North Texas Daily

Will Jaeger

Intern

Video games have come a long way since the arcades and home consoles of yesteryear. Gamers today enjoy technological marvels like Call of Duty, Gears of War and BioShock, with game-play and graphics that would have been unimaginable when this industry was in its infancy.

However, there is a movement inside the gaming community that aims to turn back the clock, celebrating the history of today’s super-sophisticated games. Here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Texas Retro Gamers Society is spearheading that movement.

“Mostly, we just wanted to bring people with a common interest together,” founder David Clothier said.

Clothier started the group last month after a move to Irving from Oklahoma. He was a founding member of Oklahoma’s chapter of the group.

There are currently 112 members of the group, with more joining daily, with a wide variety of age ranges. Most in their late 20s to mid-30s. Game and console preferences also vary widely, but most prefer the original Nintendo console and 8-bit games.

Joseph Cosme, director of marketing at Game Trade in Mesquite and a fan of Sega’s “Sonic” series, said that retro games are a driving force behind bringing new customers in.

“We believe in carrying retro games because it gives those who yearn for the nostalgia of vintage gaming what they want,” Cosme said. “It gives the new generation of gamers a chance to experience classics they may not otherwise get to experience. We also get a lot of collectors looking to complete and round out their collections.”

Benjamin Wright, a political sciene sophomore and self-described N64 fanatic, is one of the younger members of the society. He was originally a member of the Oklahoma chapter before attending UNT.

“Growing up, my parents couldn’t buy me the games I wanted,” Wright said. “Now that I’m older, I’ll see a game that I wanted to play and get it to see what the big deal about it was.”

Wright’s goal as a retro gamer is to collect the entire catalog of N64 games.

“I’ll be working on that for a couple of years,” Wright said. “Who knows, after that. There’s always something new out there.”

The Texas Retro Gamers Society will host their next meet-up on Saturday, April 13, in Irving. More information on the group can be found on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/TXRGS.

01- Political Science sophomore Benjamin Wright, a member of the Texas Retro Gamers Society, is a collector of Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo games. Photo by Whitney Rogers/Intern