I would like to trade links with this site:
My new site is:

http://www.thelegacypcproject.com

I'll be glad to put a link on my links page if you would do the same.

Thanks,
Anthony

I found this interesting Press Release as I was doing some net exploring. It seems a shame that it is no longer in existennce as all links seem to be dead. The article below was what I found on Wayback.

New Alternative to the World Wide Web Announced

Online PR News – 06-December-2009 – – The new Alternative Electronic Information Network launched today, offering an ad-free, environmentally friendly way to use the Internet. The AEIN's highly efficient system makes it easily accessible on nearly any Internet connection or PC-compatible computer. It provides news, weather, forums, reviews, and a variety of other content.

AEIN pages utilize a range of eye-friendly color schemes and feature embedded shape-based graphics. Lines and text resize to fit the user's monitor and video resolution; members never have to scroll left and right to read text or view images. The AEIN also features line animations and low-resolution photographs.

Rather than using a web browser, members navigate the AEIN through its exclusive access software. This ensures compatibility with all pages. The software is available in versions created for Windows 95, more recent Windows systems, and even DeskMate 3.x. It is designed for ease of use with or without a mouse installed.

The efficient new system helps to decrease power consumption at both the server and personal computer levels. Other steps will also be taken to benefit the environment. Starting in 2010, the AEIN plans to fund (via a charitable organization) the planting of a number of trees equivalent to its current membership at the end of each year.

The AEIN will be operated using the income from membership fees. It will not depend upon stockholders, advertisers, or large contributors. This will help it respond to the needs of members, rather than the interests of powerful individuals or corporations. Every two weeks, a binding poll will be held to make an important decision regarding the system.

AEIN membership is currently offered in 16 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Singapore, Uganda, the United States, the U.K., and others. Almost any ISP, modem, or connection will work. For the first week, lifetime membership is available for only $14.95 USD. A monthly rate will apply in subsequent weeks.

With computer servers consuming an ever-increasing supply of electricity worldwide, the AEIN has created an alternative which will help reduce the Internet's burden upon the environment. It also provides a pleasant ad-free resource where members are not pressured to buy the latest products or continually upgrade their computers.

The AEIN is an online service primarily for people with older computers or low-speed Internet connections. It offers a fast, ad-free way to read weather forecasts, find recipes, conduct research, use forums, play online games, and much more. It provides over 600 pages of content, including some exclusive material and many interactive features. The AEIN is also now free to use.


You can access the Alternative Electronic Information Network using your existing Internet connection and ISP, after downloading a small software program. It runs very quickly, regardless of whether you have dial-up or a high speed connection. If your computer uses Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP, it already has adequate hardware for the AEIN. If not, just about any PC-compatible can access it under DOS or DeskMate 3.

Free Membership

Access all content, including news, weather, and product reviews. Post up to 12 times per year on sales boards, download up to 20 files per year. No personal information required. Download the AEIN Access Software for:

Windows 95 through XP / DOS / DeskMate 3.x / DeskMate 3.x Offline Demo

Do not run the DOS version on any Tandy computer with an EEPROM (1000 HX, SL, TL, RL, RLX, others); use the DeskMate version instead.
Step-by-step Setup Instructions for Windows

1. Download the Windows version and save it to your hard drive.
2. Find the file in "My Computer" and right-click it. Extract the compressed files to a new folder. On older versions of Windows, you may need a third-party program like WinZip or PKUNZIP to accomplish this.
3. Go to the new folder and double-click WINAEIN.
4. Select "Register..." from the "Main" menu on the menubar.
5. Read the Terms & Conditions, then select "Register..." again, entering your new username and password.
6. Select "Log in..." from the "Main" menu; enter the username and password.

If the window or the text does not fit your screen properly, change the font under Settings (in the "Main" menu) or adjust the size of your Windows menubar and titlebar fonts in Control Panel.

We have confirmed the software's full compatibility with Windows 95 through XP. It is not compatible with some Windows 7 PCs, and Vista compatibility remains unknown.

About/Contact Information

The AEIN operates a highly efficient online service that members can use to access weather reports, forums, news, recipes, online games, product reviews, statistics, encyclopedia entries and a variety of software downloads. It provides a fast, colorful alternative with minimal commercialization.

The AEIN was established in late 2009 after work to develop the system reached completion. It added many new features and services during 2010 and 2011, including an encyclopedia with over 1,400 entries. A version of the Access Software for DOS became available in 2012.

