Monthly Archives: February 2016

The Amiga CD32

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For christmas I got an Amiga CD32, boxed and in new condition, from my fiancé. Unfortunately when they stated that it was “new”, they didn’t mention that they had opened the box and removed the power supply o_O Also they didn’t mention that it probably was an NTSC machine, since the antenna cables that came with it where the old style american ones.. I had to go order a new power supply, and once I got it I was excited to see if it worked. After some fiddling I realized that the composite cable they had added with it wasn’t a working cable, once switching it out for one of my personal ones I got the CD loading screen.

Now I wanted to try out an old Giana Sisters CD game that I’d had for ages.. But apparently this Giana Sisters game was not an Amiga CD32 game, even though it read “Amiga” somewhere on the cover.. I’ve always wanted to try this game again, I remember playing Giana Sisters once when I was a kid and I loved it, so I’ve been looking to find a copy, but so far this is all I have, a collection CD for something “Amiga” that doesn’t work on the CD32… So now I didn’t have any games for the system :/

Boxed Amiga CD32
Amiga CD32 system
Commodore Amiga CD32
Amiga CD32 controller
The Great Giana Sisters
Amiga CD32 Console

I turned to eBay for a quick fix of some Amiga CD32 games, but the supply was scarce.. I bid home Total Carnage and after a while it arrived in the mail. I couldn’t get it working at first but my helpful instagram followers instructed me that the Amiga CD32 is “region free”, but you have to switch between the regions in a lock screen, this can be entered by connecting a mouse to the Amiga CD32 and pressing down both buttons on the mouse simultaneously. They said it had to be during startup, but I managed to enter it even after the start screen had appeared. Once in there you just steer to the side to switch regions. After this my Total Carnage game worked ^_^ It was an ok game, probably really cool back when it was new, but I got bored because it didn’t have music during stages and the sound effects were really clunky :/ I’m just picky like that, I want an awesome soundtrack when I’m going on a kill frenzy in games XD

Amiga CD32 Total Carnage
Amiga CD32 Total Carnage screenshot
Amiga CD32 region lock screen

A while later I bought another game from eBay, not knowing what it was I just had to get it because of the name and the cool cover ^_^ It’s called Whale’s Voyage :) It was an adventure game, it seemed to have been made by Germans, all the voice overs had really German accents XD The game started out with you having to create a couple of characters.. this was quite elaborate, you had to choose a father and a mother. The fathers looked like an enemy from doom, Kramer, Paul McCartney, Val Kilmer (or possibly Christian Slater) and Eugene Levy XD This type of game style is quite boring in my opinion though.. I don’t like just going through menus, I want live action! XD I managed to make it from the menus onto the surface of an actual planet after I had created my crew.. it then turned into a dungeon crawler type of game, except it was in a city, all the doors were locked, and I couldn’t interact with people I met, or even walk past them >_< Boring…

Amiga CD32 Whale’s Voyage
Select a celebrity father
Select a mother
Hahaha mutant!
Enough with all the choices
Mutate ratio 0?! No way!
Buy wares
Latex?!? For what?!
Door locked

The controller for the Amiga CD32 is really weird looking, but it’s surprisingly comfortable to use! :) Now I just need to find a fun game to use it with XD
What are your experiences with the Amiga CD32? Does anyone have any recommendations of great exclusive games for the system? ^_^

Commodore Amiga CD32 console
Amiga CD32 controller

Interview on Gaming History 101

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This weekend I was on another Podcast, this time I got interviewed by Fred over at Gaming History 101 :) Gaming History 101 runs both a blog, a podcast, a youtube channel and delivers lots of interesting retro gaming news and a lot of history ^_^

We had a lot of fun discussing views on collecting and various systems and platforms ^_^ we also talked about the differences in gaming versus collecting.

You can listen to the podcast right here >>

And here’s a direct link to the mp3 >>

Interview on Gaming History 101 - Heidi stopXwhispering's Collection

Retro Gathering VCE – The Loot!

