In Sweden we had a radioshow about computergames that let you download C64 games via the radio. They told you to get a tape ready to record and they started to play the game audio for the listener to record. Then you put your tape into your C64 and there was your game. Computer game downloading in the 80s.
We had this in UK too. Mel Croucher was a video game don! Known as the father of the UK gaming industry and a pioneer game developer. He started broadcasting games over FM and AM radio in late 1970s.
The *wildest* way of loading a game I ever saw was this: A British TV show in the early 1980s (Database? The Computer Programme? Micro Live?) taught viewers how to hand-solder a light sensitive sensor at home. Then in subsequent episodes they would flash a white square in the corner of the screen throughout the episode. You would place your home-made device against the screen for the whole episode and it would transfer the signal to tape.
I just mentioned that on another post. I think it was Micro Live but I'd have to check back through the episodes I have. The other series it might have been was Makig the Most of the Micro.
I did some digging, and the only reference I can find to the light-dependent-resistor (LDR) method of downloading software relates to to the Thames TV programme, “Database” in 1984. The IMDB entry for the programme even mentions it in the brief description (although there is no further detail about the show). ChatGPT also referred to ‘Database’ doing this in 1984, but was unable to provide references. There are some excerpts from ‘Database’ on TH-cam, on the official ThamesTV channel, but so far I haven’t seen any reference to the LDR software downloads. It would be fun to find one of the transmissions online; it shouldn’t take much effort to decode it if the whole transmission is available. I clearly remember a TV programme doing this, but I have no recollection of the Database TV programme, which is a surprise to me, as I was absolutely obsessed with computers in 1984 (aged 16) and I was also keen on electronics, so I knew what an LDR was (and definitely had some at that age) and remember thinking about building the circuit. It puzzles me that I don’t recall the Database programme, and I’m wondering if it was not shown in my TV region (NW). For this reason, I suspect that another TV programme used the same method; probably one of the BBC shows (The Computer Program, Making the most of the Micro, Micro Live), as I watched all of those. Even watching a few of the Database excerpts on TH-cam didn’t prompt any memories, so I’m convinced that I did not see any of those programmes. However, I guess it’s possible that my memory is wrong.
@@leeosborne3793 i wouldve thought thered be a problem with the screen flicker causing issues..unless the interface circuit filters it out.??, i vaguely remember the idea..
I had this disk as a teenager. Sold it on eBay a few years ago. I can't believe you finished it!! I never had any luck with it at all. My memory is of seeing sand everywhere which ever direction I went. You are very knowledgeable and I love your enthusiasm! I really enjoyed this video. Thank you from a 55yr old spectrum geek
@@pepeshadilay I can still remember when Electronic Arts was some weird little company that produced a terrific action game called 'Mail Order Monsters'! I'd love to play that again and see their neat loading-screen effect with the EA logo pulsing in colors.
Well, we didn't exactly have the web, wikipedia, eBay, etc. in the 1980s. Even if you were online, you had FTP sites and NNTP and UUCP and such for the most part in the 1980s.
@@grey5626 That’s true. But the tenacity she’s displayed in acquiring THREE copies of the program on vinyl, the patience she had to show to copy the game from vinyl to cassette and then to play it on such slow hardware all indicate that she would have been successful even back then. In another video she typed the BASIC code from the computer magazine into her Spectrum computer to get a feel for how it worked back then before she then converted it to Python and tweaked it for performance. We who lived it have very fond memories of much simpler times but this young lady is definitely a kindred spirit.
Back in the 80s in the US there was a weekly (FM) radio show about computers and for the last 5 minutes of the show they would play a game that you could record/download.
In Germany they did that too on the PBS show "Computer Club". At the end of the show when the credits were rolling they also told people to start their audio recorders for the incoming "hardbit rock" and you would then hear the data audio. It was often just normal programs i think. Not so much games.
As a Brummie who now lives in the US, it was a pleasant surprise to hear your accent. Just watched all of your videos - awesome work so far, you got another subscriber! My friend's brother was a huge Thompson Twins fan, and one day my friend and I discovered the Thompson Twins game disk he had in his collection. We were able to successfully transfer it to a tape and play it. Surprisingly, it actually worked first time.
I recently stumbled upon this channel by accident and was immediately hooked. It brings back memories from my early youth. I'm glad to see that young people are still getting excited about retro computers and game consoles these days. Please keep up the good work. Many greetings from Germany
I love how you started out with an almost free one from the thrift shop, then ended up spending $$$ and now own three copies. It reminds me so much of the type of thing I do!
I wouldn't have thought it would be possible back then anyway, but it makes sense if you can rip vinyl records on your PC that other data files could work. A cassette is essentially the same as a floppy disk too, the main difference is it being a spinning platter instead of tape. It's still weird to think of a game being on vinyl, never even thought of it being a thing. I get how it works but it's still so strange to me, it definitely seems like a novelty thing as floppy disks are both built-in and would be far more optimal lol. It'd be kind of cool to see this make a comeback as limited special editions of certain games, even if it's just to collect a vinyl copy of the game maybe to put on the wall. Of course they could also have a soundtrack on it(the opposite side) and it would have to be smaller games, maybe indie retro style games. It'd be interesting to play the game data as audio.
Something you might enjoy, Information Society used to hide things on their albums. The coolest being a hidden easter egg hunt to download a hidden track in bits and pieces of a rar file to get the song back on the mid 90s. They also used CD+G so, their album had video hidden on it.
My friends and I are in love with your accent, to the point where we play a drinking game everytime you say the word here “heeeyah!” We take a shot Unfortunately we’re usually smashed half way through however your videos are informative, entertaining and addictive! Please keep posting!
Very impressed with this channel. Well presented, and done very naturally. Better than most professional TV presenters for this type of content. Great production values and just the right level of depth. Great to see young people with a genuine interest in technology at more than a superficial level.
In Hungary there is a band called KFT (means Ltd.). They released an album in 1984 with the title Ball at the Opera. They planned to add a Basic program on the vinyl record but before releasing the album the national record company realized that they are not able to put it on the record due to some technical difficulties. They ended up providing the program by printing the lines on the cover of the record.
