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.
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
