A strangers just
a friend you haven't met, or so the saying goes. How true this is depends on
your definition of friendship. Most of my real life, bump into in the street,
have lunch with, dinner party friends know I have a geeky side - how much they
know about the extent of it depends on how much attention they pay to Twitter.
They'll nod if the topic of video games comes up, they humour me. The
conversation is fleeting and typically ends with "I had those when I was a
child". this is coupled with a look equal amounts pity &
disappointment when they realise a huge amount of my free time is still spent
playing with 'children's toys'.
I also have online friends, whom I have met on my many years spent on the
Internet. Some know me from when I got my SingStar Guinness World Record , some
from forums or Facebook groups, others found me from this very blog. Typically
we chat over Twitter (please follow me if you don't already) and we don't have
to hide our seedy geeky under bellies. These online buddies not only understand
when I talk about "Mode 7 whizzy graphics" or "complete in box
eBay listings" but they are as enthusiastic about them (more so in some
cases). At the risk of sounding like a terrible advert for a lonely hearts
website, I might also add that some of these online friends have actually
migrated into the realm of the real, becoming off screen pals. Meeting like
minded folk was never the intention of my blog which was in essence
justification for spending hundreds of pounds on boxed snes games. It has been
a nice perk; who doesn't like getting messages from random folk saying they've
enjoyed something you have created. Imagine my delight therefore when I got an
invitation I simply couldn't decline, the chance to cameo on what is without
exaggeration one of my favourite gaming podcasts (and time spent on the tube
means I listen to a lot!) 'The RetroGrade Podcast' and my own writing, I like
to think approach old games with a similar goal: a light heartedly return
to an old games from a modern perspective putting nostalgia on the back burner
and shoe-horning in obscure references. I perhaps enjoy the show all the more
because I'm a similar age to the hosts and have a comparable gaming backstory.
Each show 'The Retrograde Masters' pick a game, all play it and discuss it,
ultimately grading it on a ridiculous scale. My role in the podcast was to
introduce the game, with all the enthusiasm and whimsy I could manage. This
goal was tricky, not because i was shy about talking into a microphone ( I do
it all day at work) but because the game picked was one I wasn't particularly
enthusiastic about. I'd even go so far as to say I hated Doom for all sorts of
reasons.
