Penny Arcade have posted an interesting interview with the guys who are working hard on the Vectrex emulator for iPad/iPhone – Vectrex Regeneration.
In it they discuss how things are progressing and some of the obstacles they’ve encountered along the way. Like many, I cannot wait for this one and so it’s particularly exciting to read further news on what is going to be an awesome-ness app.
Here’s the link-
Trying to play this thing one handed whilst filming the 21″ Vextrex on Saturday proved to be a bit difficult so I managed to catch Richard having a go on his creation on Monday.
As you can see, the sound is pretty much spot on but the graphics need a little more work.
Sadly, later that day it appears that someone may have accidentally inserted a game cartridge whilst the Vectrex was still switched on and subsequently blowing something judging by the burning smell. Let’s hope Richard can discover what the problem is and is able to fix it soon.
I was browsing through some of the software donated by the visitors to RCM’s gaming event the other day and came across a great looking game cover for the Phillips Videopak/Odyssey 2. It’s such a great cover for a video hybrid board game I wanted to see if I could find a digital copy.
Mmm, neon grids!
Here’s a few more Odyssey 2 game boxes rich 70′s Sci-Fi artwork. They should bring this style back!
I read with interest that 40 years ago to this day (or yesterday) the first video games console, the Odyssey Magnavox was sold. A huge Happy Birthday to home video gaming and an equally huge ‘in your face’ to E.T 
For a few weeks now I’ve been having a weird issue with my internet connection. All appears o.k for general surfing the web and transferring data around my LAN but whenever I try to download anything large than say 100mb via HTTP, it craps out an about 30%. At first I thought that this was an issue with Chrome as the success rate with Firefox seemed to be a little better especially with the ability to resume a failed download. A
As the days went by, even Firefox was having problems and then it came to be that it didn’t matter which browser I used or computer. Even my iPad struggled to download some of the larger apps. Incidentally, FTP and torrent files seemed ok and my client was happy to chug away at the latest Linux distro etc
A very weird problem and as one with a large number of possibilities, proved to be very difficult to research online for answers. My tests has ruled out any issues with my ISP.
After more head scratching, working my way through my router config and trying this and that I was started to run out of ideas. My router is usually left powered on and so I thought I’d go back to basics…i.e switch it on and off again.
Switched off……..waited…..switched on….POP…….oops!
Router is now dead.
Weird!
So, I never got to the bottom of the problem…maybe there was an underlining issue with my router after all and the reboot just finished it off?
Typical, having had the day off and working out in the garden I was looking forward to a bit of downtime online.
See me race to the PC store to pick up a new router, scan the box contents to make sure it supports all the bits and pieces a proper router should support…race back home….box open and probably the fastest bit of network kit I’ve set-up in ages
Woo and it’s got a USB port too, that’ll come in handy.
It’s now, whilst setting up the security do you realise how many wireless/wired devices you have!
So…my top tip…if you’re having issues with larger downloads, only reset your router at a time when you need the internet the least and also when the shops are still open in the event you need to nip out
Cubemen is one of the indie games that was included in the Gone Fishing Indie Bundle from Indie Royale and is proving to be quite difficult to put down!
At it’s heart it’s a tower defence type game and in all honesty it isn’t my favourite game genre. I find them slightly tedious if the AI is set to high from start….or my brain freezes due to the amount of on screen action. However, with Cubemen, the pace seems to start off a little slower allowing you to get to grips with the game and the strategic placement of your men and armament. Maybe i should look at this genre again?
The premises is simple, use your own Blue Cubemen army to defend your base against incoming waves of enemy Red Cubemen. Leave no one standing.
Starting with only a handful of grunts with minimal weapons, placement on the game map is essential to dispense with your foe efficently and help increase your points. Points can them be traded to bolster your army with more Cubemen including those with better and more powerful weapons. There’s even a medic that can be purchased to keep your Cubemen in fighting condition.
Your enemy will also throw down their own heavy hitters to so have to think carefully about where you want to place your own Cubemen. For example, snipers have longer range weapons but light armour therefore it’s best to keep them at the back behind a wall of flamethrowing grunts.
Visually it’s basic but it’s retro cube style art and marching animation is spot on and so I instantly liked this from the start. The music can get a little repetitive but there’s a handy mute button…or you can always replace it with something to suit.
There’s plenty of options available for screen resolution, windowed/fullscreen and graphics quality so it’ll even run run quite successfully on a low spec machine. I’m running this on my Atom based netbook with no issues. To keep things fresh, there’s also the Skirmish and multiplay mayhem levels, although I’ve not really tried these yet as i’m still enjoying the single player mode.
One thing i’d failed to spot until I was playing around with the options screen the other day is the that you can change your Cubemen armies colours apply a decals.
