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@DarthAzrael in February 2022

@DarthAzrael

The Anime Costume Contest at MegCon 2007. This costume contest was sponsored by Anime Sushi and for years was the only costume contest at MegaCon. While the theme was anime it was somewhat flexible and it was not uncommon to see video game or sci-fi related costumes. Read more and see the video here: https://hive.blog/hive-181335/@darth-azrael/zwwpaobu #MegaCon #cosplay #anime #CostumeContest

@DarthAzrael

The ad above is from Boot magazine, the predecessor to Maximum PC. The Nimantics Orion 8X-200 represented the state of the art for a laptop in early 1997. Just look at the power! A 200 MHZ Pentium processor! 48 MB of RAM! A 2.1 GB hard drive! Laugh now if you want but this much power cost a pretty penny then. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/nimantics-orion-8x-200 #retrocomputing

@DarthAzrael

I found a number of 5.25" disks at a thrift store a number of years ago. I finally got around to acquiring a 5.25" disk drive and extracting the contents a while back. Since then I have been posting the contents here. Based on the contents, most or all of these disks were apparently once owned by someone named Connie who used to run the “Close Encounters” Special Interest Group (SIG) on Delphi in the mid 1980s. This post includes the contents of CO921.DOC. This is a chat log…

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Antic, along with ANALOG, was one of the most popular Atari 8-bit computer magazines, at least in North America. Some features in the September 1983 issue includes: Atari in the Classroom - An article on the Atari software and hardware used in classrooms. While all computer makers tried to get their machines into classrooms, Atari didn't have all that much success. Commodore had some success, especially in Canada, but it was Apple that always seemed to dominate...at least in…

@DarthAzrael

The first three photos in this set were all processed in April 1960 and were probably part of the same lake/river trip in which water skiing was involved. It looks like a wooden power boat was pulling the skiers. Some other pictures from this trip have appeared in previous sets. For more info and photos from this set, see https://hive.blog/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-oestreicher-1457-1460 #slides #vintage #photos #film #photography #Kodak #Kodachrome

@DarthAzrael

The 2021 Brevard Renaissance Fair is currently going on now but here is a look back at the 2017 Brevard Renaissance Fair... The Brevard Renaissance Fair is an almost brand new Renaissance fair that started just last year (that's Brevard County, Florida). It expanded to three weekends this year but I only had a chance to go one day on the final weekend. I can't say that I have experience with a large number of Renaissance fairs but they seem to do a pretty good job with this…

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Commodore Power/Play was one of a few different magazines published by Commodore over the years (Commodore Magazine was the last). Commodore Power/Play focused on gaming and other fun or hobby related things you could do with your computer as opposed to business or productivity uses. The January 1982 issue would have been out before the Commodore 64 was released so its focus was on the VIC-20 with some coverage of the more business oriented PET line. The January 1982 issue…

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Advertisement for the Sears Video Arcade from the Sears catalog in 1977. The Sears Video Arcade was an OEM version of the Atari VCS (later renamed the Atari 2600). Except for the branding it was identical to the Atari branded machines. Atari had an OEM relationship with Sears going back to the original Pong home system in 1975. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/sears-video-arcade-1977 #retrogaming #Sears #Atari #VCS #Atari2600

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This post includes the contents of CONTEST.DOC which is dated September 17th, 1985. This appears to be an e-mail sent to all SIG managers regarding a recruitment drive contest. Basically, the SIG manager who signs up the most new Delphi users would win a free trip. Well, not really…they were much cheaper than that. You got a free weekend at a Ramada Inn or Hyatt in the city of your choice but you had to pay your own travel expenses. Read more:…

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boot's cover story in February 1997 was MMX. MMX stood for "MultiMedia eXtensions" and consisted of 57 new instructions that were aimed at accelerating gaming and other multimedia functions. These were similar to (but not as powerful as) the Altivec instructions that came later with the PowerPC. At the end of the day, they were helpful but not earthshattering. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/boot-february-1997 #retrocomputing #Pentium #MMX

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H.E.R.O. (which stood for Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation) was a game released by Activision originally for the Atari 2600 in 1984. It was also released for the Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit line, Colecovision, Atari 5200 and a few other systems. The above screen shots are from the Commodore 64 which in my opinion was the best and probably the most popular version. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/h-e-r-o-commodore-64-1984 #retrogaming #Commodore64…

