Grand Thieves & Tomb Raiders (49 page)
Read Grand Thieves & Tomb Raiders Online
Authors: Rebecca Levene
8-bit era
There are a large number of enthusiastic sites devoted to 8-bit nostalgia, but a particular few stand out.
World of Spectrum
(www.worldofspectrum.org), an astonishingly
comprehensive resource for ZX Spectrum gamers, features a directory of games, complete with the files required to run them in an emulator, and scans of contemporary reviews, articles and adverts.
Planet Sinclair
(www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/contents.htm) provides a wealth of history on the Sinclair computers – as well as Sir Clive’s earlier products – while the
ZX
Spectrum Museum
(www.zxspectrum.net) offers hundreds of games, all ready to play in a browser.
Stairway to Hell
(www.stairwaytohell.com) is a repository of games and interviews
covering the milestones of the BBC Micro; its job now more or less complete, the site is now no longer updated, but it remains a superb resource.
It’s certainly worth exploring more widely though. Almost anything from the era can be found in some form, and the fans who maintain such sites invariably bring a passionate knowledge to
their subject.
16-bit computers era
There are a great many websites devoted to the Amiga and the Atari ST, certainly too many to list. Unlike the 8-bit era, however, some publishers are still protective of their
copyright, so these sites often focus on articles and discussion instead.
Little Green Screen
(http://lgd.fatal-design.com) features a good collection of both, while
Amiga.org
(www.amiga.org) has a thriving forum, ready to offer plentiful guidance to gaming historians – as well as historians of gaming.
Most of the era’s magazines have been scanned, at least partially – try the
Amiga Magazine Rack
(http://amr.abime.net) for the originals. The spiritual successor to
Amiga
Power
,
AP2.com
(http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/ap2) is a wonderfully witty reminder of the character of the gaming press at that time.
Consoles and beyond
Console emulators exist, but are rarely indulged by the manufacturers. Consequently the best way to replay old titles is to run them on their original machines. The games
themselves can be found on auction sites or in specialist shops – they usually cost no more than a few pounds each. Ebay is probably still the most useful online source, but a fine selection
can be found at Retrogames (www.retrogames.co.uk), which is also a good site for whiling away an hour or two window shopping. Do check out independent and charity shops as well, but stumbling
across a prized second-hand game is sadly an increasingly rare pleasure.
Many gamers find that they already possess the necessary hardware for playing retro games. In the case of disc-based consoles, their successor platforms are often capable of playing older titles
– PlayStation 2 games, which won’t play on most PlayStation 3 consoles, are a notable exception. However, to enjoy cartridge games, Sega Saturn, or Dreamcast titles, an original console
is usually essential, although Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all offer services to download and play titles from past decades on modern consoles, usually for a reasonable price.
Mainstream gaming sites are often the best place to start looking for forum discussions and retro reviews of games from this era –
IGN
(www.ign.com),
Gamespot
(www.gamespot.com),
Eurogamer.net
(www.eurogamer.net) and
Edge
(www.edge-online.com) are all worth trying.
Moby Games
(www.mobygames.com) is a very
comprehensive directory of information on the creators of games from all eras.
Physical media
While there are some excellent books on retro gaming and computing –
Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer
by Gordon Laing (ILEX, 2004)
is particularly strong on the hardware
– the best coverage of individual games is still to be found in magazines. In the UK the market-leading title is
Retro
Gamer
, which features interviews with developers and overviews of computers, games and genres, often in extraordinary detail. Visually very rich, featuring screenshots and box art, it’s
an indulgence for casual nostalgia seekers and obsessives alike.
GamesTM
magazine also carries an enthusiastic retro gaming section which occupies the last quarter of each issue, and both
titles periodically publish thick compilation editions of reprint material. The ever authoritative
Edge
magazine features ‘making of’ interviews, along with reflections on the
creators and content of landmark titles – it’s an ideal place to see modern games put in the context of the medium’s young and frenetic history.
Interviews
Overwhelmingly, the main source of material for this book was a series of interviews conducted during 2011 and early 2012. In almost all cases where quotes are not credited in
the text they have been taken from these interviews, although in a few instances, to avoid needless repetition, interviewees also gave permission to use material that they had published previously
themselves, often on their own websites.
