In this episode I talk about a rat in my kitchen, the campaign to save Mass Effect, 35 years of Civilization, an open-source LEGO Loco remake, Halo in Roblox, Zero Wing clothing, RAM shortages until 2030, 3dfx Glide on Vulkan, fake PS5 emulators, Taki Udon's FPGA Game Boy, the spooky MyHouse.wad, a tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart & more!
In this episode I talk about Chords, a cyberpunk visual novel coming to the Mega Drive, EA shutting down BioWare, the Atari VCS store closing with a positive twist, a Doom engine for the NES, DOOM on a clamp meter and a vape, using AI to make smart TVs less annoying, a plug-and-play PS1 optical drive emulator, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt for Windows 98, a 6502 laptop, a new Dizzy collection for the Mega Drive, AI slop flooding Steam Next Fest, cloning fears delaying an indie playtest, an unusual CPU swap for the original Xbox & more!
In this episode I talk about the latest on the new studio, a major video game decompilation community shutting down because of AI, the Beetle Adventure Racing fan determined to make the first human-led recomp, Ultima Underworld rebuilt byte for byte with native ports for modern systems, Ferranti's original design documents for Sinclair's ULAs being released, DOOM on a Hasselblad camera, DOOM computed entirely through DNS, the ESA's push to brand retro handhelds as superfakes, 30 years of the 3dfx Voodoo, the time Apple Records sued Apple Computer, Ubisoft staff fighting to keep remote working, Dungeon Master in ScummVM, the Atari ST origins of GTA's vehicle physics, a tribute to Duke Nukem 3D and SiN level designer Richard Levelord Gray & more!
In this episode I talk about Heretic and Hexen, ArtCraft's AI-coded clones of Adobe's apps and Microsoft Office, DOOM on the Vectrex, in a Microsoft developer tool, on a pen plotter and on a PlayStation memory card, video games on VHS, newly surfaced footage from Xbox's cancelled Perfect Dark reboot, a warning for Playdate owners, Max Toy's short tenure at Commodore, modern Nvidia GPUs on Windows XP, an Atari 2600 handheld with a CRT, open source replacement boards for the SNES, Famicom and Sega CD, a tribute to Apollo software pioneer Margaret Hamilton & more!
In this episode I talk about a fellow retro nerd on The Great British Bake Off, a whole host of new Sonic ports for the Amiga, SNES and Atari STe, an operating system that turns the Atari Jaguar into Atari's cancelled Painter computer, a vibe-coded Knuckles' Chaotix recompilation that hasn't exactly impressed fans, a secret hidden on the Xevious 3D/G+ disc uncovered by our very own mnemo, DOOM on Picotron, Cyriak tinkering with Doom Builder, DOOM drawn by a pen plotter, the untimely passing of Project Gotham Racing developer David Bone Gill & more!
In this episode I talk about my new studio and why I've been away, yet more Xbox restructuring as Rare and Halo move to Activision and Ninja Theory faces closure, the leak of Rare's unreleased SNES game Project Dream, DOOM on the Commodore 64, Duake, DOOM on FPGAs, a mysterious Atari 2600 controller from Malaysia, an update from PhilsComputerLab, IKEA's official Skyrim mod & more!
In this episode I talk about Tim Curry's legendary performance in Red Alert 3, the GTA VI leaks, the triumphant return of Mr. Nutz (who?), Atari's new Activision releases, the A1200, Warren Spector's retirement, DOOM on DSLRs, Lemmings on C64, a new eWaste policy in the US that's causing trouble for vintage hardware enthusiasts & more!
In this episode I talk about a cancelled Quake 4 expansion called The Awakening, Return To Castle Wolfenstein finally being available in Germany, a CGA version of Unreal, the Atari ST Public Floppy Database, a port of Word For Windows 1.1a to x64, a very rare 1978 Intel 8080 rubylith in need of restoration, a chance to own an original Computer Space arcade game, a cross between Dune and SimCity, a new Game Boy Color FPS Called Wolf & more!
In this episode I talk about the Kickstart Amiga Expo, the Worms and Quake 30th anniversaries and new releases for each, the Evercade DOOM Collection, Atari's latest highly successful financial results, a new ZX Spectrum game called Nightshift Skedaddle, Need For Speed 3DO on the Atari Jaguar, JagRacer, some bonus DOOM tat & more!
In this episode I talk about the death of VARTA, the undeath of Arcade1Up, Minecraft's system requirements, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's new episode Cost of Hope, the PSN outage, a rare Mario / Duck Hunt cartridge haul, DOOM on the C64, DOOM on regex, Thimbleweed Park 2, Gremlin Graphics Classics & more!
In this episode I talk about DOOM being influential, the upcoming official Atari movies, some dubious backward compatible original Xbox games on PC, a new album released on the NES, a Mario Kart recompilation project, the Z80's 50th anniversary, a floppy disk game design contest, Fallout - New Vegas getting an official remaster, the computers of Jurassic Park, an upcoming official Wolfenstein RPG, the MultiSystem 2 & more!
In this episode I talk about the mass layoffs at Xbox, Eben Upton's BBC Micro port of DOOM (that he didn't actually code himself), fake Half-Life screenshots doing the rounds again, a port of Yume Nikki to the PS1 and Dreamcast, Chuckie Egg's return, the GF1 Neptune, PC games on SSD cartridges, Linux on the Atari Jaguar & more!
In this episode I talk about PlayStation and Xbox dropping physical disc support, Half-Life 2 in a web browser, Linux on the Mega Drive, an E-Ink Game Boy called the Paper Boy, Command and Conquer On The Atari ST, the Hugo TV games from kid's TV & more!
In this episode I talk about the Commodore phone (again), the PolyGame Master (again), the weather, Richard Garriott acquiring the copyright to Ultima from EA, the Steam Machine finally launching, Sonic The Hedgehog's 35th anniversary cartridge release, Windows 10's updates being extended again & more!
In this episode I talk about a new Commodore 64 documentary (and their new phone...), Stop Killing Games, Xbox 360 XBLA GoldenEye coming to PC, SiN Reloaded, a Datasette boombox, a new PolyMega flashcart, a new open source DOS, an A600 motherboard, a new Amiga emulator, the sad passing of Bobby Prince & more!
In this episode I talk about my ADHD diagnosis, Half-Life on the Nokia N95, a LEGO Batman C64 easter egg, the Atari Jaguar MiSTer core being production ready, the new Digital Eclipse Barbie collection, a Daytona USA recompilation for PC, the new Cuphead games, Resident Evil Veronica, the upcoming Nightdive Thief remaster & more!
In this episode I talk about my unexplained popularity in a well-known South American country, officially licensing the Commodore brand, a new PAC-MAN guitar from Fender, Sonic on the ZX Spectrum Next, the Microsoft / Valve collusion lawsuit, a new magazine for Steam gamers, a new SEGA handheld, a new brawler called Metro Siege & more!
In this episode I talk about Doom in the Library of Congress, Atari's move to Luxembourg, Atari's 800XL trademark application, some Cray supercomputers for sale, a new Gameboy emulator for the Playdate called CrankBoy, a DOOM 3 RTX path tracing mod, DOOM on walkie talkies, a new Head Over Heels sequel by the original developer, a virtual OS museum & more!
In this episode I talk about a Kickstarter for a fold up arcade machine that transforms into a piece of furniture, Steve Jobs immortalised on a really awful looking $1 coin, Sega Saturn MiSTer core secrets, a Taki Udon SuperStation review, a new mod for DOOM that makes it all shiny, the Football Manager legacy collection, Atic Atac in 3D & more!
In this episode I talk about a bomb scare at a Peter Kay show, a new Amstrad meetup in the UK, Atari's acquisition of the Wizardry RPG series, the MiSTer MultiSystem 2 Arcade, SEGA's Neptune, the new Steam controller, a new Commodore C64C, DOS 1.00 going open source & more!
In this episode I talk about my renewed love for Monument Valley, Atari's acquisition of Implicit Conversions, the Commodore 64 Ultimate firmware debacle, a rare 1974 Nintendo arcade game, a bomb threat during a VCF YouTuber panel, ARPANet's reconstruction & more!
In this episode I talk about retro achievements on MiSTer, the SuperSega guy Alejandro Martin's new PC case, a new NEO GEO AES console from Plaion, a floppy drive in a Tesla, DOOM on a TrueType font, DOOM on a printer controller, a new Windows 9x themed factory game & more!
In this episode I talk about NASA's broken Outlook, a ZX Spectrum landing on the moon, a new Nintendo recomp launcher called N64RecompLauncher, DLSS 5 vs. V-Rally 3 on the GBA, some massive Raspberry Pi price increases, the ultimate PlayStation, a Lego PSP, Linux's gaming marketshare milestone & more!
