tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69931655530218686482024-03-18T14:28:01.008-04:00Nerdly PleasuresYou say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.comBlogger518125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-8876485561991365502024-03-17T15:40:00.008-04:002024-03-18T14:27:28.112-04:00FPGBC - The Budget FPGA Handheld<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZfqBa3-_7InxAPs9a-ifnHycDRaHEay-NqB4SUaa1MyF7SZyHxxFLtAhTFys0jkIxV4Kwgg2p81gwziX7ioS2qAijKg_LhBUMqzvmMoI68-oyZBc5Z9lmPS2jp8Pqct1Q7D5MTKummdtymO_gxSOYoLUUovenVwiSh0YOz2WU8uIN-agCEqwm7d_qGsw/s1368/IMG_20240317_151932200_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="811" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZfqBa3-_7InxAPs9a-ifnHycDRaHEay-NqB4SUaa1MyF7SZyHxxFLtAhTFys0jkIxV4Kwgg2p81gwziX7ioS2qAijKg_LhBUMqzvmMoI68-oyZBc5Z9lmPS2jp8Pqct1Q7D5MTKummdtymO_gxSOYoLUUovenVwiSh0YOz2WU8uIN-agCEqwm7d_qGsw/w380-h640/IMG_20240317_151932200_HDR.jpg" width="380"></a></div><br>Portable or handheld devices which play retro video games are very common these days. Companies like Anbernic and Powkiddy make multiple consoles which can emulate some very advanced video game consoles. The Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch can also emulate or run retro video games. These things are a dime a dozen these days and come in all shapes and sizes, but they all rely on software emulation. Until recently there has been one FPGA handheld console, the Analogue Pocket. In the past several months, a new challenger has entered the arena, the FPGBC from FunnyPlaying. In this article I will give my impressions of the device and review it on its own merits compared to the console it is trying to simulate, the Game Boy Color.<p></p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2024/03/fpgbc-budget-fpga-handheld.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-19175550505288604452024-02-14T12:23:00.000-05:002024-02-14T12:23:17.732-05:00Nintendo's Console Accessory Cheapness<p>Nintendo's consoles have, for the most part, been somewhat high priced over the years. The company likes to keep it that way, you will not see a Nintendo console in a bargain bin or heavily discounted, even toward the end of its lifespan. The maintenance of price contributes to its "prestige branding." Nintendo usually makes a modest profit on the consoles it sells, unlike Sony and Microsoft it does not solely rely on software sales to make up the cost of hardware production. But those profits come at a price for the consumer, especially in Japan. Let's see how Nintendo cut costs when releasing consoles in its native country.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2024/02/nintendos-console-accessory-cheapness.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-62522801705267812422024-01-17T00:40:00.002-05:002024-01-21T21:21:26.808-05:00King's Quest IV - The First True PC Compatible Game<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjMm-eSYejpf59Sc9YCMHCwuhehBsgsgps0CBADd51nf8mWW11xFGYIdxES03DYbwUhaJdRhRHifmy2GFe1DxwihtKphyphenhyphenEQZ_SCys1T5HZvJlTiJwPEoe8GDpxN5VIXMVUyF6YqoL_u-mOnw_sX0i4QB9xwV17Kz7mnKLkrjMo5DtqOhrG0vtIRC6azI/s800/4092714-kings-quest-iv-the-perils-of-rosella-dos-front-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="625" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjMm-eSYejpf59Sc9YCMHCwuhehBsgsgps0CBADd51nf8mWW11xFGYIdxES03DYbwUhaJdRhRHifmy2GFe1DxwihtKphyphenhyphenEQZ_SCys1T5HZvJlTiJwPEoe8GDpxN5VIXMVUyF6YqoL_u-mOnw_sX0i4QB9xwV17Kz7mnKLkrjMo5DtqOhrG0vtIRC6azI/w500-h640/4092714-kings-quest-iv-the-perils-of-rosella-dos-front-cover.jpg" width="500"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KQ4 Box, courtesy of MobyGames</td></tr></tbody></table><p>When we think of PC Compatible games, thoughts of freedom may pop into one's mind. Intel, nVidia, AMD, gamers generally have a choice of which hardware to use in their systems. PC games have been, generally speaking, not tied to any particular manufacturer's hardware. Competition within the PC hardware market allowed consumers the luxury of choice. In the 1990s and onwards your motherboard could have been made by one manufacturer, your graphics card by another and so on and you could get a really good gaming experience. But this was not always the case, PC compatible games of the 1980s were often seen as lacking compared to other computers and generic PCs were content to clone rather than innovate. This all began to change in 1988 when King's Quest IV was released. In this blog article I will briefly summarize the evolution of PC gaming hardware and then discuss how KQ4 opened up PC gaming into what would eventually become the default non-console paradigm of how to play video games.