computer games

In the early 1980′s I saw a Texas Instruments games console at a friend’s house. I didn’t see games; I saw cartoons moving on a screen, cartoons that the player controlled.

The following week I bought a Sinclair Spectrum, and spent seven years or so in a pixel-induced haze of loading screens and beeps. Ah the beeps.

Here’s a rough list of the games I worked on:

I’m in Shock – Artic computing. Author/programmer. “The moon was the colour of wide frozen shrieks of laughter, the frost line ran down the window – I’m in Shock”.

Sarlmoor – Atlantis. Author/Programmer.

Paradise in Microdot – Author. An adventure written with the Quill authoring system. Released by Automata, and the start of a long friendship with Mel Croucher.

Deus Ex Machina – C64 and MSX programming for Mel Croucher’s epic interactive movie.

Grange Hill – Author. For Argus press software.

ID with Mel Croucher. NuWave. Co-author and programmer.

Slightly Magic – Author programmer. ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad. One of top 100 Sinclair User games of all time.

Rock Star Ate my Hamster. Author programmer of the game the multiples tried to ban. Well, did ban for a while actually. One of the best 50 Rock and Roll Video Games of all time – Rolling Stone magazine.

Codemasters let me do exactly what I wanted, and the result shows. As played by factory supremo Tony Wilson and filmaker Jon Ronson before my very eyes. It didn’t get any better.

Slightly Spooky. Amiga. Unreleased. The UK computer games market contracted startlingly at this point. I made my excuses and left.

In 2010 I had a similar experience to my original exposure to games consoles. The ghost of a yet unborn type of entertainment fleeted just out of view, like a shadow in the dark.  Clockwork the mouse showed up and encouraged me to complete my first game in 20 years. 2012 should see a series of new games from me, from the ridiculous to the sublime.