Shot97 Retro

Amiga 500 NTSC/PAL Toggle Switch Guide *My NTSC/PAL Switch Video Guide *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings Why would anyone want to switch between PAL and NTSC video modes on an Amiga? After all, weren't all the best games for this platform made in Europe? I mean, American's should just out right chuck their computer into the trash and acquire one from overseas, correct? Well the answer to the last two questions is a resounding no, actually. As far as I'm concerned, it at least depends upon your point of view, and is certainly not as clear cut as some people online would lead you to believe. I full heartily believe that the best Amiga games were made in America, but unfortunately most people simply do not have any clue what is actually an American Amiga game, or what makes for a game that is best experienced in NTSC mode. ^Left, PAL; Stretched fake wide screen, not proportionally correct. Right, NTSC; As designed Have you ev...

General Electric (GE) B&W TV Model XB3160BK Chassis 15xB 15 inch,1976 *My GE 15xB video *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings My dad would sometimes work some odd hours, leaving him asleep during some prime Nintendo time for his son. This never stopped me from going into my parents room, where the NES was hooked up to a small color television, but I always made sure it was clandestine operation. Open the door slowly, crawl to the TV and turn it on, quickly slap the volume down and try your best not to let your frustration over the difficulty of those games manifest itself with you making noise. While making my way to the television I would sometimes snoop around, as the journey on hands and knees at that age felt like nothing short of a marathon. On the floor, covered in a blanket, next to the television I came in for, was another set. It felt like years that I would ask about this TV, wanting it for my own room, but there seemed to...

Roach Motel Amiga, 1993 Public Domain *My video review for RoachMotel *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *Appropriately written on my Amiga using Excellence *Game best played in PAL mode, is NTSC compatible             If you don't mind, I'd like to take you back in time. It's 1999 and my Amiga is but a second computer taking up valuable real estate in my very own room. Second computer for my room, but there was a third for the household, and more powerful than all the rest. It was now sitting in the very spot this Amiga once sat, in the basement, a thrown for the households main computer. My, how the mighty had fallen... Not long before this, when there was a single PC in the basement, and the Amiga was the only computer in my room, it was still managing extensive usage on my behalf, quite a bit after its prime.           ...

Word 5.5 and 6.0 Microsoft, 1990, 1993 MS-DOS $450 *My video review for Word 5.5/6.0 *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *This review entirely written using Word 5.5/6.0 for DOS A new apple tastes sweet, rots at home (A history)             1983 would see the humble beginnings of a word processor that proved quite unpopular for the longest time. Microsoft Word started out on the Xenix and MS-DOS operating systems. It would be touted as a "what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)" word processor, although it was not. From what I can gather, Microsoft was willing to make this claim simply because the ASCII environment they used allowed for bold and italic text changes to be seen on screen. This was not a true indication of what would be seen when printed, nor did it offer variable fonts and sizes. A tiny little white lie told to disparage the most popular text based word proc...

  King's Bounty New World Computing Amiga, 1991 (Originally 1990) $39.95 *My video review for King's Bounty *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of all writings *This game best played in NTSC mode with 4:3 aspect ratio (U.S. game) It was 1996; afraid of the vast and undiscovered wilderness around me, I hunkered down and opted for protectionism in the world of Heroes of Might and Magic II. The computer was busy fighting itself, I decided to amass a bigger and bigger army at home before finally inching my way to another castle. Thinking back I must have spent an enormous amount of time on that very first map of the game, but I'll never forget the first time I defeated it and moved on. Much of the same frightened strategy would be used on later maps, there's nothing like not knowing what to expect. These days I'd bolt for the nearest castle quite quickly, as you could very well get lucky and face a barely guarded castle while a h...

SkyRoads MS-DOS 1993 Bluemoon Software/Creative Dimensions Shareware,  £ 19  (Now freeware) *My video review for Skyroads *Play it in your browser *Download the game *Soundtrack recorded from my DOS PC *Next article *Previous article *Alphabetical list of writings *This review written in DOS using Word 6.0 *Pics shown in their original 4:3 aspect ratio While I did not grow up having played SkyRoads, I remember being immediately attracted to it. It was stumbled upon while watching a review on YouTube several years ago. While the review itself was not the most complimentary of the game, their words went in one ear and out the other. The gameplay was all the recommendation that mattered to me. It was a shareware game released in 1993, expanding upon a previous 1990 DOS EGA game by the name of Kosmonaut. SkyRoads was apparently popular enough as shareware that Bluemoon Software says it had distribution deals across the world, tho...