And probably better to be honest, if it's not a long program. I remember lots of books and magazines at the time provided simple games as BASIC listings, with instructions for how to adapt the code to run on various different computers.
In the 80s my grandparents gave us a couple old computers. Maybe not *that* old at the time, but still. The TRS-80 and the TI 99/4A, and i remember having games on cassette tape. I remember too way back, when you ordered PC games from a "catalog", which was really a B&W home printed booklet with a list, fairly simple explanations for them. You eventually got it in the mail, a floppy disc in a plastic sandwich bag. It took more creativity back then, having those limitations. I miss it, as simple as it seems. It was so much more genuine then, more like hobbyists coming together, not so by the books corporate.
@@derealized797 - I remember reading the descriptions in the mail-order catalogue lists, for obscure games I'd never heard of that were probably terrible, and just imagining them being really great.
@@AnthonyFlack A lot of NES games turned out to be terrible, that was just sort of unfortunately how it went back then. Even the early game magazines weren't that great at reviews yet, of course "game journalism" is at it's absolute worst now, it was still interesting in it's own ways. The TRS-80 had it's own magazine, i remember they would list programs for you to try at home. And that's one cool thing from back then, kids were learning about computers and programming, in a way we just don't see anymore.
I was thinking it would need at least a pretty-good turntable and a fairly clean copy of the record to accomplish it properly or else the receiver would hear record noise as erroneous software code. When I saw her turntable I was pretty sure she'd do it right, and sure enough, there it is.
I keep watching videos of people who find what they’re looking for on eBay, but I can never find anything there. Then again, people who don't find what they’re looking for on eBay probably don't make videos to complain about it. :-) This brings me back to my ZX-81 days!!
Wow, I'm amazed that cheap flexi disc still worked 40 years later. Even more surprised you managed to find one in the first place. I've got quite a collection of flexi discs from back in the 80's and they damage really easily. Lovely nostalgia for me, Ancient History for you. 😁
Hold me now, whoa (Hold me in your loving arms) Warm my heart (Warm my cold and tired heart) Stay with me (Stay with me) Let loving start Let loving start, whoa 80's music so so good!
Here in Brazil, there was a pioneer and visionary teacher known as Pierlugi Piazzi (Professor Pier) that had a radio show and at the end of each episode he broadcasted a program using one of available radio channels (left or right), for example on the left channel he played a song while on the right channel he was transmitting the program compatible with a computer family he said before start transmitting. This was the early days of wireless communication :)
@@j.goggels9115 that game is ace mind you I love everything about out that film pretty much, great action, fun dialogue, lawerence of Arabia type cinematography and Omar Sharif.
I follow you on Twitter thank you you tube algorithms for bringing me here. What a fascinating and unique form of media for games and a brilliant bit of trivia. You’ve got yourself a new sub. Keep up the good work Kari 😊👏🏻
Great vid! Appreciate the content. I do not remember any weird loading, just loads of pirated tapes that held 10+ games each. I don't think I ever saw a legit C64 game back in the day.
I was 6 years old when Doctor Doctor! released and I remember it being one of my earliest memories! Great song! Another of my earliest memories id typing in listings from CVG annuals on my VIC20 for hours and then getting an error at the end when I ran it, only to have to pore over the code to find the one mistyped line... thanks for being so patient dad... and for then buying me a C64! You bloody champ!!
Just found your channel Kari, and it's fantastic ! LOAD "" brought back some nostalgia for me about gaming in the late 70s & early 80s. Me & my friend would type in a game from a magazine for the ZX81 for hours (with the VERY dodgy 16k RAM pack installed), and then have to leave the room when we saved it to tape, just so that RAM pack didn't crash the computer. The ZX81, Spectrum & Dragon32 were all where my time went for most of my childhood and teens.
A BBC program(can't remember which one, I was really small and it's been almost 40 years now) used to broadcast BBC Micro programs over the credits sequence, which much like this record was meant to be recorded to tape using your TV's audio out over the credits sequence. It was really surreal, as you'd get the standard "see you next week" with the credits text scrolling across the bottom of the screen and the presenters milling around whilst a bunch of loading sounds screeched out from your TV set. Never tried it, as I had a C64 myself, but I do remember it.
If you search TH-cam for “Making the Most of the Micro” episode 10 (“The End of the Line”), you’ll find an example of an audio transmission of a program at around the 22 minute mark. They show a computer screen whilst the audio is playing. It would be fun to grab the audio and see if it can be converted to a program; perhaps via an emulator. Naturally, it’s for the BBC Micro only.
@@Innesb It may have been the same program and I'm just remembering wrong. I only saw the original broadcasts and would've been 4-5 years old, so I only have vague memories.
I remember the issues with getting games to work on the Speccy, especially a tape borrowed from a mate, full of games. When the loading screen filled in and it was missing some of the picture, or the colours were off, you knew it probably wouldn't work. Starting it again, changing the volume until it did work. Ah the memories lol
Not forgetting have a small screwdriver handy, to tweak the screw for the azimuth tape head adjustment. This would make the audio become clear as you turned the screw one way or the other.
I think we all became audio analysis experts. You could hear when it was loading right. I really missed it when games started to load without the sound.
@@timg5011I always found loading from a +2 to be very reliable, although that said the tapedeck on my current +2 is knackered. I need to resolder a loose connection.
I didn't think I was previously aware of this until it started playing. Thanks for the memory restoration. Fun fact the Thompson Twins touring drummer was Boris Williams who was subsquently in the cure for many years and an awesome drummer.
Great video. I grew up in the 80s, spent hours playing Zork. You had to be a real geek to buy it and play it. Those who know it, get it. The infancy of PC Gaming.
I seem to remember radio shows which you would record on tape. Also, there were some more games and programs on vinyl. There was packet radio. And they brought a C64 game compilation on a CD (not CD-ROM, audio CD!) with an included adapter to connect your CD player to the C64 tape port. A fast loader was included as well IIRC. Anyways, good work again. I like your content, and (please don't hold it against me) I think.. uh, let's say you're nice to look at, that's a bonus. So thanks and keep up the good work!