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2024/01/kings-quest-iv-first-true-pc-game.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-82224245832050280242023-12-09T16:17:00.005-05:002024-01-09T14:54:16.818-05:00The Mockingboard 4c - Adding Sound Card Functionality to the Apple IIc<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcF_Ll-WtwvNRXG3lqCWc1ASEcRGHbMvy5NHKY28LEjHNK7tMY_5RWquSTiOnBxrG7oUZX-NPWLm58slRw7ETgjBDM8fHpiYdkrX3-0uGFWU1MIcecQXMsCapLjbepc_XhG7dVBDnyqi0UU8FcQ7lM6Su4xEcyFZHm6KTueMTvJfDR-Cd1bbTHp44pxQ/s1255/Screenshot%202023-12-09%20153230.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="1255" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcF_Ll-WtwvNRXG3lqCWc1ASEcRGHbMvy5NHKY28LEjHNK7tMY_5RWquSTiOnBxrG7oUZX-NPWLm58slRw7ETgjBDM8fHpiYdkrX3-0uGFWU1MIcecQXMsCapLjbepc_XhG7dVBDnyqi0UU8FcQ7lM6Su4xEcyFZHm6KTueMTvJfDR-Cd1bbTHp44pxQ/w640-h198/Screenshot%202023-12-09%20153230.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><p>Among the Apple II models, the IIc is undoubtedly the restricted of the bunch. The system integrated just about every necessity for mid-1980s computing, a built in disk drive, serial ports for printing and telecommunications, an external drive and a joystick/mouse port. The Apple II line has been previously well-appreciated for its expandability, with each of the three predecessor models having multiple general-purpose expansion slots. For the compact IIc, there was no capability to upgrade the system internally at first, later IIcs permitted an internal memory expansion. This meant that software that did not use a built in peripheral had to be updated to support similar peripherals which had to be accessed in other ways. Today we are going to look at a product that tried to go a different route and try to answer whether it succeeded!</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-mockingboard-4c-adding-sound-card.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-22684061385966771512023-11-20T18:54:00.002-05:002023-11-22T11:41:35.875-05:00Dai Yakyuu! - The 8-bit Explosion of Japanese Baseball Video Games<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eCbqD6RLg5hjN04Jgj-_hBt_FojhYvgutYIuc8-7JIhwHg9GOR3BLIiA88HaxjwwpXjHGnVrFp6LDqNq_PLypFmvhQbh-QL6UBT1lbVb66gYmwW7Q6lsYVjQNGK8nF9nOASR379GJWW7kRbVaOdNYWl6W-jTox8MaCC6_W7teN7-Xq3mONJriWK8yGc/s1036/Baseball%20vs.%20Famista%20'94.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="700" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eCbqD6RLg5hjN04Jgj-_hBt_FojhYvgutYIuc8-7JIhwHg9GOR3BLIiA88HaxjwwpXjHGnVrFp6LDqNq_PLypFmvhQbh-QL6UBT1lbVb66gYmwW7Q6lsYVjQNGK8nF9nOASR379GJWW7kRbVaOdNYWl6W-jTox8MaCC6_W7teN7-Xq3mONJriWK8yGc/s16000/Baseball%20vs.%20Famista%20'94.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baseball & Famista '94</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Baseball (Yakyuu) has had a long history in Japan. Imported from the United States before World War II, Japan built leagues and fielded players that have maintained the popularity of the sport more or less ever since. When video games became accessible to the Japanese in the late 1970s, they tried to mimic a wide range of human competitive activities, not unlike American consoles. Judging by the Famicom's game library, baseball would have been the most popular sport played in Japan by far. Dozens of baseball games were released during the decade of the Famicom's active commercial development, let's take a look at some games and some trends in these titles.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/11/dai-yakyuu-8-bit-explosion-of-japanese.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-54195421067728301862023-11-17T20:19:00.001-05:002024-01-11T20:09:34.976-05:00Doctor Who DVD and Blu-ray Frame Rate & Resolution Issues<p>Doctor Who has had a very lengthy history on optical media. From the first release of The Five Doctors in 1999 to Series 13 2022 Specials, many, many discs have been stamped of Doctor Who-related content. Not all discs have been error free, and some errors have come down to more subtle issues than a missing shot or misspelt credit. Frame rate and resolution issues tend to plague the line, and these will be the focus of this blog entry.