NOTE as stated earlier, links now seem dead, which is unfortunate as it seamed to be a great concept for those with older computers and still on dial up. Sad to see great work die.

Happy Friday people!.
After the disappointment of the thick cloud spoiling the eclipse, the postmans been and cheered me up with a RGB lead for the +2 the wife brought me home last week.
So after watching Mark fixes stuff video on the Amstrad audio in mod, I decided to add one to this Spectrum, I dont have any tape software anymore and quite happy to load from a laptop etc.
45 minutes well spent.

Now just to find a corner to set it up.

Disks, lots of em, testing, its a dirty job but someones gotta do it

The PiMan was probably the first cult cartoon game hero. He was created by Automata UK, otherwise known as Mel Croucher and Christian Penfold. The game was Pimania, and again, this was probably the first computer game to offer a big prize to anyone who could solve its riddles. Initially for the ZX81, the game was soon available for the Spectrum, and because of the prize, became a best seller. To anyone who could solve the game, and from the clues therein, be at a given place at a given time, would win the Golden Sundial of Pi, allegedly worth £6000.00.

THE CARTOONS

Automata took over the back cover of the weekly magazine Popular Computing Weekly early in March 1983 and used it to sell their games and entertain our minds. Humorous cartoons depicting the life of the PiMan remained there for many years, often mimicking current events such as the general election. Other subjects were also mentioned like their court case with Monopoly producers Waddingtons, computer dating and fake top-ten charts. Cartoon strips also featured other Automata characters like Groucho, Lady Clair St.Clive, ETa, Morris and Yak.
The PiMan character was dropped after Interceptor Micors bought out Automata in 1986.
PIMAN01 March 17 258k The first advert. Bill-board style, advertising various games.
THE MUSIC !

On the B side of their games came a music (!) track. The songs were bad, nay very bad, in fact so bad they were funny. Maybe this was the aim ? Eventually there were enough tracks to release a compilation, and so came the PiMan's Greatest Hits Tape, released Xmas 1983. Then, after further games and songs... another collection of music inventively titled the PiMan's Greatest Hits 2. These tapes have somehow survived despite the awful music. The copyright on this music is, as yet, unknown, as Automata are no longer trading. So, in keeping with the Automata's spirit of spreading happiness and joy, I have placed a small clip of one of the tracks for download. If it proves popular, I may add more.

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http://web.archive.org/web/20060924112812/http://www.worldofspectrum.org/hardware/support/ComputerAlphabet.mp3

THE SCAM ?

As time passed and the sundial had still not being won, a few magazines, C&VG amongst them, began to insinuate that there never was a prize, and that it was all for publicity. Could this be ? Could a company dedicated to entertaining us, really want to rip us off ? Was Keith Cambell (adventure column writer for C&VG) right ? Whether by luck, or some other (!) unseen force, the prize was won a few months later in July 1985, some 3 years after the games release. C&VG announced this fact, and proceeded to apologise. The full transcript, including the details of the winners etc..

PIMANIA - THE SUNDIAL IS REVEALED !

The Golden Sundial of Pi has been claimed and an era in computer gaming has ended.
On July 22nd, 1985, Sue Cooper and Lizi Newman, both of Ilkley in Yorkshire, stood at the mouth of a horse cut into the chalk hill of High and Over, near the village of Alfriston and Lithington, in the Sussex Downs. As they waited, soaking wet in pouring rain, the famous Piman clambered out from a clump of bushes and, to the strains of his own signature tune, presented the two lucky ladies with the coveted Golden Sundial. The Piman was, of course, the infamous Christian Penfold in uniform.
After drying out, the two ladies were treated to dinner at the Seven Sisters Hotel in Seaford, a couple of miles down the hill.
The successful Pimaniacs - Sue and Lizi make no bones about having been hooked on the treasure hunt - couldn't be called teenage gamesters. Sue is a teacher at Guisley Infants School, and Lizi the proprietor of a music shop in Ilkley.
Not normally addicted to computer games, they have been playing Pimania since early 1983 on a Spectrum. When I asked Sue for an estimate of the number of keyboard hours they had put in, she replied: "Very little, we knew it had to be a horse fairly early on, so most of our time was spent in researching where !"

