80's Video Game Cassette Packaging Extravaganza | Ashens

Netflix thingie: help.netflix.com/en/titlerequest
Way back in the mists of time, software for 8-bit computers was distributed on audio cassettes. And it was great! If you liked waiting literally 6+ minutes for a game to load. But how did they package these cassettes to both protect them, and to look so good on the shelf that little Darren would spend his birthday money on them? Let's have a bit of a dive into it...
At the time of writing there are still some copies of the Super Rare Mixtape Vol 2 available - it's pretty damn ace: superraregames.com/products/s...

[@ashens]

EXCITING UPDATE: The case for NEXUS was used again by Nexus Software! It was re-used in a reddish plastic for their C64 game Super Sunday, an American Football simulation thing. (It was advertised for the Spectrum but never released.) Also the slot on the left of the US Gold compilation case was for floppy disks as the cases were used for multiple formats. Spook!

[@ihartevil]

at a little before or around 19mins my dishwasher sounds similar to that song noise when its done but i doubt you had the dishwasher going

[@15-Peter-20]

Why didn't you play any ?

[@fjmoody]

Nexus software released a bunch of games in that format, I remember PSI Warrior 2 (although I think they used the name Warrior II, as PSI Warrior was copyrighted to Beyond Software, who Nexus were ex developers for), and a couple of others apart from Super Sunday. I had about 3 or 4 of those boxes in different colours (I seem to remember a goldish one, and a blue one). None of the games were particular good.

[@mattstevensms60]

All mine are so varied mine are commodore 64

[@andyhill7273]

I had Super Sunday on C64, but in the silver Nexus case interestingly. Still got it up in the loft with my other C64 games, need to dig it out at some point. Decent game to be honest.

[@redgrain3914]

Don't you love when you're looking for something to watch, and a Stephen notification pops up?

[@skylined5534]

"Stephen!?!" "Just coming!"

[@samholdsworth420]

Who's Stephen?

[@samuelcollinsmonstermovies6637]

Ashens, I was in Poundland today, they have a Poundland version of Monopoly. I feel this information would be important to you.

[@samw1937]

I’m going Poundland tomorrow, I have to see this. 😅

[@cheekbonestrenchcoat]

Yep, they had it before Christmas. Home Bargains also has their own version

[@gingermousse]

Dollar Tree in America has this too!

[@johannesviljoen9656]

Is it called Monopoly: Here And Now Shite edition?

[@Tillyard86]

You have served the master well Samuel, maybe now won’t murder your whole family! 😈

[@deuxbas]

Horace looks like Mario's sentient trousers.

[@TommyDeonauthsArchives]

Yikes...

[@skylined5534]

Mario's cognizant cords!

[@incredibleflameboy]

He's got a living hat so why not

[@killerb2099]

First there was Cappy, now there's Pantsy!

[@TheDutchGhost]

@@killerb2099 Pantsy "The things I have seen or felt... " 0.0

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

Imagine the kids listening to the story book tape, then flip it around at the end to keep listening and get a spectrum game loading noise... Oh the nightmares it will cause

[@negirno]

And loss of hearing.

[@del-boysnostalgiatvads7416]

@@lenabrokaw714 your comment is lame,🥱

[@meesegomoo1836]

​@@del-boysnostalgiatvads7416 Is it because the comment mentions the group of people that turn you on?

[@bulletproofblouse]

Don't go trying the "Jumped off the shelves and into my pocket" line to the security guard at your local GameSpunk MegaMart.

[@tncorgi92]

That was how we used to get a lot of stuff at Woolco.

[@gigteevee6118]

Or the, just testing it before I buy in WH Smith’s….then leg it approach

[@razerow3391]

It's 2022... And also pretty sure that even back in boomer times the cases were display dummies... Maybe stick to posting fascist videos?

