So there's a crowdfunding campaign to fund creation of a PC Classic

[Master Disaster]

 a company called Unit-E is running the campaign which will be launched by mid December for a 2019 product launch. It's expected to come bundled with 30 classic games from the 80s & 90s but unlike most other classic systems that list will be expandable after launch. The device will come with some kind of joystick or gamepad included but might also come with a mini mouse and keyboard too.

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Sure, you already own an SNES Classic, an NES Classic, and the Neo Geo Mini, but what if you are in the mood to play old Microsoft DOS games on your television? With the PC Classic, you can, and the system comes with a retro aesthetic to get you in the mood.

 

Much like other companies “classic” consoles, the PC Classic from Unit-e is a miniature system that will come pre-loaded with “at least 30 games” from the DOS era of the ’80s and ’90s. More games will also be available to purchase later and you can sign up for a mailing list to see the final game lineup whenever it’s nailed down.

 

The standard console comes in a retro-style beige color, and at least one more color will be available. The system will come packaged with a gamepad and Unit-e is considering also bundling in a mini keyboard and mouse, and all games will support both gamepad and keyboard setups. The planned price is around $100, and crowdfunding will kick off in either late November or early December before a release in the middle of 2019.

The system will use "floppy disk cards" to play games instead of relying on internal ROM storage and the device will have HDMI & Composite out so should connect to both modern and retro screens and TVs and it will also have Bluetooth so connectivity of other peripherals should be a breeze.

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The PC Classic actually uses miniature floppy disc cards in order to play games. In a demonstration video, we see the system in action playing the original Doom, which runs quite smoothly.

 

On the back of the PC Classic is an HDMI port, AV ports, as well as a USB port. It will also support Bluetooth, so you should be able to use a variety of controllers if you don’t like the one it comes with.

 

It does seem a little bit strange to release a “classic” version of a system that has been continuously updated over the years, but for those who missed out on PC gaming’s glory days in the ’90s, the PC Classic sounds like the perfect entry point. There were plenty of great titles being released during the DOS days, particularly by Id Software, and we’re looking forward to seeing the game list when it’s made official.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/pc-classic-plug-and-play-system/

 

Lmao, a PC classic. This is when you know a trend has gone too far. PCs still exists and can still play these "retro" games to this day, I'm betting in exactly the same way this thing plays them only better (DOSBOX). In fact any PC, Laptop, Tablet or Phone around right now will do everything this thing does already.

[KuJoe]

I wish GOG would have done something like this.

[Arika]

17 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

The system will use "floppy disk cards"

i hope they make a large amount of them so when they die or people lose them, they have a way of getting replacements

[Nowak]

I-

 

I want 20.

[Master Disaster]

4 minutes ago, Arika S said:

i hope they make a large amount of them so when they die or people lose them, they have a way of getting replacements

It's kind of hard to see in the video but they sorta look like your everyday SD Cards to me.

[Mooshi]

35 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

It's kind of hard to see in the video but they sorta look like your everyday SD Cards to me.

 Would be really stupid not to use SD cards.

[GoldenLag]

14 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Inb4 the mini floppy disk is proprietary and this is effectively another printer+ink situation, all just to play old DOS games

DOS it do anything else?

[asus killer]

nice and pointless at the same time

[Sauron]

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what if you are in the mood to play old Microsoft DOS games on your television?

IDK, maybe I'd use DOSbox which has worked perfectly for over a decade and runs on a raspberry pi (I wouldn't be surprised if that was the hardware used in the demo).

 

Can we stop with the "mini"/"classic" craze? In this case especially, nobody is going to come after you for using an emulator. Please don't fund this trash.

54 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Inb4 the mini floppy disk is proprietary and this is effectively another printer+ink situation, all just to play old DOS games

Of course it is, have you ever seen an original DOS game that comes in a floppy disk the size of an sd card?

[mr moose]

I'm only backing this if it runs dos4gw on windows 95 and I have to spend half an hour manually editing ini files and fucking around with sound card IRQ settings before each games runs properly.

 

Otherwise it's just not authentic enough for me.

[Master Disaster]

43 minutes ago, mr moose said:

I'm only backing this if it runs dos4gw on windows 95 and I have to spend half an hour manually editing ini files and fucking around with sound card IRQ settings before each games runs properly.

 

Otherwise it's just not authentic enough for me.

They say every game will come preconfigured out of the box.

 

As for DOS4GW, I believe there's alternatives available that offer better support for DOSBOX.

[TechyBen]

2 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

It's kind of hard to see in the video but they sorta look like your everyday SD Cards to me.

OK... I already have "Skunkworks V1" almost built (just need some time to finish it up)... I have a 3D printer on it's way for before the end of the year (Yey overseas post... but direct from manufacturer, so hoping no Ebay/Amazon scam, so worth the wait)...