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It has taken some time to sort, clean and photograph all of the 138 games I bought at Retro Gathering Vintage Computer Edition last weekend, but finally, here they are! :D I will go through them system by system ^_^

Retro Gathering VCE 2016 loot

Atari ST

The first thing I bought at the convention was an Atari 1040 ST, I already had one game for it back home, and it was in nice condition, and cheap, so I couldn’t refuse ^_^ I also picked up a few games for it. I have never played on an Atari ST before, so I’m looking forward to trying it out! :D If anyone has any suggestions of exclusive games for the system that are a must have, then please let me know :) So far I only have 5 games for it, the ones I found this weekend were Deathbringer, Gauntlet III, Future Dreams and Captive.

Atari 1040 ST with Tac 2 joystick
Atari 1040 ST
Atari 1040 ST with TAC 2
Atari ST Captive
Atari ST Deathbringer
Atari ST Future Dreams
Atari ST Gauntlet III

Atari Lynx

To continue on the Atari trail, I also found a few additions to my Atari Lynx collection from Spel & Sånt :D Not particularly exciting titles, but they were in pretty nice condition :) I do however enjoy the game of Shanghai, and it’s gonna be interesting to see what the Slime World port on Lynx looks like! :D

Atari Lynx Slime World
Atari Lynx Shanghai
Atari Lynx Scrapyard Dog

Atari 2600

I’m always on the lookout for Atari 2600 games as well, but this year there were hardly any :/ I found one guy who had like 5 cartridges, crappy games in shitty condition, but he still wanted a lot for them! I bargained a bit and bought one, just to come home with at least one 2600 game >_> I got Super-Ferrari…

Atari 2600 Super-Ferrari

Commodore 64 – 5 1/4 Floppy disk games

Moving on to Commodore, I’ve had a 5 1/4 floppy disk game for the C64 for a while, and nothing to play it on :( But this weekend I found a new in box Ocean floppy disk drive for the C64! :D It was a bit pricey.. but I really needed one since I also bought even more floppy disk games this weekend ^__^ I got the classic text-based adventures of Zork 1-3, and at the very end of the day I got a good deal on a pretty cool adventure game called Infidel. The cool thing about it is the packaging and contents! Inside are handwritten letters and maps and stuff, it’s really well made ^_^ I have a friend that I think will really enjoy trying this game out ;D Apart from that I had bought a whole moving box full of old Amiga and Commodore games from my friend Likilato beforehand and I picked it up on this weekend since he was going to Retro Gathering too :) In this package were quite a lot of C64 floppy disk games as well ^_^ Some games that I’m quite happy with are T2 Terminator Judgement Day, Robocop, Space Harrier II and Weird Dreams, they all look pretty cool ^_^ Then there were also a few less fun games, I’m not quite sure what Operation Market Garden is, but it doesn’t sound fun, and the last three: Europe Ablaze, Russia The Great War in the East and Halls of Montezuma I’m pretty sure are some kind of edutainment games for learning history >_<

C64 5 1/4 Floppy Disk Drive
Zork I, Zork II, Zork III – C64 Floppy
Infidel – C64 Floppy
Infidel game inside – C64 Floppy
Terminator 2 Judgement Day – C64 Floppy
Robocop – C64 Floppy
Weird Dreams – C64 Floppy
Space Harrier – C64 Floppy
Operation Market Garden – C64 Floppy
Europe Ablaze – C64 Floppy
Russia The Great War in the East & Halls of Montezuma – C64 Floppy

Commodore 64 – Cassette games

I found a few cassette games for the C64 as well. I got Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker from Japon, and Slap Fight for the ZX Spectrum. Pontus from Japon also tried to sell Last Ninja 2 to me, fortunately I didn’t buy it!! Because inside the big cardboard box of things I had bought from Likilato earlier contained not one but TWO copies of that exact game XD I had bought the package weeks before and didn’t remember everything that was in it.. but I’m just happy I’m not possessing three copies right now at least ;D The other C64 cassette games from Likilato were Last Ninja 3, Superman the Game, Ghostbusters II, Mr. Heli, Platoon, Speedball, Silent Service, Starglider and The Hunt for Red October.