[@razerow3391]

@@tncorgi92 Except you didn't because the cases were empty and you had to take it to a till. Literally just getting certain people confirming as I type. The only ones apparently not dummies would have been the cheap ones in the bin. Same at Smiths. Apparently it was the same with CDs and DVDs when they were being sold. Why do boomers lie so much? "oh there was weapons of mass destruction, I didn't have sexual relations with that woman, there are more than 2 genders" ... You guys are crazy. the 80s and 90s did real numbers on you... I blame all the bright colours and cocaine... and rave music. Never trust a generation that listens to Venga Boys. (is that their name? cba looking it up!)

[@mikeuk666]

@@razerow3391 you're clueless then

[@tictacleia]

Don't you love when you're looking for something to watch, and an Ashens notification pops up?

[@andrewsquires9134]

Yes. Yes I bloody do

[@Jesusisafriendofmine]

Just sat down with some food, looking for something to entertain me whilst I eat and hell yea, I do love it.

[@thechurchofsupersampling]

I don't like ashes notifications popping up, I love it

[@markkay2937]

I was just thinking the same

[@Fershizzal]

And a 32 minute episode no less :)

[@blobbem]

18:45 - The retro techno spirit finally decides to haunt Ashens.

[@KernelLeak]

Für, or else...

[@I_will_pet_your_dogs]

THE GOOSE comes to collect its toll.

[@GmodPlusWoW]

Honestly that could be an Ashens movie in its own right: Ashens and the Haunted ZX Spectrum.

[@malfattio2894]

Imagine if the ZX Spectrum is lost to time and future historians just assume we had a very strange taste in music in 1980s Britain.

[@skylined5534]

How dare you talk about the Welshvis like that 😂

[@RipScissor]

I mean that's just true regardless.

[@peterclarke7240]

Alien, listening to ZX Spectrum tape: "Oh my god! What is this shite? Turn it off and try the radio!" Alien, listening to radio: "Oh my god, what is THIS shite? Let's just fuck off and leave these savages to listen to their "pop" music..."

[@glitchedoom]

Listen to enough power metal and your collection wouldn't look much different than this.

[@destubae3271]

The indie bands could get a little weird

[@dirtyhannie]

Those vacuform cases remind me of my parents' vhs cases. They had about 100 of those which looked like encyclopedias all on bookshelves.

[@incredibleflameboy]

VHS rentals usually came in them. I had a few near the end of VHS's life where rental shops would sell off their stock cheap but didn't have the original case

[@ericklein6796]

If you are feeling nostalgic, I’ve got a box of about 100 of them I inherited. My mom never mastered computers but she could handle a VHS.

[@handlesarefeckinstupid]

Fake book looking VHS cases, classic. My parents had a few as well.

[@John_Wick_Snr]

Ahh the days of cassettes. Waiting 10 minutes plus for my spectrum game to load, only to crash to the 'home' screen...... Those were the days......... Oh and damn you Daley Thompsons Decathlon!

[@Roblilley999]

The other excuse for blistered hands in the 80s

[@honestguy7764]

Daley Thompson Supertest! We spent so many afternoons playing it….

[@karnak327]

The Joystick Killer.

[@skylined5534]

@@karnak327 That totally sounds like a serial killer moniker that should have been.

[@HansHackfress]

The only time you'd wait 10 minutes plus is on a 128k game, multiload games notwithstanding.

[@sos_legio_primus9177]

I used to play Gauntlet with, my mum, on C64. She constantly geographically locked us up, forcing us to have to restart the level.

[@alexkrycek3359]

"Lovely stuff! Not my words, Stuart, the words of Shakin' Stevens"

[@TheHutchy01]

I do love it when Stuart does esoteric shit.

[@TryASMR]

This is what I need right now! Thank you Steven! ❤📼

[@zhouhuanyue]

Steven?

[@Clutch28]

@@zhouhuanyue You didn't listen to the video, did you?

[@sniperjoe58]

Who's Richard?

[@TryASMR]

Sorry, I did mean Frank.

