Alan Davis
13.03.2026 18:21
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Alan Davis
Flare worked on the cancelled Atari Panther but the console doesn't match the technology described by Dave Gruisin. The suggestion that it's the cancelled Nintendo PlayStation is a good one.
An amazing find. There will literally never be a better time to listen to this podcast before it goes nicely out of date.
pca.st/episode/4ecb...
Odd isn't it. I did wonder if The Machine could be an Apple Pippin but that's 1996.
I've got a nagging suspicion The Machine everyone was so excited over was... the Memorex VIS.
The Machine would supposedly be announced at CES in January 1992. It’s not the CD-I or the CDTV. It could be the doomed Sony/Nintendo Play Station SNES-CD but that had already been announced at the 1991 CES Show. It might be the 3DO but the dates don’t really match up. So what was it? Any ideas? 4/4
The Machine would "feature full-screen, full-motion video capability and a Sony drive mechanism. It may, conceivably, carry the Apple brand-name and operating system, but although a unit of this nature is strongly rumoured, it seems very possible that The Machine is actually a separate entity.” 3/4
“The Machine is a consumer-oriented CD multimedia device due for launch in Summer 1992. It will cost less than £600 and will feature a technical specification superior to either CD-I or CDTV. It will come with a software base biased toward entertainment… and of high quality.” 2/4
THE MACHINE AT EVERY LUNCHEON TABLE, before every bar, behind every podium, and in every deep-pile carpeted corner. The Machine was discussed in the sort of hushed tones that only extremely serious non-disclosure agreements can invoke. Yours truly first heard of The Machine back in March. Asked for her opinion on the current multimedia platforms, Laura Buddine of Tiger Media replied that there was "...something coming from someone who's big enough to blow Philips and Commodore out of the water." "...and what's that, Laura?" "Can't tell you, me old mate, but we're developing for ii and it's awesome." Here at InterTainment, seated around a large table where we were wining and dining at Commodore's expense, I tackled Laura again about The Machine. "Sony, Dave Still can't talk about it. Expect the makers to go public at CES In January." Suddenly, II Dottore Langdell (for It was he, and he was seated nest to us) pricked up his ears. "Are you talking about The Machine?" he asks, "I don't know," says Laura hedgily, "are you?' "I might be," counters Doctor Death, "It all depends whether you are." At this point, several other guests joined in. "Excuse me, but I'm definitely talking about it," from one, "Er, I think I'm talking about it." from another. "Pretty incredible, isn't it?" from a third. (From everybody) "Shhhh!" By this time, I was practically throwing up my profiteroles in frustration. I decided that enough was enough.,, "Aha!," I said in a confident tone that I hoped would conceal my desperate attempt at fishing, "The Apple machine! Pretty hot. Isn't it?" Silence, except for one developer who responded with, "Which Apple machine?," but in such a supremely puzzled tone of voice that I wasn't certain whether (a) he was having me on : (b) he wasn't: or (c) he was one of the ones who thought he was talking about The Machine but, in fact, was blithely talking about something completely different. Like the Spectrum. The Machine is a consumer-oriented CD multimedia devi…
December 1991. Dave Gruisin reports from the tackily named InterTainment 91 where everyone was talking about The Machine. "...something coming from someone who's big enough to blow Philips and Commodore out of the water." 1/4
archive.org/details/theo... #RetroGaming #RetroComputing
“Now you listen to me, Miss Billings! You have not seen a thing here—do you understand? I’m not kidding about this, Miss Billings.”
“Now you listen to me, Miss Billings! You have not seen a thing here—do you understand? I’m not kidding about this, Miss Billings.”
After the success of Beach-Head, Bruce Carver was joined at Access Software by younger brother Roger, fresh from working on flight sims. So soon they they did the logical thing and made a golf game. It went quite well! New post on Leader Board:
www.superchartisland.com/leader-board
The story of Rage Software. They and Psygnosis were the two main characters in the nineties Liverpool Software scene.
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2026/03/rage...
Includes a second special guest appearance from @jake74.bsky.social #Amiga #AtariST #PlayStation #RetroGaming #RetroComputing
New on my blog today, an article about the time Dennis Potter tried to get into writing for Doctor Who in the 1960s, what his story would have been about, and the other times he crossed paths with the series. Hopefully this will interest a few of you.
thehiddenplanet.substack.com/p/when-denni...
I played Ghosts 'n Goblins in the arcade and at home on my Spectrum. I was rubbish at both.
