More to be found at BBC Comedy: Extra

Airing: BBC4 Thursday 8th October 9.00pm

Starring: Martin Freeman (The Office, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) as Chris Curry, the man behind the BBC-backed Acorn, and Alexander Armstrong (Armstrong and Miller, the Pimms ads) as Clive Sinclair, inventor and owner of Sinclair Research.

The story covers the period of British dominance of the home computer market in the early 1980’s and the fight between Sinclair and Acorn to secure the lucrative British schools contract. As those of us who are old enough remember well, BBC backed Acorn won out but was the decision the right one?

The programme promises to be a good laugh and includes lots of retro TV clips from the era which are bound to stir up nostalgia in those that lived through and witnessed the home computer revolution.

Set your recorders for this one…

More details here

The genius that was Lenslok...

If you think copy protection on software is a new thing, think again. Way before DRM, there were code-cards, code-wheels, Lenslok and dongles. Never heard of them? Head on over to Pingdom and read this great article for yourself.

The age old question asked by many a journalist in their quest to stir up controversy in the gaming community and get the resulting traffic/magazine sales. I personally think its all a load of b***ocks and a good game is a good game whether it was on the NES or on and Xbox 360. I enjoy playing on my 360 as much as I do blowing the dust off my vintage machines and firing them up.

If you agree or disagree we would like to hear from you, feel free to comment below on the neverending Retro vs Next-gen question…

Read an excellent article on this very subject over at Classy Gamer.

“Yeah, OK dude, but how do I get it to work?” I hear you cry.

If you are lucky…

If the oxidisation isn’t too bad, repeatedly inserting and removing the cartridge (with the power OFF!) will reinstate enough contact between cartridge and console to get your cartridge working again. Be patient and gentle, it might need doing for a few minutes before you bring life back to that old game and ramming it in won’t help but may just damage your console or game beyond repair.

If you weren’t lucky and this didn’t work then you need to clean the contacts.

Cleaning Step 1- Alcohol

You will need to get some rubbing alcohol (90%+ alcohol if possible although 70% will do) and some cotton buds (q-tips to our American cousins).

Dip the cotton bud in the alcohol and gently rub along each contact back and forth a few times. You will be amazed just how much oxidisation is removed on a cart that has been unused for a while and the cotton bud will get quite dirty. Repeat this until the contacts are clean and shiny.

Wait for the contacts to dry and try the cart, hopefully all will be well and the game will play, but if not…

Cleaning Step 2 – Ink Eraser

Non abrasive methods haven’t worked so it’s time for the big guns. You will need an Ink Eraser and a small brush (a half inch paint brush will do).

Depending on the cartridge and the shape of your eraser (unused ones will have a nice bevelled edge that will get into that gap) you may need to disassemble your cartridge first. Some cartridges such as those for the Atari 2600 will pull apart after the removal of one screw (with care!), some cartridges such as those for the Nintendo 64 require special tools. You can find instructions on how to disassemble specific cartridges elsewhere on the internet such as here. I will assume that you have taken your cartridge casing apart and have the circuit board and contacts fully exposed. Take this opportunity to examine the circuit board for broken solder and to replace any batteries. Use the eraser and rub on each of the contacts gently in turn until the oxidisation is removed. Once done use the brush to clean off the bits of eraser. Reassemble and try out your cartridge.

Cleaning Step 3 – Last Resort

If the steps above haven’t restored your cartridge to working order then you have nothing to lose. You will need some emery board (commonly used to file finger nails) fine emery cloth or very fine wet and dry sandpaper and a small brush (a half inch paint brush will suffice).

Disassemble your cartridge as above so that the contacts are fully exposed. Rub the contacts gently with the emery board (or paper) until they are bright and shiny. Please note that if this is over-done it will result in the contact being rubbed away and the cartridge will be beyond repair, you have been warned! Brush away any residue, reassemble and try out the cartridge.

Hopefully your cartridge is now working, if not, then perhaps its time to list it on an auction site as ‘unable to test’…

Disclaimer: The Author accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any damage caused to yourself, your console or your cartridges by following the advice above. All cartridge surgery is undertaken at your own risk!

As a buyer and seller of retro games and hardware, I can’t help but notice the upward trend in prices of late. I have purchased some fantastic bargains over the years from various sources such as car boot sales, jumble sales, charity shops and ebay. Whereas a few years back I could browse my local car boot sale or jumble sale and could buy a ZX Spectrum with a box of games thrown in for a £5 note, now I’d be lucky to even see a ZX Spectrum let alone pay less than £20 for it. The prices on ebay have soared and its almost impossible to bag a bargain there any longer and even charity shops seem to have cottoned on and now charge retail prices for their retro gaming stock. There are exceptions to this rule of course, with car boot stall holders still practically begging you to take away their Nintendo 64 for a pittance.

It got me thinking as to why retro gaming should be getting more expensive and I came up with the following possibilities:

Education

People are just too aware that the computer or console in the loft is worth some money nowadays. We can thank magazines like Retro Gamer for that. Not that I’m against a magazine dedicated to our beloved pastime, (I’ve even advertised within it’s pages in the past). No, I’m just concluding that it’s pages are spreading the potential worth of retro consoles and games to a previously disinterested group of people who now see that ‘theres gold in them there hills’. Consequently they use the often inflated (and misguided) price guides these magazines publish or hold on to their retro goodies as a future investment and put them back in the loft.

Increased Interest

More people wanting stuff drives the price up. Simple economics may be part of the answer and the mere fact that our pastime is becoming more popular is making it more expensive too. Maybe the Credit Crunch is now fueling this and people that are baulking at buying that latest £40 Xbox game have now turned to good old retro gaming as a cheaper alternative. Again, magazines could play a part and their exposure of our hobby could be attracting otherwise disinterested parties to the potential money making aspect of their loft finds.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree that retro gaming is getting more expensive? Why do you think this is? Let us know.