The horse clue comes from the Pimania map, in the shape of Pegasus, the horse. So Sue and Lizi visited public libraries, and consulted books such as Collins Field Guide and Hill Figures, to try to decide on the correct 'horse' location. They visited quite a few, including one at Westbury, and this was their second attempt at a claim, the first being at Uffington.
The clue that pointed them to the correct geographical location was the fact that Pegasus is near the Seven Sisters of the Plough. Their search, after a misleading pointer to cambridgeshire in the Field Guide, finally put them on to the Seven Sisters cliffs between Seaford Head and Over.

However, they were not convinced that they had the right spot until they made a pre-visit the day before. They saw the large compass mounted on a pillar, close to the car park entrance at this beauty spot. They also noticed the inscription of Psalm 33 on a metal plate set in stone (and adjacent to Psalm 34 in the game) nearby. But it wasn't until they saw the view down into the Cuckmere Valley, where the river meanders to its outlet at Cuckmere Heaven, that they became convinced that this was indeed the view shown in the Pimania graphic when looking through the telescope.
"We both got immense pleasure from the game, and the research we did leading from it," she explained. "We have learned an awful lot about our country in the process," said Sue.

What about the unlucky ones, those Pimaniacs who had gathered for the annual ritual at various spots around the countryside in vain ?
"If we hadn't won the sundial it would still have been worthwhile, for the pleasure gained from Pimania depended on how much you put into it. Other Pimaniacs, I am sure, will agree that their effort brought its own reward."
I wasn't in Sue's good books when I spoke to her, for my July article had upset her. "It wasn't fair to suggest it was a rip-off," she protested. OK - apologies for any such implications, I take it all back.

Although I now live 20 miles away, I know the area very well, for I once lived in Seaford, less than two miles away, and my local was the Seven Sisters where Sue and Lizi dined.
There's a wonderful view from High and Over on a clear day, but although its a local beauty spot, the horse must have been difficult to research, for it is not an ancient monument. It was created by Canadians during the First World War. It has recently been restored.

"What will you do with the prize?" I asked. "That's exactly what we're beginning to wonder, because never really thinking we would win it, we hadn't planned how we could share it!".
At the moment, the Sundial is swapping mantelpieces every couple of days, and being shown off to friends and neighbours. One thing is certain, it will never be melted down and divided - Sue and Lizi are certain about that.

What a wonderful ending to the most talked about adventure game of all time - so far !
There's GOT to be another, and I can only think of two people who could do it. Mel and Christian, get your heads together again fast! I'll never doubt you again !

Article taken from Computer and Video Games - October 1985


THE SOLUTION !

To prove the world that the search for the price was not in vein, Automata published an answer booklet, detailing the exact location of the hidden artifact (with directions to get there).



PIMANIA

© AUTOMATA 1982
Portsmouth, Hants, England.

Concept/Design/Program by M. Croucher & C. Penfold
Golden Sundial of Pi by Barbara Tipple (De Beers Diamond Award Winner.)
Music by Clair Sinclive and The Pimen.
Krummy Kartoons by Robin Grenville Evans
Winner of Golden Sundial :
SUE COOPER & LIZI NEWMAN

Thanks to all the publications and radio stations who said fine things about Automata, Pimania and the PiMan. Thanks to you, the public, who became Pimaniacs: to the man who went to Bethlehem on Christmas Day, to the young man who went to Stonehenge on Midsummer's Day, and interfered with a Druid, to the loony who tried to book a ticket on the Space Shuttle, to the lady who cited us for causing her divorce, and to the thousands of Pimaniacs the world over, who had a good time.


Thank you for making it all worthwhile for us.
mel croucher christian penfold

No thanks to those unspeakable blackguards who sold illegal maps of PiLand, ripped off cassette copies in the piracy of their own homes, resold, hired and otherwise chiselled us out of our dues. No thanks either to the pestilences who continually phoned us demanding help, clues, and threatening to force feed us a saxophone. And to all those interested, "WOW! A SAXOPHONE!" was NOT a clue!


Apologies for the appalling free disco-single, but we didn't want to leave our cassettes' backsides with nothing on them. There were several clues in the lyrics, none more obvious than, "MEET ME AT NOON & I'LL BE THERE", which was a straightforward instruction. "GO EASY WITH YOUR RUBBER DUCK; MAKE DE MOST OF YO' PORK PIE," referred to the danger of offering the PiMan these two gifts if he was in the wrong mood. "WHAT LIES BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR" were all of the relevant clues hidden there. And as for "WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE! BYE-BYE!" this was a firm warning for you never to lose your temper, or get violent with the PiMan, and if you happened to use a naughty word, the PiMan would throw you out of the game. If you communicated via your keyboard, The PiMan would learn all about you. The more you put into PIMANIA, the more you get from it.