Newspaper advert: "COSTLY COLLECTION OF COMPUTER EQUIPEMENT: OFFICE FURNITURE: VIDEO TAPES, ETC. Briefly: By Order of the Sheriff re Imagine Software Ltd. Important collection of Computer equipment comprising approximately 16 SAGE 2 COMPUTER PROCESSORSL 6 SAGE 4 DITTO (all with keyboards): 5 Televideo Computers: 4 BBC Computers: other Computers by Commodore, Apple, Atari, etc: Computer Print Outs by Manessmann, Apple and Remtronic: approximately 12 VDU's: approximately 20 Normende portable colour TC SetsL several Disc Drive units, etc. Nearly new office furniture including oak, teak, and rosewood desks: 2 tone stationery and Filing Cabinets: Olivetti ET121 Typewriter: office chairs: 3 nearly new carpet cleaners: etc, etc. By Order of A and D. Dean on instructions of the Collector of Taxes re E Lappart, approximately 135 Video Tapes. By Order of the Liverpool Country Court Doric colour TV set. ON VIEW TOMORROW WEDNESDAY FROM 9 A.M. TO 5 P.M. TELEPHONE: 061 709 4005
10th July 1984. Imagine Software is wound up. The corporate dismemberment begins to try and recover some of their debit. The LIVERPOOL ECHO carried this advert giving people the chance to buy computers, desks, carpet cleaners, VHS tapes, and more. #ZXSpectrum #Commodore #RetroGaming #RetroComputing
ICYMI, my post this week was on Imagine's home computer ports of Green Beret (aka Rush'n Attack in some territories). Read about:
- the extra-difficult C64 version
- the extreme memory-filling of the Spectrum version
- "Green Hat", "Green Bert" and other British magazine reactions to its hero
“Listen … you go tell Billy’s mother, and I’ll start looking for another old tire.”
“Listen … you go tell Billy’s mother, and I’ll start looking for another old tire.”
George Pal's War of the Worlds
The animated version of Animal Farm.
Joe Macbeth
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (no one in the class was 18)
I like your blog.
The documentary is great, isn't it. My favourite moment is the distributor's look of polite disbelief when he is told Bandersnatch will cost £40 (in 1984).
The film of Mark Butler driving round Liverpool is a money saving reuse from an October 1983 programme called Riverside.
Liverpool 1. Mark Butler of Imagine drives his car passed what looks like a shell of a building.
Liverpool 2. In the background of this picture is some sort of warehouse or industrial unit.
Liverpool 3. A very washed out building in the background. It could be a tower?
Liverpool 4. A wide three lane road. Buses parked in the very background. And what's going on with that weird open-topped red car on the left?
Liverpool people. Is there any chance you recognise these 1983 streets?
They come from this BBC Archive report on the success story that was Imagine Software www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aV5...
New on my blog today, a (possibly slightly morbid) look at how an aspect of Terry Nation’s life – and death – is reflected in one of his Dalek Annual short stories:
thehiddenplanet.substack.com/p/terry-nati...
A follow up to the Psygnosis article, with a look at founder Dave Lawson and his short-lived company Kinetica.
whereweretheynow.blogspot.com/2026/02/dave...
#Amiga #AtariST #RetroGaming #RetroComputing
Ron Smith
My post this week was on Silent Service. Read about:
- how MicroProse and Sid Meier got their start and then made it in the UK too
- why they decided submarine warfare would make for a good game
- the advantages of hiring a real artist
www.superchartisland.com/silent-service
Cover picture for the October 1978 issue of Electronics Today International. Showing the Tolinka system and the headline "Television Chess."
Tolinka appeared on Tomorrow's World in March 1978, which is possibly where the Blake's 7 team learned about it. Although the system was also getting a lot of newspaper coverage in October/November 1978. It would be great if the BBC Archive channel could make the Tomorrow's World clip available.4/4
There's a lot more information about the system here www.chesscomputeruk.com/html/intelli..., including a short film clip of Victor Korchnoi using Tolinka to prepare for his World Championship match against Antoly Karpov.3/4
Tolinka didn't play chess. Moves from a match were typed into it and the pieces moved on screen. It was designed (I think) to record games as they were played, so they could be watched back in a more visually friendly way than just a basic written list of moves.2/4
Speed Chess -solved! (But not by me). The source for the chess footage was identified in 2021 at the Atari Age forum forums.atariage.com/topic/326611...
It's called Tolinka, a chess "visual recorder" that could record and display games using a modified cassette tape recorder and a television. 1/4
Do you know any of these winners?
Thanks. That's really helpful. I've just updated the Psygnois article to take all this into account. It's now 200% more accurate and it's given me a couple more places to visit when I'm next in Liverpool.