Retro Games

Hacks 5362: Introduction Many people didn't have their first gaming experience in front of a game console or arcade machine. We were first introduced to video games through classic home computers. Sure, our parents and/or middle schools bought them ...

There are old Apple ][ systems, from the original Apple ][ to the last Apple IIgs ROM 3, lurking in attics, closets, basements, and the occasional store all over the world. I kept my old Franklin Ace 1000 (an Apple ][+ clone) in my parents' attic for...

The Apple ][ by itself is a box that lets you type in code and run it. Turning the Apple ][ into a game-playing console requires a few additional parts, many of which you can find on eBay or even conceivably build yourself. The first accessory I'd s...

The old equipment is great, but it's difficult to lug an Apple II (or even a //c) with you when you just want to play old Apple games on your laptop. Fortunately, you have lots of options. While I can't find an Apple II emulator for a cell phone, the...

A lot of people can have fun with an old Apple ][ or Apple ][ emulator just by putting disks or disk images into the emulator and booting into games. There's nothing wrong with this, but there's a lot more that you can do if you like, from looking ar...

When I was in high school in the 1980s, the Commodore 64 was one of the computers to have. One friend of mine had a Commodore 64 decked out with an amazing array of music software and hardware. I'm sure my memory is exaggerating, but I swear, it look...

Maybe you don't want to wait until the end of an eBay auction, or perhaps the shoggoth that shambles around your attic still hasn't left. Whatever the case, running a real Commodore 64 [Hack #57] didn't quite do it for you. No matteryou can emulate t...

In the early 1980s, the computer industry was very different from what it is today. Personal computers had just started to reach a price point affordable by the average consumer, and the limited technology of the time forced manufacturers to carefull...

The type-in listing was a mainstay of specialist computer and gaming publications from the early to mid '80s. Its popularity was due to three factors: they were cheap to buy (the cost of a magazine with ten type-ins was a fraction of the price of a c...

So you've set up your 1980's vintage personal computer or found a way to emulate it on your own PC using some of the other hacks in this chapter, but now you're wondering what you can do with it. Hmm, let's think back on all the ways you once used yo...

Much has been said about the quality of the Dreamcastit's a fantastic game system, no doubt. When I was still playing Quake 2 on my PlayStation, Dreamcast players were fragging each other to bits in Quake 3. But that's not why I love my Dreamcastfact...