Time for a new episode of the “we are gamers” series! Today’s guest is both a retro gamer and an avid collector, and he has recently repackaged his YouTube channel (screams nostalgia, now). With plenty of anecdotes to share and a vast knowledge of all that is retro, he qualifies to be considered a walking gamepedia, lol. The floor is yours now Kriss, it is a pleasure to have you here!
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1. So, welcome Kriss and and many thanks for accepting my interview for the blog. For a starter, please introduce yourself to RGL’s readers.
Hi Andrew and thanks for this opportunity! I am Kriss aka Spielkind RC and have an Instagram and a pretty new YouTube channel with the same name.
My topics are mostly retro hardware and retro gaming related, but there is also some new stuff here and there.
2. What was the first video game you ever played?
That must have been Pac-Man or Space Invaders. These were the first two games we owned. Which one got plugged in first I cannot remember anymore. 🙂
3. What about the first gaming system you ever owned?
Suitable for these games, a lovely Atari 2600 Woody.
4. Were you an arcade gamer? If you were, what about your favorite titles back in the 80s / 90s?
Living in Germany, arcades were sadly a very rare thing. Pinball machines were around though,
and I remember a Star Trek one very fondly, but cannot tell exactly what it was, sorry.
5. I am going to name a few video game genres: please tell me your favorite retro title for each of them:
A) Adventure
An absolute masterpiece from LucasArts…
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
B) Platform
The Great Giana Sisters – Amiga
C) Puzzle Games
Magical Drop III – NeoGeo
D) Role-playing games
Final Fantasy 8 – Playstation
E) Racing Games
Road Rash – 3do
F) Soccer/Football
Not my kind of games… Does Speedball 2 (Amiga) count? 😉
G) Sports Games
California Games II – MegaDrive/Genesiss
H) FPS Games
One of the most atmospheric FPS ever… You definitely have good taste, Kriss!
Half Life 2 on PC
I) Fighting Games?
Samurai Shodown 3 – neogeo
J) Any other games whose genre I did not mention?
Shoot ’em up. I would say… Agony – Amiga
6. While growing up, what gaming system did you have the most fun with? Are you still a regular gamer?
The Sega Genesis goes by the name Sega Mega Drive outside of North America
That is super hard! But I guess it is a stalemate between Mega Drive and Amiga. All the great point and click games on the Amiga and the fast action on the Mega Drive. But I loved all the consoles I had, in the end. Each of them had a at least a handful of games I look fondly back to!
I still game quite regularly today and still find some games that I really like on modern machines, but I love going back to my old consoles or enjoy a remake on the new stuff.
7. What is your relationship with the online gaming world? Do you play online with your friends/family members/random gamers?
Online gaming was MMOs, mostly. Like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 11. I do not want to know how many hours I spent playing with friends and also with my wife. A lot for sure! Nowadays, MMORPGs just take too much time and are not as much fun as they used to be. So not too much anymore.
8. What are your finest memories related to video games?
So many… I have a whole room dedicated to such memories 😀
Ok I got one…. Maybe not the finest, but a good/weird one.
My then friend and me built a cockpit around my C64 setup out of legos and wooden play blocks and played a helicopter simulator called “Gunship”. I must have been like 8 years old, maybe.
We had no real clue how to play that game and no real English knowledge, so we invented our own game. The goal was somehow to lift up and stay as long as possible “on board” of our lego-built chopper before it exploded in game for whatever reason. (crashing or getting shot down). We then proceeded to re-build our set because it did not survive our jumps out of the “chopper”. That was fun! 😀
9. What prompted you to start a YouTube channel?
Kriss’ YouTube channel: Spielkind RC
Youtube had not been on my radar for years, after I stopped uploading drone videos made by my friends and me. First there was Instagram that I started out of boredom, while I needed to care for my dog who had a disc prolapse and could not move for weeks. That was in July last year.
Instagram turned out to be so much fun that after my dog got better, I still loved to engage with the awesome community and I had even more fun by showing my game collection. That made me realize that I wanted to do something more.
But Instagram is not so much for sharing something like reviews or “big” thoughts. At least not many people read what you write there, and so I started to think about Youtube as the right platform to get my thoughts about gaming and collecting off my head. 🙂
Also, I thought it could help me to get a bit out of my introvert shell. It is a pretty new experiment to me, so we will se how it goes. 😀
* On a side note: the RC in Spielkind RC originally stood for “Radio Controlled” and not for “Retro Consoles” or “Retro Collecting” or what ever I can say it stands now for. 😀
10. What is the goal of Spielkind RC?
Just sharing my love for the old gaming hardware and games. Maybe inspiring the next generations to try some old games or at least to not forget the old stuff. And if I can give other people the “good old days” flashbacks along the way, then my job is done!
11. Last but not least: any future plans or secret wishes?
No real plan here. I make it up as I go and just hope it stays fun and people like watching and engaging with my content… I like seeing the “high score” rise like everybody else, so more likes and subscribers are always a nice encouragement. ^^
I also love to learn new things and have new experiences, like this one! Thanks for offering me this interview! Never thought that someone ever would ask me to give one!
Thanks again for the invitation and keep on gaming! 😀
Kriss
SpielkindRC
