James - PixelRefresh.com
@james.pixelrefresh.com
Founder of 🌐 https://www.pixelrefresh.com
Love of Retro Gaming & Modern Tech - articles, podcasts & videos
🎙️ Host of Game & Gadget #Podcast
🎵 Creator of #ScummVM Music Enhancement Project
My post topics: #retrogaming #retrocomputing #retroconsoles
Love of Retro Gaming & Modern Tech - articles, podcasts & videos
🎙️ Host of Game & Gadget #Podcast
🎵 Creator of #ScummVM Music Enhancement Project
My post topics: #retrogaming #retrocomputing #retroconsoles
My very first music keyboard was the Yamaha PSS-270 powered by FM synthesis released in 1986.
I had a little look around online to relive that childhood nostalgia and found this example in original box and after collecting it and giving it a very light clean it's in absolutely amazing condition!
I had a little look around online to relive that childhood nostalgia and found this example in original box and after collecting it and giving it a very light clean it's in absolutely amazing condition!
November 8, 2025 at 6:56 AM
My very first music keyboard was the Yamaha PSS-270 powered by FM synthesis released in 1986.
I had a little look around online to relive that childhood nostalgia and found this example in original box and after collecting it and giving it a very light clean it's in absolutely amazing condition!
I had a little look around online to relive that childhood nostalgia and found this example in original box and after collecting it and giving it a very light clean it's in absolutely amazing condition!
My latest project is in this case cleaning a classic Yamaha PortaSound PSS-390 music keyboard.
It's in good condition and works perfectly, but needs a clean.
The era of FM synthesis was a fun one and this reminds me so much of my childhood.
It's in good condition and works perfectly, but needs a clean.
The era of FM synthesis was a fun one and this reminds me so much of my childhood.
November 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM
My latest project is in this case cleaning a classic Yamaha PortaSound PSS-390 music keyboard.
It's in good condition and works perfectly, but needs a clean.
The era of FM synthesis was a fun one and this reminds me so much of my childhood.
It's in good condition and works perfectly, but needs a clean.
The era of FM synthesis was a fun one and this reminds me so much of my childhood.
I still get a wonderful feeling playing GM, GS & XG MIDI files from the 90s and beyond.
Knowing that the instrument sampled data is coming directly from the unit makes them feel alive. The displays help also!
Featured here are the Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 Mark 2 and the Yamaha MU80.
Knowing that the instrument sampled data is coming directly from the unit makes them feel alive. The displays help also!
Featured here are the Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 Mark 2 and the Yamaha MU80.
October 19, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I still get a wonderful feeling playing GM, GS & XG MIDI files from the 90s and beyond.
Knowing that the instrument sampled data is coming directly from the unit makes them feel alive. The displays help also!
Featured here are the Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 Mark 2 and the Yamaha MU80.
Knowing that the instrument sampled data is coming directly from the unit makes them feel alive. The displays help also!
Featured here are the Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 Mark 2 and the Yamaha MU80.
Slowly rebuilding my PS3 collection...
Sony had enormous success with the PS1 and PS2, had a sudden jolt of reality with the PS3 and got back on track with the PS4.
And yet, the PS3 has some cracking titles that really shows what it is capable of when the hardware is mastered.
Sony had enormous success with the PS1 and PS2, had a sudden jolt of reality with the PS3 and got back on track with the PS4.
And yet, the PS3 has some cracking titles that really shows what it is capable of when the hardware is mastered.
October 18, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Slowly rebuilding my PS3 collection...
Sony had enormous success with the PS1 and PS2, had a sudden jolt of reality with the PS3 and got back on track with the PS4.
And yet, the PS3 has some cracking titles that really shows what it is capable of when the hardware is mastered.
Sony had enormous success with the PS1 and PS2, had a sudden jolt of reality with the PS3 and got back on track with the PS4.
And yet, the PS3 has some cracking titles that really shows what it is capable of when the hardware is mastered.
Not sure how old these sealed brand new floppy disks are that a friend has found and given to me, but they reference a 286 PC 🤣
#retrocomputing
#retrocomputing
October 11, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Not sure how old these sealed brand new floppy disks are that a friend has found and given to me, but they reference a 286 PC 🤣
#retrocomputing
#retrocomputing
My Dell Optiplex 3010 is now running Debian 13 replacing Windows. Slowly moving the majority of my hardware over to #Linux. This is my 4th.