[@regina_phalange]

Mr Try, fancy seeing you here! 😂

[@kinto4135]

Horaces high-flying career as a pro skier in the 80s ended abruptly when he lost both his arms and lower legs in a terrible skiing accident which led him down a dark path of alcoholism and depression; but in the 2010s he finally was able to get his life back together, changed his name to Clyde and even got a job as the mascot of the now world famous messenger Discord. Well isn't that a joyous origin story!

[@bancoran]

He's the Discord mascot? I thought Discord was using Mickey Mouse's shorts as a home screen icon.

[@TheSUPERWIND2023]

This man has been around for over a decade, this man is a legend and an icon on KZbin, he deserves way more than just 1 million subscribers, he's a veteran.

[@huesos_azules]

I didn't know this channel was still around but man, you got a lot of potential you should be much bigger your videos are the best and should be heard in every corner of the world

[@steelgriffin7716]

Ha. Ashens is OOOOLD Old Guard KZbin. Him being bigger would be great, but He's also probably as big as he needs to be.

[@huesos_azules]

@@steelgriffin7716 yes, I recognized that couch! can't believe he's still doing the couch thing, hope he can one day get a better setup

[@laneatkinson6441]

@@huesos_azules No, the couch is iconic!! Consistency is one of his channel's best qualities.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

But he is still known as the man with the most toxic sofa on the planet!

[@skylined5534]

@Jon-Paul Filkins I'd still crash on it, looks ridiculously comfortable!

[@ChaosSlimeMom]

The bit of Tat playing Fur elise at random was Definitely a paid actor & wanted its 5 seconds of fame.

[@c1v1lwar24]

I used to get all my games from Boots. It’s bizarre to think they sold computer software back in the 80’s. The budget titles where around £3 and came in regular cassette cases but the premium games came in big boxes at £9.99. I think I got the US Gold Platinum collection for an eye watering £14.99!

[@del-boysnostalgiatvads7416]

Your comment is inappropriate

[@ZaKKsQuaTcH1]

Stuart Ashen is the one true legacy youtube creator. 15+ years on, he's still producing quality videos and not acting like a twat.

[@applelus8330]

I completely agree with you

[@chupathingy6626]

Seconded.

[@LordArikado]

And while he's broadened the scope of his channel beyond looking at weird knockoff electronics, his content still feels the same in 2022 as it did in 2006. I genuinely can't think of anyone else who's been on KZbin that long and is still around who can claim that, besides maybe Guru Larry.

[@ZaKKsQuaTcH1]

@@LordArikadoAnd thus his videos from over a decade ago feel as relevant as anyone's now. I remember youtube recommended his PS Vita review a while ago and nowadays so-called "retro gaming" youtubers are posting videos about the thing and it's basically the same video with face cam.

[@BruceBoyde]

Seriously. You could put his video catalog on shuffle and have absolutely no idea whether most of the videos were newer or older than each other. It's so incredibly consistent. No unnecessary "innovation", no short-lived schticks. Just ages of review/discussion of crap.

[@TAKTAK_Toys]

There’s something about an Ashen’s video the combination of his narration, the brown sofa background and the odd tat we get to view that makes these videos so satisfying to watch 👍

[@deany2274]

And the urge to just want to crash on that stuffy, soft old cosy sofa! 🙂 Zzz

[@skylined5534]

@Dean Y I agree with the OP and with yourself! You also need a slightly musty smelling but clean blanket made up of crochetheted wool squares of different styles and colours!

[@RFC-3514]

23:36 - Actually, just _one_ more colour *on the screen* than the MSX. The Atari ST could display up to 16 colours, and the MSX 15 (well, theoretically 16, but two of them were black). The difference is the MSX's palette was fixed, and the ST could display 16 at a time from a palette of 512 (same as the MSX2).

