There is nothing quite like being greeted at the mailbox with a package you’ve been waiting on for a few weeks. The latest addition to the handheld hype train has arrived and is yours to do all the retro gaming your heart desires. You load it up with the best and latest community firmware. The name-brand SD card is ready to go, and the ROM libraries are packed. Every ounce of capability this little hobby box offers is ready for squeezing.

But, now what? Chances are, if you’re anything like me, you cycle through half a dozen games you’ve played a million times just to see how the new device handles things. No one can possibly ever play the 15,000 games this thing came with, so might as well check in with the content you know. From then on, you might grab the device with every intention of sitting down with some new-to-you retro gaming experiences, only to find yourself still scrolling through menus after 25 minutes. You’ve been infected with the dreaded choice paralysis.

The streaming and subscription models have brought this problem to the forefront for all forms of consumable media. Surely you’ve had a friend recommend a great TV show that you’ve never even heard of in the past few years, only to stand back and marvel at the sheer landslide of choices barreling towards you and vying for your precious little free time. The good news is, if you’re a fan of emulation, you’re probably better prepared than most for dealing with too many choices at your fingertips and can apply the lessons learned from ROMs to the rest of your media consumption.

Too Many Options

Back in the day, if you wanted to try a new game it meant buying a copy from a retailer or using a local rental store. If you rented a game for the weekend, that was it. You made your choice for better or for worse, and you were now going to be playing that game, and likely only that game, until it was time for it to be returned to Blockbuster. It simply isn’t like that anymore.

If you aren’t feeling a movie you selected on Netflix, it’s no big deal to dump it 15 minutes in and go with something else. This lingering knowledge in the back of our heads leaves us feeling nervous if we’re spending our time wisely. What if there was something better lurking just around the corner?

The ability to have every game ever released on every console from your childhood, contained in one device, is nothing short of incredible from an eagle’s view. The problem is that it just isn’t very practical. The user can end up feeling downtrodden from the pressure of making a choice out of thousands, and then wondering if they’ve made the right choice with their time. Because of this lingering wonder, even if a game is great, it can lessen the users’ enjoyment.

This leads us down a path of sticking with the familiar. Faced with too many choices, we jump at something we know. Whether it’s Mario 3 or reruns of The Office, we instinctively go with what we know are safe choices. Now you might be on to getting hyped for the next coming handheld before you’ve really had a chance to experience the one sitting in front of you. And repeat.

All or Some?

I am someone who is very much of the mindset that even if I’m not using something at the moment, it’s comforting to know it’s there if I need it. I am a digital hoarder for sure, and if you ask my wife about any of my physical collecting habits, she’d probably tell you it bleeds over into our real world as well. Am I ever actually going to play that random Commodore 64 game in the full library pack? Highly unlikely, BUT I know I can. This is how choice paralysis can come for you too

Even with a highly curated ROM library, you’re still likely to be left with many more options than were ever possible to amass as a kid. The abundance of choice is here one way or another. Whether it’s a ROM library, Xbox Game Pass, Switch Online, or movies on your favorite streaming service — this is the new reality. Which brings us around to…

What Can Help

When I first cut the cable cord years ago I found myself marveling at how much my viewing habits changed. Rather than plopping on the couch and blindly turning on the TV to surf around, I was deciding on what I wanted to watch ahead of time and sitting down with purpose. As time has gone on, channel surfing has given way to doom-scrolling. The way we passively consume media has just shifted formats. The best way to combat this passive consumption in any form is to just sit down with intent and a plan, and we’re even here to lend a hand!

GOTX

If you visit the Retro Handhelds Discord Server, you can take part in our handheld GOTX community. Every month, the community selects a theme and votes on what they think are the best examples available from various time periods. This is the best way I know of to ward off choice paralysis and deliver the gaming-with-intent experiences that will leave you looking back satisfied with your completion rather than regretful over your lack of decision-making.

You can read about the selections every month over on the Retro Handhelds website to get some insight into that month’s winners and whether they sound right for you. If you enjoy the selection and post evidence of you finishing it on your favorite handheld in our Discord, you can even earn points towards free RH Merch.

Whether you choose to participate in official GOTX tracking is up to you, but even if you don’t it can provide a valuable service for eliminating paralysis by choice. Every month there is a pool of games recommended by users in the community to be voted on to see what will be GOTX. I’d recommend checking out these choices every month and finding the one in each category that feels like it best suits your interest.

From there, load those games up and play one with a goal in mind. Be it trying it for 20 minutes to decide if you want to continue, or knowing you want to embark on completing everything this game has to offer, sitting down with intent will help alleviate the anxiety.

Helpful Strategies

If you’re not ready to jump into our GOTX world just yet, that’s ok too! Here are a couple of helpful hints that you can apply to your own gaming sessions to try and ward off being frozen in choice.

• Pre-curated lists: Take yourself out of the equation entirely and only play from a selection that you’ve picked out ahead of time. This doesn’t work for everyone (myself included), but if you’re lost on where to even start in retro, they can really help point you in the right direction.
• Limits: There is nothing necessarily wrong with browsing around until you realize half the free time you wanted to spend gaming was lived in menus. I’d recommend giving yourself a specific amount of time to make a decision, perhaps 5 to 10 minutes, and sticking with it. For better or worse, you make a decision.
• Randomization: If you’re feeling bold, most emulation OS’ have a random function. You can have the device pick for you and discover something you would have never found yourself. Or, you can check out the RH Retro Game Randomizer!
• Delayed Gratification: Hold off on trying to dive into every single game you’ve heard is good all at once. If you’re playing everything, you’ll likely finish nothing. Play the games you’ve selected until you’re truly done with them, and then move on to the next one on your list.

What Have We Learned?

Snazzy

Choice paralysis has always existed when you have an abundance of appealing content, it’s just that we’ve never had such immediate access to a wealth of content on demand in the past. Given the current media landscape of consumable media and the ever-increasingly rapid pace that which content delivery technology moves, choice paralysis is here to stay. Hopefully, you’ve been able to read this article and pick out a few tips that might be helpful for you.

By participating in communities faced with similar decisions, or just employing some basic personal strategies, you too can defeat the paralysis and anxiety of too much choice. Game with intent and knowledge and you’ll never have to feel like you wasted your time trying to enjoy the hobby we all love.

What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!

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