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@DarthAzrael in March 2022

@DarthAzrael

Mega Play was a relatively short-lived magazine dedicated to the Sega video games. It started life as an insert in Electronic Gaming Monthly and was fairly short at about 32 pages for a typical issue as I recall. The first issue from November 1990 includes: Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/mega-play-november-1990 #retrogaming #Sega #Genesis #SegaGenesis #SegaMasterSystem

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Retro Gamer was the first really successful commercial retrogaming magazine. It has now been around long enough that the first issues could themselves be considered retro. The first issue was published as a quarterly magazine in January 2004 but for most of its life it has been published monthly. This is one of the special issues titled Videogames Hardware Handbook and covers machines from 1977 to 1999. It's really more of a book at over 250 pages. A new edition of this was…

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This photo was processed in August 1967 and features a pirate ship. This almost looks like a theme park... I see spotlights in the lower right corner and over to the left part of a name etched into the foliage but only the letters 'VSEY' (I think). Anybody know where this might be? For more info and photos from this set, see https://hive.blog/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-oestreicher-1497-1500 #slides #vintage #photos #film #photography #Kodak #Kodachrome

@DarthAzrael

Syphon Filter, released in 1999, was the first in a series of games released for the PlayStation and later the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. Syphon Filter is a 3rd person shooter in which stealth and puzzle solving are important. The plot centers around a series of biological outbreaks caused by an international terrorist. Your job is to solve various mysteries related to these outbreaks and to track down those responsible. Read more:…

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The Guide to Computer Living was a regional magazine (published and distributed in the Northwest part of the U.S.) for the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Amiga. It was not one that I was familiar with at the time it was being published. There were at least six monthly issues published and it was published as The Northwest Users Guide before that. Read more: https://hive.blog/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/the-guide-to-computer-living #Commodore #Commodore64…

@DarthAzrael

Compute!'s Gazette was Compute!'s Commodore 8-bit dedicated magazine. It mostly covered the Commodore 64 but depending on the time period it also covered the VIC-20, Plus 4/Commodore 16 and Commodore 128. Features from the April 1985 issue include: The Winter Consumer Electronics Show: New Life in the Home Computer Market - After a slump in the home computer market and a period of consolidation, several interesting new computers appeared including the Commodore 128 and…

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Though I tended to buy Commodore specific magazines back in the 80s, Compute! was certainly the best multi-format computer magazine of the time. It really had a huge amount of content for your $3 or $4. Features from the April 1986 issue include: New Technologies: The Converging Digital Universe A Turning Point for Atari? Report from the Winter Consumer Electronics Show Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/compute-april-1986 #retrocomputing #computers

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Here we have an advertisement from the November 1982 issue of Electronic Fun. It features the incredible Ultravision! It is portable (somewhat) and features a built in television with tuner, two joysticks, computer functionality (with optional keyboard), and Atari VCS (2600) and ColecoVision compatibility (with optional modules) in addition to its own unique games. Never heard of it? That's probably because it was never released. Read more:…

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PC Zone was the first IBM PC compatible gaming magazine published in the U.K. It was published from April 1993 until September 2010. Features from the February 2000 issue include: The Shape of Things to Come - A tongue-in-cheek vision of the future of gaming including full price bug-fix patches, polygon counts beyond calculation, sexual activity simulator, and more. Online 2000 - The upcoming revolution of broadband internet connections and how it will affect gaming. I…

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TPUG (Toronto PET User's Group) magazine was the official publication of one of the largest and longest lived users groups for Commodore computers. It started in 1979 and continues to operate today. The magazine itself ran for about two years but there have been other publications associated with TPUG before and since. On the cover of this issue is the SX-64 which was the portable version of the Commodore 64. Contents of the March/April 1984 issue of TPUG include: Read more:…

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Enter, a magazine associated with Children's Television Workshop, was a relatively short-lived 1980s computer magazine oriented towards kids/teens. Features from the October 1984 issue of Enter includes: Life On-Line - Welcome to the world of computer networking. A first-hand look at how people across the country are communicating with each other by computer. Plus, a kid's view of the on-line life. Plugging In - ENTER's step-by-step guide for getting on-line. Find out about…

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While not quite as popular as RUN or Compute!'s Gazette, Ahoy! was another major Commodore magazine covering Commodore's 8-bit computers (primarily the Commodore 64). The premiere issue claims to have a circulation of 190,000 and features include: The Computer as Communications Device - All about going online with your Commodore 64 or VIC-20 and a modem calling the modem the "indispensable appliance of the '80s." At the time, a 300 BPS modem would set you back at least $100…

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Private Eye, released in 1983, is one of the more obscure Activision releases for the Atari 2600. You play the role of private investigator Pierre Touche whose primary goal is to capture the criminal mastermind, Henri Le Fiend. There are several crimes that have been committed by this Henri Le Fiend and you must find clues and ultimately the property stolen in the crimes in order to arrest Henri Le Fiend. Read more:…

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Both Star Wars and the Atari 2600 came out in 1977. You would think they would be a match made in heaven with tons of Star Wars games coming out on the Atari. However, while there were a few Star Wars games that ultimately came out on the 2600, they all came pretty late in its life. Death Star Battle was only the second Star Wars game released for home systems. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/star-wars-return-of-the-jedi-death-star-battle-atari-2600…

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Byte was a very long running computer magazine that ran from 1975 until 1998 and continued with an online presence until 2013. It was more technically oriented than most magazines and covered a wider range of material beyond just computers you were likely to use at home. The October 1975 issue includes: Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/byte-october-1975 #retrocomputing #computers #technology

