Another retro-mag anthology
I've bought one which is done in the style of Crash (it even recycles an Oliver Frey cover, and Mike Frey is one of the directors).? It cost ?10 (less the traditional penny change), but it's thick and heavy -- if it fell on somebody's head it would do them serious damage. :) It's called "Retro" and subtitled "Micro Games Action".
So far I've only read the videogames history by "Lloyd Mangram" (I wonder who's using that pseudonym this time?), and although generally impressive, I'm afraid there are mistakes in it:
* "1977 -- Nintendo launched the first home videogame system".? Maybe the keyword here is "system", if by this they mean a machine which plays more than one game (or a fixed selection of games); I'm sure I saw home videogames as early as 1973, if not 1972 (Practical Wireless magazine gave instructions for building one).
* "1980 -- the first computer from Sinclair Research, the ZX80, was launched".? What about the MK14, a year or two earlier?
And in any case, surely the first computer from Sinclair Research, as such, was the ZX81?? Until some time after the ZX80 launch, they were Science of Cambridge...
Whilst strictly speaking not an error, I must mention that under 1983, they mention that Marble Madness was the first coin-op to have a trackball -- but omit to mention that it was also the first to have stereo sound, surely just as significant an innovation...
Also under 1983 is mentioned the C64.? But surely this one came out in 1980 or 1981?? I remember that at the time of the Speccy launch in April 1982 (at the Earl's Court Computer Fair -- not the London Computer Fair as is sometimes claimed), the C64 cost ?350, exactly twice as much as the Speccy.
* "1991 -- Irem's Bomberman..."? Do what?? We all know that Bomberman was by Hudson (although Irem may have done a licensed version), and that it first appeared in 1983 on the Speccy, both under that title and as Eric and the Floaters.? Also, at the 1984 Earl's Court Computer Fair, Hudson demoed (on an Amstrad CPC) the first "proper" version (with powerups and all); it's a pity they didn't release this version (they were using it to demo a smart card called the Bee Card), it would have been a hit...
Any comments, anyone?
So far I've only read the videogames history by "Lloyd Mangram" (I wonder who's using that pseudonym this time?), and although generally impressive, I'm afraid there are mistakes in it:
* "1977 -- Nintendo launched the first home videogame system".? Maybe the keyword here is "system", if by this they mean a machine which plays more than one game (or a fixed selection of games); I'm sure I saw home videogames as early as 1973, if not 1972 (Practical Wireless magazine gave instructions for building one).
* "1980 -- the first computer from Sinclair Research, the ZX80, was launched".? What about the MK14, a year or two earlier?
And in any case, surely the first computer from Sinclair Research, as such, was the ZX81?? Until some time after the ZX80 launch, they were Science of Cambridge...
Whilst strictly speaking not an error, I must mention that under 1983, they mention that Marble Madness was the first coin-op to have a trackball -- but omit to mention that it was also the first to have stereo sound, surely just as significant an innovation...
Also under 1983 is mentioned the C64.? But surely this one came out in 1980 or 1981?? I remember that at the time of the Speccy launch in April 1982 (at the Earl's Court Computer Fair -- not the London Computer Fair as is sometimes claimed), the C64 cost ?350, exactly twice as much as the Speccy.
* "1991 -- Irem's Bomberman..."? Do what?? We all know that Bomberman was by Hudson (although Irem may have done a licensed version), and that it first appeared in 1983 on the Speccy, both under that title and as Eric and the Floaters.? Also, at the 1984 Earl's Court Computer Fair, Hudson demoed (on an Amstrad CPC) the first "proper" version (with powerups and all); it's a pity they didn't release this version (they were using it to demo a smart card called the Bee Card), it would have been a hit...
Any comments, anyone?
Post edited by robert@fm on
I never make misteaks mistrakes misyales errurs — oh, sod it.
Comments
Surely they must mean the first 'System 1' game or, as you say, the stereo sound aspect as that wasn't the first coin-op to have a trackball.
The first was a yankee football game iirc and goodness me, it doesn't bear for me to think about how many 10p's I have pushed into the slots of Missile Command and Centipede to name but a couple.
Indeed, it`s very annoying when magazines get things wrong, especially when they get things wrong by a factor of many many years, and even us relative youngsters can remember games that predate Marble madness in both ways...
As far as Mame is concerned the first commercial arcade game to feature a Trackball was Midways `Gunfright` in 1975, with an approximate 135 other games using Trackball between 1975 and 1984, well before Marble Madness hit the arcades...
One of those mentioned however is the Star Wars game, and since I used to play the sit down cabinate version, I don`t know if the stand up version had a trackball, or if it`s just classing the controls as that.
The Centipede/MilliPede games were ACE, as was Crystal Castles :)
The first arcade game to feature Stero sound is apparently Atari`s `Canyon Bomber` from 1977, though the first few games are quoted as using `discrete components` so I don`t know what that means, what they were using..
In fact, out of the first games that use recognisable sound chips, it appears that in 1981 and 1982, around 90 percent of games used 2 AY 3-8910 chips to generate their Stereo sound... so that`s rather nice as it`s a great soundchip :)
Magazines eh? they can`t even do 10 minutes of easy research... tut tut
Sinclair Research and Sinclair Radionics were two separate entities.
SEP-1973 Ableseal Ltd. registered.
FEB-1975 Ableseal becomes Westminster Mail Order Ltd.
AUG-1975 Westminster becomes Sinclair Intruments Ltd.
JUL-1977 Sinclair Instruments becomes Science of Cambridge Ltd.
JUN-1978 Science of Cambridge launch MK14 microcomputer.
FEB-1980 Science of Cambridge launch ZX80
NOV-1980 Science of Cambridge becomes Sinclair Computers Ltd.
MAR-1981 Sinclair Computers becomes Sinclair Research Ltd.
MAR-1981 ZX81 launched. ZX80 discontinued after sales of 50,000
Sinclair Radionics lasted from JUL-1961 to Jan-1980
I've since found that this referred to the 1991 Irem coin-op Bomber Man World, produced by Irem under licence from Hudson.? (I think that when I saw this coin-op in the arcades, both times I did it was under the name Dyna Blaster.)
However, this of course was a licenced version of an already long-established game, not (as the Retro article implied) the first appearance thereof...
misteaksmistrakesmisyaleserrurs— oh, sod it.https://discordapp.com/invite/cZt59EQ
A tenners a bit pricey but its pretty good. Do love the style of the Crash magazine, i hope this issue is successful as other publishers might have a go at dipping into the huge retro scene at the moment