I wrote a thing! "Your Grandma's Tube TV Is the Hottest Gaming Tech" for WIRED. What is my life?
Thanks to a retro gaming renaissance, enthusiasts are scouring online marketplaces for 20-year-old CRTs.
Today, I made my debut at legendary tech/culture magazine WIRED. Check that one off the bucket list.
- ✓ Inadvertently have my photo taken by a boatload of tourists while skinny dipping in the Adriatic Sea
- ✓ Write a piece for WIRED
- ☐ Publish a book about Japanese RPGs
- ☐ Convince my wife to marathon LotR Extended Edition
If you've followed me on Twitter for the past two years, you'll know I've been going down the rabbit hole of acquiring original hardware to play retro video games. In addition to game consoles, carts, and controllers, this also resulted in me packing my house with old, bulky tube TVs and high-end professional video monitors.
"Your Grandma's Tube TV Is the Hottest Gaming Tech" explores the increase in demand for old CRT TVs and monitors—spurred in large part thanks for retro gamers looking for the best possible way to revisit their old favourites. It's also a beginners guide for those looking to get into retro gaming on CRTs, with lots of advice, and I spoke at length with Jordan Starkweather of @CRTPixels about why the technology remains relevant over a decade after it was replaced by LCD flatscreens.
If you visit my house, you won't even notice my 50-inch 4K TV. It's sleek and black, bevel-less, and designed to emphasize TV shows, movies, and video games. When it's turned off, nestled above my fireplace, it blends into the background.
What you will notice, however, is the bulky CRT TV taking up precious space in my townhouse. It's heavy, with a thick silver-gray bezel and chunky buttons. I literally got it from someone's grandpa when he upgraded to a flatscreen.
And I love it. So much.
But why do I own a TV that most people moved on from 15 years ago? And why have I spent a ton of money designing a family room around it and another vintage display? Whether it's going back to enjoy Chrono Trigger's time traveling goodness or digging into the amazing fan translation scene, it's all about retro gaming.
Read "Your Grandma's Tube TV Is the Hottest Gaming Tech" for WIRED
Get on board today, before I kill CRT bargain hunting for good.
Quest Markers
- AI is about to transform the future (and past) of video games (Input)
- You’re playing games like ‘Super Mario’ all wrong. This app can fix it. (Input)
- Timeless: A History of Chrono Trigger (Insert Cartridge)
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Astrolabe banner photo by Shot by Cerqueira on Unsplash