Loving the appreciation for the 80s from ppl not living it. Really cool to see. I think it takes curiosity and a usable brain to not be the typical millennial who has a 3 second attention span and only caring about graphics. 🙄 Such a massively empty existance. Massive kudos!
I had no idea who you were when TH-cam put one of your videos in my feed. A little Googling later and I have to say, good job! For someone so talented in tech you are doing an amazing job of being in front of the camera and making interesting, quality content. Keep it up!
This reminds me of my VC-20 with a tape drive. It was called "Datasette". I made a little speaker in the plastic box that came with a wrist watch, with a switch, because it didnt load or save data with the speaker on. For the VC-20 tape drive to work properly you had to adjust the reading/writing head with a screw driver, there was a little hole on the top for it. With a bit of experience you could hear when you had the proper adjustment. When the data compression tool came, it was a must to adjust it. I dont have the VC-20 or the tape drive anymore, but the little speaker still exists. Oh, and i cant help but stare the the bambulab 3D printer.
Thank you for this review. Huge Thompson Twins fan from America. I have only read about this game and it was unlikely released in the States. I am inspired by your ambition. Excited to see Thompson Twin Tom Bailey in June on stage performing Doctor! Doctor! in all of its synth glory. I will ask Tom about the game. Thank you for this attempt.
Holy crap, I just found your channel. Really liking the retro vibes. Seeing the C-64 reminds me of when I was a kid playing Gorf...wow I feel old. Your workshop is pretty sweet too! 👍
I had no idea there were products such as these.. Thank You so much for checking out the weird and different media that was available back then. I am still amazed at all the different stuff that was developed that I never heard of. I love the new format and the extra content... you are doing great!
This is what I had imagined in the 2000s when I was a teenager. Video games pressed on vinyl records. How awesome. I had some steampunk looking fantasy image in my head of a vinyl record playing gaming console with controller pads and 8 bit video games on it. And now it is reality! I like it.
I'm in California and the Spectrum didn't make it stateside, so thanks for sharing this. Still, I get the impression that your idea of retro is my idea of nostalgia. Cute throwback regardless!
Drowned the Thomson Twins first move... gotta love it! I was born in '71 in Atlanta, GA 🇺🇸 and grew up on the 8-Bit architecture and been loving computers ever since! Was not familiar with this game though! Take care Young Lady and thanks for the video! RCA jacks rule🤪🫂🙏🐍🇺🇸
In Germany they distributed Software during a TV show called "Computer Club". I think you needed a special decoder, which decoded some signals at the unvisible parts of the border. Pre-Internet times..:)
I remember this 😮 my brother was a Thomson Twin fan so when I bought the magazine I gave it to him. Saying that I bought the frankie goes to Hollywood game which I again gave to my brother as he was a record collector. Great video made me think about my computer/gaming past and present 😊
when I was in highschool in the late 90's we were lucky enough to have a HAM Radio tower and station at the school. It was staffed by volunteers from the local Senior's Radio Club and open for students to come and check it out and use the equipment at lunch time and after school. I mention all this because that's the place I learned that they could transfer data between computers over the radio waves (and relay towers). Maybe that would be a cool project.
I had that disc. I recall a brief glitch, something that made me think of 'digging'. I entered the command 'dig' and got a message about phoning a number to win. I phoned, but didn't win. Also, Radio 1 had an early morning show called 'Chip shop' which sent a program over the air. I never got involved in that. Class channel Kari. :)
Hi Kari, I just discovered your channel. I saw the Thompson Twins with OMD as openers in 1985 or 86, but I'm too lazy to get out my ticket stub at the moment. They were great in concert! I had no idea there was a Thompson Twins game on vinyl. I had games that loaded from cassette to an Atari computer, one was a Bruce Lee game and the other was called "Blue Max," the latter was released by Synapse. It seemed like it would take forever for those games to load, at least 30 minutes, but once they had loaded, the gameplay was excellent. I remember how excited I was when we finally got a 3 1/2 floppy drive in our computer and games could load in mere seconds. Good times!
I've never thought about it, but it does make perfect sense. Vinyl, like tape, is just an analogue medium, so if we loaded games from tape commonly, there's no reason we shouldn't have loaded games from vinyl. The reason is probably didn't load from vinyl is because there's so many variables when playing a record. Unpredictable speed changes will result in pitch fluctuation, the stylus could be picking up dust. Either way, great find and great vid :)
Distinctly remember an Everything But the Girl flexi disc on the cover of the same magazine. Don’t think it was a game though, just their latest single. Amazing content for those that lived the 80s and those who did not. Keep going Kari!
Maybe if you had a variable gain on the pre amp it may of worked 🤷🏻♀️ Nice video Kari, I knew about cassettes but not vinyl as a medium 👍🏻 Keep these videos coming, I love how nerdy you are too (in the nicest possible way 🙂) your knowledge is fantastic, thanks.
In East Germany in the 80s there was something like that as well. The youth-radio station DT-64 not only often brodcasted homecomputer programs over FM but also had released a vinyl record with the "hardbit rock" audio of a homecomputer Program for the home computers of east german production but i think the programs may also be compatible with other home computers too.
Loved this episode Kari, just imagining how I would have got this onto tape back in the 80's, as our entertainment system was a massive wooden piece of furniture with the speakers integrated !!! I wonder if you could transfer by just recording the output from the speakers directly !!! p.s. loving all the different t-shirts and your passion for retro ... you were born in the wrong century 😆
Warms my heart to see an old 48k rubber key Spectrum still in use. That was my computer from about 1986 till 1992 (upgraded to the Amiga A600). Had no idea anyone had put games on vinyl though.
Before the internet, here in Brazil, we used to download games and software via FM radio! The station would announce the game at a specific time, and then we would hit the record button on the cassette.Wild times.
