Tagged: RETRO COMPUTING

12 September 2026

The Past Has Other Plans

Three retro projects prove old games still have new tricks: Mega Drive VR gives classic 16-bit worlds fresh depth, Monster World RPG turns Wonder Boy nostalgia into a fan-made adventure, and BBC Micro reverse-engineering opens the code behind the magic.

Retro beige CRT monitor displaying a blue boot screen with the headline "Still Booting" above a READY. prompt and block cursor.

Retrocomputing

17 August 2026

Still Booting

Commodore folded in 1994. The Commodore 64 never got the memo. Meet C64 OS: the mouse-driven, multi-desktop, app-store-equipped operating system that one determined developer built for a 40-year-old machine with 64 kilobytes of memory, and keeps updating for free.

Vintage PC parts, floppy disks, manuals and chips on a desk.

Retrocomputing

26 June 2026

The Computer Museum You Can Boot

86Box emulates IBM PC hardware from the original 1981 era to late-1990s systems—recreating processors, BIOS, sound cards, graphics adapters and storage controllers to preserve the messy reality of early personal computing.

A layered diorama of secret point-and-click adventure game rooms, including a pirate cave, mansion corridor, jungle shrine, developer test room, and unfinished blueprint room with cursor icons and inventory items.

Gaming

18 May 2026

The Rooms You Were Never Meant to Enter: Hidden Leftovers in Point-and-Click Adventures

Hidden rooms, unused graphics, forgotten dialogue, and abandoned puzzles: a playful look at the strange leftovers buried inside classic point-and-click adventure games.

September 2026
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17 September 2026

One of Apple’s strangest unfinished chapters has just become much easier to explore. Michael Steil has managed to get Copland D11E4, the final publicly available build of Apple’s abandoned next-generation operating system, running inside an improved version of the DingusPPC emulator — directly in a web browser.

Copland was Apple’s ambitious mid-1990s attempt to replace System 7 with a considerably more modern architecture, including a microkernel, virtual memory and pre-emptive multitasking. The project was eventually cancelled, with Apple instead acquiring NeXT and following the technological path that would ultimately lead to Mac OS X.

The browser version uses WebAssembly and, according to Steil, a modern computer can emulate the system at roughly the speed of the original hardware. Getting D11E4 running required 11 patches to DingusPPC. Once booted, you can actually poke around Copland and try surviving software such as GXSlidemaster and Eric’s Solitaire.

It is unstable, unfinished and occasionally drops straight into a debugger — which, frankly, makes it an even more authentic visit to one of computing history’s most fascinating dead ends.

17 September 2026

The Master System isn’t done saving the universe. Razing Core, released by Bad Computer on 8 September, is a new vertical shoot ’em up for the Sega Master System and Mark III, sending the spaceship Horizon into battle against an invading alien armada.

There are seven stages across the solar system, upgradeable primary, secondary and Core weapons, plus a Burst Charge attack with five charge levels. Screen-filling bosses and multiple mid-bosses provide the opposition, while boss checkpoints and unlimited continues offer some breathing room between explosions. Mega Drive controllers are also supported, giving the three attacks their own buttons.

The game is available on itch.io from US$7.99, with a printable illustrated manual and a free first-stage demo. It comes as a Master System ROM for compatible emulators, FPGA systems or original hardware with a suitable flash cartridge, and is designed for 60 Hz play. A physical edition is planned for 2027.

One caveat for EverDrive X7 owners: the developer reports that using save states can reset the game in some areas, with a fix planned for the next update.

17 September 2026

An elusive piece of PlayStation 2 hardware has finally surrendered its firmware. DiscoStarslayer has announced a breakthrough in dumping early PS2 MechaCon security controllers, following four years of reverse engineering. The research progressed from physically exposing the silicon and optically reading its memory to a software-based extraction method, with fellow researcher Libby credited for discovering the crucial exploit.

MechaCon does more than control the disc drive: it also handles security functions including MagicGate memory-card authentication and the decryption of protected executables. Access to its firmware gives researchers valuable material for investigating vulnerabilities and developing more faithful, low-level emulation of the console.

