To all fans, A big delayed welcome to the 2014. RGUK is heading for a big reboot to cover a lot more retro and not just video games, but other formats including minidisc, vhs, tape, and visitors to the blog are welcome to share their wonderful memories, including memories of their childhood from any era, what music you liked etc. The name of the blog will be reviewed and will be posted on here soon, so think of it as a little addition but a bit addition too, which will mean easier access for me to blog and share video's, pictures and instructions etc, all on here. Keep an eye out for the big change!...
Thank you, this is just a quick update as decided to cover all retro instead, to gain a wider audience.
Right now I am gearing up to write about mini disc and it's fantastic format, my player is Sony MZ-R55, I have owned Sony MZ-R700, and Sony MZ-N510 and have had other makes too, but let's just say Sony does best with their sound chips, of course you can share your view, and I expect someone will say oh god not the R55, well it records, sounds great and is a great unit, apart from the poor battery life, well what is a uniross audio charger for... hehe, it works well and does it's job which is an external, so makes my life easier and Ni-MH batteries are fairly cheap anyways, so to me its the best MD recorder to my knowledge. Okay there are better one's for others are out there, but for me R55 is my fav MD.
Hope this brings a better blog, would love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you as always,
RGUK
Sunday, 2 February 2014
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Great start to Summer
Hello RGUK Fans,
I have more news for you, development is being continued on the e-magazine, although it may seem a bit silent from RGUK we are still here working hard on the e-magazine, content, design, new look for RGUK, and a huge list to go along with all that too, please bear in mind that I am one person doing everything to make this happen.
The e-magazine is coming out by late summer, as long as there are no issues/hiccups on the way. Issue 1 is being developed, however as I had issues with my computer and had to install Linux etc that has caused a few issues, now got an older computer for backup, so hopefully fingers crossed without jinxing anything it should go much more smoother.
For all my fans, the next post will be a surprise as it will be about retro gaming as it should be anyway, and some spills in regards to the magazine.
The next few weeks are going to be very busy but here is the good part, I will be uploading more blog posts for you to read, so hopefully you won't miss me much :) So there you have it, a quick update to let you know what is happening and also to let you know there are blog posts on the way.
Also another little sneak peak info about our the development on the e-mag, it will be dedicated to a certain computer/console platform during the 90's to start wish, then if successful I shall release another e-magazine, and another another, ranging all the way from 8-bit / 16-bit / 32-bit, not only are we concentrating on the e-mags.
Also, during the year I shall be releasing short-ish, video's on Youtube of me playing video games, it will be just me playing the video game as it should be played, no review, just pure gameplay, it's not going to be a walkthrough, however I am going through some trial and errors at the moment, everything takes time but sure is a lot going on with Retro Gamez UK this year.
As always, thank you for reading the blog post, and hope to see you visit again soon.
A huge thank you to all fans of RGUK,
Best wishes,
RGUK
I have more news for you, development is being continued on the e-magazine, although it may seem a bit silent from RGUK we are still here working hard on the e-magazine, content, design, new look for RGUK, and a huge list to go along with all that too, please bear in mind that I am one person doing everything to make this happen.
The e-magazine is coming out by late summer, as long as there are no issues/hiccups on the way. Issue 1 is being developed, however as I had issues with my computer and had to install Linux etc that has caused a few issues, now got an older computer for backup, so hopefully fingers crossed without jinxing anything it should go much more smoother.
For all my fans, the next post will be a surprise as it will be about retro gaming as it should be anyway, and some spills in regards to the magazine.
The next few weeks are going to be very busy but here is the good part, I will be uploading more blog posts for you to read, so hopefully you won't miss me much :) So there you have it, a quick update to let you know what is happening and also to let you know there are blog posts on the way.
Also another little sneak peak info about our the development on the e-mag, it will be dedicated to a certain computer/console platform during the 90's to start wish, then if successful I shall release another e-magazine, and another another, ranging all the way from 8-bit / 16-bit / 32-bit, not only are we concentrating on the e-mags.
Also, during the year I shall be releasing short-ish, video's on Youtube of me playing video games, it will be just me playing the video game as it should be played, no review, just pure gameplay, it's not going to be a walkthrough, however I am going through some trial and errors at the moment, everything takes time but sure is a lot going on with Retro Gamez UK this year.
As always, thank you for reading the blog post, and hope to see you visit again soon.
A huge thank you to all fans of RGUK,
Best wishes,
RGUK
Saturday, 15 June 2013
Yet Another Blog Post June 2013
Hello everyone,
It has been a busy few months, so let me fill you in with what I have been doing. So far 2013 has not been my year I have had some upsetting new regards to my family, but still carrying on strong. Never the less I have not disappeared from Retro Gamez UK, I am still all retro at heart and have been busy with my computer. What I have done since I last blogged is Installed Windows again onmy computer as my operating system was bugging me, but still have not had decent luck with windows vista and windows 7 so have made a return back to Linux, this time I am using Linux Mint 15 desktop.
