Every now and then, I get it into my crazy head that I have to collect something. Anything. And usually it takes the form of something retro related.

Anyway, the latest machine that has fallen into my sights is Atari’s Lynx. After being given some games at Retro Fusion 08 (Robotron: 2084, Tournament CyberBall and Super Skeek) I started mulling over the possibility of once again owning Atari’s failed handheld.

As luck would have it, one of the lads on Play actually had a machine for sale, with Xenophobe, Hard Drivin, Chequered Flag, California Games, Viking Child, Steel Talons, Robosquash, Ninja Gaiden and Rampage (sadly though, they’re all unboxed). Well that was it. I handed over 40 notes, picked up a power supply from Maplin and have now started to relive my youth all over again.

I’ll be periodically posting updates, as the collection progresses (or until I get bored and start collecting something else) but in the meantime here’s what I currently have.

Oh and feel free to give me suggestions as to what to buy next.

So here’s the actual machine. As you can see it’s the bulky Mark II model.

And here’s my starting collection. Should I try and get the original boxes as well though, or simply stick to the cartridges…

A flashy looking portable Megadrive is being released by Blaze and comes pre-loaded with 20 classic Megadrive games. Inside the machine you’re getting Sonic and Knuckles, Shinobi, Decap Attack, Flicky, Sonic Spinball and Jewel Master (which we really should get around to playing).

    The styling of the machine is retro-chic with a Megadrive-style three button pad and a nifty looking thumb friendly d-pad. The machine is said to retail for $60 in the States. Here are the specs…

• Plug & play portable video game system
• 20 built-in SEGA licensed games
• Built-in speakers
• Colour LCD screen
• TV out connection
• TV format: PAL
• Eats: 3 x AAA batteries (Batteries not included)

Most, if not all, of the early SMS game boxes were blessed with the type of half-arsed imagery that made you want to pull out a felt tip pen and finish the job yourself, but Sega would take laziness to all sorts of new levels with the box designs for their Sega Card series.   Take this box art for Ghost House for instance; basically just an image of somebody with clean hands holding up a copy of the game. The bemusing thing is that someone actually went to the trouble of designing a half decent (in SMS terms) sticker for the cartridge (which admittedly has zero to do with ghosts or houses). Now how many games do you know boast a more imaginative looking cartridge than box art? All of the Sega Card games that’s how many.   

Now imagine how drab the world of packaging would be if everything was packaged in this way. Tins of beans with images of hands holding tins of beans, teabags plastered with pictures of hands holding teabags, yoghurt boxes with….well, you get the idea.

Well, I’ve been home for about an hour and am absolutely knackered. It was a fantastic day though and I was able to play a lot of games (badly) meet a lot of generous and polite readers and even managed to get hold of a copy of Robotron on the Atari Lynx.

We’ll be having a more indepth look at Chris Wilkins’ excellent event in the very next issue of the magazine, but in the meantime here’s a few pictures and captions to give you an idea of what was happening.

The first surprise of the weekend was when I realised that I had accidentally booked a double bed for myself and regular RG freelancer, Mike Bevan. Fortunately for me, my snoring was so bad that Mike soon moved to the floor.

Here’s Archer Maclean (with beard) chatting to Simon Goodwin (wrote for Crash, now does amazing sound things for Codemasters) and Sandy White (creator of Ant Attack, one of gaming’s earlist survival horror games). All three chaps are wonderfully nice, with Sandy being a real treat (even if he was bemused by the sheer amount of attention he received).

This is Alex Trowers from Bullfrog who came down with fellow Bullfrog employee, Andy Nuttal and rocked the absolute hell out of Rock Band. We had a great chat and he’s agreed to talk to us about the fantastic Syndicate. So expect a feature very, very soon.

This beautiful looking Pac-Man cabinet belongs to the Oliver Twins, who sadly were unable to attend the event this year. They graciously supplied the cabinet for the weekend however and I remain utterly rubbish at it.

Retro Gamer’s Paul Drury (right) was on interview duties and this is his first session with ex Rare staffer Martin Hollis, who was in charge of the excellent GoldenEye for the N64.

Ste Pickford was up next, and he’s a lovely fella who had some wonderfully funny anecdotes to share with everyone. He told us about the new game he’s just finishing off on the PC, mentioned a few new projects and even bought my a Diat Coke. What a star.

