Most liked posts in thread: What's new Pussycat too?

Thanks Alex, the harbour is in the centre of Glasgow running down our famous River Clyde. The Camp Snap camera is a lot of fun to use. I'm planning to use it for some street style photography. It's also nice not to be constantly tinkering with the camera on a mobile phone and feel more in the moment.

XBox Media Centre is great, I had a version myself a while back and it's amazing what that machine can do. Hope you have lots of fun with it. Do you know what kind of mod the PS2 has? I use one called MC2SIO with McBoot. It lets you play the "backed up" ISO images from ad SD card in the Playstation 2's memory card slot. Very neat. And so many awesome games to play as well.

I've never heard of Mistica. Is that a version of the Mister FPGA? Not something I really know anything about but always intrigued me. Do you have a preference between hardware/FPGA and software emulation for old systems?

 

The SD drive for my Nintendo 64 arrived today (didn't expect it this quick) and I've had a quick play already.

It comes supplied with an SD card full of 340+ NTSC and 270 PAL games. When you put the cartridge in it loads to a menu page and you just select the folder you want and run the games from it. Nice and simple, no messing and it automatically creates save states on the SD card as well.

So far it's mainly been racing games I've tried. Ridge Racer is really good as expected but I've been surprised by how much I enjoyed Cruisin' World which feels a lot like Burnout. It's going to take me some time to work through all the titles that's for sure. Total cost was just under £60 delivered and I would recommend it to anyone who has an N64 and wants to increase their games library....

 

Never been in Glasgow. I really must come there sometime in the future. I advise you to keep taking pictures with your current attitude. It works fantastic, in my humble opinion. And it's a great excuse to go out exploring your own country.

The XBox Classic is so much fun and the XBMC is so flexible and easy to use. A lot of features and expansions to be installed. Sometime soon I'll have to replace the internal hard disk, the original one of 20GB is almost full.
The mod of PS2 in indeed the FreeMCBoot, mounted on a 64MB memory card. Then my friend Cristiano copied a bunch of USB drives and SD cards full of PS2 games and retrostuff (emulators and games, from Vic-20, C64 to SNES). DOn't know if MC2SIO is another way to name this modification. Could be a totally different mod, though.

The MISTICA is a variant of the original MIST, just a bit more powerful and with a neat architecture and ports availability. It's an FPGA board completely compatible with MIST or SIDI versions. The MISTer is a much more powerful and manageable version of FPGA system. Its hardware is more expandable, and the Nano DE10 board is very powerful and it features a LAN port and a Linux-based OS which adds to the flexibility and upgradeability. I would buy one but the current price is a bit too much for what I consider acceptable for an entertainment system. For the same price you can easily get a powerful PC and install Batocera or other retrocomputing distros.

 

If you ever make it to Glasgow or Scotland Alex, I'd be happy to meet up and show you around.
Although, as Paul and Andy will probably testify my heart lies in North Yorkshire and it's beautiful seaside towns like Scarborough and Filey

The Mistica sounds really interesting. Between that, the Xbox and PS2 you are going to have plenty to keep your hands full. Enjoy sir!

 

I'll certainly contact you if I manage to come to Glasgow, anytime soon I hope. Convincing my wife may be the hardest part.
The trip to North UK may include North Yorkshire, which is a region I, helas, completely ignore.

Yes, I have too many home computers and consoles to play with. I could go on for years and a lifetime couldn't be enough.

The Mistica FPGA system is now obsolete, It's not produced or sold anymore. But MIST is still on the market and a new variant is about to be on sale: the SIDI128, similar to the MIST/MISTICA hardware specs, only more powerful and with more SDRAM available (128 MB) to be used to build computing elements and electronics of many computers, consoles, etc. The interesting fact with FPGA boards is the chance to create new systems beyond reproducing (NOT emulating) old or past systems.

