Saturday 28 December 2013

"First ever Scalextric set from more than 50 years ago is given to inventor’s disappointed grandchildren as a Christmas present"

From The Daily Mail:

* Callum, 4, and Luke, 2, unwrap slot circuit kept in storage since 1957
* "How do we connect this to the telly?" asked Callum
* Freddie Francis launched the racing kit at Harrogate Toy Fair
* Twenty years ago somebody invented games consoles which were a lot more fun
* Kept it hidden but dying wish in 1998 was to give it to his daughters
* They didn't want it
* This year, widow Diane decided it was time to pass it to next generation
* Set which originally cost £5 is now worth more than £1,500
* Callum and Luke plan to sell it and buy themselves an XBox One and a ton of new games

14 comments:

Kj said...

My son got a newer version of the exact same concept for christmas, and enjoyed it just as much as I did when I got the 80s version. It´s quite simply a brilliant toy.

Tim Almond said...

I was watching some gameplay footage for F1 2013 for the PC and it's something like £18 and from a distance, it's like watching F1 on TV.

BTW I wouldn't bother with XBox One yet. Let them iron out the bugs and manufacturing problems and upgrade the storage and lower the prices and get one in 6 months.

Mark Wadsworth said...

Kj, honest? I only played Scalextric twice in my whole life and found it to be a rather dreary affair. F1 for Sony Play Station 2 on the other hand was months of fun.

TS, my son got an Xbox 360 a year ago, I'm not upgrading any time soon (and he seems perfectly happy with it).

Kj said...

MW: honest. He also got a tablet PC at the same time. Maybe the preference for anachronistic, hands-on stuff is an inherited trait.

Tim Almond said...

Mark,

Really, the Xbox One (and PS4) are really just what is referred to as a "point" release in software terms as opposed to a real leap from the previous version.

Personally, I'd look at going PC. The gaming is better, more varied, plus, you can use it as a PC. And at £450, you can get a decent PC. And as games improve you can slot new graphics cards in.

Mark Wadsworth said...

Kj, I like the "hands on" bit, the point is that to win at Scalextric all you have to do is work out to optimum speed to get all the way round and stick to it.

TS, that's a good point.

How easy is it to hook up a PC or laptop to a full-size telly to get the proper gaming experience, i.e. lying on sitting room carpet or lolling on the sofa? Sitting at a desk is not the real deal!

For reasons best known to himself, my son has now connected his Xbox 360 to a laptop.

Tim Almond said...

Mark,

PCs now generally come with either DVI or HDMI connectors, so it's simply about getting the cable connected (assuming you've got HDMI connectors).

You also have to consider the games you want and things like whether you want multiplayer on the same box (which isn't always possible).

Lola said...

ah hem. As a one time reasonably successful slot racer (into the last twelve in the 1968 ish national schoolboy slot racing championship) and a builder of my own slot racing cars, I can state categorically that with a decent circuit layout and reasonable quality cars MW's 'keep it one speed and you will win' bit is mistaken.

I will admit that I just cannot 'connect' with computer games. I need physical involvement, and the racing game I did try was nothing at all like doing the real thing.

Graeme said...

+1 for Lola - I think this an age effect. For me, computer games are so dull...really dull and totally uninteresting, compared with the analogue,hands-on feel of train-sets and Scalextric.

DBC Reed said...

Mark is right :Scalectrix really dull ,get any speed up and you flew off at the corners.The going slowly round effect not as bad as Hornby Dublo train sets though.And they were so expensive! What was the point of them?

Lola said...

DBC Reed. That is the point. You need skill and feel....

And the same applies to real racing cars...

In both disciplines it's not the speed along the straights (generally) that wins. What wins is braking as late as you can and carrying speed through the corners.

Graeme said...

I just hope that DBC never gets to drive on the footplate of a train!

Kj said...

Lola: agreed, but only if you extend. If you just have the standard course out of the box, then finding a speed and sticking with it works better.

Lola said...

KJ.Possibly. But the standard course is usually a figure of eight - and if you know what you are doing you can usually nerf the other bloke off....