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/11/doctor-who-dvd-and-blu-ray-frame-rate.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-16047685460993243302023-11-12T16:31:00.015-05:002024-01-23T00:47:49.741-05:00TMNT and Other Strangeness - Revival of the Mutant Animal RPG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8s9BLXw7xqjJ5SBZYsHgUECQRTNmGrCNTbEsfFP4kixlSkJU_526pxSgZhOQVcm0zrtcoD0uWWNscyIUJCBgfZpl5uzOGhNtxtae0zp5pPoJOnJNEe2vFcG13dC4T86oyJ5eQnyarOnsMpBLalJXguQh2D4awa04ccz0Gbe7j9puLan5j0BWnIdcESxY/s1686/Clipboard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1686" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8s9BLXw7xqjJ5SBZYsHgUECQRTNmGrCNTbEsfFP4kixlSkJU_526pxSgZhOQVcm0zrtcoD0uWWNscyIUJCBgfZpl5uzOGhNtxtae0zp5pPoJOnJNEe2vFcG13dC4T86oyJ5eQnyarOnsMpBLalJXguQh2D4awa04ccz0Gbe7j9puLan5j0BWnIdcESxY/w640-h410/Clipboard.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p>On October 31 of this year (2023) Palladium Books announced a Kickstarter for a new edition of their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-based role playing game "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness". The <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/palladiumbooks/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-and-other-strangeness/description">Kickstarter campaign</a> was well-timed and shrewdly presented, tapping on a vein of nostalgia that spans at least three generations. The campaign hit a home run, reaching a fairly-modest $250,000 funding goal in four hours and has almost tripled that fundraising as of this writing. Let's take a look at what the original RPG was like and what we might expect from a new revision of the campaign setting.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/11/tmnt-and-other-strangeness-revival-of.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-57480860522463139292023-10-28T23:02:00.004-04:002023-10-30T23:55:14.367-04:00The Unofficial Enhanced NESs - Continuing On where Nintendo Left Off<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0ZCF1cnpnUxgpYFkZYUijv_POXnLgVxHtc9dONVzYUtZafdjKTipzLRhPIJGl1DPObHt0clqSADpz4VYM_1SViaOsTQ1ie3Wy2Yiqbokj4YolyzeSRG014uM9fN8VqXF4zAJ9NoxQf3riM3_huPrCzFscBNr0VLxd_ZDxjYdqu4bf3LTB_G-Wna_pEA/s512/Balloon%20Fight%20-%20Balloon%20Boy.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0ZCF1cnpnUxgpYFkZYUijv_POXnLgVxHtc9dONVzYUtZafdjKTipzLRhPIJGl1DPObHt0clqSADpz4VYM_1SViaOsTQ1ie3Wy2Yiqbokj4YolyzeSRG014uM9fN8VqXF4zAJ9NoxQf3riM3_huPrCzFscBNr0VLxd_ZDxjYdqu4bf3LTB_G-Wna_pEA/s16000/Balloon%20Fight%20-%20Balloon%20Boy.png"></a></div><p>As we all know, Nintendo introduced the Famicom in 1983, ported it to the west as the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 and after the last licensed games were released in 1993-94 Nintendo retired the system. But that does not mean that the hardware underlying the system was dead, the hardware was widely cloned and cartridges were still being made for it. Some companies decided develop the hardware further by adding new capabilities, such as new graphics modes and more sound channels, to work with games that would look less primitive than those that could only take advantage of 1983-era chip designs. Let's take a look at some of these approaches in this blog article.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-unofficial-enhanced-ness-continuing.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-4613009985823466492023-10-24T21:51:00.003-04:002023-10-27T10:49:14.193-04:00PCE 2.4g vs. PC Engine Mini Controller - Battle of the New PC Engine Controllers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTtUfhH-5dqfMRiRLNCoNvxx5aUlymTZeVJMnd6zmeX1y6eM0PLbCTZOYsua8-b0FrWHfD9_ULuYudQ1r2hLlqaZPofxZVJhXcSrRU0ACsJAFn3RqIeI2z46qH1VIy9biwYE2PI2jtS4TnU4F_t8qQu-dVF_rgS3GzJ_9aX8Jld62Ki3QBqlIBUKLViWs/s3469/Clipboard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="3469" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTtUfhH-5dqfMRiRLNCoNvxx5aUlymTZeVJMnd6zmeX1y6eM0PLbCTZOYsua8-b0FrWHfD9_ULuYudQ1r2hLlqaZPofxZVJhXcSrRU0ACsJAFn3RqIeI2z46qH1VIy9biwYE2PI2jtS4TnU4F_t8qQu-dVF_rgS3GzJ_9aX8Jld62Ki3QBqlIBUKLViWs/w640-h214/Clipboard.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div><br></div>The PC Engine has had something of a reemergence in the past few years. In 2019 Konami announced the PC Engine Mini and TurboGrafx-16 Mini consoles and miraculously released it in 2020. Also in 2020 8bitdo released their PCE 2.4g Wireless Gamepads and Analogue announced the availability of the Analogue Duo, an FPGA console designed to play the original HuCard and CD games. Having acquired both a controller which was sold for the PC Engine Mini console and the 8bitdo PCE 2.4g controller, I can give an opinion on their strengths and weaknesses.