The GEEKOM A5 PRO is a mini PC built around the AMD Ryzen 7530U CPU. It's marketed as a small, affordable, silent machine for office and productivity tasks. So in this video I put it through its paces as a gaming machine and assessed its potential as a low-cost Steam Machine alternative, as you do.
In this episode I talk about Ashens' new horror film (which I've seen!), a new Atari Falcon, the 3dfx Voodoo chip in FPGA, a Raspberry Pi Pico based drop in Z80 replacement, the discontinuation of the Mac Pro, a Jetpac remake, some Namco games coming to Arcade Archives, Wine 11, Epic's layoffs, an interactive 3D Atari ST in your browser & more!
In this episode I talk about the Myrient community saving their 385TB collection of retro games, DOOM - The Dark Ages having Denuvo DRM removed, the DOOM movie not being very good, GameStop's announcement about the WiiU, PS3 and Xbox 360, ModRetro looking for a $1bn valuation, a new hack for the Xbox One, the Thunderpass StreetPass clone being AI slop, the new Animal Crossing PC decomp also being AI slop and & more!
In this episode I talk about Larry Hyrb (AKA MajorNelson) of Xbox fame joining Commodore, an amazing Street Fighter 2 clone for the ZX Spectrum 128k, a newly discovered Croc secret, the Amiga OutRun soundtrack release on limited edition vinyl, Videogame History Foundation's fight against the Cookie's Bustle copyright troll, some Lutris AI controversy, DOOM on Home Assistant & more!
In this episode I talk about LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER representing the UK in Eurovision, the new Xbox console, gamers failing at an aptitude test featuring Maniac Mansion, running an ATX PC on AA batteries, the return of the rhythm game, another new Atari 2600+ / 7800+ flashcart, an ISA HDD noisemaker that uses real HDD sound samples, DOOM played by human neurons, the closure of Myrient & more!
The PicoIDE is a brand new IDE optical and hard drive emulator for classic computers. Based on the Raspberry Pi RP2350 and ESP32, it's easy to use, open source, low cost, fully featured, and set to be an absolute game changer for the vintage computing hobby.
In this episode I talk about LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER representing the UK in Eurovision, Metacritic's AI slop policy, a new flash cart for the Atari 2600+ and 7800+ consoles, Rave Racer's first ever official console release, the death of Xbox, Unreal Tournament's new unofficial (but officially endorsed) re-release & more!
In this episode I talk about the Bazzite drama, a new update to D7VK that adds Direct3D 5 and 6 support, UK retailer GAME closing its last stores, a serious Notepad++ security issue, DOOM on the Sharp X68000, the original GTA on modern systems, Rayman's big HD comeback, Limited Run's Jurassic Park games being discontinued, Mario 64 on N64 vs. PS2, Gobliins 6, a JavaScript Atari 8-bit emulator & more!
In this episode I talk about the new PicoIDE crowdfunding campaign, the Atari ST Mini, a fan remake of Midwinter, retro consoles for your modern DAW, DOOM on earbuds, Curt Vendel's Atari collection finally being properly preserved & more!
Id Software's 1993 FPS DOOM has a long-standing tradition of being run on all sorts of weird and wonderful devices. But there's one device that's been sorely missing from this roster - a multi-million pound industrial cake machine. So I decided to rectify that once and for all...
In this episode I talk about Atari hotels (again), a floppy disk smart TV controller for kids, the Atari 8-bit Street Fighter II port, Croc, how the Virtual Boy works, Ubisoft's restructuring & more!
In this episode I talk about the new official sequel to New Zealand Story from Commodore, DOOM on a pressure cooker, Windows Media Player dropping CD metadata support, a new UK Amstrad user group's first meetup, games for UEFI, Mario 64 on the SEGA Dreamcast, Sparkfun and Adafruit's Teensy dispute, Hewson's new Hyper Sentinel game & more!
In this episode I talk about Direct3D 7 compatibility with D7VK, 144 Sega Channel games preserved by the Video Game History Foundation, an opportunity to own a chunk of Atari Hotels, GOG's new owner & more!
ReStory is an upcoming cosy electronics repair simulator from Mandragora and tinyBuild. Of course, when I saw that this featured some Atari hardware that I already know inside and out thanks to my work on the channel, I just had to check it out!
In this episode I talk about the Deus Ex remaster delay, the Star Wars rerelease, a Nintendo 3DS Switch style dock, a new retro grand prix racing game, ReStory restoration game, a real life Need For Speed minimap for your car, Arcade1UP shutting down & more!
In this episode I talk about DOOM running on a printer (yes, really!), the new Carmageddon game, Nightdive's Blood remaster, a big bundle of charity Spectrum games, Linux gaming distros Bazzite & Zorin OS breaking new download records & more!
In this episode I talk about eXoWin9x bringing Windows 9x games to modern Windows, the return of Desert / Urban / Jungle Strike, a new FPS on the C64, the triumphant return of paper as a storage medium, a port of Sonic The Hedgehog to the Amiga & more!
The Cooler Master CM690 MkII case was released in 2011 and aimed at gamers, with a focus on airflow and cable management. This limited edition Nvidia version also sports some rather fancy Nvidia branding. But what should I put in it?
In this episode I talk about the new Analogue 3D console, the 30th anniversary of Worms, the 40th anniversary of the Master System, governments trying to ban VPNs, a new SilverStone PC case, the Another World MSX port, Dell & HP disabling HEVC support on their high end business laptops, learning HTML via type-ins, Pebble beef, Microsoft open sourcing Zork & more!
In this episode I talk about Valve's new hardware - including their Steam Machine console and VR headset - the new Atari 8-bit port of Street Fighter II, 20 years of the Xbox 360, Microsoft's historic audio software piracy in the XP era, the new PicoIDE from Ian Scott of PicoGUS fame, a brand new 8-bit console for 2025, WipEout in the real world & more!
In this episode I talk about the new Atari 2600+ PAC-MAN Edition, a cool new toy using shaders in Windows, an update on the Stop Killing Games movement, a new port of ELITE to the Atari 8-bits, a 68060 CPU upgrade for classic Macs, DOOM running on an actual orbiting satellite, Commodore suing... Commodore?, a Windows 10 EOL workaround & more!
In this episode I talk about the new Intellivision console, the Halo remaster, Halloween PAC-MAN, a new SoundBlaster, the Indian government's newfound love for Linux, Counter-Strike shenanigans, a new Simon The Sorcerer game, a DOOM board game & more!
In this episode I talk about a new Futurama mod for Simpsons Hit & Run, a new boomer shooter from MicroProse called Darkenstein 3-D, an official sequel to cult legendary game Hong Kong 97, Taki Udon's new SuperStation PlayStation memory cards, this week's AWS outage & more!
In this episode I talk about the GZDoom drama, the triumphant return of Amiga Format magazine, Windows 10 EOL, Nintendo's recent hack, Apple Lisa on FPGA, a new DOSBox fork, GOG's preservation snags, some big studio news & more!
In this episode I talk about Amiga 4000 PCI support in Linux, a new Windows 95 inspired automation game, a brand new retro shop opening in Leicester, Bubble Bobble remastered on the Commodore 64, new undiscovered Mario levels, windows XP VLK piracy, a mbile computer museum, how to get Fallout 3 and New Vegas for free & more!
In this episode I talk about a new voxel Duke Nukem 3D mod, Microsoft's official Crocs, Android for PC, EA's record breaking acquisition, 30 years of PlayStation, a LEGO Game Boy mod & more!
In this episode I talk about the new Raspberry Pi 500+, the official Deus Ex remaster, DOOM on a vape, Pioneer LaserActive MegaLD emulation, a new Spectrum Next game from Sarah Jane Avory, an Atari ST USB-C power supply & more!
In this episode I talk about the 25th anniversary of Windows Millennium Edition, the triumphant return of the Ninendo Virtual Boy, Pokemon Mini emulating the Game Boy, Screamer's rather weird anime reincarnation, C64 & Spectrum perfume, the Louvre retiring its 3DS guides, DOOM's longest run, the latest on Stop Killing Games in the UK & more!
In this episode I talk about Atari's GameStation Go, SEGA's raid on game preservationists, a preserved C64 Indiana Jones game, a stage production of the Clive Sinclair saga & more!
In this episode I talk about the death of PC optical drives, an amazing port of Out Run to the Game Boy Color, Atari 50 on GOG, Monkey Island's 35th anniversary, a LEGO SEGA controller, Microsoft's 6502 BASIC & more!
I built this Slot A AMD Athlon PC for my family 25 years ago when I was 16 years old. Join me as I take a look inside and finally start to bring this old PC back to life!
In this episode I talk about Nostalgia Nerd's fresh start, Windows 95's 30th anniversary, the new He-Man game, an Amiga CD32 Mini, floppy disks in jail, an updated driver for an ancient GPU, Quake from memory & more!
