Random MSN Gibberings LXXXXI: Homing in on the scent of Shambles

[Shambles]

Speccy! 48k of rubbery-keyboarded Goodness

Homemade arcade cabinet sounds like uberwin. Am a fan of MAME but not had it up and running for ages now. Pretty much every oldskool coin-op ever made available for nowt though so hard to go wrong.

The revelation that TV channels existed to record the audio to make Speccy tapes also blew my mind here. I though we were leet back in the day with a tape-to-tape

 

[knock]

Speccy! 48k of rubbery-keyboarded Goodness

Homemade arcade cabinet sounds like uberwin. Am a fan of MAME but not had it up and running for ages now. Pretty much every oldskool coin-op ever made available for nowt though so hard to go wrong.

The revelation that TV channels existed to record the audio to make Speccy tapes also blew my mind here. I though we were leet back in the day with a tape-to-tape

You were hiding when I started a small but perfectly formed 80s home computer games thread last summer!

 

[Shambles]

Bookmarked!

You have no idea how much some of those screenshots are making me purr

I wouldn't even know where to start on fave Speccy games (bollox to Commie 64s and *retch* Amstrads ). Spotted Lord of the Rings up there in the OP though. A fave of mine. Recall being so bloody excited when I got it - massive box and copy of the first book included. Have a feeling I never made it past the first few screens but still enjoyed it. Was easily pleased me.

Was also a fan of Bored of the Rings and those excellent single-location comedy text adventures. Don't recall the names of any of 'em but was a whole series that just involved trying to escape from a locked toilet from memory.

Also,

 

[knock]

Thought you'd enjoy!

 

[Shambles]

You thought right

*seriously considers setting up his Speccy emulator in the very near future*

Do like some more recent games but so damn fiddly to get up an running sometimes. Perhaps should consider paying for legit versions rather than torrented cracked ones then 8)

 

[angelsmoke]

Just want to let you know that it's lovely to have you with us again - I'm under the impression that you went AWOL for a bit? I could be wrong. Regardless - Lush to have you back ~

Thanks for the lovely welcome back!! Went AWOL for a bit I guess -- been lurking but not really posting for quite a while. Was also trying to keep out from under Mugz' feet while we both licked our wounds from the breakup, but since that was nearly a year ago now I think we can share BL without any angst


Monkey Island is AWESOME! I loved a whole bunch of LucasArts point-and-click adventures: Full Throttle, Day of the tentacle. I'm sure there were more. They've never quite as good as you remember though!!

I've long since abandoned all hope of playing recent games on my PC. That goes for any PC I've ever owned. I throw together a new computer every few years, but it's never from state of the art components. Usually they just can't handle any recent games. I'd buy better hardware, but everything moves on so fast that it'd be obsolete again within 6 months. PS3 is where it's at for my recent-game needs. Though I haven't been impressed by anything for a while. Got Final Fantasy XIII-2 a bit ago and have to declare it to be wank!

 

[Shambles]

On the recent games thang, the doubly annoying thing is I have a relatively swanky laptop complete with M$ OS so all should run fairly smooth other than the ultraponcy stuff. Have managed to get a fair few up and running but as swooshy as they are they can be kinda... shallow somehow. Dunno why cos I'd similar on a console but just seem a bit faffy on a PC

/codger

Also, tis indeed good to see you back, Angel

 

[knock]

I've been enjoying the releases in the Humble Bundle series of game packages recently, angelsmoke. Most of them are not too taxing on older computers, rather than whiz-bang graphics they tend to focus on interesting gameplay. Plus you get to choose how much to pay! Plus they work on Windows, Mac and Linux - and they've started doing Android releases too. Also it's for charity!

Most of the games were released two or three years ago for one platform and have been spruced up and ported to the supported range of platforms.

Wikipedia tells you everything about them better than I could. For me it's just nice to have some interesting new games that run on Linux.

I have bought the Voxatron Debut bundle, the Indie Bundle #4 and the Android Bundle #2, but they keep adding new games to my bundles later on and they even seem to have added the Humble Introversion Bundle to my collection, which is very nice of them!

 

[angelsmoke]

On the recent games thang, the doubly annoying thing is I have a relatively swanky laptop complete with M$ OS so all should run fairly smooth other than the ultraponcy stuff. Have managed to get a fair few up and running but as swooshy as they are they can be kinda... shallow somehow. Dunno why cos I'd similar on a console but just seem a bit faffy on a PC

Heh. I've struggled so much with PC and games over the years that I just associate it with struggle now! Think half of the swishiness of console games for me is that I have a pretty nice TV, only 720p but PS3 games look gorgeous on it. Whereas on my PC I generally have to set the lowest quality possible to get things to run. Which is fine if the gameplay is good enough, but not fine if ogling the graphics are supposed to be half the fun.

Also, tis indeed good to see you back, Angel

And you!! You were AWOL for quite a while I believe. Good to see you're alive and doing well

 

[Shambles]

I think I mainly prefer consoles for new games cos it's just so much less faffabout to get up and running quickly. Am still a PS2 boy but been considering upgrading to a PS3 (if I still have pennies left in me PayPal account for an eBay purchase of such a thing). Never was sure whether you need to have it connected to tinterwebz or can just use it out the box though. Not that it should matter but simplicity is king for me when it comes to gaming.

Failing that I'll just invest in some new PS2 games. Or get around to setting up some emulators on me lappy - surely the pain will be brief and the rewards vasty...

And yes, alive is a given. Doing well I'm still working on

 

[angelsmoke]

I've been enjoying the releases in the Humble Bundle series of game packages recently, angelsmoke. Most of them are not too taxing on older computers, rather than whiz-bang graphics they tend to focus on interesting gameplay. Plus you get to choose how much to pay! Plus they work on Windows, Mac and Linux - and they've started doing Android releases too. Also it's for charity!