I’m loving the O/S decals. Who will win, Windows, Mac or Linux?
The Gone Fishing Indie Royale bundle has finished now but if you’re curious about sampling Cubemen you can still pick up the game for a few quid at Steam/Desura for Mac or PC. It’s also on the Apple App store for iPad2 and above.
For more details, check out the developer website – www.cubemen.com
Apparently there’s a level editor coming soon in a later update. I do hope they add in the ability to change the Cubemen’s names…I don’t know why but i always think of Cannon Fodder when i play this so it seems fitting rename them to according. Go Jools!
Here's the trailer -
Am now back from a second day of retro gaming at RCM’s gaming weekend. Lots of fun indeed and as always, great to catch up with friends and fellow colleagues.
My friend Alex has uploaded some footage from Saturday as he walked around the event rooms so you can get an idea of what goes on. My little iPhone Arcadie makes an appearance towards the end of the vid. Suffice to say, there was a lot of interest with this, especially running Mame, so let’s hope it gets a release soon.
I’ll upload a few photos later on, including some more footage of the monster Vectrex.
Here’s a great gallery showcasing the classic graphic design styles used during early days of video gaming. The websites clutter free design really let’s the artwork stand out and I especially like way you can scroll left and right through the image sets.
Definitely a site I’ll keep returning too, especially if the content increases.
http://artofthearcade.com/165-2/
The unforgettable Activision ‘rainbow’ design used on many early box covers for titles like Pitfall, Barn Storming and Freeway.
Atari Logo – Surely the most iconic gaming logo of all?
George Opperman – Creator of many, now iconic, video game art pieces.
Check out that mini Star Wars arcade cabinet!
Retro heaven!
I’ve been enjoying the split screen goodness of Visual Pinball and PinMame just lately so I’ve decided to make myself a small pinball case and some proper flipper buttons. Before I go ahead and start cutting wood I thought’d I take a few measurements and get a few ideas by making a cardboard mockup…sorta!
Having a dig around at work at the pile of used cardboard and I found this old shelf box…does this not scream pinball table or what!
It’s just the right size for my TV and the slant means that I won’t have to attack it too much with the scissors. Now for another box that will house my Netbook and act as the backbox score display.
My Netbook will also run the pinball emulators and use the secondary VGA port to expand my desktop to the TV screen
This one should do nicely…held together with the strongest tape I could find.
Test fitting with my Netbook. The finished case might have to be slightly bigger back box to allow room for the VGA cable sticking out the right hand side. I’ll aim to create a front bezel to hide this and the other cables etc.
My favourite bit next, the arcade buttons. Only a few required for n a pinball table – namely left/right flipper buttons but I’ll be adding a coin and launch button.
I’m using standard Happs arcade buttons and some of those really noisy micro switches left over from when I swapped them out of my iCade <see previous blog post http://stiggyblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/icade-with-leaf-switch-arcade-buttons/
Going forward I’m aiming to have a spring loaded piece of dowel that will, when pulled back and released, touch an internally fitted arcade button l configured as the ‘ball’ button in Visual Pinball. With any luck, this should sorta emulate the ball launcher on a real Pinball table.
IPAC boards are very cheap these days so I’ve now got a few extra for a number of planned projects.
Micro switches connected to the IPAC wiring loom. The coloured wires are for the positive terminals and the black wires are daisy chained as ground. It looks a little messy in there but a few well placed tie-wraps should sort that out later.
Mapping the controls using a utility called WinIPAC. All I need to do now is map the same keys in Visual Pinball e.g so that the button on the left (mapped to key ‘Z’) is mapped at key ‘Z’ in Visual Pinball for the left flipper button.
I’ve added a couple of cardboard support boxes inside the table box to elevate the TV screen. One slightly taller than the other so that it’s titled like a Pinball table.
It seems to fit pretty o.k. Both screens need a bezel though!
I like to build these cardboard mocks ups as it can often highlight some of the problems I’ll need to address when building the wood version. For example, I need to think a little more about the route and connection points for the VGA, IPAC and mains cables. Also I’ve found that my Netbook speakers are not particularly loud enough when in the back box so i’ll be fitting a cheap set of USB external speakers…somewhere!
Using my previous Visual Pinball set up, I’ve downloaded a couple more FS tables from VPforum including Breakup and Monster Mash.
The viewing angle on my cheap TV screen is pretty poor. It’s o.k when you’re actually playing it but from any other angle, the table details become unclear.
Here’s a video of it in action.
Had a fantastic day of retro gaming and catching up with old friends today as well as a sneaky peak at Richards (Dr Phu’s) homemade monster 21″ Vectrex.