So far I have configured Mame, Vice, Visualboy Advance, Dosbox, Zsnes, Gems, PCSX and Open ITG (for In The Groove - Dance Dance Revolution style game). All good so far, in fact I have had better luck with my setup since I have installed Linux Mint 15, I did have a problem with installing Broadcom Wireless Lan, but managed to sort that with using the Ethernet cable to router and doing some commands in terminal. Don't worry I still can recommend emulators for Windows as well as Linux. I still have a long way to go with setting up emulators for Linux, but it's getting there. Also since I last blogged I have been collecting Ps1 games, starting from SCPH-00001 (Ridge Racer), I am collecting the first 10 games that were first released within 1995/96. I have a fairly big collection now and will be continuing with the collection, as it's my main collection now.
There is so many more games that I want to collect and now finding it here in the UK a bit of a dry land in finding some gems (ps1 games). When I play on the ps1 it feels completely different now as to when I did play it back in the days, as sometimes when my friends would come over would play on my PlayStation 1 console, and they would choose the game or bring one over, and we would sit and play on the game. I remember when I played Toca, I would drive normally with manual gears etc, all the usual settings as you do, my friend would take it serious for about a lap, then spin round and literally speed round to go into me and say we are playing chicken as I know you are going to win the race anyway. That were the times where you would follow what others would play etc. However, now I play games that I want to play and try to complete the games as well as looking for glitches and different things that I didn't notice before, when playing back in the days, so now it's like a completely different experience.
Eventually I want to have two PlayStation 1 consoles linked together along with two CRT Tv's that would be amazing to do that again, a friend of mine to bring his console over and I would fetch the 14" to put along side the main living room tv, and we would play linked up game of Wipeout, now that were good times.
I would say PlayStation 1 is my favourite 32bit console. my favourite 8 bit computer would be Commodore 64 with the original colour monitor, but if I were to choose a commodore computer as my 2nd favourite I would have to say Commodore Plus 4. However lets not forget how brilliant Batman music sounds on Amstrad CPC 464 now that is pure brilliant sounds, along side Ocean Loader on Commodore 64 as well as Rambo Part II, music on that sounds great thanks to the SID chip. Amstrad CPC 464 is also my favourite as well but Commodore tops it off with the SID chip. Spectrum ZX 128+2 has one of my favourite games I know this may sound odd to you, but it has to be Enduro Racer by Sega, that tape I still can't part with, brings happy memories to me.
So there you have it a little update, I know it has been a long time, but rest assured I have been busy sorting emulators, my computer, my collection as well as other things and distractions, let's just say so far 2013 has not been my year, things keep going wrong, but am trying my best to keep strong, I will be making more posts, now I got my system back up and running properly this time.
Thank you for reading and your support it means a lot to me, thank you.
All the best,
Retro Gamez UK
It has been a busy few months, so let me fill you in with what I have been doing. So far 2013 has not been my year I have had some upsetting new regards to my family, but still carrying on strong. Never the less I have not disappeared from Retro Gamez UK, I am still all retro at heart and have been busy with my computer. What I have done since I last blogged is Installed Windows again onmy computer as my operating system was bugging me, but still have not had decent luck with windows vista and windows 7 so have made a return back to Linux, this time I am using Linux Mint 15 desktop.
So far I have configured Mame, Vice, Visualboy Advance, Dosbox, Zsnes, Gems, PCSX and Open ITG (for In The Groove - Dance Dance Revolution style game). All good so far, in fact I have had better luck with my setup since I have installed Linux Mint 15, I did have a problem with installing Broadcom Wireless Lan, but managed to sort that with using the Ethernet cable to router and doing some commands in terminal. Don't worry I still can recommend emulators for Windows as well as Linux. I still have a long way to go with setting up emulators for Linux, but it's getting there. Also since I last blogged I have been collecting Ps1 games, starting from SCPH-00001 (Ridge Racer), I am collecting the first 10 games that were first released within 1995/96. I have a fairly big collection now and will be continuing with the collection, as it's my main collection now.
There is so many more games that I want to collect and now finding it here in the UK a bit of a dry land in finding some gems (ps1 games). When I play on the ps1 it feels completely different now as to when I did play it back in the days, as sometimes when my friends would come over would play on my PlayStation 1 console, and they would choose the game or bring one over, and we would sit and play on the game. I remember when I played Toca, I would drive normally with manual gears etc, all the usual settings as you do, my friend would take it serious for about a lap, then spin round and literally speed round to go into me and say we are playing chicken as I know you are going to win the race anyway. That were the times where you would follow what others would play etc. However, now I play games that I want to play and try to complete the games as well as looking for glitches and different things that I didn't notice before, when playing back in the days, so now it's like a completely different experience.
Eventually I want to have two PlayStation 1 consoles linked together along with two CRT Tv's that would be amazing to do that again, a friend of mine to bring his console over and I would fetch the 14" to put along side the main living room tv, and we would play linked up game of Wipeout, now that were good times.