Not exactly a past way of distributing a game in the past. But I have loaded a game directly from TH-cam into my ZX Spectrum and it worked ! Who would have thought that TH-cam actually hosted playable ZX Spectrum games.. but it does!
very cool. Voltage level and frequency response are two of the primary technical factors to consider when choosing between Phono and Line signals. The strength or output volume of a Phono signal ranges from 0.0002 Volt up to about 0.007 Volt, which is considered lower than that of a standard Line sign Cassette players typically use line inputs rather than phono inputs. The reason for this is that phono inputs are specifically designed to handle the low-level signal output from a turntable’s phono cartridge, which requires additional amplification and equalization due to its much lower output level and different frequency response1. On the other hand, line inputs (sometimes labeled as “aux”) are intended to handle higher-level signals that come from other audio sources, such as CD players or tape decks MIC / PHONO / LINE ALL HAVE DIFFERENT PREAMPS /EQS and other factors that will affect how the isgnal is read.
Cool way to play videogames. I heard of videocasette videogames but never heard of vinyl version of videogames. Quite interesting, keep with the good job 😊.
The B side of Kissing the Pink's "Other side of heaven" 12" had a BBC Micro program that was an animation to go with the A side track, and more or less synced up with it. As someone else mentioned the BBC also sent programs out on Teletext pages. Have loaded programs off paper tape, though not for a home computer. A friend also had a core mat and then later a bubble memory hooked up to his home machine - both of those r/w memories retain data while powered off.
I used to maintain CNC machines, as late as 1989/90 (I was 20/21), that loaded programs from paper tape. We had a couple of machines that used mini cassette tapes, but the paper tape was more reliable as it wasn’t affected by magnetism. If the paper tape broke, we could splice it by hand and manually punch the holes in the splice. The tape readers were incredibly basic, but very reliable; a miniature filament light bulb and an LDR. This was on machines that in today’s money would be hundreds of thousands of £s.
They used to broadcast software over the radio that could be recorded onto cassette. I think they did something similar on UK TV as well, back in the 80s.
Thinking back to what kind of turntables my parents had back in '84, they had the cheap all-in-one units: probably the 70's equivalent of an Alba/Bush brand. You could probably get away with wiring the Speccy to the speaker outputs and then adjust the volume level to the Speccy's sweet-spot... but you'd have to wait until your dad was at work so he wouldn't catch you messing with his hi-fi 😆
It's so cool how they had video games on vinyl. I guess you can put almost anything on vinyl. They had movies on vinyl, sound on vinyl, and video games. Even data was stored on vinyl. By the way, you have a lovely accent. Thanks for sharing your vinyl. That was a cool find for sure.
I totally remember getting this in the U.K. back in 84` .... well my next door neighbour got it and then passed it onto me , if i remember correctly the disc had a finite number of uses i.e. after the third time of playing the disk would be so damaged (due to the flimsy medium) that it could not be played anymore ... thanks for sharing , you made an old man happy !! 🙂
Wow that brings back a lot of memories, ZX Spectrum was first computer i had remember the nightmare of loading from Tapes. Just found your channel and you have a New sub.
I bought this album years ago knowing the game existed on the record. Never got around to converting the data nor playing the game. Cool seeing it action finally!
Love your channel Kari, it makes me feel young (ish) again. We had most of the retro games machines. My favourites were the Atari's 2600, 800XL, ST and Jaguar. Yes we had E.T. on the 2600. That game got panned. I really liked it. We also had at one time or other, Snes, Megadrive, Dreamcast, N64 (Import) Philips CDI, 3DO. Burn cycle was a superb game on the Philips CDI. Games seemed to be more fun in those days. Keep up the good work.
@Foersom_ behind iron curtain if you had family or friends in the west and money (specially US$) you could get relatively easy Spectrum 48k or Commodore 64 because communist were greedy if you had money.
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In Sweden we had a radioshow about computergames that let you download C64 games via the radio. They told you to get a tape ready to record and they started to play the game audio for the listener to record. Then you put your tape into your C64 and there was your game. Computer game downloading in the 80s.
Det där kommer jag ihåg! :D
@@H3adcrash The Computer Show in the UK did something very similar on the TV
We had this in UK too. Mel Croucher was a video game don! Known as the father of the UK gaming industry and a pioneer game developer. He started broadcasting games over FM and AM radio in late 1970s.
Did they do it as a quick data burst or full length?
Wow!
The *wildest* way of loading a game I ever saw was this:
A British TV show in the early 1980s (Database? The Computer Programme? Micro Live?) taught viewers how to hand-solder a light sensitive sensor at home. Then in subsequent episodes they would flash a white square in the corner of the screen throughout the episode. You would place your home-made device against the screen for the whole episode and it would transfer the signal to tape.
I just mentioned that on another post. I think it was Micro Live but I'd have to check back through the episodes I have. The other series it might have been was Makig the Most of the Micro.
I did some digging, and the only reference I can find to the light-dependent-resistor (LDR) method of downloading software relates to to the Thames TV programme, “Database” in 1984. The IMDB entry for the programme even mentions it in the brief description (although there is no further detail about the show). ChatGPT also referred to ‘Database’ doing this in 1984, but was unable to provide references. There are some excerpts from ‘Database’ on TH-cam, on the official ThamesTV channel, but so far I haven’t seen any reference to the LDR software downloads. It would be fun to find one of the transmissions online; it shouldn’t take much effort to decode it if the whole transmission is available.
I clearly remember a TV programme doing this, but I have no recollection of the Database TV programme, which is a surprise to me, as I was absolutely obsessed with computers in 1984 (aged 16) and I was also keen on electronics, so I knew what an LDR was (and definitely had some at that age) and remember thinking about building the circuit. It puzzles me that I don’t recall the Database programme, and I’m wondering if it was not shown in my TV region (NW). For this reason, I suspect that another TV programme used the same method; probably one of the BBC shows (The Computer Program, Making the most of the Micro, Micro Live), as I watched all of those. Even watching a few of the Database excerpts on TH-cam didn’t prompt any memories, so I’m convinced that I did not see any of those programmes. However, I guess it’s possible that my memory is wrong.
Woah! Did that actually work?!?
@@leeosborne3793 i wouldve thought thered be a problem with the screen flicker causing issues..unless the interface circuit filters it out.??, i vaguely remember the idea..
@@leeosborne3793 It worked for us!