The important distinction is that this is a research and preservation milestone, not a newly released universal jailbreak. Research contributor uyjulian also cautions that the dumps alone do not provide enough information to build an optical-drive emulator. Better understanding of Sony’s hardware is the immediate win; new modifications and practical applications still require further work.

15 September 2026

Mirror Shift 1.0, released on 9 September 2026, brings two-player online Reversi to the ZX Spectrum 48K, Spectrum Next and SpectraNext cartridge, alongside Windows, macOS and Linux. Created by M. Ignacio Monge Garcia, the game supports cross-platform matches: a classic Spectrum can challenge a modern desktop, another Spectrum or one of its newer relatives.

Players connect through direct TCP or MQTT, with the latter allowing both opponents to join a shared server and room without requiring an incoming connection to the host. There are legal-move hints, in-game chat, clocks, rematches and requests to undo a move, plus saved games that can be resumed with both players’ approval. Customisable boards and disc sets add some visual variety, while the Next edition benefits from full-colour tiles and hardware sprites.

The game is open source under GPL-2.0, with ready-to-run packages and source code available on GitHub. One practical detail for original Spectrum owners: the Classic version requires divMMC/esxDOS storage and a supported ESP-AT networking interface. Your rubber-keyed machine can join the match, but it needs a little help getting online.

15 September 2026

Pararena has landed on Playdate, bringing John Calhoun’s Macintosh hoverboard game to a new handheld audience. Released on 14 September 2026, this independent port by Konstantin Popov adapts the original artwork for Playdate’s screen. It follows the release of the source code for Pararena 2.0, originally published by Casady & Greene, under the MIT licence.

The premise is wonderfully odd: two hoverboard riders chase a ball around a bowl-shaped arena, trying to throw it into their respective goals. Gravity complicates the steering, while boosting, braking and knocking your opponent aside keep things lively. Holding the ball too long or throwing it out earns a foul, with three fouls awarding your rival a point.

The port includes six computer opponents, five leagues, quick matches, a tournament and a practice mode, alongside instant replays, statistics and records.

Pararena for Playdate is available on itch.io for US$2.50 or more.

Until 20 September 2026, a US$4 Macintosh Classics for Playdate bundle also includes Popov’s port of Continuum, Brian and Randy Wilson’s gravity-driven space game. Two opportunities to revisit Macintosh gaming without clearing desk space for an old beige computer.

14 September 2026

Indie developer Manuel Schenk has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Magic Cauldron: Forgotten Island, a new turn-based adventure that mixes deckbuilding and card-based combat with elements of traditional point-and-click adventures. The campaign launched on 12 September and is seeking €3,000 in funding, with the game planned for Windows, macOS and Linux. At the time of writing, the campaign has already attracted its first backers and is scheduled to run until 3 October 2026.

Set once again in Schenk's wonderfully odd Magic Cauldron universe, Forgotten Island swaps the more conventional adventure-game structure of earlier entries for turn-based exploration and deckbuilding battles, while retaining the series' humour and eccentric fantasy setting. The developer describes it as a combination of a deck-builder, turn-based combat and classic point-and-click adventure elements.

Schenk has been steadily experimenting with different takes on retro-style adventure games for several years. His previous releases include the comic point-and-click adventures Nelson and the Magic Cauldron from 2018 and Nelson and the Magic Cauldron: The Journey from 2022, as well as the excellent-looking pixel-art sci-fi adventure Orbital Cargo Division from 2023. More recently he expanded the Magic Cauldron setting with the retro-inspired dungeon crawlers Magic Cauldron: Dungeons and Dungeons II.

It is an interesting change of direction for a developer whose work has so far been strongly rooted in classic adventure gaming, and one that still seems determined to keep plenty of the humour and old-school flavour of his earlier games.

13 September 2026

The Sega Master System has another homebrew to explore: Oriflame, an arcade puzzle game from ArtOfAltair, published on itch.io on 7 September 2026. Inspired by Adventures of Lolo and classic arcade design, it challenges players to climb 50 floors of the Tower of Hope, solving puzzles, confronting enemies and lighting fires to reach the summit and restore its beacon.

