Modern video games and consoles provide a narrative experience that rivals Hollywood blockbusters, but they also take a significant time investment to complete. Sometimes all you want to do is get right into the action, and your favorite 8- and 16-bit games are ideal for that. We’ve done the legwork for you because retro gaming is more popular than ever, yet finding the proper retro gaming gear might be difficult.
This guide will help you figure out the best way to get into retro gaming, whether you’re a ’80s kid who’s been playing classic games for decades and has a mountain of old cartridges (and a hard drive full of ROMs) or a teenager who’s curious why so many people still love the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis.
Purchasing predictions for the rest of 2021:
Consumer gadgets have been plagued by pandemic-related production and delivery delays, although the long-awaited Analogue Pocket is slated to come this fall, as is Panic’s Playdate portable, which has been promised to ship by late 2021. Later this year, the next generation of handheld emulators, many of which come from China, will be released, with more powerful processors that will improve performance for Sega Dreamcast and N64 titles. Rumors of a Nintendo Switch Pro continue to circulate, but it’s becoming less and less likely that it will be released in 2021. However, this does not rule out the possibility of new Nintendo hardware being released this holiday season. At E3, Nintendo announced a new Legend of Zelda edition, which includes four titles in all, including the beautiful Classic Boy game The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.
