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8-bit era

There are a large number of enthusiastic sites devoted to 8-bit nostalgia, but a particular few stand out.
World of Spectrum
(www.worldofspectrum.org), an astonishingly
comprehensive resource for ZX Spectrum gamers, features a directory of games, complete with the files required to run them in an emulator, and scans of contemporary reviews, articles and adverts.
Planet Sinclair
(www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/contents.htm) provides a wealth of history on the Sinclair computers – as well as Sir Clive’s earlier products – while the
ZX
Spectrum Museum
(www.zxspectrum.net) offers hundreds of games, all ready to play in a browser.
Stairway to Hell
(www.stairwaytohell.com) is a repository of games and interviews
covering the milestones of the BBC Micro; its job now more or less complete, the site is now no longer updated, but it remains a superb resource.

It’s certainly worth exploring more widely though. Almost anything from the era can be found in some form, and the fans who maintain such sites invariably bring a passionate knowledge to
their subject.

16-bit computers era

There are a great many websites devoted to the Amiga and the Atari ST, certainly too many to list. Unlike the 8-bit era, however, some publishers are still protective of their
copyright, so these sites often focus on articles and discussion instead.
Little Green Screen
(http://lgd.fatal-design.com) features a good collection of both, while
Amiga.org
(www.amiga.org) has a thriving forum, ready to offer plentiful guidance to gaming historians – as well as historians of gaming.

Most of the era’s magazines have been scanned, at least partially – try the
Amiga Magazine Rack
(http://amr.abime.net) for the originals. The spiritual successor to
Amiga
Power
,
AP2.com
(http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/ap2) is a wonderfully witty reminder of the character of the gaming press at that time.

Consoles and beyond

Console emulators exist, but are rarely indulged by the manufacturers. Consequently the best way to replay old titles is to run them on their original machines. The games
themselves can be found on auction sites or in specialist shops – they usually cost no more than a few pounds each. Ebay is probably still the most useful online source, but a fine selection
can be found at Retrogames (www.retrogames.co.uk), which is also a good site for whiling away an hour or two window shopping. Do check out independent and charity shops as well, but stumbling
across a prized second-hand game is sadly an increasingly rare pleasure.

Many gamers find that they already possess the necessary hardware for playing retro games. In the case of disc-based consoles, their successor platforms are often capable of playing older titles
– PlayStation 2 games, which won’t play on most PlayStation 3 consoles, are a notable exception. However, to enjoy cartridge games, Sega Saturn, or Dreamcast titles, an original console
is usually essential, although Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all offer services to download and play titles from past decades on modern consoles, usually for a reasonable price.

Mainstream gaming sites are often the best place to start looking for forum discussions and retro reviews of games from this era –
IGN
(www.ign.com),
Gamespot
(www.gamespot.com),
Eurogamer.net
(www.eurogamer.net) and
Edge
(www.edge-online.com) are all worth trying.
Moby Games
(www.mobygames.com) is a very
comprehensive directory of information on the creators of games from all eras.

Physical media

While there are some excellent books on retro gaming and computing –
Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer
by Gordon Laing (ILEX, 2004)
is particularly strong on the hardware
– the best coverage of individual games is still to be found in magazines. In the UK the market-leading title is
Retro
Gamer
, which features interviews with developers and overviews of computers, games and genres, often in extraordinary detail. Visually very rich, featuring screenshots and box art, it’s
an indulgence for casual nostalgia seekers and obsessives alike.
GamesTM
magazine also carries an enthusiastic retro gaming section which occupies the last quarter of each issue, and both
titles periodically publish thick compilation editions of reprint material. The ever authoritative
Edge
magazine features ‘making of’ interviews, along with reflections on the
creators and content of landmark titles – it’s an ideal place to see modern games put in the context of the medium’s young and frenetic history.

Bibliography And Sources

Interviews

Overwhelmingly, the main source of material for this book was a series of interviews conducted during 2011 and early 2012. In almost all cases where quotes are not credited in
the text they have been taken from these interviews, although in a few instances, to avoid needless repetition, interviewees also gave permission to use material that they had published previously
themselves, often on their own websites.

