RGG, I like the sound of that! I just back from Cisco Live in San Francisco and what an AWESOME time it was. This year I was co-hosting a session with my homie Matt. The session title was “Software Hot, Hardware still Cool” and was SDN related. We had a blast working on this project together and aside from our session time going from 90 minutes to 60 minutes, it was an excellent experience.  So, part of my shtick with “Hardware” was drawing a contrast between software and hardware. It’s impossible to extract the full potential of hardware without excellent software. Great software will ALWAYS sell the hardware. This is true in the video game industry as well as the network infrastructure business. I love an example cited in the book (Console Wars). “the console is the movie theater, but it’s the movies that kept people coming back for more” Another good example of this is when I switched to Mac/OSX. I had great hardware, but the software (Vista!) was terrible. My system would BSOD all the time. Windows 7 was WORLDS better and I hear Windows 8.1 is pretty good, but since I moved to OSX, I honestly have not had a reason to migrate back to Windows. For me, OSX just seems to work better for MY intended purposes. In the networking world, we recently posted NX-OS 7.0 for the Nexus 6000 platform. This version of code woke 22 great features up in hardware that were taking a nap. One of which is a latency, buffer, and micro-burst monitor. In the video game world, you look at a 7th generation console like the Xbox 360. Gear of war 1 looked amazing when it was released and we all thought, wow! The graphics, textures, and lighting could not be any better… WRONG! Look at Gears 3. It’s hard to believe they are the same console, that’s how far advance the graphics became with software that unlocked the maximum potential of the hardware.

Another 7th generation game console, the PS3 has another good comparison. Resistance Fall of Man vs. Last of Us.

You get my point, here. To quote one of my favorite movies Tron Legacy: “I Took the System to it’s Maximum Potential” – CLU

So, this story I told is just a backdrop to my “real” post. I like the sound of “Retro Gaming Gomez”. I think I’ll start a YouTube channel dedicated to retro games using this name. I have a specific theme for the channel, but that is something I want you to linger on. I want this channel to be unique and intriguing. Thanks Johnny (@HCGSHOW) for the encouragement and advice. 

So, what qualifies me to bestow such a grand title as RGG upon myself. Well, I think pictures are worth a thousand words and right now I only have a little over 400 words. Let these AWESOME pictures fill some white space.

Panoramic view of game room, complete with SMB3 title song: http://youtu.be/W_sHQKVvbSg

This is but a sample of my retro gaming passion. I have played (and finished) thousands of games beginning with my 1st generation console the woodgrain Atari 2600 to current 8th generation consoles like the Playstation 4 and Wii U. In fact, unlike many collectors. I actually try to play and finish EVERY game I add to the collection. Now, the most important thing that you MUST know about me. Especially if you intend on subscribing to my show. I love ALL games. This is my personality. I NEVER cared WHO (Sega or Nintendo) made something, I loved them ALL. Marketing was VERY creative in the early 90’s, but both Sonic and Mario were great games that sold the hardware. I just wished at the time I could afford EVERYTHING, but that was not in the cards. THERE WILL BE NO FANBOY TALK, PERIOD. This personality trait transcends gaming for me. Android/iOS, Cisco/Juniper (OK I’m a little biased here…), Microsoft/Apple, VHS/Beta, Hammer/Screwdriver, etc… In general, I love it all, it’s just that certain tools work better at specific jobs. 

So, stay tuned for the launch of my “official” YouTube show titled Retro Gaming Gomez.

Gamers, Stay Frosty!