Nostalgia Nerd

Densha de GO! is a popular game in Japan based around trains. Specifically driving trains with a high level of accuracy and skill. Although never receiving a Western release, this is a set of games which appeals to my outer nerd, and so I had to get a Japanese PS1, a Densha de GO! controller (what is essentially a mock train controller for the Playstation) and become a prestigious driver on the Japanese main line. Released in 1996 in the arcade, but 1997 for Playstation, this marks a glorious time to be alive. Let's go training.

WARNING: Do not play track 1 of this game CD on ANY Audio CD Player. Now THAT, sounds like a challenge. In this video I'll be using a number of 90s CD Players and Boomboxes to see exactly why there's such a pronounced warning on this Zool 2 CD about playing on a standard stereo system. What will this horrific audio be? I'll also explain the reasons why it's how it turns out to be. So let's delve into playing a CD-ROM on an audio CD Player.

What Happens if you put My Computer in the Recycle bin? It's a question which has been answered in the Big Play Films short at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_XaJdDqQA0, but I wanted to test it out in real life. I also wanted to cover the story of the Recycle bin a bit as well. Perhaps which computer had the first trash can, and how the Windows Recycle Bin evolved from DOS to Windows 3.1 to Windows 95.

You can pick a Wii up for a few dollars/pounds, and instantly put it to use as a fantastic emulation machine. Here I'll be exploring using the Wii as a DOS Gaming machine, to play classics such as Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, Monkey Island, Leisure Suit Larry and many many more. We'll explore installing the Homebrew channel on the Wii, setting up Priiloader, using the Homebrew browser, installing custom forwarders and getting the Wii to autoboot straight into a DOS environment, with it's own menu system, so you can navigate straight to your chosen DOS games. You could even use it to run DOS screensavers if that's your thing.

The Sims almost certainly wouldn't exist, or at least, be the same without a game released in 1985 known as Little Computer People. Published by Activision, it's one of the first instances of a "virtual pet" or "human simulator" and was arguably well ahead of its time. Here I'm investigating the original Commodore 64 release which poised as a special new research project, to observe actual living people who resided in our personal computers. By creating a house on a disk, the idea was to coax these little people out of the circuitry, and into a 2 1/2 story house, where we could interact, play games and even starve, if we so choose. Good times indeed.

Remember 80s TV Gameshows? They were incredible, yet terrible at the same time. But limited by entertainment options, and TV channels, we tuned in daily to watch these shows, usually featuring excitable members of the public. From Knightmare to The Crystal Maze, Countdown, The Krypton Factor, Going for Gold, The Generation Game, Bullseye, even Run the Gauntlet. Well, I've selected 4 80s Gameshows, and their ZX Spectrum counterparts, to see how both the gameshows and their game versions faired. Rose tinted spectacles on standby.

Isn't it strange how millions of people on one side of the Atlantic, can instantaneously communicate with people on the other side, all at once, and with hardly any delay. Well, it's not only strange, it's incredible. To understand how data travels under vast oceans from one place to another, we actually have to start in the mid 1800s. This is the time when the first undersea cables were laid, and astonishingly, when the first communication took place from Europe to America. Since those first undersea telegraph cables, we've moved onto undersea telephone cables and more recently, onto fibre optic cables capable of carrying our beloved internet vast distances.

Come thrift with me, for a new season of thrifting, or bargain hunting/charity shopping as we call it in the UK (we still don't really have a single word for it, so it's only a matter of time until we ALL call it thrifting). It's the start of car boot season and so what better way to spend the weekend than getting up at 7am to trudge around damp fields in the cold, searching frantically for retro items. In more exciting news, I find a stationery shop whose owner seems to think that it's still 1994, by selling a 486 PC like it's brand new technology. Now you don't see that everyday.

Time for another exciting unboxing session. The first 2019 unboxing, featuring a huge assortment of both retro and modern goodies. As usual, a huge thank you to everyone who sent things in; it's hugely appreciated.

