Rik's Random Retro
@riksrandomretro
Very random retro things from me, Rik. I dabble with a lot of vintage computers, retro games, consoles, hand helds, and more. Some might even say that's a lot of random retro things.
Adding some more memory to my utility laptop, and turns out you have to take the whole bottom case off. Lots of clips later but 16gb runs a lot better than 8 in this case!
The steam controller replacement arrived and this one actually looks and feels new! Worth the extra wait.
When your coworkers know you, and what you like. On my desk this morning was a Gateway 2000 bundled software binder, ca 1996, and some memory. Their cleaned trash is my treasure. Hits like Encarta, Golf, and Julia Child Home Cooking with Master Chefs. I'll happily take these!
Well I'd say my kids know me and what I like, with a little help from @geekate.bsky.social. Happy father's day to all the geek dads out there!
The cycle of loading up various retro systems with roms to then gather dust continues. Perhaps I'll even use this one!
There were some Amiga goodies waiting for me at home as well. A midi cable, and a cf card relocator bundle.
Well hello, found this waiting for me when I finally made it home.
We've enjoyed our time traveling, but now it's time to head on back home. So long, and thanks for all the fish we didn't eat. Homeward bound!
Easily the best part of this trip. Our boys, who have not been around much water, especially beaches, got completely engrossed playing for several hours by the water. Digging channels, redirecting water, building embankments... pure kid joy. The water was cold, but they didn't mind one bit.
This is retro in one way. Overlooking the town from the fortress in Norway where the Swedish king Charles XII met his demise. The fortress goes as far back as the mid 1600s. Retro!
Sometimes a little tech disconnect can go a long way. I miss my retro tech still though hah.
Well I have no illusions I'll ever own the original Doom box, but some variety has been missing from the shelf. Happy to add this one!
If you have watched my streams, you likely have seen how much I rely on my NAS setup for retro use (not related to the excellent RetroNAS project). I noticed that the disk in it started making some less than exciting noises. Time for emergency cloning! Which was successful, thankfully.
More to come on this, but the pickup of the day was this Umax Supermac clone! I can't say I've ever seen one listed locally so I had to grab it. The model is C600. Also came with accessories and a big ol Apple CRT. More to come on this machine, odds are it'll be on a stream soon!
Yeah I'm a bit of a rebel, a real wild type. I don't even select the option to turn off swearing when I install my retro games.
I feel like games have caught up to how my memory thinks games looked in my childhood.
Well with so many things going on, shoving another massive open world game into my life is probably not a good idea. I do enjoy making bad decisions, however.
I ended up grabbing the smaller version of the Viewsonic monitor that supports native 15khz signal, and it also works great! This size is a really nice match for the Amiga and the screen looks great. Happy to bank a couple of these!
Out of all the retro things I have, I think I enjoy the big box collection the most. Sometimes I just sit down and peruse, checking boxes out like I remember doing as a kid in the game store. No other medium, old or new, evokes quite the same feeling.
Well this is pretty cool! I decided to wing it getting a modern Viewsonic monitor, based on feedback from others, that might do 15khz natively. And it works! Simple passive VGA adapter and it takes the signal no problem. Image adjustment options are great too. All for under 100 bucks!
Thinking to myself: I wonder if I have something that'll work with <this very specific video scaling use case, for a specific setup>. Why yes, I do. Hoarding can be useful sometimes.
Commodore got me. I put my money toward the upcoming C64C. I love wedge computers, and I want to support the company for bringing these machines back, hoping they continue to launch products (please do Amigas, you know you want to!). We shall see this fall if it lives up to the hype!
I took a gamble to find a retro friendly flat panel. This is a Unico arcade monitor, and it's not a great fit. Poor colors, viewing angles and biggest issue of all, no 15khz support over VGA (it's listed as supporting it via RGB). It was worth a shot, but it'll have to go back. The hunt continues!
Starfield continues to be a great reality escape. The world: You can't just run away from your problems! Me: Weeee!