Information Technology student, Nemanja Vukikjevikj, is giving retro video games a new life through a device built as part of his studies.

Nemanja made the device for his Embedded Systems course, which he is completing as part of his Bachelor of Information Technology at OPAIC.

It uses emulators to run games from different consoles including PlayStation, and Gameboy Advance.

The device includes Pokémon, Crash Bandicoot, Digimon World, Mortal Kombat, Pepsiman, Tekken 3 and Persona 2, all games Nemanja grew up playing in Macedonia.

The system can run games from any era, but he’s selected games that were popular in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.

Nemanja says he’s had a love for gaming since he was four or five years old and played with his father. Over the years he has formed many friendships that started with a mutual love of gaming.

He recently organised a Tekken tournament on campus, bringing students from different programmes and cultures together.

He says the IT project has taught him that if you are really willing to apply yourself to learning something, then it will pay off. The pay-off may not always be monetary, but if something brings you joy, it is never a wasted skill, he says.