Archive for February, 2018

[ Retro Scan ] The Original OSI Challenger

Monday, February 19th, 2018

Ohio Scientific Instruments OSI Challenger 6502 Vintage PC personal computer Byte Magazine advertisement scan - 1977Simple beginnings

This ancient personal computer ad comes to us from February 1977 in Byte Magazine — before the launch of the Apple II.

Like the Apple II, Ohio Scientific Industries’ Challenger PC used a MOS 6502 CPU.

I don’t know too much about OSI, since I have never owned a machine they made, but I know that they were very important in the early PC industry. I found a really neat website about OSI boards if you want to learn more. You can also learn more about their complete systems, including those with Apple II-like built-in keyboards at this website.

[ From Byte Magazine, February 1977, p.65 ]

Discussion Topic: What’s the oldest computer you’ve ever used?

Posted in Computer History, Regular Features, Retro Scan of the Week, Vintage Computing | 12 Comments »

[ Retro Scan ] Gateway to the Savage Frontier

Wednesday, February 7th, 2018

SSI AD&D Forgotten Realms Gold Box Gateway to the Savage Frontier RPG sexy sorceress legs advertisement scan - 1991BEGIN A FANTASTIC NEW QUEST! !!!

For some reason, my brother and I never owned any SSI Gold Box AD&D games when I was growing up. I have played many of them briefly since then — and there definitely are a lot of them.

So I’m particularly interested to know what you guys think about the Gold Box games — which ones you’ve played, which are the best, etc.

[ From Video Games and Computer Entertainment, August 1991, p.13 ]

Discussion Topic: What’s your favorite SSI Gold Box game?

Posted in Computer Games, Computer History, Retro Scan of the Week, Retrogaming, Vintage Computing | 5 Comments »