Apr
1
2020
Hi guys, it’s been a while, uh?
The world has seen so much in this lapse of time. Including a global pandemic, the worst after the terrible Spanish Flu in the XX Century. Now, ok, may you live in interesting times, but these are maybe too much, ahah.
I hope you and your families and friends are all safe. There are trying times, but we must carry on.
For you, a little gem of an obscure genre, the so-called “Dungeon Synth”. A very atmospheric one, born in absolute darkness in the nineties and now with a small niche online.
This is a small EP (4 songs, little more than 10 minutes) from a Polish artist, Tryumf. It’s quite an original work, since it’s closeness to the retrowave movement and it’s delicate aura of melancholy. Perfect for contemplating the world during a global pandemic…
I also plan to update some utilities for working with the disk images of PC88 soon. Stay in touch!
Stay strong, my friends.
Jan
7
2020
Bowie’s Thin White Duke persona, smoking a Gitanes cigarette, 1976.
David, the main character of Mirrors and the singer for Elleno Vision. Do you see a resemblance? :)
Happy 2020 my fellow readers! I hope that this decade will hold on better days than the one that we have recently closed (even if the start isn’t so promising and optimistic.In like, one week ?, we had both a climate, with Australia burning, and a war, with the despicable action on Iran, escalation so, well…may you live in interesting times, they used to say :) ) and I am glad to announce the first update of the decade here, borrowing a great early song from legendary Brazilian metal act Sepultura.
I’ve updated a bit the page for the PC88 emulation, updating some old infos that aren’t true anymore and adding new version for the Takeda Toshiya’s emulator and also, in light of these novelties, I’ve updated the historical Mirrors page, one of the very few games of the PC88 realm exploiting the power of the CD format. Why, do you ask? Take a look and see, my friends.
Also, expect some updates and surprises soon, my friends…you will enjoy them and they will come unexpected (easy, you might say, since the update rate here is very slow and unpredictable. But you shall see).
Happy 2020 again!
Nov
17
2019
Hi guys! Long time since last update, but won’t happen again! I’m still very busy with my other projects, but Illusion City hasn’t been forgotten or abandoned.
Now, let’s listen to some interesting synthwave…this gorgeous single by IDEON:
Jul
30
2019
As you can see, my friends, I’ve been faithful…I haven’t let ages pass for my next post! :)
I did an huge update for the PC88 emulation page, I’ve added some new emulators and a couple of useful links, including the legendary PC88 Library, now again online.
Feel free to check them in the PC88 page. Cheers!
Jul
28
2019
Hello guys! It’s been a while, again…
Here is one of the most original bands that I’ve listened in the past months. Abstract Void, a one man band project, creating a very original mix of synthwave and…depressive black metal. Yes, you’ve read right: Synthwave and depressive black metal. And it’s very very good and cleverly done, to top on that! Not only mixing the tropes and the peculiarities of the two genres, but also interweaving them (for example, synths mimicking the typical black metal assault and black metal guitars with new-wavish riffs) with great ease without feeling forced at all.
The album (The second from the band, “Return to Reality“, 2018) is very compact and mature for a band that has only two platters under their belt (The first one, “Into the Blue” was released in 2017), conveying a feeling of rageful dreamy melancholy that I haven’t found elsewhere. It’s really something that should be heard if you have even a vague interest in synthwave or extreme metal.
Till next time! See you soon and enjoy summer! I’ll try not to let this much time between posts again.
May
12
2019
Hello my friends, quite a long time since the last update, again, as you may already know, I’ve been quite busy in my life, but don’t worry because Illusion City has not been forgotten. I’m working on a batch of new updates, that will take some time. Illusion City has recently reached it’s eight age of life (on April 25th) , I didn’t thought about it when I first started the site, of course I wanted it to be long lived but damn those eight years surely have raced fast.
Meanwhile, enjoy a minor classic from one of the most interesting synthpop / gothic bands in the 00s, hailing from Sweden: Ashbury Heights. Their sound may not be very new, but their best tunes surely hit a soft spot of mine.
Enjoy!
Mar
10
2019
Hello friends, it’s been a while… :)
Like I’ve already before, it’s a very busy period for me, so updates have been sporadic, but don’t worry, I have some very good new material for you, waiting to be posted and shared here. I’ve already did a minor update to the google operators page, adding the AROUND() operator, that wasn’t present before.
While waiting for more updates, enjoy this little EBM new song: Ikarus by Funker Vogt off their newest album Wastelands (2018)
Jan
4
2019
Happy 2019 my fellow readers! After a very long while I’ve updated the Devilman article, I’ve added a couple of mangas and other references that has been created in the long gap between the current update and the latest (August 2012!). Enjoy! :)
Dec
17
2018
Hi guys! A quick update just before Christmas. :)
I’ve added a new family of emulator for the PC-88 machines in their dedicated section, the ePC-8XX family one by the brilliant developed Takeda Toshiya, who wrote also emulators for a lot of different machines, some of them being very obscure.
In particular, these new emulators, cover a quite rare feature: the CD emulation! This is the second emulator able of doing so, after M88.
So, take a look at the PC-88 section and get them!
See ya soon! To the next update.
Nov
28
2018
Hi guys! It’s been a while, and I’ve been overwhelmed with real life business, but I’ve done it. As promised, I’ve uploaded the listings (both in HTML and txt format) for the two state-of-the-art sets for PC8001 and PC8801, the 2016 Neo Kobe ones. You can check them on the PC88 emulation page.
Expect more updates soon. Cheers!