Have you seen, or have, one of the Flashback gaming systems emulating the old Atari 2600, ColecoVision, IntelliVision and Sega Genesis game systems complete with games?
There is a certain novelty, and for the older crowd (sorry geezers :p ), nostalgia in these Flashback systems. Not only is the initial cost lower than the original systems cost, but they come loaded with the games you had to buy individually when they were new. Of course with any emulation there is a degree of success and failure in capturing the original game. For those who played the original games (a.k.a. geezer geeks), I think the disappointment is higher as they have the original experience to compare it to whereas those of us who either have not had the system before or are not old enough to remember them, the emulations good or bad can be quite enjoyable.
I sometimes look around at older vintage computer systems. I was looking on eBay at Atari XLs, Commodore 64s, TRS-80s, Radio Shack Color Computers (CoCo), Timex Sinclairs, and the list goes on and on. It struck me that the technology to emulate the old gaming systems could probably be used to emulate the old computer systems as well.
Could you imagine a box barely bigger than a modern netbook complete with a Commodore 64 or Atari XL system including a built-in keyboard and many of the programs and games that were available for that system? And like the original systems and the Flashback systems all you need to do is plug it into your TV set.
The question, though, is would such a thing as a Flashback computer system sell?
Compared to buying vintage computers on eBay it would be a fraction of the price as well require a fraction of the space to set it up. I would certainly be interested in one myself, for each system emulated. Of course, like the Flashback game systems, it would only be for fun. But then what is the purpose of buying vintage computer systems other than for fun or collecting them?
What do you think and what vintage computer system would you like to see as a Flashback computer?
Toxic Fletch
It seems like a good idea but I suspect that there might be many legal issues with patents and trademarks etc.if a commercial unit was produced. But I think that a simulation in software that runs on a modern computer would be an interesting open source collaborative project. The hardware could be emulated and the original ROM code could be run.
ReplyDeleteThere are software emulators available. I think in most cases they are open source with roms available as a file that can be loaded by the software emulator on a modern computer. I'm pretty certain that there are Sinclair and Commodore 64 emulators.
ReplyDeleteOf course me thinking it would be a neat idea, being a hardware junkie, to be able to buy a Flashback system shaped like an old 8-bit console, say like an Atari 600XL, would be neat, I could be alone or in a minority on that.
The game systems like the Atari Flashback or ColecoVision Flashback are something a parent could buy for a 5 year old and they'll likely have fun with it. A vintage computer Flashback would immediately require someone be of a minimum reading level, and then at that, unlike the gaming systems that could be emulated in multiple languages it would seem to me to be a harder task to emulate many of the programs to run in multiple languages.
I think it would be neat, but even if there were not any licensing issues there would probably be too limited of a market to make it economical or very feasible. But I can keep my fingers crossed. :)
There are software emulators available. I think in most cases they are open source with roms available as a file that can be loaded by the software emulator on a modern computer. I'm pretty certain that there are Sinclair and Commodore 64 emulators.
ReplyDeleteOf course me thinking it would be a neat idea, being a hardware junkie, to be able to buy a Flashback system shaped like an old 8-bit console, say like an Atari 600XL, would be neat, I could be alone or in a minority on that.
The game systems like the Atari Flashback or ColecoVision Flashback are something a parent could buy for a 5 year old and they'll likely have fun with it. A vintage computer Flashback would immediately require someone be of a minimum reading level, and then at that, unlike the gaming systems that could be emulated in multiple languages it would seem to me to be a harder task to emulate many of the programs to run in multiple languages.
I think it would be neat, but even if there were not any licensing issues there would probably be too limited of a market to make it economical or very feasible. But I can keep my fingers crossed. :)
I've seen Javascript clones of old games such as Commander Keen, so that would run on a tiny IPX PC that could be encased in some replica case, or a refurbished box.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read on the Flashback and other retro plug 'n play games (casual, not extensive) they are ports of the games using a different system rather than using original roms, probably not too unlike Javascript or Flash clones.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did think about since. If such a Flashback vintage computer system was to be marketed, it would probably be just games anyway. It would be cool to have BASIC and some old programs on board for nostalgia, but those would be kind of pointless compared to the games. BASIC was originally a way to tell the computer what to do when there wasn't a better way to do that, other than assembler or machine code, and so it was a learning tool then but doesn't even serve that purpose now.
Several years ago a plug 'n play joystick (just plug it into a TV) was marketed with 30 Commodore 64 games on it. I think Commodore and Atari would be the most feasible systems to port in a Flashback computer system, both for the number of games they had for them and because a lot of those games were their own eliminating the onerous task of having to get third party licensing.
Archive.org has been putting retro games on their site now that can be played in a browser. I haven't checked them out but apparently there are a lot a games they are putting up.