[@retrobloke]

A subject close to my heart. And yes, they did make other games in the Nexus case, Warriors 2, Sunday football, the instantly forgettable Assault machine, just that the first game was actually called Nexus - probably inspired by the case itself! The big omission here, and probably the greatest cassette box of all time, is the crazy and strangely indescribable box for CRL's Tau Ceti. What other piece of weirdly shaped cardboard makes a £5 game worth £150.

[@Zontar82]

I miss those kind of videos from ashens, good to see him back into these stuff

[@gavalar7485]

I remember getting a lot of Microprose (edit) games in huge boxes for APACHE GUNSHIP and F-16 or whatever flight simulators with huge manuals and thin card keyboard overlays. Aaahhh, happy days!

[@empath69]

Ah, Microprose (GUNSHIP, F-15 Strike Eagle, Red Storm Rising, F-19 Stealth Fighter, M1 Tank Platoon, Silent Service...etc.) those manuals didn't just have the game controls, but also explained the game mechanics, and even went into the history and technology behind/around the subject of the game - reading one of those manuals was like taking a college course and piloting certification all in one! :)

[@fandangobrandango7864]

So glad Microprose are making a comeback

[@shepshepherd]

Horace Goes Skiing was the first ever computer game I ever played, on a neighbour's 48k Spectrum hooked up to a black and white Ferguson portable TV, circa 1983 :)

[@chessoc7799]

I think it was the first any of us Speccy owners played as it came with the machine. Well it did with my 48k all those years back. :)

[@skylined5534]

Memories like that, man, just the best! My first home game playing experience was on the little white/cream coloured black and white portable badged in the bottom centre 'SOLID STATE'... I forget the brand now but maybe it was a Sharp or even an Hitachi? My mate brought his Atari 2600 around and we played Yars' Revenge on it in our front room. We weren't allowed to use the 'big' colour TV in the living room (a Pilot) as my mum heard video games ruined TVs! 😂

[@shepshepherd]

@@skylined5534 Good times. I was only 6 years old at the time, but I remember the experience vividly :)

[@shepshepherd]

@@chessoc7799 I believe that the game came with my neighbour's Speccy, along with some other software that I can't remember the nature of.

[@TheToyBoy1978]

Yes! Definitely among the first few games i ever played on the 48k! I remember having it set up on the side unit in the kitchen!

[@TheChloeRed]

The US Gold Collection 2 box is a dual format case. The mouldings on the front cover aren't for a manual, but for 5.25inch floppy discs. Superior Software often used that case with BBC/Electron software, and so you got the same case regardless of if you bought it on tape or disc. The manuals were normally the size of the inside of the case, and just dropped on over the tape holders.

[@ashens]

I found up a disc copy of Elite for the BBC Micro and you are 100% of correct.

[@Jackalblade9]

This is genuinely my favorite content on this channel; aspects of gaming history in all their glory.

[@SergeiMosin]

I would love to see a series of playthroughs/commentaries on some of these games Stu. Especially the super obscure and odd ones

[@TheHutchy01]

Come to the Twitch streams, Wednesday and Sunday 8:30 GMT, he does that sort of thing

[@handlesarefeckinstupid]

God, the nostalgia seeing those tape cases again.

[@sinisterteaser4464]

“Oh dear, a bat bit you!” Few remember Shakin’ Stevens’ famous catchphrase.

[@skylined5534]

Meanwhile in Bat Country : "Oh dear, an Ozzy Osbourne bit you"

[@jesusmckraken]

Loved Horace goes Skiing and Horace and the Spiders

[@darrenc2721]

There is something really important missing from Heroes of the Lance box, it came with "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" book, the first of the Dragonlance series in a promotional tie in. I have never forgotten it and still have the book to this day. Mine was the cpc version mind you!

[@chupathingy6626]

Omg I remember reading that book!!!!

[@TheBatkrasun]

Hey man I just want to say that I've been watching you for years and your videos are like a security blanket for me in a way. Whenever I'm upset it's just really nice to hear your voice and listen to you talk about silly tat. I'm very grateful for all of your hard work and dedication to your craft

[@burtbackattack]

Horace Goes Skiing was the first game I ever played on the Spectrum. Tbh it was only because it was either that or chess or scrabble that came bundled with the thing as I seem to recall.