In this episode I talk about the new Vectrex Mini, the history of the CD, DOOM on a USB charger, Bubsy 4D, the A1200, Nightdive's future plans, the UK government's threat to Wikipedia, the G'AIM'E lightgun & more!
In this episode I talk about the end of AOL's dialup service after more than 30 years, a faster software Xbox 360 hack, Gabe Newell's new yacht company, the end of Ebuyer, Settlers II on Amiga, a Gameboy emulator for the Playdate console & more!
In this episode I talk about a musical called Nerds, a fun new CGA game, a new Atari Falcon030, the Heretic & Hexen remaster, games censorship, another British arcade in trouble, the death of Steam on ChromeOS & more!
In this episode I talk about Perifractic's purchase of Commodore, a 3D printable Atari joystick, a new LaserActive SEGA MegaLD emulator, the new Raspberry Pi RP2350, a blurry keyboard, a dual screen Android handheld & more!
The Atari 2600+ console was released in 2023 with support for original 2600 and 7800 cartridges on your modern TV. Since then we've had the 7800+ and cartridge releases and re-releases, but this new collab with Bandai Namco really is something else with some very nice little nods to some obscure Atari and Namco history.
In this episode I talk about the Italian YouTuber who's in big trouble, an arcade saved from bankruptcy, a new LEGO Game Boy, a retro sleeper PC, a SNES handheld, a DOOM Fallout TC, Black Mesa RTX & more!
In this episode I talk about Amiga OutRun, an Italian YouTuber facing jail time for covering retro handhelds, Nintendo bricking Switch 2 consoles over piracy, an expensive stapler, the new Commodore 64 & more!
In this episode I talk about an email I received from Atari, an interview with the creator of Blue’s News, an Old Computer Challenge, Grant Sinclair’s Gamercard console, the Switch 2’s USB C encryption, a lost Animaniacs game & more!
Baby Boris the HP Enterprise Gen10 MicroServer was recently decommissioned from my place of work. So let's have some fun with it before it gets pressed back in to service as a boring old NAS!
In this episode I talk about the latest happenings in the Stop Killing Games campaign, a man making some thick coins (for some reason), a new LLM-powered scam targeting retro gamers and OSS users, an official Xbox 360 dashboard update, Microsoft layoffs, the return (again) of the SEGA Neptune & more!
We already know that Bazzite Linux is great for modern day Steam games. But how will it handle my physical big box DOS and Windows collection? Turns out it's better than even I expected.
In this episode I talk about the 25th anniversary of Deus Ex, PicoGUS getting ODE support, a modern day LLM on vintage hardware, Lego Island, SpaghettiKart, DOS EDIT, a new sound card & more!
In this episode I talk about an awesome electromechnical Lunar Lander game made from Meccano, a fix for Wing Commander’s speed-related issues after 35 years, a new Dig Dug game that’ll only be around for 2 weeks(!?), a lost Sid Meier documentary & more!
It seems like just a short few years ago, "Linux Gaming" was something of a punchline - but not any longer, thanks to efforts like Valve's Proton and distributions like Bazzite. But is it finally good enough to be the final nail in the coffin for Windows?
In this episode I talk about Slope’s Gaming Room nearly losing his YouTube channel, Look Mum No Computer’s new game, Croc’s Game Boy Color Rerelease, 40 Years of Boulder Dash, the Atari 2600 vs. ChatGPT, MattKC’s Discord on Windows 95, Gen Z vs BlackBerry, Perifractic’s attempt to buy Commodore & more!
In this episode I talk about some damaged Switch 2 screens (oops!), Duke Nukem Advance on the PC, an unreleased Duke Nukem PS2 prototype, the XWVM X-Wing project releasing their first alpha, Spectrum Next Kickstarter 3, a new Namco lightgun, a tiny 8-Bit Atari, the 40th anniversary of the Atari ST & more!
FydeOS is a project to take Google's ChromeOS offline... ish. With the ability to run Android and Linux apps, it should be a compelling offering, right?
In this episode I talk about a new BIOS for UEFI systems, Atari going from strength to strength, a new game from Tony Warriner and Stoo Cambridge, the Sega Master System in Brazil, a Half-Life 2 Team Fortress 2 crossover mod, the closure of a beloved local arcade & more!
In this episode I talk about a new retro styled PC case from SilverStone, a Wii U gamepad emulator from MattKC, a USB C power mod for the OG Xbox, SuperSEGA's whatever it is this week, Heart Of Neon, the origins of the Pokemon logo, the MXM Voodoo 4, Windows 95's iconic setup wallpaper remastered & more!
In this episode I talk about the Linux kernel finally dropping 486 and early Pentium support, some new Video Game Hall of Fame inductees, a new LAN Party simulator called LAN Party Adventures, the new Commodore OS release, the Heart of Neon Llamasoft documentary Kickstarter & more!
In this episode I talk about the new MiSTer MultiSystem 2, ARM's 40th anniversary, the Japanese Game Preservation Society, Polygon's sale, GTA VI delay & more!
In this episode I talk about the new DOOM - The Dark Ages trailer, an upcoming OutRun movie, progress on the Amiga OutRun arcade port, Harrier Attack Reloaded on the Amstrad CPC & more!
The last macOS release to officially support this 2008 Intel MacPro 3,1 was El Capitan way back in 2015, and that hasn't received any security updates since 2018! So let's run a bang up to date release instead, thanks to a community project known as OCLP.
In this episode I talk about a new release of DOOM with a playable BOX, the Retro Computer Museum in Leicester's recent burglary, an unreleased Mario game for the Virtual Boy, RetroTINK shipments on hold due to tariffs, BioMenace's new remaster & more!
In this episode I talk about Grand Prix 2’s new weather mod, why Windows 95 is the best (again), the Nintendo Switch’s backwards compatibility, Microsoft’s 50th anniversary & more!
When the Nintendo Wii launched in 2006 it didn't include HDMI - so let's add it using the ElectronAVE, a kit that keeps it all digital for a nice crispy video output!
In this episode I talk about the Nintendo Switch 2 release date and price, Croc - Legend Of The Gobbos Remaster finally getting released, DOOM - The Dark Ages previews, Nightdive remastering Xbox 360 & PS3 games, GTA Vice City on the Dreamcast & more!
In this episode I talk about my upcoming charity livestream, the Nightdive System Shock 2 remaster, COSAM's new Mindscape music board project, a port of WipEout to the SEGA Dreamcast, the new Atari My Play smartwatch, a modern port of Turbo OutRun & more!
In this episode I talk about the Croc remaster, Taki Udon’s SuperStation FPGA PlayStation clone, Ultima III on the VIC-20, the return of the Pebble smartwatch, a delay to the A1200 Mini & more!
The PicoGUS is a modern ISA sound card for old PCs that uses a Raspberry Pi RP2040 to emulate a Gravis UltraSound, SoundBlaster 2.0, AdLib, MPU-401 (with intelligent mode), Tandy, CMS, USB joysticks and more!
In this episode I talk about the SuperSEGA team getting up to their old tricks once more, Sonic Unleashed being statically recompiled and unofficially ported to PC, a brand new Xbox 360 software exploit, an amazing graphics upgrade for the Commodore 64, the return of Acclaim & more!
In this episode I talk about the open sourcing of the Command & Conquer games, Sony PocketStation development, a retro console resurgence, a new official Gibson Guitar Hero / Rock Band controller & more!
The early 2008 Intel Mac Pro was a seriously impressive piece of kit when it was released... 17 years ago. But now I have Windows 11 up and running on it, how does it cope with gaming in 2025?
Windows 95 began development in earnest in mid-1992 under the codename "Chicago". A combination of a few other internal projects at Microsoft, 95 would create the template that Windows would follow for years to come. So, let's chart its development process with the help of some leaked Chicago builds!
In this episode I talk about the apparent cancellation of the much-loved mt32-pi project due to online abuse, some official new Atari Jaguar releases courtesy of Songbird Productions, a Costa Rican supermarket's fight against Nintendo, YouTuber Bringus Studios' robbery, the passing of legendary videogame music composer Stéphane Picq & more!
FujiNet is an open source hardware project that adds a whole raft of functionality to Atari 8-Bit machines - and others - including a virtual printer and WiFi modem, disk and tape emulation, some very impressive online functionality and more. So let's check it out!
In this episode I talk about the Videogame History Foundation's new digital library, Taki Udon's SuperStation the new AVGN game, the Raven Atari clone, H0ffman's port of Golden Axe to the Neo Geo, the new Tang $69 FPGA console & more!
I recently acquired this Intel Mac Pro 3,1 from early 2008. It seemed a shame to let such a beast go to waste, so I did what any sensible person would - installed Windows 11 on it, and then used eXoDOS to play DOS games.