I had this disk as a teenager. Sold it on eBay a few years ago. I can't believe you finished it!! I never had any luck with it at all. My memory is of seeing sand everywhere which ever direction I went. You are very knowledgeable and I love your enthusiasm! I really enjoyed this video. Thank you from a 55yr old spectrum geek
She used a mod menu most likely
I can't believe this actually worked. Tech in the 80s was crazy, everything was slow and janky but there was a ton of creativity.
Because it wasn't all owned by 3 companies!!
@@pepeshadilay I can still remember when Electronic Arts was some weird little company that produced a terrific action game called 'Mail Order Monsters'! I'd love to play that again and see their neat loading-screen effect with the EA logo pulsing in colors.
Kari has more grasp on 80s tech than I do and I was ACTUALLY there!!!
Well, we didn't exactly have the web, wikipedia, eBay, etc. in the 1980s. Even if you were online, you had FTP sites and NNTP and UUCP and such for the most part in the 1980s.
@@grey5626 That’s true. But the tenacity she’s displayed in acquiring THREE copies of the program on vinyl, the patience she had to show to copy the game from vinyl to cassette and then to play it on such slow hardware all indicate that she would have been successful even back then.
In another video she typed the BASIC code from the computer magazine into her Spectrum computer to get a feel for how it worked back then before she then converted it to Python and tweaked it for performance.
We who lived it have very fond memories of much simpler times but this young lady is definitely a kindred spirit.
Skill issue
@@grey5626 But you did have the printed magazine with explicit instructions.
Back in the 80s in the US there was a weekly (FM) radio show about computers and for the last 5 minutes of the show they would play a game that you could record/download.
In Germany they did that too on the PBS show "Computer Club". At the end of the show when the credits were rolling they also told people to start their audio recorders for the incoming "hardbit rock" and you would then hear the data audio. It was often just normal programs i think. Not so much games.
So weird and awesome! Born in 81, I had no idea this was a thing!
Also existed in Denmark in radio show.
Into the Gap by the Thompson Twins is absolutely peak 80s. A ZX Spectrum game about it is more 80s than it is possible to measure
I see Into The Gap and raise you Love On Your Side!
I dont recall how I came across this channel, but I have happily enjoyed it's content. The 80's was the best decade! 🤗
It’s amazing how much information you are able to share in less than 10min. It really shows your passion
As a Brummie who now lives in the US, it was a pleasant surprise to hear your accent.
Just watched all of your videos - awesome work so far, you got another subscriber!
My friend's brother was a huge Thompson Twins fan, and one day my friend and I discovered the Thompson Twins game disk he had in his collection.
We were able to successfully transfer it to a tape and play it. Surprisingly, it actually worked first time.
I recently stumbled upon this channel by accident and was immediately hooked. It brings back memories from my early youth. I'm glad to see that young people are still getting excited about retro computers and game consoles these days. Please keep up the good work. Many greetings from Germany
I couldn't help but laugh at 7:23. Love how the very first thing you do is kill the Thompson Twins in the ocean 🤣
And with a straight face!
I love how you started out with an almost free one from the thrift shop, then ended up spending $$$ and now own three copies. It reminds me so much of the type of thing I do!
Didn't even know this was possible. Great discovery of past technology and how far we've come.
Reverse engineering has been around for a long long time
@@Nick1921945 Right on!
I wouldn't have thought it would be possible back then anyway, but it makes sense if you can rip vinyl records on your PC that other data files could work. A cassette is essentially the same as a floppy disk too, the main difference is it being a spinning platter instead of tape. It's still weird to think of a game being on vinyl, never even thought of it being a thing. I get how it works but it's still so strange to me, it definitely seems like a novelty thing as floppy disks are both built-in and would be far more optimal lol.
It'd be kind of cool to see this make a comeback as limited special editions of certain games, even if it's just to collect a vinyl copy of the game maybe to put on the wall. Of course they could also have a soundtrack on it(the opposite side) and it would have to be smaller games, maybe indie retro style games. It'd be interesting to play the game data as audio.
Doctor doctor, can't you see ma Spectrum's burning burning🤣 I'll get my coat.
Load me now,
Oh oh,
Load my code
Lol load coding better than coating your load….
@@marc.lepage Play with meeeee..... let's hit re-start, don't touch that dial....
I adore The Thompson Twins. I was an 80's child, and I never heard of this until now. Cool.
me neither . i always thought vinyl was for music audio only. never knew that vinyl can hold "actual data"
Something you might enjoy, Information Society used to hide things on their albums. The coolest being a hidden easter egg hunt to download a hidden track in bits and pieces of a rar file to get the song back on the mid 90s. They also used CD+G so, their album had video hidden on it.
My friends and I are in love with your accent, to the point where we play a drinking game everytime you say the word here “heeeyah!” We take a shot
Unfortunately we’re usually smashed half way through however your videos are informative, entertaining and addictive! Please keep posting!
Very impressed with this channel. Well presented, and done very naturally. Better than most professional TV presenters for this type of content. Great production values and just the right level of depth. Great to see young people with a genuine interest in technology at more than a superficial level.
In Hungary there is a band called KFT (means Ltd.). They released an album in 1984 with the title Ball at the Opera. They planned to add a Basic program on the vinyl record but before releasing the album the national record company realized that they are not able to put it on the record due to some technical difficulties. They ended up providing the program by printing the lines on the cover of the record.
And probably better to be honest, if it's not a long program. I remember lots of books and magazines at the time provided simple games as BASIC listings, with instructions for how to adapt the code to run on various different computers.
This brings back memories the sound of a spectrum loading 😍
In the 80s my grandparents gave us a couple old computers. Maybe not *that* old at the time, but still. The TRS-80 and the TI 99/4A, and i remember having games on cassette tape. I remember too way back, when you ordered PC games from a "catalog", which was really a B&W home printed booklet with a list, fairly simple explanations for them. You eventually got it in the mail, a floppy disc in a plastic sandwich bag. It took more creativity back then, having those limitations. I miss it, as simple as it seems. It was so much more genuine then, more like hobbyists coming together, not so by the books corporate.
@@derealized797 - I remember reading the descriptions in the mail-order catalogue lists, for obscure games I'd never heard of that were probably terrible, and just imagining them being really great.