<span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/10/pce-24g-vs-pc-engine-mini-controller.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-11842427063911265802023-10-13T15:31:00.011-04:002023-10-15T01:15:54.131-04:00Is that a Cricket I Hear? - Contemporary Sound Options for the Apple IIc<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANlMHuhK8Gg_sA09WwHudYDijvcXbP_s5w92PmnALSiSNhhbfPt4v7nanNfOe11I_DTt0w-lLeyk-BVG5zCPI2P2SKKi_EwvqhpvZiA7dWurhjwm41h5_yldnJzm-wwui9fnAumG4fe2SLX6ExFQBLweHcFmYGcBk7VeGcLjhby7aFHlDXHtlJoFast8/s1280/vlcsnap-2023-10-13-15h21m36s572.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANlMHuhK8Gg_sA09WwHudYDijvcXbP_s5w92PmnALSiSNhhbfPt4v7nanNfOe11I_DTt0w-lLeyk-BVG5zCPI2P2SKKi_EwvqhpvZiA7dWurhjwm41h5_yldnJzm-wwui9fnAumG4fe2SLX6ExFQBLweHcFmYGcBk7VeGcLjhby7aFHlDXHtlJoFast8/w640-h360/vlcsnap-2023-10-13-15h21m36s572.png" width="640"></a></div><p>The "c" in the Apple IIc stood for compact. The Apple IIc was designed to be the epitome of the Apple II series, providing the options most people used in a realistically portable form factor but sacrificing the internal expansion slots which made the predecessor models in the Apple II line so popular. While sound cards like the Mockingboard were not the most popular of expansion cards, about three dozen games and music programs supported them. As there was nowhere to plug in a Mockingboard into a IIc, that left the IIc with only the internal speaker for audio output. But at least two sound products were made specifically for the Apple IIc, and I will take a look at one of them, the Cricket, in this blog article.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/10/is-that-cricket-i-hear-contemporary.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-8300067146642574522023-09-08T21:49:00.009-04:002023-09-15T14:41:05.771-04:00Attack of the PETSCII Robots - Review of a New Action Strategy DOS Game<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQmzJPiAmjc8h-kDcz5RfbSu3OjQfNMyylwsqAm2kUrlqQU54dRzeP0VMrknA10bek8SZnFISZ73nrXN1Tfwavp5D_UdLg4S1iTRKuLk-Asb8Himh95CNwMrBWg_wkb9o6C8B86WfY5_bPxXN0rS9S51yQxYtooQp5sD7s4QcK_6_xxGI7K3JS6bcZao/s724/msdos-front.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="712" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQmzJPiAmjc8h-kDcz5RfbSu3OjQfNMyylwsqAm2kUrlqQU54dRzeP0VMrknA10bek8SZnFISZ73nrXN1Tfwavp5D_UdLg4S1iTRKuLk-Asb8Himh95CNwMrBWg_wkb9o6C8B86WfY5_bPxXN0rS9S51yQxYtooQp5sD7s4QcK_6_xxGI7K3JS6bcZao/w630-h640/msdos-front.webp" width="630"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attack of the PETSCII Robots MS-DOS Version Cover (Partial, Courtesy of 8-bit Guy)</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Back in 2018, David Murray, better known as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@The8BitGuy">The 8-Bit Guy</a> on YouTube, released a newly developed game for the DOS-compatible PC called Planet X3. I eventually bought a copy and reviewed it. In more recent years he has designed a new game, Attack of the PETSCII Robots, which was released in 2021 for Commodore computers. The game has since then been widely ported to many home computer and console platforms, including MS-DOS earlier this year. I decided to buy <a href="https://www.the8bitguy.com/product/petscii-robots-for-msdos/">the MS-DOS port</a>, and after trying it out I will give my review here.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/09/attack-of-petscii-robots-review-of-new.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-72331754173072311352023-09-03T11:36:00.001-04:002024-01-09T17:44:37.995-05:00NuXT 2.0 Motherboard - A New 8088 Motherboard for your DIY PC Clone<p>In the recent past I have discussed the Book 8088 and the Hand 386, which are newly made vintage computing systems. I concluded that those products, although not uninteresting were rather flawed. The Book 8088 was by far the more disappointing of the two devices. I have also been made aware of a project which tries to fulfill a similar niche, the NuXT motherboard. The NuXT is an 8088-based motherboard you can buy brand new and can really fill that IBM PC-clone hole in your vintage collection. While I do not own one of these, I have read and seen enough about it to give my thoughts on whether this product would be right for you.