Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (198-200)

All of the photos in this set were processed in August 1974 and were probably taken in the Lansing, Michigan area around that time.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (198-200)

Computer Gaming World (March 1991)

Computer Gaming World was the best computer gaming magazine for the years it was around (which was quite a few). It covered games on a variety of computers over the years, not just IBM PC Compatibles. It eventually became Games for Windows and though the content was much the same, it didn't survive for long in that form. The March 1991 issue of Computer Gaming World includes:

Source: Computer Gaming World (March 1991)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (194-197)

All of the photos in this set were taken between 1967 and 1974.The first photo was processed in August 1970 and is labeled Girls Golf. It shows a girl practicing her swing. This was probably somewhere in the Lansing, Michigan area.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (194-197)

Byte (July 1986)

Byte was really meant more for computer hobbyists than just your average user. As such, it tended to have more technical content though it had plenty of typical reviews and other coverage as well. The July 1986 issue includes:

Source: Byte (July 1986)

Digital Archaeology - Expedition #3 - Gateway 486 DX2-66

This expedition is a search through the boneyard of my very first PC. And by PC, I really mean DOS/Windows/X86 compatible computer since my first computer was a Commodore 64. This was the first computer I ever bought myself and I spent most of my summer earnings on this thing the summer before I went to college. It was a whopping $3000 (really more like $2995 plus somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 for shipping). But for this massive sum you got what was a massively powerful computer for the day (we are talking Summer 1993 here).

As you can see, the highlights include a 66MHz 486DX2 processor, a whopping 16MB of RAM plus 256k of cache, a CD-ROM drive (single speed) and a VESA Local Bus video card. It looked just like this except the CD-ROM drive in mine (a Philips model) had a manually operated tray:

By comparison, in my dorm area my first year of college, three out of five people came with a computer including myself. One person came with a 386DX-40 with 2 or 4 MB of RAM and my roomate came with a 486DX-33 with 4 MB of RAM (later upgraded to 8 MB I think). I had bragging rights for a couple of years until someone I knew bought a 133 MHz Pentium.

This computer was used to call a lot of BBSes, play a lot of DOOM, DOOM 2 and the first couple of X-Wing games. It was also used to play Hexen, NASCAR, Rebel Assault (one of the first CD-ROM based games for PCs) and no doubt many others that I am forgetting. This was the first computer I used to access the Internet (via a local freenet and a university shell account with a SLIP emulator). At first it was largely usenet and text based web browsing but later graphical web browsing. This computer was also responsible for me meeting my first serious girlfriend (a blessing and a curse) via Talk on my university account. I even did a little school work with it.

Paradoxically, at the time BBSes were probably near their peak but also on their way out as the Internet was just becoming popular. It's a shame because they were a lot of fun  and while the Internet certainly has more of everything it has never managed to recreate that type of environment. I played tons of Legend of the Red Dragon, downloaded tons of stuff much of which I never used, and participated in FIDONET and local message discussions galore. One BBS even hosted a DOOM or DOOM 2 ladder tournament (basically you would challenge anybody you wanted and if you beat them you took over their position on the ladder).

This machine did not come with either a modem or a sound card but by Christmas I had both a Sound Blaster 16 ASP and a second hand 2400 bps modem. The modem was upgraded on a regular basis from 2400 to 14400 to 28800 to 33600 and finally to 56K (USR X2 and then the final standard). Sometimes an upgrade meant a new modem, sometimes a ROM chip swap and sometimes a ROM flash. For a time when USR and Hayes had competing standards dial-up could be frustratingly buggy or incompatible depending on what you were connecting to but that's another story. Other than those things, I never really upgraded anything on this machine. I contemplated upgrading to 32 MB RAM but that meant I had to disable the motherboard cache (which was important for speed at that time) or getting one of those fancy Pentium Overdrive chips but it was never really cost effective. This was my primary machine from August 1993 until December 1997 when I got a brand new Pentium II-300 (also from gateway) and this one was given to my parents (sans the original monitor which had recently died). I got it back several years later but it was stored in the garage for a while and eventually tossed except for a few parts I held on to:

This, of course, is the brain of the machine. Not sure why I kept it but here it is. Maybe I'll put together another 486 machine for nostalgia's sake one day. It only ran at 66 MHz and that was a clock doubling of the system bus which ran at 33 MHz. But it was the fastest thing available at the time.

While the package size of desktop CPUs has not changed too much over the years, the size of the core, the number of transistors packed into it, and the number of pins have all changed drastically.

