The Centre for Computing History

So what have we had through the doors recently?

While Philip has been busy with the latest hardware additions, I have had the pleasure of archiving some classic software for the museum.

Like the hardware, the software is archived into boxes, so far there are 132 SW boxes as we call them, containing around 7,800 different titles, they have their covers scanned, contents checked for completeness, and any defects or omissions recorded, this is important as a better example may turn up, and could replace the archive title if the condition is better.

The software is of course available for the public to view on request, so if a particular game gets the nostalgia flowing, why not drop us an email, and we can have it ready for your visit to the museum.

The donations from the very generous public have added many interesting titles to our archive, so what have we had lately?

• Ultimate: The Collected Works ZX Spectrum +3 Disk This compilation from Ultimate play The game collects eleven of their best known ,and most loved classics from their work on the ZX Spectrum, only Underwurlde is omitted as it could not be made to work on the 128K machines. our copy has the two disks, instructions, interview with the founders of Ultimate and Rare, Chris and Tim Stamper, and the hint sheet envelope which is still sealed, unfortunately, the map is missing.

• Mansion Adventure 1 Commodore 16 The museum has over 800 computers in it’s collection, and the software to match, this includes the machines that were in the shadows of their contemporaries, such as the Commodore 16, which sold reasonably well in the UK, but next to the Spectrum and C64, it was definitely a minority machine, this game is something of a rarity, it arrived with a further 22 games that have been added to the archive, such as Booty, 3D Quasars, and Cuthbert Enters the Tomb of Doom, another uncommon game.

• Rockman – Mastertronic, Commodore 16 To emphasize the point about recording conditions of new arrivals, this title was previously held as just a cassette, then a carry case arrives stuffed full of C16 titles, this was sorted for duplicates, then those duplicates checked against the archive for condition, this yielded a complete copy of this fun, and big selling title, so it replaced the cassette only copy in the software box. 
• Donald Duck PK – Disney – Gamecube Not just about 8 bit retro titles, we are starting to accept titles for much newer machines too, this game arrived with a few other Gamecube discs in great condition, perfect for our gaming nights, and for the younger visitors to the museum. 
• Centipede – ZX81 – LLamasoft Who can resist a Jeff Minter classic from 1981, arriving in great condition, with original Llama cover.many more classic and not so classic games to come in the months and years ahead..

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