That’s why I got the mod chip racketboy used to sell off their store. It let’s you run burned cd-r’s of games, so I just bought the Japanese versions that are 1/10 the price and burned English copies.
As for the main topic, I don’t love retro games specifically, I love 2d games, and it so happens that the vast majority of 2d games are retro.
It’s a bit expensive upfront, but hold out for a Rhea/Phoebe Saturn and avoid paying hundreds/thousands for games on ebay.
Yeah I’m waiting for the USB/everdrive-esque solution.
The only “modern” games I’m playing these days are from Nintendo (WiiU/3DS) - I’ve skipped the PS4/XBO systems completely. Switch will happen eventually, but holding out to see what they do with the virtual console. 9 times out of 10 these days I’m playing my GBA/other classic handheld, tinkering with DOS games on real hardware, or adding to my absurd backlog collection on GOG.
To answer the topic question:
I guess now the reason is “I generally enjoy the pacing/difficulty of older games.” Actauuly though, there’s a historical explanation: when the Dreamcast launched, I traded in boatloads of old games. I then spent a fortune (to me at the time) getting them back when I wanted to replay them. I then swore I would never trade in a game again. The collection just ballooned from that point.
From the start of my gaming career I used to play games from older systems. My best friend growing up had an NES while I already had a Mega Drive so I was used to games from different generations. A few years later another friend sold his SNES to me which really started my videogame collection. I rarely sold any systems so my collection just grew over the years. I bought some older consoles I missed during their time (e.g. Saturn) while also getting newly released systems. So in summary I just never stopped playing games, regardless of their age 
I never did get into systems older than the NES though. Bought an Atari 2600 at a flea market once but couldn’t really get into it.
Yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way too. My original Neo Geo AES that I sold was purchased brand new with Last Resort and Art of Fighting 2. I built up a small collection of games and then sold it all to get a PlayStation. Biggest mistake I ever made. I would KILL to have that pristine Neo back because I know it would be in perfect condition unlike the second and third used ones I purchased years later. It was just total stupidity.
It was after I got that PSX that I stopped trading/selling unless I knew for sure I’d never play the game or picked it up on a different/better platform. My collection is far more exciting to me now and I’ve never regretted keeping almost everything since. The Neo I own today isn’t the best, but I will never let it go unless I come across a much nicer one someday for a similar price to swap it out.
I chose the modern, Retro and indie games option but the truth is that I don’t play many indie games as I find them to be pretty awful most of the time. And I hate the so called 8bit look indie games with a passion.
I really like it when it’s well done. Ive been waiting for Cosmic Star Heroine to come to switch or vita. Thing that some Indies can do, is they can have some of that 2D game design I cherish but also have some modern quality of life design choices that we’ve learned over the past few decades. I don’t think Shovel Knight is the end all be all but I really enjoyed it. I also think Axiom Verge is great. Don’t get me started on how the best game last year was a fan game AM2R.
I have only played about 5 mins of Shovel Knight, but I can tell I’m going to enjoy it once I actually sit down to play it.
For a much less mainstream recommendation, you should look into “Out There Somewhere”. It’s about an hour and a half playthrough and totally fantastic!
I beat Shovel Knight on Vita and 3DS. Indies on portable consoles are really my thing because I can play them in short sessions. I love that after a week or so of playing on my lunch, I’ve finished a game. 3DS had a really bad battery in standby so I played it a lot less.
I’m probably primarily a portable gamer. My life doesn’t lend itself to playing videogames as much as it used to.
I hear ya… I’ve been focusing more on handhelds as well.
Currently diving into:
Ocarina of Time (3DS)
FFI (PSP)
Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA)
FF Tactics Advance (GBA)
I actually kinda ditched indies these last few years. There’s rarely anything there that really grabs me because it seems like they’re all derivative of games I played in the 90’s and I much rather play those than modern digital-only versions.
I know that’s doing indies a disservice and I do play them every now and then, but I just can’t get into the modern art-styles at all, I think most of them are really ugly-looking.
I do play lots of modern games, in fact most of my game-time goes into those, but I do play a lot of retro games as well, both ones that I’ve already played and ones that I never did as a kid. If I haven’t played it, it’s new to me!
Indies are making some of the best games around these days.
You’re so right, and you only need a toaster of a PC to run most of these games.
FTL, Into The Breach, Axiom Verge, Darkest Dungeon, Shovel Knight, INSIDE, Stardew Valley, Cuphead, Undertale, Gone Home, Papers Please, Aqua Kitty: Milk Mine Defender, A Hat In Time, Celeste…
ROCKET LEAGUE
I could go on and on… Steam really is an incredible platform if you’re into indie stuff.
Ah, Shovel Knight is an exception. I mean, there are good indie games out there but you really do have to did very deep to find them.
I let others do the digging. Normally the good ones have a buzz around them. I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch this way but I’ve got so much to play already that I woudn’t have the time for even the few games I get to now if I wasn’t getting spoonfed.
Also it may because of that that I don’t really agree with your statement. Seems every week there is some new indie game that is suppose to be amazing, and I do no digging.
There are plenty of good modern indies but I have learned not to rely on just what is popular to find them. There are highly praised games I didn’t enjoy (like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Transistor) and some games that got virtually no attention that I quite enjoyed (like Qasir Al-Wasat, Unravel, and Miasmata)
I do live in Japan so we don’t really get the exposure over here. Stuff I see on Xbox Live doesn’t normally excite me much.
I live on the internets so it’s mostly what I see going around on the various forums I frequent. I’m behind right now though since I’ve cut back while trying to take care of real life stuff/actually play games.