A number of existing interviews by third parties also proved useful, and are well worth exploring further:
A&B Computing
magazine: Martin Edmondson and Nicholas Chamberlain interview, October 1987
Acorn Programs
magazine: Geoff Crammond interviewed by Nicole Segre, June 1984
BBC website (www.bbc.co.uk): Toby Gard interviewed by Alfred Hermida, June 2004; Rick Dickinson interviewed by Stephen Tomkins, March 2011; Richard Altwasser and Rick Dickinson
interviewed by Leo Kelion, April 2011
Bits
Channel 4 website (www.channel4.com/bits/bitslater35elite1.htm, available as archive only): Ian Bell and David Braben answering questions, 2000
Bruce on Games
website (www.bruceongames.com): Jez San interviewed by Bruce Everiss, August 2009
Crash
magazine: Paul Anderson and Bruce Everiss interviewed by Roger Kean, December 1984; Peter Cooke interviewed by Sean Masterson,
November
1985; Peter Cooke interviewed by Richard Eddy, July 1987; Chris and Tim Stamper interviewed by Roger Kean, April 1988
Edge
magazine: Ian Bell and David Braben interview, September 2000; Mike Singleton interview, October 2000; Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux interview, March 2002; Julian
Gollop interview, December 2003; Martin Edmondson interview, August 2011
Ellee Seymour blog (http://elleeseymour.com): Chris Curry interview, February 2012
Forbes
website (www.forbes.com): Geoff Crammond interviewed by David Einstein, August 2000
Gamasutra
website (www.gamasutra.com): Toby Gard interviewed by David Jenkins, October 1998; Dave Jones interviewed by Alistair Wallis, December 2006
Gamespy
website (www.gamespy.com): Roy Trubsaw and Richard Bartle interviewed by David Cuciz, 2001
Giant Bomb
website (www.giantbomb.com): Peter Molyneux interviewed by Patrick Klepek, April 2012
Guardian
: David Darling interviewed by Bobbie Johnson, May 2008
Independent
: Toby Gard interviewed by Johnny Davis, April 2004
Massively
website (http://massively.joystiq.com): Richard Bartle interviewed by Justin Olivetti, April 2011
Observer
: Sir Clive Sinclair interviewed by Simon Garfield, February 2010
Popular Computing Weekly
magazine: David Potter interviewed by David Kelly, March 1983
Retro Gamer
magazine: Mike Singleton interviewed by Chris Wild, May 2004; Geoff Crammond interviewed by Damien McFerran, 2009
Sinclair User
magazine: Matthew Smith interviewed by Chris Bourne, December 1984; Sir Clive Sinclair interviewed by Graham Taylor, August 1986
Spong
website (http://spong.com): Charles Cecil interview, November 2009
Stairway to Hell
website (www.stairwaytohell.com): Sophie Wilson interviewed by Stuart Goodwin, 2007
Sunday Telegraph
: Sir Clive Sinclair interviewed by Celia Walden, May 2010
Super Play
magazine: David Darling interviewed by Matt Bielby, February 2003
Your Computer
magazine: Tony Baden interviewed by Meirion Jones, August 1982
Your Spectrum
magazine: David Potter interview, January 1984; Bruce Everiss interviewed by Paul Walton, June 1984
Broadcast documentaries and programmes
Anything We Can Do
: ‘There’s a Micro in That’, Channel 4, 1985
Brits Who Made The Modern World
: ‘Computer Games’, Raw TV for Channel 5, 2008
Commercial Breaks
, BBC,1984
Horizon
: ‘Now the Chips Are Down’, BBC, 1978
Horizon
: ‘Clive Sinclair: The Anatomy of an Inventor’, BBC, 1989
ITN News at Ten
: Sinclair C5 launch, ITV, January 1985
Making of the 7
th
Guest
, Virgin Games, 1992
The Saturday Show
, ITV, 1983
Thumb Candy
, Talkback for Channel 4, 2000
Time Shift
: ‘Hard Drive Heaven’, BBC, 2004
Visions
, BBC, 1990
Public talks and lectures
David Allen, Christopher Curry, Steve Furber, Hermann Hauser, Nick Toop and Sophie Wilson, speaking at the Beeb@30 event, March 2012
Richard Bartle lecture to Trinity University, April 2010
Ian Bell and David Braben, speaking at the Nottingham Game City Festival, October 2009
David Braben – A BAFTA life in Video Games, BAFTA, September 2009
David Braben lecture to the Game Developers Conference, March 2011
Peter Molyneux lecture to the Games Developers Conference, March 2011
Matthew Smith speaking at CGE UK, July 2004
Matthew Smith interviewed by Paul Drury at the Screenplay Festival, February 2005
Books
Richard A. Bartle,
Designing Virtual Worlds
(New Riders Publishing, 2004)
Tom Chatfield, Fun Inc.:
Why Games Are the 21
st
Century’s Most Serious Business
(Virgin Books, 2010)
Douglas Coupland and Kip Ward,
Lara’s Book: Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider Phenomenon
(Prima Publishing, 1998)
Ray Curnow and Susan Curran,
The Silicon Factor: Living with the Microprocessor
(National Extension College, 1980)
Christopher Evans,
The Mighty Micro: The Impact of the Micro-Chip Revolution
(Gollancz, 1979)
Tim Hartnell (ed.),
49 Explosive Games for the ZX Spectrum
(Interface Publications, 1983)
Francis Spufford,
Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin
(Faber and Faber, 2003)
Other published sources
Prospero, ‘Acorn Computers expected to stage a good recovery this year’,
Herald
, December 1984
BBC Continuing Education Television: Computer Literacy Project
(BBC, 1981)
C5 Launch press release, Sinclair Vehicles, January 1985
The Face
magazine (EMAP, June 1997)
ZX Spectrum review,
Computing Today
, August 1982
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, various rulings, 1991 to 1998
Simon Dally obituary,
Independent
, March 1989
Towards Computer Literacy: The BBC Computer Literacy Project 1979-1983
(BBC, 1983)
Company and Personal websites
Bruce on Games – Bruce Everiss’s personal website (www.bruceongames.com)
The Complete History of DMA and the History of Lemmings by Mike Dailly (www.javalemmings.com/DMA)
Computer History Museum/The Centre for Computing History (www.computerhistory.org)
Dundee Computer Games Cluster (found within www.idea.gov.uk)
MUSE (www.mud.co.uk)
Official Carmageddon Community (www.carmageddon.com)
The Oliver Twins (www.olivertwins.com)
QBlog – Richard Bartle’s personal blog (www.youhaventlived.com)
Where is Matthew Smith? (www.carlylesmith.karoo.net/spectrum/matsmith)
A/N Inc
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ACE
magazine
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Ace Coin
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‘achievement system’
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Acorn