Rare employee and occasional Retro Gamer cover artist, Wil Overton turned up on Saturday and donated this absolutely stunning piece of art as a prize. Those with a love of Super Play will recognise it from one of the early issues of the magazine.

Here’s forumite Woody Cool enjoying his CommodoreC16 that’s he’s had since being a nipper. It’s in great condition and he showed me some nifty tricks on KikStart.

So is anyone else getting as excited as me?

I’m looking forward to catching up with Chris Wilkins, spending a bit of time with Archer, Andy Nuttall and some of the other available celebs and trying to blag as many free diet cokes as possible.

I’m also sorely tempted to bring my chipped Dreamcast along so that everyone gets a chance to experience some of the best shooters of all time, including the excellent Border Down which is featured in this month’s issue.

Also, if we have Internet access I’ll hopefully be updating the blog as well.

Looking forward to meeting as many Retro Gamer readers as possible

So I’m watching TV this morning before work when a commercial for a new Vanish stain removal product comes on. The inanely smiling women on the TV screen gives a smug and states how this new powder will actively seek out stains. How is this even possible?

How can powder have intelligence? And if it does have intelligence, how does it put that intelligence to work? Does it think to itself: Hmm, we could go for that grass stain on the cuff, but I reckon we’d have greater success if we directed all our cleaning power on that huge chocolate stain instead.

How has this even managed to get past the trading standards as it’s surely the biggest breach of truth since a high court recently stated that Pringles are actually biscuits and not crisps.The world is going slowly mad.

I had the opportunity to speak to BBC Radio Scotland today about Space Invaders’ cultural impact over the last 30 years and proceeded to trip and stumble my way along in fine style.

 There’s already been questions as to why Radio Scotland would want to speak to somebody like myself when the likes of Dominic Diamond are home grown and readily available, but apparently he was washing his hair and couldn’t attend.

Oh and a word of warning, my voice is so low that the vibrations that emanate from it are liable to make you empty your bowels. You have been warned.

Anyway, the actual interview can be heard here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cjfj3

The next issue will be out this Thursday, so if you’re not a sub, here’s what you have to look forward to.

Developer Lookback: Konami 

Contra, Metal Gear, Castlevania - Just a few of the classic franchises that Konami has created over the past 39 years. 

The Definitive - Boulder Dash 

Stuart Campbell’s latest indispensable guide reveals everything you ever needed to know about Rockford. 

 Retroinspection - PC-FX 

Yes, it looks like a giant PC tower, but there was a lot more to NEC’s PC-FX than first met the eye. 

 The History of Star Wars Part II 

So here it is, the second part of our ridiculously exhaustive Star Wars feature is finally here. Prepare to feel the full force of the… um… force. 

 The Making of - Marble Madness 

Not content with going behind the scenes of some of the best loved arcade games of all time, we’ve found yet another one to expose. Namely the excellent Marble Madness. 

 Why you must Play - Enduro Racer 

Everyone remembers the brilliance of OutRun, Hang-On and After Burner, but where’s the love for Enduro Racer? 

The Making of - Border Down 

Discover how G.rev created one of the Dreamcast’s best shoot-em-ups in an exclusive new interview. 

Desert Island Disks - Ally Noble 

One of Denton Design’s co-founders looks back at her impressive career and shares her favourite games with us. 

And much more including: Back to the Future, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Guardians of the Hood, Superman 64, Kane, Sorcery+ 

Some things in life will always baffle us. Women, the Japanese language, and any film by Lars Von Trier. Few things in life however flummox us as much as Sega’s decision to create brand new artwork of Strider for the Western market.

Look at this…

Now look at this…

Why on earth would you want to create the former when the latter is so damned amazing? It just doesn’t make an sense to us.

So let’s go over that once again.

Hideous artwork that looks like it was created for a naff Eighties action movie.

And this…

Gorgeous imagery that should be hanging in a museum.

It wasn’t that hard a decision to make. Was it Sega?

We’re not quite sure what he’s a master of, but The Master’s forum posts usually make us laugh out loud. Hard. When he’s not regaling fellow forum members with his weekly shenanigans, he can usually be found posting utterly bizarre pictures like this one. The fact he looks a little bit like Bill Bailey is no bad thing either.  ”Bow down and worship me pathetic mortals”