Retro Video Gamer

Rather than the usual childish squables you find on forums about which is the best 8-bitter I thought I would ask which one you grew up with and what makes that machine so special to you?

A vote in for the Commodore 64. I guess the thing with all these sorts of debates (and we have all had looooads of fun on RG forum with this one recently, LOL) is that having grown up with one machine it means that you can't very easily put yourself in the shoes of someone who grew up with a machine and therefore has a different perspective on things. I grew up with the likes of Wizball, Armalyte and Turrican, which were C64 showpieces - but obviously my gaming tastes were influenced by the things the C64 did well.

That said, most of us of course had friends who had other machines. I knew a guy with a Speccy 48K and I loooooved playing Gauntlet 2 on it - totally brilliant version. On the other hand, one guy had an Amstrad and he was always round my place playing on the C64 with me. Thing is, he only had a green screen version. I've since discovered some pretty decent Amstrad games (like Satan and Savage) but I don't know that they would've looked all that good on his little green monitor!

I grew up with the Spectrum myself, I still vividly remember getting a +2a for Christmas that I shared with my sister and younger brother and had to play on a black and white TV. On a Sunday we were allowed to take the Speccy into the living room to play and would make a point of choosing all the ones that had colourful graphics. Pretty much everyone I knew also owned a Speccy so my games collection grew very quickly thanks to my double deck tape player and all the blank tapes I had thanks to my mum running a dancing school and buying loads of them in bulk 

Yeah we had a +2, i remember playing with the rubber keyed 48K at school at not liking the keys, I was glad we got the +2 model with decent keyboard!
Our first computer was a Commodore 16, but that was truly pretty dire to say the least! I tend to forget that era from my memory!
Just great memories of the Speccy, my dad typing out a hangman game in 3 hours! Going into Whsmiths and John Menzies with my pocket money and buying yet another footy management game for £1.99! It really was the app store of the 80's!
Who cared if it had colour clash and took 45 mins to load that flight sim...kids had patients back then! Ok i drooled at the C64/Amiga screenshots in the adverts, then looking back at the yellow roads and cars of the spectrum version! but it was still the same game!
As they say you never forget your first love!

I had a Speccy 48k.. loads of Mastertronic games like Chuckman, Kickstart 2 and BMX Racers. Must have spent hours walking back and forth down the Newsagent looking at what i wanted next and working out where my next £2 was coming from (i liked my sweets so i had to budget lol).

Great gaming days.

i had a zx spectrum but i was really young at the time.But it was my commadore plus 4 which is the computer i played all the time until i got a C64

I seem so far the only one to have grown up with the Atari 8bit computers, I first got my at the age 9, it was the Atari 800 back in 1981, and knew nothing about what a Spectrum was or a c64 did, my father bought this as an educational computer for us young'ins, and to this day, still remember the Europe Atlas program from Atari, wghere you learned the countries and the captial cities, but ti wasn't long before the games started to appear and was hooked on the likes of "River Raid", H.E.R.O., Bruce Lee, The Goonies, M.U.L.E. etc, and just never seen any other computer do this stuff the way the Atari did, I hold this computer very dear to heart and also this was where I began my Graphical Skills and own the Atari 8bit range allot for now I'm a digital Media designer and consultant thanks to it

Mostly Atari for me. I started with an 800 and 410 tape drive, and my brother got an 800XL when those were released. I bought a C128 later too, but always used the Atari more.

Also, I'm in the USA, so most of these choices were rare or unknown here. A friend of mine loved his ZX81 though... until he saw my 800. Were Apple IIs popular in the UK?

I can't speak for everyone over here in Blighty of course, but I don't think the Apple II range of computers was very popular here, no. The only US 8-bit computers that really did well over here were the Commodores, particularly the 64 but there were a few Vics knocking about too, and a smattering of C16s and Plus/4s once they became cheap. The TI99/4a barely made a dent and even the Atari 8-bit machines were well behind the Commodore 64, Spectrum and Amstrad CPC.

The 16/32-bit computer scene was totally dominated by the US machines, the Atari ST and Amiga. We Brits had the Archimedes machines which were rather nice but too expensive to penetrate the home market.

Quote from: "tomwaits"Mostly Atari for me. I started with an 800 and 410 tape drive, and my brother got an 800XL when those were released. I bought a C128 later too, but always used the Atari more.

