Computer Shopper - UK (2020-10)

110077

RETRO

IISSSUUEE 339922 |COMPUTER SHOPPER|OOCCTTOOBEERR 2002200

Thentherearethosethatfellpreyto
widercompanypolitics,notablytheNintendo
PlayStation,whichisperhapsthebiggest
unreleasedhardwareprojectofall.
Developedaspartofashort-lived
collaborationbetweenSonyandNintendo,
theplanwastoproduceaCD-ROMdrivefor
theSuperNintendo.Whentherelationship
turnedsour,Sonydecidedtocreateitsown
console,andtherestreallyishistory.
“Hadthepartnershipremained,withthe
SuperNintendoCD-ROMadaptorand
NintendoPlayStationgoingahead,things
todaycouldhavelookedverydifferent
indeed.It’shardtoimaginejusthowdifferent,
butIpicturesomestrangeBacktotheFuture
2 -likealternatereality,though maybenot
quitethatdramatic,”Gaskingsays.
Therearelessonstobelearnedfrompast
cancellations.Hugelistsofdos anddon’ts
couldbewritten and,asGaskingnotes,games
are often canned because ofmismanagement,
unrealistic goals and alack ofdirection.
“When Ihave talked with developers
about some oftheir cancelledprojects, many
have spoken about the amount ofstress they
were under and that theywere oftenat
breaking point,”headds.
It’s fair tosaythat mistakes continue to
be made today: crunch culture remains a

thing, and horror stories still fly around the

modern videogame industry.Ifnothingelse,

there’s an argument for the ongoing

preservation ofassets so that future ‘gaming

archaeologists’ don’t need tohunt down

developers toquitethe same extent.

But some games are better leftforgotten:

E.T.the Extra-Terrestrial, perhaps, which

ended up in aNew Mexico landfillsiteand is

named one ofthe worstreleases ofall time.

“Over the years, we have recovered

many titles that turned out tobedreadful

and you can clearly see why theywere

cancelled,”Gasking says.

“ButIhavealwaysappreciatedanythingwe

have found, regardless ofhow good or badit

maybe.Ultimately,we’re just preserving as

much gaming history as we can, and there is

something still exciting tomeabout even

findingan unreleased title that feels like it

should have been buried in aMexican desert

and covered with alayer ofconcrete.”

The Games That Weren’t(£30),gtwbook.co.uk

Billing itself as a‘21st century

realisation of the C65 heritage’,

this 8-bit machine is set to run at

50 times the speed of the C64.

It will come with aXilinx Artix-7

FPGA and amechanical

keyboard, will output in HD,

and support SD cards and 3.5in

floppy disks, all while remaining

compatible with Commodore’s

best-seller (the C64 is in the

Guinness World Recordsfor

being the highest-selling single

computer of all time).

DevKits are now being made

available forpre-order,enabling

developers to start creating

anew range of software and

fix bugs.These are going to

cost awhopping €999

(roughly £900), but the

bods behind the project

insist this won’t be the

price of the final release.

Rather,it’s areflection of

the costs of producing

limited quantities. The first units

are also expected to be released

in October 2021.

NEW

NINTENDO

MAGAZINE

UNVEILED

Videogame magazines

almost seem retro

themselves, given how

fewremain on the

nation’s newsstands.

There are certainly

no specialist Nintendo

publications to be seen in

newsagents, good or bad –the

last wastheOfficial Nintendo

Magazine,which ceased to be in

November 2014.

To fillthe gap,Paul Murphy

founded the A5 mail-order mag,

Switch Player,three years ago,

and now he’s branching out with

an homage to past gaming

magazines withNinty Fresh.

Having smashed through its

£2,000 goal on Kickstarter

(tinyurl.com/

392retro2), it

should be popping

through letterboxes

any time now.

“There’s

something special

about having an

actual physical item

toenjoy,”Murphy

tells us.

“Atleast half of

issue one is retro,thankstoan

NES retrospective,articles about

Super Mario World and Legend

of Zelda: Wind Waker, anda

20-page featureonSuper Mario

titles in time forthe franchise’s

35th anniversary.We’re also

styling the magazine as an

homage to past publications

but, while paying tribute, it’s

important that readers see us

as our own thing.”

NEW‘COMMODORE’

COMPUTERSETFOR

RELEASE

In our mainRetroarticle this
issue,Frank Gasking briefly
discusses the Commodore 65 –a
computer earmarked forrelease
in the early 1990s but cancelled
following much in-fighting. The
machine was due to be the
successor to the Commodore 64,
but only asmall number of
prototypes ended up being built.
Now,its memory is about to be
revitalised thanks to aproject
called the MEGA65 (mega65.org).

a

t

t

➡Murder!wasfinishedin 1990 butitwasnever
releasedbyUSGold.Despitefollowingnumerous
leads,itremainsmissing.Cananyonehelpsolve
thismystery?