In this episode I talk about the new MiSTer 3DO core, Taki Udon's interview, the Nintendo Switch 2, Doom running inside a PDF, the new PicoCPC Amstrad CPC upgrade from the maker of the PicoMEM, an amazing Voodoo 2 repair & more!
This Early 2008 Intel Mac Pro was a very kind donation to the channel - but unfortunately, it got a bit damaged in transit. I've never seen inside one of these before, so what better opportunity to tear it down and see what makes it tick, and also see if it works!
Back in the early 2000s I owned a Nintendo Game Boy Advance, and I had 2 first person shooters - Doom, and Ecks vs. Sever. But in hindsight, were they actually any good? I think it's about time I revisited them - and *all* of the other FPS releases on the GBA as well!
In this episode I talk about a boujee new Doom mod, Taki Udon's new PSOne clone, Need For Speed Underground 2's new remaster, yet more SuperSEGA developments, the return of the cancelled SEGA Neptune & more!
The GameStation Go is a new handheld emulator console from My Arcade and Atari, supporting spinner, trackball, d-pad, numeric keypad and external controller inputs and featuring built-in games (TBC) and a MicroSD slot.
In this episode I talk about the alpha release of DCA3 (the homebrew GTA3 release for Dreamcast), Atari Jaguar Analogue Pocket and MiSTer Core news, a new lower cost RetroTINK 4K scaler, a huge leak of historical Halo material, and the sad and untimely passing of Team 17 co-founder Martyn Brown.
In this episode I talk about SuperSEGA (again...), the Spectrum once more topping sales charts, an incredible looking new CRT shader from Blur Busters, a bargain Atari 2600+, SEGA's new streaming service and more!
In the beginning, there was RAM, and that was fast enough for everyone - until one day it was decided that it actually wasn't fast enough, and so CPU cache was born. Inevitably, someone decided to put it on a stick. So let's investigate that.
In this episode I talk about the FASTER source code release, a new take on Microsoft’s classic SkiFree, the Screamer reboot, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s enormous 1.1 patch, Iain Lee’s absolutely wild interview with the man behind SuperSega and more!
It's one week to go until Christmas day and you know what that means - last minute gift shopping for that retro gamer in your life! So I purchased 5 of the cheapest retro game handhelds on Amazon and put them through their paces - but are any of them actually worth buying?
In this episode I talk about Atari Addict magazine, the long-awaited release of FASTER, a racer for the Atari STE, some newly unveiled MiSTer MultiSystem 2 pictures, itch.io getting taken down by Funko, new Talos Principle and more!
In this episode I talk about Half-Life 2, the SuperSega (again), Heber’s MiSTer MultiSystem 2, a project to preserve game musician Dave Lowe’s historical disks, the long-awaited release of FASTER, a racer for the Atari STE, and more!
Last year Atari released the 2600+ console - a revamped, reimagined VCS for the 21st century. Now they've done it again with the lesser-known 7800 from 1986 - so let's see what it's all about!
In this episode I talk about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Atari Jaguar emulator emulator BigPEmu releasing on iOS, Atari Addict magazine, Bleem! coming back and more!
Last weekend I was down at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge for the Retro Computer Festival, an annual display of all sorts of weird and wonderful items hosted by one of the UK's top computer museums. So this is what I and the others in my group had to show off, as well as a look around the museum and also, of course, the other exhibits.
In this episode I talk about the Retro Computer Festival in Cambridge, yet more SuperSega FPGAconsole drama, Taki Udon's DE10-Nano clone, Doom on Nintendo Alarmo alarm clocks, Game Gear consolisation, main channel updates and more!
Released in 1996, Microsoft's "Return of Arcade" pack was the second in a series of officially licensed collections of arcade games designed to showcase Windows' gaming performance. This collection from Namco consists of Dig Dug, Galaxian, Pac-Man and Pole Position!
In this episode I talk about the entries for the (now closed) Atari Jaguar JagJam game jam, a new remake of Super Mario Bros for the Game Boy Color, the SuperSEGA project being a potential scam, the DMCA exemption denial for video games, main channel updates and more!
2 weeks ago I released a video all about a rather strange English language teaching computer from Japan called the Cefucom-21. Well, a lot has happened in 14 short days! For example, I have 2 original software packs for it, someone started work on an emulator using my ROM dumps, I have feedback from hardware experts and actual users of this machine to share, and most importantly... it now works! Mostly...
In October 2023 I approached my old boss and good friend about his spare office. I only really intended to use it to store / sort some stuff and work on projects, and perhaps film some bits. I had no idea what it would grow into in a short 12 months...
In this episode I unbox a very special arrival for that weird Cefucom-21 English language teaching computer, check out Lord Sugar’s new Amstrad museum, take a look at a port of Sonic The Hedgehog to the Amstrad GX4000 and Doom64 on the Dreamcast, check out a very nice home arcade (again) and finally cover some recent Worms announcements.
In this episode I talk about the missing Sega Saturn MiSTer story from last week, Commodore 16 and +4 games coming to the Game Boy, WinAmp's short lived failure of an open source release, Analogue's new console and its weird announcement claims, an amazing new port of DOOM for Sega's Tower of Power and more!
Red Hat Linux 6.1 was released in October 1999, 25 years ago this month! Previously I installed it on my Pentium 100 and worked through a few configuration issues - now it's time to check out the state of those early GNOME and KDE desktops and the rest of the Deluxe package!
In this episode there's some good news from Clint of LGR fame, one of my favourite albums of all time has been demastered, the MiSTer SNES core gets saves states and more!
Red Hat Linux 6.1 was released in October 1999, 25 years ago this month! So let's install it out on period hardware, compare it to modern day Fedora, and see what 25 years of desktop Linux progress looks like.
In this episode I look at Jeff Geerling's voice being AI cloned and used without his permission for Elecrow's electronics tutorials, WinAmp's source code being released (kind of), the triumphant return of iconic Doom mod Thatcher's Techbase, the new Atari 50 games, Linux booting on the world's first microprocessor and more!
In a previous video I upgraded my original 2007 "polycarbonate" Intel Mac Mini's CPU, RAM and storage. I also tried to get an external GPU working to replace the frankly awful onboard GMA 950 graphics, but I couldn't get it to work. Well, I'm back - and with some good news...
In July 2006, Microsoft discontinued support for Windows 98, 98SE, and ME. In 2011, they switched off the Windows Update service for those operating systems completely. So what if I told you that all this - and a lot more - is back thanks to a community effort? Windows Update Restored (and similar service LegacyUpdate for XP) fully integrates into these old versions of Windows just like the good old days. So lets update Windows like it's 1999! Well, 2006, I guess...
In this episode I look at Alan Sugar's new official Amstrad Museum, people chopping up Sega Saturns, Nintendo suing Palworld over Pokemon patents, Jason Bradbury's new retro movie, GTA V losing it's Steam Deck certification over kernel level anti-cheat and more!
In this episode I talk about a cheat for Doom that has just been discovered after 27 years, Evercade's secret hidden games and analogue controller support, GTA III on the Dreamcast and more!
In the 1990s, Tiny Computers took over the British airwaves, print press, and even indeed the high street with promises of affordable family PCs that would get Britain browsing. It also happens that my family were one of their customers - so let's check out this Tiny PC and learn all about the story behind it!
In 1986, after a troubled few years, Atari finally released their 7800 console. The first Atari console to be outsourced to an outside company, the 7800 was a flawed machine but all the more fascinating for it. So let's find out the story, perform a UAV composite and s-video mod, and check out some of the interesting and unique games on the Atari 7800!
In this episode I talk about some recent developments on the channel and how it's rapidly becoming a second job - and how that's a very good thing indeed!
In this episode I talk about Taki Udon's MiSTER Pi DE-10 Nano clone finally being available for purchase, a surprise Croc remaster, Worms Armageddon, loads of behind the scenes GTA news, how you can get classic 90s Bungie FPS Marathon for free (and why you should) and more!
In this episode I talk about a gaming world record, a museum piece rescued from a tip, the new MiSTer CDi core, a big channel milestone, a very small box, Diablo in a browser and more!
In 2006 Apple released their first generation of Intel machines. This range included the MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac Mini - and I bought one, brand new! Surprisingly for Apple machines, they were quite upgradeable, and so 18 years later and armed with eBay and money to burn, I decided to bring my trusty old Mac Mini out of retirement and finally let it live up to its full potential.
In this episode I talk about a Tiny PC pickup, my new joystick, the new EU petition from the Stop Killing Games movement, ROMHacking.net shutting down, the latest Taki Udon and QMTech DE-10 clone news, and the usual channel updates!
The brand new PicoMEM ISA card from FreddyV supports hard and floppy drive emulation, extra RAM, AdLib emulation, WiFi, USB controller support and so much more! I think it's going to be a real game changer for these old PCs. So let's put it through its paces.
