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Retro Homebrew & Console News is a site that has the latest Retro Homebrew News, DCEmu Hosted Coder Releases, Interviews, History and Tutorials, Part of the
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July 7th, 2015, 22:00 Posted By: wraggster
In the Early 1980s, the BBC launched a project to teach computer literacy to a generation of British schoolchildren. This project resulted in the BBC Micro, a very capable home computer that showed a generation exactly what a computer could do. These children then went home, turned on their ZX Spectrums, and became a generation of software engineers. Still, the BBC Micro is remembered fondly.
The computer revolution is long over, but today we suffer a sea change of embedded processors and microcontrollers. With Arduinos and Raspberry Pis, the BBC has decided it’s time to put the power of an ARM microcontroller into the hands of a million 11- and 12-year olds. The result is the Micro:bit. It’s a small microcontroller board with an ARM processor, an IMU, buttons, Bluetooth and a 5×5 LED array – exactly what you need if you’re teaching a million kids how to blink an LED.
Although the BBC has finalized the design for the Micro:bit, there are no specs at all. However, a few educated guesses can be made. The USB controller is provided by Freescale, who also provide the digital compass and magnetometer. Programming is done through a web-based, Arduino-like IDE with what appears to be a decent Micro:bit specific library. The board is also mbed compatible. Bluetooth, and apparently the ARM Cortex M0 core, is provided by a Nordic nRF51822. There are only three alligator clip-compatible I/Os, and its doubtful any student will be building anything that would be too complex for an entry level ARM. It’s also 3V logic; finally, the tyranny of 5V has fallen.
The Micro:bit is best seen as a tool that enables the relatively recent addition of a computer science curriculum in UK schools. There is now a requirement for seven-year-olds to understand algorithms and create simple programs. Previously computer education in the UK has consisted of PowerPoint. Now, secondary school students will be learning Boolean logic.
While the Micro:bit is utterly useless as a tool for doing real work, education is not real work. For blinking a few LEDs, having a device react to movement, playing with Bluetooth, and other lesser evils of electronics, the Micro:bit is great. Not everyone will become the digital technologists this initiative is trying to create, but for those who have an inclination towards semicolons and electrons, this is a great introduction to technology.
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/07/the-bbc-microbit/
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July 7th, 2015, 21:43 Posted By: wraggster
11 and 12 year olds across the UK are to receive a pocket-sized codeable computer courtesy of the BBC.
The Micro Bit was teased back when the corporation’s Grand Theft Auto drama was announced in April. A million of the devices have been ordered with the aim of supplying one to every year seven child in the country this October.
The unit houses a surprising amount of tech including an accelerometer, magnetometer, Bluetooth and two programmable buttons. The five I/O rings will also allow it to be hooked up to a range of equipment. What has been lost during development is in the incorporated battery slot, however, meaning that an external AA power-pack will need to be used when on the move.
A web-based programming tool developed by Microsoft will help students and teachers to explore the many possibilities.
"The BBC Micro Bit is all about young people learning to express themselves digitally,” BBC Learning head Sinead Rocks said. "As the Micro Bit is able to connect to everything from mobile phones to plant pots and Raspberry Pis, this could be for the internet-of-things what the BBC Micro was to the British gaming industry."
Let’s just hope the BBC isn’t dismantled by the government before it has chance to roll out the plan.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-b...-child/0152288
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July 6th, 2015, 21:27 Posted By: wraggster
The ZX Spectrum took the UK by storm after its launch in 1982. So much so that its creator was awarded with a knighthood the following year for ‘services to British industry’. But although we’re familiar with the story of how Sir Clive Sinclair’s wonder machine changed the face of British computing, his computer’s legacy on the far side of the Iron Curtain is less well known to western gamers. And it’s a legacy from which he never made a penny.
In the early 1980s, computers were hard to come by for the average Russian. Trading restrictions under the communist regime meant that it was almost impossible to import computers from the west, and the few that were smuggled across were hideously expensive by Russian standards. In 1983, the popular magazine Radio put together schematics for its readers on how to build a ‘Micro-80’ computer, one of the first DIY computers available in Russia, but it was difficult to put together, requiring hundreds of often difficult-to-acquire components.
http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/07/06/t...ctrum-lived-on
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July 4th, 2015, 23:09 Posted By: wraggster
1981-era 8-bit BBC Micro computers and peripherals are displayed in a special interactive exhibit at the UK's National Museum of Computing designed to give modern students a taste of programming a vintage machine. Now, the museum is asking for help maintaining them. "We want to find out whether people have got skills out there that can keep the cluster alive as long as we can," said Chris Monk, learning coordinator at the organization.
