The Truth About Retro Game Hunting

Blog by Gemma @ Juicy Game Reviews / TheGebs24

Retro Game Hunting is the art of searching for Retro Games. I, as TheGebs24, have been Retro Game Hunting on YouTube for over ten years and it’s something that’s become a huge and influential part of my life. This year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to America to attend Southeast Game Exchange (SEGE), thanks to my buddy John Riggs. The Retro Games and all out Gaming paraphernalia is WILD out there. Not to mention, I met up with Retro Rick, Pixel Game Squad, JRPGLife, Gamer Ahmer and many more Retro Game Hunters. It was abundantly clear that the passion of my fellow Retro Game Hunters was equally as the thrilling. But why do we do it? Why do we travel thousands of miles in search of the next “prefect retro find?”.

For me, there are two reasons. One: Survival. Survival? Back in the 90’s I spent a lot of time outside (majority of the time through no choice of my own). During harsh weather, I would see solace and shelter in shops like Woolworths, WHSmith, Blockbuster and our local Second Hand Shop, Alfreton Sales & Exchange. I’d stand for hours, looking at video games, VHS, toys and magazines. It helped pass the time and to feed my imagination. I believe I’ve also loved video games so I guess these times were a way for me to be around video games when I was not able to play them. Plus it was pretty warm in the shops.

Looking back, this was the start of my Retro Game Hunting career. I didn’t know it then but this would become one of the biggest parts of my future life: Retro Game Hunting. I supposed nowadays, I take a lot of comfort in hunting for video games. It is, and always will be, a part of my coping. To stay well, to stay connected.

Two: passion! I love it! If you’re familiar with you YouTube channel, you’ll know that I’ve amassed one of the greatest Retro Game Collections in the UK. This is self proclaimed of course. I’m certain there are many private collectors of course.

Retro Game Hunting is a way of life for me. In the past week, I’ve filmed in London, Leeds, Middlesborough and Pontefract. The thrill of the hunt is what drives me to use all of my free time to gather footage of some of the best Retro Games in the UK. If you know me, you’ll know that one of my holy grails has been a Super Nintendo kiosk right? Well I filmed an entire garage full of varying editions of SNES Kiosks! It was a dream come true and not to mention, I walked away having purchased a Swedish SNES Kiosk. Pretty neat. My quest is to acquire the floor standing M80C store kiosk now.

Over in America, the Super Nintendo kiosks are everywhere. Here in the UK, they are way more obscure. Although, I may have just sourced a shop in Europe that will quite possibly be one of the best Retro Game Stores in the world. At least in my opinion. I will be going to film there later in 2025. In the meantime, enjoy this episode.