This time around we have something not that far bar back, but can you guess what the object is?

Take a good long look – what can we tell you about this item? Hmm, it’s kind of silver in colour. Does that help?

Good luck!

Eggnchips.com Mystery Retro Challenge #2 is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

Millions of people around the world know the word Warcraft but associate it only with the MMO sensation World of Warcraft. Many of these gamers don’t realize that before there was a full world of Warcraft there were just a few Orcs and Humans. The original game was actually titled Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. The game was simple enough for a real time strategy game. One player controlled the Orcs and another controlled the Humans. Each would compete to control more resources and lands.

This was one of the first computer war games where you could play your friend over the modem or a LAN line. Internet gaming wasn’t anywhere close to being the sensation it is now so if you wanted to game on a computer you had to resort to playing with a friend you already knew. This made things harder since computers didn’t have nearly as much customization as they do now. Also with the speed modems ran at you spent a lot of time disconnecting in the middle of a game.

If you were one of the lucky few to own a computer good enough to run this game at supreme speed, both graphically and connectivity, you still were subject to the random disconnects many gamers faced. While Warcraft was simple in nature it was completely addicting. Many would spend hours trying to learn the quickest way to build as fast as possible to completely pummel your foe. If both gamers were equally fast at their building then it could come down to whose unit attacked first.

Warcraft was one of the first games to allow players to work with shortcuts on their keyboard. Pressing a key would open a build menu that would allow for the player to quickly access a unit or building that they could place on the map. A player who wanted to build a farm, for example, could press T then F to quickly build a farm. Players could alternatively use their mouse to just click what they wanted to build but this would take more time.

Speed was an essential part of playing Warcraft. If you were too slow, even the computer would stomp you pretty fast. You had to not only learn to build fast, but also to build efficiently. If your units were under attack you had to be building replacements for the ones that would die. Multitasking and speed put together really made you into a great Warcraft player. While the game didn’t have as many buildings or units as other real time strategies, it did offer a level of competition other games of the time didn’t.

If you’re a World of Warcraft player and have never tried the original Warcraft game, you don’t know what you’re missing. While the games series moved from RTS to MMO the fan base didn’t really change much. The multiplayer feature of this game was really the corner stone to its glory. The competition the game brought on was unlike any other RTS of its time.

Warcraft Retro Gaming Sets the Stage for Popular Games Today is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

What can we say about “The Human Race”, developed by John D. Ferrari and released by Mastertronic, in 1985, for the Commodore 64? Well, the inlay card says it all, “Play the game that took 35 million years to create!!!” – if three exclamation marks isn’t enough then I just don’t know what is – four maybe?

Actually, the game is pretty good, and addictively frustrating. Music is by Rob Hubbard, which is an added bonus.

There are very little by the way of instructions for The Human Race, other than you have to survive throughout the ages, meet the challenges, and do it using the joystick.

The first level (of which there are five) set in 1 million years BC, or rather “Chapter 1”, tells you to “Just go for the biggest banana in sight” which is a lot easier said than done but you quickly realise that this level is a single screen platform game – in a way it reminds a little of Chiller.

Whilst you are heading for the big banana, there are little bananas to be navigated – touching one will make you want to stop for a second or two to eat it, but you also have to avoid all the other prehistoric creatures that are somehow failing to mind their own business – and you only get three lives to figure it all out. Fortunately, each creature follows a clear pattern so its a case of watch the pattern, then go for it.

The second chapter, should you make it that far, sees you in 100,000 BC and evolved just a little whilst hot-footing it across a strangely moving fire path – with balls of fire raining down upon you. The caveman must be a little dumb because just above him there is a pleasant green strip of grass that he could just have easily trekked along.

Chapter three (and that’s where I run out of screen shots!) asks you to “just roll on over to the cave behind the falls”, in your new cave man evolution. Basically, you have to try and stay on a rolling log as it drifts across the river – whilst avoiding alligator type creatures.

If you are lucky, or skilled, enough to make it level four then you get a patchwork quilt of a floor to walk across where “red means go” and a spider wants to get you (if you ever watched the vortex challenge in the television series The Adventure Game then you’ll have the general idea here).

The fifth and final chapter see you walking through thousands of years of history whilst being hotly pursued by an evil doer – and you also have to dodge the obstacles and the falling creatures.

Typically though you will be greeted by the face of fate as all your lives run out quite quickly. The Human Race is a really tricky game, but the five different challenges keep it fresh, and making it within a hairs distance of your goal makes you want to have once more go. I have been through my old Zzap collection and it doesn’t seem to have made it into the reviews – but I’ll keep a look out.

All in all, The Human Race, is very enjoyable!