Michael Jackson Moonwalker, Slap Fight – C64 & ZX Spectrum
Last Ninja 2 – C64
Last Ninja 3 – C64
Superman The Game – C64
Ghostbusters II – C64
Mr. Heli – C64
Platoon – C64
Speedball – C64
Silent Service, Starglider – C64
The Hunt for Red October – C64

Commodore VIC 20

Going back in time a bit we have the Commodore VIC 20, I got one of these last year and I’m still trying to expand my library of games for the system. I found a few VIC 20 cassettes on Retro Gathering this time on Mikael Holm’s table (he always has the coolest stuff!) ^_^ I know there’s two copies of Panic for VIC 20, but I couldn’t choose which one to go for, since they are DIFFERENT! It’s weird, since they are released by the same company, but one has a black spine, and the cassettes inside are different colors as well! O_o These were all dirt cheap though so I just picked them all up :) Except the two games called Vicolumn and Blue Star, these two were new releases for the system and cost a bit more, but it’s always interesting to see what people develop now for these old systems! Doodle Bug, Space Scramble, Cosmiads and Alpha Blaster all sound cool!

Select 1, Panic x 2 – VIC 20
Vicolumn, Blue Star & Doodle Bug – VIC 20
Space Scramble, Cosmiads & Alpha Blaster – VIC 20

Sinclair ZX Spectrum, ZX81

Before moving on to consoles we have pickups from yet another old computer ^_^ I bought a few games for the ZX Spectrum, Pssst, Jet Pac and Cookie had such cool matching covers! Had to get them :) Then I also got Jet Pac with a different cover and 3D Starstrike, Split personalities, Pedro, Ghosts n’ Goblins and a program that came with the system called Horizons. I also found a Sinzlair ZX Interface 2 so I can play cartridge games on my 48k :D Now I just need to find some cartridge games >_> I also bought a ZX81 :D I’ve only known about this one for a little while, when I was looking for 3D Monster Maze and found out that it only came out on the ZX81. Now I have one! So now I just need to find 3D Monster Maze again >_< I missed out on the one eBay auction I’ve ever seen… >_<

Pssst, Jet Pac, Cookie – ZX Spectrum
3D Starstrike, Jetpac, Split Personalities – ZX Spectrum
Pedro, Ghosts n Goblins, Horizons – ZX Spectrum
ZX81 computer
Sinclair ZX Interface 2

Nintendo NES (+ Game & Watch and FDS)

I bought some NTSC NES games from Gaminggrannar and from some other sellers. I also got a Game & Watch Lifeboat from Söders Spel & Skivhandel and a random Famicom Disk System game with cats from Sven666 and another FDS game from my friend MXS :)

Rad Racer II – NES
Galaxy 5000 Racing in the 51st Century – NES
Destination Earthstar – NES
Deadly Towers – NES
Rollergames – NES
The Immortal – NES
Nintendo Game & Watch LifeBoat
The Adventures of Chatran & Samurai Sword – Famicom Disk System

Sega Mega Drive

From my friend Karl I got a good deal and bought the sought after Japanese Sega Mega Drive shmup V-V (V five), I also got to buy most of his other Japanese Mega Drive titles since he wanted to get rid of them, it was mostly RPGs or strategy games, but I got such a good price that I couldn’t pass them up ^_^ I also found some PAL Mega Drive titles from other sellers, mainly sports games XD which I don’t particularly enjoy, but they were cheap! And some day me and Becki will have to have another Golf tournament ;D

V-V – Sega Mega Drive
Gauntlet – Sega Mega Drive
Ragnacenty – Sega Mega Drive
Langrisser II – Sega Mega Drive
Herzog Zwei – Sega Mega Drive
Master of Monsters – Sega Mega Drive
Populous – Sega Mega Drive
Sorcerer Kingdom – Sega Mega Drive
Bahamut Senki – Sega Mega Drive
VR Troopers – Sega Mega Drive
Super Skidmarks – Sega Mega Drive
Royal Rumble – Sega Mega Drive
Super Real Basketball – Sega Mega Drive
World Class Leader Board – Sega Mega Drive
Red Zone – Sega Mega Drive
Ultimate Soccer – Sega Mega Drive

