I finally set up my arcade machine. By machine I mean “a Windows PC running Maximus Arcade and an X-Arcade joystick, sitting in the corner of the office”, but hey, it’s close enough. I know some say that Maximus Arcade is dead, but I have a license, and it works out of the box with my X-Arcade joystick. So I’ll use it for now.

I have fond memories of so many arcade games when I was younger. I lived during the arcade peak, and they were at every corner café and arcade in South Africa. I played lots and spent money to match. We actually drew inspiration from the arcade era for our own game, Toxic Bunny.

It seems that I haven’t had the same nostalgic feel for modern games. There are modern classics of course. Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild is exceptional. Super Mario Odyssey is another fantastic game. Mario was introduced with Donkey Kong back in 1981! But somehow most modern games never captivated me like these older games. Perhaps I’m just old.

So, I’m heading back in time. Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Xevious, 1942, R-Type, Side Wise, Pac-Man, Galaxian, Ikari Warriors, Pang, Metal Slug, Ms. Pac-Man, Gauntlet; these will be my friends. I have no idea how I’m going to find legal copies of these games, but the search starts… At least I still have my original ZX Spectrum cassettes, so I could always fire those up for now.