1983 fun for £6
I’m very anoraky about 70s and 80s technology. The loft in our house is full of old video players that use tape formats that are long gone - Betamax, U-matic, Video 2000 etc. I also have my old Sinclair ZX81, 3 different versions of the Commodore 64 and lots of other bits and pieces that Abigail doesn’t approve of!
Well, today a corner shop in the Old Town part of Hastings was having a sort of table top sale. After looking in a couple of boxes it was clear that nothing was newer than the mid 80s. I then came across a rather nice Acorn Electron, a sort of little brother to the BBC Micro that everyone seemed to use in primary schools in the 80s. The box had two of these machines, around 30 tapes, 2 tape decks and an instruction manual. Price: £6.00 for the lot!
After the inevitable raised eyebrow on my return home, I plugged it in. One tape deck plays but doesn’t rewind, and the other deck rewinds but doesn’t play. I can see why they kept both! One of the Electrons works, but the space bar doesn’t. Luckily it’s not that important (as long as you don’t want to type anything that needs one, or the game requires that you use it).
It loads games with no problem at all. Here I’m playing Space Invaders Electron Invaders.
Of course, the graphics are basic, as is the gameplay. There must have been loads of these that have been thrown out due to the owner getting something newer, faster and better. But isn’t it brilliant that this stuff still works?
Also, these things must have cost a bomb when new. I’ve got a bargain, although I know someone who doesn’t agree!
I’m off to a car boot sale at stupid o’clock tomorrow morning.
I’ll let you know what I get.
I loved Space Invaders (or Cheesy Invaders as my version was called). My dad and I used to spend hours playing it. Needless to say I always got the highest score.
‘Oh Mummy’ was another classic game that I used to waste my youth playing on my Dad’s Amstrad – great days. Although I’m not sure I’d have the patience to wait 30mins for the tapes to load anymore.
Doesn’t sound like a waste of your youth to me! Bonding with your Dad, problem-solving, keeping out of trouble, etc.
I know what you mean about waiting for games to load. It did make it more special though. Made you appreciate it and stick with the game longer (even if it was rubbish).
I’m going to sound like a grandad but I think there is too much instant gratification nowadays. Nobody wants to wait for anything.
During the course of my teenage years, I owned a ZX81, two Electrons (first one broke) and a BBC Master 128, before eventually joining the PC-using masses in the early 90s after Uni.
Lately, I’ve been reminiscing about the old days – I’m going to install a Beeb emulator and track down some of the old games I used to play…
BTW, what are you using as a display for the Electron?
Thanks for commenting Alan, you’re the first of my non-friends to do so!
I managed to get it working on a standard LCD TV, I can’t remember whether I had to manually tune or use RCA cables. But it looked pretty good and crisp.