Here's an amusing article from the San Francisco Chronicle, advising readers who can't afford to give a PS3, Wii or 360 this Christmas to hunt out retro gaming bargains instead. "If you have a reasonable kid, or a significant other who isn't a huge gamer and finds the new games too complicated, a dated system is a good way to go - especially if your 30-year-old boyfriend has fond memories of his old video games," assures the thrifty reporter.
This is a great idea - even if the concept of a 'reasonable kid' is quaintly out of step with our madly consumerist age. But for adults just looking for some nostalgic fun, why bother with those daft TV plug-in toys that only offer a couple of retro games, when you can go on eBay and hunt down a near-mint PC Engine, or a SNES Super Mario bundle? These days, thirty-somethings are increasingly unable to move beyond their childhood years - why else would some genius re-release the seventies Evel Knieval stunt cycle toy?
The best bargain is apparently Sega's beloved Dreamcast, easily available for twenty dollars online (it breaks my heart to write that.)
