Computer Shopper - UK (2020-01)

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RETRO

IISSSUUEE 338833 |COMPUTER SHOPPER|JJANNUUARRYY 2002200

“It was in early 1995 that Idecided to go
it alone with the release of my first piece
of SAM hardware –the Quazar Surround
sound card to give the SAM true digital
audio,uptoaquality surpassing that of
the Amiga.”
Thanks to Piggot’s sterling effortsth
SAMCoupéisnow settoget

life. Not only is he currently putting together

issue 26 of his magazine,he’sworking on a

new version of the SAMC odenamed

Pandemonium h everal

hundred ing on an

called

utthese

“Even though there had been next to no

support from the mainstream software houses

forthe SAM since its launch, it lived on and

was available commercially for10years until

West Coast ceased tradingin1999,” Piggotsays.

“In the followingyears, Ireallyramped

up my own endeavours forthe SAM Coupé.

Iwant to keep the system alive.”

as well
Atari bac
including
Asteroids,
Missile Com
You’ll hav
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however.Subs
cost £9.99 perm
if you payupfro
that 50 classic At
be available when
launches and thatn
will be added on are

SEGAMEGADR

MINI HASBEEN

RELEASED

It’s taken ages to arrive,but
Sega’s tinier version of its
iconic Mega Drive is now
available to buy,and it’s already
going down well with gamers.
As the first console to have
been produced by Sega since
the demise of the Dreamcast,
it comes with two three-button
controllers (not the six-button

adedgames.

asput agreat deal

feffortintothe machine,

bringing on board the renowned

developer M2 and the composer

Yuzo Koshiro to ensure the

overall experience is polished and

the games run without ahitch.

Certainly,asaslice of

nostalgia, it takes some beating.

The packaging is areplica of the

box you’d have seen back in the

1990s, and the detailing of the

console itself mirrors that of the

original. Youcan even open the

cartridge slot and move the

switch (although

tuse either) and

ipbetween a

and 4:3 ratio.

fjust£70

fless than

g takes

hows

utitdecades

itwould now have a

rackat producing another

next-gen console...

JAPAN’S PAGERS

FALLSILENT

Pagers were popular in the

1980s and 1990s, but

their days appear

to be numbered.

Japan’s last pager

provider,Tokyo

Telemessage,has

closed its service

because it was

down to just 1,500

subscribers, with

most people

having long since

switched to messaging services

on mobile phones.

Here in the UK, some are still

clinging to these little devices,

most notably in the NHS, where

130,000 pagers continue to be

used (and where faxes are still

regularly sent) thanks to patchy

mobile and Wi-Fi coverage.

Theyare due to be phased out

by 2021, however,(with fax

machines likely to follow soon

after) since theycost the NHS

about £6.6m ayear.Capita’s

PageOne is the only national

pager network leftinthe UK.

ts,the

getanew lease of

r

MCoupé, co

projects atsamcoupe.com.

as thhhheentire retro

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⬆Ifyou’d like to find software forthe SAM, which can be used with aSAM emulator,then you should head towww.worldofsam.org