Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles. The time has finally come. Very sad. We never 'owned' the games we bought, but at least we have been able to play them, many years after the console become obsolete. blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/p...

Please watch this truly fabulous video featuring Chris Turner as he talks about his time at Acorn Computers. The origins of BBC MICRO I/O memory page names FRED, JIM and SHEILA are also revealed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=itGd...

I couldn't resist buying the updated 'OCEAN the history' ( Gold Edition ) with additional interviews and updates. I also went for the ''Extras' edition in the form of an extra booklet of Ocean titles and a nice fridge magnet. It's a shame it got a nasty 'dink' on the corner.

My programming career started here...This is my A level Computer Studies workbook from 1983. My first commercial game was published in summer 1983 - Atomic Protector for the BBC Micro. Huge thanks to my amazing CS teacher, Pete Davidson. I owe him a pint or two.

A day late, but that doesn't matter. Happy Solstice for those in the Northern Hemisphere! We should celebrate the amazing NES game of the same name created by Mike Webb and Mark Wilson with music/SFX by Tim Follin. Developed in Manchester by Software Creations. It had the working title 'Dark Child'.

Two-player ELITE for the BBC Micro is looking so cool. Great work, Mark!

Had a great catch-up today with former TT Fusion / TT Games colleagues Roy and Wiz. It's been over 6 years since we last saw each other so there was lots to talk about. If you've played any LEGO handheld videogames then it's very likely we were part of the development team that created it!

This is what disk mould looks like. If you see this on your old disks then clean them BEFORE putting them into a disk drive. Otherwise, you are likely to clog up the drive read/write head and/or possibly damage the disk. Clean with diluted Isopropyl alcohol ( IPA ) on a soft, lint-free cloth.

A huge stack of my old BBC Micro and Acorn Electron game development disks plus other utlilities. It includes the source code for Galaforce, Crazee Rider and Galaforce 2. I have archived and shared many of the important ones on GitHub.

A BASIC animation series I wrote for Computing with the Amstrad magazine when I worked at Database Publications. This is the 3rd and final article in the series from June 1985! I can't believe this was 41 years ago when I was just 19 years old.

Here's another article I wrote for Computing with the Amstrad ( June 1985 ). This one is a machine code monitor utility for examing/editing the Amstrad CPC's memory. You can use it to enter machine code programs into memory and run them. It also explains a bit about the Amstrad's memory map.

I just found this article I wrote in Computing with the Amstrad ( December 1985 ). I'd forgotten about it so it was a really nice surprise to find it after 40 years! It's a techincal article about programming the Amstrad CPC's 6845 CRTC ( video controller ). The BBC Micro has exactly the same CRTC.

I remembering having Tin Can Alley back in the '70s. I worked out a hack for the gun that allowed you to trigger the cans really easily. Underneath the rifle's forend is a rocker switch that, when pressed and held, keeps the light beam on constantly allowing you to quickly trigger the light sensor.

I think this is a Wangtek, not the one advertised!

My brain works like this clock.... Image by Peter U. Costello

From a techincal viewpoint this has to be my favourite retro game console. The Vectrex was released by Milton Bradley (MB) in late 1982. It uses a Motorola 68A09 clocked at 1.5 MHz, has 1KB of RAM and 8KB ROM. Games are stored on 32 KB ROM cartridges. It uses a vector based mono CRT.

This Nascom 2 system was kindly donated to the Northwest Computer Museum by the family of John David Miskin. The Nascom range was one of the early British designed kit computers from the late 1970s. Based on the Z80 CPU it was very easy to expand and was very popular.

Loving this C64 easter Egg that someone at TT Games put into the new LEGO Batman game. I'm not sure who it was that did it, but I need to find out from some of my former colleagues! If you know please do tell!

A rather interesting Bamboo Keyboard and Mouse. I've never seen one of these before. Great idea. The keyboard seemed to be pleasant enough to use.

A very impressive remote control CROUCH Recovery Truck paid a brief visit to the Northwest Computer Museum - driven here by Joe. Apparently it costs £2,500, or did I mis-hear?

The educational room at the Northwest Computer Museum. Filled with BBC Micros, plus PCs running DOOM! This reminds me of school so much. The TV series Micro Live is playing in the background with Chris and Mac are discussing Laser Disc technology. The Computer Literacy Project was so important.

Were you lucky enough to have this toy in the 1970s? The Eagle Transporter from the TV series SPACE 1999.

