## 32 Forgotten

For this week, that's the word I chose. Forgotten because I did a lot of testing and research on Newton Pad and Epson HX-20 games. 

The Apple Newton Pad is not forgotten by everyone, but it was one of the first PDAs in the history of computing and a kind of grandfather of the iPod. The agenda, notes and handwriting recognition features were quite good for 1995. Some developers also created around one hundred games, some of which are preserved in archives. I don't have a Newton, but there is an emulator called Einstein. It works under GNU/Linux, so I was happy to test it and take screenshots of all these games. Not everything worked perfectly, but it was quite easy to do with lots of screenshots that no other websites had. This is my contribution to the preservation effort.

For the Epson HX-20, it was more difficult. This very small portable computer had a tape, a nice keyboard in the size of half a laptop, with a very small LCD screen. 

  
```
    ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
    ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
    █████████████████████████▌▀▀▓▓▓█████████████████████████████████████████████████
    ███████████████████▀█████████▄▄▄▄▀▀▀▓█████▀░░▒░░▀▀▀█████████████████████████████
    ████████████████▀▀▀▓▓████▀▀▀████████████▀░░▒▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░▀▓▀▀█████████████████████
    ███████████████▀▀▀▀▌▒▄▓▌▀▓█▓███████████▄▄▄░░░░▀▀▒▓▓▓▒▒░▒▒▒░▒░▒░▓████████████████
    ██████████▀░▀▌░░░░░░░░░░▀▀▀▒▄▄▀▀▀▓▓██████████▓▓▄▄░░░░░░░░░░░░▄██████████████████
    ████████▓░▀▀▀░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▀▀▀▀▓▓▌▒▀▓▀▓█████▓████▓▄▄▄░░▄████████████████████
    ██████▌░░▀▀▀░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▀▀▀▀▄▓█████████▓█████████████████████▓██▓█
    █▓▓████████▄▄▄░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▀▀▀█▀▀▓▓▀▓▓▓███████████████▓██▓███
    █▌▓▌▓▓▓▓▓▓██▓░░▀░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▒░▓▓▀▀▓▓██████▓███▓▓███
    ██▌▌▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▄▄▄░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▄░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ▄░░░░░░░░░▀▄███▓█▓█▌▓▒▓███
    ████████▄▌▌▓▓▓▓▓▓▌▓▓▓▓▓▓▄▄▄░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▒▀▀▓▀▄▒▄▄░░▄██▓█▓█▓▓▓▄█████
    ██████████████▄▄▌▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▄▄▄░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▄▄▄▒▀▀▓▓▒░▄░▀▄███▌░▓▓▓▓████████
    █████████████████████▄▌▌▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▄▄░░░░▄▓▄▄▄░░▀▌░▒▓▓▓█████▓██▓▌▌▓██████████
    ████████████████████████████▄▌▌▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓████████▓▄▄▄░▄███▓▓▓█▓██████████████
    ██████████████████████████████████▄▄▌▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▌▓▓▓▓▓█████████▓▌▒▓▓████████████████
    █████████████████████████████████████████▄▌▌▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓███▓▓██████████████████
    ███████████████████████████████████████████████▄▄▌▀▓▓▓▓▓▓█▓▄████████████████████
    ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████▄▌▓███████████████████████

```
  
However, I didn't want to compile any emulators; I worked with an online emulator instead. Most of the games are written in BASIC, sometimes incorporating assembly language commands. Using it wasn't very different to using my first computer — I just had to copy and paste some of the listings I found on an archive website. Honestly, many of the listings are incorrect and need to be corrected, but for what I had to do (testing, understanding the objective and taking a screenshot), it was OK. Most of the games are very simple, like Hangman or an artillery game with two parameters. They're not very different from the games on calculators we had in the '70s and '80s. That's another part of the work I have to do. Once again, most of the games had no screenshots available elsewhere, so this is also part of the work to preserve those forgotten platforms.

I have also worked on several fantasy consoles, such as Pico-8, TIC80 and Arduboy. Today, we can play those games in a browser, but who knows what will happen tomorrow? I’ve seen so many games disappear because the hosts or creators have decided to pull the plug. Even recent games on major platforms are affected by this issue. Archive.org and the Wayback Machine are sometimes useful, but finding what you're looking for can be like detective work. As you know, I had time this summer, so it was a good opportunity to see if I could work on a console again. With over 600 games to edit each week, I did a lot of work on it. I know that generative AI will certainly steal that work for their own profit. That's another subject, though, and one I'm not concerned with at the moment. 

2Dɛ
=> mailto:icemanfr@sdf.org Comments by mail
or by a reply on your blog