RETROBLOG

875 pesetas vs 60 euros. Real data from the INE, the BOE and Steam. The comparison that proves that in 1988 it was expensive too — we just didn't know it because we were kids with a piggy bank as our only source of funding.

My mum threw out the C64. Without asking. Forty years later there are four ways to own one: the original, the Mini with its cardboard keyboard, the Maxi that learned its lesson, and the Ultimate with FPGA. No-filter, no-anaesthetic comparison.

You had the Commodore 64. What you didn't have was a shop, a double cassette deck, or a convinced parent. Only one option remained: mail order. The story of Centro Mail and the 4-in-1 pack that changed everything. And the Game story... that has its own tale too.

Nearly 200 covers, paintbrushes without Photoshop and a one-week deadline. Alfonso Azpiri illustrated the Golden Age of Spanish software with a talent that left games without any excuse to exist. A tribute with all the honesty in the world.

An ordinary afternoon, browsing aimlessly, and suddenly BOB appears. C64, Spectrum, Amstrad, MSX, arcade, consoles... all configured and ready to go. Nacho Portillo's creation that gave many of us back the afternoons we thought were gone forever.

The Fourth Era of Micromanía arrives in broadsheet format, with Monkey Island on the cover, Maldita Castilla, Turbo Girl and the legendary writers from Hobby Press. Spanish retro is back. Again.

Twenty minutes staring at coloured stripes, the LOAD ERROR as divine punishment, and then the revelation: press «L». The story of the invention that multiplied loading speed by 8 and gave back whole afternoons to an entire generation.

The most anticipated trial of the retro era. Four home computers take the stand and only one can emerge victorious. With evidence, testimony and a verdict that will ruffle some feathers.