It’s been a wild year for tech, and as much as I want my top five things to all be cutting edge, when I look down my list, a lot of the tech I had the most fun with this year was old school.

Projectors

This year I started testing projectors and fell in love with how awesome they can make watching movies and playing video games at home. I’m still using the JMGO N1S Ultimate 4K projector at home, and while it’s not the top of the line as far as projectors go, it’s more than enough for all my needs.

It has a 60 Hz mode for gaming, it’s bright enough to display content in standard HDR, and it has a built-in gimbal foot, which makes it really easy to adjust and set up. While I wish it had a few more HDMI ports and support for Dolby Vision, all in all, it’s a great machine, and I’ll have a hard time switching back to a regular-sized TV.

Delta Emulator

The one thing I’ve always wanted on iOS is the ability to play retro games. This year, that dream finally came true with the excellent Delta emulator.

Not only is this app really well designed, but it also supports most of Nintendo’s vintage consoles and has a few tricks up its sleeve. For instance, using a wireless controller and AirPlay, you can cast games to your TV and essentially use your phone or iPad as a wireless console.

If you ever wanted to play classic games on your phone, this is by far the best way to do it, and it’s getting better all the time. The creator is even working on adding wireless connectivity for the DS emulator so you can connect to other players nearby and trade Pokémon or play Mario Kart together.

Wii

In the vein of retro gaming, I’ve also played a lot of Nintendo Wii games this year. Thanks to the help of some YouTube channels, I’ve figured out how to HomeBrew (hack) my Wii and load it up with all kinds of classic titles.

While the Wii was mostly forgotten as people moved onto games with regular controllers, it’s actually a ton of fun going back to the motion controls of the Wii and playing the interesting games that the retro console excels at. Games like Trauma Center, Metroid Prime and Wii Sports Resort are still super fun and it’s been a blast not only to play them, but also to tinker with the Wii’s software.

The M4 iPad Pro

If you listened to our top tech of the year podcast from a few weeks ago, you already know how much I love the M4 iPad Pro. It’s a simple proposition, but thin tech feels futuristic to me, and the M4 iPad Pro is super thin, and because it’s so light and easy to carry around, I find myself using it even more.

Combine that with this awesome iPad Pro charging dock/monitor arm that I tested a few months ago, and I’ve gone from being a casual iPad user to an iPad power user.

Hopefully, Apple will slim down the rest of the iPad lineup over the next few years, and everyone will be able to experience the futuristic feeling of the ultra-slim iPad. Specifically, the 13-inch iPad Air really needs to drop a few grams because the bigger iPads become a lot more usable once they become lighter.

Apple Vision Pro

While it might not be something I use every day, I’ll never forget how euphoric my first experience in the Vision Pro was. Apple has nailed the spatial operating system, and I honestly never thought a face computer like this would be a thing. It works better than anyone expects and I can’t wait to see what Apple does next in the spatial computing space.

I think if they can make it lighter and improve the battery life over the next two years, it will help it catch on a lot more. Beyond that, we just need to wait for more developers to make cool apps for it, and if Apple drops the price, I’m sure more and more people will start picking up the extremely futuristic headset.