what advice would you give to a new retro gamer

[flatapex]

I've always believed the future of retro gaming depends on getting new people in, showing them games they might not have seen, systems they may never have owned. If you could give advice to someone new to retro games what would it be?

Mine would be:
Socialise with other retro gamers, meet people and learn about games together.

Make use of events to find what you like, try systems you wouldn't have otherwise thought of

[RodimusPrime]

Take your time and play the games.

Don't dive in and just buy everything you see and buy too many that you can't play. Enjoy the games and try not to make it about collecting as many games as you can.

Buy games, play them, decide if they are keepers, if its a game you will not play then sell it and put the money towards another purchase or use it for trade.

Don't get into the position of having loads of games you A) don't like, and B) will neber play.

[The Laird]

Attend events, makes the hobby even more enjoyable when you share it with like minded people.

[Swainy]

Listen to Retro Asylum

[ianpmarks]

Don't listen to old people like me who only like 8 bit computers... If the PS2 is retro to you then thats just fine.

[theantmeister]

Attend events, makes the hobby even more enjoyable when you share it with like minded people.

Hmm, all well and good if you live north of the M4, but daaan saaaf, there's not much going on

try systems you wouldn't have otherwise thought of

This is not bad advice. Before branching out though - try the games on the system you love that you always heard about back in the day, but never got a chance to play. If you have access to them, check out the magazines of the time and see what they were raving about back then.

[Antiriad2097]

Attend events, makes the hobby even more enjoyable when you share it with like minded people.

Hmm, all well and good if you live north of the M4, but daaan saaaf, there's not much going on

But practically all of the events are daaan saaaf!

I'd recommend making the effort to travel, even if it's only one event per year. It really does make a difference if you can share your passions and put faces and personalities to the usernames online.

Be selective. Don't just collect romsets, actually play the games. Focus on one at a time and stick with it, don't be tempted to play for five minutes then move onto the next game. Play with others if possible, there are lots of leagues, 'let's play' groups and things online. Competing with others and sharing the experience adds a lot to the enjoyment, and helps find new favourites you may never have otherwise.

[psj3809]

Hmm, all well and good if you live north of the M4, but daaan saaaf, there's not much going on

There are cars available in 2015 Seriously though a thank of petrol to get up to Wolverhampton/Oxford/Manchester isnt that much, specially when you share the costs with someone. The events Laird does seem to be around the Oxford area, then theres the Play show in Margate so another southern one. Yearly one in Wolverhampton so surely thats not too bad to get to ? Its not like the US where you sometimes drive 12 hours to get somewhere, takes me just over 3 hours Reading-Manchester to drive. Others drive up from the south coast like Marcopoloman etc.

Or a train to Manchester, book it in advance and its not bad at all (My family often come up to Manchester and book tickets early)

As for new retro gamers i love it when i read about kids enjoying playing Manic Miner etc but i must admit without the whole nostalgic factor i'm sure a lot of 'new' retro gamers (Eg brought up on SNES etc) might not always appreciate or have that love for the older game. Some systems i didnt have as a kid i like playing on, theres a fair few i dont (Amstrad/C64) as i dont have the same 'nostalgic connection' with them.

[Antiriad2097]

Its not like the US where you sometimes drive 12 hours to get somewhere

Umm, that's how long it takes me to get to these things in the UK

[David]

I would say "what you wanting that old rubbish for, give it all to me and get yourself a ps4"

whilst twiddling my victorian baddie moustache

[MadManDan79]

I tried getting my other halfs son (who was 11 at the time) into older games - he seemed to like the look of a NES I bought a few years ago but didn't like the games much when he played them. Then again he is used to PS2's and PS3's...

[lavalyte]

Stay out of the west side! That's my patch!

[The Laird]

Attend events, makes the hobby even more enjoyable when you share it with like minded people.

Hmm, all well and good if you live north of the M4, but daaan saaaf, there's not much going on

I live down south and I have no problems! Although there are less events down here there are still plenty of great ones such as ROM/Retrovision, Video Game Carnival, South Coast Slam and the various ones at the computer museum in Cambridge.

[theantmeister]

Attend events, makes the hobby even more enjoyable when you share it with like minded people.

Hmm, all well and good if you live north of the M4, but daaan saaaf, there's not much going on

I live down south and I have no problems! Although there are less events down here there are still plenty of great ones such as ROM/Retrovision, Video Game Carnival, South Coast Slam and the various ones at the computer museum in Cambridge.

Awesome! How you do you find out about these things?

[Sel Feena]

Ignore the elitists when it comes to emulation; if it works for you and you can enjoy the games, that's all that matters