[@MisterMosfet]

Hey Ashens, just letting you know I've had 'badabadabada LIQUID FILTH' on loop nonstop in my head for god knows how many years, just wanted to say thanks mate.

[@Sampler19]

Still looking for a full length version of that one...

[@johannaverplank4858]

I never know games came on cassette. I'm 47, so I remember cassette tapes very well, but I thought they were only for audio. I never had a Commodore. Fascinating.

[@skylined5534]

Oh yeah quite a few back in the day. I always wanted an Amstrad CPC464. Back in the day I think BBC radio would broadcast educationAl programs which you could record off your radio and then load on your home machine! The earliest OTA download available?!

[@Mrshoujo]

I spent a week typing SpeedScript 3.0 for the Atari 8-bit out of Compute! May 1985 issue. Over 8,000 numbers. And saved it to tape. Several times. It made a successful boot tape. Eventually copied to disk.

[@samholdsworth420]

Because us blessed Americans got the superior NES.

[@RFC-3514]

@@samholdsworth420 - Well, the ones actually interested in coding (and computing in general) got the C64.

[@samholdsworth420]

@@RFC-3514 and those kinds of kids were few and far between. Really just came down to marketing right Nintendo push the NES and you never really saw these "cheap" computers in the states

[@Phil-Sands]

I used to have a small software company trying to get into the Sinclair Spectrum boom at the time, I sold my games in those vacuum formed cased like the C64 Punchy game but the feedback was that consumers preferred the standard cassette box preferably with all clear plastic.

[@lockout5731]

i love the 80s mostly music

[@Jesusisafriendofmine]

I read that as British Leyland and imagined a game for children based on their well documented troubles !

[@skylined5534]

"No! We will not have this well proven, filthy Rover V8 in our new sports car! We shall build our own by stuffing two existing engines together!"

[@Jesusisafriendofmine]

@@skylined5534 Alan Partridge would own one.

[@skylined5534]

@Harley Anderson "The good thing about the automatic transmission on these things is you don't have to do those tricky hill starts." "

[@SouthPaw1805]

You're not far off the truth. It's a management sim where you've taken over a unionised "ailing" car company with a £300,000 overdraft and have to try and turn that into a £1.5 million profit.

[@ralang999]

@@SouthPaw1805 Oi! Longer teabreaks or we strike innit!

[@bloodrunsclear]

Horace: The only sleep paralysis demon to be a video game mascot

[@skipperxiv9401]

Idk what it was about that intro but it absolutely killed me. Keep up the good work!

[@dawildbear]

The grail was in fact found, by John Sweeney of Nottingham. Apparently it was at the Cerne Abbas giant (before you google, consider yourself warned of giant knob).

[@thedeadpoolwhochuckles.6852]

so he found the giants Cup?

[@evansn79]

"welcome to feudal England" "yeah I've noticed" This is the kind of piercing commentary I come for.

[@elocemearg]

6:28 The Memotech MTX512 was our first computer. I grew up in Witney, where Memotech were based. When they folded in about 1986 they sold off all their old stock for crazy low prices, and my dad bought one. It worked until the magic smoke escaped from it in around 1990-ish.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

The cases Punchy came in, yes they were breaking their spines still in the shop. I remember a couple of early strategy and adventure games came in them for the Spectrum. My brain is saying Witches cauldron was one of them! But can't be 100% sure.

[@Sleepysod]

Dragontorc of Avalon on 48k came in that format I think

[@andrewhuffman2758]

Ashens is so much more energetic talking about things he loves, but much more funny reviewing things he loathes

[@NeverStopRolling]

Please please please more chill board games!! 🙏💖

[@flemtone]

I loved going into town and buying a Commodore 16 game on tape from John Menzies.