Street Fighter 2 on the Commodore 64? Nah mate, you must be having a laugh. But yet, in 1992, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior did indeed land on the humble 8 bit system, along with the ZX Spectrum and *almost* Amstrad CPC. This video takes a look at the Creative Materials SF2 versions, released by US Gold, with an emphasis on the Commodore 64 release. It then explores how this version came to be and the story of what went wrong. Also, we also take a look at a new version of Street Fighter 2 in development for the C64 by Paco. NICE.

As I write this, it's the Snooker World Championship 2019, so it seems an appropriate time to look at the evolution of snooker video games, starting back in 1984 and ending with Snooker 19, the new game which looks like it *could* be a worthy competitor.

Play Expo Manchester 2019. It's a lonely place when there's no one there. Also featuring DJ Slope falling off stage and hitting the deck.

The Aura Interactor Cushion. It's here. The future of VR and ALL gaming. Although, really, it's the past of gaming... it's from 24 years ago, and you might not actually agree it IS the future. But I had a blast with this piece of virtual reality enhancing hardware. From the era when there were literally thousands of products designed to "enhance" our gaming experience. As the younger sibling of the Aura Interactor Vest, this is something to behold.

Bitmap Books. That's what I'm looking at today; Books filled with bitmaps. Filled with glorious pixel artwork. Filled with nostalgia. I was sent these last year, so this video serves to both highlight these glorious tomes AND ease my conscience about hanging onto them for free. If you want to grab a copy of any of the books shown, then links are below;

Join myself and Octav1us on a retro road trip, as we go and retrieve a mysteriously labelled "Amiga Console", from the middle of the United Kingdom, after winning an online auction. We have no idea what this so called "console" is, or what accessories it is supplied with. This is our quest, it is also our punishment. We also find a few unique goodies on the way, including some information about a game called, Black Dawn 7.

Yes, there is a Chernobyl Game, even if at it's release in 1987, it was named in somewhat poor taste. It's one from a collection of Nuclear Reactor Games / Nuclear Reactor Simulators / Power Plant Simulators / Nuclear Power Plant Games released over the years, which also help to explain how Nuclear Energy works. The Chernobyl game also, handily, is included in this episode, featuring Scott Manley explaining the workings of a nuclear reactor, and me taking a look at Nuclear Reactor games from the 1980s onwards. Titles include the rather dubiously named Chernobyl for the Commodore 64, Reactor for the Atari VCS, Reactor for the ZX Spectrum, Chain Reaction for the C64 and SCRAM for the Atari 8 bit series.

Let's take a look at the evolution of tennis video games, starting with the 1958 Tennis for Two and ending with what our current generation of consoles has to offer.

Stranger Things 3: The Game is here, and so, armed with my Nintendo Switch, and a deep sense of nostalgia towards isometric games, I thought I'd give it a whirl. It's strange because, other than a mobile game in 2017, I can't remember seeing a previous Stranger Things Game. Still, let's delve in.

Brand New Sega Megadrive unboxing. I could call it a Sega Genesis unboxing, but that would be technically false. But anyway, Yes! You heard it, I picked up a brand new old stock Sega Mega Drive at auction, and I'm going to break those 30 year old seals to reveal the treasure within. Hold onto your waste packets for some retro unboxing asmr action, of the best kind. PRISTINE I tell ye. PRISTINE.

Sonic the Hedgehog may be regarded by most as the first and original Hedgehog platformer, but that's not taking Spiky Harold into consideration. A challenging and original platform game for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Commodore Plus/4 and Amstrad CPC, which may *just may* have given inspiration to Yuji Naka.... possibly.... perhaps.... at a stretch.

A new mini arcade machine arrives. Yes, another 1/4 scale arcade machine has arrived from Numskull designs. This time the almighty Galaga get's the treatment. I explore whether this quarter sized critter is any good, or whether you should keep your hard earned bucks for something else. Also, we might as well take a brief look at the history of Galaga, because that's related. Oh, and let's work out how to pronounce Galaga whilst we're here, that's always fun.

