<![CDATA[Flashback Games - Retro Gaming News]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk <![CDATA[Bradford Media museum - The history of the internet]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=136 17 May 2012 07:32 GMT
LOL or Life On-Line is new permanent exhibition that has opened at the Bradford Media Museum. Having opened on the 30th of March I thought it was high time I got my raggedy ass into gear and find out how all this internet stuff really started. 

I must admit that at first I was a little skeptical about how the exhibition could tackle such a subject. With so much information about the internet already on the internet and with it being a relatively new phenomenon what could it possibly offer that other online resources could not.

The Bradford Media Museum has done what museums do best and that is impart  knowledge in byte size chunks though the use of installations. If pictures say a thousand words then how tomes would this gallery holds. 

Not only is there a great chronology of how the internet was conceived through the use of images, charts and snippets of text, but the entire history of personal and not so personal computing is also documented with some amazing installations of the actual computers that were there at the time. 

Amazingly all the kids running around looked like they were having a ball and seemed genuinely interested in everything that was there. With touchy-feely screens and booths dotted around there is an awful lot to be wowed by.

I think I heard more than one dad saying "I had one of those when I was your age"…

For more information about the Bradford Media Musum see

www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

or if you want to know what the internet used to be like take a look at the Way Back Machine at:

Archive.org

]]> <![CDATA[Sinclair ZX Spectrum Becomes 30 Years Old Today]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=135 23 April 2012 20:46 GMT
The Sinclair Spectrum was and still is an icon of Great British design. 30 years on from its original release the diminutive computer still looks as cool now as it did when it was first released. 

30 years ago the Sinclair Spectrum was a revolution. A colour computer that was price at £125, affordable to the average person and to a lot of young men one of the be Christmas presents they would ever get. 

A lot has been said over the years about the ZX Spectrum. Yes it made hundreds of really amazing bedroom coders into some of the best programmers in the world. Yes it had a funny feeling keyboard given the moniker "dead flesh". Yes it sold zillions of units and had over 15,000 games written for it. But the best thing about the Sinclair Spectrum is the irksome quirkiness that each individual computer had. Whether it be holding your arms still in a particular position to help your game to load (sometimes standing on one foot helps too) or having to have the back of your computer slightly elevated to stop your computer from getting the dreaded interface wobble, instantly shutting down your machine and sometimes ever worse.

Doing a quick google will bring up tonnes of information on the humble speccy and today it will also show you a natty google doodle.

Here is some great links for the birthday boy.










]]> <![CDATA[Jack Tramiel Passes Away Age 83]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=134 11 April 2012 22:24 GMT
Jack Tramiel the founder of Commodore and the man who brought about the revival of Atari computers has died at the age of 83.


Jack Tramiel is survived by his wife Helen, three sons Gary, Sam, and Leonard, and their extended families.


Here are some links to some other sites that have more information on what he achieved. 

Wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Tramiel

Interview on Cnet:
http://news.cnet.com/The-man-behind-the-Commodore-64/2008-1042_3-6222406.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

The Computer Chronicles interview about the Atari ST:
http://archive.org/details/LowEndCo1985

Gardian Obituary
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/11/jack-tramiel

A great site with lots of info:

http://www.commodore.ca/

Thank you for everything you gave us...


]]> <![CDATA[Googles 8-bit Quest For NES]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=133 05 April 2012 11:27 GMT Google's maps purely rendered in 8-bit look fantastic. As part of an April fools joke a viral video was released featuring a NES cart with the ability to dial up to Google's Map service and view everything in a Zelda Style-ee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rznYifPHxDg

In actual fact you can view the entire world in spectacular 8-bit including some street view areas.

http://maps.google.com/?t=8&utm_campaign=8bit&utm_source=yt

It seems as though the world really is going retro crazy...

]]> <![CDATA[Spacewar! Turns 50 This Week!!!]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=132 15 February 2012 22:31 GMT
Often referred to as the first video game even though Tennis for Two, a version of Tic Tac Toe (OXO) and the 1951 Science Fair's Nim were all prior electronic games to Spacewar!. For me this was where it all started, a real video game with recognisable graphics on a real Vector CRT display (non of that coloured lights or oscilloscope nonsense). 

