Skip to main content

1983 - 1984?






So lets go back in time.......

 My initial introduction to gaming / computers was back in 1983 - 1984, when I purchased a Commodore 64. I can remember sitting under the stairs with my computer, screen and tape deck! I remember how amazing the whole experience was, coding took a lifetime and de-bugging was another experience, once you had finally developed something you then had the major time delay of saving and loading the program via the tape drive. I developed a similar game to 'pong' only it had the odd snowflake type object that randomly fell from the top of the screen, you had to play your 'pong' shot and take into account the occasional snowflake!

 I thought this was genius, the sense of engagement and pride that I had achieved all of this from a simple keyboard and a weird new language.

 I now look back and wonder how my children would have handled the delay.....anything up to 20 minutes to load this program from a tape deck, I can hear my youngest Zac moaning that the Xbox is updating and it will take about 2 minutes via our fibre optic connection!

 1995 I think was my next encounter with gaming when the PlayStation 1 was released in Europe. I was living in London with two other guys, two of us worked for FileNet in Wimbledon Village and the third guy worked for Reuters. It really was a constant episode of 'Men Behaving Badly'. The three bedroomed flat we lived in was amazing,  if you learned slightly out of the balcony and looked right you had a wonderful view of Tower Bridge, I was later offered this apartment for, I think £130k, or was it £230k? I cant imagine what the value would stand at now.......needless to say I did not purchase the apartment.

 Anyway on the day of the PlayStation 1 release, we all went 'sick' from work and queued to buy the new shiny machine, it came with a single game 'Ridge Racer', we hurried back to the flat and set the system up via our Bang & Olsen TV (which we had acquired). What happened next made us realise very quickly that gaming and gaming consoles were going to be huge. The three of us played Ridge Racer for over 28hrs constantly - addicted to the engagement of the game, the social interaction between the three of us and the necessity to progress and improve. It truly was quite scary - a whole new world had just arrived in our living room.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Essential Facts about the Gaming Industry (I've used the USA as it's the largest market) - Credit to ESA, Entertainment Software Association

Essential Facts about the Gaming Industry 2014 Here are a number of extracts from the report below, which I have been researching in my quest to fully understand the Gaming industry and more importantly, how we might utilise Games and the vast Gaming community to address real world / business / education / political problems or issues. And in the process still retain the Gaming experience, which is key as participating in Gaming is voluntary and enjoyable - which is not always true of our 'real world' experiences. Essential Facts - The ESA - 2014 “ Our industry has a remarkable upward trajectory. Computer and video games are a form of entertainment enjoyed by a diverse, worldwide consumer base that demonstrates immense energy and enthusiasm for games. With an exciting new generation of hardware, outstanding software, and unmatched creativity, technology, and content, our industry will continue to thrive in the years ahead.” Michael D. Gallagher, president ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Game Based Learning Game based learning can deliver numerous benefits, communication, behavioral change, strategic thinking, decision making, memory, adaptation, coordination, inclusion and improved attention span. When you compare the above to organisational communication methods like PowerPoint, conferences or Town Hall sessions you can quickly realise the benefits that gaming technologies can deliver.  The greatest strength of an effective outcome to game-based learning is the ability to quickly change the content to allow customisation of the learning experience that can easily be adapted to different business requirements. This type of architecture allows the user to become involved, take part and act, rather than just  listening , taking notes and doing as they are directed. How many times do you remember being told -  The best way of learning something is by doing it. Game based learning solutions require students to communicate, think quickly and u...
Post a Comment
Read more
BYOD, Games and Employee Engagement It has been a while since my last Post, for that I apologise.....I am busy trying to assist a number of start-ups find their feet! Following on from my last Post, which will now be out-of-date.......as is the way for any quoted statistics. I wonder how much thought employers, especially C level employers give to the gaming industry? Do they realise just how many of their current employees spend playing multiplayer online games, and more importantly the level of engagement that is achieved that does not exist or that they do not bring into the working environment? I wonder if they realise the demographics of the gaming community and how this has changed, no longer is the community adolescent boys hidden away in bedrooms, but a thriving community spanning all ages and both sexes. One of the key areas that will influence future gaming technologies in the workplace is the fact that computing at home or home digital services - machines, so...
Post a Comment
Read more