8BitGuy1

Thomann Synth Reactor 2019

So, I just got back from Germany a few days ago, and put together this rather long video of the journey and the event.  I had to cut out a lot of stuff to get this down to a reasonable length.  Unfortunately, as always it seemed I didn't have any video clips of some of the things I wanted to show because I forgot to film it when I was there.   Anyway, I think this came out pretty decent.  I hope you guys enjoy some of the surprises!  It's going to take me a long ...

How Speech Synthesizers Work

Sorry it has taken me so long to complete this.  I'm sure you guys are tired of hearing about me shipping boxes every day and slowing me down, and believe me, I'm tired of doing it.  I was only able to get 2 or 3 hours of video work in per day for the last few weeks, and this is the product of that work.  Unfortunately, I would imagine this situation will continue for another 4 or 5 weeks.  

I hope I don't run into any copyright complaints from this video since I did...

Building my Dream Computer - Part 1

OK.. I started this video about a month ago.  Sorry it has taken so long.  This will be an interesting year as this project starts to take shape.   Here's a shortcut to the prototype facebook group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/396408204443613/

This will go live tomorrow after I'm done with subtitles and thumbnail.

Address seen - people go crazy

Just a little Patreon Exclusive talking about the recent craziness surrounding my address being visible in a video.

4 Brand-New Retro Games for 2019

In this episode I take a look at 4 new games that have come out for old systems:
Rikki & Vikki for the Atari 7800
Digiloi for the Commodore 64
Farming Simulator for the C64
Portal for the Commodore 64

And I hope you like the episode.  I like to do one or two such episodes every year and these 4 games I felt were worthy of review.

Video will go live to the rest of the world either tonight or tomorrow morning when I am done with the subtitles and a thumbnail. 2019-02-04 19:42:08 +0000 UTC View Post

8-Bit Unboxing - January 2019

It's been a while, so here's a new unboxing.  

Sinclair ZX80, ZX81, and Timex Sinclair 1000 Documentary

OK, so this took about a week longer than expected because I kept running into a variety of hardware problems.  My Timex Sinclair 1000 and 1500 both died in the course of filming this.  I didn't have a television that could display PAL so I couldn't show the ZX81 working properly other than screen captures from an emulator.  As a result I was also not able to get the printer working.  But I really wanted to finish this video up, so I put together what I had.  I hope i...

Compaq and Hyperion - First IBM Clones

And here's another documentary I've been promising for a while.  I would have had it done a few days ago, but ran into some problems that you'll see in in the video, and also have been fighting some really bad allergies this week.  I ended up re-shooting some of it because my nose sounded so bad.  You can still hear it in a few narrated parts that sounds like I'm holding my nose, but I only re-did the worst parts.   Anyway, I hope you like it!  It will go live to...

January 2019 rambling...

Patreon exclusive. Just some retrospective and some updates for 2019.

The Tandy 1000 Documentary

Whew.. Been working on this video for almost two weeks while simultaneously trying to wrap up Planet X3.  I'll finish the subtitles and thumbnail tomorrow.  But you guys can enjoy today!

How Game Controllers Work

Well, this video should have been done a week ago.  It's been almost done for a while but crazy things kept happening to keep me from finishing the last 10% or so of the video.  Everything from taking my mom to the DMV to get her license renewed and ended up sitting there 5 and a half hours one day, a family member having a baby, my wife having laser eye surgery, and top it off that Planet X3 is in the final stages of beta-testing.  So I've spent a huge amount of time fixing bugs ...

8-Bit Keys - The Casio PT-180

Well, it's been 6 months since I posted an 8-Bit Keys episode.  I purposefully skipped 3 months in the Summer due to conventions.  But starting with September I said, "I'm definitely going to make one this month."  But then it never happened.  Repeat the next month, and almost didn't make it out this month.  Sad part is, I actually filmed the first half of this back before I left for Florida a few weeks ago.  I spent the last 4 days finishing it up.  Anyway, ho...

Bell and Howell Restoration

After 13 months, you can finally see the Bell and Howell get some love.

What type of game would you like to see next?