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/09/nuxt-20-motherboard-new-8088.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-37796688658990038872023-08-28T02:31:00.006-04:002023-08-28T16:40:12.767-04:00The Avengers Series 4-6 Blu-ray Upgrade<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MGPiwl6gT-yhOHBpQr7872sV7jCwW0l6JtfLDN1yCIcBtKvfWBWuo1CGGE9VkfVVEGFOIzcLoq6VUxUsegI84uDuF9dM8Kef06kPix8zV8qnUsUcNKY9-bLV2VeKWM-H2rufntjzZnsfzULlDHMlZilRirKwhY22aZ-8P8DB_J3JbrlmxL281J8TbMU/s1920/vlcsnap-2023-08-28-00h53m43s172.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MGPiwl6gT-yhOHBpQr7872sV7jCwW0l6JtfLDN1yCIcBtKvfWBWuo1CGGE9VkfVVEGFOIzcLoq6VUxUsegI84uDuF9dM8Kef06kPix8zV8qnUsUcNKY9-bLV2VeKWM-H2rufntjzZnsfzULlDHMlZilRirKwhY22aZ-8P8DB_J3JbrlmxL281J8TbMU/w640-h360/vlcsnap-2023-08-28-00h53m43s172.png" width="640"></a></div><br>In a recent blog post, I discussed "upgrading" the videotaped half of The Avengers from Region 1 DVDs to Region 2 DVDs. The TLDR version of that entry was that the upgrade was worth it. Now I have obtained the Region B Blu-rays of Series 4-6, I intend to offer my thoughts on them versus the Region 1 DVDs as a sequel of sorts to the prior blog entries.<p></p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-avengers-series-4-6-blu-ray-upgrade.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-60785523144597481922023-08-26T13:17:00.008-04:002023-08-26T17:21:55.003-04:00Would you Like a Book 8088? Or How About a Hand 386?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYMEHoYrSLB8fIYNJfpPef5HXlZ529ODSAGgBobWXix3YMI5xHbeg6jWCPNEc0UFNJF7oQfyRkKeT9oM90siQuWiVf6ogDW0OoERoLBi-fco3s4FlJASREi_pxjqhjiWFqoAodtYOxycqDzt8don4A-JdsgDAHgPUfFMpMRcRj5t55clHgohRw1SQQAlc/s1940/Clipboard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="1940" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYMEHoYrSLB8fIYNJfpPef5HXlZ529ODSAGgBobWXix3YMI5xHbeg6jWCPNEc0UFNJF7oQfyRkKeT9oM90siQuWiVf6ogDW0OoERoLBi-fco3s4FlJASREi_pxjqhjiWFqoAodtYOxycqDzt8don4A-JdsgDAHgPUfFMpMRcRj5t55clHgohRw1SQQAlc/w640-h298/Clipboard.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><p>Fairly recently (May, 2023) there has been made available for sale a retro-themed laptop called the Book 8088. The Book 8088 is a real PC running a fair amount of vintage hardware and was made in China by a company called DZT. Additionally this company has also made a portable PC called the Hand 386. However, the Book 8088 is also the subject of controversy and reviews have been mixed on both products. Although I do not own either and have no intention to buy either I have researched and viewed enough YouTube reviews of the device to offer some relevant insights on these devices.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/08/would-you-like-book-8088-or-how-about.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-62558461719494017352023-07-26T22:01:00.007-04:002023-08-28T02:31:51.437-04:00The Avengers Seasons 1-3 DVD Upgrade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkc2Ut-WpStGDMxjNhaU_t77I-vJUs4FBYGM1AXV3LcYFvQ1zOqyR8kh2122-CEzP_WhAABU8XyELSFNiJqZ5v3jbA5txIA2tYXLfMTtgiJAES9D4_tbhCZkgrj5isk0Y3YAdyp9jXyq21Eu5RwetPZpEJnfGBvn_ELaK-8SQxOoWsXnVqtxvBHzpXifQ/s768/vlcsnap-2023-08-28-01h02m13s113.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkc2Ut-WpStGDMxjNhaU_t77I-vJUs4FBYGM1AXV3LcYFvQ1zOqyR8kh2122-CEzP_WhAABU8XyELSFNiJqZ5v3jbA5txIA2tYXLfMTtgiJAES9D4_tbhCZkgrj5isk0Y3YAdyp9jXyq21Eu5RwetPZpEJnfGBvn_ELaK-8SQxOoWsXnVqtxvBHzpXifQ/w640-h480/vlcsnap-2023-08-28-01h02m13s113.png" width="640"></a></div><br><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;">Being an American fan of the quintessential British TV show The Avengers has not always been easy. The Avengers, that 1960s crime drama/spy series with British secret agent John Steed and a host of assistants tends to be overshadowed by a certain superhero group sharing the same name. Getting the series in America has been afflicted by times of plenty followed by long periods of drought. In this blog let me talk about the first half of the series and the ideal means to watch it today.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-avengers-seasons-1-3-dvd-upgrade.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-33518877643241450342023-07-20T02:07:00.002-04:002023-07-23T11:22:24.784-04:00Apple IIc - Epitome of the Apple II Experience?