HOT TOPIC
FIRST LOVES
The machines that formed our gaming habits
RETROBATES MULL OVER THE SCENE’S MOST INTRIGUING ISSUES
DARRAN JONES
NICK THORPE
TIM EMPEY
Every gaming enthusiast starts somewhere, and quite often that start ends up influencing your tastes down the line. We got together as a team to talk about the machines that introduced us to the wonderful world of videogames, but ended up going on a bit of a tangent too, talking about our first experiences with other types of hardware and even the misuse of funds intended for educational purposes…
NICK
I already know Darran’s answer here, but what was your first gaming machine?
TIM
Mine was a Commodore 64 back in 1985 I think.
DARRAN
We had an old orange Binatone system that was passed down to us, but the first actual system I owned was an Amstrad CPC 464 that I received for my 14th birthday. That would have been 1987.
NICK
My dad gave me his Atari 2600 Jr after he got his Mega Drive, which was in 1992. What were the first games you guys played on those new machines?
TIM
Crazy Kong! Please get a screenshot of this because even with rose-tinted nostalgia specs on it looked absolutely atrocious. I need to see it with fresh eyes.
» [Amstrad CPC] The first game Darran loved was Roland On The Ropes, a common favourite among Amstrad owners.