Relive the '80s console wars on BBC4

Some of you may remember the days before the Xbox, PlayStations, and Nintendos of this world. It was a simpler time, free from the madness of motion controllers, 1080p graphics, and plumbers eating psychedelic mushrooms. There was no such thing as Xbox Live, and downloading a game meant recording...

Some of you may remember the days before the Xbox, PlayStations, and Nintendos of this world. It was a simpler time, free from the madness of motion controllers, 1080p graphics, and plumbers eating psychedelic mushrooms. There was no such thing as Xbox Live, and downloading a game meant recording some blips from the radio onto a tape, without the certainty that it would actually work. And if you were going to be a PC fanboy, there were two major choices--Sinclair's ZX Spectrum or the scourge of the classroom, the BBC Micro.

spectrum

For those who missed those golden years, or simply want to relive the '80s, the BBC has commissioned a brand new comedy drama tentatively titled Syntax Era, coming to BBC4 later this year. The show is set to tell the tale of the home computer revolution of the '80s and the fierce rivalry between Sir Clive Sinclair's ZX Spectrum and former colleague Chris Curry's BBC Micro. It will star Martin Freeman of The Office fame as Chris Curry, while Sinclair will be played by Alexander Armstrong--also known as that guy from the Armstrong and Miller show.

While primarily being a dramatisation, the 90-minute show will also include archive footage from classic shows, including a Spectrum demonstration on kids' favourite Newsround. There will also be a cameos from James Fleet, the rather dim one from Vicar of Dibley, and former Minister for Education Kenneth Baker. Exciting stuff.

Still, let's hope they go the whole hog and show today's console generation how long the load times from tape used to be, how playing Seven Cities of Gold in school counted as work, and how someone could give him or herself permanent arthritis from an epic session of track and field.

43 Comments

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 3, 2009 2:07 pm GMT

    @xxxarlow

    OMG, Fantastic!

    Is there one of these for the Amiga?

  • xxxarlow

    Posted Jul 3, 2009 11:49 am GMT

    Any late lookers here, might wanna go look at http://www.zxspectrum.net/

    Happy early Crimbo!!!

  • bulletsword

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 3:53 pm GMT

    someone call the AVGN!

  • SicklySunStorm

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 1:15 am GMT

    Best comments section ever!

    It's nice to read of some other like minded gamers who remember the days when you had to press play on your tape player, go and have your dinner, and then pray that when you went back to your bedroom, the game had loaded and you didn't have to start all over again.

    This generation don't know they're born with games on discs..... ha ha

  • charrr1234

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 8:03 pm GMT

    I can't wait for the episode where the C64 is released and wipes everyone else out.

  • Balo_the_Gamer

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:39 pm GMT

    I guess this only affects my fellow gamers in the UK?
    Still if someone can pick this up and air it in Canada, I'll appreciate the history lesson.

  • ukogmickey

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:43 pm GMT

    I remember those very well, I remember getting a ZX 48k with the seperate tape recorder, LMAO ! I got it for xmas in a cardboard box with loads of games. Then I upgraded to the 128k, Then to the Amstrad 464. Then the Amiga500 and 600. Those where the days man. You could load a game like Double Dragon and go and have a bath and something to eat and still sometimes it wasnt loaded, Was still that horrible screeching loading noise. Man O Man are we spoilt these days for loading times, and yet still we complain. We are always forever searching for something to blow us away, Come to think of it its like a drug in a way and whatever great game they bring out we will always search for that something better. The ZX Spectrum was the boy in its day. Oh and forgot to mention the old Atari console with the old teak brown slats on it. Used to play Tank and ping pong, LoL.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:35 pm GMT

    YoJim8obaJoe,

    Yep, that would be the Sinclair C5, not as popular as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

  • YoJim8obaJoe

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:08 pm GMT

    isnt clive sinclair the guy who designed the scooter thing that flopped like a penis confronted by a naked rosie o donnell

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 2:38 pm GMT

    @SicklySunStorm,

    I bought my 3DO with the promise of upgrades such as the 'Bulldog' M2 (64bit) expansion, coupled with the fact that it was made by Panasonic (my favourite manufacturer bar none) i too fell for the hype. The only note worthy games were POed and FIFA Soccer (the one with the actuall ADIDAS Predator advert at half time) very cool indeed. other than that, it was simply a VERY expensive CD player : ) Damn that Trip Hawkins

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:30 pm GMT

    @thenephariouson

    Nope, your opinion is quite right, it would be something fresh in our FPS saturated gaming arena. You know what though?... they would probably just find some way to turn them into FPSs lol.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:14 pm GMT

    @kavadias1981,

    "or when you buy a game that is on 4 floppies and one of them just decides to pack up for no reason? The humanity!"

