Argos Catalogue from 1985

Oh this is just *brilliant*! Just in case you missed it (via @edgeonline - credit where credit is due) - someone has (*very* kindly) scanned 275 pages of the Argos catalogue from 1985 and popped them up on Flickr, here are just a few of my faves-

- top of the range car audio systems (note that FM radio aerial kits were still important at the time, even speakers needed installing in many vehicles!)-

- cassette tape storage solutions -

- the most amazing home cinema systems -

- noting that some things never change (well, apart from the complete lack of availability on the High Street for Chemistry sets in the modern age - you can get them online though) -

- (and now the really cool stuff) the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k (£119.95 to you) -

- or, if you were that way inclined, the Commodore 64 with Ferguson Monitor (*sure* we had that Monitor) all for £408.95 (which is probably why most people I knew had Speccies)-

- or how about the classic Atari 2600 JT, a snip at £49.99 (with three games) -

- Return of the Jedi and Knight Rider toys -

- and last, but very far from least, Game and Watches (our price £14.99) or how about a Tomytronic 3D Sky Attack (£19.95) or even a "Speak and Spell"...Ah...the sweet memories of childhood! :)

Oh boy, have I just shown my age! Enjoy your little stroll down memory lane... ;)

Retro Gaming, Remakes and End Sequences

Spent some of the weekend mucking around with the retro gaming scene, inspired by a copy of "Retro Gamer" magazine I picked up at the car boot sale in Dorking a couple of weeks back (there is a guy who somehow manages to get heaps and heaps of current magazines and sell them for 50p a shot, not that I'm complaining)...anyway, I found a few really interesting things trawling the interweb that I thought I would share (if you like this kind of thing) -

• These guys have written a PC emulator (complete with the legal roms) for all of the "Mercenary" games
• These guys have made a beautiful remake of "Total Eclipse" (very early 3D game) and are also working on "Driller" (cool!)
• The Speccie scene has come on a *lot* since I last looked, most of the emulators now support .RZX archives, which basically means you can pause, rewind and retry games during play, all the while recording your keystrokes...the brilliant result? You can download and watch people finishing old speccie games (right to the end sequences! Admittedly they are usually a bit underwhelming considering the amount of effort involved)...I watched someone finish "Skool Daze" and "Bak 2 Skool" (no wonder I never managed them myself)...there is also this archive of "Speccie Spoilers" to enjoy which cut right to the chase...
• Found this site which has a nice archive of remakes (check out this remake of "Sir Fred"...it's still impossible though!), the forum is the best bit to check out for more (and play hints, maps etc)...

Anyway, it's a good way to while away a few pleasant hours in memory lane without having to get the ladders out and dust off the *real* speccies from the loft...(and the games load quicker too)... ;)

The rest of the weekend was spent trying to catch as much of the rain as I could (filled the top half of the water barrel, a bucket (from the overflow on the barrel) and an 8 gallon watering can (from the tap on the bottom) during Saturday alone!) playing the new "Da Vinci Code" XBOX game (suprisingly good, it's almost like "Farenheight" but with better puzzles) and trying to finish "Rogue Trooper" (but the sniper enemy in the later levels is a right pain in the cranium!), and lastly getting the camping stuff ready for Laughton, which is next weekend, but if the weather doesn't improve, well, put it this way - I'm not going to sit in a muddy field in the rain for 3 days...

I also really must try and get out to take some pictures this week, my camera is gathering dust during all these pesky rainshowers and my shooting finger is decidedly itchy...