@@AnthonyFlack A lot of NES games turned out to be terrible, that was just sort of unfortunately how it went back then. Even the early game magazines weren't that great at reviews yet, of course "game journalism" is at it's absolute worst now, it was still interesting in it's own ways. The TRS-80 had it's own magazine, i remember they would list programs for you to try at home. And that's one cool thing from back then, kids were learning about computers and programming, in a way we just don't see anymore.
For those of us old enough to recall loading programs from tape drives on the 80s, this is quite interesting.
I am amazed it actually loaded.
I was thinking it would need at least a pretty-good turntable and a fairly clean copy of the record to accomplish it properly or else the receiver would hear record noise as erroneous software code. When I saw her turntable I was pretty sure she'd do it right, and sure enough, there it is.
I keep watching videos of people who find what they’re looking for on eBay, but I can never find anything there. Then again, people who don't find what they’re looking for on eBay probably don't make videos to complain about it. :-) This brings me back to my ZX-81 days!!
Hit up the second hand shops, still plenty of these things make it there.
Brilliant! This is so niche i love it! From someone who luckily had the 48k Speccy back in 1983! This is why i love the internet. Thanks Kari 😊
I have never heard of this. Lest the Thompson Twins tie-in. Mind absolutely blown.
Wow, I'm amazed that cheap flexi disc still worked 40 years later. Even more surprised you managed to find one in the first place. I've got quite a collection of flexi discs from back in the 80's and they damage really easily. Lovely nostalgia for me, Ancient History for you. 😁
Your technical & coding skills are amazing. Love to watching all your projects..
Hold me now, whoa
(Hold me in your loving arms)
Warm my heart
(Warm my cold and tired heart)
Stay with me
(Stay with me)
Let loving start
Let loving start, whoa
80's music so so good!
Load me now
Load my code
Play my game
Let program start
Let program start whoa
Here in Brazil, there was a pioneer and visionary teacher known as Pierlugi Piazzi (Professor Pier) that had a radio show and at the end of each episode he broadcasted a program using one of available radio channels (left or right), for example on the left channel he played a song while on the right channel he was transmitting the program compatible with a computer family he said before start transmitting.
This was the early days of wireless communication :)
That Rambo III top is amazing.
As having a whole barrel, for sure wouldn't look as amazing on me...
Great Mega Drive game !
@@j.goggels9115 that game is ace mind you I love everything about out that film pretty much, great action, fun dialogue, lawerence of Arabia type cinematography and Omar Sharif.
Bottom is even better ;)
I follow you on Twitter thank you you tube algorithms for bringing me here. What a fascinating and unique form of media for games and a brilliant bit of trivia. You’ve got yourself a new sub. Keep up the good work Kari 😊👏🏻
Great vid! Appreciate the content. I do not remember any weird loading, just loads of pirated tapes that held 10+ games each. I don't think I ever saw a legit C64 game back in the day.
I had heard of vinyl games but never seen one before! Thanks Kari for sharing!
Awesome video, really love the obscurity and retro cool of this. You're doing great with these! 😀
I was 6 years old when Doctor Doctor! released and I remember it being one of my earliest memories! Great song! Another of my earliest memories id typing in listings from CVG annuals on my VIC20 for hours and then getting an error at the end when I ran it, only to have to pore over the code to find the one mistyped line... thanks for being so patient dad... and for then buying me a C64! You bloody champ!!
Just found your channel Kari, and it's fantastic ! LOAD "" brought back some nostalgia for me about gaming in the late 70s & early 80s. Me & my friend would type in a game from a magazine for the ZX81 for hours (with the VERY dodgy 16k RAM pack installed), and then have to leave the room when we saved it to tape, just so that RAM pack didn't crash the computer. The ZX81, Spectrum & Dragon32 were all where my time went for most of my childhood and teens.
love it when Kari talks nerdy to me LOL. didnt even know games could be laoded from a vinyl record
A BBC program(can't remember which one, I was really small and it's been almost 40 years now) used to broadcast BBC Micro programs over the credits sequence, which much like this record was meant to be recorded to tape using your TV's audio out over the credits sequence.
It was really surreal, as you'd get the standard "see you next week" with the credits text scrolling across the bottom of the screen and the presenters milling around whilst a bunch of loading sounds screeched out from your TV set. Never tried it, as I had a C64 myself, but I do remember it.
It did actually work and load, and yeah it seemed like magic to a 12 year old like myself back then.
If you search TH-cam for “Making the Most of the Micro” episode 10 (“The End of the Line”), you’ll find an example of an audio transmission of a program at around the 22 minute mark. They show a computer screen whilst the audio is playing. It would be fun to grab the audio and see if it can be converted to a program; perhaps via an emulator. Naturally, it’s for the BBC Micro only.
Wasn't Ceefax used for software transmission as well? I don't know how it worked, though.
@@Innesb It may have been the same program and I'm just remembering wrong. I only saw the original broadcasts and would've been 4-5 years old, so I only have vague memories.
I remember the issues with getting games to work on the Speccy, especially a tape borrowed from a mate, full of games. When the loading screen filled in and it was missing some of the picture, or the colours were off, you knew it probably wouldn't work. Starting it again, changing the volume until it did work. Ah the memories lol
Not forgetting have a small screwdriver handy, to tweak the screw for the azimuth tape head adjustment. This would make the audio become clear as you turned the screw one way or the other.
I think we all became audio analysis experts. You could hear when it was loading right. I really missed it when games started to load without the sound.
Kids today don't know the difficulties of gaming.
I'm going to go and yell at clouds now.
@@EgoShredder You had a +2 too? :)
@@timg5011I always found loading from a +2 to be very reliable, although that said the tapedeck on my current +2 is knackered. I need to resolder a loose connection.
Very cool project. Really enjoying the channel 😁
I didn't think I was previously aware of this until it started playing. Thanks for the memory restoration.
Fun fact the Thompson Twins touring drummer was Boris Williams who was subsquently in the cure for many years and an awesome drummer.
At least they didn't die of dysentery like the Oregon Trail 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Great video. I grew up in the 80s, spent hours playing Zork. You had to be a real geek to buy it and play it. Those who know it, get it. The infancy of PC Gaming.
