Rob's Retro Ramblings

The Computer History Museum - Where Computer History Lives

2009-07-30T05:33:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-29T05:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-28T05:10:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-28T05:07:00.001-07:00

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

2007-08-15T13:39:00.001-07:00

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

2006-11-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-25T02:10:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

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!

Issue 3 of ZX Shed Released!

2006-11-17T02:50:00.000-08:00

As a long-time Speccy owner, and fan of the rubber-keyed-chum, I'm amazed that it's taken until issue 3 hits the net before I found out about this, but I'm glad I have.

Quite simply, if you're into all things Spectrum then you need to get stuck into this right away! It's as close to the classic Speccy mags of old as you're going to get, yet covers all that's new in the world of the Spectrum.

Issue 3 features a massive review on the remake of AticAtac for the PC, whilst things are brought firmly back to the Spectrum, with a review of Jonathan Cauldwell's latest release - Egghead IV.

Elsewhere there are tutorials explaining how to hack Commando and Bombjack, whilst the mag also explain how to run audio CDs on your Speccy.

If that wasn't enough, there's an in-depth lowdown on all the known Doctor Who games released (or planned for release!) on the beermat down the years, plus all the latest news and previews.

You'd be mad to miss it!

Pop over to the ZXShed web site now, and download!

Apologies For The Lack of Updates

2006-11-17T02:44:00.000-08:00

Please accept my apologies for the lack of updates to the blog. Unfortunately, a combination of work, and much needed DIY around the house meant that my 'sitting on my arse and browsing the web' time was drastically reduced.

Thankfully, the DIY is coming to an end, and work slowly seems to be calming down in the run up to Christmas.

I think there's probably only 1 or 2 people who ever read these pages anyway, so I can't imagine anyone is too bothered that this place hasn't seen an update in months!

Trademark Infringement For "Computer Classics"

2006-08-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

One of my regular online 'haunts' is the wonderful Retro Gamer forum. It's populated by a friendly bunch of regulars, and I usually pop on there at various points throughout a standard day.

I've just returned from a recent visit (and much laughter) after following a link to what must be one of the stupidiest forum posts I've ever read.

Retro Gamer forumite Ritchardo mkII kindly posted up a link to the CPC Zone Forums, along with the following brief description:

"To cut a long story short a somewhat confused man has contacted CPC Zone to try and get us to remove all mention of a Beau Jolly compilation that was released in 1987 because he believes it is infringing his trademark... that was taken out some years later... in America...

There's some unintentional comedy gold in there in my opinion..."

He's not wrong. "Comedy Gold" is a perfect way to put it.

Have a look for yourself, by pointing your browser over to:

http://www.cpczone.net/boards/viewtopic.php?t=841

The thread currently spans 3 pages, and it's well worth reading through the lot.

A big thank you to Ritchardo mkII for the heads-up.

Coming Soon to Xbox Live Arcade

2006-07-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lack of updates recently. A combination of work and DIY have unfortunately been getting in the way of my blogging time. When I have found myself with spare time I've either been down the pub or trying to better my scores on Xbox Live Arcade versions of Frogger or Galaga.

On the subject of Xbox Live Arcade, it seems as if there's a whole slew of classic games on their way for Xbox 360 owners with Live accounts. Here's a brief lowdown of just some of them:

Alien Hominid
Assault Heroes
Castle Crashers
Contra
Cyberball
Defender
Dig Dug
Diner Dash
Heavy Weapon
HoopWorld
Lumines Live!
Mad Tracks
Mega Force
Mini Golf
Ms. Pac-Man
Mutant Storm Empire
Novadrome
Paperboy
Pinball FX
Rally-X
RoboBlitz
Root Beer Tapper
Scramble
Small Arms
Sonic the Hedgehog: High Speed
Super Contra
Texas Hold 'Em
Time Pilot
Totem Ball
Track & Field
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

My thanks go to evilwallpaper of RLLMUK for passing on the above

Frogger Now Available on Xbox Marketplace

2006-07-13T00:57:00.000-07:00

After months and months of waiting Microsoft have finally started to add titles to their Live Arcade section of Xbox Marketplace. Entitled 'Live Arcade Wednesdays', over the next five weeks or so each Wednesday will see a new title added to the Live Arcade line-up.