Whether you experienced PIMANIA on a ZX81, a Dragon, a ZX Spectrum or a BBC micro, you were presented with a screen image of a PI symbol or a STAR rising high into the sky. This was your first visual clue. It was not pie-in-the-sky, but PI in the sky or STAR in the sky. And so, Pimaniacs, you should have turned your gazes towards the heavens.
A key turns the lock ...
Into the Piman's world ...

To get into the program proved as difficult for some players as getting out of it again, but eventually you entered the correct "PI", didn't you. Your key turned the lock, and you entered the PiMan's world.

Soon after discovering how to begin your Quest for the Golden Sundial of Pi, you were given your second major clue without having to do any work for it! "TIME IS ON YOUR SIDE". For those inflicted with decimal-north-sea-digital-watches it may have proved a little harder to see that the whole means of movement around the world of the PiMan related to the directions on the hands of a clock face.


Thus, when you were "..cast into the Arena of Despair.." and surrounded by that cage, there were in fact two ways of unlocking it. "..3 from 12" indicated both the directions "3" and "9". We are aware that some of you were turning into Pimaniacs even at this very early stage of the Quest, and beginning to communicate via your keyboards.

The PiMan was looking forward to you using normal English sentences to communicate with him and his world. He wanted you to ask any question, make any comment and express yourselves as widely as possible. And to those of you who got totally carried away, "..... it was up to you my friend."


After much frustration you discovered how to treat the PiMan's various moods, and he offered you various weirdly assorted gifts.

"You are cast into an arena of despair. A cage surrounds you ..."

If you were carrying one or more of the PiMan's gifts when you arrived at the "Neck of the Woods" there was a chance that the PiMan would either take back one gift, or allow "The Green Door" to open. The more useful the gift, the less likely it was that the Door would be revealed. Having passed through The Green Door, however, you had now entered a new phase of your Quest. You were able to visit all 21 locations in PIMANIA, and if you kept track of where you had been, and where you were heading, you were able to map them thus:


Remembering your very first clue, on scanning the sky you should have been able to associate the locations of the PiMan's world with a heavenly constellation. The Constellation of PEGASUS, the winged horse. It really was Pi in the Sky!

PIMANIA is played at two levels, The First level is to get through the ULTIMATE GATE OF PI, The red herring and to enjoy yourself as much as possible on the way. However, the Second level is to understand the allegory of what is happening to you, thereby locating, and winning the Golden Sundial of Pi.

The Red Herring was, yes, a red herring. The dog was simply barking up the wrong tree. The jokes, songs, dances, adverts and suchlike were harmless You could take up to 5 weird objects at a time, found at the horse's feet. It was not until you helped the PiMan, by understanding his moods and offering him the correct gifts, that he allowed you to pass through the GREEN DOOR. Once passed, it was not until you began using the PiMan's gifts to you that things started to make sense.


The ECHO CHAMBER was the place for you to utilise your Megaphone, and you were given an important quotation: "I Will Bless The Lord At All Times : His Praise Shall Continually Be In My Mouth." Yes you were looking STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE's MOUTH!
Piman with ear trumpet

Whilst visiting the Oily Drum of the horse's earhole, the Deaf Aid could be used. The PiMan appeared, listening to the codes or notes for "C,A,G,G."

Many of you took this to be childish burble for "See a Gee-Gee ...." but it was a little more subtle than that. The "Ca" referred to the symbol for Calcium, that chalky stuff. Yes, the "GG" was baby talk for a horse. Thus you were now on the track of a GIANT CHALK HORSE, to place yourself within its mouth.



The Observatory was the obvious place to use your Telescope, rewarding you with the view as seen from the location of the Golden Sundial of Pi, when standing in the Horse's Mouth. "The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music" was not meant to be particularly obscure .... you were looking at some hills, with a river flowing from distant-centre-left, towards a large expanse of water on your right. The hill at the right of your screen was extremely sheer, wasn't it.


