The Spectrum faithfully recreates the 80s original with its rubber keys and classic games, delighting older gamers, while younger players may face a steep learning curve due to tricky controls and tough gameplay. However, modern features like save and rewind help mitigate that frustration. It was made with as few components as possible and connected easily to the TV. Programs ran from compact cassettes, some of you may remember listening to music from these before the advent of CDs. It was possible to program in Basic and play some games. The ZX Spectrum's competitor was the Commodore 64, a popular machine that Retro Games had already recreated.

Old meets new when you hook up the Kinhank Super Console X2 Pro Retro Gaming Emulator and Streaming Console to play nostalgic Atari games on your ultra-high def flat screen TV. Whether playing Pac-Man or The Last of Us, you'll enjoy the same high-quality graphics and seamless integration on the Kinhank Super Console. Access thousands of games via this one console for just 89.97 (reg. Here's what you get from the gaming experience on the Kinhank Super Console: Even though you might be playing retro games, the Kinhank Super Console's tech is anything but old-school. You choose how to connect to a screen: dual Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 5.0.

Nestled between an original Donkey Kong arcade machine, a mint condition OutRun racing simulation game and booths wired up with GameCubes and Nintendo 64s, the engineer Luke Malpass works away dismantling a broken Nintendo Wii. There has been a steady stream of people bringing in their old game consoles for repairs or modifications, on the house, to Four Quarters, a retro games arcade in Elephant and Castle, which has been transformed into a games clinic for two days. Gabriella Rosenau, 35, brought in her broken Wii that had been in the garage "for years". "I still play my brother's old Nintendo 64 and I love it, but I'd really love to get [the Wii] fixed." "I've done the odd bit of Call of Duty and the PlayStation stuff, but I have more of an interest in the retro games," she adds. Rosenau is part of a growing community who are ditching contemporary video games and picking up the consoles from their childhood, or even before their time.

The stream of new video games seemingly never ends but, for some of us, nothing beats the classics. If you don't feel like hunting through eBay and local game shops for old cartridges to add to your loved one's collection, we've got some other gift ideas for the nostalgic gamer in your life -- from video upscalers for old consoles to retro-themed books and artwork. Using old controllers is a big part of retro gaming's charm, but sometimes there's a fine line between classic and antiquated. For those who like the original PlayStation or PS2, but aren't crazy about Sony's earliest gamepads, the 8BitDo Retro Receiver for PS lets a variety of modern controllers work with those consoles wirelessly. The adapter supports Sony's PS4 and PS5 pads, Microsoft's Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S controllers (including the Xbox Adaptive Controller), Nintendo's Wii U Pro and Switch Pro controllers and most of 8BitDo's own gamepad lineup.

A million new video games seem to come out every week, but for some of us, nothing beats the classics. If you know someone who is way into retro gaming but don't feel like hunting through eBay and local shops for gear to add to their collection, we're here to help. Below we've rounded up a few of our favorite gift ideas for the nostalgic gamer in your life, from video upscalers for old consoles to retro-themed books and artwork. Using old controllers is a big part of retro gaming's charm, but sometimes there's a fine line between classic and antiquated. For those who like the original PlayStation or PS2, but aren't crazy about Sony's earliest gamepads, the 8BitDo Retro Receiver for PS lets a variety of modern controllers work with those consoles wirelessly.

The stream of new video games seemingly never ends but, for some of us, nothing beats the classics. If you don't feel like hunting through eBay and local game shops for old cartridges to add to your loved one's collection, we've got some other gift ideas for the nostalgic gamer in your life -- from video upscalers for old consoles to retro-themed books and artwork. If you've never died of dysentery, have you truly ever lived? In the world of retro gaming, Oregon Trail holds a special place in the collective memory. Not just because it was possibly one of the first games people ever played, but it was likely how many of us learned about the struggles of our forefathers -- including dysentery.

Antstream Arcade is offering over 1,300 retro game titles on Xbox One and Series X/S, with notable titles such as Space Invaders, Metal Slug and Bubble Bobble. The company says these titles will be playable instantly without additional downloads or installation via its cloud gaming platform, with more titles being added every week. This is notable as Antstream will be the first third-party game streaming service on Xbox. The service will support cloud-based game saves, an online scoreboard and the ability to pick up your game from multiple devices. Antstream Arcade is already available on Mac, PC, Linux, Android TV, Firestick and Samsung TVs, but this marks the first time it is coming to a game console. Antstream says that it is using its "unique technology" to mod original games, allowing the company to create new mini-game challenges for both new and returning players.

In the early 1980s, before the arrival of affordable home computers and major consoles, handheld electronic games were the most desirable hi-tech toys out there. From Mattel's Soccer and Auto Race, to the legendary Nintendo Game & Watch series, these pocket-sized gadgets were the kings of the Argos winter catalogue. Among the many emergent designs, however, the tabletop games were my favourites. Astro Wars, Caveman, Tron … these beautiful devices were designed to resemble miniature arcade machines, complete with teeny joysticks, buttons and detailed artwork. Most featured built-in vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs) which were capable of emitting light and colour, unlike the dour monochrome screens found on LCD-based electronic games such as Game & Watch.

The world's smallest handheld games console -- which is about the size of a postage stamp, but plays just like a full-size device -- has been developed by US engineers. The'Thumby' console from Ohio-based TinyCircuits comes with five retro games pre-installed, including tiny takes on classics like Tetris, Space Invaders and Snake. Users can even create their own games using the MicroPython programming language and play multiplayer games with others, by means of a linking cable. The console is being sold from £14 ($19) for a basic grey model, with other colours and additional accessories like linking cables also available at higher prices. Each Thumby sports a working battery, buzzer, gameplay buttons, power switch, screen and a micro-USB port to charge the console and update its software.

This year, veteran video game developers Garry Kitchen and David Crane released a new game for the Atari 2600 – despite the fact that the console was discontinued some 30 years ago. Companies such as Limited Run Games and Strictly Limited Games are manufacturing brand new cartridges, and sometimes never-before-released games, for consoles that predate the smartphone. "The market's not remotely dead for these consoles," says Josh Fairhurst, head of North Carolina-based Limited Run. Prices for retro games have gone through the roof in recent years, as evidenced by a recent slew of record-breaking auction bids for classic titles, including the sale of a mint copy of Super Mario 64 for $1.5m (£1.1m). The supply of old games is limited, and demand is increasing: not just from older people who want to collect games they remember from their youth, but also from those who weren't even born when the Sega Mega Drive was cutting-edge.