Archive

Author Archive

Philips Odyssey 2001

April 18th, 2010 1 comment
Philips Odyssey 2001

Autopsy:

from pong-story homepage:

Magnavox started to export video games in 1974. At first, Odyssey was exported in 1974 in more than ten countries. Later in 1976, Philips released the Philips Odyssey 200 in several countries including Austria and Germany. Finally, the Philips Odyssey 2001 and the Odyssey 2100 were released in 1977 and 1978.

The Odyssey 2001 is nearly same as the Magnavox Odyssey 4000, but it didn’t play the same games. Designed around the National Semiconductor MM-57105 chip, it played three games in color: Tennis, Hockey and Squash. Unlike most PONG games, sound came directly from the TV set. The chip delivered color video signals,  as opposed to the black and white games of the General Instruments game chips, which could use a special color encoder chip.

The game selection was simply done by pressing the button of one of the two controllers, allowing the players to switch from a game to another. The documentation of this console exists in ten languages, although only four foreign patents are shown on the back side of the system. The exact number of countries where this system sold is still unknown. This system is quite common, and Germany seems to be the country where it was most successfull.

source: pong-story.com wikipedia

(Italian) Firenze Vintage Bit 2010

April 16th, 2010 No comments

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

Categories: Event(s), News & Rumors, Today

C64 Pixel Art from Roberto / Papposoft

April 16th, 2010 No comments

IBM PC compatible Microswitch Keyboard with AT/XT Switch

April 15th, 2010 1 comment
Microswitch Keyboard with AT/XT Switch Microswitch Keyboard with AT/XT Switch

This is a IBM PC Compatible Microswitch Keyboard from 80 years with AT/XT switch.

C64 Game: Spike from TRSI

April 14th, 2010 No comments

TRSI released a new game for the Commodore C64. The game is a conversion of the Vectrex classic Spike.

source: noname.c64.org

40-column ASCII text viewer for VIC-20 by Michael Kircher

April 14th, 2010 No comments

40-column ASCII text viewer with scrolling screen for VIC-20.

Requirements: VIC-20 with +8K RAM expansion, or more; disc drive.

source: Denial (The Commodore VIC-20 forum)

VIC-20 Trackmo: Going lowres from TRSI

April 14th, 2010 No comments

This is a Trackmo with several Effects, Graphics and Tunes, placed 6th at Breakpoint 2010 Wild Compo.

Requirements: VIC20 + 16K RAM + Diskdrive.

source: Denial (The Commodore VIC-20 forum)

Amstrad PC1640 SD

April 13th, 2010 2 comments
Amstrad PC1640 SD

Autopsy:

Amstrad Monitor PC-CD / Mouse / Keyboard and System Discs

from Wikipedia:

The Amstrad PC1512 was Amstrad’s mostly IBM PC-compatible home computer system, first manufactured in 1986. It was later succeeded by the PC1640.

It launched for £499 and sold very well, as it was one of the first cheap PCs in Europe. It significantly helped open up the European PC market to consumers as well as businesses, and Amstrad’s advertising of the PC1512 was aimed at homes rather than offices. The 1512′s influence was such that the UK PC magazine PC Plus originally targeted itself at the “Amstrad PC 1512 and compatibles”, since home ownership of other PCs at the time was rare.

The PC1512 shipped with 512K of RAM; it could be upgraded to 640K of RAM with an expansion pack. Video output was compatible with the CGA standard, with an extension allowing all 16 colours to be used in the 640×200 graphics mode. The CPU of both the PC1512 and the later PC1640 was an 8 MHz Intel 8086, which was sufficient for playing The Secret of Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion and Prince of Persia. The power supply was located in the monitor, which made upgrading difficult.

source: wikipedia

Zenith Data Systems SlimSport 286 (IWL 286-2)

April 11th, 2010 No comments
Zenith SlimSport 286 (IWL 286-2)

Autopsy:

Heath / Zenith pioneered the laptop computer market in 1985, with “lunchbox” portable computer Z 171, the first MS DOS based small portable computer fit with two 5″1/4 floppy disks ans blue LCD screen, that was built for Heath / Zenith by Vadem Corp. under an OEM agreement, and purchased in large numbers by the US Internal Revenue Service. Next, in 1987, followed the Intel 8088-based Zenith 181 and Zenith 183, the latter being one of the very first laptops to be equipped with a hard disk.

The follow-on SupersPORT was substantially larger and heavier, but provided much-improved performance through the use of the Intel 286 processor. It was selected by the US Army and Navy in one of the first major government purchases of laptop computers.

from Wikipedia:

Zenith Data Systems (ZDS) was a division of Zenith founded in 1979 after Zenith acquired Heathkit, who had, in 1977, entered the personal computer market.

Headquartered in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Zenith sold personal computers under both the Heath/Zenith and Zenith Data Systems names. Zenith was an early partner with Microsoft, licensing all Microsoft languages for the Heath/Zenith 8-bit computers. Conversely, Microsoft programmers of the early 80s did much of their work using Zenith Z 19 and Z-29 CRT display terminals hooked to central mainframe computers. The first H 8 Heathkit computer, sold in kit form, was built on Intel 8080 processor.

It run K7 audio-tape software, punched tape software (with puncher/readr H10) and HDOS (Heath Disk Operating System) software on 5″1/4 hard-sectored floppy disks. The CP/M operating system was adapted to all Heath/Zenith computers, in 1979. Next, the early Heath/Zenith computers (H88/H89 ans Z89) were based on the Z80 processors and ran either HDOS or CP/M operating systems.

source: wikipedia

Visual Studio 6502 Language Extension

April 10th, 2010 3 comments

This is a 6502 Language Extension for Microsoft Visual Studio. Written by Pantaloon of Fairlight.

source: noname.c64.org

Breakpoint 2010 Competition Results

April 5th, 2010 No comments


C64 Demo:

  • 1 Snapshot by Glance.
  • 2 Black Spark 90% by Black Sun.
  • 3 Agiel by Inversion.
  • 4 Zak Is Back by Onslaught.

C64 4K Intro:

  • 1 Dramatic Pixels by Pers’ Wastaiset Produktiot.
  • 2 Rushed Orb by Resource.
  • 3 Nine by Chorus.
  • 4 Man with a Hat in Bingen by Karoshier.
  • 5 RasterDoubler in 110 Bytes by Abyss Connection, Tristar.

Read more…

Categories: Event(s), News & Rumors, Today

USB Joystick Adapter

April 5th, 2010 2 comments

With this USB Joystick adapter you can use your favorite joystick on the PC. Joystick from Amiga/C64/Atari… can be used!

source: retro-donald.de

TAPClean v0.24c (OSx/Dos/Linux)

April 5th, 2010 No comments

TAPClean is a Commodore tape preservation / restoration tool.

It will check, repair, and remaster Commodore 64 and VIC 20 TAP or DC2N DMP files (tape images).

source: sourceforge.net

Apple IIc Box / Manuals / Warranty Card…

April 4th, 2010 No comments
Apple IIc Box

Autopsy:

Apple IIc Box / Manuals / Warranty Card…

source: wikipedia

(Italian) Made in Italy: Interfaccia C64SD di Manosoft

April 3rd, 2010 2 comments

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

Categories: Hardware, News & Rumors, Today