A history in computer gaming - The Machines Pt. 2

The Atari ST home computer

After the Commodore 64 departed, our family got an Atari ST, with a whole new bunch of features - a built-in floppy disk drive, a mouse, a printer and a Windows-based operating system. Mum was able to use it as a fully fledged word processor and even started her own company, Swift Type. The ST was a powerful computer renowed for its processing power, and my cousin Richard (who also had an ST) began to learn programming on it, which would later lead to a career in computer programming. I, on the other hand, used it mostly for gaming! My top games were Super Hang-On, International Karate + and Leaderboard (a golf game).

The original Sony Playstation console

Once the Atari ST had out-lived its usefulness, it was sold to one of Carolyn's friends and the era of computer gaming for me came to an end. I went off to university and it would be about 7 years before I would own a computer of any description. 

Shortly after I finished university, I got a Sony Playstation gaming console for my birthday. At the time, I had been out of computer gaming for so long, it felt like a strange thing to get, but it would pave the way for most of my future gaming activity. My first game was Formula One, but the most memorable and enduring games were Gran Turismo and Gran Turismo 2, Final Fantasy VII and Crash Bandicoot. FFVII was the first computer game I ever completed, and Gran Turismo would later become the focus of my gaming activity!

Packard Bell PC

Only when I had completed my studies and started my Ph.D at Glasgow University did I feel the need to buy a PC - mostly because I needed it for my work (as a word processor and for data analysis), but also so I could access the internet at home for the first time. I chose a Packard Bell PC and my flatmate Jorge Chaumer and I set up internet access in our postgraduate student apartment in Glasgow. I didn't use it for games much, but Jorge and I used to play Microsoft Golf all the time. It was around this time I discovered Hoyle Board Games, Sim City 2000 and Lux (a Risk-like game for the PC).