Also, I'm in the USA, so most of these choices were rare or unknown here. A friend of mine loved his ZX81 though... until he saw my 800. Were Apple IIs popular in the UK?

It's quite nice how diverse the 2 markets were, we both shared the ZX81, C64 and the Atari 8-bits but then we had lot of different machines.

We had the Spectrum, BBC Micro, Dragon 32, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC and Oric whilt the US has stuff like the Apple, TRS80, Adam, Aquarius, TI-99/4A and PC Jr.

Bump for new people!!!

Vic-20. Later the C128 in C64 mode most of the time. Later still an Atari 400.

Sometime before Christmas 1984, my mum went and spoke to my computer teacher at my high school about what micro to buy me. He recommended the BBC Micro, c64 and Spectrum in that order.  The owner of our local independent computer shop was a Commodore fan. And so, my first computer was the c64 and i still have fond memories and use a C64 to this day. But, how different it could have been.

My brother, older than me and working, bought a beeb which meant I had access to a lot of the great software it offered. It had some great games but couldn't keep up with the c64 because of the momentum of Commodore's machine, the software and the likes of Zzap!

I also had a few friends with Speccys. I would sometimes be envious of a game on Sir Clive's machine the c64 always had something to appease me thanks to its massive library of games. Only one friend of mine, that I recall, 'upgraded' to a c64 from the Speccy. He was certainly the exception and not he rule, but I think that that was the first time I'd ever talked about upgrading equipment. Another friend had an Toshiba MSX HX-10. He was certainly the one with the short straw! That said, there was fun to be had and I remember being envious of his cartridge games!

Fond memories....

I owned a Speccy + 48K because the Speccy was ace and the rest were gash!

Quote from: "The Laird"Rather than the usual childish squables you find on forums about which is the best 8-bitter I thought I would ask which one you grew up with and what makes that machine so special to you?

Indeed! 

The CPC 464 with a green screen monitor.

(Stop laughing at the back!)

I had a ZX81 and then progressed to the 48k Spectrum. My cousin had a Commodore Vic and that had some good games, but obviously I liked my Speccy and the games it offered.

A C64 for me. It was very dominant in Germany, while the UK was Speccyvania and France CPC-land.

Mind you, I did not own one; I was too small for such an expensive machine, it was my older brother's. I had my Atari 2600, but sometimes my brother would let me play on the C64. And sometimes he would torture me, like only loading Wizard of Wor for me, a game I soon got sick and tired of and he enjoyed my complaining. :P

Eventually I inherited his C64 when he moved out. I still have it, but something's broken now and it usually freezes after 20 minutes or so.

Quote from: "108 Stars"... France CPC-land

Trust the French to have loved teh Amstrad CPC!

A Commodore 64 for me.  Well, at first the family had a ZX80 - so you see it was a bit of a step up!   ;)  Great memories of some games : Elite, Ranarama, Pitstop II(2 players action), Paradroid, Twin Kingdom Valley, Dropzone, Boulderdash.  Getting a floppy drive for it was amazing.  The jump from tape to disk blew my mind at the time. 

I only knew about 3 other people at secondary school that had one.  Everyone else seemed to have the Spectrum.  I think that my cousin had one as well. I knew no one with an Amstrad CPC though!  Sorry Darran!   

My uncle had an Oric.  I do remember playing some sort of shoot 'em up on that.

I had a friend at primary school with a Dragon 32.  I remember playing some game where you collect Dragon's eggs on that.  I think he had the 'Star Trek' game as well. 

I had two ..... an Amstrad CPC6128 with colour monitor and a Commodore 16
Yeah, I know, my parents were cruel!

I do not know much about either computer. The Commodore 16 always interested me but I know very little of the machine.

It must have been Christmas '82, when my Father surprised me with my very own Commodore 64--a device for which I've been clamouring for a while.

The C=64 was my very first computer.  On it I learned the very basics of programming, and later explored the wondrous (and scary) world of machine language, and eventually the core concepts of structured and functional programming.

More importantly, that little fella sparked in me a passion for computers and computer programming that still burns as brightly as ever.

I went through no less than four of these machines.  They kept on burning out in the middle of days-long stretches, hacking away at some useless (but exciting) new development which I would never finish.  That's four, including the one I had to replace for my best mate, when he unwittingly lent it to me before I actually owned one.

By then, they were available in K-Mart for about $89, so the sting wasn't as bad.

