Where it all began

This job, this company, this whole adventure, is a dream come true for me, here's the story of where it all started.

I was introduced to the video game revolution at a very early age when my father bought the family the very first home video game console, the Grandstand Adman 2000 (pictured). It was Christmas 1977, I would've been 7 years old and that thing kept me entertained for what seemed like an age. It literally had 4 games, all in the style of pong, you could play against someone, or against the computer. This thing wouldn't entertain todays generation for very long at all, if at all.

Over the next few years I progressed through several computer based systems, a Philips G7000, Grandstand Astro Wars, but what really grabbed my attention was when my cousin got the Atari 2600. Unfortunately I never owned the Atari, but I would visit my cousin as often as possible to get my hands on it. They had relatives in the US so would regularly get games that hadn't been released this side of the pond yet, making the system even more intriguing.

Game changer

By the early 80's arcade halls were big business, not just at coastal seaside towns, but they were popping up on high streets too. I dread to think how much money I pumped in to them at our local arcade hall and other places like youth clubs, leisure centres and the likes where they too were cashing in.

In 1983 Commodore moved the goal posts by releasing the C64, which, along with the Sinclair Spectrum, brought arcade style games in the home. Many manufacturers tried to muscle in on this, but none could compete with the top 2. Christmas 1983 saw the C64 enter our household and this sealed the deal for my interest in video games forever. I quickly started learning how to program the machine, first in BASIC, but then in Assembly, or hex code. Developers started pushing the designed capabilities of the computer and some games being released were exact replicas of what you could play in the arcade.

The C64 stood the test of time for its generation, being the most popular home computer for 6 years, but as ever, technology moves on and the onslaught of the much more powerful Commodore Amiga 500, Atari ST and others saw the C64 fade away (but still very much alive and well on the Internet today).

I too moved on, first to the Amiga and then along came the console revolution we are still seeing today, N64, PlayStation, XBox, etc.

Today

I myself now mainly use the Nvidia Shield to play games, though my kids have the XBox 360 and XBox One. That was, until I created The Retro Lounge. My kids and I have really enjoyed playing with my prototypes, ensuring that the parts we use in your machines can take the kind of battering you'd expect from an arcade machine.

Here's my daughter putting an early model through it's paces. We use only quality parts in our machines, so they are built to last. Sorry* for the sales pitch at the last hurdle!

*not sorry

Where I am now

So you've read my story and now for me, the hard work starts. Being able to work in an area I've been interested in my whole life is just too good to be true. Being able to play any game I like during a coffee break can be somewhat problematic, but we all have problems at work right?

Thanks for reading and please take a look at my other blog posts for more info on our products and services.

I'd also be grateful for any feedback in the comments section below.