Earlier on in the year, navigating a giant furniture store evoked memories of Doom, complete with gloomy corridors and shuffling demons. We eventually made it to the exit and hence the IDKFA t-shirt was born. And, as fans of Starcraft we couldn’t resist creating the Micro Marines t-shirt in anticipation of the new Heart of the Swarm expansion. Our last two t-shirts were inspired by notorious graffiti artist (or vandal) Banksy. Whether you love him or hate him, the work of this mystery artist is both eye catching and thought provoking. We love him, so we created our own take on his masterpieces with added video game flavour.

We have also added 4 new designs to our card holder collection and restocked on some old favourites. This brings the collection up to 15 different designs so hopefully there’s something for everyone.

As always, we will continue to bring you more awesome gaming gear. Meanwhile, let us know what you think of these new additions.

Gaming night organisers Gamerdisco announces their next awesome event:

GAMERDISCO and VIRTUAL BOY PROMOTIONS are excited to bring you the most unique night of 2013, when acclaimed US Nerdcore rapper RANDOM (a.k.a Mega Ran) drops into London as part of his Spring 2013 UK tour, supported by Cambridge’s nerd-rap hero MC I Pod.

On 28th April the Random/MC I Pod tour rolls into The Book Club in Shoreditch, and we’re celebrating with a huge blowout gig and clubnight! Alongside live sets from Random and MC I Pod, we will be running Gamerdisco’s legendary gaming clubnight, featuring the best old-skool games on a big screen to play with your mates, alongside DJ’s, competitions, tournaments, and retro consoles.

Blending live music and gaming into a one pounding night, we’re giving you the opportunity to experience the lyrical mastery of Random in an intimate basement setting as part of the most unique night out of the year. That’s not all! Having just passed the 5th Anniversary of Random’s ‘Mega Ran’ album and the 25th Anniversary of the first ‘Mega Man’ game, we’re dedicating the night to the one and only Blue Bomber! Expect to see exclusive prizes, a Marvel Vs Capcom 2 Mega Man characters tournament, and a Speed Run competition to find the Ultimate Robot Master! Mark your diaries, you won’t want to miss this!

Hailing from Philadelphia, USA, Random has spent the last half-decade amassing an expansive fanbase in through his impressive lyricism and use of videogame samples. He is best known for his 2007 album Mega Ran, a tribute to the Mega Man game series, and his subsequent collaborations with Capcom on soundtracks for games like Marvel Vs Capcom 2. His last record, 2011′s Black Materia, was based on the Playstation game Final Fantasy VII. He is joined on his week-long jaunt around the UK by Cambridge’s M.C. I Pod, a pop culture and hardcore-sampling dude who has previously supported Pete Doherty, MC Lars, and Dan Le Sac.

Check out their Facebook page.

Revival Retro Events announced Revival 2013 a few months back and as the event draws near they have revealed their ‘mostly finalised’ floor plan. The event focuses on retro gaming and will host a large selection of arcade machines, consoles and computers. Traders, signings and talks from veteran of the gaming industry round off what is set to be a fantastic weekend. Retro GT will be in attendance and we hope to bring some new designs to shows off.

Revival takes place in Wolverhampton on the weekend of 18 – 19 May. Tickets are available at: www.revivalretroevents.com and they also have a dedicated Facebook page.

A DJ set by Hoffman is always a high point of any party – as a professional, he only plays the very best parties! – and seeing as he’s a scener too, he’s a popular man. My husband knows both him and his wife, SaVannaH, so this was a particular treat. I’ve seen several Hoffman concerts on the stream before but never managed to meet him until this party.

Unfortunately for party spirits, we had to stay sober, as my husband was facing the prospect of the drive back the next day. However, it did allow us to appreciate just how good the music was, as even now several tunes which Hoffman played are still earworming around in our heads.

After Hoffman’s gig the big name compos were aired. That is to say, the 64k intro, the web browser compo, oldskool 4K intro, Amiga demo and PC demo. These occupied most of the next four hours or so and were by turns tuneful and colourful.

