We smell a conspiracy here…We were recently sent this rather lavish Commodore 64 book (expect a review in issue 52) to complement the Speccy book we already have, but we’d love to see an actual Amstrad CPC outing in the same style. Then, and only then would the 8-Bit holy trinity be complete* * We purposely didn’t include the BBC Micro, so please don’t write in and complain. 

Ok, so we’ve not updated the blog for a while (that’s deadlines for you) but we’ll return with a fresh ferocity from tomorrow. In the meantime here’s a Christmas card that Konami sent us. It’s several months old now of course, but it’s so cute we just couldn’t bear to throw it away. 

As far as we’re aware, this is the first and only time that an image of a lizard, a fern, a gem and a silhouette of a family have ever been used on a boxart.

It kinda gives the impression that the family are playing the game on a big television and are experiencing the most photorealistic graphics ever created. Sadly, Animal Vegetable Mineral is simply a way to educate your computer by playing Twenty Questions - which means you’ll be staring at a bunch of words and answering stupid questions. 

Imagine how well this baby would have sold if it was actually real. I spent three weeks scouring the internet and was prepared to pay any price until I discovered that it had been created as promotional material.  

Ever been to Berwick-Upon-Tweed’s Spittal Beach Arcade on a Saturday? Nope, neither have we. But if anyone’s wondering why it’s worth a visit, here are some exquisite pictures that were sent into us by Paul Blackwood (we think he’s the one pictured, playing the Sega Rally cab). He took a stroll into The Pavilion Family Fun Centre over the weekend and took a few snaps of some impressively pristine looking arcade machines. Cheers for the relatively easy blog update Paul.

Here’s a picture of the Pavilion Family Fun Centre. Apparently it boasts a snack bar, an arcade and a pool.

A Konami Simpsons cab in pretty good nick, we got Steve (our designer) to zoom in on that credit sticker and, yes, it’s 20p a go.

Our mistake, the Sega Rally pro in the picture is actually Paul’s son Luke. Would it have killed you to put your hand in your pocket though Paul?

A broken Prop Cycle machine ironically propped up in the corner. Apparently, Paul also spotted a Donkey Kong cab getting a donkey ride and the Ice Climbers clubbing a seal to death.

Yep, not retro in the slightest, but we couldn’t resist.

  Needs no explanation really.

Seeing as no one managed to topple Darran’s score on Strider last week, I get to select this week’s game; the gorilla-charging flame-hopping classic, Donkey Kong. Here’s my effort, an easily beatable score of 84400 points.    

For those of you who are unaware, Retro Gamer has a brand new designer in the form of Stephen Williams. Hailing from a place that isn’t Bournemouth; a quick glimpse into his mind proves that he’s a perfect addition to the Retro Gamer team. Take a look at what he was seeing while playing Asteroids. 

Last night’s episode of The Apprentice finally saw the show’s producers stop asking the teams to wash and press 1,000 pillow cases or become pub landlords and set them the commonsensical task of creating a product (which, in this instance, was two ridiculous sounding flavours of ice cream), market test that product, and sell the product. One team was lead by the timid Lucinda Ledgerwood, who, thanks to not immediately jumping down everyone’s throats or pointing fingers at the first sign of pressure, seemed to hold her team together well – demonstrating easily the most ‘with it’ approach to a task we’ve seen on the show so far. The other team, led by mouthy Claire Young, were the complete opposite, nonchalantly stumbling at every hurdle and yet annoyingly, thanks to bagging a large deal at the 11th hour, still managing to walk away with the task. Eventually it was Lindi Mngaza who was ousted by Sugar, after it came out in the board room that Lindi had been left in charge of the sales team and they’d essentially lost the task by not selling hard enough.    

We’re huge fans of Halo, so when we heard that it would be appearing on the Spectrum 48K we became ecstatic. There’s no news as to when the game will be released, but here’s an early screenshot to get you excited.