 

Alex, if you do go to Scotland then make sure you bring a waterproof coat that is warm. I'm originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland and we share the same sort of weather as Scotland, over cast, WET, and coldish. Seeing a blue sky is like winning the lottery

I have both an Xbox Classic (modded) and a PS2 that is FreeMcboot modded. The only hassle with the PS2 is that some of the loaders need to adjusted to get the game loaded correctly. I wondered what was going on when I was getting a screen that was just shades of red, one quick setting change and bingo, all good..

 

A warm coat will be the first thing to put in my suitcase, that's for sure! Thanks, Paul. The grey skies are a feature of your location, it's almost a tourist attraction - who wants sunny, warm days in Glasgow? It would never be the same city again!

I still have to give the PS2 a test, and Cristiano who made the FreeMCBoot configuration already told me about the little adjustments to do in settings for some games. Well, I guess it's part of the fun, isn't it?

 

While on the lookout for ST Format magazines I found a Facebook Marketplace advert selling some Amiga magazines. Turned out it was an antique/retro warehouse just a couple of miles from me. Took a trip to see them and they had a small collection of Amiga's and Spectrum's for sale but at very expensive prices. However I did pick up a radio, Sony Walkman, Casio Pocket tv and an old Canon Powershot digital camera for not a lot of money so I could add them to my mancave. Now it's a case of saving for the 400 Mini and the Llamasoft compilation hopefully after next pay day.

This weekend I want to read some magazines and maybe get a wee play on the PS2. Weather is looking crap up here so doubt there will be much cycling done unless we get a few hours dry spell.

What about you guys, anybody got plans for the weekend retro or otherwise?

 

Nowt going on here, my left shoulder is hell at the mo. Weird that Cindy has the exact same issue. Had I been well, and it was sunny, I still doubt I'd do anything As always, well done on the finds Al, nothing as good as a bit of man cave love. Don't know what to say to Andy, as a semi Spurs supporter, I'm used to a wide range of feelings, one sec they are super duper and next they are torn apart by minnow teams. Hence I don't watch a load of sport these days. I guess it's an age thing, now I'm in no fit state to do things like footy etc, I have lost the love for it all, just one of those things I guess. I was very much a do-er, I'd watch The Big Match and out the sec it had finished, I was out the door to have a kick about. Now, that's just a memory.

On a less doom and gloom moment, after doing the front room shake up, I now am a bit stunned by how many games I / we actually own, way more PSP, 3DS, DS, PSX, Dreamcast and PS2 games than I thought were in da house.

Bit worried, we own Barbie Super Sports on the PSX though..Serena has never been a Barbie person, Cindy does not play on the consoles, and I don't remember having a 'gay' moment?

 

Good luck with the N64 delve, the machine never got to the lofty heights of the Snes release wise, but there's stuff to be had on it. Pilot wings, F-Zero X and a few very decent platformers like Banjoe and Mario. For you, there's not a lot of Burnout / RR stuff, mostly Rally type games that are so-so.

That 400 Mini press kit looked nice, shame the punters won't get the fancy box.

 

Well my 20+ issues of ST Format that I won for 99p on EBay finally arrived today. Packaged was about as much good as a wet tissue but they seem to have survived relatively intact. Suppose I can't complain too much, worked out about 40p an issue including postage

 

The400 has arrived...

 

Hopefully they will bring out a A800 or 800XL Maxi if it sells well. Maybe that's why the banjaxed the 800XL clone last year.

 

This week in Retro I have fitted a Blitter to my Atari 1040STFM this morning and it's all working nicely, and I bought a ACSI2STM Hard Drive over the weekend which will hopefully arrive this week.
On top of that I bought a 7" version of Transmission by Joy Division off feeBay to go with my 12" version. It's the only bass guitar track I every got down pat.

 

It is indeed, Al - the ST deserves a loyal and dedicated following and I believe it does have this despite us Amiga bitches always going on about how the A500 lured and tempted us away! Full credit to Richie and other folks who support and fit wonderful hardware enhancements, raising the ST's performance and profile to that which we hoped it would reach - the ST deserved to be a success.
Also, well done Richie for acquiring that Joy Division track Transmission which I don't think I've played since leaving my 1980s batchelor flat - it's quite a "doomy" number if I recall correct, mate? Congrats in you also being able to play it, mate - quite an achievement, buddy. I can just about recall other tracks She's Lost Control and of course... Love Will Tear Us Apart - one of the greatest tracks released by any band... ever.