This is not simply a modern game wearing an 8-bit disguise: Oriflame is a genuine Master System ROM, playable through an emulator or on the original console using a compatible flash cartridge. The developer describes a “gameplay first” approach, deliberately working within the hardware’s strengths and limitations. It is an independent production, with no involvement from Sega.

Available for US$9 or more, the download includes the game, an instruction manual containing controls, rules and passwords for every level, plus soundtrack files in VGM and MP3 formats.

11 September 2026

South Park is becoming “South America” — in a satirical swipe at Donald Trump’s geographic renaming campaign. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced the change ahead of the show’s 29th season, with promotional artwork covering “Park” on the familiar town sign with an “America” sticker.

The statement sarcastically credits the “bravery and patriotism” of Apple and Google, which adopted “Lake America” for Lake Ontario on their US maps following Trump’s renaming order. The creators also take a shot at their own parent company, thanking Paramount while describing it as “a Skydance Capitulation”.

Season 29 premieres on 16 September 2026 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central, with next-day streaming on Paramount+ in the US, Canada and Australia. Five further episodes are scheduled fortnightly through 25 November.

Whether “South America” will stick permanently remains unclear: the announcement is another satirical provocation, rather than confirmation of a lasting replacement for the original title.

10 September 2026

ZuckOff, an app developed by Pawel Szydlowski, can flag nearby camera-equipped smart glasses by recognising their Bluetooth signals. Supported devices include Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta and Snap Spectacles, giving users a way to spot hardware that might otherwise go unnoticed.

The app examines manufacturer identifiers and other broadcast information, explains why a device was flagged and uses signal strength to estimate proximity. However, it cannot indicate the direction of the glasses or pinpoint their wearer.

On iPhone, basic scanning is free, while ZuckOff Pro adds background monitoring, notifications, widgets and extended detection history. According to the developer, logs remain on the phone unless users explicitly export them or submit a hardware report.

The crucial limitation: detecting glasses does not mean someone is recording. ZuckOff identifies nearby devices, not what their cameras are doing. Conversely, glasses that stop broadcasting may go undetected, so an empty scan is not a guarantee that nobody is filming. It is an awareness tool, not a recording detector.

10 September 2026

Sony’s original grey PlayStation is getting the LEGO treatment. Revealed on 3 September 2026, LEGO PlayStation (72306) is a 1,911-piece, near-life-size recreation of the console, complete with a brick-built version of its original controller. Designed for builders aged 18 and over, it is a display model rather than a working games machine.

The nostalgic details go beyond the familiar shape: the controller plugs into the front, while mechanical Open and Power buttons add something to fiddle with. Hidden inside are two removable dioramas celebrating Gran Turismo and Ape Escape, featuring a miniature racing circuit with tiny cars and a scene incorporating the monkeys’ distinctive helmets. Both can stay concealed or be displayed separately.

The set costs £139.99 / €159.99 / $179.99, with LEGO Insiders early access starting on 1 October 2026 and general availability from 4 October. The finished console measures approximately 26 × 19 × 6 cm—a manageable slice of PlayStation nostalgia for the shelf. The startup sound, unfortunately, is yours to provide.

9 September 2026

Amazon has introduced visual dubbing on Prime Video, using artificial intelligence and visual effects to modify actors’ mouth movements so they match translated dialogue. Crucially, the voices remain human-dubbed: this feature changes the picture rather than replacing voice actors with synthetic speech.

The technology is now available worldwide for the English-dubbed versions of Maxton Hall seasons 1 and 2. It will also feature in the third and final season, scheduled to premiere on 9 December 2026. The aim is to reduce the distracting mismatch between spoken words and the actors’ lips when watching a translated production.

Amazon plans to extend visual dubbing to more titles and says the process operates under creative oversight to preserve the creators’ artistic vision. However, its announcement does not identify the next productions or provide a timetable for additional languages.

9 September 2026

Buried Magic: A Story about the Unseen is seeking support on Kickstarter, promising a spooky, hand-drawn point-and-click adventure from Playful Bunny Interactive. The campaign is led by creator Annika Veigel and combines a witchcraft-school setting with traditional adventure-game puzzle solving.