I would say PlayStation 1 is my favourite 32bit console. my favourite 8 bit computer would be Commodore 64 with the original colour monitor, but if I were to choose a commodore computer as my 2nd favourite I would have to say Commodore Plus 4. However lets not forget how brilliant Batman music sounds on Amstrad CPC 464 now that is pure brilliant sounds, along side Ocean Loader on Commodore 64 as well as Rambo Part II, music on that sounds great thanks to the SID chip. Amstrad CPC 464 is also my favourite as well but Commodore tops it off with the SID chip. Spectrum ZX 128+2 has one of my favourite games I know this may sound odd to you, but it has to be Enduro Racer by Sega, that tape I still can't part with, brings happy memories to me.
So there you have it a little update, I know it has been a long time, but rest assured I have been busy sorting emulators, my computer, my collection as well as other things and distractions, let's just say so far 2013 has not been my year, things keep going wrong, but am trying my best to keep strong, I will be making more posts, now I got my system back up and running properly this time.
Thank you for reading and your support it means a lot to me, thank you.
All the best,
Retro Gamez UK
Friday, 18 January 2013
Sega Mega Drive Part II
Hello and a big welcome to Retro Gamez UK.
Here you find a pretty much everything to do with retro gaming, for some reason today it seems a great ideal to have a Sega day, after talking about PlayStation, then Sega Saturn, Now Mega Drive, then maybe just for you a special treat again.
Here goes Part II of Sega Mega Drive. So we have mentioned about Sega Saturn and the Virtua Racing, well Virtua Racing was like it's answer to 3D for the Mega Drive, it featured a special chip that allowed extra graphics to be displayed, a bit like what Nintendo did with Starwing (Starfox) if you remember with the SuperFX chip, well Sega did that with Virtua Racing, and looked at what it produced a great game, with great sound, and not only that it was the first port of Virtua Racing to be released and was released for the Mega Drive. Now that was a treat, however the price tag for the game was steep.
Replaying Virtua Racing on the Mega Drive is a true classic from the blast. However we have more to talk about then just Virtua Racing. For some reason I am more than happy with my Sega Mega Drive II console, it features nice stereo sound, yes I know you can have stereo sound from the headphone jack that is featured on the Mega Drive I, but with my AV cable I can have that with just one wire, one power supply and one controller and one game, all sorted. I have noticed that the sound quality is better on the Mega Drive 1 (select models that is) however I am happy to relive the past with what I have.
The Mega Drive II was smaller indeed, and looked very sleek, however it did loose some features such as headphone socket, no volume control, unless you have your remote for your telly, then you have it all sorted out I guess. The picture quality can be better on Mega Drive I, but again I am happy with Mega Drive II, it is what I remember best so went for the Mega Drive II again, and am glad that I did too.
The games selection were great for the Mega Drive, and with the machine competiting against the Super Nintendo it was a hard battle, in fact I remember talking about it, Super Nintendo vs Mega Drive, what is better. Well the Mega Drive has blast processing, it is faster than the Super Nintendo, well the blast processing is an easier way to say that the console has a faster processor, still it lacked a lot of colours, lacked having the use of more buttons as standard on the controller, compared against the dog bone controller from Nintendo. However the game play was superb, and to me I enjoyed Street Fighter II more on the Mega Drive compared to Nintendo's version, this is because Street Fighter II on the Mega Drive was indeed faster, and displayed more, however it did display less colours due to the limited specification of the graphics it had. However this did not affect many gamers, as it was still a desirable console to own. In fact you had a lot of EA games that were featured on the console, you had a better version of NBA Jam TE, with in game music, which Super Nintendo's version did not have. Maybe that is why the advert would state "Sega does what Nintendon't" hmmm, makes me giggle even to today. It is a great machine, and even the conversation is still continued today which is better SNES or Mega Drive, maybe I need you to comment on this blog in regards to that, to see what the answers are, in my opinion I loved the Mega Drive more, but then again I did like Mario and Zelda, so I don't it's like saying which is better Mario or Sonic? I love both, so don't ask me that one hehe.
Both Snes and Mega Drive has a great library of games, like the PS1 does and Sega Saturn. The Mega Drive to me has a better library of games, I do like Space Harrier, Paperboy, and Snes does not have Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, but then again Snes does have Killer Instinct that was mean't to be released for Ultra 64 (Nintendo 64).
So there you go a quick blast to the past again with Part II, look out for Part III soon...
Thank you for visiting RGUK, hope you enjoyed the read. Remember keep warm...
Best Wishes,
RGUK
Here you find a pretty much everything to do with retro gaming, for some reason today it seems a great ideal to have a Sega day, after talking about PlayStation, then Sega Saturn, Now Mega Drive, then maybe just for you a special treat again.
Here goes Part II of Sega Mega Drive. So we have mentioned about Sega Saturn and the Virtua Racing, well Virtua Racing was like it's answer to 3D for the Mega Drive, it featured a special chip that allowed extra graphics to be displayed, a bit like what Nintendo did with Starwing (Starfox) if you remember with the SuperFX chip, well Sega did that with Virtua Racing, and looked at what it produced a great game, with great sound, and not only that it was the first port of Virtua Racing to be released and was released for the Mega Drive. Now that was a treat, however the price tag for the game was steep.
