Welcome to 8Bit Bongo!
My name is Paul Zganiacz (Crazy last name don’t give yourself a headache trying to pronounce it) and I’m the owner.
Here’s a little backstory as to why I decided to create this website. I’m curious if you will relate because I have a feeling a lot of folks like me will.
I grew up playing video games. My first console was that red Game Boy Color we are all familiar with. My first game: Pokemon Blue.
I played the heck out of that game. There wasn’t really internet back then so everything I learned was from first-hand experience or from the help of my friends. I remember the sense of accomplishment when I finally beat the elite four after many attempts.
From that first Game Boy until high school, video games were my life. I have countless fond memories revolving around playing video games with my friends.
From comparing stats on the latest Game Boy Advance RPG to experiencing Halo Combat Evolved’s campaign for the first time. Lots of cherished moments.
I’m sure you have these nostalgic aches as well.
Then high school happened. Trying to fit in, playing sports, and chasing girls took precedence over video games. I did play from time to time but it was very minimal.
Then I attended college and my time was even more limited. For a while, I thought I was done with the video game saga of my life.
But then life calmed down a bit, I got married and was no longer consumed by the need to fit in anymore. I started playing games again. My wife even bought me an Xbox ONE for my birthday.
I was overjoyed with the feeling of opening a new console again. Like a kid on Christmas.
After taking this hiatus and re-entering the world of modern gaming. The transition from what I was used to playing to the next generation of games was huge. A little overwhelming if I’m being totally honest.
Luckily most of my skills transferred over and I wasn’t getting my butt kicked too badly.
Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy modern games. I love playing Horizon Forbidden West on the PS5 and you can find me playing Apex from time to time. But I was seriously missing the old games I used to play.
After doing some quick research on how to get back into playing my older games, I found out that there is a HUGE community of people playing retro games. Not only that but companies like Retroid and Anbernic release retro handhelds that can play any game you could possibly imagine from older consoles all the time.
Retro gaming is back baby.
And that brings me back to the present and why I started this website:
Our mission is to keep the retro gaming community fired up and playing. To be a guide for anyone interested in playing the pre-modern era games. And to create a space that you can keep coming back to for content about retro games.