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GamePro was never my favorite video game magazine but it was certainly one of the most popular. GamePro covered a multitude of systems throughout its life. In 1993 the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo had both been out for a time that could be measured in years, the NES was still seeing the occasional release. The Turbo Duo never really did that well in North America (unlike Japan) and while it would hang around for another couple of years, games would only be released at a…

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From the guide: "HEY YOU GUYS! It's time to catch up with one of the best group of kids ever to go treasure hunting under a Pacific Northwestern town. The actors behind Mikey, Mouth and Data reunite to tell their tales!" The panels are the main reason I go to MegaCon. Where else can you see actors from your favorite TV shows and movies talk about their experiences making them? Here we have Sean Astin (Mikey), Corey Feldman (Mouth) and Ke Huy Quan (Data...not to be confused…

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The Educator 64 was a version of the Commodore 64 produced by Commodore for the education market . They were in a case similar to the older PET machines but had a regular Commodore 64 motherboard inside. However, the built-in monitor was not color, it only displayed shades of green. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/commodore-educator-64 #retrocomputing #computers #technology #DigitalArchaeology

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Mazer is a game that was released in 1995 for the 3D0 by American Laser Games. The 3D0 was not a very successful system. While it had impressive hardware for the time, it was very expensive, had relatively poor third party support and too many of the games were mediocre at best. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/mazer-3d0 #retrogaming #3DO

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I've been splitting up the contents of this disk (descriptively labeled “File Disk”) since it contains a number of documents, some of which are pretty long. A 5.25" floppy disk can still hold an impressive amount of info when it is just text. The document included in this post is a poll about computing in the nude. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/digital-archaeology-codex-floppy-disk-8-part-5 #retrocomputing #DigitalArchaeology #Delphi…

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The three big magazines for the Commodore 64 in the U.S. were Run, Commodore Magazine and Compute!’s Gazette. There were others like Ahoy! but they had a somewhat smaller circulation. Only Run and Commodore Magazine seemed to be available near me at the time so I didn’t really know about Compute!’s Gazette until much later. In July 1984, neither the Amiga nor the Commodore 128 had been released yet. The VIC-20 was still hanging around but it wouldn’t have commercial support…

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Doom 3 was, as the name suggests, the 3rd game in the Doom series. It was a very often delayed sequel I might add coming nearly a decade after the previous Doom game (Doom 2). The name is somewhat of a misnomer though. Doom 3 was not really a sequel, it was a remake. Why they felt the need to reboot the story, I have no idea. It's not like the plot of action games like this are particularly intricate anyway. But given that the story isn't all THAT important, it doesn't…

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K-Power was a relatively short-lived computer magazine by scholastic published in the early/mid 1980s and designed to appeal to kids. Features from the February 1985 issue include: A Networking Guide: Reach Out & Access Someone - How and where to hook up; the lowdown on the newest modems and the latest lingo. Plus, a behind-the-scenes look at how a bulletin-board system works. Pirates & Raiders - The computer-abuser subculture. In their own words: why they do it. Their peers…

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Nintendo Power, Nintendo's official magazine, while not necessarily the best place to get reviews, was an ok source for strategy guides and info on new games for Nintendo systems. Features from the September 1991 issue includes: Super Mario World - Mario's new Super NES world is the hugest! With so many places to explore, he's lucky to have Yoshi. Star Wars - Starfighter Luke Skywalker battles the dark side of the Force in an action-packed new NES game. Smash TV - Game shows…

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ANALOG computing was probably the best magazine for Atari 8-bit computers. It also sometimes included ST-Log as an insert which covered the Atari ST but ANALOG was always primarily a magazine for the 8-bit Atari computers. Features from the December 1986 issue include: Status report - An insider's look at the confusing world of expansions and upgrades. The Atari 8-bit Gift Guide - The old and the new - a plethora of ideas to make your holiday season merry. TechPop - Give…

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Antic was a magazine for Atari 8-bit computers named after the ANTIC chip which was primarily responsible for the graphics in those machines. For a brief time in part of 1985 and 1986 Antic also covered the Atari ST until an ST specific magazine was published. The September 1986 issue focuses on weather and features include: Weather Maps From Space: For Atari 8-bit and ST computers - While getting satellite and radar images from the internet is trivial today, that wasn't…

