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

Agreed, Al - the pic is sickeningly fake as it TRIES to engage with our sentimentality of these golden times but fails all hands down by being totally inaccurate.
Fancy you also being reminded of the old Americana label too - bizarre!
I really like the sound of the neat util you're using to integrate ST/Amiga floppies - could you share some screenshots / the process with us?
Have a top weekend all and still no sign of the MUCH DELAYED Evri Atari Anniversary edition console, fellas.
I've now raised this as an issue with the seller and will raise it with Feebay next if the seller does not apply any heat on that pile of shit courier company...
Cheers, guys.

 

Sorry to hear that Never-ri are just scumbags, sounds like one of the drivers has helped themselves but will claim to have 'lost' it. When they were Hermes we had a young woman doing the deliveries, she was great (and very easy on the eye), always got our gear and really polite. When it became Evri she was gone and stuff started going wrong.

Enjoy the busy weekend you have there Andy, you seem to have the weather as well...Nice one..Hope you and Bev have super time.

The gear that Al has simply plugs into the PC, you run a reader software and it examines the disk bit by bit, I think it then saves a file out, and then you run a file builder for the machine it's for. I'd been keen to see the process and software on screen myself.

PS, when I mentioned the weather, it was blue sky here, now it looks rough, hope I have not jinxed it

 

I was planning on posting some pictures or a little video at some point. The latest software available makes it really straightforward.

 

Lovely to hear about that great outcome with your bargain Dragon, Richie. Like most on here, I lurve a good underdog story and the Dragon is very similar to the Oric in its well-documented history and those who do have time for it truly do enjoy exploring its potential and celebrating its strengths. Great stuff and nice to hear of your console gaming enjoyments too as you compare the FMV strengths of various systems. I am sure Paul and Al will have more to contribute on that score. Always good to get your thoughts and it would be great guys if we can get perhaps a late Aug/early Sept video link up again of the retro renegade Atari Owners once more so we can flick things at the monitor and shout obscenities at our Evri courier etc. Just a thought, fellas if there's any interest?

 

Congrat's on the purchases Richie. Please please please keep me in mind if you decide to move the Dragon 32 or Commodore 16 on (especially the latter). Apart from the 800XL the only other 8-bit micro I owned growing up was a Plus/4 so have a soft spot for it but like you prefer the C16 design. A tricked out C16 with 64k and an SD drive is something I've always had a hankering after.

Andy, I'd be up for a video call between us all at some point. Hoping to have the cave here sorted out in the next week or so, fingers crossed.

 

Since getting the Sega Master System a couple of weekends ago I've picked up the odd unboxed game from CEX.
So far we have Transbot (£1.50), Ms Pac-Man (£3) and Sonic the Hedgehog (£2). Can't really beat that for value and they are all pretty decent games, Ms Pac-Man is my favourite so far. Now keeping my eyes open for any other CEX stock at a couple of pound of less to add to the library.

 

Thank you for the kind words, I think our secret is that we always have been into the same stuff even before we met, we always have something to talk about. We have had stressful times, but we try not to take it out on each other and remember we have a daughter to think of. There's always a lot of laughter between us all. It really helps.

Glad to hear you got the wonga back...

I hate to think what those cashew things would do to either of my cats tummies...

They will just go in the bin as I'm the only meat eater here, sometimes my lot have the odd twiglet, the naughty Vegans..

Not sure what Jap sporty number you mean, must have missed part of a thread..

So folk, Ya 'all enjoy the weeeeekend...

 

Cheers, Paul.

Sounds like you and Cindy have been a match made in heaven, mate - you're true friends, soul mates and great partners for one another - a bond and lurve that is rare to find so I salute you guys for giving the rest of us hope that we can all get through the tough, trying and testing times we all often face and we need to treat our loved ones with the respect, kindness and patience that their love for us truly deserves.