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Atom
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System 1
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World Show, 1994
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Acornsoft
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Acquisition
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Action Man
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action replay
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Activision
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Adams, Douglas
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Adams, Scott
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Adventure A/B/C/D/E
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advertising
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Agrophobia
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Aladdin (device)
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Albury, Robert
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Alien
(movie)
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Allen, David
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Alper, Martin
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Altair
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Amiga Power
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Amstrad
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Anderson, Paul
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Ant Attack
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Anything We Can Do
(infodrama)
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Apple
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Apple II
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Macintosh
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Project Olive
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Aran, Samus (game character)
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arcade games
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Arendt, Paul
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Argonaut
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Artic
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ASG Games
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Ashby Computers & Graphics
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Astounding Arcade Games for Your Spectrum+ & Spectrum
(Perry)
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Atari
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Jaguar
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ST
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2600
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Attack of the Mutant Zombie Flesh Eating Chickens From Mars
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Automania
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Avalon Hill
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Avebury, Lord
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Baden, Tony
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BAFTA
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Bailey, Andrew
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Barnden, Neil
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Bartle, Richard
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BASIC
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Bastien, Gaston
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Baxter, Biddy
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Baxter, Stanley
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BBC
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Computer Literacy Programme
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computing programmes
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Continuing Education Department
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Micro
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BC Racers
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Bear Bovver
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Bell, Ian
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Beneath a Steel Sky
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Bissell, Ron
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Blade
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Blitz Games
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Blitz1UP
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Blower, Stephen
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Blue Box
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BlueSky Software
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BMG Interactive
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BMX Racers
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Bono
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Botteril, Steve
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Braben, David
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Brighton Grand Hotel
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British Approvals Board of Telecommunications
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British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)
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British Safety Council
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British Telecom
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Broadcom
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Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
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Buckland, Patrick
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Bug-Byte
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Bullfrog Productions
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Burcombe, Nick
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Callaghan, James
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Campbell of Croy, Lord
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Cambridge
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Cambridge Processor Unit (CPU)
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Cambridge University
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