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First there was Heretic, then there was Hexen, the sequel to Heretic...then there was a Heretic II and a Hexen II to make things really confusing. Of those two, Hexen II was probably most like the first two games. At least it remained an FPS style game instead of going towards a 3rd person Tomb Raider like point of view as Heretic II did... Read more: https://hive.blog/hive-140217/@darth-azrael/hexen-ii #retrogaming #gaming #hexen #hexen2

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Amstrad made a number of different computers over the years, including PC compatibles. However, their original Z80 based CPC 464 with built-in cassette drive was probably the most popular, at least in Europe. It was not something a North American audience would have likely have even heard of. Amstrad Computer User covers this and other compatible successors as well as the PC clones. The January 1987 issue includes: Read more:…

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From the program: "Everyone's favorite No-Maj, Jacob Kowalski, has arrived at MEGACON Orlando! Join Dan Fogler as he shares stories from life on the big and small screens; from hanging with wizards to running from zombies! " See the video here: https://hive.blog/hive-181335/@darth-azrael/cvtgoewb #MegaCon #DanFogler #FantasticBeasts

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Ahoy! was one of several popular Commodore specific magazines from the 1980s. It covered various computers depending on the time period but in 1984 it was primarily the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 that were featured. Interestingly, Ahoy! used the same cover scheme through most (if not all) of its life. There were always nine “monitors” on the cover and in each one was something to do with what was in the magazine. The July 1984 issue includes: Read more:…

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While VideoGames & Computer Entertainment may have been my favorite gaming magazine, EGM was a close second. It got its start basically at the dawn of 16-bit gaming. The July 1989 issue covered a wide variety of systems from the Genesis, TurboGrafx-16 and of course NES to the PC, Amiga and even the Commodore 64, a testament to its staying power (though not for too much longer). This issue includes: Read more:…

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This post includes the contents of DECORATE.DOC which is dated September 21st, 1985. This saved document was originally an e-mail (or Delphi’s version of e-mail… I think they called it DMail for Direct Mail?). It is from Rod to Connie and includes lyrics to a song that no doubt makes him think of her. I can’t say that I’m familiar with the song ('You Decorated My Life'). Read more:…

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You might not think of the Atari 2600 as a system with a lot of hardware expansions but there really were quite a few of them over the years. Some better than others. This particular one is called the RomScanner Command Center and was released by a company called Marjac in 1981. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/romscanner-atari-2600 #retrogaming #Atari #Atari2600

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Jumpman was an early action platform game released in 1983. It was released initially for the Atari 8-bit then ported to the Commodore 64 and a little later to the Apple II, PC (DOS) and ColecoVision (never released?). Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/jumpman #retrogaming #retrocomputing #Jumpman #gaming

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Info is a magazine that covered various Commodore computers throughout its life. In 1987 that included the Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Amiga. One of the interesting things about Info is that it was produced entirely using Commodore computers. The Spring/Summer 1987 issue includes: Read more: https://hive.blog/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/info-spring-summer-1987 #retrocomputing #Commodore #Commodore64 #Commodore128 #Amiga #computers

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Despite nearly matching the longevity of the Commodore 64, Tandy's Color Computer line never really had the third party software support that the Commodore 64 and other 8-bit computers of the time had. The fact that Radio Shack did not really court third party development combined with the fact that the hardware was only sold at Radio Shack probably had something to do with that. Buzzard Bait is one example of the games you would typically find for this system. As you can…

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Though it may not be as true today, in the 1980s you could almost always count on a Lucasfilm game (or Epyx game for that matter) to be of high quality. Rescue on Fractalus is no exception. It was initially developed for the Atari 8-bit line of computers and later ported to other popular computers such as the Commodore 64, Apple II and even the Tandy Color Computer 3 (a rare high profile 3rd party title for that system). Read more:…

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This photo is from a Christmas parade that I previously identified as being in St. Petersburg, Florida since there was another photo of a float sponsored by that city. However, these photos feature a float from an insurance agency in Fort Meyers and a Greyhound racing float from Naples (no, that's not the Easter Bunny) so I'm not sure where this parade was except on the West coast of Florida somewhere. For more info and photos from this set, see…

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RUN magazine was one of my favorite Commodore 64 magazines, the other being Commodore magazine but it also covered the Amiga. By 1989, the Commodore 64 market had been in decline for a couple of years but after 1989 the decline was precipitous. Commodore Magazine folded in 1989 and some of their columns were added to RUN. The December 1989 issue of RUN was probably the last with 100 or more pages. Lots of games were still released for the Commodore 64 in 1989 but in 1990 the…

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Congo Bongo is an arcade game that was produced by Sega and released in 1983. While not a sequel it was the successor to Donkey Kong in that it was the next big project Sega worked on after Donkey Kong's success and they wanted to capitalize on the successful gorilla. Congo Bongo was played from an isometric point of view but had many of the same game play mechanics as Donkey Kong. Read more: https://hive.blog/hive-140217/@darth-azrael/congo-bongo-commodore-64 #retrogaming…

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The third party controller market seemed to peak in the 16-bit era but there were plenty of third party controllers in the 32-bit era and even today. This particular ad is for a company called NAKI that developed controllers and other accessories. This ad is highlighting a gun controller by NAKI for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Nintendo 64 called the Lunar Gun. Read more: https://blurt.blog/retrogaming/@darth-azrael/naki-lunar-gun #retrogaming