MachineMachine /stream

Sometimes it's really hard to let go. Like that vinyl collection you've got stashed away in the attic or those VHS cassettes of movies that you've already replaced on DVD that you just can't force yourself to flog on eBay. There are just those times when nostalgia takes over, leaving a home strewn with junk and a partner pleading for you to move on.

If there is one area of life in which people do embrace change, however, it's gaming. Did you love Operation Wolf back in the 1980s? Pah, we're now shooting out way with friends across the universe on Call of Duty. Let those Mega Drives, Dreamcasts and N64s be thrown by the roadside. We're technophiles and we're marching to the promised land of the best that electronics have to offer.

But it's not that simple. Just as music lovers tend to get stuck in an era of their youth, many gamers also nostalgically hanker for days gone by. Retro gaming is big business. You only have to switch on your Nintendo Wii, head for the Virtual Console and yo