The YouTuber That’s Building A Retro Brand To Take On The Big Guys | GamesYouLoved

He started making videos on the Gameboy when he was just 16, and now 10 years and 150,000 subscribers later he wants to build a retro gaming brand that showcases the best retro products that you can get your hands on.

We had the privilege of meeting Brandon a few months ago in London at YouTube Space to film some content on the much loved replica arcade machines known as Quarter Arcades, and within our many discussions he mentioned creating a website dedicated to providing high quality and enjoyable content for those of us interested in retro gaming products.

Not necessarily Gameboys (although that is featured) but more along the lines of new, modern products that has just hit the shelves, such as the Play Date or the LDK Horizontal. He has previously spent the last two years working with GamesRadar and PCGamer where he was producing the brands video content but he also mentioned how the incredible team behind these brands helped him learn about building and sustaining a loyal community.

This when he soon realised the lack of a large trustworthy retro gaming websites that covers the latest retro gaming products and a place that retro enthusiasts can come to discover, learn and discuss about all the latest retro gear on the block. This is why just a few days ago he launched a new website and brand called Retro Dodo. Currently Brandon is running this brand solo but he plans to grow a small team to produce content for you all in the next 12 months.

Already a couple of other YouTube influencers in the retro community such as Elliot Coll from The Retro Future has sparked up interest to join the team and we could possibly see a knowledgeable, enjoyable crew behind this brand in no time.

“I am a big fan of finding retro products for me to play with but I can’t seem to find a hub that showcases and talks about these products exclusively.

I have to go to different YouTube channels, scout terrible chinese websites and visit big gaming sites that aren’t very knowledgeable on the subject to get my dose. So I thought I’d build this brand and give those with the same interests as me the ultimate space to discover and learn about just that” Brandon Saltalamacchia, Founder of RetroDodo.com.

Not only has Brandon been growing his community on YouTube but he has also built another brand in the Van Life community, again, something he is very passionate about and is currently kitting out an old 1985 VW Bus for that community. Van Clan was founded by him in 2017 and has already become one of the fastest growing van life brands around with over 300,000 followers, so if anyone can do this, it’s him and we can’t wait to see what this new bright minded entrepreneur can do.

“We have IGN for console gaming, we have PCGamer for PC enthusiasts and we have GamesYouLoved for retro news, but where’s the site for retro products?

This is where RetroDodo comes into the mix, a site primarily for retro things to buy, not necessarily play”. Making content for the retro niche community for sometime now means he certainly has the knowledge, expertise and contacts to pull this off, and having a small community behind him to support him, and give him advice, he has an advantage over any big publishing house.

That’s why we want to support him, Brandon will be up against large publishing companies looking to sap the profits from this community, but having someone that was born and raised in this community make a brand to tackle the big dogs is something we can’t help but love.

If you want to support Brandon be sure to follow him on his twitter @iambrandonsalt  and his new retro website @retro_dodo, he and the future team are always open and willing to hear advice, if you have ideas, hit him up.

We really do think this could be a great brand in the next couple of years and it’s worth following him now to be one of the founding followers and watch what could be the next go to retro site other than GamesYouLoved, but obviously, we’re the No.1 source. Sorry Brandon, we’re just too good! HaHa