What’s your favorite old-school gaming device? Did you grow up playing Nintendo 64, setting impressive track times in Mario Kart? Maybe, for you, video game haptics peaked with Atari, and you’ll never get over the feeling of playing Ms. Pac Man with a joystick. Or perhaps you preferred something handheld, like the original Game Boy, and you’re still trying to “catch ’em all.”
Whatever your console of choice, chances are you could play it at DMC’s Retro Game Night. From Super Smash Bros. to Tecmo Bowl, teammates at DMC’s Chicago office spent a nostalgic evening turning back the clock with classic games and consoles from the ’80s and ’90s.
How It Started: One Micro-PC, 2750 Retro Games
The idea for retro game night was the brainchild of IT team member RJ Hughes. Across DMC’s offices, plenty of engineers are gamers, but RJ’s inspiration came from more than his longtime love of video games.
“I like to snoop around all of the old IT equipment at the Chicago office, and I found a micro-PC,” he recalled.
Tucked away in one of the Chicago office’s many IT closets, the micro-PC had lost what RJ likes to call its “glorious purpose.” But he knew the machine still had some life left in it.
“I knew that the PC still had power, so I put Batocera Linux on it, which gives you access to all of these classic games.”
RJ bought two controllers and set up the micro-PC in the kitchen, where it still sits today, ready for a quick Super Smash Bros. match over lunch. From that initial discovery, an idea for an Activity Fund event devoted to retro games grew.
Game On
To bring the idea to life, RJ brought some of his own handheld devices to the office for an evening of gaming. Participants could grab a controller for the micro-PC or pick up one of the handhelds, with titles spanning arcade and Atari favorites to newer releases from the Xbox and PlayStation eras.
“RJ put together so many cool systems and emulators that I had never even touched before,” Brandon remembered about the evening. “It was awesome getting to play with other DMCers.” Altogether, retro game night attendees had more than 2,750 games to choose from, which meant just as many opportunities for some friendly competition.
The micro-PC was hooked up to our large projection screens in the downstairs kitchen, where teammates took turns playing 007: Nightfire and The Legend of Zelda. Elsewhere, spirited rivalries emerged over Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Tecmo Bowl. But more than the competition, the night was a chance to revisit familiar favorites and rediscover games many hadn’t played in years.
Appreciating the Classics
Not every game required a controller. Between rounds of Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros., teammates could switch things up with a game of American Mahjong, while a few others gathered around Ark Nova for some tabletop strategy. The mix of activities meant there was something for just about every kind of player. Some people chased high scores on the big screens; others picked up a handheld, and some traded pixels for game pieces. More than anything, the variety made the evening an easy way for coworkers to connect over a little friendly competition.
Game Over…for Now
Retro Game Night may have been inspired by one forgotten micro-PC, but it turned into an evening of friendly competition, familiar favorites, and plenty of nostalgia. More importantly, it gave DMCers another opportunity to step away from their desks and connect over interests they share outside of work.
Whether they were racing for first place in Mario Kart, revisiting a childhood favorite, or learning a new tabletop game, teammates found plenty of ways to play together. And with the micro-PC still set up in the Chicago kitchen, game over doesn’t have to mean game over for long.
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