The one other piece I kept was the Sound Blaster 16 ASP card. The Sound Blaster 16 was THE sound card of the day. The Pro Audio Spectrum 16 was arguably better but not as well supported. The ASP version of the card added hardware compression among other things. I don't think ASP features were ever really used in games but it did allow you to do nifty things like record and playback lossless compressed .wav files. One other thing to note was that the CD-ROM interface was often on the sound card in the early days so I had to have the particular Sound Blaster card that had the appropriate interface for my Philips CD-ROM drive. Later CD-ROM drives were SCSI or IDE based like hard drives.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (190-193)

The photos in this set were takin in Michigan between 1957 and 1967.The first photo is undated but shows the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan under construction. This bridge opened in November 1957 so this was probably some time earlier in 1957.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (190-193)

Byte (March 1984)

Byte, subtitled 'The Small Systems Journal', was around for the birth of personal computing. It was still covering a wide variety of systems in 1984. The March 1984 issue includes:

Source: Byte (March 1984)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Genesis)

The Sega Genesis was around for a while before Sega really had a well known mascot. Nintendo had Mario from the beginning but Sonic was a late arrival for Sega. However, when Sonic the Hedgehog arrived in 1991 for the Sega Genesis, it was an instant success. The Super Nintendo hadn't arrived yet so the graphics were better than existing Mario games and the game play was much faster. Sega made the most of this comparison in their "Welcome to the Next Level" advertising campaign to great success.

So it's no surprise that a sequel, aptly named Sonic the Hedgehog 2, followed not too long after the original. Sonic 2 introduced Sonic's sidekick, Miles "Tails" Prower. It quickly became the second best-selling game for the Genesis behind only the original Sonic (which was included as a pack in so the comparison isn't really fair). A total of around 6 million copies were sold for the Sega Genesis.

The game play was quite similar to the original. This was a fast moving, side-scrolling platform game. The player could play either as Sonic or Tails or both though there wasn't really a difference in terms of their abilities. The game also introduced a new move called the "spin dash" in which the player spins in a ball while stationary which gives you a speed boost. Otherwise, why mess with success? The game was very similar to the first other than the addition of Tails, a new move and new levels and opponents. Nevertheless, Sonic 2 is considered to be one of the best games of all time. Much of this comes down to the game play and level design. If you've never tried Sonic or Sonic 2, you should definitely give them a try.

Personally, I preferred Super Mario World when that game arrived. It just felt so much larger and more varied than the Sonic games to me. However, there's no doubt that Sonic was extremely popular and an excellent game. Fortunately, the original Sonic games have been re-released in a variety of ways so you don't necessarily have to bother with emulation.

Sonic 2 has been included on the following compilations: Sonic Compilation for the Genesis (1995), Sonic Jam for the Saturn (1997), Sonic Mega Collection for the Nintendo GameCube (2002), Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PS2, Xbox and PC (2004), Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2 and PSP (2006), Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PS3 (2009) and Sonic Classic Collection for Nintendo DS (2010). In addition, Sonic 2 was ported to the Wii Virtual Console in 2007, the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in 2011, the Nintendo 3DS as part of Nintendo 3DS 3D Classics in 2015, and as part of Sega Ages for the Nintendo Switch released via the Nintendo eShop in 2020. You have plenty of options so definitely give this one a try if you haven't yet and like 2D platformers at all.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (186-189)

The photos in this set range from 1957 to 1967 and I believe they were all taken in Michigan.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (186-189)

Electronic Games (Winter 1981) | PeakD

See https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/2013/06/electronic-games-winter-1981.html

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (182-185)

These photos are all likely from the 1960s to early 1970s.The first photo features someone who has just graduated high school with probably his grandmother.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (182-185)

Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – NOV84.DOC

This post includes the contents of NOV84.DOC. Similar to the last few posts in this series, this appears to be a report that gives details on the usage of the SIG (how many hours each user spent in the SIG, etc.).

Source: Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – NOV84.DOC

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (178-181)

The photos in this set were taken in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Colorado and Michigan.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (178-181)

Maximum PC (April 1999)

Maximum PC was my favorite PC magazine. It was also one of the last major PC magazines to survive in print form. This was a magazine for PC enthusiasts with an emphasis on things like custom builds, overclocking, etc. The April 1999 issue includes:

Source: Maximum PC (April 1999)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (174-177)

Most of the photos in this set were taken in the 1970s and I believe they were all taken in Michigan.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (174-177)

Computer & Video Games (August 1984)

Computer & Video Games was published in the U.K. and was probably the longest running video games magazine ever published. From the early 1980s until well into the 2000s it covered both computer and console games. The August 1984 issue includes:

Computer & Video Games (August 1984)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (170-173)

The photos in this set were taken in the late 1960s and 1970s. They were probably all taken in Michigan.

The first photo was processed in December 1964 and is labeled "Touch 64". I'm assuming this is a touch football game though I suspect it was taken in early fall vs. December.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (170-173)

Next Generation (November 1996)

Next Generation, as the title suggest, covered next gen video games. It covered the latest and greatest systems at the time. It also was targeted towards older readers than most other video game magazines. The November 1996 issue includes:

Next Generation (November 1996)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (166-169)

The photos in this set range from the late 1950s to the late 1960s.

