There's only one thing worse than being retro...

Here’s the thing. Nobody tells you that you’re retro, and you never quite know when it happens.

I spent my early working life writing computer games for the ZX Spectrum, C64 and Commodore Amiga. I had some success, writing and programming Slightly Magic, Rock Star Ate my Hamster, both released by Codemasters. I also programmed versions of the ground-breaking Deus Ex Machina for Mel Croucher and Automata.

The computer games industry in the UK contracted dramatically just when I was at my zenith, and I found myself becoming a tutor and writer. Time passed.

It hit me when Retro Gamer Magazine contacted me for the second time to do a second article on one of my games – Ah, I get it. I’m now officially retro.

You can’t change that, you’re no longer hip, cool, or even vaguely cutting edge. That kind of hurts. But then, another realisation hits like a careering mobility scooter on a dark pavement –

You might be retro, but there’s one thing worse than being retro, and that’s being forgotten.
Games Releases:
I'm in Shock - Artic Computing Game design, graphics and programming
Sarlmoor - Atlantis Software - Game design, graphics, programming
Paradise in Microdot - Automata UK - Game design, graphics, programming
Deus Ex Machina - Automata UK C64 - Programming
Deus Ex Machina - Nu Wave - Programming
ID - programming, co-writing with Mel Croucher
Grange Hill - Argus Press Software - Game Design
Zoomerang - Atlantis Software - Game design, graphics, programming
The Race Against Time - Codemasters - C64 programming
Rock Star Ate my Hamster - Codemasters - Game design, programming
Slightly Magic - Codemasters - Game design, programming, some graphics (main graphics Chris Graham)
Slightly Spooky - Codemasters - Unreleased

You may also like

Back to Top