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWolDeo8Ej6oZqj8rPVCNQaIBt3ZoOyFwhR8DhWBcc7uSMitmYe-ueeLYoMpM0u6zfkAI8b7ThrHoh1M1KgGRy3KEJn5gzRW6RDtFXHYSaD-n5upto7bF1mez_OHUCWfXnBb4P0S9-iJEOvqszIGmQeS2fJB2aOZZ5N6F9ue46D_ak2QVS7KSiVhR_tWI/s1278/unnamed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1278" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWolDeo8Ej6oZqj8rPVCNQaIBt3ZoOyFwhR8DhWBcc7uSMitmYe-ueeLYoMpM0u6zfkAI8b7ThrHoh1M1KgGRy3KEJn5gzRW6RDtFXHYSaD-n5upto7bF1mez_OHUCWfXnBb4P0S9-iJEOvqszIGmQeS2fJB2aOZZ5N6F9ue46D_ak2QVS7KSiVhR_tWI/w640-h542/unnamed.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p>In 1984 Apple Computer released the fourth computer to its Apple II line, the Apple IIc, A2M4000. The Apple IIc was a "compact" version of the Apple IIe with many expansions built-in. It was released alongside the Macintosh and despite the hype the market did not respond in the way Apple had hoped. Nonetheless they still sold about 400,000 systems from 1984-1988. In 2023 these systems can still be purchased for $150-200, so let's take a look to see what makes them special.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/07/apple-iic-epitome-of-apple-ii-experience.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-91209348677619663352023-07-17T17:44:00.000-04:002023-07-17T17:44:02.772-04:00Saving a Simon<p><br></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7yvzrAZ8buqtvjes95fFVaTA3prmMPmnm7_zllcR7Lt7jQKCZIm3OcxNYqn2xxdblf66gL-ygzf8BZ2-IAI4B6uB4SH_3aM5zG0TKwF30w5_cUp80Bm83rJN_cBUSpXVr2sJJXcEXvdhgzxd_7XinS20GjghZgozvZmj0EHDmWR2j99bgwewxsGKp18k/s2268/PXL_20230713_192749917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="2235" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7yvzrAZ8buqtvjes95fFVaTA3prmMPmnm7_zllcR7Lt7jQKCZIm3OcxNYqn2xxdblf66gL-ygzf8BZ2-IAI4B6uB4SH_3aM5zG0TKwF30w5_cUp80Bm83rJN_cBUSpXVr2sJJXcEXvdhgzxd_7XinS20GjghZgozvZmj0EHDmWR2j99bgwewxsGKp18k/w630-h640/PXL_20230713_192749917.jpg" width="630"></a></div><br>Simon was one of the first popular electronic games. Invented by Ralph Baer and put on the market by Milton Bradley in 1978, Simon sold well for year after year. Its simple gameplay of remember the randomized sequence of colors not only challenged the short-term memory of its players but their ability to recall sequences quickly. These devices sold so many units that obtaining a vintage unit with its three switches and three buttons is not hard to find and will not break the bank. Recently I had acquired a "vintage" Simon and could see that it was in need of repair, so I decided to document the steps I took to repair it.<p></p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/07/saving-simon.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-80562158987498429482023-07-09T14:48:00.001-04:002023-07-13T21:36:17.812-04:00Tandy Video vs. EGA - Battle of the 16-colors Graphic Adapters<p>When the PC was first released in 1981, IBM designed the Color/Graphics Adapter (CGA) card, a card that could display 16 colors on a special high quality RGBI monitor through a digital output. While CGA could only display all those 16 colors on the screen at the same time in text modes absent trickery, IBM's 16-color digital RGBI video display standard proved quite durable. IBM used the same color standard in its IBM PCjr. video graphics adapter in 1983 and returned to the standard the next year in the form of its Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA). When Tandy released its Tandy 1000, which was designed as a clone of the PCjr., it included the graphical capabilities of the PCjr and would later expand on them. The Tandy Graphics Adapter (TGA) really popularized 16-color full screen graphics but by the late 1980s most games would support Tandy and EGA graphics. So which is better? In this blog article we will attempt to answer this question.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/07/tandy-video-vs-ega-battle-of-16-colors.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-86643596164918024732023-07-08T22:50:00.003-04:002023-07-08T22:50:49.096-04:00Variations of Mouse Trap<div style="text-align: left;">And Now for Something Completely Different, for the 500th published entry on this blog, I am going beyond the typical fare of video game and vintage computer content to focus on another type of gaming, board games. And in this blog entry, I am going to talk about the evolution of the mechanics of the 1963 game Mouse Trap, first published by Ideal. Mouse Trap is famous for its Rube Goldberg-inspired mouse trap which dominates the game. The design has endured more or less intact for sixty years and its combination of simplicity and silly design has appealed to multiple generations of children. I am aware there are a few other games that use the Mouse Trap name and descend from Habsro or Milton Bradley, but these do not use the traditional Mouse Trap mechanics and will not be covered here. No game with such longevity has survived into the present day without changes, so in this blog entry I will identify three distinct editions of the game and describe their differences.