There’s still a bit of tweaking to be had to get the graphics to display correctly but so far it’s coming along very nicely. I took my Vectrex multicart along with me so we could see it running side by side with the same gaming running on the original Vectrex. My iPhone pictures didn’t work out so well but I was able to play a reasonable game of 21″ Berzerk.
Richard and his baby.
I’m currently working on a set of reproduction Vectrex overlays (for the regular size Vectrex that is) and had taken my Minestorm overlay with me to work yesterday to take measurements and make comparisons with the ones i’d made via one of our enterprise laser printers. I still had it in my bag with me today so I thought we’d have some fun
…and a quick video of it in action.
Random Star Wars stuff that made me smile whilst making dinner and killing time.
Although Hoth like Winters are still a few months away, there’s nothing worst than being caught out with a surprise frost in the morning meaning you need to get the scrapers out if you left the car on the driveway instead of parked in the garage.
Well, for the Star Wars fan, how about a Wampa arm ice scraper?
Prototype Land Speeder?
This thing is flippin awesome!
The 501st have some great SW creations but this huge fan made Rancor is superb. What a great prop for a photo op!
More pictures can be found below -
http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_105-10013302.html
…and finally, one that made me laugh.
Law Office of Lando Calrissian.
May the Fo…woohoo, dinners ready!
Atari ‘s classic arcade game Lunar Lander was a huge hit with me and my buddy’s back in the days of arcade machines and so will also be a special part of my gaming history. We used to spend ages stood in front of that beautiful big cabinet, mesmerised by the crisp vector graphics on screen as each of us ’astronaut’ took it in turns using the thruster bar to see if we could out do one another with the trickiest landing. Save fuel and increase the score and go for the easy landing or use more fuel and go for the higher scoring landings…choices, choices…aaaah, moon rock wall!…..er… Houston?
Lunar Lander’s control panel showing the left/right rotate buttons and that unique thruster bar.
Sadly, as always, arcade owners would replace these ageing games and replace them with newer ones and so for us, one Saturday afternoon our Lunar Lander days were over and I’ve never seen a full size cabinet since.
Lunar Lander (and many variants of the name) has been replicated many many times on a wide range of 8-bit computers and consoles and have played many great (and not so great) conversions over the years. The homebrew release for the Vectrex is on my want list.
You can still play the original today via Mame etc or via various Atari releases for modern consoles and portable devices. In fact, if you haven’t played Lunar Lander before, you can play a web browser version on the Atari website.
http://www.atari.com/lunarlander
It was whilst i was Google-ing around on the subject that i stumbled across this rather unique version of Lunar Lander, built a few years ago. It appears that someone has taken the game concept and reimagined it as a mechanical version using an a Lander and Moon scape models, various motors, Arduino boards and a whole host of electronic wizardry including sound effects and recorded voice. This this is Awesome-ness!
Said someone is a chap called Iain Sharp and you can read all about his Lunar Lander and many more projects at his site – LushProjects.com
It’s a fascinating read and goes right into the details with plenty of photographs during the project build.
I aso read with interest that his Lunar Lander game was on display and available to play at Southwold Pier on the Suffolk coast. It’s a loooong drive from here but as I’ve got to play this thing and with some holiday time coming up shortly , I’m drawing up plans for another camping trip Suffolk way!
The Pier also hosts the ‘under the Pier show which is home to a hilarious looking collection of homemade amusement machines. Fancy a go on ‘whack a banker’, ‘Pet or Meat’, ‘ Autofrisk’ or my favourite looking ’Mobility Masterclass’?
These wonderful creations are that of Tim Hunkin who also has his own site - http://www.timhunkin.com/control/d_clocks_index.htm
I sent an email this afternoon to the Pier’s admin office to enquire if the Lunar Lander machine was still on display. Sadly it’s not and they didn’t know when it would return. Major bummer!
I also emailed Iain Sharp via his website to make enquiries as to whether his Lunar Lander machine is still assembled and would it be making a public display some time soon. He kindly responded that it was currently in storage and that he was trying to find a new home for it. Lets hope he manages to soon as my buddy’s and me are waiting to replay Lunar Lander (albeit in a different form) all over again
Edge magazine has posted a fantastic article about the making Dropzone and contains an interview with the games creator, Archer Maclean.
I’ve always enjoyed Dropzone on the c64. For me, it’s a tough game requiring cat like reflexes and the skill to smack that space bar in an instance for that life saving smart bomb – although as a kid I’d use my foot leaving my hands free on the joystick/button. On the Atari 800 this game rocks!