The latest addition is Konami's 1981 arcade hit, Frogger, which celebrates its 25th birthday this year.

Weighing in at a mere 400 points, it has to be a bargain, surely? Well, in my opinion it is, but then I've always been a fan of the game.

Featuring all manner of enhancements, including a choice of revamped graphics and sound, or the original, plus a number of multiplayer modes over Xbox Live, it really is great value for money.

One feat which initially seems impressive is the ability to swap between the original look and sound to a revamped mode mid-game. However, you soon realise that to do this the programming team haven't emulated the original Frogger, but have instead converted it.

The conversion of Frogger is very good, but it's not perfect. Some of the music is distorted, and the main soundtrack is missing, meaning that some parts of the game are deathly quiet. Still, that's a small niggle on what's otherwise an excellent package. Couple this with the plethora of achievements available, and I'm sure you'll be coming back to this again and again.

Roll-on Galaga and Pacman!

Don't Copy That Floppy

2006-07-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I should thank or curse RLLMUK member Captain Crunch, for a heads-up on the following Google Video link, as it really is 'that' bad!

Us UK gamers no doubt the remember the long running FAST (Fedaration Against Software Theft) ads which ran and ran in numerous computing mags during the early '90s. However, those in the US had it far worse with this piece of terrible telivised brain washing.

Simply click on the following link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4837609090332617729

Apparently it weighs in at around 10 minutes in length, but as with a number of my fellow forumites over on RLLMUK a few minutes was all I could stand!

Want to Program in Machine Code on The Spectrum?

2006-07-06T00:52:00.000-07:00

Due to unforseen circumstances, Retro Gamer forumite robpearmain is currently selling off his collection of Spectrum machine code programming books.

Books for sale are:

How To Program The Z80 by Rodney Zaks

Machine Code Applications for the ZX Spectrum

Introducing Spectrum Machine Code

Spectrum Machine Code by Ian Stewart and Robin Jones

Spectrum Adventures by Tony Bridge and Roy Carnell

Machine Code Sprites and Graphics for the ZX Spectrum

Super charge your Spectrum by David Webb

Advanced Spectrum Machine Language by David Webb

There are some very nice titles in that list, and if you've ever thought about producing something more complex than a simple text adventure, the above titles should prove invaluable.

The Joys of Car Booting

2006-07-04T00:38:00.000-07:00

If you're a retro gamer, then it's highly likely that you frequent your local car boot sale on a regular basis.

Over the years I've picked up a few bargains, and have added a number of nice items to the collection. On no occasion have I encountered any annoying traders or buyers, but it would seem that I'm quite clearly in the minority as this thread over in the retro section of RLLMUK reveals.

2600 Connection - Issue 82 Now Shipping

2006-07-02T05:14:00.000-07:00

(Taken from www.atariage.com)

The July/August 2006 issue of the 2600 Connection newsletter is now available. Issue #82 includes the following articles and more:

* Atari 2600 Prototypes Update - Part II
* Just Like the Real Arcade Game (focusing on arcade conversions Rampage and Xenophobe)
* Spotlight on Homebrews: ASTAR, Wolfenstein VCS: The Next Mission, Conquest of Mars, Rainbow Invaders
* David Crane, Activision Ace and Pitfall III?
* Game review: Off the Wall (by Atari) review by Andy Floyd
* Letters from Readers
* News & Notes
* Classified Ads

Please visit the 2600 Connection to purchase this issue or subscribe to the newsletter.

The Commodore Vegas Expo v2.0

2006-07-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

CommVEx 2006 (The Commodore Vegas Expo v2.0) takes place at the Plaza Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada on July 29th and 30th.

Whilst there's no way in a million years I'll be able to get my backside over there, I thought one or two of you may be interested.