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Electronic Game Player was a very short lived video games magazine form the late 1980s. While this particular magazine didn't last very long, it was the predecessor to Electronic Gaming Monthly. The September/October 1988 issue of Electronic Game Player includes the following: Features Atari Plays to Win - Once holding a commanding profile in the electronic gaming spotlight, the Atari 2600 has failed to excite players in the shadows of the Nintendo Entertainment System and…

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PC Power is a PC gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. in the 1994-1997 time frame. In 1994, 486s were probably the most common gaming PCs around with a lot of 386s still around and the first wave of Pentiums being sold. By 1997, the first Pentium IIs were released. Pretty much all PC games in this time frame were DOS based. The June 1994 issue of PC Power includes: Read more: https://hive.blog/hive-140217/@darth-azrael/pc-power-june-1994 #retrogaming…

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Compute! was a multi-format computer magazine popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. There were a number of spinoffs that were specific to a particular computer type, most of them short-lived. Compute!'s Amiga Resource is one of those. Features from the October 1989 issue include: Lively Arts Creating beautiful art may be easier than you think From composing to playing - the Amiga does it all Amiga BASICs - Will the fastest BASIC please stand up? 1989 Guide to Amiga User…

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This slide was processed in April 1960 and is, I believe, from a water skiing trip that has been seen in previous sets. This is a shot of a dam from a wooden powerboat that was also used to pull the skiers. There was finally a photo that Google could identify. This photo (along with all those other ski trip photos in previous sets) are from Lake Havasu near the Parker Dam on the Colorado River near Parker, Arizona. For more info and slides from this set, see…

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From the program: "Great Scott, butt-heads! Did you ever think you'd have this duo in one space and time? Christopher Lloyd (Taxi, Star Trek III, and so much more) and Tom Wilson (the Wing Commander games, Legends of Tomorrow, and so much more) are on hand to discuss their roles as Doc Brown and Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future trilogy, all their work besides, and so much more!" Read more and watch the video here: https://hive.blog/hive-181335/@darth-azrael/jquzrsya…

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John Elway's Quarterback is one of a number of football games on the NES. It started life as an arcade game, originally just called Quarterback. John Elway signed a licensing agreement shortly after it was released. The arcade version of the game had a unique controller for the offense. It was a spring loaded handle that allowed you to aim your pass. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/john-elway-s-quarterback-nes #retrogaming #Nintendo #NES #football…

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This photo was taken at Peter Skene Ogden State Park in Oregon probably in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Google was able to ID the photo of the bridge. However, today there are three bridges close to each other so it took me a few minutes to figure out which was which. I think the one seen in this photo is the old Highway 97 Bridge A.K.A. The Crooked River (High) Bridge. A new bridge was opened to replace it just past this one that opened in 2000. The old bridge is still…

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ANALOG Computing was the most popular Atari 8-bit magazine in the U.S. This issue is from 1989, the last year it was published. Features from the March 1989 issue includes: Cartridge Games for Your XEGS - The addition of the XEGS to the Atari line has caused a resurgence of cartridge-based games - old and new - and 130XE and XEGS owners both can take advantage of the fun. Pebbles - From ancient Egypt comes this deceptively simple desert game using nothing more than a few…

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Stretch Panic was notable for being Treasure's first 3D game. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001. It had some fairly unique game play elements, primarily the ability for the main character (Linda) to stretch, pinch and bend objects and opponents with a scarf. You play the role of Linda as she sets out to rescue her twelve sisters who are possessed by demons. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/stretch-panic-playstation-2 #retrogaming…

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K-Power was a short-lived magazine by Scholastic oriented towards kids and teens but it had a lot of good content. Features from the March 1984 issue includes: Computer Camp-Out - Everything you always wanted to know about camps but were afraid to ask: Where's a hacker camp in your area, how to be a counselor and get financial aid. Famous Hackers In History - The first computer wasn't the PC, it was the CC (Cave Computer). Pinball Bounces Back - Some great computer software…

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Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman was a rather uniquely themed game released for the PlayStation by Agetec in 1999. The protagonist journeyed to the far east to learn the secrets of the Samurai to aid his quest in defeating evil. When he comes back, he has a Katana in his right hand and a gun named "Johnny No More" in his left to aid him in his quest. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/rising-zan-the-samurai-gunman-playstation #retrogaming #PlayStation #PS1…