Replaying Virtua Racing on the Mega Drive is a true classic from the blast. However we have more to talk about then just Virtua Racing. For some reason I am more than happy with my Sega Mega Drive II console, it features nice stereo sound, yes I know you can have stereo sound from the headphone jack that is featured on the Mega Drive I, but with my AV cable I can have that with just one wire, one power supply and one controller and one game, all sorted. I have noticed that the sound quality is better on the Mega Drive 1 (select models that is) however I am happy to relive the past with what I have.
The Mega Drive II was smaller indeed, and looked very sleek, however it did loose some features such as headphone socket, no volume control, unless you have your remote for your telly, then you have it all sorted out I guess. The picture quality can be better on Mega Drive I, but again I am happy with Mega Drive II, it is what I remember best so went for the Mega Drive II again, and am glad that I did too.
The games selection were great for the Mega Drive, and with the machine competiting against the Super Nintendo it was a hard battle, in fact I remember talking about it, Super Nintendo vs Mega Drive, what is better. Well the Mega Drive has blast processing, it is faster than the Super Nintendo, well the blast processing is an easier way to say that the console has a faster processor, still it lacked a lot of colours, lacked having the use of more buttons as standard on the controller, compared against the dog bone controller from Nintendo. However the game play was superb, and to me I enjoyed Street Fighter II more on the Mega Drive compared to Nintendo's version, this is because Street Fighter II on the Mega Drive was indeed faster, and displayed more, however it did display less colours due to the limited specification of the graphics it had. However this did not affect many gamers, as it was still a desirable console to own. In fact you had a lot of EA games that were featured on the console, you had a better version of NBA Jam TE, with in game music, which Super Nintendo's version did not have. Maybe that is why the advert would state "Sega does what Nintendon't" hmmm, makes me giggle even to today. It is a great machine, and even the conversation is still continued today which is better SNES or Mega Drive, maybe I need you to comment on this blog in regards to that, to see what the answers are, in my opinion I loved the Mega Drive more, but then again I did like Mario and Zelda, so I don't it's like saying which is better Mario or Sonic? I love both, so don't ask me that one hehe.
Both Snes and Mega Drive has a great library of games, like the PS1 does and Sega Saturn. The Mega Drive to me has a better library of games, I do like Space Harrier, Paperboy, and Snes does not have Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, but then again Snes does have Killer Instinct that was mean't to be released for Ultra 64 (Nintendo 64).
So there you go a quick blast to the past again with Part II, look out for Part III soon...
Thank you for visiting RGUK, hope you enjoyed the read. Remember keep warm...
Best Wishes,
RGUK
Sega Saturn Part II
Hello all and welcome to Retro Gamez UK.
So to recap if you looked at Sega Saturn 1996, I discussed a lot there with the hardware and what was released when it came to life. Well with Part II you be happy to know it is in more depth just for.
The aim of Sega's plan was to compete against the Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo 64 as part of the 5th generation video games console genre. The console in reality looked great, performed well, but was not as huge as it could have been, due to Sega's advertising methods, marketing techniques etc. However here me out I am not slagging off Sega's Saturn console at all, in fact I do like Sega's consoles, I honestly do.
As I mentioned in the PlayStation blog, I compared Wipeout on the SS against PS1, and said that the graphics was not as great, well the other part of this was due to the fact that the console have great hardware in fact it was better for hardware, it was not the console's fault it was mainly the developers that was not able to code for both of the cpu's therefore, they were only using 1x cpu to play around with, shame as if both was in use, this could have been a real flying machine literally it could have over taken the competition and crush the PS1 and even Nintendo's 64.video games console.
It features great games, in fact if you are an arcade gamer then the chances were you loved the machine right? the machine was better at sprites too, so if you happen to be a sprite fan, then you are in luck because this was the machine that could handle that very well. If you take a look at Capcom games, they looked amazing and was faster on the Sega Saturn compared to PS1. However if you compare another game, lets say Destruction Derby (DD1) for Sega Saturn and on PS1, well you see that the graphics were better on PS1, and was smoother again, due to the PS1 game developers knowing the system etc, as I mentioned, it were an easier console to code for. However does this mean that Sony has Sega Rally, nope, can't see that in my library of games anywhere, this was certainly a game to remember and huge fun in the dirt, seeing the wet particles flying around, actually this game was very close to being arcade perfect as they say, I think it was a great conversion and was a great deal of fun, choose between the two cars, Lucia or Supra, hmm I loved both cars in the game, so no preferences there.
The thing about the console was that it managed sprites better than the PS1, the sound chip was amazing too, the loading times were not that bad to be honest, and having in built RAM for saving games was a great way to be happy, and you could buy an expansion pack for saving more games, well I made do with what I had so, didn't need to worry, I was like complete the game and then move on to something else, but now thinking back I could have done with it hehe, ah well good times. Personally it is another favourite in my list of consoles, and if I were to choose between the PS1 and Sega Saturn, I be like hang on I can not do that, I love both, there you go, I love the Saturn for many classic games, that I could continue any time without the need to worry have I got 50p for Virtua Fighter machine on me, nope but I do have the game at home, great!.
