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

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?

 

I picked the MK1 model with the RGB output that is the same as the MK1 Megadrive ( I want one of those as well eventually ) looks great on my SCART->HDMI upscaler. I have a 600 in 1 Everdrive Cart for it on it's way so I'll have every game released for the SMS on one Cart.

 

It just says HD Video Converter. A small little black box. It cost around £26 off Aliexpress. Ian Priddey’s RGB SCART cables sales and website has pictures of the one I use.

 

Altirra now does a load of printer emulation, 1029 included..I used Print Shop and printed out a Happy Birthday banner with cakes on...LOL..Made me smile. Barely used my Epson FX80, the odd dump of code if I was writing something, but mostly it sat quiet. Even these days I rarely use my printer / scanner as more than a scanner. The only stuff I print are for the in-laws, prayer timetables etc. Can you even get the ribbons for the 1029?

 

This weeks retro finds guys. Clockwise from top left we have

Ambernic RG35XX SP - I've been wanting a modded Gameboy SP for a while but couldn't justify the cost. For half the price this makes a great alterntive. It looks feels and plays better just like the SP but with the added benefits of emulating lots of other systems with RetroArch.

USED 3.5" FLOPPY DISKS - picked up by a mate at a car boot sale. I had a rummage through and came back with a handful. Some are labelled from a games shop I worked in 35 years ago and a couple of others are software on demand titles from WH Smith/John Menzies that I've never seen before. The most interesting though is one that simply says "ST List". I'm hoping this might actually be a list of games from back in the days of the infamous Barras Market. Will need to check it out soon.

WOODED DISK COASTERS - custom made by said mate from above. Ideal for refereshment placement in the Al Cave. He also sells them in four packs like this for £10 posted.

USB FLOPPY DRIVE - another carboot find. Going to try and use this to load Amiga and maybe ST games right into some of the emulators available on the PC.