PC Classic - "Mini" DOS console

[pmprog]

Well, I'm pretty sure I saw somebody joke about this on here... but here we go
https://www.vintageisthenewold.com/pc-classic-a-mini-dos-games-console-coming-summer-2019/
https://unitetechno.com/dt_catalog/pc-classic/#influencer

 

[ClockworkCoder]

Funny. And obviously the case design fails to make me feel nostalgic about my old 486DX as it looked totally different.

As for the yellowed colouring, it didn't bother me too much in the c64mini as I didn't have one at the time, but to be properly reminiscent, these devices should really be the original colour.

In any case (pun not intended) I'm waiting for Pyra to be my classic gaming device of choice ;-) (hurry up! )

 

[___]

I love their FAQ, especially the last point:

Can’t I just buy a Raspberry Pi, an enclosure, gamepad, keyboard, and mouse, 3D print a faceplate, install Armbian, buy 30+ games, build the source for ARM or install/configure in DOSBox for each and every game, create a menu system with game art, and tell everyone about it at parties?

No.

No? It should be: "Yes, yes you can. It will be cheaper and probably a valuable experience. There are also prepared SD card images already, that can do way more than our shitty device. You can also install DOSBox on any computer you already own, and won't have to pay anything to get the real computer feel."

 

[SNESFAN]

Funny. And obviously the case design fails to make me feel nostalgic about my old 486DX as it looked totally different.)

I think they did miss a good opportunity to throw in non-functional turbo button and cdrom bay etc and the color looks a bit off. The functional sdcard "floppy disk" drive was a nice touch though

 

[PowerGod]

If it will be really $99 with 30 games included seems acceptable for me

 

[ClockworkCoder]

I think the bigger point they missed here is: a much higher proportion of early PC gamers also hacked, updated and configured their own systems. You'd have to be retarted to want a gimped system 30 years later. Surely?

 

[PowerGod]

Seems to me that this is intended more for people that didn't had it at the time, the guy tells that all games are preconfigured, and well, this was a huge part for old games because you actually had to know your hardware in detail (optimize memory, load drivers, video settings, sound card channels, etc...)

 

[levi]

Funny. And obviously the case design fails to make me feel nostalgic about my old 486DX as it looked totally different.

As for the yellowed colouring, it didn't bother me too much in the c64mini as I didn't have one at the time, but to be properly reminiscent, these devices should really be the original colour.

To my recollection, I think they're aping the PC jr look and feel. They've done it backwards (disc drive was on the right and vents on the left on the jr) but other than that the vents look familiar and the card slots have been repurposed as USB joysticks I assume. The jr didn't have a big power button smack bang in the middle, but I can see why they did that.

The colour is tricky. These devices were always made in a slightly yellow or brown off-white as I recall, but looking at photos taken under flash they're actually closer to white or very light grey it seems. Or maybe their camera's auto-white balance is throwing things.

But I'm not about to throw my money at this thing. I was half tempted by things like the C64 ultimate or the Amiga Vampire cards, but other than that devices that originally had keyboards and a development community being reduced to little flecks of off-white plastic doesn't particularly entice me.

 

[Silent-Hunter]

I love their FAQ, especially the last point:

No? It should be: "Yes, yes you can. It will be cheaper and probably a valuable experience. There are also prepared SD card images already, that can do way more than our shitty device. You can also install DOSBox on any computer you already own, and won't have to pay anything to get the real computer feel."

Not really, I doubt you could buy that many games for less than they're selling this for. I dunno, maybe?

 

[ClockworkCoder]

Not really, I doubt you could buy that many games for less than they're selling this for. I dunno, maybe?

You'd have the choice of all games you actually want though, which counts for a lot.

I'm really disappointed with the classic PS1. Had it had a better line up of games I may have been tempted. There are many, many more PC games to choose from.

 

[Grench]

Not really, I doubt you could buy that many games for less than they're selling this for. I dunno, maybe?

Actually...
Back in the days of IBM DOS & MS DOS & other DOS, there were whole companies built, outdated and closed around the concept of taking vast libraries of freeware and shareware and public demo versions of games and combining them on either stacks of floppy disks or disk images on CD ROMs and selling them for the, "cost of media and production". These colossal collections/piles of stuff that anyone could download for free via a modem connection to a local community BBS were usually in the sub $10 range.

If they truly want to, 'recreate the era of DOS', maybe they dust one of those 'collections' off and copy it to the eMMC on this gadget.

 

[spud42]

i still have a heap of dos games on the shelf. and a heap of GOG games . i wonder if scumvm would work on that device?