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The Tainted Recreated ZX Spectrum

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There are some crowd-funded projects that have a sordid and tainted history, like the darn Atari GameBand watch that never eventuated (Ed: we got burnt by that one!). Then there is Elite Systems’ Recreated ZX Spectrum (aka: Bluetooth ZX Spectrum), which was successfully funded on February 1, 2014 (via Kickstarter), but since then it has been nothing but heartache. Fast forward 8+ years and there are backers that have yet to receive their rubber-keyed beast. Back in 2016, Eurogamer documented the plight of this troubled campaign, which leaves us deflated even now, with the knowledge that another retro-inspired project had become a dumpster fire.

When we recently were donated a swag of retro goodies, amongst the absolute gold was a shiny ZX Spectrum which we thought looked brand new! There was a reason it looked brand new, it was indeed the elusive (and quite tainted) Recreated ZX Spectrum keyboard! Upon inspecting this recreation, we were quite impressed with its build and its close resemblance to the real deal from Sinclair. But that is where the good impressions stopped. This is nothing more than a glorified Bluetooth keyboard which you actually can’t even use as a keyboard as it sends ‘op codes’ when trying to use it on Windows, Android and iOS. It has an A and B layer switch, with A putting the keyboard into game mode and selecting B setting it to keyboard mode – but it doesn’t!

Surprisingly, the Recreated ZX Spectrum companion app is still available on the Google Play and iTunes stores, with a load of ‘free’ games to play. We eventually paired it to our Galaxy Tab and played Chuckie Egg. The experience was somewhat gimmicky, as using the keyboard to control Hen-House Harry proved to be sub-standard, with the keys feeling mushy or not responsive without a heavy push. We are still stunned that this made it in the donation we received and we must admit, we feel dirty about it.

Don’t even bother pairing it with Windows – it is useless!

The underside gives it away – it is or trying to imitate a classic Sinclair computer!

The only major switch on the back is the Layer A and B – which switches between game (control) or keyboard mode

The only redeeming feature (if we can even say that!) is we played Chuckie Egg on the companion Android app!



20 Years of PlayStation: 1994 – 2014

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We say better late then never!

This 8 year old infographic by Reddit user Adiost (aka: Dmitry Pankin) celebrates the PlayStation timeline from its beginnings in 1994 with the groundbreaking PS, all the way through to the PS Vita Slim in 2014 – 20 years of awesome play (well, 28 years, but who is counting)! 😉

image source: imgur



The Internet Archive Console Living Room

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If you don’t want to stuff around with finding, downloading, configuring and tearing your hair out in making video gaming emulators work on your computer, then check out the Internet Archive’s Console Living Room.

The Internet Archive Console Living Room harkens back to the revolution of the change in the hearth of the home, when the fireplace and later, the television, were transformed by gaming consoles into a centre of videogaming entertainment. Connected via strange adapters and relying on the television’s speaker to put out pew pew pew sounds, these games were resplendent with simple graphics and simpler rules.

Via the use of the JSMESS emulator system, this allows direct access to different emulator programs in your browser with no additional plugins or settings, meaning that these games can be enjoyed again without mucking around in looking for emulators or games. Simply click on the screenshot or “Emulate This” button for each individual cartridge, and on modern browsers the games will just start to run. As nostalgia, a teaching tool, or just plain fun, you’ll find hundreds of the games that started a billion-dollar industry.

NOTE: These games are best enjoyed in an up to date version of a modern browser. Currently, there is no sound in the games, although that feature will be added soon.

image source: Internet Archive – Console Living Room



Blast From The Past: A Video Of A 1980s Arcade

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What an absolute blast from the past this is! We absolutely love raw VHS video footage, especially the kind from the early 1980s!

We commend the Bally’s Aladdin’s Castle employee that had the foresight to film inside the arcade centre, filled with absolute classic arcade and pinball machines, that one day this video would be cherished by a generation (or two) of gamers across the globe! This is what a throwback Thursday should be like every week.

Sit back and enjoy this 15 minute trip down nostalgia lane…..


source: Jon Exidy Jamshid



Documentary: Lemmings 30th Anniversary

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For all of you that are fans of Lemmings (us included!), set aside 2 hours and watch this awesome free documentary, Lemmings: Can You Dig It?

This true story of the creation of Lemmings features all the talented people involved in bringing this classic title for us to enjoy. From the computer rooms in Dundee to the world-changing UK games scene that exists today; through the voices of those who were there at the time and those who grew up playing it, watch and enjoy Lemmings: Can You Dig It?!


source: Exient



Williams Defender Source Code Posted To Github

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Fancy checking out some assembly code of a classic arcade game from 42 years ago?

