If you already follow this blog, the chances are that you will probably have a pretty good idea of what homebrew gaming is. You may even have had a dabble it in yourself. If you have just stumbled upon the site and are wondering what on earth we mean by homebrew gaming, we will explain it here. We will also cover exactly why it is the perfect hobby for anyone into gaming or enjoys a bit of
Book of Ra Deluxe.
When you think of video gaming, you more than likely think of the popular home systems played on televisions - PlayStation, Xbox, the Wii, and Nintendo Switch to name but a few. You also think of the same genres of games - World of Warcraft style ones, racing games and football. What you probably do not think about are ones made by people who do it as a hobby, outside of the commercial gaming industry. They do not make them for profit but are generally a group of like-minded individuals who want to make them purely for fun. These amateur developers usually have skills and interests in coding and programming and want to use their skills. It is, after all, a highly skilled activity. Homebrew gamers will take a platform, a game or a gaming device and hacking them to expand their functionality and usage. This is what is meant by homebrew gaming.
But why is it so popular? What makes it a great hobby? Let us take a look.
Homebrew gaming gives you a chance to relive your youth
You know those games that you grew up loving? Sonic the Hedgehog, Paperboy, Flimbo’s Quest? Homebrewing them allows you to enjoy them all over again on a much more modern console or platform. You get to relieve your childhood gaming experiences and introduce them to the next generation.
Homebrew gaming gives underappreciated or discontinued consoles a new lease of life
The
final Sega console was discontinued in 2001, and the very last official release for it was in 2007. It was the end of an era in gaming - or was it? Thanks to Homebrew gamers and developers, the console has been given a bit of a new lease of life with new software and updates released.
Not only that, but consoles and gaming systems that were hated by the majority of people amd never really took off - the Sega Dreamcast, for example, or the ill-fated
Atari Lynx - have seen some diehard fans flooding the homebrew gaming market with software, despite the consoles being obsolete for a decade or more.
It adds extra features to favourite games
We all know that it is like when you have completed your favourite game - you are at a bit of a loss and miss the excitement. If you add a few homebrew hacks, you can increase the challenges, make it more difficult (or easier!), add extra levels or lives, and basically customise the game and make it how you want.
There is a superb homebrew gaming community
Contrary to popular belief, gamers can be a rather sociable bunch, even if they do prefer to interact online rather than face to face. The homebrew gaming community is growing rapidly in number but is still a relatively small and tight-knit community. After all, the point of it is not to make a profit but to have fun, and there are always people out there to give you advice, test out the hacks and be a supportive group for your new hobby.
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