In this episode I talk about some exciting efforts to port the N64 classic DOOM 64 and the PlayStation 2 classic GTA III to the Dreamcast, the Lemon Amiga and Lemon 64 hack, and go behind the scenes of my latest video - as well as my regular Video Of The Week feature!
Windows 11's hardware requirements have been something of a bone of contention among PC enthusiasts, particularly as it seems to run perfectly fine on "unsupported" hardware. So I decided to take this to the extreme and install it on a 20 year old Pentium 4 system with 2GB of RAM...
In this episode I talk about my visit to the Flipper Muzeum in Budapest, Sega's Crazy Taxi reboot, Jotego's new Moonwalker arcade core for MiSTer and Analog Pocket, the return of Tengen, and the slow decline of beloved British retailer GAME - as well as my regular Video Of The Week feature!
In this episode I talk about my experiences at the Kickstart show, a new edge enhancer mod for the 2-chip SNES, a very exciting Raspberry Pi based console from Heber, MiSTer's new Sinden Lightgun support, and some big retro anniversaries this week including LGR, Salad Fingers and FreeDOS.
Kickstart takes place at the Notts County Football Ground and is in its second year. This Amiga show has rapidly become one of the premiere events on the retro computing calendar and this year I was invited along to run my own table all about the shared history between Atari and Commodore.
In this episode I talk about my upcoming Amiga show (wait... what?), some controversy around the recently discovered Tarzan prototype for the Atari 2600, the permanent closure of Paul Allen's computer museum, a newly discovered 486 CPU, an SC-55 emulator, a new boomer shooter called Selaco, and some interesting news out of Atari.
In this episode I take a look at some of the ongoing projects I have in the works for future videos, including a SFF Pentium 4 that I blew up, future plans for the TIME Desk PC, Atari 2600+ unofficial firmware, MIDI stuff, the PicoMEM, my arcade cab, the PC-98 and more!
The Video Game History Foundation recently discovered this unreleased Atari 2600 Tarzan game from 1983 and have made it available for everyone to enjoy. So let's see what it's all about!
In this episode we look at some Taki Udon DE10 clone news, Sega Saturn MiSTer core RAM fixes, a load of lovely upcoming PC games, some vintage digital cameras and an effort to preserve some important historic radio interviews!
Looking to breathe new life into your old Open Source Scan Converter? This official mod and firmware adds improved sync handling, improved picture quality, 6x line multiplying, improved compatibility with HDR displays, shadow masks and more!
I had a question from a supporter about the Atari ST and the new OSSC (Open Source Scan Converter) Pro. So I decided I may as well try it out with all of my scalers!
The OSSC Pro is the brand new video scaler from Markus Hiienkari, who brought us the mighty Open Source Scan Converter back in 2016. This scaler supports VGA, component and RGB SCART input and I'm helping to test a prototype unit with some old PCs to help iron out some bugs - so let's take a look!
A very generous donation of some rare promo posters from the new Atari - and some of them are actually really cool! I also picked up some matching TIME branded accessories for the Desk PC.
Ever fancied trying your hand at retro homebrew game development? JagJam 2024 is an Atari Jaguar game jam organised by industry veteran Boris Kretzinger (Datassette_User) in conjunction with Songbird Productions - and I'm a judge! You have until the end of October to submit your original game - here's all you need to know to get started.
The FunnyPlaying FPGBC kit is a complete FPGA based Gameboy Color console that you can build in 2024! But is it any good? Unboxing, build process and testing within!
I got this Roland PR-100 MIDI sequencer and a pile of Quick Disks for free with my SC-155 Sound Canvas. But the drive isn't working. Can a drive belt swap fix it? The answer, apparently, is no.
I bought this weird desk PC from a community centre that was about to be demolished. So lets fix some bad capacitors, change the optical drive, put some nice quiet fans in it, and finally crack the Windows 2000 login passwords to see how it was originally set up!
I bought this weird desk PC from a community centre that was about to be demolished. So lets explore it and see what it's all about, and do what any sensible retro gaming fan would - run DOOM on it.
Following on from my introduction to and restoration of the NEC PC-9821, part of the legendary PC-98 series from Japan, I learn a lot more about the machine and how it differs from a PC and start exploring YAHDI - Yet Another Hard Disk Image.
A few years back I bought somebody's old Game Boy Camera on eBay - and it had some weird pictures on it! So before I wipe them to embark on a new project, let's take a look at them and try to work out what on earth was going on.
Red Viper is a newly released emulator that allows games from Nintendo's 1995 Virtual Boy 3D console to be run on the 3DS. It supports swappable colour palettes, game saves, remappable controls per game and a whole lot more, and runs the entire Virtual Boy back catalogue of games at 100% original speed. So let's check it out!
The SunFounder PiDog is a robot kit built around a Raspberry Pi. This old dog has plenty of new tricks up its sleeve, including a face tracking camera, accelerometer, touch sensor, ultrasonic range finders, directional sound tracking and a lot more! So let's build one and it through its paces.
The Atari VCS was launched in 1977 with an initial launch lineup of 9 games - Combat, Air-Sea Battle, Star Ship, Indy 500, Street Racer, Video Olympics, Surround, Black Jack, and Basic Math (or Fun With Numbers). But the CX-26 numbers associated with these games aren't sequential. I wonder why that is?
In this video I sit down to chat all things YouTube and retro computing with Sean from Action Retro, one of my favourite YouTube channels. Since the channel started in early 2020, Action Retro has rapidly grown thanks to a relentless release schedule and consistently high quality, entertaining videos covering a variety of retro computing subjects. He's also the man behind retro search engine FrogFind and 68k.news, a news site targeted at older computers.
The PC-9821 is one of the later models in the now-legendary NEC PC-98 range of computers. In this video I restore this quirky Japanese machine while learning all about its history and how it relates to the iconic PC-88, and how both computers spawned a whole industry of home computer gaming in their homeland of Japan thanks to their advanced graphics and sound capabilities.
The PC-9821 is one of the later models in the now-legendary NEC PC-98 range of computers. In this video I restore this quirky Japanese machine while learning all about its history and how it relates to the iconic PC-88, and how both computers spawned a whole industry of home computer gaming in their homeland of Japan thanks to their advanced graphics and sound capabilities.
Restoring and composite modding a classic Atari C-100 Pong, Atari C-380 Video Pinball and an Atari SC-450 Stunt Cycle in preparation for a big book launch event. Can I save these classic consoles in time for the big day? Tune in and find out!
The 2600+ is a brand new reimagined version of the iconic 1977 games console from Atari. In this review I check out some possibilities that the other reviewers may have missed - like Atari 7800 PAL compatibility, hooking it up to a CRT monitor, flash carts, the 7800 2 button controller - and perhaps the most important question of all - will it work with a lightgun!?
This is the third public update in my ongoing office studio build series. In this one I'm sent a FlexiSpot E7 standing desk to review, clad the back wall, add a long overdue improvement to the window display to make it even more museum-like, and finally bring all of my camera and lighting gear over to start filming in here!
I refurbished 2 classic Atari 2600 games consoles and fitted them with s-video and composite mods (UAV - Ultimate Atari Video) for use at the North West Computer Museum in Manchester, UK.
It's coming up to 4 years since the launch of the ctrl-alt-rees YouTube channel. I had an offer on an extra studio space that I couldn't refuse - so the channel is expanding!
Pinball, arcade games, mechanical games and more - getting hands on with vintage and retro gaming history at the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas! Learn the history of Atari's pinball division and Syzygy's Computer Space, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney's first ever arcade video game from 1971. Of course, I also check out 100 years of pinball history and some more familiar arcade games too.
We visited Musée Mécanique in San Francisco, California - one of the world's biggest collections of antique and vintage arcade games, pinball tables, penny arcades and other coin operated retro gaming novelties - some of them over 100 years old! Get hands on with over 300 exhibits at this amazing fun free day out for the whole family.
I consulted on a brand new book by Lewis Packwood called "Curious Video Game Machines - A Compendium Of Rare And Unusual Consoles, Computers And Coin-Ops" for a chapter on obscure Atari history!
Clint - AKA LGR or Lazy Game Reviews - started his retro computing and gaming YouTube channel way back in 2006. As others have come and gone, LGR's cozy, thoughtful, educational and - most of all - high production quality videos have stood the test of time. As a result, his channel has steadily grown to over 1.5M subscribers - not including his side channels LGR Foods and LGR Blerbs! So let's chat all about old tech, YouTube, and everything else that takes our fancy.
The Atari Museum is a collection of rare Atari history - including prototypes, schematics, code, paperwork and other fascinating historical oddities and one-offs relating to Atari's 50+ year history of retro gaming and retro computing. So join me as I tell the story of how this valuable website - run by the late, great Curt Vendel - has been restored and preserved, and explore some of the treasures within.