Intel Core i5-3470
16GB RAM
RADEON 6400 4GB GPU
256GB SSD
Also enjoying Two Point Campus on it, which runs fab!
Intel Core i5-3470
16GB RAM
RADEON 6400 4GB GPU
256GB SSD
Also enjoying Two Point Campus on it, which runs fab!
October 7, 2025 at 2:43 AM
My Dell Optiplex 3010 is now running Debian 13 replacing Windows. Slowly moving the majority of my hardware over to #Linux. This is my 4th.
Intel Core i5-3470
16GB RAM
RADEON 6400 4GB GPU
256GB SSD
Also enjoying Two Point Campus on it, which runs fab!
Intel Core i5-3470
16GB RAM
RADEON 6400 4GB GPU
256GB SSD
Also enjoying Two Point Campus on it, which runs fab!
Another day, another laptop refurbished.
It's very therapeutic restoring tech & even a five year old laptop you can see the CPU thermal paste Incredibly dry so time for a refresh.
After the cleaning & paste, fan now comes in much less & replaced Windows 11 with Debian 13 and it's been excellent!
It's very therapeutic restoring tech & even a five year old laptop you can see the CPU thermal paste Incredibly dry so time for a refresh.
After the cleaning & paste, fan now comes in much less & replaced Windows 11 with Debian 13 and it's been excellent!
September 14, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Another day, another laptop refurbished.
It's very therapeutic restoring tech & even a five year old laptop you can see the CPU thermal paste Incredibly dry so time for a refresh.
After the cleaning & paste, fan now comes in much less & replaced Windows 11 with Debian 13 and it's been excellent!
It's very therapeutic restoring tech & even a five year old laptop you can see the CPU thermal paste Incredibly dry so time for a refresh.
After the cleaning & paste, fan now comes in much less & replaced Windows 11 with Debian 13 and it's been excellent!
My MacBook Pro from ~2014 with Retina display is still very capable, but macOS for it is end of life...
Linux Mint to the rescue and now on the just released Linux Mint 22.2 (Zara).
Although Windows and macOS have their advantages, Linux Mint is proving a worthy OS, especially on older hardware.
Linux Mint to the rescue and now on the just released Linux Mint 22.2 (Zara).
Although Windows and macOS have their advantages, Linux Mint is proving a worthy OS, especially on older hardware.
September 3, 2025 at 6:22 AM
My MacBook Pro from ~2014 with Retina display is still very capable, but macOS for it is end of life...
Linux Mint to the rescue and now on the just released Linux Mint 22.2 (Zara).
Although Windows and macOS have their advantages, Linux Mint is proving a worthy OS, especially on older hardware.
Linux Mint to the rescue and now on the just released Linux Mint 22.2 (Zara).
Although Windows and macOS have their advantages, Linux Mint is proving a worthy OS, especially on older hardware.
It's 2025 and still the 37 year old SEGA Mega Drive console sees new amazing releases.
Earthion is a wonderful, jaw dropping, frantic & pleasing SHMUP that is accessible for newcomers to the genre and challenging for the experienced.
Bring on the cartridge!
store.steampowered.com/app/3597580/...
Earthion is a wonderful, jaw dropping, frantic & pleasing SHMUP that is accessible for newcomers to the genre and challenging for the experienced.
Bring on the cartridge!
store.steampowered.com/app/3597580/...
August 3, 2025 at 3:42 PM
It's 2025 and still the 37 year old SEGA Mega Drive console sees new amazing releases.
Earthion is a wonderful, jaw dropping, frantic & pleasing SHMUP that is accessible for newcomers to the genre and challenging for the experienced.
Bring on the cartridge!
store.steampowered.com/app/3597580/...
Earthion is a wonderful, jaw dropping, frantic & pleasing SHMUP that is accessible for newcomers to the genre and challenging for the experienced.
Bring on the cartridge!
store.steampowered.com/app/3597580/...
I have a great number of CRT TVs for retro gaming, but the Mister FPGA using scanlines while triggering HDR to boost the brightness is pretty darn impressive!