Well, it’s been a few weeks now since receiving the awesome(ness) custom port of Mame for my Arcadie-Arcade and have been thorougly enjoying testing it out with the creme of all those arcade classics. The Arcadie-Arcade is miniature arcade cabinet designed to be used with a iPhone or iPod Touch. Its uses pressure sensors on the bottom half of the screen for the joystick and two mini arcade buttons leaving the top half of screen to display the game. Fun times indeed, especially as I’ve been lucky enough to beta test this yet to be released Mame port.
So far so its been all good and all of the rom images I’ve tested so far work just as well as if using iMame or Mame4All using Set 37b7. O.k with only two buttons, you might be a little restricted when playing certain games like button-fest Street Fighter II (although it’s suprising how far you can get with just one kick and one punch button) but pretty much all of the old school classics that appeal to me are those that only require one or two buttons. Having anymore buttons on the Arcadie would be a disaster!
Once you have the app installed and a collection of zipped rom images transferred the Rom Folder on your iPhone (I did this via sideloading with the iExplorer desktop client), you launch Mame, scanthe rom folder and with any luck, you should have a nice games list.
You can scroll through games list one by one by moving the joystick up or down or alternatively via left and right to jump through the list more quickly. Pressing button ‘B’ on the Arcadie launches the game and the fun begins.
Along the bottom of the screen of four useful touchscreen buttons which remain on screen during the game. They are – Exit (to main menu), Options, Coin and Start. The options button brings up a full screen menu and so it’s probably best not to access this whilst your iPhone is in the Arcadie case because you won’t be able to see the rest of the screen. To be honest, once you’ve configured the emulator options to how you like them, I doubt you’d need to go into this menu again.
That’s about all there is to it really and even if you’re not familiar with Mame, I don’t think that navigating around and running a game is going to cause you too much difficulty. Oh and btw, bothHorizontal and Vertical games are supported…and if you’re thinking that vertical games won’t be playable of such a tiny portion of the screen..believe me they play just fine.
At the moment they’re no release information for this port particular of Mame. Will it pass Apple stringent views on emulation or will it be a Cydia store app only? Who knows but in the meantime, if you happen to have an iPhone or iPod (3rd Gen), do yourself a favour and treat yourself to an Arcadie Arcade machine whilst they’re available. Even if you can’t play Mame on it yet, the free arcade inspired games on the app store will bring a little bit of classic gaming to your desktop….as well as nods of approval from fellow classic gamers
I brought mine from Firebox and I’m seriously thinking about getting another one so I can have a go at some creating some custom replacement artwork for the side panels.
Here’s a few pictures of mine running a few games – thanks to the Arcade Flyer website for the backdrops!
Even the almighty Starwars (which is almost unplayable without analogue controls) gives you goosebumps when see it playing on a tiny arcade
I can't have a gaming session without including my all time favourite - Phoenix
Another classic shooter - Scramble.
Even with the tiny digital controls, it's surprising how well it drives that famous red motor.
I struggle with the moves but it is possible to pull of the odd Hurricane kick and Shoryuken uppercut.
Back to the classics one last time.
Andy at the Retro Computer Museum has posted a list of all the computers and consoles that will be available to play at their gaming event being held over next (bank holiday) weekend at the Snibston Discovery museum – Leicester.
Hope to see some of you there?
‘List of machines for next weekend (subject to change)
– Systems –
Atari 400
Sega Master System
Atari 2600
Commodore Vic20
MB Vectrex
Aari ST
Sinclair ZX81
Atari Jaguar
Acorn Archimedes A3020
CGL/Sord M5
PCEngine
Timex 2048
Sinclair 48K
Sony PS2
Acorn BBC Model B
Nintendo SNES
Commodore 64
Sega Megedrive + MegaCD
Panasonic MSX CF2700
Dragon 64
Amstrad CPC464/664
EG2000 Colour Genie
Apple IIGS
Atari 800XL
Sega Dreamcast
Sincalir Spectrum +3
Nintendo NES
DosBox PC
MGT Sam Coupe
Sony PS1
Acorn Atom
Acorn BBC Master
MAME Cab (Bartop)
Commodore Amiga 1200
Nintendo Gamecube
Texas Instruments TI994a
Sinclair QL
Nintendo 64
Microsoft Xbox
Commodore +4
Tatung Einstein
Commodore Pet 2001
Commodore CD32
Sega Pico
Apple Mac Performa 5200
Commodore SX64
Mattel Intellivision
Amstrad GX4000
Sega Saturn
Enterprise 64
Commodore 64 + Piano Keyboard
– Handhelds –
Astro Wars
Scramble
Munchman
Galaxy Invaders
Caveman
UBoat
Nintendo Gameboy
Sega Genesis Nomad
Sega Game Gear
Atari Lynx
– Arcade Cabs –
MAME Cab
60-in-1 Arcade Machine’
