Sheltered [Kickstarter]

Britain is the home of the original bedroom coders, we spearheaded the personal [Micro] Computer movement, so its only natural that the UK is still home to a wealth of indie developers unshackled by the ties of larger corporations. One of the recent Kickstarter projects that has caught my attention is Unicube's 'Sheltered'.

So before I indulge in another waffle filled page, I will cut myself off and get straight into the reasons why I am personally excited...

Virtual Games in Bracknell [Store Review]

'Everyone hates a reseller' is a common retrogaming catchphrase, Seeing people 'flip' items for a quick buck angers nearly all collectors... So when you see stores on the high street, you immediately suspect the worst.

Retron 5 Review

Darkness [C64 Review]

The C64 is the home computing platform that has captured the imagination of coders and sceners for 3 decades now and with such an expansive history and knowledge base comes technical mastery that few platforms ever get to indulge in. Most systems enjoy a ten year run of attention then fade into obscurity, coders, developers and publishers all jumping ship to peddle their wares on more relevant hardware.

Psytronik software have been publishing games since 1993, a time where the C64 platform was becoming increasing irrelevant to the constantly evolving personal computing users. The year saw the last big, if not biggest release the system ever saw - a title that provided a graphical and audible experience akin to the 16bit juggernauts it was facing off against, I am of course talking about the incredible Mayhem In Monsterland. Psytronik chose an odd time to enter the publishing game, a time where most publishers sauntered off to pastures greener. Psytronik and RGCD continue doing what they love for the fact that they love it, monetary rewards be damned.

In the present day there has been a resurgence of interest in the ageing platform, the C64 never really died but simply became niche. Recently the OG personal computer has found it's self on the forefront of peoples interest with the most recent of note being the recently successful Kickstarter by Sam Dyer. The C64 is back in the public eye and Psytronik have been here for the last 20+ years creating a library of retro-modern masterpieces... the latest of which being Darkness.

Darkness for C64 released today!

Order it on tape or disk here

Order it on cartridge here [Coming soon]

Sanctuary RPG [Review]

Graphics! Pffffft... we didn't need them in the 80's, what's the point?

I was recently asked to review Sanctuary RPG by the chap behind it, and because he asked so nicely I gave it a shot. I am not the biggest RPG fan, I simply lack the brain power and imagination that the genre requires from its fans but seeing as he took the time to ask, I would do my best.

What is 'Retro' ?

Its official, our nerdy little sub-culture has become mainstream with large events such as the Play Expo in Blackpool and even Tesco's selling T-shirts with a Retro-gamer focus.

I am all for the growth and diversification of a sub-culture as it tends to bring more talented people or companies to the public eye - but one thing that has stuck in my craw is that I am now labelled by the media as a 'Retro-gamer' - admittedly having a blog called 'Retro Game Punk' doesn't help much...