And so to the fabled CAVERN OF IVORY, the Horse's Mouth, wherein you were trying to open the Ultimate Gate of Pi, "by sacrificing the correct clues beneath it." There were several objects that you were able to remove, once you had dropped them, & these were irrelevant. It was only those SEVEN gifts from the PiMan that were revealed to have attained their "final resting place" which were genuine clues, and which all confirmed the location of the Chalk Horse. The objects were, in no particular order:

THE COMPASS: here is a sketch of the huge compass which is to be found adjacent to the site of the Chalk Horse.


THE CALENDAR: revealing the correct date. (see next page)

PSALM 33: which is adjacent to Psalm 34, the quotation on a metal plaque set in stone, adjacent to the site of the Chalk Horse, overlooking the hills.


THE TELESCOPE: giving you the view from the location of the Golden Sundial of Pi.

THE DEAF AID: giving you the musical clue "C-A-G-G".

THE BLACKBOARD: indicating that the Golden Sundial of Pi was to be found on chalk.

THE HANGLIDER: an appropriate clue to a famous location for loonies, who enjoy throwing themselves off high hills, strapped to overgrown kites!

To open the Ultimate Gate of Pi, you stood in the Horse's Mouth, the 21st location of the system. 7 objects were sacrificed beneath the Gate, & you entered the final Key, "22". PI, (22 over 7) was a clue from beginning to end.

The date of it's discovery was a very straightforward matter :

22 over 7 ... JULY THE TWENTY-SECOND.
The final location

THE GOLDEN SUNDIAL OF PI WAS LOCATED AT NOON. ON THE TWENTY - SECOND OF JULY. IN THE MOUTH OF THE WHITE HORSE ON HINDOVER HILL. WHICH OVERLOOKS BEACHY HEAD, IN THE COUNTY OF SUSSEX IN ENGLAND ......

Recently on the sites' Facebook page Hot trout posted pictures of his Game & Watch collection

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https://www.facebook.com/hottrout?hc_location=timeline

, and

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https://www.facebook.com/hottrout?hc_location=timeline

.

I knew very little about these little gems other than their existence. So off i went to

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archive.org/web/web.php

. To see what I could find out about these units. I could probably have achieved quicker results by doing a Google search, but my preference is to search Wayback, to find the information. Mainly because the information is fresh to the era of what I search for. ( Allow an old guy his idiocyncrasies )

Below is some information and pictures of what I found on Wayback and I would like to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Nintendo Game & Watch

There may be thousands of games that are more advanced and more fun to play, but few of those have so high nostalgic value as Nintendo's Game&Watch games.
April 28:th 1980 was the date for the first release ever of a Game&Watch game. It was introduced by designer Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997), and suddenly there was a Game&Watch in almost every home.

In Scandinavia alone almost two million games were sold during 1981-1992. In Sweden 800.000 units (Source: Nintendo-se).

The games featuring Donkey Kong and Marios Bros became huge successes in the 80's.

As far as I know only official 59 different G&W-games have been released by Nintendo Co. Ltd, Kyoto, in Japan.

There are ten different categories of Game & Watch: The first Silver-series that was produced in 1980, then came Gold (1981), Widescreen (1981-1982), Multiscreen (1982-1989), Tabletop (1983), Panorama (1983-1984), New Widescreen (1982-1991), Super Color (1984), Micro Vs. (1984) Crystal Screen (1986) and Special (1987).

The Nintendo - Game & Watch™ Masterlist
Last Modified: 2001-01-26

Silver Series

Game Name Model no. Released
Ball AC-01 1980.04.28
Flagman FL-02 1980.06.05
Vermin MT-03 1980.07.10
Fire RC-04 1980.07.31
Judge IP-05 1980.10.04


Gold Series
Game Name Model no. Released
Manhole MH-06 1981.01.29
Helmet CN-07 1981.02.21
Lion LN-08 1981.04.29


Wide Screen
Game Name Model no. Released
Parachute PR-21 1981.06.19
Octopus OC-22 1981.07.16
Popeye PP-23 1981.08.05
Chef FP-24 1981.09.08
Mickey Mouse MC-25 1981.10.09
Egg EG-26 1981.10
Fire FR-27 1981.12.04
Turtle Bridge TL-28 1982.02.01
Fire Attack ID-29 1982.03.26
Snoppy Tennis SP-30 1982.04.28