    LOL, yeah : )

    On a bit of a side note, i would absoloutely love to see a few of these classics 'revamped' for the current gen machines, such as: Night Lore, Carrier Command, Star Glider 2 and North & South (the one with 2 opposing armies complete with cannon, horses & infantry) among others, they were such iconic games and would be welcome not to mention offering something fresh in todays FPS saturated gaming arena, my opinion of course.

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 11:49 am GMT

    lol what awesome comments. I love reading about the good 'ol original consoles and computers that got us into gaming in the first place. I don't know what it is about it but gaming felt like a whole different world back then. Teams of something like 5 guys or less making excellent games in a loft. And those games somehow lasting weeks and not days. @thenephariouson - or when you buy a game that is on 4 floppies and one of them just decides to pack up for no reason? The humanity!

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 10:18 am GMT

    ......and how many times did you get a 'Copy' of a game you've always wanted, wait 15 minutes for it to load, only for the screen to flash black, then return to the boot screen right at the very end?

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 10:11 am GMT

    The ZX Spectrum's ONLY rival in my mind was without a doubt the C64, as the only 'Notable' game on the BBC Micro was Elite, other than that there was nothing else. Whereas the C64 had an extremely large games catalogue, i always envied the Sound that that machine could generate via the 'Mighty' SID chip, i can still recall the 'Loading' music on games made by Imagine, and most notibly 'The last Ninja'. @pgmonkeeuk, Rob Hubbard was amazing, did you ever play 'Sanxions', during the Loading process you could actually change the musical instruments / drum beats / rhythm, etc as the game was actually loading, amazing stuff, i can also still recall the 'Crunching' sound effects on International Karate. I was so envious of the C64, however i really did love my humble 48k powerhouse lol, it provided some brilliant 'long gone' memories of what were truly fantastic games, the likes of which cant be replicated in the same manner. It was all about the gaming experience and not the graphics, and its amazing that with the available CPU, Memory 48K, 64K, etc (NOTE: Kilobytes not Megabytes) the likes of Ultimate (now Rare), Imagine, System 3, etc, etc continuously gave us truly great games. As opposed to todays systems, which simply churn out FPS after FPS, i'd love to see the return of some of these 'Classic' games, but a part of me is happy to have these iconic games consigned to history.

  • pgmonkeeuk

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 8:46 am GMT

    I think this might be quite good to watch as it goes! Ahhhh memories! 48k Spectrum started it all off when I was about 8 - watching my Uncle hack his way into Jet Set Willy and thinking it was very naughty but very cool! He gave me his machine when he grew out of it a few months later. It was probably one of the greatest days of my childhood!

    Then I "upgraded" to the plastic-looking grey 128k (with the unthinkable power of 2.5 times the memory....of a calculator), then falling in love with the C64 and the tunes of Rob Hubbard, Ben Dalgleish and Matt Grey whilst tripping on the Commodore's "amazing" array of colours - was it 16 or something daft??

    Experimented with a Megadrive (soon got bored), then got blown away by the Amiga and played nothing but Sensible Soccer for about 3 years. I went to school occasionally too.

    Nintendo pulled me in for a few months with their SNES - but I sold it when the price of games started reaching £70 or more.....and we moan about prices now???

    A pre-Pentium PC followed (that fell apart every time you switched it on), then good ol' PS1, PS2 before defecting to Xbox and the 360 - here, I shall stay me thinks!

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 8:39 am GMT

    cockneyscouse,

    Manic 'Miner' >> Mario 'Plumber', a classic example of western innovation and eastern immitation : )

  • markypants GameSpot staff member

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:58 am GMT

    I didn't think anyone ever owned a 3DO, or a Cdi! Anyone pick up the Atari Jaguar, the one with the most complicated control pad ever made?

  • cockneyscouse

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:58 am GMT

    People say that it is Nintendo that has given casual gamers an interest in the hobby. But when I use to play Manic miner, EVERYONE in my house played at, my Dad, Mum, brothers even my Nan. This and Charlie Brooker's games-wipe on the way, we might start getting some decent games programmes as well.

  • SicklySunStorm

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:13 am GMT

    @ thenephariouson - 3DO! So you and I are the two people that bought one!? ha ha.... along with an Amiga CD32 and a Philips CDi..... god I was a sucker(!) @ Joshuayeah - Bonanzo Bros was awesome, but the Amiga version was far better than the Megadrive one.... even better, get it on MAME.

  • ricemack

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:13 am GMT

    I started gaming on an amstrad cpc 464 with a nice green screen monitor! First game i played was harrier attack , a awesome side scrolling shooter, pure genius! Lets not forget the dizzy series either, great collection of memories.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 6:04 am GMT

    Zx Spectrum 48k > Zx Spectrum 128k > Sega Master System > SNES > Amiga A500 > Amiga A1200 > Panasonic 3DO > PS1 > PS2 > PC > XBOX > 360

    Although most of my fondest gaming memories lie with both my Speccy & Amiga machines, in the form of games like Night Lore, Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy, Underwurld, Starglider 2, Carrier Command, i could go on and on, but the comments are limited in size.