CRT TVs have other benefits too, but this is effective on modern displays!
CRT TVs have other benefits too, but this is effective on modern displays!
July 17, 2025 at 4:52 AM
I have a great number of CRT TVs for retro gaming, but the Mister FPGA using scanlines while triggering HDR to boost the brightness is pretty darn impressive!
CRT TVs have other benefits too, but this is effective on modern displays!
CRT TVs have other benefits too, but this is effective on modern displays!
Fun times testing out for a future Retro LAN. Went fairly smoothly, so looking forward to when a bunch of friends get together to relive some Windows XP memories...
Think Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament 99, Unreal Tournament 2004, Quake and more...
Can't wait!
Think Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament 99, Unreal Tournament 2004, Quake and more...
Can't wait!
July 3, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Fun times testing out for a future Retro LAN. Went fairly smoothly, so looking forward to when a bunch of friends get together to relive some Windows XP memories...
Think Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament 99, Unreal Tournament 2004, Quake and more...
Can't wait!
Think Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament 99, Unreal Tournament 2004, Quake and more...
Can't wait!
You know when you've watched too many modern gaming graphics analysis videos when you sit in your garden one sunny afternoon and think to yourself, "The shadow resolution isn't half bad".
July 2, 2025 at 6:04 AM
You know when you've watched too many modern gaming graphics analysis videos when you sit in your garden one sunny afternoon and think to yourself, "The shadow resolution isn't half bad".
If I was going to buy a brand, this is the one for me...
July 1, 2025 at 5:43 AM
If I was going to buy a brand, this is the one for me...
Not long ago, I was given 7 PCs that would have otherwise gone to landfill. I have built 3x PCs now from the parts (Win98, 2x WinXP) for retro gaming.
HP from 2009 here I'm going to upgrade to 16GB RAM and an intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 CPU so I can dabble building a retro gaming LAN server with Linux.
HP from 2009 here I'm going to upgrade to 16GB RAM and an intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 CPU so I can dabble building a retro gaming LAN server with Linux.
June 28, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Not long ago, I was given 7 PCs that would have otherwise gone to landfill. I have built 3x PCs now from the parts (Win98, 2x WinXP) for retro gaming.
HP from 2009 here I'm going to upgrade to 16GB RAM and an intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 CPU so I can dabble building a retro gaming LAN server with Linux.
HP from 2009 here I'm going to upgrade to 16GB RAM and an intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 CPU so I can dabble building a retro gaming LAN server with Linux.
Yukkity yuk...
June 21, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Yukkity yuk...
This is wonderful insanity...
When your ARM powered Acorn RISC PC can have a second 486 DX4 100MHz CPU and run Windows 95 in its own window.
Retro computing is so exciting dabbling with these things it truly is!
When your ARM powered Acorn RISC PC can have a second 486 DX4 100MHz CPU and run Windows 95 in its own window.
Retro computing is so exciting dabbling with these things it truly is!
June 19, 2025 at 9:53 PM
This is wonderful insanity...
When your ARM powered Acorn RISC PC can have a second 486 DX4 100MHz CPU and run Windows 95 in its own window.
Retro computing is so exciting dabbling with these things it truly is!
When your ARM powered Acorn RISC PC can have a second 486 DX4 100MHz CPU and run Windows 95 in its own window.
Retro computing is so exciting dabbling with these things it truly is!
In RISC OS 4.39, I really want my green Acorn logo back!
After using RISC OS 3.1 on my Acorn A3010 for so many years, using this newer version on the RISC PC 700 feels wrong without that lovely green iconic erm... Icon.
#riscos #acorn #retrocomputing
After using RISC OS 3.1 on my Acorn A3010 for so many years, using this newer version on the RISC PC 700 feels wrong without that lovely green iconic erm... Icon.
#riscos #acorn #retrocomputing
June 16, 2025 at 5:09 AM
In RISC OS 4.39, I really want my green Acorn logo back!
After using RISC OS 3.1 on my Acorn A3010 for so many years, using this newer version on the RISC PC 700 feels wrong without that lovely green iconic erm... Icon.
#riscos #acorn #retrocomputing
After using RISC OS 3.1 on my Acorn A3010 for so many years, using this newer version on the RISC PC 700 feels wrong without that lovely green iconic erm... Icon.
