PSSST! was one of my first experiences of a really slick and addictive Spectrum game. It was launched by publisher Ultimate! around the time of Jet-Pac, prior to the later and more popular isometric games. I remember cutting out the coupon in Sinclair User to order the game, paid for with a postal order for…
Arcadians: The BBC Micro’s Answer to Galaxian When Acornsoft released Arcadians for the BBC Micro in 1982, it represented something significant in the early home computer market—a remarkably faithful arcade conversion that captured the essence of Namco’s Galaxian almost perfectly. Developed by Nick Pelling (working under the pseudonym Orlando M. Pilchard), this fixed shooter demonstrated…
Yesteryear Gaming is a blog site authored by the mysterious Ocotillo Kid, a big retro game fan and avid collector. The site began life in 2012, and so far has covered both reviews of popular and obscure retro titles, as well as updates on additions to the authors own retro collection. The original photography is…
I have been playing video games since the late 70’s, and through the 80’s had various consoles and computers, but I was never really a collector. Video games were just something that I played, sometimes completed, but then just moved onto the next game. Having a “collection” of video games was never really an option…
Not a Donkey Kong Clone, Honest The BBC Micro was touted as an educational tool, if you believe Fred Harris (sorry kids). Most of us growing up in the 80’s will have used one at school, either doing some rudimentary programming, or playing with maths tools such as “Turtle”. It also happened to have a great…
Daley Thompson’s Decathlon hit the Spectrum in 1984, bringing Olympic fever into British homes. Released by Ocean Software, this game had one claim to fame above all others: it wrecked more joysticks than any other title in Spectrum history. While Track & Field ruled the arcades, Daley’s digital counterpart dominated our living rooms – and…
