Business

Astros Tech Solutions a game changer for vintage hardware

Astros Tech Solutions, Morgantown's only mobile gaming repair service, is providing revolutionary opportunities to keep retro gaming alive.

The service based in Westover was founded by Rijker Hoerle in August. According to Hoerle, he can repair, refurbish and mod almost any vintage gaming console, such as Game Boy, GameCube, Wii, PlayStation, Xbox, Sega and Atari consoles.

Hoerle also offers PC and smartphone repair, at a price he said is second-to-none.

"There's a lot of tech places in PA, Ohio, other places like that that do the same work that I do and have on my website, but charge three times as much," he said. "I was looking at it and I was like, 'You guys are charging this much because it's a niche market. Nobody wants to work on these consoles. Nobody knows how to. You guys are charging three times the value for something that should be way cheaper.'"

Hoerle learned everything he knows about gaming repair from his grandfather, Robert, who passed away earlier this year. Hoerle said he started the business as a way to honor his legacy.

"My grandfather is the one that taught me how to build and work with microelectronics since I was about five years old," Hoerle said. "He helped me fix my first Gameboy when I broke the screen on it, and that snowballed into when I'm older."

Known as the "tech-savvy" friend, Hoerle realized he could help the greater Morgantown community with his talents and pay tribute to his grandfather concurrently.

Hoerle said customers can either call Astros Tech Solutions to come pick up your device or you can ship it to them directly. He offers free consultation calls to assess the best option for your device.

Hoerle explained that the early technology can be extremely complicated to configure and it's critical they are worked on by experts.

"Those older games, they need a specific battery, and if you don't know how to do it, you can damage that board," he said. "These boards are 30-40 years old. I have stuff that I'm working with on a daily basis that's older than I am."

According to Hoerle, he can ship parts in from all over the country to repair consoles. In the next five years, he's hoping to own a brick-and-mortar store and build a collection of retro games to sell.

As the future of gaming moves virtual, Hoerle emphasized the importance of maintaining tradition.

"It's all lost to time. …Once you go digital, you don't own it anymore," he said. "That's the sad fact about what Sony and Nintendo are doing now: they're taking everything to a digital licensing key and holding it in front of your face like a carrot and stick; I'm not a fan of that. If you buy a video game and you buy a console, you should be able to hold that in your hand and know that someone can fix it if it breaks."

Hoerle hopes he can pass off the love of gaming onto his own daughter the way his grandfather did to him.

"Everybody keeps telling me that he would be very proud of me and excited, and I believe he would be," Hoerle said.

Learn more about Astros Tech Solutions on its website, astrostechsolutions.com, and social media accounts https://linktr.ee/astrostechsolution.