A number of existing interviews by third parties also proved useful, and are well worth exploring further:

A&B Computing
magazine: Martin Edmondson and Nicholas Chamberlain interview, October 1987

Acorn Programs
magazine: Geoff Crammond interviewed by Nicole Segre, June 1984

BBC website (www.bbc.co.uk): Toby Gard interviewed by Alfred Hermida, June 2004; Rick Dickinson interviewed by Stephen Tomkins, March 2011; Richard Altwasser and Rick Dickinson
interviewed by Leo Kelion, April 2011

Bits
Channel 4 website (www.channel4.com/bits/bitslater35elite1.htm, available as archive only): Ian Bell and David Braben answering questions, 2000

Bruce on Games
website (www.bruceongames.com): Jez San interviewed by Bruce Everiss, August 2009

Crash
magazine: Paul Anderson and Bruce Everiss interviewed by Roger Kean, December 1984; Peter Cooke interviewed by Sean Masterson,
November
1985; Peter Cooke interviewed by Richard Eddy, July 1987; Chris and Tim Stamper interviewed by Roger Kean, April 1988

Edge
magazine: Ian Bell and David Braben interview, September 2000; Mike Singleton interview, October 2000; Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux interview, March 2002; Julian
Gollop interview, December 2003; Martin Edmondson interview, August 2011

Ellee Seymour blog (http://elleeseymour.com): Chris Curry interview, February 2012

Forbes
website (www.forbes.com): Geoff Crammond interviewed by David Einstein, August 2000

Gamasutra
website (www.gamasutra.com): Toby Gard interviewed by David Jenkins, October 1998; Dave Jones interviewed by Alistair Wallis, December 2006

Gamespy
website (www.gamespy.com): Roy Trubsaw and Richard Bartle interviewed by David Cuciz, 2001

Giant Bomb
website (www.giantbomb.com): Peter Molyneux interviewed by Patrick Klepek, April 2012

Guardian
: David Darling interviewed by Bobbie Johnson, May 2008

Independent
: Toby Gard interviewed by Johnny Davis, April 2004

Massively
website (http://massively.joystiq.com): Richard Bartle interviewed by Justin Olivetti, April 2011

Observer
: Sir Clive Sinclair interviewed by Simon Garfield, February 2010

Popular Computing Weekly
magazine: David Potter interviewed by David Kelly, March 1983

Retro Gamer
magazine: Mike Singleton interviewed by Chris Wild, May 2004; Geoff Crammond interviewed by Damien McFerran, 2009

Sinclair User
magazine: Matthew Smith interviewed by Chris Bourne, December 1984; Sir Clive Sinclair interviewed by Graham Taylor, August 1986

Spong
website (http://spong.com): Charles Cecil interview, November 2009

Stairway to Hell
website (www.stairwaytohell.com): Sophie Wilson interviewed by Stuart Goodwin, 2007

Sunday Telegraph
: Sir Clive Sinclair interviewed by Celia Walden, May 2010

Super Play
magazine: David Darling interviewed by Matt Bielby, February 2003

Your Computer
magazine: Tony Baden interviewed by Meirion Jones, August 1982

Your Spectrum
magazine: David Potter interview, January 1984; Bruce Everiss interviewed by Paul Walton, June 1984

Broadcast documentaries and programmes

Anything We Can Do
: ‘There’s a Micro in That’, Channel 4, 1985

Brits Who Made The Modern World
: ‘Computer Games’, Raw TV for Channel 5, 2008

Commercial Breaks
, BBC,1984

Horizon
: ‘Now the Chips Are Down’, BBC, 1978

Horizon
: ‘Clive Sinclair: The Anatomy of an Inventor’, BBC, 1989

ITN News at Ten
: Sinclair C5 launch, ITV, January 1985

Making of the 7
th
Guest
, Virgin Games, 1992

The Saturday Show
, ITV, 1983

Thumb Candy
, Talkback for Channel 4, 2000

Time Shift
: ‘Hard Drive Heaven’, BBC, 2004

Visions
, BBC, 1990

Public talks and lectures

David Allen, Christopher Curry, Steve Furber, Hermann Hauser, Nick Toop and Sophie Wilson, speaking at the [email protected] event, March 2012

Richard Bartle lecture to Trinity University, April 2010

Ian Bell and David Braben, speaking at the Nottingham Game City Festival, October 2009