 

... Which means I COULD make one of these. I have an old Rapsi Pi, but TBH, support and Dosbox is just too much of a pain getting working... so I could get a newer pi or a similar system on a board (many to choose from, some even intel).

 

Big question now: Should I make a "PC Classic" for LTT? (This won't be crowdfunded, it will be a one off handmade item).

[Delicieuxz]

Why does their prototype have the front cover plastic faded yellow? That only happens when the plastic presumably wasn't chemically treated properly during its production and after it has aged a lot, but the front cover of a new PC case back in those days would be white just like the rest of the sides.

 

Making the front yellow would be like Nintendo making the SNES Classic come out in aged yellow instead of how a new one looked. Personally, I think the yellowed plastic looks nasty.

 

 

 

The front panel on the PC Classic also looks banged up. Maybe it's just a rough mould and not the final thing.

 

 

[TechyBen]

Also, the front is obvs 3d printed/molded and the case is an off the shelf circuit box. XD

[Master Disaster]

2 hours ago, Delicieuxz said:

Why does their prototype have the front cover plastic faded yellow? That only happens when the plastic presumably wasn't chemically treated properly during its production and after it has aged a lot, but the front cover of a new PC case back in those days would be white just like the rest of the sides.

 

Making the front yellow would be like Nintendo making the SNES Classic come out in aged yellow instead of how a new one looked. Personally, I think the yellowed plastic looks nasty.

 

 

 

The front panel on the PC Classic also looks banged up. Maybe it's just a rough mould and not the final thing.

 

 

The original Commadore 64 Mini sold in the US was colour matched to a system that had yellowed. They've just released an updated version that matches the systems original colour much more closely.

[Sauron]

1 hour ago, VegetableStu said:

that's a microSD to SD adapter, LOL

This is a proof of concept though, they'd have to use something that already exists.

[Sauron]

7 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

wait by "floppy disk card" do they mean SD adapters/risers shaped like tiny novelty floppies, or are there floppies smaller than 3.5"? o_o

No clue, but hopefully this doesn't get funded and we never find out.

[Okjoek]

I mean, I like mini pcs, but I'd rather have a modern hardware and OS.

[BuckGup]

Raspberry pi running emulators. Oh cool let me give them $500,000

[Guest]

Why don't you use use an emulator, or even better games will still run on modern PCs lol. I've run a few Windows 98 games that work well on Windows 10. Not to mention DOOM etc working great on an emulator. This is so silly. 

[TechyBen]

22 minutes ago, RorzNZ said:

Why don't you use use an emulator, or even better games will still run on modern PCs lol. I've run a few Windows 98 games that work well on Windows 10. Not to mention DOOM etc working great on an emulator. This is so silly. 

A shield/phone could do it too.

[corrado33]

Ok so the "mini" systems were created because for some people buying an old console (NES) and all the games they want can get expensive and/or annoying.

 

This one... however... every bit of software can be found online and played on a modern computer.... (I mean, the same is true for NES but still...) Hell, I think there are some WEBSITES that let you play old dos games IN BROWSER. 

 

 

For example:

 

https://classicreload.com/dosx-doom.html

[mr moose]

10 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

They say every game will come preconfigured out of the box.

 

As for DOS4GW, I believe there's alternatives available that offer better support for DOSBOX.

I'm guessing you've never played a dos4gw game on windows 95.  It was an attempt at humour.

[Master Disaster]

19 minutes ago, mr moose said:

I'm guessing you've never played a dos4gw game on windows 95.  It was an attempt at humour.

My first PC ran Windows 95 (until I upgraded it to Windows 3.11) but honestly no, I remember out of all the games I either borrowed or owned only a small handful had Windows versions and I don't remember trying any of them (though I know I must have).

 

I wrote my own custom MSDOS start up disk with boot options to let me choose which drivers I wanted to load and I played pretty much everything in DOS.

 

In fact just about the only time I ever used Windows was for the internet, until I got my second PC running 98. By that time many more games required Windows to work (OpenGL & Glide).

[mr moose]

50 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

My first PC ran Windows 95 (until I upgraded it to Windows 3.11) but honestly no, I remember out of all the games I either borrowed or owned only a small handful had Windows versions and I don't remember trying any of them (though I know I must have).

 

I wrote my own custom MSDOS start up disk with boot options to let me choose which drivers I wanted to load and I played pretty much everything in DOS.

 

In fact just about the only time I ever used Windows was for the internet, until I got my second PC running 98. By that time many more games required Windows to work (OpenGL & Glide).

When installing a soundcard into a win95 machine you had to manually set jumpers on the cards to give it an IRQ, then in the settings in 95 you had to juggle IRQ settings between peripherals to get the sound working.when you loaded a dos4gw sometimes you had to edit an ini file to tell the game what the IRQ and DMA channels were for the soundcard before the game would play any sounds.