So you admit it, you're not thrilled by the latest-greatest-128-bit-virtual-reality-multiplayer-networked-telepathic-interactive-feelies-smellies-and-tasties super game system and the repetetive cliche'd games they offer. Horrors. What will Nintendo or Sega do? If they can't thrill you with their new 128 bit 3D accelerated system, they'll just throw together something more impressive.

Well, that's nice if you WANT something new and shiny, but what of us folk who ENJOY the classics? Just as some people prefer classical music to rock'n'roll, some people prefer classic video games to the 'next generation' of games.

Well, have I got good news for you!

Retrogaming is easy, cheap, and in most cases, much more fulfilling than shelling out $300 for a new system and game and playing it four hours before getting a bad case of vertigo and sore thumbs. All you have to do is stroll down to your friendly neighborhood buy/sell/trade games store and buy an old Nintendo or Atari for $20 or so, and then your next biggest investment is $5 each for a few games. Sound too good to be true? It's not - the older games are 'less desireable' and therefore command a much lower price. You can buy used copies of most any old Nintendo or Atari game for $5 or $10.

New:
Here's a link to a guy who has collected tons of locations of classic video games all over the US, that you can actually go and play them for real!
Classic Arcade Game Locations

OR:

Why bother buying a new system when you can play all these old games on your PC? Boy, if I had a dime every time I'd asked myself that question. Modern PCs have the power to emulate (translate the game console machine code to machine code it can understand, in effect, pretend it's an obsolete 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System or Atari VCS) these old games, MANY thanks to all the wonderfully talented private programmers who, with no reward other than the sense of accomplishment, write PC machine code that mimics the actual hardware of these old systems.

Be warned, however - emulation has become very popular in the last few years, and due to the serious gray-area regarding the legality of these emulators, it may not be the choice you'd like to make. It's reasonably safe to assume you're legal if you are playing an emulated game AND OWN THE ORIGINAL SOFTWARE/CARTRIDGE. Beyond that caveat, you're on your own.

In any event, if you'd like to start emulating, search on Yahoo or Lycos for the name of the system you want to emulate, and the word 'emulator'. So, for instance, if you are looking for a Nintendo 8-Bit emulator, search for 'nintendo emulator'. You should be readily supplied with a large number of links to follow and be able to download the necessary software. These sites usually also contain links to places you can download the original ROM images (the software, the cartridges) to use with the emulators.

And now, the 'safe solution' - Playing replicas of the old games without emulating and thus, exposing yourself to the gray-area. Clones!

Clone? Yes, a clone. Talented programmers (much like those who programmed the emulators) have again spent their own free time to develop software that simulates the gameplay of these old games, but doesn't copy the exact machine code. This is good for two reasons - it's legal, and they can usually come up with a better version since they know everything that's going on in the code. These games are usually distributed as freeware or shareware, and you can download them and play them for free and them register them (send a donation to the authors) if you enjoy them enough. Check out the Clone page to download a few clones you can play on your PC.

There are also commercial clones available - right now you can buy Microsoft Arcade or Return to Arcade from your local software store - these are official versions of about eleven classic arcade games. Microsoft Arcade lets you play classic Atari arcade games, such as Centipede, Asteroids, Battlezone, Missile Command, and Tempest. Microsoft Return to Arcade lets you play classic Namco arcade games, such as Pac Man, Dig Dug, Pole Position, and Galaxian.

If you have a Playstation game system, I highly reccomend Namco Museum - a five-disc series that have some of Namco's greatest arcade classics. There are also other arcade collections available, but in my opinion, the Namco Museum series is the best. Check out my review of the Namco Museum series.

Good luck, and happy retrogaming!