Sega Master System

I also got a lot of Sega Master System games from various sellers. Mainly sports here as well, but I didn’t have them, and they were cheap ^_^

R.C. Grand Prix – Sega Master System
Ace of Aces – Sega Master System
Air Rescue – Sega Master System
Pit-Fighter – Sega Master System
World Class Leader Board – Sega Master System
Black Belt – Sega Master System
Enduro Racer – Sega Master System
Great Volleyball – Sega Master System
World Soccer – Sega Master System
Casino Games – Sega Master System

Sega Saturn & Playstation 2

Japon also managed to convince to bring home these two huge boxed Sega Saturn Arcade Racer controllers XD One PAL and one Japanese.. they told me that the controller was region free, so I sure hope they will both work with one console ;D In that case I might have another game to use in the next Retro Rumble competition for the finals ;D I also got two PS2 games with Megaman at a fair price from Anders :) They’re sealed.. but I might open them so I can play them!! ^_^

Sega Saturn arcade racer
PS2 Megaman X Command Mission & Megaman X8

Amiga 500 / 1200

Now onto the biggest category of the day… Amiga! The big lot of games I had bought from Likilato contained A LOT of Amiga games :) I was happy to find Banshee in there, since MXS had recently told me it was a good game, it’s for the 1200 though so I have to find a place to plug that system in as well.. They’re so big and space-consuming! Loom has a beautiful cover, and I’ve seen it before, not quite sure what kind of game it is though, but I will find out :) There were a lot of other games that looked cool like Harlequin, Codename Hellfire, Wonderland, Super Stardust, Galdregons Domain etc. It’s gonna be fun to try them all out :D I wonder what kind of game Leather Goddesses of Phobos will turn out to be XD

Banshee – Amiga
Harlequin – Amiga
Lemmings 2 The Tribes – Amiga
Accolade Test Drive II – Amiga
Codename Hellfire – Amiga
Loom – Amiga
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Curse of the Azure Bonds – Amiga
Alien Breed II The Horror Continues – Amiga
Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Wishbringer – Amiga
Zool – Amiga
Galdregons Domain – Amiga
Zool 2 – Amiga
Battle Command – Amiga
Black Crypt – Amiga
Chuck Rock Son of Chuck – Amiga
Crystal Dragon – Amiga
Dungeon Master II – Amiga
Flight of the Amazon Queen – Amiga
Super Stardust – Amiga
Wonderland Dream the Dream – Amiga
Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon – Amiga
King’s Quest III To Heir is Human – Amiga
The Keys to Maramon – Amiga
Ishtar 1 – Amiga
Ishtar 2 – Amiga
Ishtar 3 – Amiga
Syndicate – Amiga
Rocket Ranger, Speedball – Amiga
‘Nam 1965-1975 – Amiga
Murder! – Amiga
Star Flight – Amiga
Nobby the Aardvark – Amiga
Operation Stealth – Amiga
Overdrive – Amiga
Megatraveller 2 Quest for the Ancients – Amiga
Police Quest 3 – Amiga
The New Zealand Story, The Bard’s Tale – Amiga
The Hound of Shadow – Amiga
Wizardry Bane of the Cosmic Forge – Amiga
Swords of Twilight – Amiga

That was all the loot for this time, now I have some gaming to do ^____^

Retro Gathering Vintage Computer Edition 2016

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This weekend I drove all the way to Västerås to attend the first Retro Gathering convention of 2016, they’ve started hosting two conventions a year since it’s become so popular with retro games and vintage computers here in Sweden. This Retro Gathering they called VCE, because it was a Vintage Computer Edition, and damn! There were a LOT of vintage computers there ^_^ I think it scared off a few of the Nintendo-fanatics though, since there were a bit less visitors than usually, but still there were loads of people! :D