I missed out on the N64 the first time around. So I decided to pick one up from Japan while they're still super cheap, install RGB amp and Gamebox Systems 64HD HDMI video output mods, and check out some of the best games on the system!
Digital Research's Graphics Environment Manager - or GEM - was released for PCs and the Atari ST in 1985. Unfortunately it was a liitle bit too close in look-and-feel to Apple's recently released OS on the Macintosh (and earlier the Lisa), leading to legal pressure to remove certain features. This is the story of how GEM 1 ultimately ended up being by far the most feature-packed release as a result, and how this may well have lead to Apple and Microsoft becoming the dominant desktop platforms throughout the 90s and beyond.
At CES 1987, two years after the Atari ST, Jack Tramiel's Atari unveiled their 8088 powered turbo XT PC range. In this episode I explore the Atari PC3 and check out GEM, the original desktop environment!
Since August of last year I've been running this YouTube channel entirely on a DIY solar setup that I built. It consists of 480W of solar panels, a Renogy Rover 40A MPPT charge controller, 80Ah (1kWh) of LiFePO4 batteries, and an EcoFlow RIVER 2 PRO portable power station.
The story of Atari's CES 1987 PC launch and Jack Tramiel's personal beef with IBM and Apple. I also restore a rare Atari PC3 computer and see if it works!
Some more information has come to light off the back of my original Xbox Live Arcade documentary, and I've also found and preserved a later DVD release containing 12 game demos!
Xbox Live Arcade was one of the defining features of the Xbox 360, with over 700 titles being released over its near 10 year lifespan. But did you know that XBLA actually first appeared on the OG Xbox in 2004 - but was overshadowed by that year's huge AAA game launches and barely got a mention?
Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, UK, is well known for being the game development hub of the UK, with CodeMasters, FreeStyle Games (DJ Hero, Guitar Hero Live), Mediatonic (Fall Guys), SEGA Hardlight, Epic Games, Rebellion, Xbox Game Studios and many, many more all having a local presence here. Silicon Spa is a temporary exhibition showcasing all these and more - 50 studios in total - taking place until May 9th at the Royal Pump Rooms in Leamington Spa. So let's see what it's all about!
The Dansette Tempo record player was made in 1962 by British hifi manufacturer Dansette, a division of J&A Margolin Ltd. This iconic vintage record player enabled teenagers of the 50s and 60s to listen to their very own records for the first time, and they were hugely popular. Mine, however, was in a bit of a sorry state, so I treated it to a restoration, including a modern cartridge upgrade and preamp, serviced the original mono valve / tube amplifier and gave it an overall service to help keep it running like clockwork for another 60 years.
Bringing my OG Crystal Xbox into the 21st Century with an internal HDMI mod from MakeMHz (XboxHD+) with support for 720P upscaling, a stealth SSD upgrade, and OpenXenium to make it all work happily together. I've also added a silent Noctua fan using a 3D printed bracket from RetroFrog, and I'm running the XBMC4Gamers dashboard which adds loads of cool functionality including DLC, homebrew, emulators and all the media playback features you'd expect from XBMC.
As it's the Atari 50th anniversary, I thought why not go hands-on with some of the rarest and most interesting Atari retro gaming items from my game collection, including some unique prototypes! Here I pick 7 of my favourites, including the original CX-10 joystick, Power Pad, XE Game System, a Pac-Man prototype, the infamous Video Music, a collection of Atari calculators and much more!
Microsoft Wine Guide was part of the "Microsoft Home" range, which included (among many others) Microsoft Dogs, Microsoft Gardening, Microsoft Bookshelf and - perhaps most famously - Microsoft Encarta. So join us as we take the guide for a festive spin - ably lead by our host Oz Clarke - and see what the world of 90s wine had to offer!
Sinclair QL, ZX Spectrum+, ZX Spectrum+2, and ZX81 machines. These and more found themselves in my possession recently after a friend of a friend sadly passed away. If I didn't take them, they were destined for the tip, so I feel it's my duty to make sure they're looked after properly. But first, lets have a look through the boxes and see what we have here.
The Atari 2800 was Atari's attempt to bring their 2600 VCS games console to Japan in 1983. Having tried and failed to crack the Japanese market 10 years previously, and finding themselves up against the newly launched Nintendo Famicom, it was always going to be an uphill battle. But this quirky and interesting take on the Atari 2600 is fascinating in its own right, so let's learn the story of how it came to be and take a closer look at the hardware and games!
The North West Computer Museum in Leigh, Wigan, (just outside Manchester) is a brand new museum covering the history of computing and gaming from the 1970s onwards. Still under construction, take a look behind the scenes with me on this exclusive museum tour, and also check out some of the awesome thrifting pickups I managed to get my hands on at their recent jumble sale.
This rare "engineer use only" diagnostic hardware is very kindly on loan from the North West Computer Museum (https://www.nwcomputermuseum.org.uk). It features DE-9, DB-19 and DB-25 connectors to hook up to the Atari ST's joystick ports, ACSI hard drive port and parallel printer port, and works in conjunction with a diagnostic cartridge to run a series of tests on the ST's hardware.
In this episode of my long running IBM 5162 "XT 286" restoration and upgrade series, I transplant a modern ATX power supply into the original PSU casing, retaining the original looks and - most importantly - that lovely chunky power switch.
I wrote an article on the Atari Panther for Pixel Addict Magazine issue 4 - and I was also in Retro Gamer's Collector's Corner in issue 236! So just a personal update thanking everyone for supporting the channel and allowing me to do these things.
YouTube was a very different place back in 2006 - this user-created video sharing tech startup had only been around for a year and was making big waves, leading to its acquisition by Google. But what camera were people using in the pre-smartphone era? How did it come to be? Was it really disposable!? In this video I take a look at the Pure Digital Flip Video, Amazon's best selling camcorder of 2007. We'll unbox it, hear the story behind it, see what the video and audio were like and even tear it down to see what's inside.
A roundup of my findings so far and the decisions I've decided to take going forward with this rare and unusual IBM 5162 machine, just before I put it all back together. We're now running reliably at 10MHz, but I reckon I'll build this up as a rock-solid 8MHz EGA gaming PC, perhaps with the option to switch clock speeds further down the line.
The MK8330 is a brand new (for 2022!) ISA sound card for DOS and early Windows PCs from sound card legends keropi and marmes. It's built around the Sound Blaster 16/PRO/2.0 and AdLib compatible CMI8330, and even supports Windows Sound System in Windows 95 and 98. Oh, and it has drivers for Windows 3.11! It sports an authentic-sounding OPL3 implementation and is less than half the cost of the Orpheus. Also on test here are the new E-Wave WaveTable card and the official PC MIDI expansion board, which adds sophisticated MIDI capabilities including support for the Roland MT-32's Intelligent Mode.
At a loose end for a family day out in Leicester? The Retro Computer Museum (RCM) has a huge selection of vintage computers, games consoles, arcade machines and early 90s Virtuality VR machines to play with. You're also welcome to get hands on with their collection of over 40,000 items of boxed and loose software and games - more than enough to get your retrocomputing or retro gaming fix!
IBM's 5162 XT-286 machine was a bit of an oddball. Released in 1986, it was comparatively low specced for its time but of course still subject to the "IBM Tax" - making it notoriously bad value for money. What's worse is that IBM built in various measures to prevent users being able to upgrade it, so as to prevent cannibalisation of PS/2 sales. So what were these limitations? How do we work around them? Just how fast can this thing go anyway? Find out in part 2 of my ongoing upgrade and restoration series!
RMC & Heber's MiSTer MultiSystem - a consolised version of the MiSTER FPGA project - was launched back in August last year. But it seems Heber's Richard has been hard at work behind the scenes on another project - this time making it portable!
The first episode of Wolfenstein 3D was released to the Software Creations BBS by id Software at 4AM on May 5th 1992. For its 30th anniversary, I thought I'd finally get around to restoring my IBM XT 286 (model number 5162) so I could enjoy the game on the very lowest spec machine it supports - just as many people (myself included) played this legendary DOS FPS back in the day!
The Atari Lynx was a pioneering handheld games console in more ways than one. In this video - part of the "My Cool Machine" series, a wonderful collaboration with some other awesome 'Tubers - I'll tell you why.
Way back in November 2020 I bought a random cheap Pentium MMX 233 PC on ebay - and discovered to my delight that it contained an S3 ViRGE, an early 3D graphics card introduced in 1995. This set me on a journey to track down, test, document and preserve every single game released that supported this obscure and not very good graphics card.
Whether you're just getting started or you're an Atari ST veteran, there are so many modern gadgets that promise to make life easier that you'll be spoilt for choice! So here I present 3 of my favourites - the UltraSatan SD card hard disk solution, the Netusbee, which adds networking and USB, and the mouSTer, which adds support for modern USB mice and game controllers.
