What 8-Bit Computer Did You Grow Up With?

[AmigaJay]

[dougtitchmarsh]

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.

[108 Stars]

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.

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.

[DreamcastRIP]

... France CPC-land

Trust the French to have loved teh Amstrad CPC!

[Katzkatz]

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. 

[guest4731]

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

[onthinice]

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

[DZ-Jay]

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.

[onthinice]

Pretty Cool DZ-Jay!!!!!

[TL]

Yeah, that is a great story DZ!!!! 

[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:

[Rogue Trooper]

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!

[onthinice]

My mother warned about characters like you DZ

[DZ-Jay]

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!

[TL]

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