David Braben – A BAFTA life in Video Games, BAFTA, September 2009

David Braben lecture to the Game Developers Conference, March 2011

Peter Molyneux lecture to the Games Developers Conference, March 2011

Matthew Smith speaking at CGE UK, July 2004

Matthew Smith interviewed by Paul Drury at the Screenplay Festival, February 2005

Books

Richard A. Bartle,
Designing Virtual Worlds
(New Riders Publishing, 2004)

Tom Chatfield, Fun Inc.:
Why Games Are the 21
st
Century’s Most Serious Business
(Virgin Books, 2010)

Douglas Coupland and Kip Ward,
Lara’s Book: Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider Phenomenon
(Prima Publishing, 1998)

Ray Curnow and Susan Curran,
The Silicon Factor: Living with the Microprocessor
(National Extension College, 1980)

Christopher Evans,
The Mighty Micro: The Impact of the Micro-Chip Revolution
(Gollancz, 1979)

Tim Hartnell (ed.),
49 Explosive Games for the ZX Spectrum
(Interface Publications, 1983)

Francis Spufford,
Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin
(Faber and Faber, 2003)

Other published sources

Prospero, ‘Acorn Computers expected to stage a good recovery this year’,
Herald
, December 1984

BBC Continuing Education Television: Computer Literacy Project
(BBC, 1981)

C5 Launch press release, Sinclair Vehicles, January 1985

The Face
magazine (EMAP, June 1997)

ZX Spectrum review,
Computing Today
, August 1982

Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, various rulings, 1991 to 1998

Simon Dally obituary,
Independent
, March 1989

Towards Computer Literacy: The BBC Computer Literacy Project 1979-1983
(BBC, 1983)

Company and Personal websites

Bruce on Games – Bruce Everiss’s personal website (www.bruceongames.com)

The Complete History of DMA and the History of Lemmings by Mike Dailly (www.javalemmings.com/DMA)

Computer History Museum/The Centre for Computing History (www.computerhistory.org)

Dundee Computer Games Cluster (found within www.idea.gov.uk)

MUSE (www.mud.co.uk)

Official Carmageddon Community (www.carmageddon.com)

The Oliver Twins (www.olivertwins.com)

QBlog – Richard Bartle’s personal blog (www.youhaventlived.com)

Where is Matthew Smith? (www.carlylesmith.karoo.net/spectrum/matsmith)

Index

A/N Inc
ref 1

ACE
magazine
ref 1

Ace Coin
ref 1

‘achievement system’
ref 1

Acorn
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13
,
ref 14
,
ref 15
,
ref 16
,
ref 17
,
ref 18
,
ref 19
,
ref 20
,
ref 21
,
ref 22
,
ref 23
,
ref 24

Archimedes
ref 1
,
ref 2

ARM chip
ref 1
,
ref 2

Atom
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7

Electron
ref 1
,
ref 2

Proton
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4

System 1
ref 1

World Show, 1994
ref 1

Acornsoft
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13

Acquisition
(database)
ref 1
,
ref 2

Action Man
ref 1

action replay
ref 1

Activision
ref 1

Adams, Douglas
ref 1

Adams, Scott
ref 1

ADVENT
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

Adventure A/B/C/D/E
ref 1
,
ref 2

advertising
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13
,
ref 14
,
ref 15
,
ref 16
,
ref 17
,
ref 18
,
ref
19
,
ref 20
,
ref 20
,
ref 22
,
ref 23
,
ref 24
,
ref 25
,
ref 26
,
ref 27
,
ref 28
,
ref 29
,
ref 30
,
ref 31
,
ref
32
,
ref 33
,
ref 34
,
ref 35
,
ref 36
,
ref 37
,
ref 38
,
ref 39
,
ref 40
,
ref 41
,
ref 42
,
ref 43
,
ref 44
,
ref 45
,
ref 46
,
ref 47
,
ref 48

Agrophobia
ref 1

Aladdin (device)
ref 1

Aladdin
ref 1
,
ref 2

Albury, Robert
ref 1

Alien
(movie)
ref 1

Allen, David
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7

Alper, Martin
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

Altair
ref 1

Amiga Power
ref 1

Amstrad
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7

Anderson, Paul
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4

Ant Attack
ref 1

Anything We Can Do
(infodrama)
ref 1

Apple
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6

Apple II
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6

ARM chip and
ref 1
,
ref 2

iPhone
ref 1
,
ref 2

Macintosh
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4

Project Olive
ref 1

Aran, Samus (game character)
ref 1

arcade games
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13
,
ref 14
,
ref 15
,
ref 16
,
ref 17
,
ref 18
,
ref 19
,
ref 20
,
ref 21
,
ref 22
,
ref 23
,
ref 24
,
ref 25
,
ref 26
,
ref 27
,
ref 28
,
ref 29
,
ref 30
,
ref 31