Retro Game Lookback: The Human Race for Commodore 64 is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

In the 1970s, one of the must-have stocking filler presents for most children was an annual – no, not a bedding plant, a yearly book published (usually) by one of the many comics available at the time. These were rather like a bumper version of the comic featuring longer stories and pages of jokes, activities and other fun content. Annuals are still around, but now seem to be mainly linked to television series, such as: Blue Peter and Doctor Who, those produced by comics have gone the way of the UK comic industry generally.

The Blue Peter annual was around in the ‘70s – I had a couple myself – and although it’s modern incarnation is glossier and the presenters are more funky, it doesn’t seem to have changed hugely. The format then was simply a printed version of the show, with each annual containing educational material, arts and crafts projects, recipes, interviews with the presenters, and, of course, information about the Blue Peter pets.

Another popular annual – for girls anyway – was Jackie, a magazine aimed at teenagers, but which was actually read by girls from about ten upwards. Once again, the annual was an extended version of the magazine and featured fashion and beauty tips, interviews with pop stars and relationship advice. I fondly remember one edition which included a 12 month style guide, in other words, a feature telling girls what to wear for an entire year. I’m not sure how much use this was, not least because the ‘look’ for February was inspired by romance (St Valentine’s Day) and girls were told they should don floaty, flimsy dresses to capture boys’ hearts – I’m guessing the writer had either never experienced February in Britain, or mistakenly believed blue skin and chattering teeth is a good look.
‘
Boys weren’t left out, there were numerous titles for them, some devoted to sport themed comics, or those that featured adventure stories, along with offerings from the ever-popular Beano and Dandy – although the latter two probably appealed to just as many girls. The Beano annual, in particular, was great fun. Each edition contained the extended adventures of Dennis and Gnasher, unique stories featuring other popular characters, along with activity ideas, jokes and quizzes. These were the annuals you were likely to find your parents reading, they’d tell you it was just so they could check for suitability, but we knew better.

Younger children were usually treated to the Rupert the Bear annual which contained the adventures of the lovable bear and his companions in Nutwood. The stories were laid out in a comic-style format, and were beautifully drawn. My brother and I had about ten years worth of these between us, and although he loved them, I don’t think I ever looked at mine – I was terrified of Raggety, the weird, twig-like creature who lived in a tree.

The music industry also got in on the act, publishing annuals for many of the most popular chart acts, such as: the lovely, twinkly eyed David Essex – for the benefit of younger readers: no, he hasn’t always looked like Terry Pratchett. I also had an annual published by one of the music magazines (possibly Smash Hits), which, with hindsight, was a little deceptive. In amongst the trivia, quizzes and games, it contained interviews with famous singers which included the question: what qualities do you look for in a girl? Respondents included Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and, disturbingly, Gary Glitter.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, annuals are still being published, but they seem to focus mainly on popular television shows. Comic publishing has gone into a decline with many titles folding completely. Some comics are still published, and do produce annuals, but these are not always widely available, and are now often aimed at adult collectors rather than children. Similarly, original editions of annuals have become collectors items with older editions changing hands for three figure sums. Newer versions are more reasonably priced but will grow in value, so if you still have your 1982 Beano annual it might be worth hanging on to.

Book Review Tuesday: A Look Back at the Annual is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

The Acorn Electron, like a cross between the Acorn Atom and the BBC Micro. One of my earliest memories of Acorn was the mono Acorn Atom which always reminds me a little of this machine that came later. In the image above you can see the Plus 1 expansion system which allowed up to two cartridges to be installed – something that was becoming popular on the Commodore 64 at the time.

From what I remember, of the press at the time, the Acorn was aimed to be a Spectrum killer; the BBC Micro Model B was a great machine (the Model A never really gained a foothold) but something you used at school, and quite expensive, so if Acorn wanted to get into the home they needed something more approachable – so in 1983 the Acorn Electron was born.

The Welcome pack always stood out with it’s big friendly writing – in a Hitchhikers “Don’t Panic” kind of way.

The 8-bit Acorn Electron, with its 6502 Processor and custom ULA chip, has 32KB RAM, and 32KB ROM, and contained the familiar BBC Basic. It didn’t have as many colour modes, for the display, as it’s big brother and it’s sound was limited too, as well as being a little slow but that didn’t matter – it had TV out (as well as RGB) and there were some great games available for the Electron and that’s what was important, games such as Exile, Chuckie Egg, Elite and Repton ensured the success of the Electron.

The Acorn Electron was almost the machine that never was, if you watched the recent television programmer “Micro Men” you’ll see what I mean, as a manufacturing problem with the new custom ULA chip meant that Acorn missed the vital 1983 Christmas rush, and the end of 1984 started to see the undoing of the 8-bit home computer market.