It seemed as if Someone Had Spoken To scroller guy, as he was much quieter than he had been, Maybe my outrage last night had the necessary effect, who knows? I also moved down the table so I wasn’t immediately back-to-back with him, which helped. Whatever the reason, he piped down rather noticeably.

We crawled into the night shuttle far too late and wandered off to bed for another night of sound sleep. Comfortable beds and an adequately heated room have a lot to answer for.

After breakfast and checkout the next morning, we shouldered our worldly goods and headed out for the connecting shuttle back to the party place. All the shuttles were free thanks to the sponsors of the party, and very welcome they were too.

As we’d left the car at the party place for the weekend, we were able to immediately pack most of our gear before seeing the prizegiving ceremony and bidding farewell to everyone we’d met at the event.

Five countries, six languages and a few hiccups with the Eurotunnel (cancellations, don’t you know, have to happen on a Bank Holiday weekend) we were back in the UK and heading towards home as fast as the M20 and M25 would permit.

I’m firmly of the opinion that I dislike Brits abroad intensely, as most of those I encountered outside the scene during the weekend were behaving totally abysmally. Unfortunately for me, as that just makes me ashamed to be a Brit. Never mind, I can now sit in my own home for a few hours and behave as badly as I want, as we arrived home in one piece and successfully, no breakdowns and no accidents, just a few near misses of one sort or another thanks to others’ unpredictability.

I think after the hassles of the homeward drive, it’s overdue time for a night in my own bed. The tidying up, sorting out and washing can just wait until tomorrow. It won’t go anywhere.

And there you have it, the diary of a legendary German Easterparty. Now you know what to expect if you choose to attend one yourself. If the idea appeals, I can give you details of your nearest party, whether it is in the UK, Scandinavia, the Netherlands or Germany. Thanks to the RetroGT guys for allowing me to tell you all about this. They weren’t at Revision but do attend similar events in the UK such as Play.com (Manchester, October) and various film and collector events in the course of the average year.

Earlier today, Silicon Dreams’ Facebook and Twitter feeds carried the news of which musicians will be headlining this event.

I’m pleased to be able to share with you that the evening’s entertainment will be An Evening with Martin Ware. Martin was the founder of Heaven 17 and you can expect some of their music to have an airing during the course of the evening too.

In the grand tradition of this festival giving two-for-one value for money, there will also be a performance by Northern Kind. Martin will kick off with a question and answer session, then Northern Kind will perform a preview of their latest album, before Martin returns to close the evening.

More details available in the press release linked above.

Next up was the executable old skool music entries, which evoke memories of 80s synthpop, Jean-Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield.

This was a very pleasant part of the evening, with drink and food being enjoyed while the compos pumped on in the background. Scroller guy and his group had betaken themselves to the front of the venue, albeit leaving some questionable images running on their screens. One had admitted being at a rather infamous series of German Easterparties in the past, where the guys preferred to download x-rated stuff and misbehave all night rather than submit actual compo entries. It seems as if they think they’re still there now, partying furiously all night, sleeping during the day and being constantly drunk from beginning to end of the show.

The animation and video compo followed and then a demonstration of some of the games in development by the scene, including one really clever 2D curved space game which looked like a cross between a marble shooter and space invaders and in which the game space was constantly moving. That looked fiendishly difficult to play but would certainly appeal to fans of space invaders-style games.

An epic DJ-set by Knoeki vs. glxblt was next on the agenda, which allowed time for some serious work on my many and varied writing projects. Then, to howls of “AMIGAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!”, the first of the Amiga intros was aired. Things went rapidly downhill from there, with the noise building and the drunken yelling ratcheting up a decibel every few seconds. True, some of it was deserved, as some of the entries in both the Amiga intros compo and the following oldskool demo compo were very well done. But some of it was simply blokes that don’t dance having a Saturday night with several beers too many and a computer. In public, rather than in their homes.

(As I type the bass-heavy thump from behind me tells me that Scroller guy and his crew have risen from their pit, more like zombies than Jesus this Easter Sunday. I don’t even have to look round, I’d know that racket anywhere.)