However, there is one game that was not made by Sega, and made by Time Warner, and should have the caption "hey, Sega how about this game, we can make it, and make it sound like crap too, it is TW" I am talking about Virtua Racing, c'mon I love this game I do, it threw lots of polygons at you like no other, in fact it had a better release on the mega drive (it's my favorite port) and maybe my 2nd favorite port of Virtua Racing was on Sega 32x, but lets not go there just yet... The sounds on Virtua Racing on the Saturn, well for the music was all messed up, it was not the same, to me it did not feel the same either, it is me or was the game a bit messed up? it is my own opinion, so not trying to slag any game or console off, it just annoyed me that I was looking forward to seeing Virtua Racing being on the Saturn, instead I enjoyed more was Rad Mobile on Saturn (was a Japan only release)
One of the great upgrade to the controller was the 6 button as standard, now that was a great ideal, in fact this was needed for the Mega Drive, that is for sure, no 6 button controller for Street Fighter II, oh that means I need a 6 button to make life easier. I know you could buy one, and I still have my original 3 button instead, don't know why even when the Mega Drive controller packed up, I ended up fixing it again, because I felt that the controller was nice.
So there we have Part II, look out for more, as the Sega Saturn posts shall return again soon.
A huge thank you reading at Retro Gamez UK, hope you enjoyed Part II, and remember to bookmark RGUK please. Thank you, and remember be safe & keep warm!.
Best Wishes,
RGUK
So to recap if you looked at Sega Saturn 1996, I discussed a lot there with the hardware and what was released when it came to life. Well with Part II you be happy to know it is in more depth just for.
The aim of Sega's plan was to compete against the Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo 64 as part of the 5th generation video games console genre. The console in reality looked great, performed well, but was not as huge as it could have been, due to Sega's advertising methods, marketing techniques etc. However here me out I am not slagging off Sega's Saturn console at all, in fact I do like Sega's consoles, I honestly do.
As I mentioned in the PlayStation blog, I compared Wipeout on the SS against PS1, and said that the graphics was not as great, well the other part of this was due to the fact that the console have great hardware in fact it was better for hardware, it was not the console's fault it was mainly the developers that was not able to code for both of the cpu's therefore, they were only using 1x cpu to play around with, shame as if both was in use, this could have been a real flying machine literally it could have over taken the competition and crush the PS1 and even Nintendo's 64.video games console.
It features great games, in fact if you are an arcade gamer then the chances were you loved the machine right? the machine was better at sprites too, so if you happen to be a sprite fan, then you are in luck because this was the machine that could handle that very well. If you take a look at Capcom games, they looked amazing and was faster on the Sega Saturn compared to PS1. However if you compare another game, lets say Destruction Derby (DD1) for Sega Saturn and on PS1, well you see that the graphics were better on PS1, and was smoother again, due to the PS1 game developers knowing the system etc, as I mentioned, it were an easier console to code for. However does this mean that Sony has Sega Rally, nope, can't see that in my library of games anywhere, this was certainly a game to remember and huge fun in the dirt, seeing the wet particles flying around, actually this game was very close to being arcade perfect as they say, I think it was a great conversion and was a great deal of fun, choose between the two cars, Lucia or Supra, hmm I loved both cars in the game, so no preferences there.
The thing about the console was that it managed sprites better than the PS1, the sound chip was amazing too, the loading times were not that bad to be honest, and having in built RAM for saving games was a great way to be happy, and you could buy an expansion pack for saving more games, well I made do with what I had so, didn't need to worry, I was like complete the game and then move on to something else, but now thinking back I could have done with it hehe, ah well good times. Personally it is another favourite in my list of consoles, and if I were to choose between the PS1 and Sega Saturn, I be like hang on I can not do that, I love both, there you go, I love the Saturn for many classic games, that I could continue any time without the need to worry have I got 50p for Virtua Fighter machine on me, nope but I do have the game at home, great!.
However, there is one game that was not made by Sega, and made by Time Warner, and should have the caption "hey, Sega how about this game, we can make it, and make it sound like crap too, it is TW" I am talking about Virtua Racing, c'mon I love this game I do, it threw lots of polygons at you like no other, in fact it had a better release on the mega drive (it's my favorite port) and maybe my 2nd favorite port of Virtua Racing was on Sega 32x, but lets not go there just yet... The sounds on Virtua Racing on the Saturn, well for the music was all messed up, it was not the same, to me it did not feel the same either, it is me or was the game a bit messed up? it is my own opinion, so not trying to slag any game or console off, it just annoyed me that I was looking forward to seeing Virtua Racing being on the Saturn, instead I enjoyed more was Rad Mobile on Saturn (was a Japan only release)
One of the great upgrade to the controller was the 6 button as standard, now that was a great ideal, in fact this was needed for the Mega Drive, that is for sure, no 6 button controller for Street Fighter II, oh that means I need a 6 button to make life easier. I know you could buy one, and I still have my original 3 button instead, don't know why even when the Mega Drive controller packed up, I ended up fixing it again, because I felt that the controller was nice.