Players follow Ruby, a young witch student investigating strange disappearances in Hollowmoor, where the centuries-old Trinity Academy of Witchcraft sits at the centre of the mystery. Accompanied by her tiny house-spider companion, Mifi, Ruby must explore unsettling locations and uncover the secrets hidden within her school.

The developer highlights hand-drawn graphics and animation, object-based puzzles, and dynamic interactions and responses. The emphasis is on exploration and piecing together the mystery, giving the project a distinctly traditional point-and-click flavour beneath its supernatural setting.

The campaign has a €3,000 funding target and runs until 16 October 2026, with funding dependent on reaching that goal.

The game is available to wishlist on Steam, where a Windows release is currently planned for May 2027; that remains a development target rather than a guaranteed launch date.

8 September 2026

Developer GammaCorrection has shared a preview of Jacob’s Elevator, a homebrew game in development for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In the accompanying Reddit discussion, the creator confirmed that the project is being programmed in assembly language.

There is a touch of oddball humour, too: when a commenter compared a tree character to Zelda’s Deku Tree, the developer clarified that this is the “Wise Mystical Tree”, a distinct character.

The finished game is planned as a free release on itch.io, with the option to play directly in a web browser. For now, however, this is a development preview rather than a launch: the announcement gives no release date, and Jacob’s Elevator is not yet listed on the developer’s itch.io profile.

Announcement: https://www.reddit.com/r/retrogamedev/comments/1wa02yp/jacobs_elevator_a_homebrew_for_nes/

6 September 2026

Developer Costélinha (GuilhermeJuventino) has released Car Go Vroom!!!, a new homebrew racing game for the original Nintendo Game Boy. The small 2D racer is written in Assembly using RGBDS and challenges players to dodge oncoming cars while pushing for higher scores.

The finished ROM was published on 5 September 2026, with the complete source code also available publicly on GitHub. The project had previously been shown in development posts dating back to 2025.

GitHub: https://github.com/GuilhermeJuventino/GB-Racing-Game

6 September 2026

Unico is preparing the Traveller ULW10, a compact LCD monitor designed specifically for retro gaming, combining a classic 4:3 format and CRT/PVM-inspired styling with modern display technology.

The ULW10 is built around an approximately 10-inch screen and supports RGBs and VGA for older hardware alongside HDMI for modern systems. Unico is positioning it as a convenient modern alternative for players who want the proportions and feel of classic gaming displays without relying on ageing CRT hardware. A Kickstarter campaign is currently being prepared.

Official Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unicousa/travellerulw10-a-modern-take-on-the-retro-4-3-pvm-monitor

6 September 2026

Homebrew developer LackofTrack has released version 1.00 of an unofficial Super Mario Bros. port for the Sega Master System, turning an earlier proof of concept into a complete game.

The port aims to closely reproduce the original NES/Famicom gameplay while also offering an enhanced graphics mode inspired by Super Mario All-Stars. An optional FM soundtrack is available for compatible Master System hardware equipped with a YM2413 chip.

The project was originally developed for the 2026 SMS Power coding competition and is now available as a full release.

Original/official project page: https://www.smspower.org/Homebrew/SuperMarioBrosSmsPort-SMS
Developer repository: https://github.com/lackoftrack27/Super-Mario-Bros.-SMS

6 September 2026

REASSEMBLER has released the first public playable demo of Aonic, an ambitious attempt to bring the original Sonic the Hedgehog experience to the Commodore Amiga. The current build recreates Green Hill Zone Act 1 and targets PAL Amigas with the AGA chipset and just 2 MB of Chip RAM, making a stock Amiga 1200 the project’s main reference system.

Rather than simply creating a Sonic-inspired platformer, Aonic adapts code, game logic and data from the original Mega Drive version while heavily reworking the rendering system for the very different Amiga hardware. The aim is to preserve Sonic’s familiar physics, momentum and speed as closely as possible.

