About
Let me take you back to 1981.
I had been wanting a computer since I used a BBC Micro at school back in 1981. For reasons notwithstanding, I was dropped off at school early on a Tuesday and Friday. On this particular Tuesday, the headmaster was opening a bunch of boxes, building a computer desk and then assembling the BBC Micro with tape deck. Our school was part of the future; we had ONE computer for the entire school! As I was at school early and had nothing else to do, I was able to help the headmaster set up the computer and, of course, be able to use it before anyone else! I learned how to load a computer game from tape, how to play a game (educational, obviously) and how to look after it.
That week I was the teacher for the computer. I was teaching the other children how to use it. My teacher said to me, ‘You know more than I do, show the other children how to use it.’ I can safely say I have been teaching IT on and off since 1981, or for 43 years! (at the time of writing). I finally was able to have my computer in 1989, as my dad was persuaded at work to get me one, he was told, ‘This is what people will use in the future, get him to use one now, and he will have a head start’. So, savings book in hand, my mum went to Dixons with me during the summer holidays, and I came back home with a C64c bundle. This was the Light Fantastic bundle. It came with a bunch of games:
Blaze Out Pack (Ocean):
This was a compilation of levels from Ocean games, modified to play with the light gun.
- Robocop
- Combat School
- Hypersports
- Platoon
- Rambo III
- Batman The Caped Crusader
- Mike Read’s Computer Pop Quiz
- 3-D Action Pack (Mindscape):
- Army Days
- Gangster Town
- Time Traveller
Applications
Under the label Toolbox by Domark:
- The Music System
- Typing Tutor
- Shoot-em-up Construction Kit
- The image System
Audio Help Tape
The package included a C64C, a Cheetah Defender 64 Light gun and 3D glasses, as well as the Commodore 1530 (C2N) Datasette (a tape player solely for loading games and programs).
From 1989 through to 1995, I bought tons of games, along with hardware such as a second tape deck (third-party manufacturer), loads of joysticks, an Action Replay cartridge, a set of speakers to get the best out of the SID chip, a better cable for the c64 to connect to the TV and about half of the run of the Commodore format. This was set up on a desk in my part of the bedroom, on the other side of the room, my late youngest brother had his TV with a Sega Megadrive. Writing this now makes it sound much fancier than our family was. We were a typical working-class family; it was sheer brute force and determination on all of us to have these fancy things that could play video games. To bring this back down to earth, my brother and I used our beds as chairs!
In 1994/5, I got my first IBM clone. As my old C64 was way out of date, all the games, hardware and joysticks were put into a large carrier bag and put into the cupboard. I then took this to a friend’s house so my brother and I could play the games on a large TV. I wanted to bring it back home but was told it ‘blew up’ by my brother. This I do believe, as there is only one of two ways a C64 can ‘blow up’, the first is a dodgy PSU as the 5-volt rail on that can go bad and zap the C64; the other (and more likely) my brother connected his Sega controller to the C64, which could zap it too, because although the C64 and Sega Megadrive share the same connections – they are wired up completely differently. I didn’t blame anyone other than myself for just tossing the C64, etc, into a bag, I wish I kept the boxes and kept it safe.
That is the story of my original C64. I have a lot of memories of playing on it, writing simple programs, and losing it. But now it’s time for me to tell the story of my current C64.