Retro Computer: Acorn Electron is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

Horace Goes Skiing, from William Tang for Beam Software, was released in 1982 on the Sinclair label (at least the Sinclair ZX Spectrum version was), which also conveyed the “Software by Psion with Melbourne House” collaboration for distribution.

Horace was one of the earliest popular character brands on home computer games – appearing from almost nowhere to turning up in several games in addition to this one – there was Hungry Horace prior to this one, and then there was Horace and the Spiders, other Horace games were planned but never emerged. Horace himself was a large single coloured blog with big bug eyes, stumpy legs, and arms that a Tyrannosaurs Rex would be proud of.

There were two stages to the game, as the inlay tells us “Help Horace to slalom down the mountain course between the flags and avoiding the trees – but first he must cross the busy roads to get to the ski slopes. A complex, colourful and outstanding computer game.”

Essentially, the first level is a Frogger type game where you hop across the road, collect the skis, then head back whilst avoiding all manner of speeding vehicles. Why it never occurred to the Ski resort management to put the Ski shack on the other side of the road is something of a surprise!

Some of the vehicles, such as the Ambulance and Bikes, move quite quickly which makes things really tricky – but at least everything is colourful. Home Computing Weekly once described the graphics as “The traffic on the motorway is a first-class example of the use of animated graphics…” – mind you that was back in 1983.

The second level is the skiing game, which always reminded me of the Skiing game you got with the Mattel Intellivision console, although the Intellivision probably edged it on graphics and smoothness (and that’s saying something!).

Once you have completed the second level then it’s back to the first level for more of the same. You start with $40 and every time you get hit by a vehicle you lose $10 in ambulance fees – run out of money and the game is over.

Horace Goes Skiing was an exciting game, at the time, especially with the big lovable Horace being so familiar from his previous outing and it still offers some great retro fun today. Is it time for Horace to get a new millennium make over?

Retro Game Lookback: Horace Goes Skiing For ZX Spectrum is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

YouTube: Traditional programming has been available on YouTube for some time, and the range is now pretty wide. Using the familiar player, you can choose from offerings from mainstream channels such as: BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, as well as purpose made programming that is internet only. Viewers can subscribe to channels so they can keep up with a series, the site will also suggest other programmes based on viewing activity. One great feature is the option to create a playlist of subscriptions, so you can sit back and watch just as you would on a traditional television.

While YouTube is one of my favourite places to watch television, I’m not always impressed with the suggestions and some seem to be a bit too general. For example: I watched a couple of programmes covering the UK general election, then got suggestions for programmes about politics in the US. Also, the broadcasters themselves will often upload clips rather than full programmes; while the clips can be great, it is annoying to have to wade through them to find the latest episode of series. It would be helpful if they would create separate channels for clips.

Blinkbox: A mixture of films and shows, some are free, others are available to buy or rent. The site is very easy to navigate, with A-Z listings of everything on offer. The content is a mixture of new, current material, and also popular offerings from the past, including some ‘cult’ classics such as: the Young Ones, League of Gentlemen and old episodes of Doctor Who. The site also displays a list of suggestions beneath the player so that viewers can find further episodes or similar shows. There is also a ‘Playroom’ which features games and quizzes, and users have the option to create an account and save favourite programmes for viewing later.

Seesaw: In many ways Seesaw is similar to Blinkbox – in fact it’s content overlaps with many of the same shows on offer. Viewers have a choice of free material, or paying to rent or buy a show or film, and recent additions include popular US series such as: Heroes and House. There is also a catch-up service which features the latest episodes of popular soaps and reality shows. The site is very easy to navigate, with all material organised by category.

A Look at Online Television Players: Part Two is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

I wonder how many people disable their protection software whilst playing demanding games? It sounds like a recipe for disaster – but there may be another way!

BullGuard, the internet security people, have recently launched version 9 of their BullGuard Internet Security Suite, and one of the killer new features is a new “gaming mode”.

The new gaming mode complements the added safety features including in the package which included anti-virus protection, a spyware removal tool, spam filter, protection for instant messaging (particularly useful during a frag-fest!) – so how does it work?

Once, the internet security suite, is downloaded and installed (a free internet security trial is available), you can head into the Gaming section (right-click on the BullGuard icon in the taskbar) and select “Show BullGuard”.

You will be presented with a status section together with two buttons, “Game profiles”, and “Gaming log”.

“Gaming log” keeps you up to date with what’s going on with your gaming profiles, whilst “Game Profiles” is where you setup, maintain, and activate profiles to get the best out of your favourite games.

