By Ben Bradford | January 9, 2015

Scott Rigby (left) and Richard Ryan (right)

Many children of a certain generation have a warm place in their heart for classic Nintendo games like Mario and Zelda. As adults, they’re spending to rediscover it…

Games can range from a few dollars to a few hundred, depending on popularity and scarcity. It’s an attractive demographic, says Scott Rigby, a psychologist and president of video game consulting firm Immersyve.

…Rigby suspects this is the other side of the retro game movement. He likens it to music lovers who search out formative bands.

“They love games and they seek them out,” Rigby says. “And so, there’s going to be this group of people that’s growing because games are growing and the gamer community is growing. They’re going to be interested in the history of these games and in playing them.”

Rigby says it’s never going to approach the billions of dollars in revenue the current industry generates, but as long as that industry is growing, so will the retro niche.

Click to hear the full NPR segment.