“I was live in Canada between 2009~2019 and I’ve visited several retro-computing and retro-game related events, for example Vintage Computer Fest Northwest in Seattle. But the same time I found (until 2016) there are almost no discussion about retro-computing in Chinese community, there are only (investor) collectors, but no makers, no researchers. There are a small group of retro-gamers, but they only have Famiclones.
I believe Chinese community has its own heritage in digital age. Apple II clones and Vtech Laser 310 was somewhat popular in 80s, the electronic dictionary was a popular mobile gaming platform (check the jgvm and bbk.emu). I want to gathering Chinese retro-computing community and inspiring them to find their own digital heritage.
First, I started the column in Zhihu a Chin…
“I was live in Canada between 2009~2019 and I’ve visited several retro-computing and retro-game related events, for example Vintage Computer Fest Northwest in Seattle. But the same time I found (until 2016) there are almost no discussion about retro-computing in Chinese community, there are only (investor) collectors, but no makers, no researchers. There are a small group of retro-gamers, but they only have Famiclones.
I believe Chinese community has its own heritage in digital age. Apple II clones and Vtech Laser 310 was somewhat popular in 80s, the electronic dictionary was a popular mobile gaming platform (check the jgvm and bbk.emu). I want to gathering Chinese retro-computing community and inspiring them to find their own digital heritage.
First, I started the column in Zhihu a Chinese Q&A website like Quora, this column is not focused on technical details but culture, I want to show the richness of retro-computing, demoscene and chip music communities in the (western) world. These communities are (still) not existing in China.
However, when I’m trying to discuss about some most popular 8-bit computer models, for example Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, few Chinese had used them and know their features. The strangeness of the most important computer platforms makes Chinese media scholars (even many of them are working in universities) can’t understanding many digital media phenomena.
That’s the origin of this website, this is a media archeology lab designed for Chinese readers, both hobbyists and researchers. The website uses online emulators to reduce the complexity of configuring emulators, and demonstrated some preserved Chinese digital heritage, for example the Paradise BBS of CFido.
That’s why I write this website in Chinese, It’s the igniter of the retro-computing community in China, as well as an online laboratory to teach Chinese community and scholars how to research and preserve and demonstrate their digital heritage.
The Internet Archive have a huge collection for online emulators. Sadly it’s blocked in China mainland, my website is also the most convenient way to reach some of these materials.“