Retro Gathering VCE 2016

It’s so much fun going to these conventions, mainly to meet with all the friends you’ve gotten to know through the common interests and also, of course, to buy shitloads of games!! This year was no different for me.. I came home with a massive haul. I will make a separate post once I’ve gone through it all XD Here’s  picture of most of it stacked up in a couch! Just so you can get an idea ;D

Retro Gathering VCE 2016 loot

I also really enjoy seeing all these odd old machines, they always have more things like this at Retro Gathering than any of the other conventions here in Sweden. Most conventions are strongly focused around Nintendo.. so it’s nice to see something different ^_^ Some of the things they had brought in this time I had never even seen before! So many cool machines ^_^ There was an Apple Pippin for sale (or even two, one was boxed and new!), there was also an Iris Crimson that appeared in Jurassic Park, and a bunch of other cool machines. These are just a few of them! Do you recognize them all? ;D I sure didn’t!

Commodore VIC 20 setup at Retro Gathering
Retro computers to play on at Retro Gathering
Vintage computers setup to play at Retro Gathering
Vintage computers to play at Retro Gathering
ZX81, M5 and Laser 200 at Retro Gathering
Commodore VIC 20 setup at Retro Gathering
Commodore and ABC80 at Retro Gathering
Philips Computer at Retro Gathering
Universum at Retro Gathering
Computer from Jurassic Park at Retro Gathering
Japanese Commodore Max Machine at Retro Gathering
Decwriter at Retro Gathering
Teletype at Retro Gathering
Vintage Computer at Retro Gathering
ABC80 at Retro Gathering
Digital PDP-8L at Retro Gathering
Sord at Retro Gathering
T2100 at Retro Gathering
Apple’s PiPPiN for sale at Retro Gathering
Boxed vintage computers for sale at Retro Gathering
Spectravideo at Retro Gathering
VIC 20 at Retro Gathering

Most of the computers there were for sale, I was really close to buying the T2100 with the beautiful monochrome orange screen, but once I returned to buy it it was already gone >_< For only $34! I also glanced at the Japanese Commodore 64 which was quite rare, with a few boxed cartridges! So beautiful ^_^ I did however buy some other systems, like the Atari ST 1040 and a ZX 81 ^_^ Apart from computers there were LOADS of games for sale, both Nintendo, Sega and lots of other stuff! Pappas Pärlor was also there to sell some of his awesome custom bead arts ^_^ Apart from this you could find almost anything at Retro Gathering VCE! I even saw a Vectrex 3D imager! It’s 3D-glasses for the Vectrex, and they were boxed with 2 games! Super rare and also super expensive >_<

Vectrex 3D Imager with games for sale at Retro Gathering
Retro games and systems for sale at Retro Gathering
Amiga games for sale at Retro Gathering
Vintage computer games for sale at Retro Gathering
Star Trek for Commodore for sale at Retro Gathering
Game & Watch and other stuff for sale at Retro Gathering
Retro Games for sale at Retro Gathering
Pippin for sale at Retro Gathering
Game poster for sale at Retro Gathering
Game & Watch for sale at Retro Gathering
Pappas Pärlor selling perler bead art at Retro Gathering
Pappas Pärlor bead art at Retro Gathering
Pappas Pärlor custom BB-8 at Retro Gathering
Twinkle Star Sprites for sale at Retro Gathering
MXS selling japanese retro games at Retro Gathering
Retro Gathering 2016
Retro games at Retro Gathering
Golden Sun for sale at Retro Gathering
NES for sale at Retro Gathering
Bleep Wear and merchandise for sale at Retro Gathering
Game Boy games for sale at Retro Gathering

I’m super happy with my weekend trip to Retro Gathering VCE 2016! I met so many nice people, had lots of fun and I’m looking forward to the next Retro Gathering this fall ^_^ I’m quite exhausted now though, and I will be busy with my haul for a while, testing all the new games! :D :D :D I will update shortly with everything that I bought ^_^