Ah! How I love that machine.

With it I visited BBS's of sound and ill repute, discovered the magic of interactive fiction, blasted countless aliens, and played sundry simulations.

I proudly (and geekily) used it to print school reports, and to make little animated sequences that the AV Club at school used for their Parents'-Night presentations.  I also started many make-shift, single-run periodicals and comics.

I used it to learn to play poker and to watch porn--sometimes at the same time!  And to copy pirated games.

I played with friends.  I keyed in programmes from magazines with my best mate.  We imagined all sorts of futuristic ideas and fancied ourselves "hackers."

I wrote my own working, if unfinished, BBS software with the help of a friend.

Ah!  I hold a very dear place in my soul for this device.

To be honest, I'm scared of going back to it.  I've dreamt of this, and even started using an emulator several years back and re-learning its innards.  However, after surveying the home-brew scene and the wonderful support the machine still has around the world, I know that if I touch it once more, I'll NEVER be able to let go again.  Its range is so wide, its domain just mind-bogglingly large--much more than what my aging mind can cope with.  Alas! Life is too short for that.

So for now, I just stick to my other electronic love: The Intellivision, which has a much more restrained range, a smaller world which I can at least attempt to contain wholesale in my feeble brain.

Nonetheless, good old Commodore 64, in your shadow I stand, and in your memory I tip my glass.

Thanks for the memories!

    dZ.

Pretty Cool DZ-Jay!!!!!

Yeah, that is a great story DZ!!!! 

Thanks.  I recall getting tired of loosing at "Strip Poker," and in a moment of desperation, figured out how to "hack" the game to start with the nudies first.  LOL!

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention! :lol:

Quote from: "DZ-Jay"Thanks.  I recall getting tired of loosing at "Strip Poker," and in a moment of desperation, figured out how to "hack" the game to start with the nudies first.  LOL!

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention! :lol:

LOL, skip forward a gen and The Games Machine magazine printed the shots of the 2 lasses from Anco's Stip Poker 2 (i think it was) naked, so folks did'nt have to waste money on the game!

My mother warned about characters like you DZ

Quote from: "onthinice"My mother warned about characters like you DZ

LOL! I was a normal, if nerdy, 12 or 13 year old, not some old freak.  Haha!

Quote from: "DZ-Jay"

Quote from: "onthinice"My mother warned about characters like you DZ

LOL! I was a normal, if nerdy, 12 or 13 year old, not some old freak.  Haha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ob0yFBeQpo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ob0yFBeQpo)

Quote from: "DZ-Jay"Thanks.  I recall getting tired of loosing at "Strip Poker," and in a moment of desperation, figured out how to "hack" the game to start with the nudies first.  LOL!

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention! :lol:

Well at least it wasn't as embarrassing to be found at your computer in nothing but a pair of under wear in front of a TV, because you where continually losing at Artworx's Strip Poker up against Melissa  :113:

Quote from: "Greyfox"

Quote from: "DZ-Jay"Thanks.  I recall getting tired of loosing at "Strip Poker," and in a moment of desperation, figured out how to "hack" the game to start with the nudies first.  LOL!

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention! :lol:

Well at least it wasn't as embarrassing to be found at your computer in nothing but a pair of under wear in front of a TV, because you where continually losing at Artworx's Strip Poker up against Melissa  :113:

Classic  :4:

Weirdos  :21:

Just seen this thread so here goes.

Having been introduced to the 2600, I was fascinated with how games were made. Not from an in depth programming viewpoint but just how did they do that curiosity. My first wife, a lovely woman, could see my interest in the new world of home computing even though I couldn't afford a machine of my own back then. However, as time went on, the prices became more affordable and one Christmas she bought me an Atari 800 XL and 1050 disk drive package from Dixons.

I was very pleased that year and spent many hours reading, dabbling with programming in BASIC and of course, playing games. It became a bit of an obsession and though I eventually bought a 130 XE, I still have some of the original equipment from all those years ago.

I once spent many, many hours typing in code from a magazine only to find it would not run. That was a little off-putting though I still have an interest in how gifted people turn ideas in to games.

Hmm it must have been some 15 years or more later when I introduced my daughter (about 5) to the computer. I remember a public domain game called Doggies from Page 6 magazine. Simple but fun and I also had some stories that had some graphics and sound effects that we read together. Wow, I feel old now. You see, next Tuesday is her birthday and we are going to make ice cream together. She will be 22!

