Originally published on Tuesday, 10th March 2009

Simple Pleasures

Simple pleasures for simple minds, maybe. And it may well just be part of the nostalgia that accompanies periods of economic morbidity – sort of like forlornly recalling all the exes you never should’ve broken up with, directly after being unceremoniously dumped yourself – but you look me in the eye and tell me you don’t go all fuzzy for the old school.

Book publishing is on the rise, rather pleasingly (as much as we love the idea of the sleek new Kindle, you try dog-earing adamantine polycarb casing from the distant future). And even online, we're turning to our glorious past for distraction: Pepys's occasionally indecipherable blog has us hooked, and, frankly, Austen's Emma has never been so enjoyable as when Fauxbooked.

So while the kids are off with their super-computered, realer-than-real, 21st century interactive gaming malarkey, stand firm, my fellow ludites!

With Blaze following hot on the tail of their recent, unpredictably addictive (and cheap) handheld 16-bit Sega Megadrive with a full console reissue on the cards, the future is still bright – if only because it's sat around a pixeltastic screen playing Sonic and Street Fighter II by candlelight. Remember: it’s not ‘old’, it’s ‘classic’.

Blaze's Sega Megadrive Handheld £29.35 from Sega Retro
The Kindle 2 retails at $360 in the States, and is scheduled for UK release later this year.

by AC