Multi Screen
Game Name Model no. Released
Oil Panic OP-51 1982.05.28
Donkey Kong DK-52 1982.06.03
Mickey & Donald DM-53 1982.11.82
Greenhouse GH-54 1982.06.12
Donkey Kong 2 JR-55 1983.03.07
Mario Bros. MW-56 1983.03.14
Rainshower LP-57 1983.08
Lifeboat TC-58 1983.10
Pinball PB-59 1983.12.05
Black Jack BJ-60 1985.02.15
Squish MG-61 1986.04
Bomb Sweeper BD-62 1987.06
Safebuster JB-63 1988.01
Goldcliff MV-64 1988.10
Zelda ZL-65 1989.08


Color Screen Tabletop
Game Name Model no. Released
Donkey Kong Jr. CJ-71 1983.04.28
Mario's Cement Factory CM-72 1983.04.28
Snoopy SM-73 1983.07.05
Popeye PG-74 1983.08


Panorama Screen
Game Name Model no. Released
Snoopy SM-91 1983.08.30
Popeye PG-92 1983.08.30
Donkey Kong Jr. CJ-93 1983.10.07
Mario's Bombs Away TB-94 1983.11.10
Mickey Mouse DC-95 1984.02
Donkey Kong Circus MK-96 1984.09


New Wide Screen
Game Name Model no. Released
Donkey Kong Jr. DJ-101 1982.10.26
Mario's Cement Factory ML-102 1983.06.16
Manhole NH-103 1983.08.24
Tropical Fish TF-104 1985.07
Super Mario Bros. YM-105 1988.03
Climber DR-106 1988.03
Balloon Fight BF-107 1988.03
Mario the Juggler MJ-108 1991.10


Super Color
Game Name Model no. Released
Spitball Sparky BU-201 1984.02.07
CrabGrab UD-202 1984.02.21


Micro Vs.
Game Name Model no. Released
Boxning / Punch-Out!! BX-301 1984.07.31
Donkey Kong 3 AK-302 1984.08.20
Donkey Kong Hockey HK-303 1984.11.12


Crystal Screen
Game Name Model no. Released
Super Mario Bros. YM-801 1986.06
Climber DR-802 1986.07
Balloon Fight BF-803 1986.11


As far as I know only official 59 different G&W-games have been released by Nintendo Co. Ltd, Kyoto, in Japan.But there are 61 items in the above list


YM-901 Special


"Super Mario Bros"
Nintendo Game&Watch


This is a rare special model of the Super Mario Bros Game & Watch which wasn't for sale!! Only given away as a prize to Nintendo players winning the F-1 Grand Prix Tournament in Japan.

As far as I know only 10,000 of these were made.




YM-901
Title: "Super Mario Bros." (Same as YM-108)
Model no.: YM-901-S
Manufacture: Nintendo Co. Ltd, Kyoto
Year: 1987
Display Type: Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Watch Batteries: 2xLD43 or 2xSR43
Total number of buttons: 9 (4 controllers, 1 jump, game, time, alarm and acl)
Weight: 65 gram (0,01 Pounds)
Height: 86 mm (3,38")
Width: 91 mm (3,58")
Depth: 10,6 mm (0,04")

The Prize Letter

In english translation:

"Famicon Grandprix F1 Race.

Congratulations to the prize!

We thank for your participant in Famicon GrandPrix F1 Race. Your results have of Nintendo's computer top of the ranking chart. The price is a game&watch special edition of Super Mario Bros.

Further as receives you participate in a "Idol hot-line" stunt with Nakayama Miho from Tokimeki highschool....."

(Thank to Jonas from "Magakai Örebro" for the translation!)


I would like to thank all the sites on Wayback for their information, and thanks to the webmasters of those sites for their hard work in contributing their knowledge to sharing it with you.

An Incredible test of strength!

Exactly how durable are Atari cartridges? I thought I'd see for myself. So, I took a Combat cartridge that was made in the 32nd week of 1981. You can tell by reading a little number code printed on the ROM. I did some experiments on it to see how much abuse it could take and still work.


I took the cartridge and dropped it out of my second story window onto the cement sidewalk five times. The plastic part of the cart was in pieces, but the game still worked. Then, I put the cartridge back together as best I could and put it out in the street.


It got run over by a jeep. I took it inside and it still worked. At this point, there was nothing left but the PCB with the ROM soldered on it and a metal cover that went over the ROM.


I then put the PCB in boiling water for five minutes,


took it out and immediately packed it in a snowball that I made out of frost from my freezer. After five minutes, I broke all the ice off the PCB and ROM and plugged it into my Atari. It worked!


What could I do next?