Arcadia
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

Arendt, Paul
ref 1

Argonaut
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11

Artic
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10

ASG Games
ref 1

Ashby Computers & Graphics
ref 1

Asteroids
ref 1
,
ref 2

Astounding Arcade Games for Your Spectrum+ & Spectrum
(Perry)
ref 1

Atari
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11

Jaguar
ref 1

ST
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13
,
ref 14
,
ref 15
,
ref 16
,
ref 17
,
ref 18
,
ref 19

2600
ref 1

Attack of the Mutant Zombie Flesh Eating Chickens From Mars
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

Automania
ref 1

Avalon Hill
ref 1

Avebury, Lord
ref 1

Aviator
ref 1
,
ref 2

 

Baden, Tony
ref 1

BAFTA
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5

Bailey, Andrew
ref 1

Baker, Kenneth
ref 1
,
ref 2

Bandersnatch
ref 1
,
ref 2

Barnden, Neil
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4

Bartle, Richard
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13

BASIC
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13
,
ref 14
,
ref 15
,
ref 16
,
ref 17
,
ref 18
,
ref
19
,
ref 20
,
ref 21
,
ref 22

Bastien, Gaston
ref 1

Battlezone
ref 1
,
ref 2

Baxter, Biddy
ref 1

Baxter, Stanley
ref 1

BBC
ref 1

Computer Literacy Programme
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5

computing programmes
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7

Continuing Education Department
ref 1
,
ref 2

Micro
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13
,
ref 14
,
ref 15
,
ref 16
,
ref 17
,
ref 18
,
ref
19
,
ref 20
,
ref 21
,
ref 22
,
ref 23
,
ref 24
,
ref 25
,
ref 26
,
ref 27
,
ref 28
,
ref 29
,
ref 30
,
ref 31
,
ref 32
,
ref 33
,
ref 34
,
ref 35
,
ref 36
,
ref 37
,
ref 38
,
ref 39
,
ref 40
,
ref 40
,
ref 41
,
ref 42
,
ref 43
,
ref 44
,
ref 45

BC Racers
ref 1

Bear Bovver
ref 1

Bell, Ian
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6

Beneath a Steel Sky
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

Bissell, Ron
ref 1

bitmap
ref 1
,
ref 2

Blade
ref 1

Blitz Games
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5

Blitz1UP
ref 1

Blond, Shelley
ref 1
,
ref 2

Blood Money
ref 1
,
ref 2

Blower, Stephen
ref 1

Blue Box
ref 1

BlueSky Software
ref 1

BMG Interactive
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5

BMX Racers
ref 1

Body Harvest
ref 1
,
ref 2

Bono
ref 1

Boots
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

Botteril, Steve
ref 1

BP
ref 1
,
ref 2

Braben, David
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11

Branson, Richard
ref 1
,
ref 2

Brattacas
ref 1
,
ref 2

Brennan, Sean
ref 1
,
ref 2

Brighton Grand Hotel
ref 1

British Approvals Board of Telecommunications
ref 1

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

British Safety Council
ref 1

British Telecom
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6

Broadcom
ref 1

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

Bruty, Nick
ref 1
,
ref 2

Buckland, Patrick
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7

Bug-Byte
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6

Bullfrog Productions
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11

Burcombe, Nick
ref 1

Butler, Mark
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

 

Callaghan, James
ref 1

Campbell of Croy, Lord
ref 1
,
ref 2

Cambridge
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref
6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10
,
ref 11
,
ref 12
,
ref 13
,
ref 14
,
ref 15
,
ref 16
,
ref 17

Cambridge Processor Unit (CPU)
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3

Cambridge University
ref 1
,
ref 2
,
ref 3
,
ref 4
,
ref 5
,
ref 6
,
ref 7
,
ref 8
,
ref 9
,
ref 10

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