As I'm nearing the end of development of Planet X3 (well, within the next few months) my mind can't help but dwell on what game I might start next.  Obviously, I don't plan to write a single line of code until I'm done with the one I'm working on.  But I still like to be thinking about it. 

At this point, I'm still planning to target MS-DOS and most likely would still be targeting a 4.77 Mhz XT with CGA as the base system much like I did in Planet X3.  So, keeping that in m...

Patreon Exclusive - November Rambling.

Just an update on some of the things that have been going on.  

Update for The C64 Mini, new firmware!

That's some facial expression in that thumbnail there... Good thing I'll be making a new one in the morning and releasing this to the world.  :-)   Anyway, hope you like this little update.  

The Rise and Fall of AST Computer - Tales from Tech Support

I just wanted to share this presentation I did a few weeks ago at the Portland Retro Gaming Convetion for those who haven't seen it yet.   For those who have seen it, this version has had the audio fixed from the first version they uploaded.

I would like to turn this into an actual video for my channel some day, but I'm still struggling to figure out how to do it because I have so little footage and pictures from the era.  It works well as a live presentation but not so gre...

Update on The Gigatron computer

I got a new ROM chip and a keyboard adapter for it, plus now it runs BASIC.  So I wanted to revisit the computer and see what it can do now.  

RGB Mod Update

I rarely do this, but I felt this was worth making a little addendum.  Also, I am going to be leaving for Portland in a few days for the Retro Gaming Expo there, so I probably won't be able to get another video done before that.  So, I hope you enjoy!

Modding a consumer television for RGB input

Well, this was originally planned to be a two parter, but for once a project ended up going more or less to plan and so I was able to fit it all into a single episode.  Of course, there's plenty of room for improvement in this design, but it's something I hope will keep people from throwing out their old CRT televisions and making them useful again!

This will go live later tonight or tomorrow morning when I'm done with the closed captions.

Compaq Portable Restoration-Part 2

This project ended up being a nightmare with 5 times more problems to fix than I originally suspected.  However, it is all working now.  I was concerned for a while that I wouldn't be able to get it working well enough to make the documentary I wanted to make.  So I'm relieved that I'll be able to make it.  I hope to feature it along side the Hyperion as the first ever IBM compatible computers.

Unboxing July-September 2018

I wanted to get this out yesterday but it just didn't happen.  I was sick all last week with the flu or something similar and then got better just in time to do a convention all weekend.  So I didn't start working on this until Monday.   Anyway, here it is.  

I'm about 95% done filming the Compaq restoration episode Part 2, so you'll be seeing that in a few days.

Commodore History Part 5 - The C128

Almost two weeks in the making, it is finally done!  I hope you enjoy!

Planet X3 Status Update - Part 3

So, while waiting on things I need to complete the next couple of episodes, I decided to spend a few days and put together an update of Planet X3.  I hope you find this little update interesting.

Compaq Portable Restoration - Part 1

Whew... been working on this for 7 days.  Hope you guys enjoy!

Should I include the Commodore PC clones?

As most of you know, I've been working on this Commodore history series covering all of their machines from the PET to eventually the Amiga.  However, it's been brought to my attention that I should include the PC series such as the PC-10 and the Colt.  Since I've been trying to do this series in chronological order, if I were to include these I'd need to make it the very next episode of Commodore history instead of the C128 episode I was planning.   So I guess there are 3 op...

Think Different Challenge - The Apple PIIe - Part 4

This is the multi-part collaboration I mentioned recently.  Took me about a week to doo all of these mods and produce the video.  Hope you guys enjoy!

Patreon Exclusive - August Rambling

In this video I'll show you a few pictures from my European Vacation, and then tell you a bit about what's going on in my usual rambling style.

Color Photos from a Black and White Camera

This is a follow up I've been promising for a while.  Still need to come up with a good thumbnail and finish subtitles, so it will go live tomorrow morning.  In the meantime, enjoy!

Commodore 128D restoration

This is just a quick video of retrobriting my C128D in preparation for the upcoming Commodore History series on the C128.   I have another video I'm starting today which would be real quick for you Patrons telling you about my trip and some things going on with the channel that I hope you will enjoy as well!