So there we have Part II, look out for more, as the Sega Saturn posts shall return again soon.
A huge thank you reading at Retro Gamez UK, hope you enjoyed Part II, and remember to bookmark RGUK please. Thank you, and remember be safe & keep warm!.
Best Wishes,
RGUK
Yet Another Post...
Hello and welcome to Retro Gamez UK.
I am still working on producing an e-magazine to go along side of this blog. It has been a long time in the making and have had up and downs in life, that is why it has been a long time returning back to RGUK blog. Once I have aquired a few more things, such as a laptop to help with the writing material as well, then all is pretty much ready to start again. As I my hard drive suffered a failure, this resulted in all my hard work for the e-magazine vanished, so had to start over again, maybe that is for the best that it has been restarted, but not forgotten about.
I have noticed that the Sega Saturn post was a huge hit, so we returning back Sega Saturn in another post "Sega Saturn Part II" so here comes Sega Saturn Part II, keep an eye out its coming right up...
Be safe, keep warm, and thank you visiting RGUK.
Best Wishes,
RGUK
I am still working on producing an e-magazine to go along side of this blog. It has been a long time in the making and have had up and downs in life, that is why it has been a long time returning back to RGUK blog. Once I have aquired a few more things, such as a laptop to help with the writing material as well, then all is pretty much ready to start again. As I my hard drive suffered a failure, this resulted in all my hard work for the e-magazine vanished, so had to start over again, maybe that is for the best that it has been restarted, but not forgotten about.
I have noticed that the Sega Saturn post was a huge hit, so we returning back Sega Saturn in another post "Sega Saturn Part II" so here comes Sega Saturn Part II, keep an eye out its coming right up...
Be safe, keep warm, and thank you visiting RGUK.
Best Wishes,
RGUK
Thursday, 17 January 2013
PlayStation & PSone
Hello, and welcome to RGUK,
First post of the year. I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything, so here is a little treat...
The PlayStation, known as PS1, PSone and PSX, however PSX is a completely different console altogether. Now, as you know I love the grey box that produces great gameplay, great sound effects, even the later models featured SoundScope, now that is a nice feature, however I never really played with that much... For this post I will refer PlayStation as PS1 for short. As you may know the PS1 was released as part of the fifth generation video games consoles genre, and was against other known video games consoles such as, Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn and even the 3DO, however we know that was not as big of a success as the PS1, and N64 and Sega Saturn. Some people has tried to compare the PS1 against Sega Dreamcast for graphics, lets just say that the Dreamcast at the time was far more capable of throwing more at your screen then the PS1, the discs held more data for storage, it was a console that really was more for competiting against the PS2 more than the PS1.
As for myself I miss the times where you could pick up a Crash Bandicoot: Crash Team Racing from your local rental place, and shove the black shiny disc into your console and away you go, unless you brought the game, then you had more time to complete it, lets me say this you needed the extra time to complete it, as the game offered extra's where you could collect gems, C, T, R letters, race against the time, collecting those boxes with 1, 2 and 3 on them, which froze the time for that length of time for example, you got the 1 box, it would freeze the time for 1 second, the more you got the faster you time, and the better the reward you got. To be honest it was a fun game, and going against a second player even today was fun. Crash Bandicoot 3 well that was harder and probably the most hardest game of the series to complete, as you know I like to go the long way round and go and find the extra's and hidden stuff, by the way you do need the running shoes for a particular timed event, I shall not say anything else as it's down to you to find that one hehe. Unless you get stuck of course then I am here... The gameplay I still find amazing, I love the Crash series, Toca series, Spyro, Metal Gear Solid, and oh my Wipeout was better on the PS1 compared to Sega Saturn, it had a smoother frame rate, even the graphics was a tad better. The reason why Wipeout did better on PS1, was due to the developers being able to work out everything on it, the Saturn was harder to develop games on it due to the hardware setup, as the Saturn has 2 x cpu's where as the PS1 has one to code for making it easier to develop and release games for.
Later on, the video games looked better, for example compare Ridge Racer Revolution and Ridge Racer Type 4, the graphics were different completely, however the engine it uses was pretty much the game, okay it does offer more options like different car classes and more cars to choose from. When I first played the game I wanted Grip, now when I play the game I am after more drift, so that I can get round those tight corners quicker, well it seems faster when I do that, I do not have a preference as such as longs I can play my Ridge Racer Type 4 then I am happy.
When the PSone came out in 2000 it was exciting at the time, even though it was the same console, but smaller and lacking the great port for cheat cartridges, it was different. The console to me has a thin lid, I like the spring release on the Eject that it misses, ah well, can't have it all hehe. It still has the 2 memory card slots, and 2 controller ports, multi AV on the back, and 1x socket for the adapter, now this is different, it uses an external power supply instead of the in built one, maybe that is a good thing I don't know, because I never had a console fail on the power supply not yet anyway with the PS1, usually it is the laser that seems to fail with me. The PSone does seem to have a better laser, does read CD-R discs better, no need to turn it up side down to play any games, just insert disc and shut the lid and away you go.
