Hey guys, Nintendo Legion here. My friend, ausretrogamer, whom I met via twitter, has been nice enough to welcome me into his home, to play his many many games and was gracious enough to be grilled for an impromptu interview. The interview for me was to get to know him better, and hopefully, you will too.
Nintendo Legion [NL]: I know you love ALL your systems like a parent loves all their children, but, if I were to press on you, which system made the biggest impact ?
ausretrogamer [ARG]: To be totally honest, it was all about eras for me. The C64 is held dearly in my heart, closely followed by the Atari ST 1040 (My Amiga didn’t last long). The NES came and went (for me – back then), as did the Master System (I rediscovered them again, years later). The next big shift was the Mega Drive – when i got it, i thought i had an arcade in my room. After that, I traded to the SNES, as I was always a huge Mario fan (still am) and the Street Fighter II game was hot on the SNES (I didn’t need much convincing to get the SNES). I then dabbled with the Amiga CD32, but that was a disaster – I hated the system and quickly got rid of it. Then there was the PS1 and N64 – I truly loved (and still do) the N64. If I were to add up all the hours played on systems, the N64 would be up there. I can not answer this question without mentioning the Dreamcast – I still have two consoles, just in case of a disaster. As you can see, I have tried my best to baulk this question. OK, If you really wanna know, I would say the C64 made the biggest impact.
[NL]: What is the most expensive system you own ?
[ARG]: The Arcade machine. It was worth every cent. I smile at it every time I go past it – even when its not on.
[NL]: Going to put you on the spot here, what are your favourite games per system (limited to three):
[ARG]: I knew you would do this to me ! Ahhh {scratching head}, here it goes –
C64: Ikari Warriors, Impossible Mission & Run the Gauntlet
NES: Super Mario Bros (this is my all time fave game – i still play it with fondness), Super Mario Bros 3 and RC Pro Am
SMS: Wonderboy, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Psycho Fox and World Class Leader board golf tied for third
PC-Engine: R-Type, Devil Crash and PC Kid (PC Genjin)
Lynx: California Games, Chips Challenge, Klax and Ninja Gaiden tied for third
Gameboy: Tetris, Super Mario Land and Revenge of the Gator
Mega Drive: Streets of Rage, Truxton and Sonic the Hedgehog
SNES: Super Mario All-Stars, Street Fighter II and Super Probotector (Contra III)
Neo Geo Pocket Colour: Sonic Pocket Adventure, Metal Slug 1st mission and Puzzle Bubble Mini
PSX: Tekken, Resident Evil, Point Blank and Winning Eleven Soccer tied for third
Saturn: Die Hard Trilogy, NiGHTS into Dreams, Radiant Silvergun and Virtua Cop tied for third
N64: Waverace 64, Goldeneye 007, Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario 64 tied for third
Dreamcast: Virtua Tennis, Soul Calibur, Shenmue, Resident Evil Code: Veronica and Ikaruga tied for third
Arcade: Double Dragon, Final Fight, Pit-Fighter, Heavy Barrel and Daytona USA tied for third
[NL]: Hmm, OK, I will allow the ties, but only cause I am in your home.
[NL]: I know you are a ravenous reader, what were your favourite videogames magazines from the 80’s/90’s?
[ARG]: I used to read a number of video games based magazines, but the ones I kept on reading every month were: Zzap 64, Crash, Your Commodore, VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, Edge, Mean Machines and my all time fave, Computer and Video Games (C&VG).
[NL]: What is the one system you truly wanted and could never get back in the day ?
[ARG]: That’s easy, the PC-Engine ! I used to drool over it when reading the overseas magazines. It made my C64 look like an Atari 2600. It is a system I am glad I finally have in my collection. It is even better than I could have imagined. I still don’t understand why NEC never released it world-wide.
[NL]: What is your retro system holy grail ?
[ARG]: The elusive, FM Towns Marty and the Konix Slipstream (Multi System). But I guess I have a bit of the Slipstream in my Atari Jaguar.
[NL]: Would you consider yourself a retro gaming collector or enthusiast ?
[ARG]: I love easy questions. I am an enthusiast without a doubt ! I love the nostalgic feeling I get when i fire up any of my old consoles or computers. The fondness I have for them is overwhelming. I could never get something, and then not play it. But, I can understand why gamers become collectors – I would find it hard to open a mint condition boxed console, hence why i dodge anything in mint condition (and I save myself a huge amounts of cash – which i can spend on more retro gear).
[NL]: Where do you get your retro gaming information fix now ?
[ARG]: Mainly on twitter. I am so glad I have found a fantastic and inclusive community of like minded retro gamers. I also hit a number of websites, but mainly for niche information. Most of the information is from magazines I used to read back in the day – that stuff is still etched in my mind. I do re-read my magazines from the 80’s.
[NL]: This question is courtesy of Lady Retro – Is there anything in your collection that you are embarrassed of having ?
[ARG]: Ahhh, a question from me Lady. Ok, in all honesty, I am proud of all my retro gear. As mentioned earlier, back in the 90’s, I bought an Amiga CD32, which I was embarrassed about at the time. I look back on it now, and I wish I had kept it.
[NL]: This question is courtesy of the Retro Oracle – Apart from video games, what else were you into in your childhood/youth ?
[ARG]: Oh man, i was into Masters of the Universe and Star Wars figurines. I was also into Yo-yo’s (remember the Coke and Fanta ones ?), but that was more of a fad. I still have my Masters of the Universe set. The Star Wars figurines, unfortunately they didn’t last, as I had a number of them stolen. I was (and still am) an avid sports fan – I like to watch and play ball games. I have always liked the outdoors and keeping fit. I recall, I would load a tape in the C64 datasette and go outside and play basketball or cricket while the game took its time to load and decompress. Nothing infuriated me than to walk back in after 30 minutes and finding the game did not load. I would rewind it, and start the process over again. I guess it was a good excuse to go outside.
[NL]: That was the easy part, now, onto some short and sharp questions to get to know the real you –
Fave world destination(s) [ARG]: Barcelona, Paris, London, Liverpool (i am a LFC fan!), San Fran, San Diego, Chicago, Toronto, Philly & NYC.
Fave movie(s) [ARG]: Sin City, Shawshank Redemption, Star Wars Trilogy (the prequels), LOTR, Braveheart to name a few – there are more, but these spring to mind immediately.
Fave TV show(s) [ARG]: Seinfeld, TUF/UFC, Game of Thrones, Dexter. Back in the 80’s it was all about Who’s the Boss, Growing Pains and Dynasty.
Fave Car [ARG]: Huh ? What sort of question is that ? OK, the Mercedes E240
Pet Peeves [ARG]: Arrogance, show-off’s, bullies – I can’t stand that stuff. If I see it, I would stamp it out. I like to stick up for the underdog.
Other hobbies [ARG]: Motocross (I still have my YZF250), traveling, movies, keeping fit (weight lifting and BJJ), water skiing, football, soccer, cricket (playing and watching).
Thank you for your time, ausretrogamer. I’ll be back to play some more Double Dragon with ya.
That was the best!! And kudos to Mr Ausretrogamer for saying Braveheart is one of your favourite movies, your Scottish fans appreciate this.
A perfect interview: Enjoyable, enlightening, and personal. Oh, and about old video games…