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span></span></div><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/07/variations-of-mouse-trap.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-53411413281459556342023-07-04T15:15:00.003-04:002023-07-04T15:15:24.917-04:00Tandy 1000 Chip Replacements<p>The Tandy 1000s, especially the older ones, are rather reliable as non-IBM manufactured PCs go. They tend to continue working year after year. But inevitably they will fail, and something they cannot be easily fixed because a chip went bad. Tandy was good enough to socket major chips in most of its machines (DIP and PLCC) and frequently reused chips from machine to machine. Tandy sometimes would use off the shelf chips, sometimes custom chips and sometimes programmable logic. In this blog article I will identify the major chips each system uses in order to help people find suitable replacements, if possible. </p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/07/tandy-1000-chip-replacements.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-20677854986099586892023-07-04T14:30:00.005-04:002023-07-04T14:30:57.778-04:00Official and Unofficial Variants of the Atari 2600 VCS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XRAmMAqg1jCIDq7KeJ0elZNjIDOmeY-bu_BR2DFdxVTx0NXgkCcyU5NFz8i4JV7MghpP2CRy4ZT4opLbbg7HDhbL6WfrmywE2TUnq3gGdu0AKxrnpslSt1l9syRwj0V7WUxvH7TIBaeBl-nnMzktVAeA9rhpNJFK_3YQV0yJgVP6jwDp674xbTnjhWY/s5411/Atari-2600-Light-Sixer-FL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2957" data-original-width="5411" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XRAmMAqg1jCIDq7KeJ0elZNjIDOmeY-bu_BR2DFdxVTx0NXgkCcyU5NFz8i4JV7MghpP2CRy4ZT4opLbbg7HDhbL6WfrmywE2TUnq3gGdu0AKxrnpslSt1l9syRwj0V7WUxvH7TIBaeBl-nnMzktVAeA9rhpNJFK_3YQV0yJgVP6jwDp674xbTnjhWY/w640-h350/Atari-2600-Light-Sixer-FL.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p>The Atari 2600 went through many variations over its long lifespan. Officially Atari authorized a dozen or so variations of the console, and tolerated several more when the 2600 mattered. Most only differ cosmetically, but the sheer number of "official variants" for an early console is quite the achievement. Today we will identify them and discuss what makes them unique. </p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/07/official-and-unofficial-variants-of.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-39093859499043798432023-06-28T13:46:00.001-04:002023-06-28T13:46:16.080-04:00Rethinking the Video Game Generations and Handheld Video Games<p>Generations of video games have been defined in reference to home video game consoles which were released over time and their capabilities. While I have some views on that subject, in today's blog I wish to talk about generations of handheld video games. Handheld video games have always lagged behind their home console brethren due to their need to work within smaller sizes and smaller power sources. In this blog video I will trace the hardware developments in the handheld world and categorize them into eras and technologies which make sense.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/06/rethinking-video-game-generations-and.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-39224749056478856972023-06-24T18:42:00.008-04:002024-03-13T00:30:51.952-04:00Turbo EverDrive Pro + EDFX - A Match Made in Heaven?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR0vyG3c3LQKIHkq8bTZil8N9JwX5VBurcXh7Vc2tzSpwG2-P4UzJw2tAbQIzj5G0-CSOh7Z7vTi3-lhDLd6AsUvvw2MpyG1WtMqvAbElcHieCREwaGT783lZ5GO0WwTaYYotnL1mmIqASlS02ZPJy7qMk1ZZsJeoP8EU4oELUJySNXEFzqamU9ETwFDk/s3509/Clipboard.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="3509" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR0vyG3c3LQKIHkq8bTZil8N9JwX5VBurcXh7Vc2tzSpwG2-P4UzJw2tAbQIzj5G0-CSOh7Z7vTi3-lhDLd6AsUvvw2MpyG1WtMqvAbElcHieCREwaGT783lZ5GO0WwTaYYotnL1mmIqASlS02ZPJy7qMk1ZZsJeoP8EU4oELUJySNXEFzqamU9ETwFDk/w640-h196/Clipboard.