Ooh, that looks pretty cool, looks like it might have some fun games.

 

[Shambles]

Incidentally, have been perusing that there 80s games thread of yours, Knock. Bringing a nostalgic tear or two to me eye so it is. Will be getting a firm bumping if I can be arsed to set up me Speccy emulator anytime soon. Gotta those 8 bit obscurities

 

[angelsmoke]

I think I mainly prefer consoles for new games cos it's just so much less faffabout to get up and running quickly. Am still a PS2 boy but been considering upgrading to a PS3 (if I still have pennies left in me PayPal account for an eBay purchase of such a thing). Never was sure whether you need to have it connected to tinterwebz or can just use it out the box though. Not that it should matter but simplicity is king for me when it comes to gaming.

Hmm, think it needs to be connected to t'internet. It'll work out of the box to some degree, but sooner or later you'll get a game demanding you do a system update because it needs a later version of the OS. Once you've got a game installed and working though it doesn't seem to need much from the internet.

I had a bit of a game with mine when I got it: for some reason it couldn't connect to my wireless network with WPA (later realised it'd connect fine if I used WEP) so I connected it to the router with a cable -- no small feat given the TV and router were opposite ends of the room and the cable wasn't *quite* long enough. There was some very dodgy balancing and very taut cables!! Yes, I could have moved the TV, or bought longer cables, but I was convinced I could make them reach.

Or get around to setting up some emulators on me lappy - surely the pain will be brief and the rewards vasty...

Depending on the emulator, the pain may be fairly large, but the rewards will indeed be great!!

And yes, alive is a given. Doing well I'm still working on

 

[Shambles]

Thanks for the tips, Angel

The internet connected thingy is what's put me off PS3 to date. Sure it'd be no great problem to set up a connection seeing as I have internetz whizzing about me room anyway but given my technical "skill"... Suppose it'd be one of those relatively one-shot pain deals - like setting up emus. Have had Megadrive/SNES/N64 ones up and running easily enough when I was more into such stuff. Got a bit bogged down with some of the more obscure oldskool console ones though - and PS2-era stuff was pure wank at the time. Heard it's improved since... Still got all those ROMS I downloaded knocking about though so when next suitably stimmed

 

[angelsmoke]

Thanks for the tips, Angel

The internet connected thingy is what's put me off PS3 to date. Sure it'd be no great problem to set up a connection seeing as I have internetz whizzing about me room anyway but given my technical "skill"... Suppose it'd be one of those relatively one-shot pain deals

It really shouldn't be painful -- if you already have wifi then it should just pick it up and go with it. The problem is that the interface is very opaque, and gives you errors like "couldn't connect" with no further information. So if all works, yay! But if it doesn't, it takes a bit of fiddling around to figure out the problem. I've no idea why WPA doesn't work on mine. All my other wifi devices worked fine, so couldn't blame the wireless gateway. Only thing I could think of is that it's a US playstation, maybe the protocols are slightly different, can't believe that though.

If you can get one cheaper from the US than the UK I'd recommend it. PS3 games aren't region locked. The Blu ray player is though, depends how much you want to watch blu ray. When I got mine it was less than half the price it would have been in the UK, but think they're about the same now. Apart from Blu ray and not being able to play UK DVDs, all the region-specific stuff works fine.

- like setting up emus. Have had Megadrive/SNES/N64 ones up and running easily enough when I was more into such stuff. Got a bit bogged down with some of the more obscure oldskool console ones though - and PS2-era stuff was pure wank at the time. Heard it's improved since... Still got all those ROMS I downloaded knocking about though so when next suitably stimmed

Ooh, nice! You did better than me then. I definitely had a C64 emulator working at some point (just so I could play Rainbow Island), but never anything more modern than that. I certainly seem to remember PS and PS2 emulation being a losing game, but that was quite a few years now so maybe it's come on as you say. Is another annoying thing about the PS3, it's not backwards compatible. Some models are more compatible than others apparently. I wouldn't know since mine whines about region restrictions and refuses to do anything else -- OTOH you can get PS games off the Playstation store for not very much money. I've enjoyed replaying a few classics!

 

[Allein]

I just got our Wii up and running again, it needed a new drive, £25 off Ebay for one that will play DVDRs, I've softmoded mine so you cab play "backup discs" you can connect a Hard disc to it but the disc are easier for the kids, gotta love Mario Kart !

They now both have DSlites both got cheap off of Ebay and both with R4 cards so I must have about 200 games in "stock", my daughter came back from her friends house and they had been playing with their DS's (not sure how you write that should have paid more attention at school) and she said to me "daddy XXX has to change her cartridge everytime she wants to play a different game it's rubbish" bless her

 

[ColtDan]

Am still a PS2 boy but been considering upgrading to a PS3 (if I still have pennies left in me PayPal account for an eBay purchase of such a thing). Never was sure whether you need to have it connected to tinterwebz or can just use it out the box though. Not that it should matter but simplicity is king for me when it comes to gaming.

buy mine off me, tempted to get an xbox. although not into games that much anymore so it might sit gathering dust,

used to be right into the game when i was younger, loved it. old sonic etc, nostalgic. command n conquer on the pc,

 

[ColtDan]

not usually a fan of music like this, but this is catchy as fuck,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoBP24I2lwA&list=FLC--uZVwp7qLoKuU0unjPTA&index=3&feature=plpp_video

 

[Myshkin]

Also,

indeed.

When games were games... eeeeee lad, fetch us a pint o' mild, will yer?

 

[knock]

morning EADD! how are we today? I'm still all morphinated from last night's tea, lush!

tesco finest fruit & nut muesli here I come...