Thanks to Rob Hogan, you can now check out Eugene Jarvis’ (and his fellow Williams programmers’) assembly code from one of the most successful arcade titles from the golden age of the arcades, Defender!

Oh how we wish we had the necessary skills to comb through the code to find Easter eggs and amusing comments, as we are quite sure Eugene and co. would have inserted in this tough 1980 scrolling blaster!

If you do find some surprises in the code from ‘Dr J’ (aka: Eugene Jarvis), please let us all know either via Twitter or Facebook!

PS: This Defender code is for the ‘Red Label’ version of the game, which was one of four versions (the others being: White, Blue and Green) that were distributed to arcades.



Ausretrogamer Is 10 Years Old!

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Who would have thought that when we first started ausretrogamer.com in January 2012 that 10 years later we would still be here! Time certainly flies when you are having fun.

Today marks a major milestone for us at ausretrogamer as we have reached the magical decade mark! When starting our site and social media channels in 2012, we honestly didn’t have any expectations that we would still be around in 2022 – but we are glad that we are!

We have been pleasantly surprised over the years to find so many like-minded people who enjoy playing and talking about all the stuff we love, from obscure video games from the 1970s to those schoolyard-type discussions on which 8-bit computer was best (we all know it was the Commodore 64!).

Ausretrogamer has also allowed us to meet a lot of you in real life, either at events like PAX Aus or local pinball competitions or computing club events – which have been a priceless experience. We are humbled to call all of you our good friends. Nostalgia is a powerful force that binds us all – long may it continue!

To all the awesome folks that have contributed and to those that are still contributing content and everyone that engages with us, thank you very much – you all rock our world!

Looking forward to another decade full of retro gaming (and pinball) goodness! 😉



Sinclair Book of Remembrance (SBOR)

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We received the following message from a friend on behalf of Jim (from SBOR – Sinclair Book of Remembrance) so we thought we would share with you all as we think it is a great idea for the community to share their memories of Sinclair’s computers and also remembering Sir Clive Sinclair.

The Sinclair Book of Remembrance (SBOR) is a project dedicated to the memory of Sir Clive Sinclair who sadly passed away on the 16th September 2021.

Moved as I was, SBOR has been a personal labour of love, to do something in honour of “Uncle Clive”. It is not a business project. It’s completely free and non-monetised.

The objective is to create a unique digital monument, composed of our shared Sinclair memories encoded together so that the final product represents each and every one of us.
For those thinking this is an NFT thing – it is definitely not! It is an opportunity for each of us to share a memory, and together create a unique dedication to Sir Clive.

I am asking that each of us contribute a Sinclair memory, by simply sending an email with your story (with up to 4 image attachments). By sending your email to [email protected] it will trigger the system to automatically create an entry to the SBOR site – for example: https://sbor.uk/m/1?code=41ce. You will receive a reply containing the link to your contribution, which I would urge you to share far and wide!

At a pre-determined date, say the 1-year anniversary of Sir Clive’s passing, all of the entries will be combined and encoded into a single unique value. This will be unique in the universe and will represent all of our combined memories of what Sinclair meant to us and something we can all share in.



What A Japanese Arcade From The 1970s Looked Like

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We love finding old raw footage from the golden age of arcade gaming. This time, it is from a Tokyo arcade parlour from 1979.

As we wind back the clock some 40+ years, this news story features Tokyo’s arcade parlour, World Game, as it stood in 1979! It is so awesome to see patrons pumping coins into arcade machines, like Space Invaders, just like we did all those years ago!


source: btm0815ma



 

History: The Birth of the Internet Archive

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25 years ago, the entire World Wide Web was only 2.5 terabytes in size. Most connections were dial-up, important records were stored on tape, and a young engineer named Brewster Kahle was working on a revolutionary project—a way to archive the growing Internet.

Filmed by Marc Weber for the Web History Project, this video showcases the Internet Archive’s very first web crawl in 1996. In 2001, the project was made accessible to the public through the Wayback Machine. Today, the Internet Archive is home to more than 588 billion web pages, as well as 28 million books and texts, 14 million audio items, and 580,000 software titles, making us one of the world’s largest digital libraries.

As the Internet Archive approaches their 25th anniversary, let’s take a look at the hardware and high hopes that drove the project from the very beginning—and hear from the man whose vision made it all possible – press play here!

story source: Internet Archive