Every journey has a beginning though!
this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2026
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Hey there, kuiskaaja!
I know this isn't the 'IRL' part of things, but I had a couple people who I chatted to a bunch who desperately wanted the same thing, except...online. After recommending a bunch of options, in the end I revived an old (and abandoned) Discord server we had, and invited all my friends from the retro handheld scene there.
- Russ (RGC)
- Gamma (GammaOS)
- WhatCookie (RPCS3)
- Mothrip (Cocoon)
- ChrisCovers (Retroid)
- Camille (Eden)
- Nathan (iiSU)
...and just so, so, so many more. All the developers and creators I know joined in. So if you do want a (very small!) space to chat about handhelds with others, send me a DM and I'll send you an invite :)
Be careful out there.
My ex claimed to be super into retro gaming and I even spent while putting together a nice setup so she, and me, could play on the couch like in the TV show Home & Away.
But it was all lies. All she was interested in was sex, drugs, rock & roll, and Netflix shows about complete wankers.
Thankfully her son smashed up his ps4 in a ragequit and then spent several months addicted to old retro games until he got a new one.
Is this a romcom plot?
The marketing department said it was but I'm not so sure.
what about finding them? you can start a meetup on a local library or cafe. print flyers, hang them around. commit to show up even if no one shows up, it's just the first one. drink your coffee, go home, try again in a couple of weeks.
I walk my town with my 3DS on in the hope that our there, some freak is doing the same and we find each other in street pass.
maybe there's someone out there trying to find you, but with a little less initiative. you already show some, by posting this.
good luck! don't lose a kidney.
i unfortunately don't have energy to do that right now, i could hang out with friends that i already know for a bit but i'm mostly stuck in my bed ._.
something to keep in mind though for when i regain my energy
ah, it's alright. I thought the situation was you opening up to new opportunities. and it's OK not to be ready for that, take whatever time you need, they will still be out there.
I lived a similar situation in the past, and I was certainly reluctant to open up to new friendships in my late thirties, but one day I took a chance on a local message board, and ended up meeting a very nice group of people that enjoyed my hobby and now I have monthly to bimonthly meetups with them, and through those we've meet each other's families, travel together, helped each other move, birthdays, and funerals.
It's great to have friends again, makes me really happy.
Hey, you might have luck with retro clubs or something. For Germany I could maybe help with that but I think you're likely in the US.
i'm from finland actually! :D
Nice 👍 I really hope you'll find your people.
I would be into this maybe, but I was always terrible at Mario and stuff like that. I’ve been trying to get back into games, and nothing is grabbing me, sadly.
My IRL friends are inerested in soccer. I don't have many friends, but almost all of them have have a thing for soccer. So I'm fine pretending to like soccer every once in a while.
The things we do for love
what if they're all pretending
Than it's a bonding experience
Casually play Kick and Run, around them. 🙃 ⚽🥅
Just handhelds? What about PC's or consoles?
not very interested in those.
i used to be very much into pc hardware stuff when i was younger but now the only thing i care about is that i have a pc that can run what i want, which is a somewhat outdated gaming pc with a gtx 1070 and a ryzen 2600.
modern consoles never really interested me that much, there's not that many interesting things about them. you just put in the disc and play, or if it's digital, just press the button to boot up the game, and the games have felt really similar since the ps3 era when hd gaming became a thing.
i'm still stuck in the ps4 era anyway cus i haven't played almost anything from that era, and i'm not paying many hundreds of euros for a console, when i can just play older stuff that is just as good.
older stuff like the nes and snes is different though, as it's impressive what they could do with the limited hardware, so it's kind of interesting. the games are a whole lot different compared to modern ones too.
It's the age of the WWW! There are literally forums & communities full of like-minded folks who enjoy doing exactly as you describe, just online.
I mean, sure it's always nice when such buddies can physically hang out, but headsets and cameras can at least help with that, and there's various retro games that can be played together online.
I find modders and builders fascinating, too:
https://www.benheck.com/