Spacewar! pits two warring space craft at opposing sides of a strong central  source of gravity a Sun or Black Hole (I can't really tell). Where you try to kill the opposition using the latest in laser BLIP techno. The game features some brilliant gravity physics and occasionally hectic gameplay depending on how good your opponent is. 

Coded by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz and Wayne Wirtaenem, the game idea was dreamt up in 1961 with the first version complete by February 1962. 

Tonnes more information can be found about Spacewar! with a quick google or by visiting the Spacewar! Wiki page here...

Instead of reading about it why not play the ground breaking game Spacewar! right in your browser. It is runs on a javascript PDP-1 emulatior and plays pretty well. Play it Here...

Happy Birthday Spacewar!
]]> <![CDATA[Homebrew Meet Up In The Lass O'Gowrie Manchester]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=131 01 February 2012 13:30 GMT
Like the next man I love a pint or three, I also love Retro Gaming. So what could be better than a mash up of my two favourite past times. On January 28th and 29th The Lass O'Gowrie pub in Manchester hosted the follow up to the brilliant events 'In Da 80's' and 'Homebrew'. Where genuine geniuses continue the art of creating games and hardware for the machines of yesterday. 

This event although smaller than the last was still a great day out with a few brilliant moments such as me getting my ass kicked on a Warlords variant on the Atari 8-bit (Castle Crisis i think) and winning a badge in a raffle. 

I played a really impressive version of bomberman on an Acorn BBC Master and had a brief chat with the owner of said machine and a Modded Acorn Atom, who kindly dismantled it to show me the gubbins inside.

Other stand outs were some of the hardware that was being showcased, including an Atari 7800 Expansion Module (XM). 

This awesome piece of kit adds extra goodness to the already great Atari 7800:

System BIOS
128K of bank switched RAM
HSC BIOS and 2K of non-volatile memory for high score game saves
POKEY and a YM2151 for arcade quality audio
SIO and XEGS keyboard connectors for A8 peripheral compatibility (software required)
NES like mappers

In other words it makes new games if programmed for the XM look and sound better and with the ability to save hi-scores… Cool, YES!!!

Here is a list of games already in production:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/173454-7800-expansion-module-xm-hardware-game-details-12711/

Here is a blog on the 7800 Expansion Module Project.

http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/7800/expansion

In the end I had a curry... Mmmm!

A great event all in all … 
]]> <![CDATA[Commodore 64 30 Years Old This Week]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=130 08 January 2012 16:19 GMT
Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Welcome to 2012, apparently according to lore this will be the last year of human civilisation. Ah well at least there is plenty of things to keep ourselves busy before the apocalypse is upon us. 

For a start several Retro Gaming events are happening at the first half of this year.

The Last Retro Computer Games Festival Ever
Aldershot, 21st Jan 2012, 2pm - 1am
Scale: Est. 30-50

Homebrew Gaming Weekend
The Lass O'Gowrie, Manchester, Fri 27 - Sat 28 January 2012
Scale: Est. 100

GEEK 2012 (Gaming Expo East Kent)
Margate, 15-19 February 2012
Scale: Big!

RV 2012
Oxford, May Bank Holiday (Friday 4th - Monday 7th May 2012)
Scale: Est. 50 - 75

HISCORE 2012
Arcade Barn, Exeter, 26-27th May 2012
Scale: 40-50

Games Britannia & Games Britannia: REPLAYED
Rotherham, S Yorkshire
Schools/Students: Monday July 2nd - Friday July 6th 2012
General Public: Saturday July 7th - Sunday July 8th 2012
Scale: Big!


All information lifted from the RetroGamer.net forum. I do hope they don't Mind

----------------------------------

Also it was 30 years ago this week when the insanely ace Commodore C64 was first introduce to the world. The loveable brown bread bin became the worlds best selling computer to ever to be hooked up to a BW portable TV. 

The Commodore 64 was an 8-bit computer that dominated the home micro scene all over the western world for more than ten years. Although even at the time the 6510 processor running at 1MHz was a bit cack compared to dare I say the Z80 (personal opinion only - no hate mail please), with 64k of memory, a 16-colour graphics chip and the awesome SID sound chip the C=64 could really make arcade quality games for the home. 

The Commodore 64 was not only great for kids playing games but was a  really useful computer for the small business and budding musicians.