I have this magnet that's very strong. If I hold it within about 1.5 feet from a TV screen, all the color gets sucked to one side of the screen! Well, I took that magnet and rubbed it all over the PCB and ROM. Plugged it in, and it worked!


I then took a lighter and held the ROM right above the flame. I left it there for a few minutes until the ROM was smoking and giving off a nasty smell. I cleaned off all the soot and plugged it in and it still worked.


No more Mr. Nice Guy!


I took it outside and three cars ran over it,


threw it up as high as I could and had it land on the cement twice, and I threw it down onto the cement as hard as I could twice. At this point, the metal cover that goes over the ROM had broken off, the PCB was chipped on all the corners, the ROM was smashed onto the PCB so that the pins were all squished on one side and were being pulled out of the solder on the other side. I had to straighten out the pins so that none were touching each other and I had to hold the PCB together in one place so that the metal contacts would be in the right place when I plugged the game in. Guess what...it still worked!

This cartridge had taken heat and cold extremes, shock and magnetism.


Next up was electricity. I took the Atari power supply (9V, 300mA) and connected some alligator clips to the output terminals of the power supply. Then, I rubbed the other end of the alligator clips across the metal contacts of the game's PCB. I tried a bunch of different combinations and always had both alligator clips touching the PCB contacts so that electricity would be flowing. I plugged the game back in and much to my surprise, it still worked!


Lastly, I grabbed my hammer, rested the game down on the cement, and gave it a good smack. The ROM cracked right in half, breaking the silicon wafer.


I plugged the game in and, of course, it did not survive the last test of durability. It took all that abuse to ruin a 13 year old Atari game. I'd say they're pretty durable!

Source: 2600 Connection
1994, Issue 23, page 8
Written by: John Earney

The images arenot the original images of the article, asthey were not available on wayback. So, itook some licence and added what I thought may be appropiate. I think the durability was proven.

The Best of THE TORPET Plus More for the Commodore 64 and The VIC-20 was a book published by the TORPET Commodore 'only' magazine in Canada. Their start was only preceded by The Paper, which merged with The Midnite Gazette, And the Transactor published by Commodore. Their first issue was released in November, 1980 under the banner of TPUG, (Toronto Pet User Group). Subsequent issues were released under the TORPET banner. By December, 1983 their printings per issue were at 32,000. In 1983 there were dozens of club magazines in circulation, with many using reprints from TORPET.

Publication members of TORPET were, Bruce Beach, Jean Beach, Darrin McGugan, Sue Spires, and Gottfried Walter. Unknown is whether TORPET was renamed from TPUG as a result of a split with the TPUG group or whether it was just an extension of the private enterprise style of TPUG. I am assuming TORPET was an extension of the group.

When The Best of THE TORPETT was published (1983 ? ) They had a listing of 69 diskettes availabe that sold for $10.00 each or $350 for the set.

Lyman Duggan, an Employee of Marconi started the group first called called Club 2001, after the PET 2001. Starting up sometime in 1979, with sixteen members, charged five dollars for attendance, and served coffee and doughnuts. His wife, Cherie, had cassette tapes containing contributed programs which sold for a dollar or two.

Attendance grew rapidly, and Duggan had to seek out ever larger sites for the meetings. Then, with little warning, his employee posted him to Florida. Duggan quickly nominated a board of directors to replace him, and TPUG became a member’s club.

Brett Butler, one of the first PET owners in the Toronto area, who wrote a tiny program for his wife who was in the late stages of pregnancy: tap any key, and the PET would show time elapsed since the previous contraction.

Computer enthusiasts were regarded as mavericks. Few of those who worked in the field of data processing would have any association with microcomputers. I suspect the reasons for this are varied. Perhaps there would be a loss of corporate prestige to admit that those little thousand-dollar machines were capable of taking on some tasks, when DP personnel had million-dollar machines as their private domain. It seemed that some users would believe only what IBM told them; and, at that time, IBM had no interest in giving any credibility to these pesky little machines.

There were rebels. A Vice President of Air Canada used a Commodore PET to plan fuel needs at various airports; but he had to hide his machine from the DP mavens, who didn’t approve. A regional education officer in northern Ontario supported microcomputers in schools, and helped assembly a body of educational software; all the while, the Department of Education wanted all educational flow to be centralized.