"Owen Grover, a volunteer at the museum who currently helps maintain the cluster of BBC Micro machines, said they held up well despite being more than 30 years old. The BBC Micro was 'pretty robust,' he said, because it was designed to be used in classrooms. This meant that refurbishing machines for use in the hands-on exhibit was usually fairly straightforward. 'The main problem we need to sort out is the power supply,' he said. 'There are two capacitors that dry out and if we do not replace them they tend to explode and stink the place out. So we change them as a matter of course.'"
http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/07...ing-bbc-micros
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June 28th, 2015, 21:50 Posted By: wraggster
GameStop now offers a selection of retro consoles and games for purchase online.
GameStop announced the news on Twitter, ushering a resurgence of classic games and hardware for the company.
The new retro portion of GameStop's website includes selections from NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, PlayStation and Dreamcast platforms. Offerings are quite pricey for the most part, but there appears to be at least a few gems to be had as well.
No word yet on whether the retro line will make it to the retailer's brick-and-mortar stock in addition to its online store.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/games...-games/0151695
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June 21st, 2015, 21:58 Posted By: wraggster
The following Translations have been submitted and approved to the database (in submitted order oldest to newest):
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June 21st, 2015, 21:53 Posted By: wraggster
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June 3rd, 2015, 21:39 Posted By: wraggster
You're about to get a textbook lesson in why you should always, always check vintage gadgets before you toss them out. A woman discarding her late husband's electronics inadvertently gave a Milpitas recycling firm an ultra-rare Apple I computer that ultimately sold for $200,000. While the recycler's policy is to share half the revenue from these sales, the woman refused to offer her name or get a receipt -- she's missing out on a $100,000 check for trading in a piece of computing history. The company would recognize her on sight, but its only chance of rewarding the mystery donor right now is to get the word out and hope she returns.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/31/a...for-recycling/
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May 24th, 2015, 23:16 Posted By: wraggster
One of the biggest problems facing video games as an artistic medium is one of preservation. Thanks to HD remasters, digital distribution and the Internet Archivethat's becoming less of an issue. But we still need to do more to keep a record and constant catalog of gaming's past moments. That's the idea behind the awkwardly named "Intellivision Gen2 Video Games for PC & Mac" on Kickstarter. As you might imagine, it's modernized versions of Intellivision titles. Astrosmash, Nightstalker andShark! Shark! will get the new pixel art, expanded levels and scope should the project reach its $100,000 goal.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/22/i...c-mac-remakes/
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May 16th, 2015, 22:50 Posted By: wraggster
The source code of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) has long been freely available, but it's never been completely libre. Instead, it's been available under a modified BSD license that prohibits, among other things, commercial use of the code. MAME engineer Miodrag Milanovic explains that such a license was put in place to deter "misuse of MAME in illegal ways," but it also kept legitimate commercial entities doing business with the software. Examples of such could be museums that charge entry fees from using MAME in their exhibits, or copyright holders rereleasing vintage games encapsulated inside MAME. Now the projectwants to go fully open. Milanovic continues: "Our aim is to help legal license owners in distributing their games based on MAME platform, and to make MAME become a learning tool for developers working on development boards." As of yet, there are no specific details about the new license.
http://games.slashdot.org/story/15/0...ully-libre-one
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May 7th, 2015, 19:57 Posted By: wraggster
GameStop’s American pilot scheme to start selling retro hardware, games and accessories could come to the UK.
The firm announced last month that it would be reintroducing retro stock into its stores. Consumers will be able to trade-in old consoles, including the SNES and Mega Drive. They will then be available to buy on its site.
“We’re working closely with our partners in the US and if it proves successful it could be something we will look to roll out in the UK,” said VP of business development for Europe Niall Lawlor.
Senior director of pre-owned merchandise Jon Haes added: “We feel that GameStop can provide customers easy access to buy and sell these products. As the leader in new and pre-owned games retail, retro gaming is a natural extension of what we do and it provides another value opportunity for GameStop customers.
“Customer interest in retro categories has continued to be strong for quite some time. In fact, 20 per cent of the unique searches on GameStop.com are related to retro product categories, including the Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo.”
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/games...k-move/0149109
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April 30th, 2015, 22:26 Posted By: wraggster
Although they went live at the very start of the year, it was like all of our Christmases had come at once when Archive.org added 2,400 playable MS-DOS games to its website. Retro titles like Maniac Mansion, Oregon Trail and Doom are all available, with the only downside being that you have to visit each specific game's page to play them. However, the eagle-eyed folk at Wired noticed these have recently started working on Twitter, meaning you can get all of your social networking done while simultaneously saving Sandy Pantz from the evil Dr Fred. Thanks to Twitter's Cards platform, all you have to do is tweet the URL of the game you want to play and it'll take care of the rest. You can even embed the tweet (and thus the game) inside a webpage, exactly like we've done below.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/30/a...-ms-dos-games/
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