Selling up to 17 million units, Commodore managed to make millions of kids in the eighties have the best Xmas or Birthday ever. With thousands of brilliant games available some classics such a Uridium, Bruce Lee, Paradroid and many other ground breaking titles changed the face video games into to what we have today.

Many Happy Returns...

Thank You Commodore!!!!

See Many Great Commodore Games, Computers and Consoles in our Retro Games Shop Here…
]]> <![CDATA[Festive Magazines - Where Are You!]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=129 21 December 2011 09:50 GMT
I was looking at the Retro Gamer Cover this month (another sterling issue by the way), and I was wondering why magazines no longer have a festive cover. Mostly, back in the day (jumpers for goal posts), every year we could look forward to bumper festive issues. Magazine that was as thick as my 10 year old fist, perhaps a freebie and a cover that told you it is the big bad Christmas Special! 

Aside from Retro Gamer this year the Multi format gaming magazine treat us to covers that are less that festive. Issues released in December have from Edge and Apple logo and Games ™  has a admittedly very attractive 2012 prediction cover. 

Ah well, it is just a good job that some of the old magazines are now available via the interneb to view online or download as PDFs. I thought it would be sporting to share some of the links that I have found, so that you can read a retro magazine with a festive flavour.

worldofspectrum.org

retromags.com

zzap64.co.uk

ysrnry.co.uk

oldgamemags.com

retroactionmagazine.com

www.crashonline.org.uk

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
]]> <![CDATA[Acorn BBC Turns 30 Years Old Today - Happy Birthday]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=128 01 December 2011 08:47 GMT Happy Birthday to the Humble Acorn BBC Micro home computer!!!

Revealed on the 1st of December in 1981, the BBC Micro was part of the BBC and Government initiative to get home micro's into the hands of the UK minions. As part of The Computer Literacy Project  the Acorn BBC became a huge success selling over 1.5 million units, many of these into schools around the UK. 

The machine is not only best know for its great legacy (ARM) and some of the best and most influential games ever written (Elite), but also for it's part in an unofficial census, the BBC Doomsday Project. Information collated by children in the 1980's, over a million people contributed, the project was probably the most ambitious attempt ever to capture the essence of life in the United Kingdom. Distributed on laser disc's and using the BBC micro for playback it was reported that every school UK would have access to view it. As a note only a few of the several thousand  playback machines and discs are still functioning. Luckily the BBC have just re-issued the information online and it is available once more to explore.

For more information about the Humble BeeB see its wiki entry...

A great history at reghardware.com. Link Here

The BBC Doomsday Project Doomsday Reloaded

]]> <![CDATA[REPLAY EXPO - BLACKPOOL Nov 5-6 - Commentary On Twitter]]> http://www.flashbackgames.co.uk/ArticleOverview.asp?ArticleID=127 02 November 2011 18:16 GMT
Here at FlashbackGames towers, we have been busy updating and upgrading our lovely website. As part of our refurbishment we are now a part of the world wide phenomenon that is twitter. One of the tools that helped bring down tyrannical governments is now available for your entertainment. By following us you will not only part of the magic that allowed the Arab Spring to spread all around the middle east, but you can also find out the latest additions to our website, the score I just beat on one of the Cave shooters on my Ifob and what I have had for my tea. 

The biggest reason for adding twitter is to be able to give a bit of a running commentary on the forthcoming @ReplayExpo in Blackpool, upload lots of pictures and hopefully have a chat with some of the retro heros that will be attending. Hopefully I'll be able to bend the ear of Roger Kean and Oliver Frey and maybe a pint or two with the event revellers (It'll be good to catch up with Gordon Sinclair again). Really hoping we can take loads of pics and let everyone who can't make it feel a part of the party. 

You can watch the weekend unfold through our twitter page on this our FlashbackGames page:

Here...

Or  our Twitter Page

twitter.com/@FlashbackGames


With a bit of luck I can post most of the tournament results. According to the Replay Expo Site the Electronic Dojo team will be hosting Brawl4ALL where some luck punter can win a few bob. 


If it was anything like last years event it will be blooming great, a brief over view of what happened: 

here...

and

here...

For more information about the Replay event at Blackpool please visit:

www.replayexpo.com


Hopefully I'll see you there...
]]>