The Computer History Museum - Where Computer History Lives

Located in Mountain View, California, The Computer History Museum is a place that for many of us is just too far away to visit. This is clearly something that the museum staff realise, and not being content with making a mass of articles available for reading on their web site, they've also got a packed YouTube channel which you can find over at http://www.youtube.com/computerhistory

The channel currently hosts a whopping 71 videos, ranging from such topics as The Secret History of Silicon Valley, Computer Graphics in Games, to The Origins of Linux and Charles Babbage & his Difference Engine.

There's hours of material available, and it'll take you an age to plough through, but it's a fantastic way to pass any spare time you might have.

Atari 1200XL vs. Dell Inspiron 1525

Clearly having a good sense of humour (and a bit of spare time on his hands!), Linux user Bill Kendrick has decided to pit his 21st century Dell Inspiron 1525 against his early 80's Atari 1200XL.

Unsurprisingly the Atari has absolutely no chance of winning, but some of the stats are mind-boggling.

Point your browser here to see the two machines go head-to-head.

Darran Jones' Retro Channel

Following in the footsteps of a number of other retro gamers, Retro Gamer Magazine's very own Darran Jones has decided to take the plunge, and has recently set-up his own channel over on You Tube.

Darran currently has 11 videos online - my favourite being the "Retro Gamer Does Shinobi" episode, and urge you to take a look at that and the other videos he's put together.

Check it out for yourself by visiting http://www.youtube.com/user/RetroGamerDaz, and don't forget to leave him some feedback.

A New Beginning

Yes, it's been over a year since my last update, and I apologise.

Things have been really busy with work, DIY and charity work, meaning this page has been very far down my priority list. That said, I'm determined to try and keep this up-to-date from now on, so please 'do' pop back on a regular basis and/or subscribe to the RSS feed.

It's Been a Long Time

Wow, was November really the last time I made any additions to this page?

2007's been a busy year for me, as I've been side-tracked with work, charity work, and DIY projects.

On the subject of DIY projects, I've started work on converting my garage into a games room. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get around to uploading some pictures and documenting the process so far.

In the meantime, I'm off to Germany next week, where I'll be attending the Games Convention in Leipzig. Whilst retro gaming's more my thing, it's still interesting to see how far my hobby's come in the last 30 years, and if last year's anything to go by I'm hoping there will be one or two retro items there to keep me occupied.

I'll write more when I get back!

Live Action Hamster Game

After seeing this link appear on the Digg web site, I thought it was worthy of a heads-up here.

What is it? A live action version of Monty on the Run, but with a real hamster as the main character!

Sounds odd? Well, take a look!

Qwak to Appear on GBA

Long-time Amiga owners out there will no doubt be familiar with Team 17's budget platformer, Qwak - a title largely ignored back in the day, but loved by nearly all who played it.

Over a decade after its original release Qwak is due to make a return - this time on GBA cartridge.

For a mere £12 (or slightly less if you just want the ROM image), you can be the proud owner of a (limited to 300!) Qwak GBA cartridge.

At present the author is still trying to ascertain if there's enough interest, but with the link appearing in issue 51 of GamesTM you may want to get your name down as soon as possible.

Simply point your browser over to http://www.qwak.co.uk/ to register.

Beautiful Space Ace Restoration With Photos

Yesterday, Darth Nuno made a quick post over on the Retro Gamer forums announcing a forthcoming Dragons Lair / Space Ace fan meet, due to take place on the 15th, 16th and 17th of December.

Having had my interested sparked, I followed the link over to the Dragons Lair Fans web site to take a look. However, once I got there, I found myself sidetracked by one of the most detailed and in-depth step-by-step restorations I'd ever seen.

If you want to see a Space Ace go from an almost empty water damaged cab to a fully functioning unit again you'll need to set back a good 15 - 20 minutes of your time, but it's well worth it.

Simply point your browser here, and enjoy!