Latest Retro Gamer

[martw80888]

using the Duplicator machine in Menzies that used to be downstairs in the Dolphin Center in Poole. That was a great machine, you had a massive CPC library from memory and so weren't restricted to whatever other shops like W H Smiths decided to stock.

I used to drag my parents to that Menzies most Saturdays, it would have been around that sort of time as well, we probably crossed paths more than once. I was always annoyed that they could never supply games on disk no matter how many times I asked though, despite the game inlays saying that disk versions were supposedly available. I remember being very happy when I found out that Software Box (tiny shop upstairs, round the corner from C&A) sold Amstrad disk software (albeit briefly...)

[beaker]

Do you mean an IBM PS/2?

Oops, sorry I meant PS1 

I used to drag my parents to that Menzies most Saturdays, it would have been around that sort of time as well, we probably crossed paths more than once. I was always annoyed that they could never supply games on disk no matter how many times I asked though, despite the game inlays saying that disk versions were supposedly available. I remember being very happy when I found out that Software Box (tiny shop upstairs, round the corner from C&A) sold Amstrad disk software (albeit briefly...)

Damn I remember that lol. Yeah, I remember playing AvP on their Jaguar demo machine at some point and seeing Space Hulk for the first time on the 3DO in that store. It was a tiny shop. Didn't they move across to the other side which was a larger unit or was that another shop? Did you ever get to the indoor market outside the Dolphin Center down past MacDonalds? They had a big selection of consoles for a while and shelves filled with old PC's games going for a song.  I used to come out with loads of games like Aliens Comic Book Adventure for a couple of quid if my memory serves me right. Must have been mid to late 90's as I remember them selling N64 carts as well. I haven't been there in over 10 years. I wonder if Game is still there by the level crossing?

[martw80888]

Yeah, they eventually moved along a bit to a (slightly) larger unit, it was still pretty damn small tho. It's long gone now unfortunately. The last time I went there was probably around 1999/2000.

I only went to the place in the indoor market a couple of times, don't remember ever buying anything there tho. One time I was in there (this would have been 1997ish, maybe) and a bloke came in trying to sell a big stack of Amiga games (at least a dozen of them, possibly more). The guy behind the counter offered him £9 for the lot! The bloke turned him down unsurprisingly . The market itself has also disappeared now.

Game's still there, next to the level crossing. It's the only store selling games left in Poole town centre now since Gamestation closed a few years back.

[SyX]

I never saw an EDOS machine, in theory the games were storaged in a CDROM, no? (or was another urban legend, jejeje)

[martw80888]

Yikes, I might still have that very catalogue somewhere, it looks really familiar...

To be honest, I have no idea how it worked, all I knew was that you went up to the counter with the case for the game you wanted, said that you'd like the Amstrad version, the tape popped out after a couple of minutes or so and you gave them your £3.99.

CDROM seems to make sense given how fast the process seemed at the time, they certainly weren't dubbing them

[beaker]

Yup, that was my recollection as well. Just a shame it never really took off. I wonder whatever happened to those machines?

[martw80888]

In landfill most likely. They might have done better if the system had appeared 5 years earlier, cartridges and CDs became the dominant games media during the 90s

[Carnivius]

Had a quick look through the latest Retro Gamer.  That Roadblasters article.  Liked that side panel interview with David Looker who did the Spectrum and CPC versions.  His comment about him basically saying about how a conversion should take advantage of the system's capabilities and is why Roadblasters CPC is not a cheap Speccy port despite being by the same guy.  Yeah I liked that bit. Shame I can't click 'like' in a magazine.  I could have written 'carnivac likes this' under the article but WH Smith would have thrown me out probably.

[martw80888]

I liked that bit too.

Interesting that in the same issue they have an interview with Mev Dinc, who it turns out was responsible for (among other things) the Amstrad conversions of Last Ninja 2 and Enduro Racer, two of the specciest of Speccy ports...

[McKlain]

Last Ninja 2 and it's "beeper emulation". My god...

[arnoldemu]

Last Ninja 2 and it's "beeper emulation". My god...

super hang on is worse

[arnoldemu]

Yup, that was my recollection as well. Just a shame it never really took off. I wonder whatever happened to those machines?

mine is the same.

I went up to the desk, they had the machine behind it. picked what I wanted in the catalogue. they got out a big plastic case and an inlay.
the machine wrote it to a cassette which had a generic label on it. They wrote on the label to say what game it was. paid and went away happy.

[McKlain]

super hang on is worse

I never played it before, so I started CPCE, loaded the game and...


OH
MY
F**KING
GOD


And I thought that Last Ninja 2 was the worst... How the fuck did they manage to do this crap on the AY?

[Carnivius]

I have a fondness for Super Hang On.  It's one of the few games (or pretty much anything) that my dad and I spent time doing together.   He was a big fan of the arcade game (he loves motorcycles) and despite the difference in the CPC port we still played it loads and also a couple of the other bike games on CPC (which I forget the names of but I'd know them if I saw pics).

[arnoldemu]

I have a fondness for Super Hang On.  It's one of the few games (or pretty much anything) that my dad and I spent time doing together.   He was a big fan of the arcade game (he loves motorcycles) and despite the difference in the CPC port we still played it loads and also a couple of the other bike games on CPC (which I forget the names of but I'd know them if I saw pics).

it's fun to play, but the "music" is horrific.

I think they simulated the beeper by using a hardware envelope, then they turned it on/off.

If you want to know so you can make the same sounds I could find out for you

[McKlain]

If you want to know so you can make the same sounds I could find out for you

Please don't 

[Carnivius]

Just loaded it up and had a listen.  Yeah I remember it now.  I dunno.   Technically it's awful but it does bring back memories of happier times. 


Do wish it had been ported by the guys who did Chase HQ or something and had nice smooth gameplay, great sense of speed, lots of colours.  Ah well...

[Nich]

super hang on is worse

And Prodigy is worse still!

[SyX]

Mev "speccy" Dinc 

[Carnivius]

Mev "speccy" Dinc 

Just typed that name into cpc-power and yeah... nothing but Spectrum ports.  *throws rocks*

[AMSDOS]

Absolutely not. A fanzine, maybe, and this would only run for a few issues, far between.

I personally liked CPC Oxygen which had some good stuff on those Online Pages, though I think the guy that was doing those has work & family to worry about too. I guess it would work if one issue was done every year, so then you could have an issue which reflects back to the year that was for the CPC. Perhaps not review games in a personal sense, though programs and games can be discussed. Because this year is the 30th Anniversary of the CPC, it might be good to do something about that.