The demo became publicly available on itch.io on 31 August 2026 under a name-your-own-price model and remains a work in progress. REASSEMBLER has also discussed eventually investigating an Amiga 500 version, although finishing the AGA release comes first.

itch.io: https://reassembler68k.itch.io/aonic

5 September 2026

GOG-Games.to, the unofficial piracy website specialising in DRM-free PC games, scheduled its closure for 6 September 2026, following a 90-day notice issued in June. The announcement said new game additions and updates would cease, with the website subsequently going offline.

The operator described the closure as a personal decision, rather than the result of legal pressure. According to the notice, approximately €700 in remaining Monero donations would be passed to the file-sharing community Torrminatorr, alongside a thank-you to everyone who had supported the site.

Despite the similar name, GOG-Games.to is not affiliated with GOG.com. The legitimate DRM-free games store remains online: this announcement concerns the separate piracy website, not the official GOG service or its customers’ game libraries.

Suggested alternatives:
- GOG: https://www.gog.com/
- Torrminatorr: https://forum.torrminatorr.com/
- Appnetica: https://appnetica.com/

5 September 2026

Babylonian Twins creator Rabah Shihab has revealed how he used Anthropic’s Claude to bring his 1993 Amiga puzzle-platformer into Godot. The project tackled both the original Motorola 68000 assembly and the C++ engine developed for its 2010 mobile remake.

According to Shihab, the AI analysed 72,758 lines of Amiga assembly, recovered undocumented level formats and helped rebuild the original game binaries. But this was no flawless, one-click conversion: bugs involving enemies, doors and jumping still required human playtesting and corrections.

For Amiga fans, there is an immediate bonus: the complete original game—not just the previously available demo—is now free on itch.io, supplied as two ADF disk images for emulators or compatible Amiga hardware. The modern Definitive Edition is already available on iOS and Android, while Steam offers a free demo ahead of the full release.

Official itch.io release — https://bithunch.itch.io/babylonian-twins
Official Steam listing — https://store.steampowered.com/app/4981370/Babylonian_Twins/

2 September 2026

Limited Run Games and Cyan Worlds are bringing the modern remakes of Myst and Riven to physical media. Standard editions are planned for PlayStation 5 and Xbox One/Xbox Series, alongside retro-inspired Big Box Editions for PlayStation 5, Xbox and PC via Steam. The new versions retain the surreal worlds and puzzle-driven exploration of the CD-ROM classics while rebuilding them with modern visuals, lighting and full movement. Pre-order dates and prices have not yet been announced, with all editions currently listed as coming soon.

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Tagged: RETRO COMPUTING

The Past Has Other Plans

Still Booting

The Computer Museum You Can Boot

The Rooms You Were Never Meant to Enter: Hidden Leftovers in Point-and-Click Adventures

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Apple Copland D11E4 now boots directly in your browser

Razing Core brings a new alien invasion to the Sega Master System

PS2 MechaCon Firmware Dumped After Four Years of Research

Mirror Shift brings online Reversi to the ZX Spectrum and modern PCs

Pararena brings a Macintosh classic to Playdate

Magic Cauldron: Forgotten Island mixes deckbuilding with classic adventure gameplay on Kickstarter

Oriflame brings 50 floors of puzzle action to the Sega Master System

South Park becomes “South America” in Trump renaming spoof

ZuckOff Detects Nearby Meta Smart Glasses via Bluetooth

LEGO’s original PlayStation brings 1,911 pieces of ’90s nostalgia

Prime Video Uses AI to Match Actors’ Lips to Dubbed Dialogue

Buried Magic seeks Kickstarter backing for a hand-drawn witchcraft mystery

Jacob’s Elevator: new NES homebrew previewed, with a free release planned

Car Go Vroom!!! brings new top-down racing to the Game Boy

Unico unveils Traveller ULW10, a modern 4:3 monitor for retro gaming

Super Mario Bros. gets a full Sega Master System port

Aonic brings Sonic’s Green Hill Zone to the Amiga 1200

GOG-Games.to reaches planned shutdown date—not the official GOG store

Babylonian Twins: AI-assisted Godot revival, Amiga original now free

Myst and Riven remakes are getting physical editions