This is the first time I've used a NextCube. Rather impressive for its age. The spec are:- NextCube Turbo, 33 MHz 68040, 128MB RAM, NextDimension Video board, OS NextStep 3.3. The mouse was like a large block of soap. Mandelbrot demo.

A fine collection of fully working Commodore Amigas at the Northwest Computer Museum. The 4000/060 was really nice, as was the A1000!

Having a great day at the Northwest Computer Museum celebrating their 3rd birthday. Congratulations and thanks to Joe for his hospitality and for working so hard along with all the volunteers.

Heading off to the Northwest Computer Museum for their 3rd birthday celebration. I hope some of you are able to make it today. Please say hello.

An OCEAN Software advert looking for games to publish - circa 1983. Also, don't miss the COMPUTER BUFFS advert below it.

If you are free tomorrow do you fancy a visit to the Northwest Computer Museum to help them celebrate their 3rd birthday? Entry is free and there's so much to see and do. I hope to see you there, please say hello if you do! It's located in Leigh, near Manchester. Here's a flyer from their socials.

Something I never expected to see - 2 player Elite for the BBC Micro. It's still very much WIP, but amazing work, as ever, by @markmoxon.bsky.social!

Visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam today. Enjoyed so many of his amazing paintings. The sunflowers were very special. Apparently he painted 7 similar sunflower arrangements whilst in Arles, France.

I'm off to Amsterdam for a few days with my wife to celebrate my 60th birthday. We're already booked to visit Ann Frank's House and the Van Gogh Museum, and also Rijksmuseum. Any other recommended places to visit or things to do, or great places to eat, or things to avoid? We have no car. Thank you

Relaxing in the shade reading a great book about Acorn, Sinclair and the race for the BBC contract, plus lots more great stories told by the people that were actually there at the time.

@suddi.bsky.social Remember the interview you did which was published in the Manchester Evening News, 20th July 1994? Sadly the scan of the first page is no good, but the 2nd page is good.

An Ocean recruitment advert from 1993.

Richard Kay's original Software Creations job advert. This was just before they started developing console games - probably around 1987/8.

The original artwork for one of the most iconic NES Silver Surfer images. Created on an Amstrad CPC 6128 using Advanced OCP Art Studio. Sadly, the palette information has been lost. The game's artwork was created by Neal Sutton, Craig Houston and Anthony Anderson. I can't recall who drew this image.

The time Tim Follin sent one of his Spectrum tunes into a magazine as a listing - Your Spectrum Issue 20 ( August 1987 )

I was just watching a video about SNES PLOK! when this came up. If you know, you know.

I just read that Jean Michel Jarre is 77 years old ( 78 later this year ) and is still performing. He looks the same age as he did in the 1980s! I'm still loving his music. Thank you JMJ!

So you can drive a car at upto 60 MPH over a 3" disk and it'll be OK? Anyone fancy trying it? To be fair, they are very robust compared with 3.5" ones.

Apparently BBC Micro users can do it in 5 seconds! £520 for dual, double-sided,40/80 Track switchable drives + the cost of a DFS interface ( adds another £75 ), so call it £600! 1983 prices.

Lothlorien Game Studio in Manchester - 1988. A typical small development studio working on home computer titles. This room has lots of Tatung Einsteins - these were used as host development machines that assembled the game and deployed them to the target machine to run. Video by Paul Marshall.

Remembering the time we went on holiday to Wales and the cottage had a Nintendo 64 setup with lots of games - plus a CRT TV as a bonus. I introduced my family to some of the quality RARE games that I grew up with.

How many of you can remember spending your weekend in front of the family TV typing in a listing from a magazine or book, only to find it wouldn't RUN after hours of typing? Frustrating to say the least, but quite often it was due to a simple typo you made. It was a good learning process though.

Here's Knight Lore for the BBC Micro being assembled from the original source code. Memory was so tight that video memory had to be used so that all the symbols, object code and source would squeeze in. This was later solved by making use of a 6502 2nd processor with 64K RAM & HIBASIC.

My eldest daughter just asked me if I've heard of the Arcade Club in Bury and then said she'd like to go there sometime. The response was yes, and YES! I need to arrange the date. I can't believe I haven't already visited - it's only about 35 minutes from where I live.

@davidjefferies.bsky.social has been very busy converting 6502 based BBC Micro Exile to C++ so that it can be run on modern day computers. Check out what he's managed to achieve - stunning! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tywb...

So loving this 3D version of Atic Atac! The sound effects alone take be right back to 1983!

Laservision catalogue of films from 1982.

Luna has voted. #DogsAtPollingStations