[@MorrisseysMonkey]

Ahh great days, Wish I could go back.

[@twowheeledanimal4805]

You crack me up, Steven

[@pstuff]

There was also the tape packaging that adventuresoft used for their Atari 8 bit games. That consisted of a cardboard sleeve over a polystyrene insert - approx twice the size of the cassette but same depth. The polystyrene then had a tape sized cutout in it

[@steelgriffin7716]

Being an American, I always found it fascinating that cassette tapes were a functional medium for games and more than audio data. Floppies were(obviously) the main medium over here. But Magnetic Tape is Magnetic tape so it makes sense that it would work.

[@johnmagnestubsveen8211]

I have a vague memory of a friend buying a game back in the eighties made by a company called Monolith Software, or something like that, which came in a black cardboard box shaped like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[@romajimamulo]

Well, there was a Monolith software, so you can go look them up on Wikipedia to see what games they made

[@und3adcrows727]

This video unlocked a memory that I've desperately been trying to find answers to. For the longest time I've bern trying to find the answer to "What was the name of the first video game I ever played?" It was Gauntlet. Or rather it was Gauntlet 2 but Gauntlet nonetheless.

[@bobrogers4019]

In a coincidence I remember having Gauntlet on tape for the C64 and it did not work!

[@mph8200]

Only just started watchin and I stood arms aloft n cheered at Horace Goes Skiiing. Ashens... good lad

[@mistermatt9143]

I remember finding all my dad's old commodore and spectrum games when we cleared out my nans house years ago. Some of them were interesting to say the least. The standout one had to the Boggit, the hobbit parady

[@markmaxey3085]

There was also a game called Bored Of The Rings

[@FuzzWoof]

This video taught me that apparently I'm at the point in my life where I leaned forward at the screen and exclaimed "Oh my god!" when I saw that Lansdowne Computer Centre price sticker on that game, as I used to go there quite often as a kid and drool at all the games and computers. Last memory of that place was when it was filled with PCs running Doom and I thought that was as good as computers could ever get.

[@wesrrowlands8309]

Oddly enough my school over here in the US had the cassette setups for the C64s, we first used them a bit when i was in third grade in the mid 80s and then in 7th grade in the early 90s since they wouldn't let us use the expensive PCs.

[@heilong79]

This brings me back to when I was 4 years old, Nice 80s memories.

[@garrycowan4394]

Me and my friend stayed up late every weekend hunched over a 14 inch colour portable TV playing Horace on his spectrum...glory days indeed

[@vine00]

Now we just need 80s games on 8 track. If that was ever a thing. Reel to reel if we want to get serious.

[@skylined5534]

I dunno about reel to reel games but now you mention it I'm shocked they didn't appear on an endless 8 track type cartridge!

[@BobLuas]

@@skylined5534 God help me for knowing this , but theres a reason ... because in the 70s and early 80s ,UK(and Ireland , French a lot of European actually) cars actually used the (European created )cassette tape rather than 8 track , (even Ford who pushed 8 track in US cars , didn't supply them as much in Europe). Because they hadn't been able to use automobiles as a trojan horse to work their way into peoples lives , while 8 track was popular , cassette tape was much more widely used .When it came to computer data , because Americans had much more money to spend on 'luxury' items like computers , in the early 80s US homes would buy a disk drive with their computers ,In the UK and Ireland , where people had less spending power , the cheaper dattasette (aka tape deck) was used . Games on cassette tape was cheaper to produce as there was already a healthy enough amount of pressing plants to produce tapes at a low cost .The only game system I know that used 8 track was an MB games quiz game console called the OMNI.

[@HeSheXie]

This reminds me of your talk a few years ago about the insane video game covers that have come out over the years. I really enjoy all this proof that video game marketing has always been saturated in the good drugs.

[@antster1983]

British Lowland was indeed a game. A quick search on the World of Spectrum website reveals it's a management simulator where you manage a car factory, and presumably deal with all the industrial action that goes with it.

