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Well, 2008 was another superb year in the retro scene. There was plenty happening and even my brief retrospective in last issue (which excluded the hardware hacks and promise of new hardware devices that were known about) had enough to say. The independent review site OldSchool-Gaming.com (OSG) reported some 64 or more games released throughout the year for formats as diverse as the Commodore +4, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC and even Commodore 128 - as well as the usual suspects, in the form of the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum. When you consider that OSG do not report on the more obscure formats, such as the Sinclair ZX81, then it really was a bumper year. Will it be more of the same for 2009?

Well, yes, and no. Yes, in that there are projects in development right now, and no inasmuch as things seem to be moving to a more professional level. If we take a look at the deluxe boxed versions of the Psytronik Software games (a C64 publisher) for instance, you'll see how professional they look: these wouldn't have looked out of place circa 1990. Protovision were there first, though they have been deftly quiet of late, but it seems that making everything the presentation of the product as (dare I say it) commercial as possible is encouraging collectors (the mainstay of the retro computing and gaming world) to dig deep and actually purchase new games. After a couple of timid years, I fully expect the C64 to have a strong showing throughout the year ahead.

As for its arch-nemesis, the Speccy, things have been really bouyant for quite some time, and with a steady level of enthusiasm, especially as this mighty 8-bit monolith has had, shall we say, it's fair share of more warped releases certainly since Cronosoft appeared on the scene. I thought that 2006 was a superb vintage with Jonathan Cauldwell's GameX: The Game Exchange, and then last year Bob Smith hit back with the awesome splATTR, so I'm going to put my neck out and say that the best could be yet to come on the rubber-keyed wonder. Perhaps a GameX 128k version, or another psychedelic affair from Bob. Not that I know something that you don't, of course.

As for other formats, well perhaps a new lease of life will be injected if, say, there was a special anniversary on the cards. Like, for instance, that the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16 and Plus/4 (C64 series) are 25 years old in 2009. Exact dates are difficult to pin down, especially with Commodore machines, but it should give the community base cause for celebration at www.cpczone.net and www.plus64.com respectively (the Plus/4 is backwards compatible with the C16, but with more RAM). If you're a particular fan of any of these machines, why not get involved and sign up to the forums of the two aforementioned sites?

Here are some dates that you can note in your new diaries that you got for Christmas. On the 23rd of January through to the 25th is the second meeting of the Commodore Computer Club (UK, which will be held in the fine city of Birmingham (Erdington area). Plans are to hold programming workshops and discussions, whilst Chris Snowden (of www.commodore16.com) is due to give a talk about the C16/+4 series. Members of the club will be able to access the meeting free, and there is a 2.50 charge for non-members. More details may be found at www.commodorecomputerclub.co.uk, or by e-mail to contact@commodorecomputerclub.co.uk.

The second event is more for the gamer, as Byte Back 2009 will be held on the 7th and 8th of March at the Bidds Live Music Club in Stoke-on-Trent. Proceeds from the event being donated to the RSPCA and the Donna Louise Trust. Guests are set to include Jonathan Cauldwell, of the Egghead and Cronosoft fame, and Jon Hare, the co-founder of Sensible Software, which was responsible for the classic 8-bit game Wizball. A weekend adult ticket will cost just £12, so for more information, head over to www.byte-back.info.