The first photo is undated but was probably taken circa the late 1960s. Different AI tools gave me different (but very confident) answers as to the likely location. However, I believe that is Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island in Michigan.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (166-169)

Byte (October 1986)

Byte was perhaps the best computer magazine throughout most of its life. It tended to be a bit more technical that most and continued to cover non-IBM compatible systems longer that most multi-format magazines survived. The October 1986 issue includes:

Byte (October 1986)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (161-164)

Unfortunately, none of the photos in this set are dated or labeled. Based on other photos from this batch, they were probably taken in the Lansing, Michigan area.

The first photo shows a bunch of girls playing volleyball. It looks like it is probably from the late 1960s.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (161-164)

Digital Archaeology: Dell Latitude D430

The Dell Latitude D430 is meant to be an ultraportable. Even by today's standards, it is still pretty small for a laptop. In terms of depth and width, you can't really get much smaller and still have a full size keyboard and trackpad. I suppose that modern ultraportables have gotten a bit thinner but not that much.

Digital Archaeology: Dell Latitude D430

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (157-160)

All of the slides in this set were processed in the late 1960s and were probably all taken in the Lansing, Michigan area.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (157-160)

Amiga CD32 Gamer (January 1995)

The Amiga CD32 was basically Commodore's attempt at turning the Amiga 1200 into a gaming machine with a CD-ROM drive. The hardware was fine but from Commodore it was too little too late. In fact, when this issue of Amiga CD32 Gamer was published, Commodore was already out of business. The January 1995 issue includes:

Amiga CD32 Gamer (January 1995)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (154-156)

All of the slides in this set were processed in August 1979.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (154-156)

PC Zone (September 1999)

PC Zone is a PC gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. from 1993 until 2010. The September 1999 issue includes:

Source: PC Zone (September 1999)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (149-152)

All of the photos in this set were likely taken in the early to mid 1970s. The first slide was processed in June 1975 and shows two recent graduates. The June date fits into when high schoolers would typically be graduating. Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (149-152)

RUN: The Commodore 64 & VIC-20 Magazine (September 1984)

RUN was primarily a Commodore 64 magazine though depending on the exact time period, it also covered the VIC-20, Plus/4, Commodore 16, and Commodore 128. The September 1984 issue includes:

Source: RUN: The Commodore 64 & VIC-20 Magazine (September 1984)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (145-148)

All of the photos in this set were likely taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (145-148)

Byte (October 1979)

I'm not sure if Byte was the first computer magazine but I think of it as the original computer magazine. It was around before home computers were even a thing. Nevertheless, Byte was covering "small systems" or microcomputers used by businesses and hobbyists starting in 1975. The October 1979 issue includes:

Source: Byte (October 1979)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (141-144)

All of the photos in this set were likely taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (141-144)

The One (June 1993)

While The One covered various 16-bit computers over the course of its life, in 1993 this U.K. published gaming magazine was exclusively covering the Amiga. The June 1993 issue includes:

Source: The One (June 1993)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (137-140)

Most of the photos in this set were taken in the early 1970s, and most of them were probably taken in the Lansing, Michigan area.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (137-140)

Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – OCT84.DOC

This post includes the contents of OCT84.DOC. Similar to the last post in this series, this appears to be a report that gives details on the usage of the SIG (how many hours each user spent in the SIG, etc.). This is in the from of an e-mail from someone named KELLY who was presumably an employee of Delphi. The e-mail is dated November 5th, 1984.

Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – OCT84.DOC/a>

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (133-136)

All of the slides in this set were taken in the mid 1960s, probably in the Lansing, Michigan area.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (133-136)

Popular Computing Weekly (December 18, 1986)

As the name suggest, Popular Computing Weekly is a weekly publication about computers. It was published in the U.K. in the 1980s. The December 18th, 1986 issue includes:

Source: Popular Computing Weekly (December 18, 1986)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (129-132)

All of the slides in this set were taken in the early 1960s, probably in the Lansing, Michigan area.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (129-132)

Maximum PC (February 2004)

Maximum PC was my favorite computer magazine. It had a pretty long run starting as 'boot' in the late 1990s. The last issue was published just a few years ago. The February 2004 issue includes:

Maximum PC (February 2004 0

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (125-128)

All of the slides in this set were taken in the mid to late 1960s, probably in the Lansing, Michigan area.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (125-128)

The Games Machine (June 1988)

Subtitled "Computer & Electronic Gaming", this 1980s era gaming magazine published in the U.K. covered both computer games and console games. The June 1988 issue of The Games Machine includes:

Source: The Games Machine (June 1988)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (121-124)

All of the slides in this set were processed in October 1980 and were probably taken around that time.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (121-124):

Edge (April 1999)

Edge was a multi-format videogame magazine published in the U.K. However, Next Generation was basically a U.S. version of Edge and they shared much of the same content. The April 1999 issue of Edge includes:

Source: Edge (April 1999)