iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Tetris on the PC: simple graphics, no sound card required, and yet more addictive than games a thousand times more complex. By 1988, the Soviet puzzle phenomenon had reached worldwide. Four little squares were enough to ruin an evening.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

F-19 Stealth Fighter. A masterpiece of tactical flight sim by Microprose, 1988. Just cannot count the hours I spent on it back then. Didn't have any sound except for the PC speaker.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Microsoft BASIC was adapted specifically for MSX computers (here on the Japanese Toshiba Pasopia).

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The earliest Microsoft shell interface: DOS Manager. Many first-time dos users experimented with it before moving on to Norton or XTree, and it was rather clunky compared to them, although it did the job overall. Photo shot in my studio, IBM PS/1 model 2133.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The joy of running DEFRAG on DOS: watching those little colored blocks shuffle around the screen, slowly turning chaos into order. It felt strangely productive, almost therapeutic. And somehow, your PC always seemed faster afterwards, even when it actually wasn't.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

GEM graphical interface on the Atari ST. Photo shot in my studio. Retro setups, CRT scanlines, genuine hardware, floppy disks, ball mouse and wild joystick. Real stuff not emulation: that's my recipe for authentic Retro.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Test Drive III MS-DOS version. Photo shot in my studio, featuring IBM PS/1 model 2133 (486SX).

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Alone in the Dark, 1992, running on my IBM PS/2. This genial game invented the survival horror formula years before the term became famous. Polygonal characters, fixed cinematic cameras, puzzles, monsters and counted resources.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

My retro computer database on Lotus 123. IBM PS/1 model 2133 running it.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Deluxe Paint II turned you into a serious pixel artist. Released by Electronic Arts in 1986 on the Amiga, it was ported to DOS several years later and helped define how game graphics were created. No layers, no undo history, just pixels, patience, and talent.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Sensible Soccer on the Amiga 500. Tiny players, one-button controls, ridiculous speed... and somehow it felt more like football than games ten times as complicated. Sometimes a few pixels are all you need. Photo shot in my studio.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Civilization on the MS-DOS PC, and I remember how “just one more turn” could somehow turn midnight into sunrise. Sid Meier’s 1991 masterpiece made 640 KB feel big enough to contain 6,000 years of history. Few games have stolen so much sleep. Photo shot in my studio, IBM PS/2 model 30

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Powermonger on the Atari ST, Bullfrog’s follow-up to Populous. Its 3D landscape felt remarkably futuristic in 1990. And its universe boiled with action: villagers farmed, fished and worked while your orders travelled to distant captains by carrier pigeon, introducing an actual delay, very realistic.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

PC Tools was one of the big DOS utility suites competing with Norton Utilities, while also offering file-management features that overlapped with XTree. By the early 1990s it had grown into a huge toolbox: disk repair, undelete, backup, antivirus, compression and more. Did you use it too?

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Amiga 500 at sunset. Outrun scores screen. Photo shot in my studio.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

This is Norton Commander Gold, that I used extensively until Windows 95 came out. I still remember some of its shortcuts. Keyboard-driven, endlessly efficient, pure productivity. Photo shot in my studio, IBM PS/2 model 55SX

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Let's load Solo Flight from the Commodore Datasette on my C64 version C from 1986. This game was really something back in the day, one of the very first titles by Microprose, the first publisher dedicated to simulation games just after Sublogic (and after SSI if we consider strategic sims).

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The God Game: Populous on my Atari 520 ST

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Turrican II on my Amiga 500. A pity you can't hear the sound! What a glorious tune by C. Huelsbeck.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Prince of Persia ÷ Intro ÷ IBM PS/2 ÷ PC Speaker #gaming #retrocomputer #retrogaming

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

The PowerBook 140 arrived in 1991 with a 16 MHz 68030, 640×400 monochrome screen and a trackball placed in front of the keyboard. That layout helped define the modern laptop. 2 MB of RAM and a 20 MB hard drive seemed perfectly portable. Photo shot in my studio.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Lode Runner on the Apple IIe with Duo Drive. To think that a 5..25 flopoy disk over 40 years old still loads on a drive the same age... Not sure the stuff they make nowadays would last that long. Photo shot in my studio.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

What I really like about OS/2 2.0 is its multitasking playground: native protected-mode OS/2, real DOS, DOS under OS/2, even Windows 3.x sessions. And that was years before Windows 95. Photo shot in my studio, 486 SX PS/1 model 2133.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Epic on the Atari ST really knew how to make an entrance. Huge spaceships, cinematic ambition, and Gustav Holst’s Mars and Jupiter from The Planets blasting through sampled ST sound. In 1992, this felt less like loading a game and more like launching a space opera. Photo shot in my studio.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Metroid on the NES was a revelation in 1986..A huge and eerie world. No obvious path to your goal, try to find your way through long caverns full of traps. Then came the final surprise: Samus was a woman. Nintendo hid that fact until the ending. Quite a twist for the 8-bit era.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Arkanoid on the MSX, loaded from cassette. The 1987 Imagine release needed a good dose of patience. You waited through the screeching tape just to bounce a tiny ball against bricks. Somehow, the loading ritual made finally seeing that title screen feel like a victory. Photo shot in my studio