[@Average_Mortal]

Thanks for this video Steven, very excellent.

[@grahamkelly8662]

I remember having a tape cassette pc console thingy around 1990ish. I thing Commodore 64 but I really can’t remember for sure. I think it looked like old pc, had tape deck obviously and the screen I think was green. I used to buy the games really cheap at my local market and if you had a twin cassette recorder, you could copy friends games. My dad even bought me a adapter to make it colour. I think my Nan actually randomly bought me it. Deff the first kinda gaming I did. I think.

[@manic3826]

its rather incredible. ive remember watching your vids years ago and to this say your still rocking youtube with the same into and that wonderful couch, oh god that couch has seen some horrid shit

[@joshlunt7827]

When Ashens said "It's happening again!" it reminded me of the 2nd CD/DVD collection video lol

[@DragonGrafx-16]

As someone who just got a C64 this is the perfect thing to watch as I compile collections of games that are going on an EasyFlash 3 and a SD2IEC... though I'm in the US and most games were either cartridges or disks here.

[@jansenart0]

Holy crap, British Lowlands is AMAZING!

[@brizbraz]

The Acornsoft boxes were moderately interesting, entirely folded card contraptions. Maybe worth digging some out for a follow up.

[@skylined5534]

These were golden times, Stephen! ('Just coming!') I remember buying the original Dizzy for the Amstrad CPC464 in the late 80s from the paper shop between the two sides of Steel's Arcade in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. This was off the back of playing it on my mate's green screen equipped 464 and thinking it was awesome (still is, thanks, Oliver twins!) I didn't end up having a 464 and ended up with my lovely Atari 520STFM in 1990 instead! I'm not sure happened to the copy of Dizzy I had for the Amstrad but I think I may have lent it out and not got it back. Loved the cassette box art for it!

[@MaxmadV8]

To this day we are still getting new Ashens video's on the Brown Sofa! You are brilliant!

[@BarberMidnight]

Man the memories in this vid were real. Grew up playing the Speccy, still have a few bin bags worth of tapes under the stairs i think

[@delshandheldgames]

A new Ashens video game related video on the day I got a Game Child. Must be fate!

[@621pw]

Driller by Incentive Software (1987) was the zenith for me. Not only an awesome game, but the packaging was legendary too. Tape, operations manual ("Federation Briefing" and a 3D foldable map of Evath (an octakaidecagon, I guess given there were 18 sectors). The operations manual had a reasonably well written short story giving some credible background to the game - doubling up as a password bank for copy protection purposes. I remember using a pencil to mark up the 3D map as I went through the game. Plus the gameplay generally left me feeling shit-scared half the time. Fantastic.

[@DanielLopez-up6os]

So incredibly niche and wonderful!

[@figureheaduk]

I remember hearing a clip from the end of the Shakin' Stevens cassette album, where the final song is fading out Shaky's voice says something like "Hi, this is Shaky, if you've got a four-eight-kay ZX Spectrum, there's a free game at the end of this tape". Not 48K, but "Four eight"

[@zach.0]

This was a very cool video, thanks Steven!

[@felagoncalves]

Fun fact: the World Cup Carnival is showing the Fluminense [RJ, Brazil] /torcida/ [supporters] and not, say, English people in the old Wembley... Actually, regarding the cup from the World Cup: the Jules Rimet one is the one that England won in '66. The one from the cover, is the current version that was created by Silvio Gazzaniga after Brazil won their third Cup in 1970, since it was established that the first team to win three times would be allowed to keep it permanently (instead of a replica).

[@arkworthy8594]

weird nostalgia trip. I remember I used to keep all my speccy games in a big brown bin, and when I wanted to play something, I would just reach in and rummage around. Perhaps that worked because most games were kind of the same back then, and I only remember a few of them now, most of which were about a family of eggs.

