It was announced today via email that the Mega65 will be available for pre-order next week at the Trenz Electronic webshop http://trenz.org/mega65. The exact date is not yet defined.

During the pre-order phase you will be able to get one of the 400 first units that are currently being produced, and the delivery is estimated for between Q4/2021 and Q1/2022.

If you want to know more details about the Mega65, follow the link below. You can also read our comprehensive interview with Paul Gardner-Stephen, one of the brains behind the project.

Link: Mega65

Dread, a very promising clone for the Amiga 500 and 1200 just got some new developments that might interest you. The developer is making available a playable demo for you to try on your Amiga or Atari ST.

On a new video published on his channel KK/Altair, the developer shows the game running on a real Amiga and using a CRT monitor to see how it performs since most of the time he has been using an emulator to develop the game.

Based on what we see, the game plays very smoothly and the pixel art is a perfect homage to Doom. The developer also invites all interested to help the development through his Patreon page, which offers 3 membership levels, from $5 to $25 dollars which gives the members an inside view of the development and exclusive access to the game. It is certainly an interesting way to contribute on an ongoing basis and at the same time to keep a closer relationship with the developer.

For more details and to get the download files, access the video below on YouTube and check the description notes.

Andrew Fisher is an author, journalist, coder, musician, and scholar of all things Commodore. He’s a contributor to Retro Gamer Magazine, and also one of the main editors of Scene World. AJ and Joerg catch up with him, talk about his career, and get very, very sidetracked. (interview begins at 10:55)

https://scene.world/merman

there is even a video version:

Teased last year, the Amiga 500 mini-console has been finally confirmed for early 2022. The new product from Retro Games Ltd, the creator of TheC64 is not surprisingly called TheA500.

The new console will come with a controller, a real mouse but the keyboard is not functional (as if one could type on those tiny keys!) and a USB port to connect an external keyboard.

Like its predecessor, will be bundled with 25 licensed games. So far, 12 games are confirmed:

• Alien Breed 3D
• Another World
• ATR: All Terrain Racing
• Battle Chess
• Cadaver
• Kick Off 2
• Pinball Dreams
• Simon The Sorcerer
• Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
• The Chaos Engine
• Worms: The Director’s Cut
• Zool: Ninja Of The Nth Dimension

Although it is primarily based on the A500, the new console will also support the A1200 out-of-the-box, save and resume for games at any time (finally you will be able to finish some of them!) and many other functions.

The price of US$ 139 is very attractive and will likely mean that it is gonna be hard to buy one during the first months after the launch.

Check the video announcement here:

Espectro Magazine is a printed Portuguese-speaking magazine about the ZX Spectrum. Published quarterly, the magazine now reaches its 6th issue. The publication is a bit late but the editors promise to catch up!

Main features:

• Everything about the mysterious Timex prototype
• Homage to the Timex’s pioneers that passed away in 2020
• Christmas games special, selected by the magazine editors
• Review, solution, and map of the fabulous game Wudang
• Old school type-in program Reindeer Race developed in Sinclari BASIC
• Review of the games Welcome to Hollywood and ZXS Spyctrum

Espectro contains 40 colourful pages printed in premium paper and is for sure a nice item for anyone’s collection, even if you don’t speak the language! It is available for R$ 29,90 (~US$ 6) and can be purchased at the Clube MSX website.

For international buyers, make sure to access here.

Link: Clube MSX – Espectro Magazine

Clube MSX magazine started on July 10th accepting pre-orders for its 13th issue. This time around, the publisher is using a crowdfunding website called Catarse to kickstart the publication. The editors explain that the decision has many reasons. One, of course, is the financial safety net that the method gives to small publishers, but more than that, Clube MSX wants to start also using the platform for future projects, like games, books, and so on.

The campaign runs throughout the month of July, and the publisher plans to ship it after August 15th. The cost is R$ 25,00 (less than US$5!) plus shipping. Even after adding international shipping, the magazine is well worth it, which high-quality print and full of good content. The issue will also bring a poster featuring the game Mutants from The Deep, and a nice MSX sticker. With the new crowdfunding approach, the backers will also get other rewards, like a Clube MSX mousepad and much more, depending on the tiers you pick.

Clube MSX #13 brings the fourth part of the special about networking on MSX; the reviews of Mutants from the Deep, Angelic Warrior Deva, Metal Dragon, Mystery City, Sudden Burst, The Fall of Prometheus, Singular Stone and others; a story about the classic Toshiba HX-10; an interview with the Spaniard José Capel Ollé, the STAR (Matra); a collection of sports games in honour of the Tokyo Olympics; and the Zombies, new type-in BASIC game and much more.

For international buyers, the website Catarse (link below) will show up in Portuguese, but if you scroll all the way down, you can select any language using Google Translate, which will give you enough to understand the project, how to back, etc. The website accepts international payment methods.

Link: Clube MSX #13 Campaign

Nox Archaist, an Ultima-inspired, 8-bit, tile-based, role-playing game, developed on the old-school Apple II and playable on the Apple II, MAC and PC, was launched at the end of last year after some years of development.

If you are into “behind the scenes” stuff like me, you will be happy to learn that the creators of the game are launching a new book telling the story of the development of the Apple II game.

In the book, Mark describes his decades-long journey to create an Ultima-style game. In 2015, Mark and his team at 6502 Workshop set out to create Nox Archaist. Their goal was to develop a retro role-playing game with a more modern user interface and compelling storyline, written in assembly language on real Apple II hardware and shipping in a deluxe boxed set.

Mark describes the challenges, including a failed Kickstarter, Apple’s quirky graphics system, and getting decent audio out of a one-bit speaker. Along the way, the team received help from many sources, including Richard Garriott (Lord British), Dr. Cat, Burger Becky, and Steve Wozniak (Woz). Finally, after a wildly successful Kickstarter and a year of non-stop coding, Mark details how an obscure floppy disk bug nearly derailed the entire project just weeks before release.

The book will be released in December 2021 in paperback and it will include the e-book version. It will contain 150 pages full of information, coloured screenshots and design drawings. You can pre-order it now for US$21.95, following the link below.

Link: Nox Archaist