Beyond The Scanlines Extra

[@lazydave7464]

This brings back some memories, I remember a mate getting one back in the day, Wizard of War was never the same when I went back home, I picked one up pretty cheap a couple years ago, the kids and I had endless laughs:-) Nice to see the Apple //c there on the desk too, Legend vid Rob!

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

As a cheap find, it's honestly fun enough for WoW and Gorf. A shame that even in this modern era, no-one has thought about enhancing titles to support it. Doubly a shame the Magic Voice Classics release is limited in sample quality, as it doesn't show them in the best light either - I was genuinely impressed with the output quality of the Magic Voice. That was the surprising factor for me!

[@JimLeonard]

Having pre-recorded words and phrases resulted in the best quality, but the worst functionality. The IBM PCjr Speech sidecar was the same, even used the same technology, but had a more mature male voice (being IBM of course). But you couldn't make it say anything, only the 250-ish words, phrases, and sound effects it had built in. If you could figure out the compression, you could make your own speech, but it took specialized software from Texas Instruments to do this.

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

Totally agree - I think it's another factor which led to software solutions winning out, seeing they could string things together using phonemes which offer far more flexibility in stringing phrases together. And needing to issue statements a word at a time feels ever so clunky to use, which probably doesn't help either.

[@pablopicaro7649]

I had one of the "Magic Voice" cartridges. used to confuse my parents and grandparents when the computer started to talk. They barely new what a computer was, so didn't really know that all computers didn't do that anyway. Also remember seeing the Sound Expander, but wasn't really into music so didn't get one. many years later someone coded a Macintosh to be able to talk with built in circuitry.

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

Software-driven speech synthesis wasn't entirely new on the Macintosh, there were quite a few packages on 8-bit micros (including the C64) which ultimately contributed to this being a flop. If memory serves - the SAM system (on the Atari 8-bits & Apple II as well) was the basis of what appeared on both the Macintosh, and early Amigas!

[@hayesmaker64]

Damn, you got a sealed one!? NICE!

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

Yeah, it was a fluke auction find. I wasn't even really looking for one, but it came up, and it was destiny!

[@stivk1937]

Holy smokes a boxed and sealed Magic Voice cartridge👌

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

Not so much sealed now ;p Was a lucky find on a listing a few years ago, and was simply curious with how it actually sounded more than anything. And being there's only the two games, it goes safely back in its box ;)

[@stivk1937]

hellfire64 that’s pretty much what I did with mine lol. You’ve actually bought a few C64 related items from my eBay listings in the past. If I knew it was you back then I would have at least given you free postage as appreciation for videos and content you put out. Keep it up it’s great stuff👍

[@ThisIsPete]

15:25 nice What a charming little piece of oddware. Pretty much useless, of course, and incredibly cumbersome -- that whole wiring solution is absolutely bizarre -- but this is one of the delightful things about this era. So many experimental, weird peripherals, some of which ended up being awesome and some of which you get the impression just existed "because they could". That said, the gaming applications were neat -- the fact that this didn't have to black out the screen to speak (a la software solutions such as S.A.M.) means that the speech can be much better integrated into the experience as a whole. Shame it didn't seem to be used all that much beyond the games you show!

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

Yeah, the wiring setup is daft (and why I don't really use it much) - but it's the only way to mix it in properly, as the C64 doesn't carry the audio through the Cartridge port (unlike the Famicom or MSX). Which is certainly a pain, and I wouldn't be surprised if it had some impact. It's a shame it was limited with the vocab, as being able to keep it running without pausing is handy. Though I've not tried the C64 edition of S.A.M. (my main speech tool as a kid was Superior's Speech which I got off a covertape), the tech developed by Electronic Speech Systems (used in Ghostbusters, Impossible Mission and more) is certainly impressive for keeping the screen active. Even if most action had to be paused. But yeah, it's the alternate paths which are always so very interesting when it comes to this era. Probably why the 8-bits are what I fancy most of all ;)

[@nattila7713]

didn't appreciated wizard of wor back then. speech makes it more attractive I think and honestly I don't see the speech generator useful for anything else anyway :)) thanks for showing !!!!

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

I've enjoyed it as a solid conversion, but the ambiance is lost without the speech. I'm really, really impressed with how good it sounds actually - I had heard it once before off a Magic Voice (but through an SX-64), and was a bit lacking. Coming out of a decent set of speakers, it actually does a good job, and the samples in the "Magic Voice Classics" Easyflash release are a poor way to hear them in comparison ;)

[@damianscott431]

Another Great Video! Gosh, if I'd known you were in need of the A Bee C's cartridge (love that natural voice intro jingle) I'd have happily loaned it to you. Well if you are ever looking for another cartridge you can always hit me up directly or via Ant to see if I have it. Cheers

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

Glad you appreciated it :) I appreciate the offer, and will have to keep it in mind. It just so happened that the other pieces I were working on had fallen behind, so putting this together with what I had was a late decision. (Also, I'd feel mega guilty loaning something, especially rare with how things are with the post right now - but it means a lot) :)

[@damianscott431]

@@BeyondTheScanlines well the offers out there. Stay safe & hopefully some time after COVID you can make it to another Brisbane C64 Night! Cheers

[@heidirichter]

Great video, I remember seeing one of these for sale in the mid 90s for quite some time in my local cash converters, I don't know if it finally sold, or if they gave up on trying to sell it, hahaha. If I could leave some hopefully constructive criticism, when there are flashing/strobing lighting like there is in this, it woul dbe appreciated if you put in a warning. My partner suffers from seizures and that sort of flashing is a trigger for them. Thankfully she wasn't in the room when I watched this, but if she'd been watching it with me, or had even been in the same room, that could have been nasty. I know I'm a minority, but please, it would be very much appreciated.

[@BeyondTheScanlines]

Hard to say - whether it got discounted far enough that someone caved in and snapped it up, or they just gave up and turfted it. It's certainly understandable as to why either outcome could have happened - as it's such a flop for all those reasons.