But I basically only replay constantlythe same 2 games lfd2 and dead by daylight. I replay bully every few years too. Twisted metal 2 and abes odyssey are also in my top 10. Basically my favorites plus games in hs . I sell games as a money losing hobby on whatnot.  I buy these games over and over at even bad prices lol

Thank you for reading

Cheers

One game me and a friend played "Resident Evil" a scenario in "The Big Easy" I set up, we'd have our armies(with a plastic modifier someone gave me) spread across the city with zombies turned on, and as out men fought each other they'd resurrect into a 3 way war.

We were not allowed vehicles and had to make it to the "Safe zone" in the center of the city, I miss the old days.

How Final Fantasy VII and My Mom Fueled My Childhood Gaming Passion 

Growing up, I absolutely loved JRPGs (Japanese role-playing games). The genre just clicked with me in a way most games didn't. I have fond memories of getting lost in classics like Dragon Warrior and Lunar for hours on end. But nothing could prepare me for the life-changing experience of playing Final Fantasy VII when I was 14 years old. 

I still remember buying FFVII at Sears and rushing home eager to dive in. From the opening scenes in Midgar, I was hooked. The dystopian cyberpunk setting, complex characters, and deep storytelling showed me games could be more than just fun distractions. FFVII felt like an interactive art form.

Of course, being the RPG nut I was, I had to rearrange my schedule to properly binge this masterpiece. I admit I may have skipped a day or two of school to keep playing! I would block the sunlight from the windows in our trailer so I could see the TV screen clearly. Looking back, I don't recommend skipping school but FFVII had me under its spell.

From the tragic story beats to the unforgettable soundtrack, FFVII became a part of my DNA as a gamer. I was transported to its world in a way I had never experienced before. My childhood mind was blown away by the scope and emotion of it all. FFVII showed me the narrative power of games.

I have to thank my mom who always encouraged my passion for gaming, even if it meant me holing up in my room for hours. She saw how these immersive worlds brought me joy and would go out of her way to get me new games when possible. I cherished those moments when it was just me, the controller, and the latest RPG adventure waiting to be explored. 

Now as a parent, I'm thrilled to relive FFVII with my son through the recent Remake. The story still resonates strongly, even after all these years. We're both excited for the next chapter releasing soon in February 2024. 

While turn-based JRPGs may not be as prominent today, I'll always be grateful for the memorable journey FFVII provided back in my youth. It helped define me as a lifelong gamer. I credit my mom, now resting in heaven, for supporting my hobby and making my childhood so memorable. Here's to the games and parents who shape our childhoods and stick with us forever!

My favorite retro game is paper mario on n64

I'd love to get the free games cuz idk I don't win much I guess.

Trump 2024 fam

 Peace out and let the memes commence.

My G&W Corner Story. Not a poetic one.

Warning: this post occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)."

Chapter 1 - Beginnings and Endings

(I said not poetic I didn’t say it was going to be short)

I lived on an island called Bahrain during my childhood. There was only one library. One computer store. One arcade shop. It was also very expensive to insert and spend coins that I didn’t have as a child. Sometimes I stole money from my parents to go play a few games at the arcades. I didn’t own any consoles or video games as a child as my parents didn’t believe in such “none sense”.

My first exposure to a handheld game was when my parents took me to Egypt to visit family. My older cousin had a DK JR and dual screen DK. Fascinated by them I would try to play them all the time. My cousin didn’t like this. He sometimes didn’t allow me to play with it. One visit I decided to steal them… I took them before we had to travel back so that I don’t get caught.

Well he never actually caught me, he accused me obviously and tried to force me to confess through vocal and physical ways, but I was such a destructive child in my younger years that his attack meant nothing. I ended up destroying both games because I was spiteful at him and I also thought if I was caught with them by my parents I would be in trouble.

Chapter 2 - 30 years later…

Nothing happened since then due to family / life situations I didn’t have opportunities to own consoles etc as a child and as an adult I didn’t live in any stable location to be able to collect such things. But I knew of them. I repaired and modified many items for friends / colleagues / customers.

Then one day before the pandemic years… a Russian friend from work saw in my office I had some “gaming” style environment and we discussed some game history. I told him my story about game and watch…

He then goes on vacation back to Moscow.

He returns to my office one day with a brown rectangle game. I ask what it was, he responded with “Nu Pogodi” it was a cheap looking game with Russian letters I was fascinated by it. Unfortunately it wasn’t working! But he is an electronic engineer and I had some batteries and we opened it up together at his station and we talked about the design and simple architecture, while he was repairing.

Eureka! It works? It works!

So… something clicked in me. I don’t know how to explain it, nor do I wish to. Even if I did know how to explain it I don’t have time to talk about my inner psychology and talk about Game & Watch collecting saga!

Chapter 3 - is this ever going to end?

Casually I began looking at consoles and groups. I had invested time to register for Reddit / Facebook and I was already on discord and other “underground” game conversation forums because modification and hacking devices was something I made side money from. I thought there might be money in the LCD/Game & Watch trade.

Slowly.. and as many of use have already experienced the fact that buying one item isn’t enough.

Particularly since the pandemic had placed me in a position of boredom and some depression it was an escape for me.

Then the one became two then four then eight then sixteen, thirty two etc
Buying first from eBay without any prior experience and knowledge I learned very quickly how much money I wasted buying some items due to overpricing but not knowing.

Then I expanded to many markets and learned how to register for foreign sites and learned how to have items shipped to USA through “life hacks” proxy addresses or even meeting someone online who I built a trust relationship with and would buy items for me in their country.

I became a moderator at the only Game & Watch discord server and then partner due to my contribution. Many members are there that are sellers, buyers, engineers and designers. We talk about many obscure technological things. We don’t just show off our collections 😉

There were talks and rumors but nothing official regarding the fact if you could use a Russian Elektronika LCD inside a Nintendo Game & Watch and vice versa. I officially claimed online with proof of photos showing that this in fact was possible before anyone else.