 

The A500 is indeed a more powerful machine and a 16bit gaming and video powerhouse but the ST will always have my heart along with the 800 and XL. Also the cracked compilations were much better on the ST as you used to get four or five games compared to the usual single title on the Amiga. Those Medway Boys and Pompey Pirates sure knew how to use a compression tool

 

Yeah, the old adverts are a little joy gold mine...I sent my Expert cart to Richie and that has a load of old Trilogic adverts with it. The presentation was naff looking back at it, but they just evoke 'the day' really well.

 

Sooooo…. This week I picked up a copy of Atari ST user from 1994. It still has the cover disk attached LOL. This issue reviews the Atari Jaguar and they wax lyrical about it. Saying it was going to be a strong contender in the console wars. They gave Cybermorph 90% FFS Still it’s interesting to read all this with the benefit of hindsight.
I also picked up a ASCI2STM hard drive for my 1040STFM so been messing around with that for a bit this weekend. It was a lot cheaper than the UltraSatan, it would seem however, that you need 2MB or more to really get the most from it. So I may need a 4MB upgrade after all

 

Ha ha re the Jag, how they got it so wrong..Such a shame, using BigPEmu I've had a chance to play some Jag stuff and some of it's pretty good, BUT most of it isn't to be honest. Have fun with the ST Richie, as always, nice to see the old gear getting the love it deserves.

 

Splendid, Rich - keep enjoying and sharing the lurve, as Paul says.

They are a goldmine the old mags in terms of unearthing long-forgotten reviews, ads and opinions and as you say, fella, with the benefit of hindsight we can see where they hoped it was all heading but can also see the pitfalls, the strong competition and where they made a pig's ears of things being late to market/not thoroughly testing/lack of investments/promotions etc... all those If Onlys come swimming into view but of course the world was a different place back then and we were all different people - fascinating all the same - keep sharing the lurve and if I can chip in with extra RAM - after your recent Oric help, Rich - please just PM and send me some further details of the memory upgrade please, mate. Continue having fun with the ST, the hard disk and SATAN stuff - it really does give us all a buzz hearing how you (and Al) are getting a helluva buzz playing with, properly using and enhancing this long-neglected Atari machine. Keep up the gReat work, fellas.

 

Excellent stuff Richie. I'll be dusting off the ST in the next week or two as I play with the cartridge emulator and start shifting throught the ST Format magazine bundle I bought on EBay. In fact, I had better get those issues added to my spreadsheet and see what ones I still need

 

Hehe, mug of Yorkshire's finest tea in hand at this very moment Andy
It was a really good haul this trip,everything just seemed to fall into place. Looking forward to trying the CPC once I give it a little clean up. Warlords and Galaga really were two games I've been searching for a while so getting both in the same week was amazing luck.

I had to take a little video of the computer museum especially for you guys so I'll post that up as well. Suffice to say the place is AMAZING. Every sort of 8-bit micro and peripheral you could think of, a classroom of BBC Model B's, a few arcade machines, a working Apple Lisa and a great little cafe onsite.

I'm still heading down to North Yorkshire at the end of September/October if yer up for another Atari Owners Club meeting at Rage Quit bar again. Need to sample that food menu when the kitchen opens

 

I have a handful of CPC Games if you want them Allen. I have a disk version of Red Sunset ( copy 50 of 50 ) if you ever get a 3” drive.

 

Keeping in the 8-bit sphere I’ve just picked up a Sega Master System and a couple of games ( Psycho Fox and Hang-On )
Nice little system on first impressions.

 

Nice. Always had a soft spot for the Master System. Hang On is pretty good and I can also recommend Enduro Racer. Is it the MK1 or MK2 console you got?