For more information, point your browser over to:

http://commvex.petscii.com/

Garage Conversion

2006-06-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

It's getting to a stage where my lounge and dining room (currently housing a number of arcade machines) could really do with having these massive beasts removed. However, I still want to keep and play these cabs. After all, they're part of my youth.

I'm currently toying with the idea of converting my garage into my own personal games room. It's early days yet, and I've not looked into costs/planning permission etc, but the more I think about it the more attractive this project becomes.

I'll keep you posted if this does come to fruition. In the meantime, if anyone can advise me on possible planning permission I may need to obtain I'd really appreciate it.

Retro Stop Motion Video

2006-06-27T14:25:00.001-07:00

I saw this a few weeks back, but earlier today RLLMUK forumite Patters kindly posted the link there, and I thought it was about time it was added to my blog.

Simply point your browser here:

http://fa.cetio.us/shared/pes-gameover.mov

Experience Centipede, Frogger, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pac Man and Frogger all in stop motion, and all in a form you've never quite seen before.

Enjoy!

Amiga Party Video Now Online

2006-06-26T00:48:00.000-07:00

Those of you who were into the Amiga demo scene will no doubt remember all those wonderful creations that were put together at the various 'parties'.

For many of us, the only way of knowing what went on at these events was by reading through the numerous scroll texts - obligatory in all of the productions. However, thanks to MajicMushroom over on the English Amiga Board you can now download footage taken from the Magnetic Fields "Revenge Party", which took place in Rotherham, back in 1990.

To view the thread over on the EAB, point your browser here:

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?p=252063

To download the torrent, you'll want to go here:

http://www.exotica.org.uk/~buzz/torrents/M...deo.avi.torrent

The video weighs in at 700 megs, but proves to be a wonderful insight to what exactly went on at these events.

35th Edition of The Amiga Games List Online

2006-06-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

The 35th edition of the Amiga Games List is now available on the Obligement's website :

http://obligement.free.fr/articles/listejeuxamiga.php

The list, which has been maintained since 1991, is the most complete list of Amiga games available. This new update brings the total numer of catalogued titles to a whopping 10,976!

Immortal 3 Now Released!

2006-06-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Those of you who've been following the progress of 'Immortal 3' will know it's been a long time coming, (almost 4 years!) but the wait is now finally over.

The third in the 'Immortal' series of Amiga music CDs is now available to purchase. Featuring over 150 minutes of arranged music from no less than 35 classic Amiga titles, it's surely a must for any retro collector.

Tracks include:
- Apidya "Suite"
- Gods "Into The Wonderful"
- Ghouls 'n Ghosts
- The Chaos Engine
- Brat
- Leander

and many, many more.

For the full listing, as well an online ordering form, click here to visit the synSONIQ records web site.

Jetpac to Appear on Live Arcade?

2006-06-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

I'd always felt that Ultimate's Jetpac would make ideal gaming fodder for us release-starved Live Arcade users, and it now looks as if others feel the same way, if the following article on the Eurogamer web site has any truth in it:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=65376

If this does become reality I can see a lot of retro gamers on there night after night with blistering thumbs, all because their mate has a better score than them.

Please Microsoft. Make it so.

My First Post!

2006-06-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

It's always difficult to know what to say when first starting anything, and a blog is certainly no different.

Well, what can I tell you? I'm in my early 30's, from the UK, and have been gaming since the late 1970's.

With work and other commitments I find that the amount of time I have availble to play games these days is sadly limited, and the majority of games I do play have to be titles I can pick up and play for short 10 minute bursts. I guess it's this reason why I find retro gaming so enjoyable. Most of games are quick to pick up, a complete swine to master, and over within 5 minutes - just the sort of games I like!

So, "what's the point of this blog?" I hear you asking. Well, I'm always rummaging around the net in an effort to find retro gaming news items to satisfy my own interest, so thought I may as well blog anything I come across so that others can get to the news without the searching I had to do in the first place.

I'm not promising I'll have every retro gaming related news item listed here. Far from it, in fact. But I hope that over time this place will be somewhere you visit from time to time when you're after your retro gaming news fix.

Enjoy the read!