The funny part is that after my discovery and video tutorials. One Italian and a UK seller show up selling their eggs with Russian screens. They mentioned this but gave no credit to how they discovered this, even after I messaged them telling them congrats and asked them where they saw or got this idea. No response 🙂

Anyway.

The fascination of different brands such as Epoch, Tiger, Ludotronic, Bandai, Orlitronic, Nintendo have made me appreciate these games even more than ever.

Because of this I ended up collecting items such as posters, magazines, books even store signs all Game & Watch specific to try to hold on to something that I never grew up with and try to relive the feeling of childhood that I never got to experience. That’s the good news so far 🙂 the unfortunate news is that I am in a position that I have to offload everything I own but the vultures are not friendly and offers are many times below half the value of the items because they sense or see a desperation in my tone. Oh well.

this is my story.

I have wonderfully fond memories of playing Sega CD at my friend's home as a kid and being blown away that I was controlling what looked like a movie at the time. I never thought there would be anything that looked any better. 

Years later I would revisit the Sega CD with another friend and my love for it would start all over again, leading to me eventually obtaining a full US set. (Though sadly some aren't complete in box).

As much as I love jumping online and getting to speak to my friends on Xbox live, nothing can replicate the popping in of a cartridge or disc and being transported to another world, and then sharing those experiences with friends in the school yard via word of mouth.

I wish we had simpler times again, all around. 

Suddenly it was 2015 and It was my birthday. I opened my present eager to see what it was since I never really asked for anything. It was quite the surprise... I got a sega genesis! But upon getting it i never even heard of it even though it wouid come to be my most loved console of all time! So i played some of the various games that i got along with it such as the amazing Sonic The Hedgehog saga for the genesis, Golden Axe, Shinobi and more. I really fealt at home with this console because first off I really noticed some real heart put into these games by developers. The graphics the storylines were truly unique but the biggest attention grabber for me at the time.... The music! I was in (And still am) a phase where I was trying to find fast paced music that was fun to listen to and the second I turned on Sonic 2 for the first time I knew my search was over. Still to this day I listen to my favorite tracks from masterpieces like Sonic, Space Harrier, Shinobi, Shining Force, Monster World 4 and much more! 

Now in the present day I've grown particularly fond of role playing games. Some of the stories of this genre are mind blowing from how in depth they go. Throughout a long day at work I look forward to go home, chill on my couch eat some Doritos snatch a cup of Kool Aid and turn on my Playstation 1 and play one of the various role playing games on it. One thing that really caught my attention with retro rpgs were they're graphics. The Simplistic yet affective pixel art of Sword of Vermillion on the Sega Genesis, to the beautifully pre rendered graphics of Final Fantasy 7 on the Playstation 1, and even the great 3D models of Phantasy Star Universe for Playstation 2! 

Retro games aren't just fun to play, they can really help me relax and reduce stress. There is a special place in my heart for retro games espcially knowing that I'm playing on the same consoles my parents grew up playing. And I'd like to conclude my trip down memory lane with the experince I'm having with the newest game I've been playing, Ecco the Dolphin : Defender of the Earth.

So if you haven't noticed I'm a diehard sega fan but ofcourse I still play nintendo and sony daily. I've recently discovered that the Ecco the Dolphin dreamcast game has been ported to the Playstation 2??? I buy it with out evening thinking twice and when it arrives it's everything I hoped for and more. The presentation of this game is absolutely remarkable. The undersea graphics leave me in awe as I'm being swept away by the ambient soundtrack and ofcourse the little details that really touch the heart. 

And this is why i play retro games more then I do modern games. It gives me a special feeling I can't seem to get as often from modern games. This group has given me yet another outlet to see much more great content and has even helped me discover some great games for retro platforms and seeing people's colletions grow as well as sharing my own I can't thank you enough for building this group. 

Sincerely Dorian Gray (from FaceBook) 

I have many good memories of playing video games as a kid, but my favorite is playing River raid on the Atari 2600 with my dad. Dad worked hard and didn't have a lot of free time, but he always made time to do something with me. The things I enjoyed the most with him where going fishing, playing catch in the yard, and playing River raid. River raid was the only game he would play. He would grumble that the controllers weren't made for a left-handed person, but he made the most of it and we had lots of fun. It's one of my favorite memories with my dad.

I am trying my best to keep the memory of retro games alive and preserved. I've always kept our old Atari 2600, but in the past few years I've added an intellivision, a ColecoVision, and an extra Atari 4 switch model. 2600 to replace my Atari 2600 Junior on the entertainment center in the basement. I then started a Facebook group called retro gamers of Wisconsin. It's a small group of less than 100 people, but I hope to keep growing it. I love it when people share recent purchases and stories of what they played as a kid. If anyone is interested they can check it out I accept all, you don't have to be from Wisconsin.

I'm so happy that I've gotten to enjoy retro games with my own kids now. I think my younger daughter plays games for the same reason I do. It makes me happy that I can provide an outlet for her on the days she is struggling with anxiety just like I do. I take them to the Midwest gaming classic convention in Milwaukee every year. We go for the whole weekend and get a hotel room nearby. We really could spend nearly an entire day just going through the vendor Hall looking for games that we want to add for our collections. I'm trying to get a complete set of ColecoVision games. I'm also looking to buy the Nintendo and super Nintendo games that I had as a kid. My kids are 15 and 18 now and they still say that they want to go with me every year even after they have moved out and are on their own. Maybe someday we will be taking their kids along with us. Nothing would make me happier.

I hope others can relate to this. Sincerely, Kent: The Wisconsin retro gamer.