The PS1 was a huge success, it sold over 100 million units, making it the first video games console to reach that goal. It packed a lot of fun, infact you could take it with you, especially if you had the screen and the tiny PSone console, then you are definitely all set.
As usual here is the specs below:
CPU: 33.8688 MHz MIPS R3000A
RAM: 2MB and 1MB VRAM (Video Memory)
Graphics: 1MB, 3D Geometry Engine with 2D rotation, scaling, transparency, fading and 3D mapping & shading. Produces, 360,000 polygons per second, 4,000 sprites, on top of that 14.7 million colours. Resolution: 640x480 (max resolution: 740x480)
Sound: 16-bit 24 channel PCM, Sample Memory: 512kb, Sampling Frequency: 44.1khz
Operating System ROM: 512kb
Disc Drive: 2 times CD-Rom Speed
External Storage: 128kb storage (memory card) = 15 blocks
Models before SCPH-9000 had the I/O port (parallel)
Also is pretty eco-friendly? compared to today's consoles, uses only 10W were as the PS2 uses 79W
So there we have it a true classic, well not as classic as Sega Mega Drive maybe, but still a pretty good machine with true classics.
A quick list of what games you should look for:
Toca Touring Car
Metal Gear Solid & Special Missions
Spyro series
Crash Bandicoot (1, 2, 3, CTR and Bash)
Croc
Tombi!
F1 97
Demo 1 (one of my many favorites demo disc)
Overboard
Tarzan
Tekken 3
Thunderhawk II
Music 2000 (only if you like to make some music or noise :P )
Micro Machines V3
Speed Freaks
Monopoly
Duke Nuken
Doom
Theme Park
Theme Hospital (maybe better on PC for some people)
Medievil
Tomb Raider
Oh my the list goes, I have a very large collection, and still find more for some reason it is one of my main consoles to choose from. I don't even own the latest, I did do, but am not as interested, for some reason I find it a tad ahead of me, I am retro and it is what I can play best.
Okay it does lack a lot of features that the younger generation would want, but it is still an excellent machine for it's price, these can be found cheap when you have a good look around, maybe between £5-£10 if you find the one you want. My advice if you want to play some imports or CD-R discs, go for a later model, not the earlier one's as you find that they do not play as well, unless you fit a new laser, they can be found cheap and are not hard to install honest, 2 wires, one ribbon, and 1 normal plug cable, be careful though the ribbon cables can break easily, also look at the back of the laser for the model of the laser and don't forget to remember the ps1 model, looking at the back of the machine may not help at all times, so make sure you know what it is like searching on google images for the PlayStation PCB (main board) as sometimes people swap over the boards, if shall one fails, just in case have a search if you laser plays up, if not find another ps1, who knows it may be chipped too, in that case you can back up your games and keep the originals looking its best.
So there you have it a little treat, I will be back soon, and this time I will be publishing a lot more, due to machine upgrades and more stock, I am now able to produce much more content for the blog.
Thank you for being patient, and I am sorry for the delays in the posting, I did have a lot going on, and I also did suffer a hard drive crash, then I was not well, blah blah blah, I won't bore you with my details, I like to keep you all happy with some nice retro news. So in the mean time I do thank you for coming back to RGUK, and thank you for visiting and huge welcome to any new visitors, remember to bookmark RGUK. RGUK blog will load well on smartphones, and tablets too, so if you on the move, out and about, and want to pass the time, have a quick read and remember Retro Gamez UK.
Thank you, be safe and keep warm!
Best Wishes,
RGUK
First post of the year. I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything, so here is a little treat...
The PlayStation, known as PS1, PSone and PSX, however PSX is a completely different console altogether. Now, as you know I love the grey box that produces great gameplay, great sound effects, even the later models featured SoundScope, now that is a nice feature, however I never really played with that much... For this post I will refer PlayStation as PS1 for short. As you may know the PS1 was released as part of the fifth generation video games consoles genre, and was against other known video games consoles such as, Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn and even the 3DO, however we know that was not as big of a success as the PS1, and N64 and Sega Saturn. Some people has tried to compare the PS1 against Sega Dreamcast for graphics, lets just say that the Dreamcast at the time was far more capable of throwing more at your screen then the PS1, the discs held more data for storage, it was a console that really was more for competiting against the PS2 more than the PS1.
As for myself I miss the times where you could pick up a Crash Bandicoot: Crash Team Racing from your local rental place, and shove the black shiny disc into your console and away you go, unless you brought the game, then you had more time to complete it, lets me say this you needed the extra time to complete it, as the game offered extra's where you could collect gems, C, T, R letters, race against the time, collecting those boxes with 1, 2 and 3 on them, which froze the time for that length of time for example, you got the 1 box, it would freeze the time for 1 second, the more you got the faster you time, and the better the reward you got. To be honest it was a fun game, and going against a second player even today was fun. Crash Bandicoot 3 well that was harder and probably the most hardest game of the series to complete, as you know I like to go the long way round and go and find the extra's and hidden stuff, by the way you do need the running shoes for a particular timed event, I shall not say anything else as it's down to you to find that one hehe. Unless you get stuck of course then I am here... The gameplay I still find amazing, I love the Crash series, Toca series, Spyro, Metal Gear Solid, and oh my Wipeout was better on the PS1 compared to Sega Saturn, it had a smoother frame rate, even the graphics was a tad better. The reason why Wipeout did better on PS1, was due to the developers being able to work out everything on it, the Saturn was harder to develop games on it due to the hardware setup, as the Saturn has 2 x cpu's where as the PS1 has one to code for making it easier to develop and release games for.
