Commodore Vic 20:

The Commodore Vic 20 was the first computer I ever used. I never owned one until fairly recently. My next door neighbors had one, and I also initiated a fund raising drive at my school to get money for a computer. We ended up with a Vic 20. I dabbled in programming using Gortek and the Microchips and played tons of Jupiter Lander on a 13" black and white TV.

Vic 20 Sites: VICE VICE, the 'Versatile' Commodore Emulator. This is the emulator I use. Vic-20 Forums @ Denial History of the Vic20

Apple ][ series:

A childhood friend had an Apple //c with a small green (monochrome) monitor. I couldn't afford one so I only got to use it occasionally when at his house. It had a mouse which at the time ('85-86) was still relatively novel. The games I played on it were Choplifter, Dr J and Larry Bird One on One, Captain Goodnight, Cavern Creatures, and Karateka. I also spent a lot of time at our local library where they had an Apple ][ which was outfitted with a coin mechanism which you put quarters in, similar to what you'd see in a laundromat. I played a lot of Kabul Spy there. I now own a //c, Enhanced //e, ][+, and IIgs.

Apple ][ Sites: Apple ][ Emulator Resources Guide AppleWin Probably the best for Windows, and is still updated regularly.

Atari 400/800/XL/XE:

The Atari was the first computer I owned. I had first seen it because my cousin got an 800 for Christmas with Star Raiders and Pac Man. I was hooked! I saved up my paper route money and by the time I had enough the XEs were out. I bought an 130XE. Most of the games I played were typed in from magazines like Antic, ANALOG, Compute!, and Family Computing. The games I owned for the Atari were Master of the Lamps, Ultima III and IV, Realm of Impossibility, Blue Max, Zork, and F-15 Strike Eagle. I also played Chicken a lot which was in Antic I believe and was a lot like Frogger. I also have discovered the excellent game M.U.L.E. which I remember seeing in magazines but never bought.

Atari 800 Sites: Altirra Atari 800 emulator Probably the best Windows Atari 8 bit emulator right now. Atari800 emulator Original author's page.

Commodore 64:

My brother got a C64C for Christmas the same year I bought my Atari. He got the whole setup and I was pretty envious. The sound from the SID was amazing. I also got to hear how much better Ultima III sounded on a C64 at my friends house. Games I played on the C64 were Racing Destruction Set, Defender of the Crown, Impossible Mission, Space Taxi, and Telengard (which is best on the C64!!).

Commodore 64 Sites: VICE VICE, the 'Versatile' Commodore Emulator, supports disk emulation also. This is the emulator I use. Lemon's C64 site An excellent site with tons of game reviews.

Atari 520/1040 ST:

OK, so the Atari ST is a 16 bit computer. :) I traded my Atari 8 bit for an Atari 520 ST soon after they came out. The 16 bit graphics made my XL look ancient. The screenshots for Time Bandit and Starglider were enough for me to trade up. I also owned Plutos, Populous, Rogue, Oids, Defender of the Crown, and Dungeon Master.

Atari ST Sites: Atari Forum The best place to chat about the Atari 16 bit computers. Steem ST emulator for Windows, the one I use the most. Has lots of very nice features.

8 Bit Shrine:

I've put some pictures up of my computer room, including all of my 8 bit related stuff. Visit the Shrine

Classic Gaming Set-top Box:

Not too long ago I build a set top box for my basement that I use for playing classic video games from the couch. The setup includes custom software (frontend, other programs), utilities like python, rsync, pskill, shutdown, Joy2Key and others, emulators, an Acer Mini PC with a USB interfaces for a lot of classic controllers. With a controller and a small wireless keyboard, I can drive from my couch. Completing the setup is a nice big (and HEAVY) CRT. I've also added a MiSTer to the setup which is AMAZING! I had at first been using my modded xbox to use emulators but I found that compatibility and performance wasn't as good as PC based emulators. All basic operation of selecting games/systems, favorites, launching games, quitting games, and playing them are controlled from just the gamepad. From my couch I'm able to select and play games for many different systems including: Atari 2600/5200/7800/800/ST Commodore Vic-20/C64/Amiga TI99/4a Tandy Color Computer Vectrex Nintendo NES and SNES Sega Genesis and Master System ColecoVision and Coleco Adam Apple ][ and IIGS Odyssey 2 Arcade games via MAME Intellivision The frontend that is loaded when the machine was booted was written in Python using the Pygame library. The program is available HERE. I update it very often and the latest is always available there. Here are some pictures (click for larger version): The Acer Mini PC (lower right below the 2600) What you see after Windows has booted All the Atari 2600 games listed w/ screenshots ready to select I launched Yar's Revenge and now I'm playing it on the couch

Floppy Archiving/Usage:

When using the old computers, sometimes I want a more authentic "experience" so I have setup to read and write all the different formats of the computers I use. I use what are called "flux" level devices to do this. Specifically the SuperCard Pro and the Greaseweazle. I also have a little tower to hold the different floppy drives I need. From top to bottom, Panasonic JU-455 360k 5.25 drive, Teac FD55GFR 1.2M 5.25 drive, Mitsumi D359-M3 1.44 3.5 drive.

8 Bit Magazines:

One thing I remember well from my childhood was the anticipation of new computer magazines for the coming month. Compute! was the one I bought the most of because it covered more than one computer. I now collect those old magazines and have accumulated quite a collection. It's much bigger than it should be. Even still they make for great reading if you used these computers back in their day. Emulators give them even more interesting uses.

These are some of the magazines I have currently. Most are complete sets.

------------- Geek Stats Follow ---------------- Compute's Gazette RUN Commodore Power Play Commodore Magazine Commodore Microcomputers Incider A+ Compute's Apple Call A.P.P.L.E. Apple ][ Review Apple Orchid Users Nibble Hardcore Computist / Computist Antic A.N.A.L.O.G. STart ST Log Compute's Atari ST Atari Connection Atari Explorer Atari Interface Atari Age Gameliner Compute! (70s/80s only) Family Computing K-Power Hi-Res Computer Gaming World (80s only) Joystik Blip Creative Computing Vidiot Videogaming Illustrated Electronic Fun with Computers and Games Softline ST.Game Electronic Games / Computer Entertainment Enter Computer Games TRS-80 Microcomputer News Rainbow (Coco) 20 Load (Vic-20) 99'er Home Computer Magazine (TI 99/4A) Retro Gamer ------------- Geek Stats End ----------------

Since I put up this page some digital archives have popped up on the net. This is a great way to preserve these relics.

8 Bit magazine and other 8 bit sites: Antic - STart at the Classic Computer Archive Atari 8 bit and ST. Very thorough, all the covers and articles as well as the disks that came with them are available. Now has other magazines such as Compute!, Compute!'s Gazette, Creative Computing, Hi-Res, and Tandy Whiz Kids. Digital A.N.A.L.O.G. Project Not to be confused w/ the sci-fi mag, Atari 8 bit. Bombjack - C64 magazine scans Tons of other stuff as well. Old-Computers.com A plethora of information on just about any old computer you can think of, including my 8 bit favorites. Check out the "Computer of the Day"!

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