About Retro Games Now

I’m Roly, and I’ve been obsessed with video games since the early 1980s. Growing up in Essex, my Friday nights were spent in the Southend arcades pumping 10p coins into Space Harrier, Gauntlet and whatever new cabinet had arrived that week. The routine was simple – arcade, pint, club, kebab, home – and the games were always the highlight.

My first taste of home gaming came through friends who owned the Atari 2600, and from there I was hooked. The BBC Micro, the ZX Spectrum, the Commodore 64 – I lived through the golden age of home computing, where bedroom programmers could produce commercial games that rivalled the arcades. I’ve owned and played just about every major console and home computer released in the UK, from the ZX81 right through to the current generation.

The Collection

About 20 years ago I started collecting retro games in earnest. What began with a £10 Game & Watch on eBay quickly snowballed into a serious collection spanning handheld games from Grandstand, Tomy and Nintendo, home consoles from Atari to Sega, and classic home computers. My objective has always been fairly simple – to have a working example of every major console and home computer released in the UK, along with the key software titles for each.

Along the way I’ve restored arcade cabinets, built a MAME machine, and spent more time than I’d care to admit hunting down obscure cartridges and cassettes. The collection also includes a growing number of handheld games from manufacturers like Coleco, Bambino, Bandai and Mattel – the kind of dedicated LCD and VFD games that kids of the 80s will remember getting for Christmas.

About This Site

Retro Games Now started as a place to share my passion for classic gaming – the games I grew up playing, the hardware I’ve collected, and the memories that come flooding back every time I fire up an old machine. Every review on this site is based on my own first-hand experience, whether that’s playing the original hardware, restoring a vintage console, or revisiting a game I haven’t touched in 30 years.

The site covers arcade games, home computers including the BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and ZX81, consoles from the Atari 2600 through to the PlayStation 1, and a wide range of handheld games. I also document my ongoing projects, including arcade cabinet restorations and other builds. You’ll also find the UK Retro Game Store Locator, a map I maintain to help fellow collectors find independent retro game shops across the country.

This isn’t a news site or an aggregator – it’s one bloke’s genuine love letter to the games that shaped a generation. If you grew up feeding coins into arcade machines, loading games from cassette tapes, or arguing about whether the Spectrum or the C64 was better, then you’re in the right place.

Get In Touch

I’m always happy to hear from fellow retro gaming enthusiasts. Whether you want to share your own gaming memories, suggest a game for review, or you’ve got some interesting old games looking for a new home, you can reach me at alex@retrogamesnow.co.uk.