The Grand Emperor's Retro Video Gaming Blog

Field Trips and New Obsessions It's been a pretty full three weeks since my last entry. For April 1st my 8-bit Friday would be taken up by my visit to Level 257. The Friday following April 8th, we where in Milwaukee getting ready to attend Midwest Gaming Classics on that Saturday. I have one posting out already about the Level 257 visit (  http://retrovideogamingblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/level-257-retro-gaming-field-trip.html ), and you can visit my Facebook page or Twitter (@Emperor_Grand) about my MGC visit although I will be publishing something about that soon too. With that said its obvious I've had to put down the controller (at least at home) for those first two weekends to experience something new.  This weekend (April 15th) on the other had we are back to a normal, and with it a whole pile of games on multiple systems I need to get through. I could go over my list of buys over the past two weekends, both at MGC and on eBay but I also know I'm not getting ...

On a hot late July day last year my family and I drove down to Schaumburg, Illinois to visit one very specific place, Level 257. I had come across the barcade in late 2014 before it even opened, and had followed its progress on social media up to its opening. So when it came time to plan activities for my sons birthday last year, he had no hesitations on picking the barcade as the place he wanted to go the most. A row of classic machines, next to one of the two bowling alleys located at Level 257 The trip went well overall, and we as a family were impressed. The food was good, the adult beverages even better, and the ambiance was that of pure fun. As an adult I flash backed to my 6th birthday party at Showtime Pizza in Arlington Heights, and that feeling of "to hell with food lets just get to the games", but of course you have to set a good example and prioritize your visit, that means lunch first kids. Of course being midday on a weekday during the summer, the restau...

Classic Lionel Santa Fe F3 with the NES and SNES When it comes to the classic video game market we're currently experiencing, I suddenly find myself having déjà vu. I guess this is because I'm in  the very unique position of both currently being and having been into two nostalgia based collectors markets that are experiencing the exact same conditions, but nearly 30 years apart.  My personal back story, and one that I have shared before, is that I am a long time collector of O gauge electric trains. If your unfamiliar with electric trains, O gauge is basically what Lionel makes, if that helps clarify it for you. If not and that name doesn't mean anything to you, than let me just tell you that as electric trains go these tend to be mid-sized electric trains, with large sized price tags.  I started with my first set when I was about three years old, and have collected ever since, although much less in recent years. In the early 80's electric trains especiall...