Later on, the video games looked better, for example compare Ridge Racer Revolution and Ridge Racer Type 4, the graphics were different completely, however the engine it uses was pretty much the game, okay it does offer more options like different car classes and more cars to choose from. When I first played the game I wanted Grip, now when I play the game I am after more drift, so that I can get round those tight corners quicker, well it seems faster when I do that, I do not have a preference as such as longs I can play my Ridge Racer Type 4 then I am happy.
When the PSone came out in 2000 it was exciting at the time, even though it was the same console, but smaller and lacking the great port for cheat cartridges, it was different. The console to me has a thin lid, I like the spring release on the Eject that it misses, ah well, can't have it all hehe. It still has the 2 memory card slots, and 2 controller ports, multi AV on the back, and 1x socket for the adapter, now this is different, it uses an external power supply instead of the in built one, maybe that is a good thing I don't know, because I never had a console fail on the power supply not yet anyway with the PS1, usually it is the laser that seems to fail with me. The PSone does seem to have a better laser, does read CD-R discs better, no need to turn it up side down to play any games, just insert disc and shut the lid and away you go.
The PS1 was a huge success, it sold over 100 million units, making it the first video games console to reach that goal. It packed a lot of fun, infact you could take it with you, especially if you had the screen and the tiny PSone console, then you are definitely all set.
As usual here is the specs below:
CPU: 33.8688 MHz MIPS R3000A
RAM: 2MB and 1MB VRAM (Video Memory)
Graphics: 1MB, 3D Geometry Engine with 2D rotation, scaling, transparency, fading and 3D mapping & shading. Produces, 360,000 polygons per second, 4,000 sprites, on top of that 14.7 million colours. Resolution: 640x480 (max resolution: 740x480)
Sound: 16-bit 24 channel PCM, Sample Memory: 512kb, Sampling Frequency: 44.1khz
Operating System ROM: 512kb
Disc Drive: 2 times CD-Rom Speed
External Storage: 128kb storage (memory card) = 15 blocks
Models before SCPH-9000 had the I/O port (parallel)
Also is pretty eco-friendly? compared to today's consoles, uses only 10W were as the PS2 uses 79W
So there we have it a true classic, well not as classic as Sega Mega Drive maybe, but still a pretty good machine with true classics.
A quick list of what games you should look for:
Toca Touring Car
Metal Gear Solid & Special Missions
Spyro series
Crash Bandicoot (1, 2, 3, CTR and Bash)
Croc
Tombi!
F1 97
Demo 1 (one of my many favorites demo disc)
Overboard
Tarzan
Tekken 3
Thunderhawk II
Music 2000 (only if you like to make some music or noise :P )
Micro Machines V3
Speed Freaks
Monopoly
Duke Nuken
Doom
Theme Park
Theme Hospital (maybe better on PC for some people)
Medievil
Tomb Raider
Oh my the list goes, I have a very large collection, and still find more for some reason it is one of my main consoles to choose from. I don't even own the latest, I did do, but am not as interested, for some reason I find it a tad ahead of me, I am retro and it is what I can play best.
Okay it does lack a lot of features that the younger generation would want, but it is still an excellent machine for it's price, these can be found cheap when you have a good look around, maybe between £5-£10 if you find the one you want. My advice if you want to play some imports or CD-R discs, go for a later model, not the earlier one's as you find that they do not play as well, unless you fit a new laser, they can be found cheap and are not hard to install honest, 2 wires, one ribbon, and 1 normal plug cable, be careful though the ribbon cables can break easily, also look at the back of the laser for the model of the laser and don't forget to remember the ps1 model, looking at the back of the machine may not help at all times, so make sure you know what it is like searching on google images for the PlayStation PCB (main board) as sometimes people swap over the boards, if shall one fails, just in case have a search if you laser plays up, if not find another ps1, who knows it may be chipped too, in that case you can back up your games and keep the originals looking its best.
So there you have it a little treat, I will be back soon, and this time I will be publishing a lot more, due to machine upgrades and more stock, I am now able to produce much more content for the blog.
Thank you for being patient, and I am sorry for the delays in the posting, I did have a lot going on, and I also did suffer a hard drive crash, then I was not well, blah blah blah, I won't bore you with my details, I like to keep you all happy with some nice retro news. So in the mean time I do thank you for coming back to RGUK, and thank you for visiting and huge welcome to any new visitors, remember to bookmark RGUK. RGUK blog will load well on smartphones, and tablets too, so if you on the move, out and about, and want to pass the time, have a quick read and remember Retro Gamez UK.
Thank you, be safe and keep warm!
Best Wishes,
RGUK
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