Funnily enough, only last week I introduced her boyfriend (I fully approve of this one) to the world of retro gaming on the Jaguar. He was impressed ha :21:

I could go on and on down memory lane but I won't I feel privileged to have been a young man when home computing became mainstream. It holds many fond memories for me. Here is a picture of the game I mentioned earlier:
[align=center:3p62kr7w](http://www.atarimania.com/8bit/screens/doggies.gif)[/align:3p62kr7w]

I had a CPC 464, but with the colour monitor.

Thing is with the colour monitor it had quite a sharp picture and fair enough it was easy to laugh about it when you were looking at agreen screen but bring the colour monitor into it and its a whole new story.

I knew loads of people with Speccys and C64's and not one of them took the mick after seeing Robocop, switchblade, Pand, Rick dangerous, Chase HQ, and Gryzor in full colour on the amstrad.

I grew up with an Acorn Electron, it didn't match the power of my friends C64, but it still had some great games on it. 

I would spend hours typing in games from magazines only for them not to work, and having to spend even longer figuring out where i'd mis-keyed something.  All that left with with an attachment to BASIC i still can't let go of (if i have to write something simple i'll usually head to FreeBasic than something else).

Commodore 64 was mine, Robocop and trivial pursuit were the main games we started out with.

Still own it now from back when it launched boxed and all

Some awesome replies in here guys. Brilliant to read.

Amstrad CPC 464 for me, but the poverty version with a green screen monitor for many years.  Everything changed one birthday though, when my parents bought me a TV modulator and I finally got to experience all those green games in glorious colour.  I grew up around other kids with Spectrums and C64's but for me, they don't come close to those trademark blocky, vibrant CPC visuals and plinky plonky sounds.  A select few games really made the Amstrad shine - mostly covered a couple of posts up!

I grew up with a C64 mostly.

My first experience with a computer, at the school computer club, was a Sinclair ZX81. It was in our Physics classroom with my teacher who looked exactly like Jimmy Carter! Later on we did get ZX Spectrums but I got my own computer by then so was at home.

I got a VIC-20 starter pack (with C2N, 4 games and Introduction to BASIC part one pack) for Xmas in 1982. Didn't have it for a few months only so I never appreciated how good it was as most of the games I had bought were rubbish. Decades later however I got to see some REALLY awesome games on it and it is a really underappreciated machine here in the UK but really look into this machine.

After a few months the VIC-20 stopped working and the shop had none to exchange so they offered to sell my father a Commodore 64 for full retail price reduction to the price we paid for the VIC-20 Starter Pack at Xmas luckily and the sales guy let us keep the C2N, who btw looked like the tall guitarist from Duran Duran haha. That was the computer that really defined my taste in music and games for the rest of my life really.

So Atari 2600 (my first machine of all but never used it like a computer with any expansion) and C64 all moulded my idea of what video games should be like. Fast, great sound, colourful and viciously addictive and easy to get into.

An Oric-1, then when that died on me a CPC-464 (with green screen - though I got a modulator for it that allowed me to connect it to a colour TV).

Enjoyed both machines. Obviously the Oric didn't have great support but at the time I was into programming so I got a lot out of creating simple games like Video Poker etc on the machine.  It did get the odd good game - Ocean did an excellent port of Hunchback for it for example.

The 464 was a nice machine. It got probably the definitive version of Jet Set Willy called JSW-The Final Frontier with bugs fixed and extra space levels etc. I mapped that game out on a piece of A2 paper. Other highlights were a lovely version of Bombjack that I played to death , 3D Starfighter, Spindizzy, Bubble Bobble, Fruit Machine Simulator, Chuckie Egg, Thrust (1 & 2), Gauntlet II, Infiltrator, Leaderboard and a game called ATF - Advanced Tactical Fighter. I programmed quite a bit on the old 464 as well.

The Oric 1 was a massive hit in France in the early days of home computer sales and made up the bulk of Loriciels business amazingly. Don't have one yet so still looking forward to the real machine (played some games on the emulator though which was fun).

The Oric Atmos is the followup with a tweaked BASIC ROM ironing out a few bugs and a far superior keyboard. Probably the better machine to go for.

Would like both really but after moving house I now only want to buy machines with box and polys so that will really dictate what I get first as neither are particularly common.