Floppy disks not big enough for you? We were certainly pushing the limits in the late 90s... So enter the Fujifilm Flash Path, a vintage device that allowed Windows 9x, NT and Mac OS 9 users to use SmartMedia cards in a standard floppy drive - available in capacities up to 128MB! Join me as I go on a retro photography adventure and try out this fascinating gadget myself. Was it a viable way to move files around in the mid to late 90s?
The Atari Panther was a 16-bit console that was due to be released in 1991 - but was cancelled right at the last minute, even after prototype dev consoles had been sent out to developers. In this video I check out an OTIS sound module, based on the Ensoniq sound chip of the same name, ponder what could've been, and reach out for help on tracking down some more information for a full documentary style video.
Join me as I spend a day filming with Neil from RMC Retro in The Cave! We had a lot of fun putting together our show and tell with some interesting items from my Atari collection, and here's the exclusive behind the scenes of how it all came together as welll as a more general look at how Neil records his videos.
The Atari C-240 Video Music was a rather weird music visualiser released in 1977. Join me as I share the story behind how and why the gaming and home computing giant decided to try to get into the world of audiophile hi-fi separates, and fix and restore mine with some brand new walnut side panels, an s-video output mod, and an internal 230V PSU mod so it can run happily on UK power. That's right, I'm doing vintage hifi repair videos now!
Late 90s / early 2000s TFT LCD monitors... They weren't great, but hey, they set the scene for everything that was to come, including the monitors that we still use today. I bought a bargain eBay job lot of them - but do any of them actually work? Can I repair any that don't? Join me as I unbox them, test them, and attempt to fix some backlight and other faults!
Atari 130ST and 520ST first public demo from the Winter Consumer Electronics Show 1985, hosted in Las Vegas in January 1985. In it the unknown announcer discusses the ST's TOS operating system and its desktop - GEM - including its original CP/M-68K underpinnings, which of course were replaced with GEMDOS shortly before release. There are a few interesting differences between the version demoed here and the final release, including the desktop icons which had to be changed due to a lawsuit from Apple.
Point Of Sale terminal to DOS gaming machine? Oh yes! Join me as I attempt to turn this boring £30 appliance into the ultimate PC for MS-DOS games. In this episode I sort out the power supply situation as well as the sound and graphics, and show off some games!
The MiSTer MultiSystem is a new product by Heber and RMC Retro which aims to be an all-in-one solution that makes MiSTer FPGA gaming accessible and easy to use. This consolised MiSTER setup also features a very high quality bespoke 3D printed case with .STL files available to print your own at home. But what is the out of box experience like for someone who's new to the whole world of MiSTer? Find out within, and join me for unboxing, first impressions and setup experience.
I picked up an old Point Of Sale terminal for £30. It turns out it's an AMD K6-2 PC capable of running MS-DOS - so lets turn it into a DOS gaming powerhouse! In this first episode I take a look around the various proprietary features of the DigiPOS 2000, including it's MS-DOS 6.22 DiskOnChip diagnostics and weird ports, take a look inside, and then have a poke around at all of the previous owner's old deleted files to get an idea of the history of this machine. In the next episode I'll be adding some choice hardware upgrades to make this the gaming PC it was so obviously born to be - so hit that subscribe button so you don't miss that one!
The Argon One M.2 is a solid metal case for the Raspberry Pi 4 which offers some really excellent features, including configurable active cooling, 2x fullsize HDMI ports, smart power button / soft shutdown, easily accessible GPIO and perhaps most importantly, the ability to boot from an M.2 SSD. It does have a few minor issues that mean it might not be suitable for all purposes, and the M.2 setup can be fiddly if you don't have an M.2 USB adapter to plug into your PC. So join me as I give my impressions and get this thing up and running with the latest Raspberry Pi OS Bullseye!
I bought this "prototype" cartridge a few years back from a seller in California who had a lot of interesting Atari stuff. But is it genuine or is it a modern forgery? Is the game contained within an undiscovered early version? Let's find out!
The Atari 800 was Atari's first home computer and was released in 1979, alongside it's cheaper variant, the 400. Originally intended as a games console successor to the 2600 and pivoted at the last moment, it has a very interesting modular architecture and a custom chipset designed by none other than Jay Miner. So let's take a look inside and learn a little bit about the story and how this machine works!
The Atari 5200 is an underrated console, in my humble opinion. But this one does have an annoying fault relating to a bad batch of CPUs. So let's fix it using an official Atari-sanctioned fix from 1983!
In this video I take a look at Beavis Soft / Apogee's 1994 PC kart racer, Wacky Wheels - and how what should have been a simple Mario Kart knockoff became a tale of intrigue, with stolen source code and a remake abandoned under mysterious circumstances.
Ever since I bought this Pentium MMX DOS gaming PC, it keeps having weird intermittent errors where it refuses to boot and I need to open it up and reseat all of the PCI cards. It's getting very frustrating! Join me as I finally diagnose and repair this annoying fault once and for all. Is it the graphics card? The RAM? The motherboard? Or is it the previous owner...
I had this "Science Fair" branded 150-in-1 electronic project kit as a kid, and it taught me the basics of what all of the components do as well as giving me the opportunity to build some fun (and annoying!) experiments. I recently found another one for sale, and as it was manufactured by Tandy Radio Shack for sale in their stores, I thought I'd get reacquainted with it in the name of SepTandy.
Dread, a Doom-inspired retro first person shooter, has been announced for the Atari ST with a playable demo level released! This project by KK/Altair has been in development for the Amiga for a while now, but he announced at SillyVenture 2020 that an Atari ST version is coming too, and released this tech demo! This runs on a stock ST with 2MB of RAM, but I'm demoing it here on my 4MB STE, which apparently gets me more colours and slightly nicer sound. So lets see what it's all about.
Back in March 2020 I released a "100 subscriber special" game room tour. It's changed a lot since then, so now it's time for an update! Featuring an awful lot of Atari stuff, DOS PCs, Nintendo Famicom, N64, Xbox and more!
The Atari Video Music was Atari's brief foray into the world of hi-fi and was released in 1977. But these units are getting very hard to come by now... So why not build your own? In this video, I do just that by putting together a Pixelmusic 3000, a project by Uncommon Project and Make Magazine from 2012.
As an Atari ST guy, I've never actually used an Amiga before... Yup, you heard me right! So join me as I explore the Amiga 600 "The Wild, Weird & The Wicked" pack from 1992, do some repairs, and then see what the Amiga was all about!
ST Format was a British computer magazine published by Future Publishing, and covered all things Atari ST. It began life as ST Amiga Format in 1988 before splitting into 2 separate publications the following year, and then ran until late 1996. Here I take a look at a promotional copy that was given away with Atari ST computers in autumn of 1989!
Moto Racer - Matrox Mystique Enhanced Edition was a classic Windows motorbike racing game bundled with Matrox Mystique 220 cards in 1997, and like many OEM bundles, had a renderer that was optimised for this early 3D accelerator. So lets take a look!
The S3 ViRGE was a 3D graphics card released in 1996 by graphics industry giants S3. I bought this PC back in December that happened to have one of these cards in it - and I made a video, and didn’t do a very good job of it. Oops! So I’m back to make it up to everyone with a new and improved look at this early pioneer of 3D gaming. Let’s check out some S3D accelerated games!
Wolfenstein 3D - the classic id Software FPS and predecessor to Doom - running natively on the humble Atari ST? Say it ain't so! But it is so, thanks to a combined effort back in 2005 by demo group TSCC (The Sirius Cybernetics Corp), including developer Reimund Dratwa and chiptune artist Dma-Sc, with artwork by legendary Apple IIgs demo group Ninjaforce. It's fully playable - although a bit buggy - and well worth checking out. So lets check it out!
The Atari 260ST. There's a lot of misinformation circulating about this model on the internet, including the "fact" that it was only released with 256K of RAM. But what's the real story behind this machine? Did it ever have 256? Did Atari even plan to release a machine with that little RAM? And what's that floppy-based TOS boot process all about anyway?
The Dragon32 was released by the Dragon Data Ltd in 1982 and is based on the same Motorola MC68883 reference design as Tandy's TRS-80 Color Computer or "CoCo", although not strictly a clone, in my opinion. Join me as I learn all about the story of this computer, take a look inside, and check out what it can do.
My unboxing and first impressions of the Blaze Atari Handheld console. This handheld features 50 built in Atari 2600 games, classic Atari styling, a decent screen, TV out, and a really nice menu system. It was also a birthday present from some good friends of mine, so I couldn't pass up this opportunity to have a look!
