So heres the thing.
I had a terrible bout of nostalgia where all the old games i used to play as a kid filled me up and a evil desire to play them all again was erupted inside me.
Now, in the process of transferring games from the Ps1 to Ps2, a few games didn't work on the ps2(ie Monkey Hero, Final Fantasy Anthology), annoyingly these were games i wanted to play. With this in mind, i knew that if i ever wanted to fulfill my nostalgic complex i would have to buy a Ps1 in order to get these games to work.
Now first off, you'd be surprised how hard it is to get a Decent ps1 now days. First i tried a dodgy knock off place in Birmingham but alas, to no avail it failed me. However i kept the see through retro Ps1 dual shock controller i got there for £2. Next i tried my most trusted source of almost everything these days: Amazon. i got a perfect PSX for £20. I eagerly awaited its arrival two days after its purchase and excitedly opened it like a kid at Christmas.
After being a little wary if it would work, i popped in my only (at the time) remaining PS1 game, Metal Gear Solid. A rush of relief and excitement ran over me as the 'PlayStation' logo loaded on the screen. I know i could have played this game on my Ps2, but after Christmas when i got my 360 (boo, hiss) i gave it to my sister. Plus now playing ps1 games on a ps1 really made things feel more retro.
And thus began what i refer to as 'retro gaming season'.
So with much searching i set off into the big wide world with one goal in mind: find all the games you used to play as a kid. Of course a few of these had to be Amazon jobs, but when i found something in a shop, i felt like Indiana Jones after finding some long sought after treasure, long forgotten by its peers.
Eventually the games had started to stack up and my enjoyment was limitless.
Even though i felt kinda bad that my GTA 4 was sitting idle in my 360, i couldn't believe how much fun i was (and still am) having playing these games.
it amuses me how for a few £££ you can get a weeks worth of enjoyment as you reminisce childhood memories and sometimes even get further than your childhood counter part could. I think we mentally disregard the graphics and probable lack of things we find in the next gen consoles, because we just enjoy the games so much.
It kinda made me think, when i got my ps2 so many Christmas' ago, i was so eager to trade in my old ps1 and games to compensate my ps2. the same thing happened when i got my 360, all my ps2 games gone, and the console itself moved downstairs. But playing these games again now has reminded me that we sometimes neglect all the fun they gave us as kids (and adults).
So is that all we are going to do then? when the next console comes out we just forfeit the games we've been playing for the last 5 years and forget everything they've done for us, whilst we sit in Awe of the shiny new console that has more this and that?
It feels like older consoles were there for you, and built up a sorta respect, you'd look forward to playing it when you got home, and would play way past your bed time. Even though they may not be as beautiful, in depth or story driven as games we see today, these are the games that we grew up with, and at one point loved, at one point hated, at one point felt a great sense of achievement upon completion, and ultimately paved the way for future games and gaming for us for life.
Chris

Games I am Playing:

Crash Bandicoot series
Tomb Raider series
Final Fantasy series
MGS
Wild 9
Tony Hawks Pro Skater
etc.