For grown-up gamers, it's like a time capsule; a room full of vintage TVs, old video game consoles, and classic games. The "Retro Bay" can be found at the University of Chicago's Weston Game Lab, where students study and develop new video games.

At the press of a button, anyone can feel like a 90s kid. By the time Nick Bradshaw and David Hall were born, the original PlayStation was almost 10 years-old.

"I think most of the things in here are older than both of us," Bradshaw said.

But inside the Weston Game Lab at the University of Chicago, retro is always right now.

The lab, which – among other gaming consoles – features two Ataris, a Nintendo GameCube, and an original Xbox, students, faculty, and staff research and develop games.

The lab's Retro Bay is the place where they all come to play the classics

Kent Lambert, associate director of the university's MADD Center Arts Labs, said it kind of takes him back to being a kid.

"I mean, a lot of this job, I have to say, at least resonates with memories I had as a kid," he said.

Lambert runs the Weston Game Lab, and helped curate a collection of old TVs, consoles and video games.

"We're playing River City Ransom for the NES, Nintendo Entertainment System. This is a game I loved as a child," he said. "You're basically just beating up like jocks, and frat boys, and other gangs."

Students like Bradshaw help take care of the games.

"I'm cleaning out the pins of the cartridge with isopropyl alcohol," he said.

But Retro Bay is really about preserving the gaming experience; a retro experience always at their fingertips.

"You know, the console, the TV, the controllers – we are now having an experience that, at least for those pieces, is the same experience that someone had 40 years ago," Lambert said.