Anyway, back to last night. Come the end of the compos and Scroller guy was back at his machine, watching a football match. I hope it was on the German equivalent of iPlayer or that’s another offence to add to the many ways he’s already transgressed this weekend!

We didn’t hang around after that much, as after the football was finished, he went into full Obnoxious Git mode and started yelling obscenities into his microphone. Now, I’m no prude thanks to years spent working in male-dominated industries, but really, sometimes, I just need to get away from people until they and/or I calm down. So after telling him firmly in English and then colloquial German to please pipe down a few decibels (as it were) we left.

This morning, I woke up with one blocked sinus thanks to falling face first into bed and staying there firmly until shaken awake by my husband. After the usual solid breakfast, we headed out to walk back to the party place. This time we followed the route which the shuttle bus had taken the night before and then branched off to walk alongside the river, which eventually brought us out under the railway bridge and in through the pedestrian access to the retail park.

Almost immediately we were in place, the compos started up. First, the executable newskool music compo which was just as good as the oldskool version yesterday. Then the modern graphics designers had their turn, before more tunes with the streaming music entries. More graphics followed and then the fascinating Wild compo.

The Wild compo is so called because it’s where the really creative coders get to show off their skills. This year’s entry list was notable for two truly groundbreaking demos.

The penultimate entry was a demo written for an Adventure Vision tabletop games console. There are only four known games for this machine which has a red monochrome screen powered by spinning mirrors. The demo featured scrollers, animation and an awful lot more than you might expect the machine to be capable of.

The last entry was performed on an oscilloscope. Yes, a medical oscilloscope. Copies of the demo will allegedly be available on VHS video tape!

And now, if no one minds, I’m going in search of some wine while I listen to tonight’s DJ-set from h0ffman of Unstable Label.

The rest of Friday evening was pleasurably occupied by a rerun of previous demos and competitions and a DJ-set from Alkana, which was melodic and earwormingly hummable without being too loud. The scroller group concentrated on getting severely drunk and quit trying to play their stuff louder than everything else once the volume of the main speakers was uprated to ‘deafening’.

The night shuttle was a welcome way to get home and several hours of sleep followed.

Breakfast was once again a set-up-for-the-day meal, with a wide selection of rolls and breads, cold meats, cheeses, spreads, salad dishes, fruit and cereal, as well as unlimited tea and coffee. German mixed fruit tea is rather delicious, I’m finding, and better than weak black tea with no milk.

Having made an obligatory stop at the nearby Netto to stock up on red wine, we headed out to walk back to the party place, which my husband had worked out from Google Maps was accessible via a pedestrian bridge across the motorway and river next to the railway bridge.

Several kilometres later, we passed under the railway bridge.

No sign of any pedestrian access, although we could see people walking across the bridge from somewhere. We carried on walking in an effort to find a way to access the bridge, and eventually saw a tunnel under the road and a walkway to the station. On the other side of the tracks was a ramp leading up to the railway bridge, and at the other side of the bridge we were greeted with the sight of the retail park location where the party place is.

On entry, we discovered that the scroller group were in full effect and making a large amount of drunken noise. They were watching a dodgy-looking cop-style show on a modern laptop, with the sound coming through a massive speaker that looked like something out of a cartoon. Far too space hog for my liking and not much respect for others either. The guys sitting opposite us on our table kindly found me some earplugs which do deaden things a little. It’s not only dark in here, it’s noisy too.

Fortunately the scroller guys left about an hour in to get some kip and I had a couple of peaceful hours watching the early competitions, or ‘compos’, the trackable music and the photography. Then there was a unique compo, where one of the local arts colleges had challenged people to design a video for their media wall. The judging had already closed, this had been completed before the party even opened, so the final shortlisted five were shown and the results announced mid-afternoon.

