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80s Computer Games TV Adverts
Dec28

80s Computer Games TV Adverts

I don’t recall ever seeing a TV advert for a computer game in the eighties. This was possibly because we watched BBC more than ITV – yes, we were a BBC family; what of it? – but it might also be because they were absolutely horrific and my brain sensibly removed them from storage immediately after viewing. See for yourself with this selection of three television commercials for games available on the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Oric, Dragon 32, Atari, Acorn Electron, Amstrad, and even the MSX. Remember MSX? Hunchback Classic platformer and the only game of the three featured here that I actually played (on a friend’s Commodore 64 as I didn’t actually own it). The Young Ones I didn’t even know there was a Young Ones computer game but I’m sure I would have remembered this advert. You wouldn’t forget an advert this excruciating would you? Rasputin I had some isometric 3D games but not this one. The advert is particularly bad because I can only assume it’s being targeted at cockroaches or ants or some other non-human species that communicates using clicking...

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An Absence Of Polaroids
Dec01

An Absence Of Polaroids

I am a fan of photography and I am a fan of retro or vintage things so it should come as no surprise to learn that I am a fan of vintage photography, and I’m not alone. Of the many other people out there with websites that cater for old photography one of my favourites is An Absence which simply posts old Polaroid (and non-Polaroid) photos. There’s something so warming looking at these instants of the recent past captured in colour-faded glory. The only thing missing from the pictures is an explanation of what’s happening. Of course, you can usually work it...

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Classic Software
Oct30

Classic Software

I’ve used archive.org for years as a great source for looking up old films. Just recently the site’s taken it to the next level by adding old software to the freely-available collection: the historical software collection. All the games can be played without installing anything thanks to an emulator that runs in modern browsers. As you can probably tell, The Hobbit is one of the games on the site. Look! Proof I’ve been playing it too. Got past the trolls and everything. Other software includes Elite, Chuckie Egg, Visicalc, Pacman, Chess, and Pitfall. There are many more and the collection is continually being added...

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The victorialucas38 YouTube Channel
Aug18

The victorialucas38 YouTube Channel

Just discovered, and absolutely fantastic. You need to be subscribed to the victorialucas38 YouTube channel right now and you need to take a look at some – or possible all – of the videos on it because not enough people have. Let me whet your appetite for 1970s and early 1980s spoof television shows right here. Ask The Family (Spoof) BBC Schools & Colleges (Spoof) John Craven’s Newsround (Spoof) Local Cinema Adverts (Spoof) I’d embed every video on the channel if I...

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Unicorn Four
Aug11

Unicorn Four

Footage from cancelled 1970s science fiction show Unicorn Four. Unicorn Four… where the future is the future! And here’s the pitch for the show, because you looked like you were about to ask:

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ZX81 Mail Order Games
Jun16

ZX81 Mail Order Games

I didn’t get my first computer until 1983 – a second-hand Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K from a family friend who was “upgrading” to an Acorn Electron (the fool! He later bought an Archimedes as I recall too!) – so missed out on what almost appears to be the Raspberry Pi of the early eighties, the ZX81. I’m currently enjoying going through a lot of old computer magazines from the period (this is not a midlife crisis) which is why you’re seeing a surge in posting (one or two a week! Slow down man!) and a similar theme amongst the posts too. It’s also why I created the new Retro category for the site. I want to capture for posterity some of the adverts for ZX81 games I’ve been seeing a lot of recently and, in particular, I want to focus on mail order games for this post. The early eighties appears to have been a great time to be a hobbyist programmer with a pile of blank cassettes just ready to record the latest masterpiece in 1-16K of memory onto. I remember a similar surge in amateur coders creating and publishing on the cheap with the Amiga in the early nineties too. These days? Well, apps from a phone’s app store just doesn’t really have the same feel. But then I’m old. The first advert I’m going to highlight is for two reasons: firstly, the content, which should be blindingly obvious. Secondly, the company: Automata Ltd. Because they were based in Portsmouth. I’m from Portsmouth in case that reasoning seems a little odd. The content: three cassettes described as being “adult games for jaded minds” containing 8-10 games on each. Can of Worms for the over 16s includes Acne, Vasectomy, Smut, Hitler, Dole, Royal Flush, Reagan, and Ps ‘n’ Qs. Hitler and Smut on the same tape? Surely not! Love and Death is one for over 18s and includes Seduction, Conception, Birth, Rubic’s Pube, On The Job, Pox, Dr Death, and God. There’s something almost “Meaning of Life”-esque about these titles. The Bible is for over 16s too and includes Genesis, Adam & Eve, Noah, Plagues, Exodus, Holy Moses, Sodom, Goliath, Jonah, and Bethlehem. I suppose a game based on the book of Numbers was probably saved for a cassette called Unending Tedium. Are Automata still in Portsmouth at the same address? No, they’re not. These days it’s an estate agent’s and a slimming clinic. That’s a shame; I feel it deserves a museum. I did own one Automata game for the Spectrum: Pimania. My memory of it is that it was incredibly weird and written in BASIC so...

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