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

R-Type on the Amiga looked like the arcade hit had somehow squeezed itself onto your desk. Released in 1989, it brought the iconic R-9, the Force pod and those terrifying biomechanical bosses home. Not arcade-perfect, but close enough to make Amiga owners very smug.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I found this moment the most hilarious in Leisure Suit Larry: a sign near the bed says "substantial penalty for early withdrawals"... One could also argue about late deposits :)

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Usually, games went from 8-bit machines to their shinier 16-bit successors. Lemmings did the opposite: released on the Amiga in 1991, then squeezed onto the C64. A 16-bit hit moving backwards in technology, now that's uncommon! Photo shot in my studio.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Just installed OS/2 on my IBM PS/1. Last time I did that was 35 years ago... In 1992, OS/2 2.0 offered features that Windows would not fully match until the arrival of NT, and later Windows 95. It was considered remarkably stable and was especially appreciated in corporate environments.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Xenon II Megablast was pure Bitmap Brothers style: metallic graphics, smooth scrolling, huge sprites, and such a soundtrack by Bomb the Bass that made every level feel like an arcade spectacle. Released in 1989, it became one of the defining shoot'em-up on the Amiga and Atari ST.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

R-Type was in my opinion the indisputed king of shoot 'em ups in the 80s. I think it was the first to put up gigantic biomechanical bosses, totally animated, that took at least half of the screen. Its relentless difficulty, and razor-sharp level design made every victory feel earned.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

In 1992 Ultima Underworld revolutionized the RPG. Its seamless 3D world let you look up and down, jump, swim, climb, and explore freely. Photo shot in my studio featuring IBM PS/1 model 2011.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The Amstrad CPC proved that great computing didn't have to cost a fortune. With its built-in cassette (464) or disk drive (6128), colorful graphics, very decent sound and surprisingly capable BASIC, it became the first real home computer for countless Europeans. Almost all of my schoolmates had one.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

French company Loriciels played a major role in giving Thomson computers a real gaming identity during the 1980s. Games like L'Aigle d'Or and its sequel Quauhtli (shown here) became classics for a generation of gamers. Photo shot in my studio, Thomson TO7/70

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Lotus 123 turned the IBM PC into a serious business machine almost overnight. Fast and powerful, it became the killer app that convinced countless companies to buy a PC. Photo shot in my studio: PS/1 Model 2133 (486) with model M keyboard, because its original keyboard need fixing.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner. Photos taken in my studio with an Amiga 500 and Commodore 1084 display.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

What better way to catalog your retro collection than using a retro computer? Running Calc on my C64c to keep track of my vintage machines. Fits perfectly.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The magnificent Powermonger intro on my Amiga 500. It's a shame you can't hear the sound! Back then, we knew exactly what a great game looked and sounded like. You could feel it in your guts.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Nebulus, aka Tower Toppler, was great on every machine it was adapted to (and that's many). Seen here on my Atari ST.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

The MSX had an astonishing library of Konami games. Nemesis, Salamander, Metal Gear, Maze of Galious, Penguin Adventure... each one felt polished as and ambitious. It was almost unfair to the competition, such as HAL, second best provider with games like Hole in One shown here on my Yashica YC-64.

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

What a nice-looking little train, let me see which car shall I also add... Back in 1991 I spent countless hours Railroad Tycoon. Such a great game by the legendary team at Microprose. Photo shot in my studio (IBM PS/2 Model 30).

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Barbarian on my Amstrad CPC 6128. The fight is over and the lizard drags away your opponent. When I was a kid visiting pals from school who had this machine, Barbarian was often the first game we played during our long afternoon sessions...

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Who said the Apple II was no good for graphics? Photo shot in my studio

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

R-Type, Commodore 64C, 1571 disk drive, 1702 display. Photo shot in my studio

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

In 1991, Another World felt like stepping into a strange animated film. Its innovative rotoscoping technique gave the characters an uncanny fluidity. A few polygons masterfully applied to gorgeous landscapes created a fascinating, realistic, and very dangerous alien universe

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Who would argue Dungeon Master was the best game ever made? Looking back, it was a blessing there was no music during the game. It made the sound effects even more powerful: grinding doors, cries of monsters, crackling spells... all magnified by the ominous silence. And even more so in the dark!

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Retro Dream @retrodream.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I can't think of any 8-bit computer Sorcery was not adapted to (at least officially) except maybe the Apple II and the Atari. If we consider machines still popular in 1985-86, then Sorcery was everywhere. Seen here on my Commodore 64 "breadbin'.

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