I love this channel, it’s like a cross between Violet Berlin and Techmoan. Keep it up, these videos are fascinating
everyone knows you're just jerging it, stop pretending you're not
I seem to remember radio shows which you would record on tape. Also, there were some more games and programs on vinyl. There was packet radio. And they brought a C64 game compilation on a CD (not CD-ROM, audio CD!) with an included adapter to connect your CD player to the C64 tape port. A fast loader was included as well IIRC.
Anyways, good work again. I like your content, and (please don't hold it against me) I think.. uh, let's say you're nice to look at, that's a bonus. So thanks and keep up the good work!
Loving the appreciation for the 80s from ppl not living it. Really cool to see. I think it takes curiosity and a usable brain to not be the typical millennial who has a 3 second attention span and only caring about graphics. 🙄 Such a massively empty existance.
Massive kudos!
I had no idea who you were when TH-cam put one of your videos in my feed. A little Googling later and I have to say, good job! For someone so talented in tech you are doing an amazing job of being in front of the camera and making interesting, quality content. Keep it up!
This reminds me of my VC-20 with a tape drive. It was called "Datasette". I made a little speaker in the plastic box that came with a wrist watch, with a switch, because it didnt load or save data with the speaker on. For the VC-20 tape drive to work properly you had to adjust the reading/writing head with a screw driver, there was a little hole on the top for it. With a bit of experience you could hear when you had the proper adjustment. When the data compression tool came, it was a must to adjust it. I dont have the VC-20 or the tape drive anymore, but the little speaker still exists. Oh, and i cant help but stare the the bambulab 3D printer.
Thank you for this review. Huge Thompson Twins fan from America. I have only read about this game and it was unlikely released in the States. I am inspired by your ambition. Excited to see Thompson Twin Tom Bailey in June on stage performing Doctor! Doctor! in all of its synth glory. I will ask Tom about the game. Thank you for this attempt.
Holy crap, I just found your channel. Really liking the retro vibes. Seeing the C-64 reminds me of when I was a kid playing Gorf...wow I feel old. Your workshop is pretty sweet too! 👍
Wow! I've never even heard about this. Thank you for making a video of it
and good job getting it to load. Thanks Kari.
I had no idea there were products such as these.. Thank You so much for checking out the weird and different media that was available back then. I am still amazed at all the different stuff that was developed that I never heard of. I love the new format and the extra content... you are doing great!
This is what I had imagined in the 2000s when I was a teenager. Video games pressed on vinyl records. How awesome. I had some steampunk looking fantasy image in my head of a vinyl record playing gaming console with controller pads and 8 bit video games on it. And now it is reality! I like it.
I'm in California and the Spectrum didn't make it stateside, so thanks for sharing this. Still, I get the impression that your idea of retro is my idea of nostalgia. Cute throwback regardless!
Drowned the Thomson Twins first move... gotta love it! I was born in '71 in Atlanta, GA 🇺🇸 and grew up on the 8-Bit architecture and been loving computers ever since! Was not familiar with this game though! Take care Young Lady and thanks for the video! RCA jacks rule🤪🫂🙏🐍🇺🇸
nice work. back in the day, we had a few c band satellite channels where we got software and ‘data’ 😉 from. thanks for the video.
Could you elaborate? Is this just tv?
In Germany they distributed Software during a TV show called "Computer Club". I think you needed a special decoder, which decoded some signals at the unvisible parts of the border. Pre-Internet times..:)
They called it Videodat and used a tecnique similar to videotext.
All your t-shirts are awesome!!
I remember this 😮 my brother was a Thomson Twin fan so when I bought the magazine I gave it to him. Saying that I bought the frankie goes to Hollywood game which I again gave to my brother as he was a record collector. Great video made me think about my computer/gaming past and present 😊
This is hands down the best content recommended by TH-cam!! Great video!!!
when I was in highschool in the late 90's we were lucky enough to have a HAM Radio tower and station at the school. It was staffed by volunteers from the local Senior's Radio Club and open for students to come and check it out and use the equipment at lunch time and after school.
I mention all this because that's the place I learned that they could transfer data between computers over the radio waves (and relay towers). Maybe that would be a cool project.
I had that disc. I recall a brief glitch, something that made me think of 'digging'. I entered the command 'dig' and got a message about phoning a number to win. I phoned, but didn't win. Also, Radio 1 had an early morning show called 'Chip shop' which sent a program over the air. I never got involved in that. Class channel Kari. :)
Hi Kari, I just discovered your channel. I saw the Thompson Twins with OMD as openers in 1985 or 86, but I'm too lazy to get out my ticket stub at the moment. They were great in concert! I had no idea there was a Thompson Twins game on vinyl. I had games that loaded from cassette to an Atari computer, one was a Bruce Lee game and the other was called "Blue Max," the latter was released by Synapse. It seemed like it would take forever for those games to load, at least 30 minutes, but once they had loaded, the gameplay was excellent. I remember how excited I was when we finally got a 3 1/2 floppy drive in our computer and games could load in mere seconds. Good times!
You could get the record into a early 1970s IBM 8inch floppy disk drive. The originals stored a whopping 80 KB
I've never thought about it, but it does make perfect sense. Vinyl, like tape, is just an analogue medium, so if we loaded games from tape commonly, there's no reason we shouldn't have loaded games from vinyl. The reason is probably didn't load from vinyl is because there's so many variables when playing a record. Unpredictable speed changes will result in pitch fluctuation, the stylus could be picking up dust. Either way, great find and great vid :)
Amazing channel and interesting personality of the host. Wish you the best, greetings from Poland.
Distinctly remember an Everything But the Girl flexi disc on the cover of the same magazine. Don’t think it was a game though, just their latest single. Amazing content for those that lived the 80s and those who did not. Keep going Kari!
Maybe if you had a variable gain on the pre amp it may of worked 🤷🏻♀️
Nice video Kari, I knew about cassettes but not vinyl as a medium 👍🏻
Keep these videos coming, I love how nerdy you are too (in the nicest possible way 🙂) your knowledge is fantastic, thanks.
