Hello!

[guest4707]

*stands up*

Hello everyone, my name's Marc and I'm addicted to video games.

It started when I was about six years old when my dad took me to his friend's house to play on his BBC Micro. From the moment the first boulder dropped in Repton and made me jump out of my skin, I was hooked. The fascination deepened upon watching the terrifying Sinistar clone, and a few weeks later my dad brought home an Acorn Electron (we couldn't afford a Beeb, but I didn't care - my Elk played Repton, Danger UXB, Cybertron Mission and Plan B and I was ecstatic!)

But my first love wasn't my true love. After a brief stint with an Amstrad CPC 464 (it took me a while to realise that going from an Electron to an Amstrad was no upgrade), one Christmas morning I was given an Atari ST by my Mum, along with a Tesco carrier bag full of  individually wrapped (bless her), pirated game compilation disks. From that day forward, my ST and I have been inseparable. It has sat alongside and outlived a Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Playstation, Dreamcast, Gamecube, Xbox, XBox 360, many PC's and never played second fiddle. Even now as I snap up Amigas, Spectrums, NES's and other old systems, the ST is the one I constantly return to.

Thank you. Nice place you have here.

*sits down*

[TL]

Hey StickHead! Awesome to see you here!

Welcome to RVG and I hope you enjoy the place! 

[zapiy]

Hello fella, great intro.. Glad you like our little place, hopefully as much as your ST.. Well in time at least. lol

[jdanddiet]

Hi Marc 

[nakamura]

Welcome!

What about the ST keeps you coming back then?

[Greyfox]

ahh hey man..how are you pal?..great I hope

Grey.

[TrekMD]

Hello StickHead and welcome aboard!  You are in the right place to feed that addiction of yours. 

[Vyothric]

Alright.

[Mire Mare]

Evening 

[Shadowrunner]

Welcome 

[guest4707]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

What about the ST keeps you coming back then?

In all honesty, I chalk it up to nostalgia more then anything. That combined with the warmth of familiarity. If I try to rationalise my love for the ST, it breaks down pretty quickly. I use it mainly for gaming obviously, but the Amiga blows it away in that regard, as do the consoles of the same era. So why would I choose to play inferior versions of games? That's hard to answer...

I guess it was the first computer I knew inside out. I could play games, program, install tweaks to the OS, paint pixels, create chip music. I even had fun with things like the spreadsheet and personal finance software that came on magazine cover disks.

The memories are important too. One of my best friends and uncle both had STs, and we spent a lot of time playing together.

It's hard to explain why, really. Why do any of us obsess about obsolete hardware? It would be interesting to hear other people's opinions on this.

[nakamura]

I think it's great that it keeps you going back. Yes there will be parts of nostalgia and a fair amount of rose tinted specs in there too but if you are happy who cares?

It's great playing a new game, discovering something you have never tried before. But also playing something familiar also gives an awesome feeling and is something I do myself, heck we all do being a retro forum.

As for playing inferior version of a game? I do that more than I used to unless it is a poor version. I always used to look for the best version I could play but now as long as the game is playable I'm not so bothered.

[guest4707]

I think it's great that it keeps you going back. Yes there will be parts of nostalgia and a fair amount of rose tinted specs in there too but if you are happy who cares?

That's the crux of it right there isn't it? Do I really need to worry about why I spend so much time with my ST over the other bits of kit I've got knocking around? It's fun, so I do it.

As for playing inferior version of a game? I do that more than I used to unless it is a poor version. I always used to look for the best version I could play but now as long as the game is playable I'm not so bothered.

I think I'd only choose to play a poorer version if it was on a system I prefer. It goes to show that it's about the whole experience, not just the game itself, but the controller, the feel of a system. That's why I love old hardware, I think. It exudes character in a way that modern stuff doesn't.

[nakamura]

I can relate to that. The feel of the disc/cart slipping into place and that familiar power up screen. 

[Cryptic33]

Hi Marc and welcome. An ST fan is a friend of mine