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Show off your (old) gear, win shiny new (ROCCAT) gear!

As you know, the GOG.com catalog spans many titles dating back as far as 1980 (, we're looking at you!), in times when computers kind of looked like modern-day [url=http://prepare.icttrends.com/images/2012/06/IBM_PC.jpg]microwaves sat on top of a console, and the first portable computer, the Osborne I, was put on the market in all the glory of its 24 pounds of weight and a steep $1,795 price tag.

We don't expect you to have gear that's quite as old, but we are curious as to what treasures you might be keeping in a box stored away in the basement or deep in an attic drawer. So show us your oldest gear and be greatly rewarded with the some of the newest on the market, courtesy of gaming gear creator and producer ROCCAT!

THE RULES:

- Your entry should consist of 1 or 2 pictures of your old gear and a description of up to 100 words telling us what it is, where you got it, what you used it for or any other fond memories you have with it. Maybe it was your first joystick? Maybe an old Atari controller you kept as a memento? We want to hear about it!
- You can only post one entry per person. If you post more, only the first one will be counted.
- You may not edit your post.
- Use your own photos of your own gear - we do know how to do a reverse image search!

Post your entry in the comments below before the deadline - you have a week, until March 6th, at 1:59 PM GMT. We aim to judge your entries and pick winners by Thursday, March 12th - we'll announce them in the contest forum thread and via PM to the winners themselves.

THE PRIZES:

1st place prize: a ROCCAT Isku, gaming keyboard with blue-tinted illumination, secondary programmable Shift function, and Thumbster Macro Keys below the spacebar to maximise gaming effectiveness

2nd place prize: a ROCCAT Savu, mid-size hybrid gaming mouse with an adjustable, 400-4000 DPI optical sensor, secondary programmable function, customizable illumination, and a powerful driver suite

3rd place prize: a ROCCAT Sense, mousepad with friction-reducing microcrystalline coating for greater mouse speed and precision

All winners will also get GOG.com gift codes to use on games of their choice to test out their new gear!

Honorable mentions: We expect there to be many great-quality entries, so we're reserving the right to give out honorable mentions to all those we find did a brilliant job, but didn't quite make the podium cut. They'll get GOG.com gift codes to use on titles available in our catalog.

Should you be one of our top three winners, we will need some mailing data (name, address, phone number) to ship your prize to you. If the ROCCAT Marketing Team ends up sending the prizes directly to you, we will need to share your mailing information with them. We will not share it with anyone that doesn't need it!

Please note that this contest is also being held on the French and German GOG.com forum - winners will be chosen, regardless of language, from across all three contest topics. :)
This is SHARP PC-1500A with an 8-bit LH-5801 processor running at 1.3MHz and 8KB of RAM. If a RAM module CE-161 is added, a full 24KB will be yours to command. The display is monochrome, and has a resolution of 156 x 7, which is capable of displaying a single line of ASCII output. One could print in colour with the CE-150 printer, and save programs to cassette tapes with a tape recorder (not in the photo). The black box attached to the computer is an RS-232C serial interface. Also in the photo are the four-colour ballpoint pens for the printer and 8K RAM modules. The programming languages are BASIC and assembler. All this fits nicely into a carrying case similar in size to a laptop carrying case.

This calculator-like computer is always a reminder of many fond memories, as it was the production system used by quite a few hospitals and clinics for several years. I was the author of the software, and virtually everything was home-grown. Data compression module and low-level printing module had to be written in assembler for performance reasons, and other higher level functions were in BASIC. Due to the limited resources on the computer, much of the development was actually performed on an x86 PC with a cross compiler and RS-232 port. The compiled binaries were then transferred for testing via the serial RS-232C interface (driven by custom communication programs written in BASIC). Many long nights were spent trying to solve neat little puzzles on this little machine.
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Believe it or not this computer is still functional, it has Windows 98 installed (I didn't want to fuss with the cables to hook it up). I've kept it around for ages because I played old DOS games on it which wouldn't run otherwise (back then on Windows XP), like the Tex Murphy series. This was of course before GOG came along. The rig is a Pentium III 500 Mhz, some crappy integrated video card, 128MB of RAM and a 10GB HDD. I've bought it about 9 years ago when some company cleaned out their old office PCs.
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I bought this mouse back in 2001. The model is M-S61. I've been using it for almost everything, photoshopping to gaming, and I'm still using it today. It has a ball, which I have to clean using soap once every month or two, and I have to open the case just to do that.
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This is not quite game related, although it did use to run a simple Ski game. HP85, produced in 1980, as old and almost portable as the Osborne. With custom ~600KHz CPU, 16KB of RAM, graphic display and printer, it was a great computer at the time.