In East Germany in the 80s there was something like that as well. The youth-radio station DT-64 not only often brodcasted homecomputer programs over FM but also had released a vinyl record with the "hardbit rock" audio of a homecomputer Program for the home computers of east german production but i think the programs may also be compatible with other home computers too.
Haha! I bought this back in the day and tried everything to get it to work but to no avail!! Funny to see it all these years later!
Loved this episode Kari, just imagining how I would have got this onto tape back in the 80's, as our entertainment system was a massive wooden piece of furniture with the speakers integrated !!! I wonder if you could transfer by just recording the output from the speakers directly !!!
p.s. loving all the different t-shirts and your passion for retro ... you were born in the wrong century 😆
Some of us were for sure.
Warms my heart to see an old 48k rubber key Spectrum still in use. That was my computer from about 1986 till 1992 (upgraded to the Amiga A600).
Had no idea anyone had put games on vinyl though.
It’s amazing someone so young, is so knowledgeable in vintage/retro tech!
Before the internet, here in Brazil, we used to download games and software via FM radio! The station would announce the game at a specific time, and then we would hit the record button on the cassette.Wild times.
I love your energy
Not exactly a past way of distributing a game in the past. But I have loaded a game directly from TH-cam into my ZX Spectrum and it worked ! Who would have thought that TH-cam actually hosted playable ZX Spectrum games.. but it does!
very cool. Voltage level and frequency response are two of the primary technical factors to consider when choosing between Phono and Line signals. The strength or output volume of a Phono signal ranges from 0.0002 Volt up to about 0.007 Volt, which is considered lower than that of a standard Line sign Cassette players typically use line inputs rather than phono inputs. The reason for this is that phono inputs are specifically designed to handle the low-level signal output from a turntable’s phono cartridge, which requires additional amplification and equalization due to its much lower output level and different frequency response1. On the other hand, line inputs (sometimes labeled as “aux”) are intended to handle higher-level signals that come from other audio sources, such as CD players or tape decks MIC / PHONO / LINE ALL HAVE DIFFERENT PREAMPS /EQS and other factors that will affect how the isgnal is read.
Cool way to play videogames. I heard of videocasette videogames but never heard of vinyl version of videogames. Quite interesting, keep with the good job 😊.
Another great video, Kari!
Your content is amazing! Looking forward to see more.
I have never seen this before. Cool find!
Interesting AND beautiful, thanks for giving us a ride back in time!
I love the way you talk and look so much omfg
I just found your channel and I love it. I also loved bandersnatch.
Absolutely loving these videos!! Great work creating this content I never knew I needed. 😅
The B side of Kissing the Pink's "Other side of heaven" 12" had a BBC Micro program that was an animation to go with the A side track, and more or less synced up with it.
As someone else mentioned the BBC also sent programs out on Teletext pages.
Have loaded programs off paper tape, though not for a home computer. A friend also had a core mat and then later a bubble memory hooked up to his home machine - both of those r/w memories retain data while powered off.
I used to maintain CNC machines, as late as 1989/90 (I was 20/21), that loaded programs from paper tape. We had a couple of machines that used mini cassette tapes, but the paper tape was more reliable as it wasn’t affected by magnetism. If the paper tape broke, we could splice it by hand and manually punch the holes in the splice. The tape readers were incredibly basic, but very reliable; a miniature filament light bulb and an LDR. This was on machines that in today’s money would be hundreds of thousands of £s.
Chris Sievey did the same with his single "Camouflage", providing a ZX81 program on the B-side that displayed synced graphics for the music.
They used to broadcast software over the radio that could be recorded onto cassette. I think they did something similar on UK TV as well, back in the 80s.
Thinking back to what kind of turntables my parents had back in '84, they had the cheap all-in-one units: probably the 70's equivalent of an Alba/Bush brand. You could probably get away with wiring the Speccy to the speaker outputs and then adjust the volume level to the Speccy's sweet-spot... but you'd have to wait until your dad was at work so he wouldn't catch you messing with his hi-fi 😆
It's so cool how they had video games on vinyl. I guess you can put almost anything on vinyl. They had movies on vinyl, sound on vinyl, and video games. Even data was stored on vinyl. By the way, you have a lovely accent. Thanks for sharing your vinyl. That was a cool find for sure.
This is your most interesting video yet! I had no idea games via records was ever a thing. I love your red pants, too. 😏
Was scrolling to see if anyone said anything about the pants yet and indeed here we go… lol
HAHA! That clear light-up phone brings back some memories!
I totally remember getting this in the U.K. back in 84` .... well my next door neighbour got it and then passed it onto me , if i remember correctly the disc had a finite number of uses i.e. after the third time of playing the disk would be so damaged (due to the flimsy medium) that it could not be played anymore ... thanks for sharing , you made an old man happy !! 🙂
I had this game on a tape full of games that my mate gave me don't know if he got it like that or copied it from vinyl himself
Wow that brings back a lot of memories, ZX Spectrum was first computer i had remember the nightmare of loading from Tapes. Just found your channel and you have a New sub.
wearing vinyl like that while loading speccy games from vinyl like that is just on another level.. ❤subscribed. :)
I love this! We don’t have enough games on vinyl these days!
That'd give these kids who play games these days something to complain about.
Where are my pipe and slippers?
I bought this album years ago knowing the game existed on the record. Never got around to converting the data nor playing the game. Cool seeing it action finally!
Love your channel Kari, it makes me feel young (ish) again.
We had most of the retro games machines. My favourites
were the Atari's 2600, 800XL, ST and Jaguar.
Yes we had E.T. on the 2600. That game got panned.
I really liked it.
We also had at one time or other, Snes, Megadrive, Dreamcast, N64 (Import) Philips CDI,
3DO. Burn cycle was a superb game on the Philips CDI.
Games seemed to be more fun in those days.
Keep up the good work.
In Poland there were radio show where you could download games for c64/spectrum 48k.
What amazing 80s were.
How did you get this home computer hardware in Poland in 1980s?
@Foersom_ behind iron curtain if you had family or friends in the west and money (specially US$) you could get relatively easy Spectrum 48k or Commodore 64 because communist were greedy if you had money.
This is awesome. I love The Thompson Twins and never knew they worked on a game.
I love your British.