#riscos #acorn #retrocomputing
Looking after my latest Acorn acquisition...
The RISC PC 700 originally released in 1995, this one with plenty of installed extras for me to dabble with.
As always, like to give retro tech a good clean, especially keyboards! Much better now.
Fun times ahead! New to RISC PCs so tips welcome...
The RISC PC 700 originally released in 1995, this one with plenty of installed extras for me to dabble with.
As always, like to give retro tech a good clean, especially keyboards! Much better now.
Fun times ahead! New to RISC PCs so tips welcome...
June 14, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Looking after my latest Acorn acquisition...
The RISC PC 700 originally released in 1995, this one with plenty of installed extras for me to dabble with.
As always, like to give retro tech a good clean, especially keyboards! Much better now.
Fun times ahead! New to RISC PCs so tips welcome...
The RISC PC 700 originally released in 1995, this one with plenty of installed extras for me to dabble with.
As always, like to give retro tech a good clean, especially keyboards! Much better now.
Fun times ahead! New to RISC PCs so tips welcome...
Here we go again...
June 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Here we go again...
Another World (Out of this World) is back working again on... #ScummVM! 20+ years after being removed.
Generally the ScummVM focus was specifically on point and click adventure games, however in recent years this has evolved to cover a wider net of genres.
scummvm.org/news/20250611/
Generally the ScummVM focus was specifically on point and click adventure games, however in recent years this has evolved to cover a wider net of genres.
scummvm.org/news/20250611/
June 12, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Another World (Out of this World) is back working again on... #ScummVM! 20+ years after being removed.
Generally the ScummVM focus was specifically on point and click adventure games, however in recent years this has evolved to cover a wider net of genres.
scummvm.org/news/20250611/
Generally the ScummVM focus was specifically on point and click adventure games, however in recent years this has evolved to cover a wider net of genres.
scummvm.org/news/20250611/
Windows Aero is back 🤣
Well done Apple 👍
Well done Apple 👍
June 9, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Windows Aero is back 🤣
Well done Apple 👍
Well done Apple 👍
My Simon the Sorcerer collection for the Acorn Archimedes...
- Floppy disk version (9 of them!)
- CD-ROM talkie version
The Acorn A3010 was the platform where I first discovered the delights of Simon the Sorcerer.
www.pixelrefresh.com/simon-the-so...
- Floppy disk version (9 of them!)
- CD-ROM talkie version
The Acorn A3010 was the platform where I first discovered the delights of Simon the Sorcerer.
www.pixelrefresh.com/simon-the-so...
June 9, 2025 at 11:03 AM
My Simon the Sorcerer collection for the Acorn Archimedes...
- Floppy disk version (9 of them!)
- CD-ROM talkie version
The Acorn A3010 was the platform where I first discovered the delights of Simon the Sorcerer.
www.pixelrefresh.com/simon-the-so...
- Floppy disk version (9 of them!)
- CD-ROM talkie version
The Acorn A3010 was the platform where I first discovered the delights of Simon the Sorcerer.
www.pixelrefresh.com/simon-the-so...
Articles are never truly complete...
My experience of the legendary Acorn Archimedes A3010 I wrote last year lacked the catalogue listing that inspired me to ask for it in Christmas 1994.
With help, we found the catalogue and page!
Enjoy the update...
www.pixelrefresh.com/the-acorn-ar...
My experience of the legendary Acorn Archimedes A3010 I wrote last year lacked the catalogue listing that inspired me to ask for it in Christmas 1994.
With help, we found the catalogue and page!
Enjoy the update...
www.pixelrefresh.com/the-acorn-ar...
June 7, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Articles are never truly complete...
My experience of the legendary Acorn Archimedes A3010 I wrote last year lacked the catalogue listing that inspired me to ask for it in Christmas 1994.
With help, we found the catalogue and page!
Enjoy the update...
www.pixelrefresh.com/the-acorn-ar...
My experience of the legendary Acorn Archimedes A3010 I wrote last year lacked the catalogue listing that inspired me to ask for it in Christmas 1994.
With help, we found the catalogue and page!
Enjoy the update...
www.pixelrefresh.com/the-acorn-ar...