My Arcade Pocket Arcade Bubble Bobble

My Arcade Pocket Arcade

When will I ever learn? I just saw these on the shelf, and thought "Hey there's Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands together, well that's not too bad."

Again, it turns out these are NES versions of the games, not the arcade originals. This time it should have been obvious as the box screenshots make it very clear.

Now I have to add these are not necessarily bad versions, but this does fall a little short of my expectations.

Rainbow Islands

There are three games, Bubble Bobble, Bubble Bobble 2 and Rainbow Islands, which is the "Story of Bubble Bobble 2". The Bubble Bobble 2 doesn't seem to be "Bubble Symphony" either, which I learned is also sometimes called "Bubble Bobble 2". Discombobulating, isn't it?

Bubble Bobble does what Bubble Bobble does. Many have fond memories of it as a simultaneous two-player game, so the PocketArcade one-player environment can be seen as a limitation.

Bubble Bobble 2

Bubble Bobble 2 was perhaps the most interesting of the three as I had no expectations or anything to compare it to. It's a 1990s NES game, with bigger and more varied graphics, but basically it's quite similar to Bubble Bobble. Perhaps it serves a little better as an one-player game, as each of the screens provides a clear problem-like situation.

Rainbow Islands makes it most painfully obvious that it's not the arcade version. I still guess it's better than the ZX Spectrum and C64 adaptations, but it's a far cry from the near-arcade perfect Amiga conversion. The music no longer has the Somewhere Over the Rainbow quote which is sad.

With not one, but two battery compartments

Physically, Pocket Arcade is quite nice, colourful item and the horizontal layout is natural. It's not flimsy, especially with the batteries it has a reassuring weight to it. Recalling the Pixel Arcade Data East hits handheld, it's an improvement.

The buttons have a good feel to them, and the screen, although tiny, is bright and crisp.

You can power it with 4 AAA batteries or with a micro-USB connector. It's therefore possible to use an external power pack, which is good as I have a 20000mAh workhorse. There's also a headphone connector which can be helpful in some situations. The volume level can be adjusted and muted entirely.

Running with reserve juice

There's some of the usual laziness, you can generally only get back from games and game over screens by using the reset button, which also means the volume level setting becomes reset.

There's no real reason why the product of this size couldn't contain more games, just as the Pixel Arcade did, but maybe it's envisioned as some kind of collectible.

So, why not, a few moments of enjoyment with PocketArcade. For 30-40€ -ish. Gnnh.

Jean-Michel Jarre in Helsinki pt. 2

I had been eyeing the Jean-Michel Jarre 15.6.2025 concert for months, but only bought the ticket at the last moment. I wasn't too attracted by the Helsinki City Festival setting, but the weather seemed fine and I became anxious about missing a Jarre show inside walking distance.

The festival setting was a little dubious. Expensive foods, expensive drinks. People having difficulties walking the stairs, people avoiding the beer because it means having to go to the toilet 15 minutes later. A random audience member with a clandestine air showed me a Phaedra 50th anniversary reissue he had scored. Another was seen becoming teary-eyed hearing the first notes of a mangled Oxygene. Demosceners and hangarounds were in attendance, you know who you are.

T-shirts and merchandise had run out by the time I had arrived, so no Jarre cap for me, sniff.

I did blog about the 2016 indoor show, and although my notes are rather sparse, I can try to invite some comparisons.

Around 2016 Jarre had a lot of new material, including the collaborative Electronica albums. The Snowden-featuring Exit had even made the news. There had been another new Oxygene. So, all seemed rather good for Jarre back then, and it was reflected in the energetic show.

Since then, Jarre has released Equinoxe Infinity, a couple of soundtrack albums and Oxymore, so there's no lack of material to choose from.

I noted in the 2016 indoor concert how the classic songs had received an amped-up and abbreviated treatment. This was just as true now. But the difference here is that this time I wasn't so excited about the material from that era (The Architect, Zero Gravity, Exit) and was on occasions a little puzzled with the more recent tracks (Oxymore).  

It's likely a difficult balance, play the older songs and be accused of becoming a nostalgia act, play a lot of new material and lose the "Jarre signature sound". Jarre has lately associated himself with the EDM tag, which might be a wise move, but it may also have meant skewing the material in a particular direction.

He played a short version of Zoolookologie and I could have easily listened it for a couple of minutes more. At another moment, he switches on abstract techno jam that takes far longer (At least inside my mind). Why nothing from the Chronologie album?

But I have to say I enjoyed the show as it was happening, it's just that in hindsight I felt things could have been made a little differently.

Jarre brought various technologies on stage, such as live video feed glasses to give a POV to his keyboard and gear. This appeared to confirm that he plays the lead melody and can in other ways influence the sound, that he's not just DJ:ing his own material. Sure, all the other songs could have been playback, but there's no real reason why it would need to be so.

But this wasn't one of his large format concerts, so JMJ was on stage alone and you'd only see a glimpse of a technician.

Sun shines almost perpetually in Finland at this time of year, so at this hour you didn't even get the effect of darkening skies for the finale. The lasers and displays were strong enough, the stage utilized these different-sized vertical blocks (monolith-like) for video displays. On occasions this gave a strong sense of integration between the main and side screens, lending a sculptural appearance to the stage.

A number of AI-visuals had crept into the show, and to someone accustomed seeing them daily in social media, it felt a little off. I had a memory of Jarre using something like that already in the 2016 show, which would have been somewhat possible. (Considering the dog-eyed Deep Dream imagery of 2012) But it might be a false memory after seeing some recent live concert material on Youtube. At least in my blog I only paid attention to the more geometric visuals.