As for the Jap sporty reference, yes, me and Al were discussing a retro sports car in some thread - was it on here, Al? Anyhow, I'm looking to sell our little Fiat and old Yaris, Paul, and put some fun back into our lives/driving and gan for one of those Mazda MX5s - a friend I do some gardening for has one stuck in his garage doing nowt and he's gonna let me have it for a bit of a bargain price so there we go - that's me boffday gift sorted at the end of the month

Take care, guys, and enjoy a relaxing fun weekend.

 

Congrats on the car, you go enjoy yourselves..PS Happy Birthday in advance..

All I can say is having a laugh is key with us, there's always a giggle going on between us all. Keeps the mood happy and we just take stuff as it hits us, just like all of us.

 

Can't remember if it was on here or Messenger Andy, looking forward to seeing it though

Drove down past Manchester today to pick up the retro Raleigh Mustang bike I won on EBay. Cost me almost as much in petrol as the bike itself! 500 miles later it's tucked up in the garage awaiting some fettling. Doesn't need much done just the saddle properly tightened on the rails and the front wheel put on the right way. It's amazing the amount of bikes I see that the owners don't realise there is an arrow on the tyre (just like a car) to show which way it should be fitted for the tread to do it's work. This is very much going to be a fun day and sunny day local cruiser.

And she already has a name... Mustang Sally of course

 

How are you getting on with the Master System @Vyper68? Got a MK1 a couple of weeks back and picked up some cheap unboxed cartridges for it. It's a lovely little system with some very playable titles.

Be interested to hear more about the 600-in-1-cart. I have been thinking aboug getting an Everdrive for it but they can be a bit pricey.

 

@Vyper68 The SidecarT has a hard drive emulator in the lastest beta firmware. I thought I would take a quick look tonight. Don't really know much about ST hard drive protocols but once I updated the firmware it was as simple as putting some HD modified games and utils into a new folder on the SD card and then SidecarT saw it as a hard drive. Worked really well and loading games fine. Tomorrw I might tackle a couple of word processors and see if I can get some printing done to the LC10.

If you haven't already got a SidecarT I can highly recommend it. Rom cart emulation, real time clock, floppy emulation, wifi downloading of games, and now hard drive emulation. It costs about £50 including the Raspberry Pi Pico. https://sidecartridge.com/

 

I kept my AVG and got rid of the Fujinet. Didn't need the WiFi and the AVG is great at running everything. The one Fuji feature I do miss though is the ability to print to pdf. That was neat.

 

Tried the SidecarT in my one meg STFM and didn't have as much success with loading games, a few bombed out on me. Kick Off 2 worked though It may be more to do with this particular ST though, it's an early TOS version and does act up a bit now and again.

 

It's Sunday evening show and tell time!

Been a busy weekend with retro buying and selling. These are the pick-ups to date.

Nintendo Switch Lite - my first ever Switch console. Bougth it with the intention of playing stuff like Virtua Racing and Outrun on the move, plus I fancy getting the Steeelbook edition of the updated Atari 50th Anniversay when it is released next month. Think I got a really good deal on this yellow handheld (yes, that's the colour I wanted). It's the 32gb version and looks in very good condition with no marks at all on the screen. Bought it for £79 out of a local Cash Generator shop and the sales assistant bundled in the nice grey case as well. Result!

Stepped out to Smyth's toystore today and got some games for it. Tee Time Golf was £9.99 and Cruis'n Blast and Gear Club 2 were in a 2 for £20 deal. Annoyingly you don't get a physical cartridge, just the download code in the box but still cheaper than the Nintendo eShop prices at the moment. Also picked up Virtua Racing from the eShop for a fantastic £1.79.

R:Racing is a Ridge Racer related racing simulator that I'd never heard of before. Saw it in amongst a pile of other PS2 titles in a stall while I was selling the 7800 and Master System to the owner. Would have happilly paid the £6 for it (complete with manual) but ended up getting it as a freebie on top of the cash for the consoles

Lastly, 8-Bit Stories was actually a replacement copy of a book from the author as there was some print problems with an earlier release of it I had purchased. He sent me the colour print version instead which was good and I would have left an Amazon review but noticed about half a dozen grammatical and spelling errors in a couple of random pages right away. Don't think I'll be able to read it properly but it's nice to look at the pictures...





