The bouncy, midi melody of Nintendo's Wii theme descends into a drill beat. A Game Boy Colour opens up into a lip gloss case. ASAP Rocky goes "full Minecraft" in a pixelated hoodie, and a panting man bobs up and down with his arm stuck in a bush. This is not a glitch. Both online and IRL, pop culture is embracing the aesthetics of retro gaming.

Today's video games may boast photorealistic graphics, surround sound and worldwide multiplayer support, but many still long for the days when games were simple. You know, when a game didn't require more than a joystick and a button or two? Perhaps it's no surprise, many are buying cabinets for the home, including replicas of classic coin-operated ("coin-op") games and pinball machines. "Simple games that are'quick to learn but difficult to master' have a special addictive quality that we tried for when designing them with our limited graphic palette," recalls Nolan Bushnell, who established Atari and Pong in the '70s, and shortly thereafter, founded Chuck E. Cheese (smartly, as a distribution channel for Atari games). "Often games are for turning off your mind and entering kind of a Zen state."

Emulating classic games on your PC has never been easier, but finding a perfect retro controller to play those games with has been a different story. Enter 8bitdo's SNES30 ($35 on Amazon), a Super Nintendo Entertainment System-style controller for the modern times. And by "SNES-style" I mean "mirror image." But while the SNES30 reminds me of long nights playing The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, it also introduces a few subtle changes that improve upon the original--a monumental feat. The SNES30 is fully compatible with Windows 7 and above, macOS 10.7 and later, Android 4.0 and up, Steam, and the Nintendo Switch. Install the'Legacy' firmware in order to use it with Raspberry Pi, Nintendo Wii, and Wii U. 8bitdo's controller supports button mapping and configuration support for X-input and D-input, Mac mode, and Nintendo Switch mode.

Whether you enjoyed curling up with Tetris on a Gameboy, rolling around as Sonic on a Sega, or were just trying to ignore the loud beeping sounds coming from the next room ... if you were around in the 1980s and 1990s, you will remember the arrival of home gaming. Computers had made it into our living rooms, and although fans had their favourites - the thrust of Street Fighter, the platforms of Super Mario or the simplicity of Pacman - children and adults alike were hooked. The market for consoles has continued to grow over the decades as technology companies across the globe try to get their bite out of the gaming pie. But almost 20 years into the new millennium, passionate players are still looking back in time to find their fix. "While there's definitely an element of nostalgia, it's important to recognise how well designed many of those classic games are," said technology journalist and retro game collector KG Orphanides.