After that, we went for a walk around the retail park and had a quick nose into the supermarket to make sure there was nothing there which we absolutely had to have. On return, the random sight of a remote controlled camera floating around the hall at head-height was causing some stir. Looking like a typical flying saucer, with several lights winking on its lower edge, it landed in the main aisle and skittered away from its controller, squeaking furiously. A few minutes later it was up again, causing sceners to duck as it skimmed low over the tables. This time the back wall of the venue did for it as it didn’t so much kiss the curtain in front of it, but slammed into it full tilt, clattering to a stop on the floor.

As the controller rushed to retrieve it, the evening’s compos started up, so that’ll be a whole new blog post.

For more information you can listen in via SceneSat radio, there is also a live video link.

And now, if nobody minds, I’m off to have a few sherberts and enjoy the old skool executable music compo, which is one of my favourites.

Machines are now set up (two laptops, two Ataris) and in full working mode. Greetings are being exchanged and new friends made. Writing from now on this weekend will be carried out to a background of bleeps, whistles and pings, electronic music and, frankly, sometimes irritating tape loops. A scroller on a machine behind me is playing something which sounds like a bad accordion hoedown and recapping the news since the last Revision party.

Various machines around me are playing assorted demos and music, some are beaming lightshows onto the walls. It’s not quite pitch black in here but as I don’t yet have a backlit keyboard, producing accurate typing is best described as ‘interesting’ and accomplished with much swearing and use of the delete key. It’s a good way to learn touch typing but not the method typically recommended in the secretarial schools! I am sitting on a relatively comfortable typical concert venue chair but typing on a trestle table, which is not the most comfortable position ever, for either my shoulders or my wrists.

People (especially the group behind me) have been on the beer since opening time at 12.00 noon, although we are still all sober in my party – wine drinkers generally don’t start on the sauce until at least 6pm.

The entry price (50 Euros) gets a neat goodie bag as well as one of those ubiquitous wristbands used by many weekend events. The goodie bag contains a can of drink with the party logo on it, some chewing gum, what look like fruit pastilles and some mints plus a cotton shopping bag and a lanyard, all provided by the sponsors. Really great goodie bag, if you ask me. The lanyard and shopping bag will definitely be used, the sweets consumed and drink drunk.

The sleeping area for those not in hotels (the hardy few) is right behind the main stage. The toilets have already been described as ‘an experience’ by one member of my party and they will be used, because apparently the food is pretty reasonable value…and the tea and coffee is free too.

The guy with the scroller has just cranked up the volume on his main machine and is bombing the bassline of a seriously cool SIDchip tune. The graphics are shimmery silver words and aren’t half bad either. Loudhailing frequencies are open, at least judging by the howls of ‘AMIGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!’ emanating from further down the hall.

And with that, I’m off to take a turn around the place, before I seize up even this early in a party weekend.

The intrepid party including your blogger at large has fetched up in Saarbrücken to attend the Revision Easter demoparty and digital arts gathering in the E-Werk building.

The hotel receptionist switches fluently from German to French to English according to the needs of her clientele and is unfailingly polite in all three languages. The predominant language of staff and guests is German, the cleaning staff appear to converse in French and everyone has at least a few words of English.

The hotel is clean and warm, the beds comfortable and the twin duvets presently rather inviting! So, upon finishing my latest glass of wine, I shall be removing myself in the general direction of that destination.

We have 5 copies of this remastered Amiga classic to give away.

It’s Competition time!

The Amiga classic Another World has been released for Windows (PC) on the Knowhow app store. This 20th Anniversary Edition has been updated with touch functionality, HD graphics and remastered sound while keeping an alternative retro mode intact with original graphics. Another World was considered to be one of the greatest games on the Amiga and it was ported to other home systems including the Megadrive and SNES. Don’t take our word for it, speak to anyone who played the original and they will tell you that it was a cinematic masterpiece.

We have 5 download codes of Another World 20th Anniversary Edition to give away. To enter, simply make a comment below. Other ways of entering include following us on Twitter and retweeting the competition tweet or you can give us a ‘Like’ and make a comment on our Facebook page.

Another World 20th Anniversary Edition is currently on sale and available here: http://www.appup.com/b/hl/ps/en-US,27,P,8011,0,0

…and here’s a little infographic about the difference between the original game and the remastered version.