I do enjoy getting emails out of the blue asking if I want to review products. You never quite know what you will receive. When I picked up this particular email, I must admit to having to look Grid Frame Studio up in a search engine to find out exactly what they did – in this instance I found that this relatively young company makes framed wall art out of old tech, specialising in Apple technology but branching out now into retro handheld consoles and gaming controllers. I have mixed opinions on framed tech, especially the gaming kind, part of me loves it and the other part of me wonders if i ..read more

As many of you who check out my YouTube channel or read these pages will already know, my kids and I are massive lego fans. And I also happen to be completely nuts about Atari. In particular the VCS*. So imagine my excitement (it was real my friends, very real) when I heard that LEGO were releasing an Atari 4 switch woody as part of their LEGO Icons range, following on from their massively popular NES model which featured a ‘working’ Mario TV screen. This 2532 piece model (so close, but missed a trick there didn’t you LEGO?) consists of the legendary woodgrain wonder that graced ..read more

Original post can be found at Retro Games Collector Mattel Aquarius – my most neglected system ..read more

Original post can be found at Retro Games Collector Bandai Playdia (1994) unboxing and first play from sealed – will it even work ..read more

Commodore fans and lovers of retro computing in general, thanks to My Retro Computer, the brand could well be back – at least in name. Because in this particular Kickstarter, you are pledging for what is variations of a modern PC within a C64 style case plus the added kudos of the officially licensed Commodore name. Or just the case to put a modern ITX style board or Raspberry Pi into – take your pick. And with 28 days to go (at time of writing) it is already fully funded almost 4 times over. Pledges include the following levels: Commodore 64x Barebones Case with integrated USB mechanical (c ..read more

Mexican indie game developer César Arminio with his design studio 2think (creator of Pato Box) and software house Bitmap Soft are teaming up to bring you Glory Hunters, a new physical release for the Game Boy with their Kickstarter campaign. Glory Hunters is an all-new action-adventure RPG for the original Game Boy with a unique and original twist: you progress through the game by obtaining achievements. Key Features A unique experience in the action-adventure RPG genre. The only game where you progress by obtaining achievements! A giant map (aiming to be the biggest ..read more

The Dreamcast is an amazing console. Many would say ahead of it’s time. But being disk based, a cheap SD card solution has been a long time coming. That has all changed in recent years due to the cloning of the GDEMU card by Chinese manufacturers and a GDEMU clone can now cost as little as £35. The replacement of the Dreamcast’s GDROM with a GDEMU can cause air-flow issues inside the console, causing the unit to run much hotter than it was designed to. The answer to this is a to fit an SD card remote mount kit which restores the original airflow to the console and also either a PICO PSU or Dre ..read more

SEGA Mania is a relatively new (4 issues in at the time of writing), glossy, full colour magazine and is an unashamed homage to the likes of Mean Machines SEGA and SEGA Power. The men behind the magazine – Tim Hugall, Simon Pike and Sam Forrester – have produced what is to all intents a purposes a modern equivalent that focuses on the 1990s in particular. From the off, SEGA Mania is obviously a labour of love for the lads working on it, and kicks off with Issue 1 exploring the year 1990. They do this in an interesting fashion, with articles relating to non-game related events in that era, whic ..read more

Legendary developers behind Xeno Crisis and Battle Axe turn their hand to an iconic arcade genre. Final Vendetta, the latest game from Bitmap Bureau, is coming to PC and consoles in May 2022. Final Vendetta is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up, paying homage to the iconic arcade titles of the 80’s and 90’s such as Double Dragon and Final Fight. Playable either in solo or co-op mode, Final Vendetta pulls no punches, with a unique story, four different game modes and a thumping dance/techno soundtrack by Featurecast which also features four exclusive tracks from 90’s chart-topping electronic dance d ..read more

Words by Barry Morse of ‘The Retro Shed’ “Extra Life” we have all seen those words many times as gamers and got excited at the prospect of spending a few more minutes in the world of the game we spent our parents hard earned coins in. It’s only when we’ve grown older that we truly appreciate what those words mean. If only it were as easy to extend lives in the real world. Many of us have been touched by cancer and witnessed loved ones, family members and friends fall victims to this dreadful disease. Just before Christmas we lost a close family member also heard the news about another friend ..read more