As if I wasn't already pretty busy, I started a Substack "newsletter'. It's an interesting medium which gives me more space and reach to write about retro gaming & hardware, and allows posting photos from my beloved CRTs too (so it's a bit like the mags back in the day .
(https://i.postimg.cc/V5Qsy13G/cr-DSC08774-2-2-3.jpg)
You can subscribe and get it via email a few times a week, but it actually also works just like any ol' website, so you can just go there and click on articles directly: https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/
I'd like to talk about all this stuff, too, so will post some highlights here every week. Also, if you have any CPC-related news, topic you'd like to see covered, or a game photographed in CRT-vision, let me know!
Here's some stuff from the last week:
- Amiga hitting the big Four-Oh. Happy Birthday! I have a lot of pics and words about some of the best games for this occasion
- ZX Spectrum Next's Kickstarter #3 smashing it (2.1 mil with 20 days to go at the moment...)
- R.I.P Ozzy & Hulk & Julian LeFey. Yes, Ozzy was in a video game too, and if you're not familiar with Mr. LeFey, he's also known as the Father of the Elder Scrolls, and in an unexpected retro-connection, he wrote music for Sword Of Sodan.
- Fenrir (Saturn ODE) gets a price cut and ZX Spectrum & C= Plus/4 new Kong games
Thanks for the heads up, seems nice. Followed.
Feature highlights round-up for the last week (from the last 3 issues)
(https://i.postimg.cc/vTH87Nr7/rsz-b39276e7-5573-4d48-8e5f-0912039fc090-4267x2673-2.jpg)
-big thanks to @koboo and his post on EAB (https://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=1757018&postcount=33), because reading this interview with Dominic Lawson (of the early Psygnosis fame) prompted me to dedicate an entire issue (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/p/the-case-of-an-esoteric-game-engine) to this veteran visionary, and his Amiga-hard (take this, Nintendo!) classic The Gold of the Aztecs
-I take a closer look (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/p/sega-master-system-masterclass) at the demo of Razing Core & dig out my copy of Frontier Force, two extremely high quality modern Sega Mater System productions from Badcomputer
-another new game getting a playtest (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/i/169722272/news-c-a-new-c-game-called-randoom-ancient-stones) is Randoom Ancient Stones for C64 - highly recommended!
...plus, Lumo heads for Amiga, NPC Blues, Oni remaster? (probably not, but it's a nice idea), colorful BASIC rom for the ZX Spectrum, and more...
Last week's highlights:
(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!YIJv!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a057aee-ac84-4da7-bad0-c04eec6acd71_4329x3122.jpeg)
(yes, this is Aliens from a CPC on a Trinitron CRT)
-we ponder the occasional pearls of wisdom (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/i/170150855/retro-playstation-you-gotta-love-jrpgs-so-youre-just-starting) found in JRPG quotes
-Little John Can't Jump - a true ZX Spectrum Lemminglike (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/i/170150855/news-zx-spectrum-little-john-cant-jump-is-another-amazing)
-Alien games of old, and new (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/i/170579506/news-multi-there-are-quite-a-few-alien-franchise-based-video-games) homebrews on ZX & CPC
-It's Rare's birthday, but we talk about Ultimate (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/i/170579506/news-multi-ad-seems-to-be-big-on-th-anniversaries)
...plus, SuperStation One updates, Sony's Curious "PSX TV", Lumberjack on A8 and more....
This week there's only one feature, but it's quite big: Yandex Retro Game Battle 2025
This is a ZX Spectrum game competition, so you'll be excused for not caring a jot ;) But, at least do check Cubix out...perhaps CPC coders could get some ideas from its novel take on 3D.
https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/p/ ... attle-2025 (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/p/yandex-retro-game-battle-2025)
Some stuff from last week:
-Feature issue: Rogue on the Amiga (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/p/a-mainframe-ascii-game-on-a-cutting) in 1986, i.e. the most graphically undemanding game on a new gfx behemoth - did it make sense?
And in yesterday's edition (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/p/join-me-to-live-the-life-on-the-spanish):
-help me along as I start playing (sorry, "Living The Life!") Pirates! by making gameplay choices on C64
-Tony: Montezuma's Gold, that cute sometimes-monochrome platformer, appears on Amstrad CPC
-photo journey through NEONnoir's lush environments on the Amiga
-plus AmiGameJam fundraiser, Odyssey 31 reborn, and more...
(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mhmh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F310545ab-b605-48c2-9026-4b0b1d890435_5472x3648.jpeg)
I was in a summery short holiday break mode last week, and both posts reflect that with "postcards" (i.e. my CRT photos gallery) theme. Part 1 (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/p/2025-the-best-of-crt-vision) & part 2 (https://beyondnostalgia.substack.com/p/2025-the-best-of-crt-vision-2).
(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!6jFV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3c51415d-e0b9-48cf-af59-8d69c3e747dd_3312x2041.jpeg)