He modded the cassette drive so that I could plug a headphone. From there, I would adjust the reading tape using a screw while trying to maximize the signal I was hearing. In some instances, it still didn't work so we had to use his oscilloscope.
1951-1968 Early Computer Magnetic Tape Units- History IBM, UNIVAC, RCA, AMPEX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEYyZSlQEdg
Of course now its like, "On my PS5, games load while I sleep...". And no one gets trained to debug with oscilloscopes, unfortunately.
Regarding Ikegami, I could have sworn they developed one of the great NES titles: Commando. And now I can't help thinking how cool it would be to have an isometric version of of that top scroller. Digging deeper there are some interesting NES-era games in isometric style: Isolated Warrior, Solstice, etc ;)
And I also never made it past level one on Zaxxon either....
See also a bit here https://sqlservercode.blogspot.com/2016/11/what-was-first-co...