[@CrenVerdis]

I'm a bit younger so I "missed out" on the cassette era (I still had audio cassettes like the Knight Rider audio play here in Germany). But I remember the floppy disks for the Amiga 500+ we had rattling around in cardboard boxes. Oh the memories.

[@alanhilton3611]

It had never occurred to me that the Grafton monster loved skiing.

[@StormyDoesVR]

Horace looks like the Discord mascot's older, run down cousin from the other side of town that's really into leg day but never gets a haircut... cause he only has one hair

[@eiv-gaming]

This is super interesting. I see an Ashens vid, everything else gets put on hold.

[@mintydog06]

I never heard of Video 2000 before today. Amazing what you learn from a man's couch.

[@SupraBlack-dp4zz]

Although not ZX Spectrum, I remember buying Street Rod and the D&D Gold Box Pools of Radiance at Software Etc for my 386 16Mhz at Lincoln Mall in Matteson, Illinois. Awesome memories of the good 'ol days. Then graduated to a 486SX 25Mhz Packard Bell. That was about 1993. Amazing how far we have come. :) My first compy was the Atari 800XL back in 84, 85'ish.

[@VinceR3000]

the memories are strong with this one

[@penatio]

I love to watch stuff like this.

[@PIXELPORTABLE]

A fellow Norfolk fellow here. I vaugly remember how much time I used to stare at the AMIGA game box art, books with the many various password systems (I'm looking ta you ZOOL). A good time indeed!

[@mistie710]

I was more of an Acorn user myself apart from my first six months spent on a ZX81 so with only a few exceptions (mostly the Acornsoft boxes) everything came in jewel cases. Oddly enough, however, I was doing a clearout and have to hand a couple of BBC Micro boxes; Paddington's Picture Problem from Collins Software which is an A5 sized preformed plastic folder with one tape an a bunch of instructions and Graphito from Addison-Wesley Software which was actually supplied on a 5.25" disc but was actually stored in a similar folder case complete with preformed tape moulding! I forget now where I got them from and my BBC Model B-ish hasn't been booted for a couple for decades now!

[@SanteonGames]

Man, I've been watching Ashens for too long when i remember him showing off the Nexus Cassette in the past.

[@bofh139]

Only Octavius King known what Horace is!

[@gothicnightwolf6]

I remember my brother had an enterprise computer and you connect a 2 lexicon size of thing to it to play zx spectrum games and the loading time was similar to commodore 64,but good times,I feel blessed to experience those days. And the cassette slash game cover arts was so awesome. Good days

[@bladepanthera]

I have 100+ old spectrum games that I feel like I should memorialise on the Internet somewhere. The thought of all those loading times, though... I don't have that much time to spare!

[@hyphz]

Oh my god, the big thing here was the "Demand a demo new!" thing on the cover of Nexus. Can hardly believe there was a time when you could just ask for a game to be demonstrated for you in games stores. (Well, smaller ones, not in WH Smiths, which is the only place I ever saw Nexus.) There was at least one game with similar packaging I think..

[@dannydom6767]

Thank you again for ruining my sleep schedule with your videos ✨

[@grumpyoldwizard]

I remember waiting while these cassette games loaded, praying that it would work. These drives are very finicky and it is almost a art to get them to load.

[@natelax1367]

It was a bit before my time but when I first learned about cassette data transfers it sounded so bizarre that the volume had to be set correctly to load. I was used to floppies.

[@skylined5534]

@natelax1367 I can't remember regarding the Sinclair but I'm fairly surely sure it was the same for the Amstrad CPC464 in that the volume of playback of the 'loading noise' didn't make any difference as the computer would 'hear' it digitally. We'd just always turn the volume right down on the Amstrad during loading. I also recall very rarely did a game not actually load. Tapes are also a lot more robust compared to floppy disks despite their extra complexity. Certainly a more reliable game data storage medium across the decades.

[@psvhangoveral]

Luxor the Moon Prince from Beyond was one of my favourite games, the box was massive, and it came with a map!