In the long 1980s decade, some hardly souls in both New Zealand and Australia built their own computers. New Zealand Microcomputer Club legend, Selwyn Arrow, recalls building his first computer (or part thereof): It was either Christmas 77 or 78, more likely 1978…A copy of Byte magazine arrived…I read it ... Continue Reading »

Forgotten what amused your 12 year old self? Rediscover the pleasure of school boy gags and code with this lost game of the 1980s. Matthew Hall's Microbee adventure game the “Jewels of Sancara Island” had survived the last thirty or so years as a Turbo Pascal listing ... Continue Reading »

The Microbee was an Australian computer designed, built, and marketed by Applied Technology, in Gosford, N.S.W.  Originally released in February 1982, it was intended for the schools market but also had a wide and deep following amongst home users.  A considerable amount of software was published locally for the Microbee, ... Continue Reading »

What got you started collecting on/around the area of games?  Back in the 80's I was also a stamp collector, so collecting came natural.  But for computer games, there was a scarcity of games for the Microbee at the time, so one collected everything you could, be it a type-in, public ... Continue Reading »

I’ve been making games for a while and what got me into games as a kid was a visit to the Lismore Show. I grew up in rural NSW and a trip to the Lismore Show was a big event - it was basically lots of cows and horses and ... Continue Reading »

This month, we are discussing local scenes and themes, on both sides of the Tasman.  To kick things off, I figured the New Zealanders might enjoy a laugh at some cringeworthy Australiana... Anyone for "Bunyip Adventure"?  What about the virtual Mick Dundee in "Aussie Games"? ... Continue Reading »