, that small step feels important because it marked the beginning of me not just consuming but also participating.

The Shift to the Xbox Scene

As the original Xbox was preparing for launch, I learned about a figure who left a huge impression on me, Otaku no Zoku. He had managed to get his hands on an Xbox development kit even before the console was released  and he ported MAME to the Xbox before it was even available to the public. That level of vision and dedication made him a legend in my eyes.

The moment I discovered his work, I jumped ship from the Dreamcast to the Xbox scene. I even gave my Dreamcast to my younger cousin because I knew the Xbox would be my future. The Xbox did not disappoint. It was everything the Dreamcast had been, but stronger, more versatile, and more open to hacking and homebrew.

The Creation of XB-Power

With my passion growing, I decided to start my own website, XB-Power.com, dedicated to Xbox emulation and hacking. At first it was simply an outlet for me to share news and updates, but it quickly grew into something much larger.

I wanted a host that supported emulation content, and I initially connected with Atilla from Retrogames.com, who gave me space on his server. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of holding a contest where I gave away burned PlayStation discs as prizes, not realizing how inappropriate that was. I was young and careless, and I was kicked from that hosting arrangement.

Thankfully, I found another supporter in Dave, also known as Conjuror, who ran VG-Network. He was a generous guy who gave me the space I needed, and through him I made many more connections on EFnet. It was in those circles that I learned even more about emulation for both the PC and Xbox.

Growing Popularity and Recognition

XB-Power gained momentum quickly. I interviewed Otaku no Zoku, created message boards for his work, and built a real following before the Xbox had even launched. The site grew so large that it was eventually featured in Popular Science magazine. I also began receiving emails from game marketing teams offering me pre-release review copies of their upcoming titles. For someone who had started out simply as a fan with a Compaq Presario, this was an unbelievable experience. I was having a lot of fun. While Otaku No Zoku disappeared, many others took his place as my heroes!

During this period, I also connected with developers who were becoming legends in their own right. I worked with XPort, who ported countless emulators to the Xbox. I built websites for him and hosted his work to help share it with the world. I also helped promote SuperFro, who ported MAME, and Lantus, who created an Xbox port of SNES9x and who is now widely known as Modern Vintage Gamer on YouTube. I created and hosted their sites and projects for a while. These collaborations were among my proudest contributions.

Even though I was not a coder, I felt that by hosting these projects, building websites, and sharing their work, I was helping to bring important developments to the emulation community. In my mind, that was my service, and I was proud of it.

The Birth of Retro-Replay.com

Four or five years later, around 2008, I decided it was time to create something new and lasting. That was when I launched Retro-Replay.com.

Retro-Replay has always been a labor of love. It is a site dedicated to everything retro gaming, from emulators and longplays to interviews and nostalgic reflections.

Retro-Replay is not a corporate project or a business venture. It is my way of giving back to the community that has given me so much. The problem is, I can not stick with one thing. I have around 4 or 5 other websites, and there are times when I abandon one for the other, or all collectively for long periods of time. Come back, and repeat. I hope to start changing that.

Today, Retro-Replay is still evolving. Some days it is a place for tutorials, other days it is a home for longplays or interviews, and sometimes it is just a space to reflect on nostalgia and share stories.

My hope is that Retro-Replay will continue to grow and eventually become something memorable in the world of retro gaming. Even if it remains small, I will keep it running for as long as I am able. I want it to serve as an archive, a place of learning, and a reminder of what gaming culture was and still is.