Retro Active

Not unlike many people still wrapped up in retro gaming Kevin started gaming at an early age with his first memories being ones of trying to shoot pixelated aliens down on his Atari 2600. His family later got a NES and then eventually he got his very own Sega Genesis which officially made gaming a permanent thing in Kevin’s life. When most of his friends moved on from gaming or onto the next greatest console Kevin held on to his Genesis finding the newest systems to just not be nearly as fun as his beloved 16 bit system. For the longest time PC gaming was the only modern gaming Kevin had any interest in but this did change slightly as he got older. 

Of course as an adult with his own means of getting video games Kevin jumped right back into retro gaming and began buying all the classic games he played but never got to own as a child and even systems he had missed out on. Right about this time his web show RetroActive was conceived, but not for the reasons you would expect. Originally it was an idea brought about because of his mother who had read an article online about people reviewing these old video games he had started collecting and making money at it; a concept not foreign to him having visited many YouTube channels and web pages that did this for years.  Knowing the money thing wasn’t even in the cards but bored and frustrated with college anyway, Kevin took the challenge. Having created the first episode Kevin found it to be really fun and quickly found with each episode it stayed fun and got great responses out of it. Soon the show was being featured on GameTrailes and ScrewAttack and later being a mainstay on RetrowareTV; he also was lucky enough to work with several great people. 

Several years later Kevin is still working hard and having fun with RetroActive which is always adapting and evolving as Kevin learns more about not only retro gaming but also how to actually write, record and edit videos. Since the initial conception RetroActive has become a website, a podcast, and has had several sub-series created with no end in sight. Today the website imretroactive.com has become Kevin’s main focus allowing him to work with many great people who share his passions for retro gaming while writing articles, making videos, recording podcasts and just simply gaming. 

Favorite Games: Sonic 2, Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, StarTropics, WonderBoy III, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Half-Life, Shenmue, Kid Icarus
Favorite Platforms: Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, NES, Atari 2600, Gamecube, PC, Dreamcast 

About Gamester81

John "Gamester81" Lester started playing video games at a very young age. His first ever console that he played was a Colecovision, quickly followed by an Atari 2600, and his passion for video games hasn't stopped. In 2008 John decided to start a video game review show on YouTube called Gamester81 by reviewing rare and retro video game systems and games. His show quickly grew in popularity, and he became friends with many other gamers in the YouTube community. He is also one of the hosts of the All Gen Gamers Podcast which is a bimonthly podcast for people and video games of all generations. Some of John's other hobbies includes collecting Star Wars memorabilia (YouTube channel Starwarsnut77), playing classic arcade games (YouTube channel Gamester81Arcade), watching sports, and listening to music. John is a big fan of the 80's and 90's and in 2009 started a YouTube channel called NEStalgiaholic where he talks about nostalgic items and memories from his childhood. To see some of John's video's in 3D visit his YouTube channel Gamester81in3D. Favorite Systems: Colecovision, Commodore 64, NES, & SNES. Favorite Games: Donkey Kong Arcade, Atari Star Wars Arcade, Super Mario 3, Final Fantasy II, & Goldeneye 007