Retro - good fun, but not necessarily a good thing...

I have been playing games since the late 70s; initially in the arcades (well mostly watching them being played) and then on to the home computer in the early 80s, starting with the ZX81 and working my way upwards.

It was a great time, and in recent times I've had a pretty good time revisiting these games in emulators, remakes and new hardware. I even went as far as to build my own arcade machine (which I am very, very proud of and drop into conversation wherever it may loosely fit); which will be even better when its finally finished.

But it has been concerning me recently that there is so much 'Retro'; music from the 80s, games from the 70s/80s, anyone old crap in someones attic sold on eBay as retro. What strikes me as ironic is that at the time, we were constantly looking forward. Back in the 70s we were reading books in primary school about the year 2000 and how we would be wearing silver heat-retaining suits and getting around in flying cars. In the 80s everything seemed so modern and heralding in the future... now we are past the year 2000 and constantly looking back. Keep looking backwards and you'll eventually stumble.