Vintage Gaming and Computers

I was lucky enough to grow up during the emergence of video gaming into the world. It was only a matter of time before the arcade phenomenon reached into the home in the shape of home computers, video gaming consoles and handheld devices with interchangeable game cartridges.

This is where I pay homage to the retro game systems and computers I grew up with and still have in my private collection.



Microvision 1979 by Milton Bradley

SX-64 Executive 1984 by Commodore Business Machines

Turbo Express 1990 by NEC

Vectrex Arcade 1982 by GCE

Why do I collect vintage technology?

When I was a kid, my father was into electronics and wanted to make sure that his children embraced new technology. He believed that computers were the future. He didn't realize how right he was.

I was already addicted to video games in the arcade. Almost every bit of money I came into went into those wonderful machines. In 1979, I had saved up enough money to buy a handheld video game system that had interchangeable cartridges... the Microvision. I received 2 cartridges for it for Christmas that year. I now own four Microvisions, one still factory sealed.

My father bought me my first computer in 1982, a Timex Sinclair 1000 and a programmer's guide. I hooked it up to our television and a cassette tape recorder then wrote my first BASIC program. I still distinctly remember the magical feeling of watching the program "I" wrote running for the very first time. And to top it all off, you could buy games for the Sinclair on cassette tape.

From that point on, computers were my life! My brother and I saved up and bought our first Commodore 64 with an external disk drive. Wow! I could save my programs on a floppy disk and load them whenever I wanted to at speeds that were blindingly fast compared to tape drive. It was at this point that I wrote my first big program, a text adventure game, Granite Caverns (You are in a cavern with passages leading north and south, which way do you go?)... weighing in at a whopping 32k.

The game cartridges for the Commodore 64 were just about as good as in the arcade, with a big benefit over the Atari systems of the day as not only was it a gaming system, but you had a fully functional computer system to boot.

I was totally amazed when we purchased our first 300 baud modem and were able to connect with other computers through the phone line. How Buck Rogers was that? We could look at information on the local BBS systems and even play text based games on them. It was almost mind blowing!

I couldn't get enough... my brother and I saved up enough money to get a Commodore SX-64 portable color computer. This was the Holy Grail of all that was computery and good in the world (Yes I made up the word computery). Even today, the SX-64 is my favorite computer ever. I now own three SX-64's, one still in it's original box, and I'm still wanting more.

Moving from computer system to computer system and gaming console to gaming console, I worked my way up the chain. The draw of computers and video games had so completely ingrained itself into my life that I became programmer by profession with decades of experience.

I have never really moved on from being that wide-eyed youngster playing with those old systems. I have amassed quite a collection of vintage computers and game systems from my youth.

Little did I know back then, but typing "run" for the very first time on my Timex Sinclair in 1982 sealed my fate.