Hello there, and welcome to my new office
which I will show you in due course. Apologies for my absence of late.
I've taken a bit of a break, just so I can concentrate on moving in here.
and just refreshing my "creative energy" - let's call it that.
Anyway. More importantly, I've got a backlog of post, from you fine people to open!
and then organise in this new workplace. So let's have a look and see what's in these boxes!
As with any activity, tea is - of course - obligatory,
and I mean ANYTHING.
We begin with a large box, containing a very small item. If you can guess what it is, then
you are indeed at Steve Erwin level 20, for it's a kit from Monster Joysticks. This package
was actually sent a few months back, but the time hasn't felt right, until now, to release
this wooden item of what promises to be "arcade bliss". Incidentally, this package also contained
a complete and almost brand new copy of the excellent board game, Atmosfear. Check this
out, everything still unpunched and pristine. Big thanks to Ian Thomasson Lee for sending
this, who I actually met at the recent Play Expo in London, and discovered that he and
his partner are truly tremendous folks.
What follows is a smaller package, but one that still packs a punch. Inside is a Trust
branded joypad, with many a switch, and a rather obscure double DiN connector, which
isn't the most common thing in the world. Intriguing, something we can explore later
on. Thanks to fellow Twitch helper, Taz, for sending this in.
Another small package. A cuboid. Curious. Ahhh, it's a Bitt-Boy. It's like a Game Boy,
but smaller, and full of NES games. Yes, you know the score, it's a handheld device, packed
with ROMs from the back of Dave's van. Another item I was sent a while back, but one which
I shall review with a sense of untethered ferocity, in the near future.
Now, I have a feeling that the next package is of a similiar theme. Mainly because I'm
recording this voice over post filming... and what do you know, I am correct. Hurray
me. This is the lesser spotted GPD XD Plus. A handheld I've been wanting to sink my teeth
into for a while, and so I shall. Initial impressions are of a quality built device,
with a nice screen and a rather pleasing thumb stick action. Mmmmmmmmmm, thumb sticks.
But wait, all this stuff feels fairly modern, where is that out-dated aesthetic we all crave
- just like those tangy twiglets they discontinued a few years back. Well, this package gets
closer. These little panflets reek of the 80s, and indeed they should, for they have
been sent courtesy of Tim Harris from Sharewareplus.com... I found some of his items on eBay recently,
and he was kind enough to send me a Commodore 64 Wi-Fi adaptor. Oh yes, that's right. Stay
tuned for some Commodore 64 internet, very soon.
In the mean time, let's open another package. Now on first glance, this looks like nothing
special, but it is in fact a Video Master cartridge for the Atari ST, which apparently
featured on Bad Influence. Which means that a) this will be immense fun, and b) no doubt
I'll try and create a video using the Atari ST for you to watch. I don't know about you,
but that sure as hell excites me. We've also got a HiSoft BASIC manual, a lovely wallet
containing HiSoft BASIC. This feels like something I'd show to prospective employers. Oh, and
there's the Video Master software. Thank you Mr. Richard Allen for your kind donation.
Another minute, another box. Now, inside here is.... well, it's more Monster Joystick stuff
isn't it? I think I've now amassed the entire Monster Joystick collection so bear with me
for a somewhat comprehensive video on that in the near future.
Inside this package, we have a note. The gist is...
Hi Peter, here's the box of games. I hope you like the typeface I designed - which incidentally,
I really do. Best regards, Glen Ray. Well, thank you kindly Glen.
The games in question are mostly Spectrum games, well, and applications, and never underestimate
how much I love small business accounts software. Nor the Dorling Kindersley ZX Spectrum Book.
My brother and I spent hours typing out the BASIC programs from here.
There are numerous cassettes, each of which are beautiful to their very core. For instance,
I love this series of Sinclair adventure titles for the artwork alone. Invasion of the Body
Snatchers there, BULLSEYE, oh, and a programmable Joystick interface. NICE.
We also get a sealed copy of Super Spy, plus a load of Playstation and N64 titles, which
makes this one epic box of treasure. Excellent.
Now, here - again - is a package I've had sitting around for a good while. Apologies
to Retro Cabeza for the delay. You can probably see it's from Retro Cabeza by the logo here.
Now along, with that supreme T-Shirt, there's only a bloody Casio Club C-310. Look at this
thing. Admittedly, it's the girl's version, but who cares for genders and stereotypical
marketing? Certainly not me. Man, this is amazing, I used to have the less garish version
of this, and it's bloody fantastic, for storing... errrrr... phone numbers, and possibly names,
of your school friends. Good times. I didn't delve into the box properly, but I believe
there's also a copy of Vega Solaris for the ZX Spectrum in that bubble wrap. I will revisit
it in the future.
Which brings us onto this very weighty package.
It's weighty, because it's dense. In fact it's almost a whole damn tree, flattened and
printed with tantalising imagery reminiscent of the Neo Geo. This Visual History has been
sent by Bitmap Books, and will be placed again in the imminent review pile. Because, it looks
bloody glorious.
Right, now this next box has been sent from an old friend of mine. Mr. Richard Ossit.
I know this, because I remember speaking to him. I also know he's slipped a note under
the address. So let's have a quick look.
To NN... Oh christ.
Now, I won't read this all, but the general gist is that the letter hopes to fine me well,
the weather has been treacherous, but they've managed to bunker down and survive. So all
is well, oh and he's found some games for me to ENJOY. Excellent.
Those games being... The Munsters, Fantazy World Dizzy, Double Dragon II, S P A C E C
R U S A D E... Sorry, this art work gets me every time. I mean, I prefer the original
artwork which had to be changed as it was ripped off from somewhere. But still, the
game is the same regardless, and I love it. Although, the game in fact seems to be missing,
but at least there are some save games, and a manual. Also, there's a copy of Lemmings,
and who doesn't love Lemmings. Thanks for that Rossit.
Next up are two very similiar boxes, and for that reason, they shall be opened in unison.
Ahhhhhhh, look at this. The Home Computer Course. Now these are magazines designed to
excite your very core. Well, in my case at least.
Goddd, look at these pages. Cross sections, cut aways. An office is not a suitable place
for this kind of reading material.
LOOK AT THIS. It's a cut-away image of a Dot Matrix printer. Ahhhhhhhhhgggg.
I could read this for hours. In fact, I will bloody read them for hours. I might even share
them with you, as long as the pages don't get stuck together.
Apparently there were 24 issues of "The Home Computer Course", after which you can fill
in your own little certificate. I'm so doing that, especially given all 24 copies are correct
and present.
Ahhh, well, thank you to Ben Joynes for sending me those. I think he contacted Ashens on Twitter
actually and Mr. Ashen was kind enough to suggest that I might like them, and good lord,
I do.
So, that ends the unboxing for this undefined period of time. If you have anything you'd
like to send me, then please do drop me an email (which I'll link in the description),
and we can converse. Especially as my delivery address has now changed.
Anyway, I'll leave you with a sneaky pan of the new studio space, before I do a full and
correct video in the next week or so. If you're in to pans of where people work, you might
enjoy this, otherwise, it's mostly just white paint isn't it? Still, white paint is nice.
It reminds me of tip-ex. When you could cross out someone else's name on their homework
and just spin it off as your own. Good times.
Thank you to everyone who has sent stuff in, thank you to you for watching and I'll see
you again very soon.