TPUG prospered, and its influence went far beyond Ontario’s boundaries, or even those of North America. Today, it may be difficult to comprehend the difficult in distributing free programs across the country or around the world. We use the internet. Back then, you put cassette tapes in the mail, or, later, floppy disks. And a central clearing point produced better organization. TPUG was it, for many years; most Commodore clubs across North America became associate TPUG members.

Membership reached a peak in 1984 of about 17,000 members. TPUG now had a full-time staff for handling memberships and mailing requested programs, and another full-time staff to publish the TPUG magazine. There was a lot of money flowing into TPUG.

An early online service, “The Source” opened for business in 1979, and was soon followed by another, Compuserve. A service specific to the Commodore 64, Quantum, became available in 1985. There started to be other ways to distribute programs. And the internet was coming.

Online services, and a shift to other manufacturers computers, caused a further decline in membership. And this caused disputes to become more pronounced. It’s easy to bring in new equipment and new staff in prosperous times; it’s not so easy to start cutting back. Many old-timers dropped out of the TPUG picture. But TPUG survived, and is still active today, and still has an online store.

Two notable members of TPLUG were Jim Butterfield, author of The First Book of KIM, Learning Machine Code Programming on the Commodore 64 ( and other Commodore computers ), Machine Language Programming For the Commodore 64: Commodore 64 Book/ and 64K disk, Commodore Reference Manual, Machine Language for the Commodore 64,128, and other Commodore computers (Revised).

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http://users.telenet.be/kim1-6502/6502/fbok.html

The next Notable was Bruce Beach editor of The Best of THE TORPET.

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http://www.ki4u.com/webpal/beach.htm

Hey ladies & gents, hope your having an interesting weekend.
Though I would post up a simple little modification for those extremely cheap Snes lookalike usb controllers off Ebay.



As they come they are ok at a pinch, but do suffer from (well at least mine did) horrible at times random movement, like if you pushed hard up or down etc 7/10 times your character would also move left or right, a right pain in the ass!.
So after a quick stripdown I could soon see why.





First of all the plastic for the D-pad had alot of leftover plastic from the molding and also the center post that the D-pad orbits around wasnt long enough allowing the pad to squash the other rubber domes that was causing the erratic function. (Extremely funny if only for the inevitable swearing during a Bomberman match!).



So clean off the extra plastic with a file, this made a bit of a difference but not perfect.
The center post needs to be extended so the whole D-pad cant be pushed in by the center.
I found these small sticky foam rubber 2mm thick pads at world of quid and they are perfect to place in the center of the pcb below the D-pad, they take up the space between the pcd and D-pad perfectly.



A quick clean down with alcohol wipes to remove the flux our friends in china left behind and the pads stick very well.



Have a soldering iron at the ready as the wiring on the board isnt too hot, I re-flowed the solder points while the pads are open.
Assemble plastic body again, 5 Screws to tighten and your back in buisness, job done.



Bomberman anyone?.

Many users use Mame as their emulator, and I thought they may be interested in the origin of Mame and the first emulators that started the craze.

Mac Multipac

Mac Multipac is a pacman emulator. It was originally written for DOS, I ported it to the Macintosh. It can handle the following games:

Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Puckman
Hangly-Man
Crush-Roller

Source Code is available.


The current version is 8.1.



NOTE: While Multipac was cool in its time, it is now obsolete. Actually, it became "MAME" which has got to be the coolest arcade emulator out there. So Multipac is not of much use any more, unless you want to run at 3x3 pixel size, or unless you are having a bit of a nostalgia kick and want to see where MAME came from.


The about box pict (cause I think its cool):



If you are a PacManFan you all know Clay Cowgill's MultiPac kit. Clay doesn't produce them anymore, because of some legal issues. Now you can play with this 24 in 1 game kit in this emulator. However, you won't find any MultiPacRoms here, but you can download them somewhere on the Net...........


What is now known as The Multi Arcade Machine Emulator started in January 1997, as single emulators for different games, written by Nicola Salmoria. Most of us still remember Nicola's Multipac, Ladybug, and Pengo emulators. It has since evolved into an absolutely incredible emulator, capable of running z80, 6502, 6809, 68000 and 8086 based games. The emulator currently runs well over 340 games, a lot of which have sound, proper colors, high score saving, etc. Another great thing about this emulator, and why it has developed so fast is because of all the great people involved in either writing drivers, providing ROM images, schematics, or other valuable information. The current project coordinator is the extremely talented Mirko Buffoni