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy of Krikzz and Wikipedia</td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of Krikzz' earliest flash carts was the Turbo EverDrive for the Turbo Grafx 16 and PC Engine. His Turbo EverDrive v1 and v2 only supported HuCards. Eventually competition came in the form of TerraOnion and their Super SD System 3 and later Super HD System 3 PRO, which supported TurboGrafx/PC Engine CD images. Most people who keep track of the flash cart and optical drive emulator world assumed sooner or later that Krikzz would release a device that would support CD images. While recent events affecting his country may have caused delay Krikzz' CD-ROM simulating device, the Turbo EverDrive Pro, is finally here and I will review it.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/06/turbo-everdrive-pro-edfx-match-made-in.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-15745572422163165242023-06-17T16:53:00.002-04:002024-02-24T01:31:39.637-05:00The Kneale Watcher, Reader & Listener<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXvhF5uqria8bNB7euDjLdN1B7_YSF-npr3_-DCM856T87O2R-HENa6SJV-xxrnzWFiN9YZHzDJMSCctzmXca3uqiJ8OD2z4g4xNNIooUMzKUN9BcwAyMc6ueJCwIYEXrB1b5Khm31rK0fVdlEXEnTODnOWr4ekMBf40P5jWuj-wuPzq3ldK1Amdf/s2572/PXL_20230617_200737303.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2191" data-original-width="2572" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMXvhF5uqria8bNB7euDjLdN1B7_YSF-npr3_-DCM856T87O2R-HENa6SJV-xxrnzWFiN9YZHzDJMSCctzmXca3uqiJ8OD2z4g4xNNIooUMzKUN9BcwAyMc6ueJCwIYEXrB1b5Khm31rK0fVdlEXEnTODnOWr4ekMBf40P5jWuj-wuPzq3ldK1Amdf/w640-h546/PXL_20230617_200737303.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br>Nigel Kneale (1922-2006) was a British/Manx author whose influence on science fiction, supernatural fiction and television drama cannot be understated. Kneale wrote many scripts, screenplays and stories that would have a formative influence in English drama. While Kneale is best known for his Quatermass stories, his work is much more varied than those relating to Professor Bernard Quatermass. He has a fairly vast body of work that still exists, although due to the nearsighted preservation practices of the BBC and ITV affiliates of the 1940s-1970s, many of his contributions to TV drama do not survive, at least in their original form. The man wrote books, TV plays, film scripts and radio dramas. The purpose of this article is to identify what of his "genre work" still exists, what has been released and the best versions available to acquire. While books have been written about Kneale's career, impact on modern genre fantasy and his works, here we will let the author speak for himself directly to his audience.</div><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-kneale-watcher-reader-listener.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-45408032210189063082023-06-09T11:12:00.002-04:002024-02-08T00:26:17.484-05:00Tandy 1000 EX and Tandy 1000 HX - The All-in-One Tandys<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBt5jxleenJywl2LPqNCHDvDtkcE_iNajNXJbZZN5BqdIMyhcfOpXZCPmLqqTo5ul7juqjIu7a8NJZXkHmRPLEpf9Gc004lRCDXCqczEvgJpNNrejwjxSbns7C7QlkvTl7ilAcsutfxrbEWZ-qrjdBfUdhg2wrMRqoNW11Dj3qkek8OEAXHqLNHs4P/s2139/Clipboard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="775" data-original-width="2139" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBt5jxleenJywl2LPqNCHDvDtkcE_iNajNXJbZZN5BqdIMyhcfOpXZCPmLqqTo5ul7juqjIu7a8NJZXkHmRPLEpf9Gc004lRCDXCqczEvgJpNNrejwjxSbns7C7QlkvTl7ilAcsutfxrbEWZ-qrjdBfUdhg2wrMRqoNW11Dj3qkek8OEAXHqLNHs4P/w640-h232/Clipboard.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p>The Tandy 1000 EX was released in mid-1986 ($799) and the Tandy 1000 HX released in mid-1987 ($699) . They were Tandy's "entry-level" PC-compatible models, containing everything you need to run PC and MS-DOS software in a fully self-contained unit by means of the built-in keyboard. The Tandy 1000 SX ($1,199) was released alongside the EX and the Tandy 1000 TX ($1,199) accompanied the HX. Due to their low cost and despite their increasingly unimpressive specifications, they still sold very, very well. Lets talk about their abilities, their upgrades and their differences.</p><span></span><a href="http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2023/06/tandy-1000-ex-and-tandy-1000-hx-all-in.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">You say "obsessed" as if it is a bad thing.</div>Great Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.com1