Jarre made a small speech in favour of exploring AI creatively and responsibly, but it remained unclear if some songs had been helped with AI. Another speechlet suggested the electronic music heritage is distinctly European, not grown out of rock and blues. As a simplification this has a kernel of truth, but I'm wondering why this needed to be said. Maybe Jarre, at 76, wanted to encourage younger people to pick up the baton or something.

Just as I thought I could feel somewhat happy about a concert, there was something with a hint of bad odor.

The setlist featured a Nina Kraviz-collaborated track Sex in the Machine (Kraviz absent obviously). As far as I know the Russian artist has been a little vague about the Ukraine war, and there are claims of displaying pro-military and pro-Putin sentiment. Jarre was happy to relay a message from Snowden, but what kind of message was relayed here?

Edit: Oops, I'll have to check which version was actually played, but apparently Sex in the Machine is originally a Jarre song.

Jarre didn't say anything either, but in one of the visuals the robots appeared to have the colours of Ukraine. A likely pro-Ukraine nod, but under analysis could be again seen as vague or even a mixed message. Ukraine as robots, really?

Tuning The Spectrum

Up until now, I used a Commodore 64 -themed memory stick as the drive for Retro Games' The Spectrum. Obviously it sticks out like a sore thumb drive.

It took a while before I bothered to look for a better alternative. Eventually I ordered an "Eletra Nano" USB memory, 32GB (USB 2.0). The memory size is acceptable, and with this I mean it's not too much! I wouldn't want an overkill of space, as the emulator files tend to be 48K or less and I don't even want all of them on the stick.

I don't mind the 2.0 protocol because the drive doesn't have to shift large files.

Smaller, virtually invisible memory sticks exist, but this is still easy to pull out with fingers. The colour, shape and styling are quite compatible with the Sinclair.

Importantly, it works. Format with FAT32 and move all the files from the other stick to this drive. Then insert it in The Spectrum and go.

Previously, I've discussed the modification of a vintage Kempston/Sound interface to give a more full 1980s experience to The Spectrum. The sound interface side is still under consideration.

If I really wanted I could have created space under the "Kempston" interface, camouflaging the memory stick entirely. But I'd rather avoid any accidental physical contact with the memory stick, even if crashes related to extension wobble might be period authentic.

Out-Zone Spider 3200E (Alocs CS-G04)

Protected from wind and from tipping over

I was looking for "one more" gas burner, powerful enough, remote canister, preferably sitting near the ground, with sufficient wind protection. Especially wind protection.

After looking at various options from the usual suspects, I spotted this Out-Zone Spider 3200E model. Other names I've come across are Prologic Blackfire Inspire and Alocs CS-G04, which might be the original. I don't know if all come from the same source, or if there are clones about.

The picture at the website was similar to the Blackfire, but what arrived looked more like the Alocs. This was not especially promising, but I didn't bother to return the product as only the legs are different, and these might offer even more protection.

The valve part looks the same as in many other models, the rest is quite alien.

At first I paid attention to build quality, the legs are slightly skewed to this and that direction. Folding the legs in and out was not very satisfying. The piezo igniter was in a slightly bent angle, which I corrected.

In natural habitat, who cares if the legs are a little wonky.

Interestingly, the included manual is the first one I've come across where it directly says a gas stove produces carbon monoxide. Remember boys and girls, do not use camping stoves in poorly ventilated or enclosed places such as a tent.

After all my initial negativity, trying the Spider a couple of times it does actually work and produces a quite powerful blue flame, nominally 3200W. (Compare to the 2800W of Primus Mimer) The parts give more protection from wind than the Mimer-type non-existent shield.

Generally the manuals of screw-on models forbid the use of wind shields. In a remote stove like this it's hardly a problem, in case I should need an added wind shield. But, again, why not use a Trangia at that point.

Could be used in this position, too

This model is not a big deal to set up. Just fold legs, screw in the gas canister, open valve, strike piezo and off we go. Although the build quality may not be very precise, with this low height I can be quite confident it doesn't tip over.

The legs can be adjusted in-between fully open and closed positions and they will stay in that position.

I am a little conflicted about the burner part. It looks like it was from something much better. It's nice because the material doesn't become colored from the flames.

The flame is not very subtle, so perhaps it's better for boiling water than for frying. To my eyes it looked blue and clean enough.

The flame looks like it's "jumping" from point to point?

Someone at Classic Campstoves is quite critical of this (or similar) models. It's true the stove doesn't have a prewarming tube. Obviously I haven't yet tried it in cold weather.

In another session, boiling about 3.5dl of water took a little longer than I would have expected, couple of minutes. The modest wind was likely not to blame. Using the small Trangia pot means some of the heat might have been lost.

Now I can't find anything negative to say about this kind of spider/low typology. Fiddling with the gas hose can be a little annoying after getting used to the simple screw-on models. The remote canister also has benefits, like adjusting the gas flow remotely.

Waiting for the food to prepare and the burner to cool

The Adventure Food carbonara wasn't all that tasty, maybe it has more nutrients than the Knorr varieties. Finding the oxygen absorber patch took a while. The water is boiled and added to the bag, stirred and after 8 minutes it is stirred again, it's ready.

This is almost cheating! If I had to wait longer for the water to boil, it might have been a little annoying. After the waiting the food is still quite hot, but it gets lukewarm rapidly. Eating the soggy remains from the bag bottom is not very appealing.

This was another time I got to explore the combination of (rental) scooter and a minimal burner setup. I didn't make a point of timing it, but after finding the spot it was likely all done in under 30 minutes.

Mustikkamaa, Helsinki