Computing History Sponsors Retro Reunited
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We are proud to announce that The Centre for Computing History will be sponsoring this years Retro Reunited event.
 On display will be a variety of machines from the last four decades, that are intended to chart the rise, fall and rise again of an industry that is now even more lucrative than Hollywood. More than sixty different gaming systems will be available for use as well as a free-play arcade, competitions, Rockband setup, a charity auction and raffle, plus much, much more. In addition, a number of video game merchants will be on hand to satisfy the needs of anyone who feels the urge to buy a Megadrive, Commodore 64 games or any other new-old items! In attendance will be a number of leading figures from 80's and 90's gaming, including Jon Ritman (programmer of Head Over Heals and the Match Day games), Jon Hare (co-founder of Sensible Software) and Archer MacLean (Dropzone, IK+ and Jimmy White's Snooker, amongst many others); all of whom will reminisce about their positions at the forefront of the British gaming scene, whilst also giving an insight into where life has taken them since their days in sun. Retro Reunited is also pleased to be hosting Acorn World 2009 – the foremost celebration of one of the most influential British computing companies. Over the course of the weekend, the Emley Suite at the Cedar Court will be populated with numerous examples of Acorn computers, charting the company's rise from the less well-known Acorn System series; through the various iterations of the BBC Microcomputer and the Electron to the ground-breaking Archimedes and RISC PC range; both of which featured Acorn's now-ubiquitous ARM technology which is estimated to be prevalent in 90% of current mobile/embedded devices. The Acorn World team have also arranged a number of seminars across the weekend and one of the highlights is destined to be the talk by Professor Stephen Furber CBE – a principal designer of the BBC Microcomputer and ARM microprocessor – who will discuss the heritage of the BBC Micro. Subjects covered will include the story behind the design of the prototype BBC machine that was demoed to staff at the BBC; the beginnings of ARM architecture and production of the ARM microchip; a glimpse into Stephen’s current research interests, such as the “SpiNNaker” project (Spiking Neural Network architecture): a bold attempt to emulate the interactions of the human brain, utilising an estimated one million ARM processors. Stephen is also looking forward to meeting those enthusiasts who continue to create new hardware and software to support users of Acorn/BBC computers. Other Acorn-related talks include a presentation from RISC OS Open Ltd and a panel of former BBC/Electron/Archimedes commercial game authors. Gordon Sinclair is the leader of the Retro Reunited team and Darren Doyle has produced all artwork for the show. Acorn World has been arranged by Dave Moore with support from Gary Forrest. Both shows will be helping to raise money to support the wonderful work by the men and women of Shelter - The Housing and Homelessness Charity. Weekend tickets are priced £13.00 each (inclusive of booking fee and postage) and include entry to both Retro Reunited and Acorn World. For more information or to order tickets, please visit www.retroreunited.info or www.acornworld.co.uk Date : 16-06-2009 |