Ever since I laid eyes on these wondrous cyberpunk like machines in the 90s, I was captivated. Huge pod like booths, connected to massive, bright headsets seemed like the future; Virtual Reality seemed like the future. In a way it was, because W Industries and Virtuality created something pretty staggering for the 90s. Here was VR which worked, it was immersive and even better, it was affordable, meaning arcades, leisure centres and theme parks were quick to get their own pods installed. So join me on a personal quest of enthralment, as I look at the company and machines behind the original Virtual Reality boom of the 1990s.

Ever wondered how we got hold of cartridge ROMs in the 90s? How they were originally extracted? Well, usually it was through a device like the Super Magic Drive. This little unit hooked up to a floppy drive and not only allowed you to "backup" cartridge ROMs to floppy, but also load those floppy ROMs back into the console. This was useful for development purposes as well as for PIRACY. A lawsuit linked to the devices was inevitable, but rather than being aimed at it's manufacturer, someone else took the brunt...

You remember the 1990s? Surely? The early world wide web. The time when the internet was young, fresh and unfettered. When someone with enough hacking acumen could log onto the largest search engine of the time and plaster it with their thoughts and feelings. What a time to be alive. I miss those times, so I thought we could spend a little bit of time exploring some forgotten website h@cks of those early, tentative and security lacking days. Join me, as we explore what happened to sites such as Yahoo.com, JurassicPark, the Spice Girls and many, many more. GOOD TIMES.

Costing 43,000 Yen, or roughly $400 at the time (now approximately $800), this is the Sharp Famicom Titler. An NES/Famicom combined with a Genlock system, so that you can edit videos, or combine other input sources, 1989 STYLE.

Critic reviews start at 6:38; The Megadrive Mini / Genesis Mini is here. In fact, it has now been here a while, but FINALLY I have got round to looking at it. But as normal, I'm more concerned with the past than the present, so I thought we could look at the Megadrive Mini / Genesis Mini games, and find out exactly what critics thought at the time. After all, there are plenty of Genesis Mini reviews. So let's delve back to the 1990s and see how much fuss these titles actually caused, let's look at the excitement, let's feel the energy surrounding them, rather than just plodding through like a disjointed ghost of Christmas past.

MGA Entertainment, otherwise known as Micro Games of America, produced a lot of electronic devices over the years, some were imported, some were not. But its devices like the Game Wizard, masquerading as something better, something bolder, which really grab my attention. These cartridge taking machines look like a Gameboy, but the question is, are they anything like a Gameboy?

Hugo the Troll, remember him? Well, if you're from Europe, probably, if you're from the UK, maybe, if you're from Brazil, almost definitely, North America? Maybe not so much. But Hugo the Troll was a sensation back in the 90s, in fact, his game was one of the first game streaming experiences, as a player controlled Hugo via. the phone, and we gazed in amazement at our TV sets. Appearing on Saturday morning TV such as What's Up Doc, I take a little look at his history in this video, before committing to the Christmas edition of Hugo; Hugo's Christmas Calendar. That's right, this might be a Hugo the Troll based video, but it's also time to kick off this year's advent calendar.

It's that time again, the time is the time for mail box time, or as us British folks call it, post time. That's right, here's the entire hoard of goods that you've sent me in the past 6 or 7 months. Ranging from retro games of delight, to cartridges that enable the Jaguar to play any game from it's library, this is one hella haul. Thank you to everyone who has sent items in, and now if you wouldn't mind, here are links to some of the items which have been sent in;

Here's a story that started in 1989, with Microsoft's alliance with IBM, and their joint OS/2 venture. But it would lead to an Antitrust case waged against Microsoft in 1998 by the United States Government. At the core of this case was Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and the way it had been rammed into Windows '95, in order to crush the competition of Netscape Navigator. It's a story that the media followed intently, and I felt it was time to re-tell it, and just refresh our memories.

JUST in time for Christmas eve; Die Hard, one of the best Christmas movies of all time (if you have decided it to be a Christmas movie), but how about the game. I'm not talking about Die Hard Arcade or even Die Hard Trilogy for the PlayStation, noooo, I'm talking about Die Hard for the Commodore 64, released in 1990 by Activision. Let's delve into this festive feat. for the senses.