    10 Print "I love gaming"
    20 goto 10
    [enter]

    I love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gamingI love gaming

    LOL : )

  • Joshuayeah

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 6:02 am GMT

    @kavadias1981
    i was a late starter, playing sega megadrive - bonanza bros. best game ever.

  • markypants GameSpot staff member

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:39 am GMT

    @kavadias1981 Atari 2600, one of those 101 games catridges that had "boxing"on it. Wasted hours playing that with my mates...

  • SicklySunStorm

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:52 am GMT

    @ kavadias1981 - my first game experience was a beautiful glass topped table "look down" version of Space Invaders.... got my first Speccy 16k soon after. I think I was about 3 years old....

  • lee1823

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:47 am GMT

    i remember playing 'wild bunch' on my mates speccy. my first memory is prob missile command on my beloved atari 2600 vcs..... turtles on the c64 too! right then - im off up the loft!

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 2:30 am GMT

    I was a Commodore Amiga 500 boy myself. The very first game I ever played was Thundercats on it. 1987 I think, I was only 6. What was all of your first experiences with games? Be interesting to find out what everyones was.

  • BadMonk

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:58 am GMT

    same here!! mostly speccy vs C64, a few beebs but mainly sinclair vs commodore

    speccy was the best though

    (thinking back now, as i am a multi platform owning gamer, i secretly would have loved to have a C64 as well as the zx spectrum but didnt have the funds to get one, as the C64 had some awesome titles that was not available on the ZX)

  • cikame

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:26 am GMT

    British television, don't get your hopes up for anything..... good.

  • tig1979

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:22 am GMT

    Well i had a 16k then 48k, but no one was really arsed about the micro tbh, it was Speccy vc C64 where i was, micro where the big bob macines the schools had!!

  • RossRichard

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 7:51 pm GMT

    Awesome news, but I was really hoping for Nintendo vs. Sega. Misleading news title.

  • gandalf_storm

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:04 pm GMT

    sounds fun, i loved the 80`s 8bit`s

  • Gerror

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 5:24 pm GMT

    This sounds promising.

  • hesel

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 3:38 pm GMT

    Should be great, I was annoyed when Look Around You finished this may fill the gap. Even though I was born late 80's I still played on a old amstrad that was my cousins, a Amiga and the BBC Micros at school with Grannys Garden. Good times.

  • SicklySunStorm

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 2:01 pm GMT

    awesome.

    Does anyone remember any of these games - How to Be a Complete B**tard, Little Computer People (sims genesis! ) and Street Hassle? I think we're talking C64 by the time I was playing those, but I remember my speccy alright.... first was a 16k - then I graduated to a 48k ha ha... makes you laugh hearing those figures now.

  • ganon92

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 12:21 pm GMT

    Well this is rather different. Shall be watching.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 12:04 pm GMT

    I remember the arguements i used to have with my mates that had C64's, whereby they always gloated at their far superior Sound via the 'SID' chip and much better colour, i used to counter this by saying my humble 'Speccy' had better graphical detail, sad i know : )

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 11:58 am GMT

    @Chargrilled,

    LOL, OMG i remember that stupid 'Lense Lock' device, it drove me crazy : )

  • Chargrilled

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 11:52 am GMT

    still got loads of speccy games at my parents house.
    noticed my old elite 2 box complete with lenslok copy protection system and chuckled to myself about people moaning about drm now when they never had to fiddle around giving themselves dislocated retinas using that thing.

    lol @ bbc micro.......

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 11:31 am GMT

    Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy, Everyones A Wally, Thanatos, IK+, Way of the Exploding Fist, Death Race, Tau-Ceti, Knight Lore, Underwurld, Sabre Wulf, Turbo Esprit, Dan Dare, Carrier Command, Star Glider, Contact Sam Cruise, Spy Vs Spy, Monty Mole, Daley Thompsons Decathalon, Way of the Tiger, OMG, so many games from yesteryear. Games that were innovative and defined complete genres, such a shame the same level of imagination is lacking today.

  • FriendBear

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 11:01 am GMT

    Wish I could watch this, I lived as a kid throughout those years, I miss my old Speccy

  • FreshTillDeath

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:56 am GMT

    When I saw this I thought it was gonna be a doc about sega vs nintendo, then i realised that was the 90s. Still this is gonna be another boring bbc drama.

  • xxxarlow

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:42 am GMT

    I can whistle the loading tune for Turbo Esprit.

    *sits staring into the empty space that used ta be my childhood.

    :-)

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