What if you could drive your high-school or college car again?

My hand-me-down from my mom: our beloved 1991 blue Toyota Celica!

Say you hear that they’re reissuing the actual model year of your old car, you’re so excited to test drive it, just for an afternoon.

You get to the place. It looks just like you remember…except brand new, without with no rust or cracks or key scratches. It’s a little surreal, seeing it this factory-new, because you remember so well the rust patch by your wheel well, the bumper dent from backing into a pole, or the crack in your rear light. 

You walk up and open the door. It feels impossibly, absurdly light, maybe even cheap. 

It took you actually grasping the door handle and feeling something is wrong that you also finally realize the car is 3/4 the size, so the cockpit is a tight, uncomfortable. Look at the dash: no cassette or CD player; only bluetooth.

Mildly disappointed with everything, you finally turn the key. The startup sound is wholly unfamiliar. Turns out the engine is from a new-old-stock Geo Metro.

But the car looked nostalgic on the instagram ad, and that triggered your nostalgia circuit and made your happy and warm and fuzzy. But how would it feel like to have that nostalgia washed away as soon as you actually used it?

We all know there’s no going back really, and things are made so differently now (e.g. to break and to be replaced with a newer model, rather than fixed), new things can’t be the same. But we want to feel like our younger selves if only just for a minute.

Vintage, retro gaming – especially of the ‘80s and ‘90s – right now is a business. Like, Business with a BILLION. 

A lot of that isn’t people playing actual vintage hardware or even games at all. People buy and sell old games like stock, encased in glass and never to be played. Cheap imitation “arcade” machines are readily available at Amazon and Costco. Videogame conventions, like comic-cons, are filled with a lot of ways to spend money but few to actually play videogames the way they were designed to be experienced.

I just got a quote for a trade show booth for a few games, which is an awesome choice! People love even the sight of a classic arcade machine, and when they see “Oh, Duck Hunt!” it sparks a pied-piper emotional pull from people they can’t ignore (and I mean this in a good way).

Among other things, for the event, their client “just wants a Donkey Kong multcade with maybe 60 games; they don’t really care about authenticity”.

I get it. When you’re shopping for stuff you aren’t an expert in, you want the thing that does the thing.

Looks authentic in the pic, right?

Sometimes my engineering friends give me a six-paragraph college-textbook explanation for “how do I fix this solder pad?” and I’m like “why do I even ask??” because I got a lot of information but not what I asked for.

It’s my job to deliver not just the “best” product, but chiefly it’s to meet the client’s need. They think their need is “one stand-up arcade game with lots of games”.

But what are you really “selling” by bringing in old videogames in the first place?

It’s nostalgic: a drug stronger and more marketable than ‘80s coke.

Sparking a good memory usually makes people literally smile. In an upside-down world with a lot of problems, that’s hard to do. But nostalgia can do it almost every single time it hits you.

And of course you’re showcasing novelty. “Oh, you don’t see these anymore!’

As a world-class expert in gaming as entertainment, here’s my problem (and I have to navigate this not boring the client or appearing difficult and losing a sale):

A: 60-in-1 multicades are usually bootleg and therefore illegal. Is Nintendo going to send a C&D to a trade show over one of these if they saw it in video? I doubt it, but Nintendo has litigated much lesser things.

B: These undersized, flimsy Arcade1Ups fill Facebook marketplace, because people buy them for a nostalgia hit that doesn’t last. They’re a toy version, like a go-kart vs. a race car. The games look, sound and play much worse and inauthentically, but you don’t notice that from a distance.

This is literally how small these machines are. I googled and cannot find any images of 4 people playing at the same time on an Arcade1Up machine. For a trade show they constructed a huge, oversized Arcade1UP NBA Jam since four can’t actually play on one of their products.

These junior “arcade” machines make money because they get people excited at first glance, and that’s all that matters, because it’s a sale, and it’s something you can get people excited about through pictures and video on social media and Amazon. 

Real machines were built BIG, to actually fit the amount of players the game was designed for, and for spectators to watch!

My goal is not just to say “well, I care about videogames so I want to present them properly”, or “I have old videogames, so let me think how I can sell these for events.”

Real arcade machinesa are big! Not that’s even getting into the other “authenticity” issues with these multicades and emulator cabinets.

I truly love seeing people enjoy themselves through retrogame and event experiences. And to do that, you need to do it right, or it hits like seeing a go-kart clown edition of your first car.

And you will be surprised by how much even people who haven’t played a videogame since Ms. Pac-Man at the pizza parlor care about their nostalgic experience.

I’ve had complaints about joysticks and buttons I never would have thought of outside of someone saying “I remember playing the game this way.” I’ve won more than a hundred Street Fighter tournaments, this is like telling Lebron James that the basketballs he uses in his personal gym are trash.

But I learned that the “best” joystick was  not “authentic” to what that person expected to experience, and it’s my job to deliver that to make them happy. I learned how to deliver what they wanted.

I’m actually glad these imitation cabinets exist, because it proves people absolutely love classic games still! Arcade1Up sucks — even their name is a lie (“arcade” means “coin-operated to make money”, and Arcade1Ups don’t have coin mechs obviously).  But when people see the real thing, it really helps them think back to when they first played them and what happy days those were.

I’m always first focusing on delivering what the client wants. So for this event, I’m going to suggest a legitimate multi I literally just got in the mail yesterday. It has a number of two-people ‘80s classics from Taito, who made Space Invaders. I got the board because it has a two-player competitive version of Space Invaders, along with the original game, that I didn’t know existed until last week!

I’m also presenting the idea of an arcade Nintendo with Duck Hunt as the headliner game, but also the ability for the user to swap real Nintendo game cartridges . We connect with things and experiences so deeply through touch. People tell me how much it means to them to actually have their hands on a NES cart; to put it in the machine and press down like it’s a toaster; to have that old controller in their hands; and to blow on carts to get them to work (and in actuality PLEASE DON’T DO THIS, it is BAD for your old carts! Clean them with a Q tip and/or with rubbing alcohol please. If that doesn’t work use Brasso! Trust me).

People love Duck Hunt. There is no truer statement in the English language.

Every Nintendo cart I put out on an event has been carefully chosen, either because I already knew people love it or I learned from doing weekly bar events what people ask about and will actually sit down and play.

Nostalgia is the best drug. It makes us happy. It’s the easiest way to find something in common with others (it’s a much better social lubricant than alcohol). And when people are in a good mood, they’re more willing to talk, listen, work, and play.

Like I said, it’s a powerful drug. And all power should be used responsibly.

I had one event a few years ago – an outdoor staff-appreciation event where we had a few activities, including arcade machines. It was really windy and our stuff didn’t get used as much as I’d like to see.

Feeling a little disappointed (I mean I still get paid, but I really love what I do), tearing down a women passed by me, who I saw played Pac-Man for not even five minutes.

“Oh, I’m so happy!” she said. She hadn’t played a real Pac-Man machine since 198X, and she told me a bit about her story with a big smile on her face. I knew the event was a success if that’s the feedback I’m getting (and I usually do!).

Everyone seems to have a story about these, and even unprompted they all will me. 

These arcade machines are almost like literal time machines. And just like the DeLorean, the setting around them changes, but they don’t change at all. Unlike us. But everyone loves stepping into these time machines, even just for five minutes. 

Next time you book event entertainment and need something nostalgic, think of how you felt doing your favorite things as a kid. Imagine having that exact experience again, just like you remember.

Four grown-ass people on a four-player arcade machine, the way God intended!

You deserve the DeLorean, not a ⅔ scale wind-up car version of it!

Learn about Games Done Legit and my story and mission anytime at https://gamesdonelegit.com/about/ , and connect with me on LinkedIn or through the contact form on my website, if I can ever help you with a nostalgic, authentic group experience at your employee or private event!