Improvements to my filming setup and the RODE Vlogger Kit, some last minute videos, an Atari 260ST update, mouSTer / Atari Fan Magazine from Retrohax, Atari Jaguar GameDrive Jaguar CD update, Dark Forces PC big box pickup, Orpheus ISA Sound Card / DreamBlaster X2, Alien vs Predator for the Atari Jaguar, some sealed Atari Lynx Games, and a Patron's laptop that I've taken in for repair for a future video!
I've been beta testing RetroHQ's JaguarGD flashcart, and more specifically the upcoming Jaguar CD support. JagCD games running on a flashcart - it's a real game changer!
So I bought a 260ST untested from an eBay seller in Germany... But what's the 260 all about, does it even work, and what's all this about extras that the seller didn't even mention!?
Join me on my 12 year (and counting!) arcade cabinet restoration project - where I take a bare cab from a real arcade and completely reburbish it - twice! - to transform it into my dream MAME cab setup.
January channel output, new channel backdrop / studio ideas, the IBM 5162 XT Model 286 & some potential upgrades, Atari Video Music restoration update, installing BionicPup Linux on an old windows tablet, unboxing an Atari 2600Jr and original DOOM Shareware disks, January livestream recap, my new second channel, and my new phone - a Nokia 8.3!
In this video I check out the new PowerVAMP drop-in composite and power mod for the Nintendo Famicom by The Backoffice. This board requires minimal soldering and upgrades the Famicom with a better, any-polarity power supply and composite video output. But how easy is it to fit, and how does it stack up against the most popular composite mod out there?
In this video, I explore my upgraded IBM 5150, the first DOS PC. I show how to get EGA graphics on a CGA monitor, how to capture the video output in the best possible quality (including PC speaker audio), how I connect this PC to my home network to transfer files, and also a DIY overclocking solution called the PC-SPRINT.
In this special and not-at-all lazy Christmas episode, I share the collaboration videos that I made for other channels in my channel's first year. Of course, the vast majority of them were for the RMC livestreams over the summer, but there's a cheeky bonus collab at the end for you to check out as well as some shoutouts to some other great channels I've worked with over the year.
Just a few updates and marking some channel milestones before it gets too late. Don't expect great things - I tend to waffle a lot in this unscripted stuff!
Join me as I embark on a mission to restore my Atari Video Music, Atari's trippy music visualiser from 1977. In this 2-part special I'm going to be replacing the woodwork, designing an s-video output mod, and converting the device to run on a UK 230V power supply.
Atari Video Music Restoration Update, Patreon Gift of the Month, USB Microscope, very rare Atari Sparrow prorotype motherboard, Atari SX212 1200 baud modem, a new book from Bitmap Books called The Games That Weren't, a VGA distribution amplifier to improve my capture setup, a variable resistor box, and a mystery box of goodies from Patreon supporter Dave Velociraptor!
I had a few questions about the USB microscope I used in my recent Atari Sparrow video so I thought I'd put together this very quick review. I was very impressed with the quality of this thing, especially as it only cost £26!
I'm now the proud owner of an Atari Sparrow / FX-1, the prototype for the Falcon, which was released in 1992. Only 21 of these are known to still exist! But should I restore it, or frame it as a museum piece? I'm open to suggestions!
In the time I've owned RMC charity NetVista number 1 I've tracked down quite a lot of accessories for it... and done quite a lot of upgrades! See how I turned this boring office PC from 2002 into a half decent Windows 9x gaming machine. And what better to play on it than Maxis' crazy 1996 hit SimCopter? This is the story of how I bought this game "back in the day" and a nostalgic revisit after all these years.
A visit to Neil at the RMC YouTube channel, a massive haul of ST Format magazines in the original binders, some early Atari hardware including a Stunt Cycle and Atari Video Music, a new soldering tool, a new monitor for the IBM NetVista, and an exciting update on my DOS MIDI / mt32-pi video.
Wherein I explore some MIDI options for DOS gaming on my 486, have a look into the SoundBlaster "hanging note" bug and a few solutions to fix it, and compare and demo a few different Roland devices (the MT-32, SC-55, SC-88) as well as mt32-pi, a modern MT-32 emulator.
Ever wanted to fix that dull, flat, muted audio on your Acorn Archimedes? In this HOWTO I'll show you how to upgrade your Archie's audio by fitting a higher spec op amp and removing some unneccessary filtering components for the best possible output.
My game room / YouTube studio remodel, a new bit of (old) hardware for my Atari 800, some Atari calculators, PC-MIDI ISA card, Creative SoundBlaster hanging notes and the Roland SoundCanvas, an update on my Acorn Archimedes restoration, the return of my OJTRTA series, the Atari Lynx, and some big box Atari ST and PC games for the collection!
The Acorn Archimedes A305 was the original and first ARM CPU powered computer. I'm doing some work on mine in preparation for a video on the history of the ARM architecture and the Archimedes in general, so join me for a progress update!
My first impressions of the new Atari Jaguar "Game Drive" (or GD) flashcart from RetroHQ. In this video I also use it to check out some rare and expensive games on the system!
My current Acorn Archimedes A305 restoration, plans for repairs and upgrades to my original 1985 Atari 520ST, a new game I've discovered for my RM 486, and a few game collecting pickups too!
One Joystick To Rule Them All! Continuing where we left off in episode 2, learn how to make a simple adapter to use your Neo Geo AES arcade controller with your Sega Megadrive / Genesis!
One Joystick To Rule Them All! Continuing where we left off in episode 1, learn how to make a simple adapter to use your Neo Geo AES arcade controller with Amstrad computers and consoles, including the CPC and GX4000, MSX computers and the Sega Master System!
One Joystick To Rule Them All! In this mini episode I address some feedback from episode 1 and add some more tips to hopefully make this project a little bit more useful for anyone following along at home. Thanks so much everyone for the great feedback and suggestions - they're really appreciated and I'm taking them all on board to make this series even better!
One Joystick To Rule Them All! In the first of a new series, learn how to make a simple adapter to use your Neo Geo AES arcade controller with everything that uses the Atari joystick standard including Atari 2600, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amiga, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and more!
I'm the proud owner of an Oric Atmos 8-bit computer that was used as a prop in Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd. Here's the story of how it came to be in my possession, what happened when I tried to power it up for the first time, and what I needed to fix to get it up and running. I also take a look at some games on the system.
I recently discovered my wife's Sony PSOne which she got as a present for her 18th birthday 20 years ago! In this episode I retr0bright and repair the PlayStation console and controller - I hope you'll agree it looks practically brand new!
Before Namco's iconic Pac-Man was Pac-Man, he was Puckman. In this video I explore an original Japanese Puckman arcade PCB, talk a bit about the story behind it, show you how it works, and show you some actual gameplay footage!
Back in the 1980s an EGA monitor was a rare and expensive beast. These days they're even rarer and expensive...er. But it turns out you can hook up an EGA card to a CGA monitor as I have done here with my IBM PC 5150 with 5153 CGA monitor. Join me to find out how!
Join me as I tell you all about the PC-SPRINT. The plans for this DIY overclocking solution were released for free in 1985, so I decided to build one in 2020 and use it to overclock my 1981 IBM 5150 PC!
I just hit 100 subscribers this past weekend! Woohoo! In this video I give a tour of the tiny space where I keep my collection, work on all of my projects and film my videos. Featuring Atari, Nintendo and PC goodness - and more!
I modified an Atari 7800 CX78 joypad for use with my ST and 2600 - with a twist! I've been using this controller for the last couple of years for pretty much all of my Atari gaming. Now I'll let you in on my secret and how you can easily experience it for yourself just by swapping some wires around!
In 1974 Atari released an arcade game called "Touch Me". A unique concept, it didn't have a screen or a joystick. In 1977, Milton Bradley turned it into the ubiquitous "Simon" toy. Atari, seeing their success and wanting a piece of the action, released their own toy, based on the toy, based on the arcade game... This is that toy - the only electronic handheld toy Atari ever produced.
DeathWatch was a 2D run and gun platformer developed by British game developer Data Design InterActive for the Atari Jaguar. It was announced and demoed at E3 1995, the first E3. The N64, PlayStation and Sega Saturn were announced at the same event, focusing on 3D capabilities. Atari cancelled development of the game in favour of 3D games shortly after the event. No known ROM dumps exist and this is the only known footage.
Wherein I compare a modern reproduction Cybermorph game box included with my eBay Jaguar with a NOS original. How does the print quality compare, and what are your thoughts on reproduction game boxes?
Wherein I unbox a big load of stuff from Yahoo! Auctions Japan. This one features a selection of Famicom, N64, MSX, and even arcade items. Oh, and some more Mr. Driller Stuff!
I was bored, so I fired up my Atari ST with Steinberg Cubase 2.01, hooked up my Roland SoundCanvas SC-88 and loaded up a MIDI of Sandstorm - as you do.