With all the consoles going I've now been able to put the money aside for a 7800+ and The Spectrum but probably won't buy either right away to see if I can get them cheaper once Amazon discount them.

Still need to sell the Amstrad CPC 464 if anyone is interested....

 

Blimey, that's a big bundle! I wonder if they still come with all the bundled extras?

Glad to hear you got the car, let's see some pictures please when you get a chance.

The 464 would be £200 Andy, basically just a little less than what it cost me. Have a think and if it tickles your fancy you can have free delivery when I'm down at the start of October and you get to keep the green screen monitor so you have a choice of that or a colour screen. Do you think you could use one of them as an inscreen entertainment on the MX-5

P.s. what a result for Celtic today!!

 

Isn't she pretty....

 

Very very very narce, Al, the CPC464 and Celtic's result!

Leave it with me but if you do get a firm £200 in the meanwhile then grab it and take their offer, fella, as I cannot definitely commit reet now, even though I would like to.

I have really really spent up in the past week or more - just when I was hammering that debt, so I must not lose sight of keeping on track with paying that orf by early next year.

Yep, took the MX5 for two spins out today - one to my mate Rod's funeral at Willerby in the rain (just a few miles down the road, took it very carefully as the rear-wheel drive is known to be a bit of corner slider in the wet/ice), then blasted off to Brid toneet and took mam out to Sewerby and you know what, whereas Bev is non-plussed, me mam absolutely lurved it, bless her, as we did our normal fish n chips run. "Raced" a 1972 Rover V8 3.5l job coming home from Beeford to Tickton about 8pm coming home - he blasted off from the Brandesburton roundabout and I shot off after him on the dual carriageway and that finally shook off the Mercedes Sprinter van which had been up my ass since we left Brid as clearly the tit behind the wheel gets a buzz out of buzzing wee sports cars Oh, the joys.


Remember these? Just about managed to keep up with one of these souped-up Rovers tonight, lads...

Enjoy your retro, fellas, and yes, pics of the MX5 to follow this week - once more a bit busy with 2 old neighbour's gardens I've promised to cut (inbetween the rain), then Uncles Har and Russ to visit and then Bev's mates down from Cambridge at weekend... hopefully it will be quieter in silicon heaven/hell.

 

Never mind the Italian Job, I'm getting visions of the Hull Job

 

Handheld corner

Clockwise from the left we have
GB BOY Colour - third party console with a decent screen and built in GB/GBC games. Also has a cartridge slot though for playing the original cartridges.
PSP 2000 - nicely modded and a great machine. One of my favourites to collect original titles for.
SWITCH LITE - latest adition to the family
ANMBERNIC RG35XX-SP - multi format machine with GB SP design. Brilliant for most systems up to to 16 bit but excels at GBA with a great screen and the layout.
DSi XL - have an R4 card in this one so access to lots of games but mainly used for Ridge Racer, Arkanoid and Bejewelled.
ANBERNIC RG35XX-HH - same spec as the RG SP but a different layout. This is normally plugged into a monitor using HDMI. Playstation roms look excellent on it.

The storage unit with the games in it was a £12 bargain out of Smyths toy store

 

Nice...Very tidy, unlike my stuff. Looks like a tornado has gone through my room, most days.

Small screens are an issue for me, as the old mince pies have degraded, I find the tiny stuff extra hard to read. Do like the look of the Anmbernic things..

So yeah, real bang tidy old man...

 

The Anbernics are lovely little handhelds. It's a bit of a luxury having two of them but I like to keep the HH (Horizontal version) plugged into an external monitor so I can use it a multi-emulation machine. With the included filters Gameboy and Advance games look excellent through HDMI.

