How Retro Gamers Can Game on the Cheap

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That slick widescreen high-definition television that's the centerpiece of your living room is an abomination, and not just for the price. Sure, it makes a fine addition to your multimedia center, but if you’re a retro gaming fan looking to hook up your NES, Super NES, Genesis, Turbo Grafx-16, or other pre-PlayStation era video game consoles for a few hours of old school entertainment, prepare for plenty of blotchy colors, fuzzy pixels, and perhaps a bit of sobbing. Here is why HDTVs are the bane to the retrogamer and how one purchase can save you lots of money.

You don’t need an HDTV

The natural evolution of display technology has made retrogaming a no-no on HDTVs. A 720p (1,280 x 720-pixel resolution) or 1080p (1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution) television wrecks, for example, the 8-bit beauty of the NES' visuals (256 x 240-pixel resolution) as it has to stretch those meager amount of pixels over a much greater area. I learned this digital lesson the hard way. Two years ago, I made the mistake of attempting to play the classic Tecmo Super Bowl on my mom's 42-incher, and my New York Giants squad looked very much like blue cotton balls dashing across the massive screen.

Don’t let modern consoles tempt you with nostalgia

The Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Sony PlayStation 3 have online marketplaces (Xbox Live Arcade, Virtual Console, and PlayStation Network, respectively) where you can purchase updated, tweaked versions of classic games that have been filtered and upscaled to look as you remember, but on a HDTV. Unfortunately, these reworked games can't be played in full screen mode (there's typically letterboxing), and a number have yet become available for download.

The Big Three gaming companies aren't offering these games for altruistic purposes; they're hoping that nostalgia for long past days will encourage you to re-purchase these games, typically at $5 to $10 a pop. Dropping a Lincoln on a favorite game may seem like meager money, but if you try to rebuild entire libraries of your favorites, you can easily spend a hundred dollars or more. It doesn't have to be this way.

One low-cost purchase (and a little desk space) is all that's needed to play your favorite retro titles in their native low-resolution without fear of visual blight. It comes, oddly enough, from a home computer that's nearly 30 years old.

The Solution: The Commodore 1084 Monitor

The Commodore 1084S monitor is tailor-made for your 8- and 16-bit titles with its old school-friendly 14-inch display and 640 x 256-pixel resolution resolution. As you've probably sussed out, the 1084D was originally designed for use with the classic Commodore 64 home computer, the machine that introduced many families to the wonders of personal computing.

I picked one up from eBay about five years ago, and it has proven to be one of the most cherished additions to my retro gaming setup. I’ve played everything from Super Mario Bros. to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on it, and the visuals have always been nothing short of crisp. Even better, the 1084S has built in stereo speakers (hence the "S" in its name) that eliminates the need to purchase or attach external speakers. Be careful, however; a 1084 monitor (without the "S") is also floating about that lacks speakers. Composite and RGB inputs are housed in the back of the machine for attaching your consoles for the best picture possible.

Where to find the Commodore 1084S Monitor (for cheap!)

The Commodore 1084S typically sells cheap ($15 to $25), but you may have to pay a pretty penny in shipping as the monitor weighs over 20 pounds. I found mine on eBay for a total of $40, $15 of which was spent on shipping. Although eBay and other auction sites are the fastest, easiest ways to obtain the display, they aren't the most frugal; you can save money by combing the computers/electronics sections of your city or town's Craigslist, as you can pick the monitor up yourself without being nailed with shipping and handling fees.

Happy hunting, circle of the joystick. Game on.