I got this unit from a high-school, broken, and repaired it a few years ago. I thought that showing off its abilities (and my BASIC memories) would be a good substitute for games. Even though I didn't start on this particular computer, I think that BASIC programming is what got me started.
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hp85_gog.jpg (384 Kb)
This Atari ST520 belonged originally to my brother, he got it 1984, two years before I was born. I played a lot with it and when first PCs arrived I got the atari all to myself. Few years ago when I visited my parents I decided to take the atari and start using it again. It took some time to connect the atari to a tv because technology has changed. But now it works perfectly and I can play the games of my childhood. I love it!!
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Decisions, decisions. In the end I decided not to go with the oldest items I have, instead I chose 2 items which mean a great deal to me.

1. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons by TSR. When released in 1988 this little baby would soon set me on the well trodden path of RPG's. I've carried it through numerous natural disasters, including relationship break-ups, and it still remains one of my most sentimental games - and it's still complete.

2. When I purchased the Hercules Fortissimo II (about 15 years ago) I was yet to realise that the following years would only bring disappointment in sound cards, to this day I've not owned a card quite as reliable in both usage and sound. It still runs, it still produces quality sound, and contrary to the belief of some of my audiophile friends, variations in it's sound quality are undetectable when compared to modern cards (tested vs. X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro)
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This is one of my MSX computers that sparked my love for video games. This MSX2, a Philips NMS8250, still works like a charm and I still use it to play Zanac, Penguin Adventure, Eggerland and many other games. My parents bought it back in the day, but it was replaced quickly by a PC. I got hold of this machine ever since.

Sadly my older Toshiba (HK-10) 64k doesn't work anymore, but it would be blasphemy not to post a bonus-picture of that one aswell. I'm still planing to have it repaired.
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This is my first pc, as well as my first custom built Windows 95 machine, complete with DIN connector keyboard and serial ball mouse. I can remember running such games as Warcraft II, Diablo, Risk, Doom, Axis & Allies, and many, many others. I was the first amongst my friends to have an internet connection, provided from a local dial up ISP. Downloading many demos would also be a pass time, including Blood and Shadow Warrior with the narrowband modem. It is still working to this very day, which is surprising.
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This is my Commodore VIC-20. It is an early european model from 1981.
It was my first computer and it is still in working condition.
I got it as a gift when I was a child.
On the left you can see a bunch of game cartridges, which were rather
common on the VIC-20 because it has so little memory (only 5KB of RAM) by default.
Of course the monitor is much newer, but fortunately the VIC-20 outputs
ordinary composite video, so attaching it to newer equipment is quite easy.
Back then you would usually connect it to a TV.
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The beige computer is a Digital Starion 910. The black computer is a Gateway Destination. In the photo you can see the wireless keyboard has a track pad and a ps2 connection for a wired mouse. It also came with a wireless remote that has a trackball. I have the Double Insomnia sale page up on my circa 1972 black and white sears TV.

In the 2nd photo you can see some of my vintage games. My favorite game is the Sophia Pachinko machine. My family bought it in the 1960’s in Japan. One hundred words are not enough!
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Greetings from Finland!
My very first gaming buddy, Amiga 500. Still in perfect working condition and in all the original packaging.

I got it when I was 5 years old and could hardly even read. So my cousin drew this incredibly helpful diagram on the box for hooking it up to the TV. Gotta love him!

Included in the picture is also my favourite game for Amiga 500, The Chaos Engine. (Which BTW is also available here on GOG.com!) Just love that intro music SO much!
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I got these two computers from my uncle in the mid 90s, he had left them in his workshop and consequently, a mouse made a nest in the Texas Instrument.
To remedy this, we opened up the case, took out the power supply, and washed the PC out with the water hose...

And it still works today!


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Ahh.. My favorite old PC (with some of its games).
This is my Gateway Pentium 133, with its Ensoniq Soundscape sound card, massive 1GB hard drive, and upgraded Voodoo 2 video card, it was unbeatable.


Bonus
Inside the IBM
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Shame I threw most of old junk I had quite some time ago... Here are some leftovers. MSI Medion 9901 motherboard (terrible choice...), unknown motherboard with Pentium III, 230W power unit (around 1999 and still working!), SATA disc enclosure, 1.44 drive, and a whole bunch of cables.

What in my opinion is most interesting here is this mini CD. It contains USB drivers. It might not be as old as other stuff, but I think it's funniest. How long ago You had to use it? :)
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These are some of my treasured PS1 games. You might wonder why there are 6 Final Fantasy 7 discs. I managed to juggle one of the discs and had it land on the sharp point of a desk, cracking it. Because there was no opportunity for warranty, I had to get the entire game again. The second photo is my trusty memory card, with a sticker from the Japanese version of Metal Gear Solid. Very hard to figure out why I kept exploding at some point :)
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"Nintendo Bomb Sweeper 1987" Model No.:BD-62 , Made in Japan .

It was my first handheld Electronic Game
I got it as a gift in my birthday .

I remember the extraordinary happiness while it in my hands for the first time impressed with those of modern technology :)
The first time I played it I did not stop until the next morning hours .

And I remember my second extraordinary happiness with it when I broke the record (It is 9999)
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