Archive for the 'Retro Scan of the Week' Category

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] The BBC Microcomputer

Monday, May 17th, 2010

BBC Microcomputer Ad - 1983IT”S HERER AHH1!!

This scan of an American BBC Microcomputer ad might be of particular interest to our British friends, who may be curious as to how one of the UK’s most famous early PCs was received in the United States. The truth is that the BBC Microcomputer is virtually unknown here. I’ve never seen one in person, and I’d never even heard of it until the Internet era. I suspect US sales of the BBC Microcomputer were limited in part due to the low market footprint of importers like “Fourth Dimension Systems,” as seen in this ad.

I know very little about the BBC Microcomputer (although I’d love to have one, if anyone wants to send a unit over). If any readers out there are familiar with the BBC Micro, I’d be interested to hear some history and trivia about the machine in the comments.

[ From Interface Age, November 1983, p.30 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Have you ever owned a British-designed PC? If so, tell us about it. If many, tell us your favorite.

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Screaming for Games

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Top Ad - circa 1993One eyeball, two pupils, eight fingers, ten teeth. Just like momma.

Remember when ads like this haunted the back of every video game magazine? As a kid, the thought of getting money for games you’d already played through (and thus theoretically had no more use for) was an exciting one. But the truth about used game buyers always ended up disappointing — any business that hoped to make a profit by selling used video games could only afford to offer you a few bucks per title. That’s why I never sold any of them.

[ From Electronic Gaming Monthly, circa 1993 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Have you ever regretted selling any of your video games? If so, tell us the story.

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] The IBM PC Kid

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

IBM PC Ad - 1982Why borrow the family car when you can borrow the family PC?

[ From Time Magazine, January 18th, 1982 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s the oldest IBM brand computer you’ve ever used? Mainframes count.

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Magical Nipples of Solstice

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Solstice NES Ad - 1991Our hero stands alone in a dungeon, screaming profanities at the ceiling.

You might remember our intrepid hero, a loincloth-bedecked body builder, from last year’s VC&G Halloween Costume Ideas. This beefcakey portrayal of Solstice’s main character is as amusing now as it was then, so I figured it deserved its own RSOTW.

The character’s name is actually Shadax, if you’re interested. If you’re not, I don’t blame you. He’s not normally like this, I swear. Shadax wears a modest, body-enveloping robe throughout the entire game. He only gets naked when he’s had too much of the ‘ole Green Fairy.

[ From Video Games and Computer Entertainment, April 1991, p.75 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s your favorite NES puzzle game? For bonus points: what’s the most obscure NES puzzle game you can name?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] IBM ScrollPoint Mouse

Monday, April 19th, 2010

IBM ScrollPoint Mouse Ad - 1997Overcome one of the Internet’s least annoying problems.

Ever since Microsoft introduced its first mouse with a scroll wheel, the IntelliPoint Explorer, in 1996, mouse designers have been tripping over themselves to solve the non-problem of how to allow a user to scroll a document horizontally as well as vertically. Along the way, we’ve seen solutions like the IBM TrackPoint (above), Microsoft’s own “tilt wheel” mice, and more recently the “scroll ball” on Apple’s Mighty Mouse. In the case of the ScrollPoint mouse seen above, it looks like IBM simply took its TrackPoint pointing device and stuck it on a mouse where a scroll wheel should be.

It’s all been for naught, though, because 99% of mouse users don’t care about scrolling horizontally. In fact, if you have to scroll horizontally to view a website — the task most often enhanced by a scroll wheel — the website has been terribly designed. As a result, I suspect that horizontal scrolling apparatus tend to annoy users more than help them. I’m sure someone out there will read this and swear by their horizontal scrolling mouse, but I’m also fairly certain that person is in the minority.

For more on mouse history, check out this nifty article I did for Macworld a few years ago. It includes a handy mouse technology timeline.

[ From PC World, November 1997, p.27 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Does your mouse provide the means to scroll horizontally as well as vertically? How do you feel about it?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Harvest Moon 64

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Harvest Moon 64 Nintendo 64 Ad - 2000Nose Not Required

From a kinder, gentler time when computer-rendered 3D logos were mandatory.

[ From Electronic Gaming Monthly, February 2000, p.95 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s your favorite entry in the Harvest Moon game series? Has Natsume made too many of them?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Hyper Lode Runner

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Hyper Lode Runner Game Boy Ad - 1990Our Viking Future

Earthdate: 2264. These are troubled times for the planet. After centuries of peace, the renegade Red Lord of Darkness has led his cyborg fanatics in a bloody revolution that has overthrown the United World government. Millions of political prisoners are being tortured in his infamous Labyrinth of Doom far beneath the surface of the planet. Very little is known about this subterranean maze of brick-walled catacombs. Just vague rumors about the hidden millions in stolen gold guarded by a ruthless army of mutant cyborg zombies commanded by the merciless General Zod, governor of the Red Lord’s death camps. Only one thing is sure…none of your predecessors have ever come out of this dreaded place alive. But, you must find a way out with a lode of gold big enough to launch the counterrevolution. You are the last hope; the last of the great Lode Runners.

I don’t know what’s scarier about the future: the Red Lord of Darkness or the United World government. Hard to choose.

[ From Video Games & Computer Entertainment, January 1990, p.60 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: In your opinion, what computer or video game has the best plot/story of all time?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Flying Disks of Formaster

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Formaster Disk Duplicator Ad - 1983A deleted scene from Disney’s Fantasia.

[ From Interface Age, May 1983, p.25 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Tell us your copy protection horror stories. Have you ever tried to copy a disk but couldn’t? What did you do about it?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Lawfully Wedded Tomato

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Princess Tomato NES Ad - 1991Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES)

[ From Video Games & Computer Entertainment, June 1991, p.81 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s the weirdest video game you’ve ever played?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] The DEC Rainbow 100

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Digital Equipment Corporation DEC Rainbow Ad - 1983“Look over the Rainbow”

In the early 1980s, mainframe giant Digital Equipment Corporation (aka DEC for short) tried its hand in the personal computer market with the DEC Rainbow (1982). Since the market had not settled on an industry-wide PC standard at that time, DEC decided to support the two major operating system platforms of the day: Z80-based CP/M and 8088-based MS-DOS. The Rainbow contained both these processors and was capable of booting both OSes. Interestingly, despite the machine’s use of the 8088 and MS-DOS, the computer remained largely incompatible with the IBM PC from a hardware standpoint.

[ From Interface Age, November 1983, p.51 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Imagine a world in which Digital Research CP/M, rather than MS-DOS, became the standard operating system for PCs worldwide in the 1980s. (That is, far beyond CP/M’s market share of the 1970s.) How might PCs today be different?