Sunday 7 July 2013

RetroActive brings Retrogaming and old skool movies to Leicester

Bringing Retrogaming to gamers in every part of the UK and beyond..that's a dream we all want to bring to life. So RetroActive is back to Leicester again this year. As well as running successful barcade events, organiser Richard Tewkesbury is making a splash with a mix of old skool movie classics and and retro arcade games and consoles -  making a a great day out for everyone.

We spoke to Richard Tewkesbury - Organiser of RetroActive..Based in Leicester they Host A Wide Range Of Retro Gaming And Modern Gaming Events And Tournaments Across the Country.

RetroActive have a Massive Collection Of Consoles And Games to bring to the party!

GamesYouLoved
What has been best thing about your days at RetroActive so far?
RetroActive 
Showcasing my collection for people to enjoy - I love doing that and making people happy.


GamesYouLoved
What video games and arcade games did you grow up with?
RetroActive 
As kids we first grew up with an Oric 1 computer 16k of pure power - but it did have an amazing game called Harrier Attack on it which blew my mind when I was about 6! We then had a C64 which we used to love and play Robocop, Burgertime and Chase HQ 2 - then it was an upgrade to an Atari ST which had some amazing games on it . I loved playing Super Cars 2, Speedball 2 and there was a wicked version of Double Dragon on it as well . 90's arcades were big at this time and we went away with our Grandparents each summer to Weymouth where my love of Arcades Blossomed - TMNT, Simpsons, Mortal Kombat, Streetfighter 2, Roadblasters, Assault, Final Fight, Smash TV and even crappy Pit Fighter!


We played them all to death - with £7 a day pocket money on holiday which was 70 credits at the Arcades - just about enough to complete Simpsons 4 player, that baby used to rob you blind! Good times : ) I also had a Gameboy at this point which used to be glued to my hand - Mario Land, Solar striker, F1 race and Kung Fu were my favourites. When it came out, I then moved onto the Megadrive - Streets of Rage 2, Mortal Kombat and Golden Axe were my favourites. Once i got a part time job I ploughed all my cash into getting a PC Engine Turbo Duo. I built up a massive collection of games including some of my favourites; Gunhead, Splatterhouse and Jackie Chan - but I traded all these in for a Neo Geo AES back in the day when they were £1100 to buy - a mental feat to buy one at 18yrs old but i did it inc Art Of Fighting 2 the day it came out for a mer £275 ouch! - then I moved back to the SNES with classics like Rogue Squadron, Rock and Roll Racing and F-Zero - then really I went through all the rest of the consoles, i could go on for about an hour so i'll leave it there!

GamesYouLoved 
If you could be a video game character who would it be?!
RetroActive 
Mike Haggar from Final Fight - he's totally badass!

GamesYouLoved 
What is gaming all about for you?
RetroActive 
Getting all the old consoles and games I had as a kid back together and finding out hidden gems of video gaming that i never knew about.

GamesYouLoved 
Have you ever been overseas (US and Japan) and if so whats the gaming scene over there like

RetroActive
I've been to the US a few times i went last summer and brought back 30kg's of gaming goodness back! - gaming and retro gaming is big over there, the nes and snes are soooo massive but it seems that everyone hates the genesis/ megadrive though, so there's some sega bargains to be had! every city you go to always has 2 or 3 gaming stores and theres always retro in each one - shame england isn't the same - one day i'll head over to Japan and man am i going to spend a load of cash there lol i'm going to need some massive suit cases!



GamesYouLoved 
How have the consoles and games changed for you over the years?
RetroActive 
Don't get me wrong I love my 360 and online gaming -  but I think consoles and games in a way have lost there magic a bit - I'm glad i grew up when i did I've seen video gaming from the start to today and not just ending up thinking video gaming is Fifa and COD. I miss the magic of the mental sega console add-on days and the Sega and Nintendo console wars - video games have got bigger and alot better in ways but sometimes you just want to pick up a game for 10 minutes and thats what modern gaming is missing it I feel.

GamesYouLoved Where do you see the future of retrogaming in the UK and the world?
RetroActive I think it's riding on a wave of popularity at the moment. Retro gaming though has come to a bit of a dead end with this generation of consoles. I don't think i'll ever class 360 games and Wii games as Retro. So i see another 5-10yrs of retro gaming as we know it now then it might dry but i'm sure they'll be another generation of retro PS4 and Xbox ONE collectors to come!

GamesYouLoved
What's it like running all the activity at RetroActive?
RetroActive 
It can be really stressful getting everything ready and that's the key - preparation for an event! Testing everything and test it again if your equipment is good your events going to be good! But apart from the sleepless nights its great!

For more information on the next events RetroActive have on offer check out these links:

www.facebook.com/retroactiveuk

Also their YouTube channel:

www.youtube.com/user/ukretrogameaddict



No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.