30 profiles are already included to help you get started including profiles for Call of Duty, Empire Total War, The Sims 3, Resident Evil 5, Team Fortress 2, and World of Warcraft.

You can add your own game profile, if its not listed, by clicking on the “+” button, entering a profile name, and selecting a few options including:

• Opting whether to suppress BullGuard messages during game play
• Deactivating the Spam Filter
• Auto-enable the profile when the application is launched
• Specify firewall rules, to enable specific ports required during game play
• Specify scanning exceptions such as incoming e-mails and web traffic during game-play

Some of the other benefits of BullGuard is that you get a data backup/restore facility for those essential “save games”, and 5 GB of online backup for keeping your custom avatars, game logs, and message logs safe and sound. Supported operating systems are Windows 7, Vista, and Windows XP (at least SP2 required for XP).

To learn more about gaming safely visit the BullGuard website and get your free trial antivirus.

Is It Possible To Play Games And Be Secure? is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

One of the first and long time favorite multiplayer games was Trade Wars. This was one of the earliest computer games and has been known by different names over the years and also had different variations of it since. The game dates back to the earliest days of computer gaming and has major influences from Star Wars, Star Trek as well as early BBS strategy games.

Trade Wars, from Chris Sherrick, was an excellent example of the appeal of online gaming. It helped set the stage for the incredible selection of online games and computer games we have to play today. It was most popular in the early 1990s and was played by tens of thousands of people all over the world. Since then, it has been remade and relicensed and crowned a true legend in retro gaming.

The original Trade Wars was created in BASIC and then ported to the IBM PC. The creator, Sherrick, described it as a cross between Star Trader (1974) and the board game, Risk. In the years that would follow, the game would expand since it was created in the earliest versions with a free license. You would see Yankee Trader, TWV- Galactic Armageddon, trade Wars 2001 and more.

Due to the different versions of the game, the specifics of the game play can vary between the versions. However, there are some general game play statistics that remained the same. In the game, you are a trader in a galaxy with other players (either humans or the computer). You will then need to gain control of certain resources in this galaxy such as ore, food, fuel and technology.

You will travel through the different sectors of the galaxy, exploring planets and trading for resources and money. You can use your wealth then to upgrade your spaceship and help you to travel further and gain more control of other planets and star bases. The more you control, the more you can continue to acquire.

The game is highly numerical and does not place a lot of pressure on the system requirements. This means it was also great for low resource computers and similar platforms. You never really had to worry if your system could run it, as anyone could. Some believe this contributed to its popularity. Today, you can even play classic Trade Wars on Windows NT/2000/XP and you can find it on some surviving BBSs. You will also find versions on cell phones, portable devices like the Palm OS and on Web-based game platforms.

In 1998, the license to Trade Wars was sold to John Pritchett. His company, EIS created a stand-alone server for the game which allowed it to remain even past the BBS era of gaming. As you can see, Trade Wars is a true legend in gaming and computer gaming as we know it.

Visit Trade Wars Rising.

Trade Wars: A Legend in Gaming is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

BBC iPlayer: This is the Rolls Royce of online television. The desktop version gives you the option to subscribe to a series and automatically download further episodes. The online version lets you create an account, ‘favourite’ programmes you really enjoy and share suggestions with friends from Facebook and Twitter. iPlayer will also suggest programming you might enjoy based on your viewing history – a great way to find shows you might have otherwise overlooked. Viewers can also choose from a selection of the most popular programmes, or just watch whatever is currently showing on any BBC channel.

ITV Player: The best feature is the length of time viewers have to watch previous episodes of a programme – usually 30 days, compared to a week on many other services. Users can choose from a selection of popular ITV programming, including new shows, and those archived ones which feature on ITV 3 and 4. However, the site is difficult to navigate, it’s pretty easy to find the information page for a specific programme, it’s less easy to find the page that actually lets you watch it. Also, the site seems to struggle during busy times – many people (myself included) found it problematic when trying to watch matches during the recent World Cup.

The service is supported by advertising, sometimes this can run to several minutes worth – I’ve also noticed a bug which makes the player reset at the end of the run of ads taking you back to the beginning of the show. On the upside, the player does gives viewers the option to adjust the light levels, which can help to improve the picture quality. It also tracks your viewing and lists previously watched programmes, so if you are following a series you can see at glance which episodes you have already seen.

4oD: Channel 4’s on demand service which features both new and archived programming. The player is a good size, and can also be used in pop-out mode – handy if you prefer to watch a programme while doing something else. Although, not as intuitive as iPlayer, the site is fairly easy to use, and contains a full index of all available programming. As a commercial service, the programmes do contain advertising, but this is kept to a minimum.

A Look at Online Television Players: Part One is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology