I am not sure if I am able to participate or not, but I would like to share why I love old games.
When I was a kid, I remember getting my hands on my first C64 and Atari, which was tough to get since back in Poland we were still de facto under communism regime. I would go to my friend with tapes or a shop that have video games and we would just copy from each other (almost 0 legal games on the market at that time or if they were, nobody would afford them)
I remember the anticipation of getting my hands on titles, going home, working with screwdriver to smooth my tape reader for C64 and waiting 5-15 min to run the game. My imagination worked to the limit.
Communism was lifted, I got my Amiga 500 and this was a time which I remember the most. I remember a friend coming to my house at 9-10am and stayed till 2-3 am just to play Settlers (i had no save option) and when alone, games like Lemmings, Theme Park, Super Frog. For quick games, I would launch Pang, Cannon Folder or Sensible World of Soccer and often the quick game became long time going :). I still remember how I often had to switch with mom because she wanted to watch some stupid (at least for me) Venezuela telenovels, and I ended up watching them as well so I can get back to my Amiga right away.
Few years later, I got my first PC, and few years after - access to internet. Countless games, but also online participation started to coming along. I made a website called 'Raj Gracza' that hosted old (10+ years old) games (I still have my original review of Centurion) and I often came to online chat where I met some great people and I ended up with being admin for CD Project for the game Airline Tycoon. I wrote reviews, helped the fan page increase and got myself a cool email address: bruno@cdprojekt.com.pl (or .pl I really forgot). bruno was my nickname back then.
After all this, I had to move to USA, so I stop helping CDP and left hosting my game site, but I never stopped being hardcore gamer.
Today I have PC which I often build myself, Xbox 360, I had Wii (ended up selling cause it was JP version and I couldn't understand anything) and some handheld devices. Today, I play original old games and new as well. Both are extremely well done. I have few gems at home, like original Civilization 1 CD with all art box (the game was released well before CD became mainstream) and I have a lot of floppy that I already backup and to keep for nostalgic reason. I love GOG, unfortunately do not shop here that much because I am too busy with my work, but I still spend a lot of time on games. This Holiday season I will catch up with my collection here.
And my work? Yes, you guessed it right - it is gaming related. Professional Gear for Gamers - Tesoro.
If I have chance to win any giveaway, I am happy with any game. Those are all great games and once anyone get dig in into one - they will hook you up for a long time. If I cannot participate, it is okay too - I hope someone else can enjoy those great titles and can share some gaming history that they have.
Cheers!
Maciej