That's another thing I've been playing around with, the portable little 15.6" HDMI monitors I bought from Amazon. TheVic20, TheC64, A500 and A400 machines all look really nice through them. The smaller screen actually works to good effect as it doesn't blow up the pixels as much so looks a bit more like an old portable tv display just a great deal sharper.I've got the Commodore MINI's going into one of them via a switchbox, and the A400 and 2600+ into the other one with the Anbernic.

The update that came out recently for the A400 makes it a lot more usable now and I've been playing Leaderboard quite a bit on it. Graphics are very crisp and the save states are handy. Only thing that lets it down slightly now is the joystick but that's liveable with or you can use an xbox or comp pro USB one instead.

 

Sorry for the delay in replying to this one Paul, just catching up with stuff now. I tried a few different monitors but settled on these two

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C9GVCQ2D?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08MVQMH37/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They both came with cases that you could fold to act as a lid but I ended up adding little adjustable monitor stands instead - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CST284C4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

And finally, as they come with just the one hdmi port, I made use of a cheap little HDMI switch box that I already had amongst my bits and pieces - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CST284C4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

A little bit more retro game hunting this weekend between and I was able to knock a few more titles off my hit-list

SPEED KINGS - PS/2 motorbike racing game. Been wanting it for a while and found a copy in CEX. No manual but I'll keep my eyes open for one.

NAMCO MUSEUM ARCHIVES VOL.2 - £11.99 in Argos and handily I had a £10 giftcard so only paid £1.99 cash. Really disapointed in this one however. I expected it to be the arcade version of Galaga and it turned out to be all the NES console versions instead.

KAWASAKI CHALLENGE - another bike racer this time on the Megadrive. Cart only but it will do for now.

FORGOTTEN WORLDS VOUCHER - I traded in an old gameboy clone and a couple of games. After a couple of the purchases here I still have £38 store credit. Was tempted to blow it all on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Switch but just couldn't do it!

TIME CRISIS - been after this for a while on the PS1 as it is compatible with the NegCon controller.

PRISM LAND - had to resort to eBay as been looking for this bat and ball title on the PS1 for a while. Case it pretty beat up but only paid £5.

GRAN TURISMO 2 - another racing game, another NegCon compatible game.



As well as the above I've been keeping an eye on the Switch, Xbox and CD-Keys online stores Picked up a few titles including Outrun and Columns 2 on the Switch, and Assetto Corsa Racing, Hotshot Racing (both XBox) and the PC version of Sociable Soccer. If you shop around or bide your time for the sales you can pick up some great bargains on the eShops.

 

Been pretty busy the last few days but had some time yesterday afternoon to visit a local CEX branch and pick up a couple of titles.

I've been getting into Tetris and Ridge Racer on my DSi XL and picked up three puzzle games for it. I've not played Touchmaster Connect before but used to enjoy the earlier titles in the series so hopefully it will be a good little game.
Then I spotted a copy of TT Superbikes with instructions for £1.50 - a nice wee racing game and although I had the disc before now I have the box and manual to go with it I know that sometimes people give CEX a hard time of it for prices, but where elese on the high street can you pick up stuff like this for just a couple of quid....

Sonic is a tin sign I picked up at a local market later on. Another thing to put on the wall

Lastly, the Tribute 64 is an alternative controller for the N64. I find the shape of the standard 64 controller pretty awkward so ordered this from Amazon yesterday. So far it has been very good, wireless with USB-C charging and also a dongle so you can use it with a PC as well. It also has a built in rumble pak. Played some racing titles earlier and it made Ridge Racer and the Cruis'n games feel a lot better.

I'm doing a trip down to Forgotten Worlds later this week and might use my voucher if I see anything I fancy. Otherwise it's onward to Play Expo in Blackpool in a couple of weeks and some retro hunting across the border.... Maybe I'll start a seperate thread for that expedition!