Comments on: Everything is Bigger in Texas: What Was Your First Computer?

By: Michael Sheridan

Michael Sheridan — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:45:32 +0000

My first computer was a Commodore VIC-20 (see it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_VIC-20 ) in 1980 or 1981, which consisted of little more than a keyboard. I was 5 or 6 years old. It had cartridges that were connected via wire and aluminum foil (I kid you not!). My brother and I were so excited that Christmas, cuz when we found the box before Dec. 25, we thought it was an Atari. We were wrong. The first thing we did with it was spend nearly an entire day programming a game, which was a simple maze game. No levels or anything, you simple had to guide a smiley face from the center of the maze to the exit, which I recall was in the lower right hand corner. We had it attached to a small black and white television. I remember we used to get a Commodore magazine, and in it every month they had the code for a game you could type into the system. I spent a day typing in the code for a mailman game. I never got it working quite right.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:36:56 +0000

The pin out on Atari joysticks seemed to be almost an industry standard for a while there. When I first saw a Nintendo gamepad, and it had that different connector, and extra button, it was like being in the future.

Imagic had amazing artwork for their cartilages. The Demon Attack one was most bad ass.

By: Don Becker

Don Becker — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:08:08 +0000

I'm right there with you, Charles. My first computer was a TI-99 4/A as well. No expansion packs, a few games that were obvious rips of arcade games (one was a Space Invaders clone that my mother played constantly – yes, my mom was a gamer Mom), but I spent a fair amount of time writing rudimentary games in BASIC. I think we got ours a little earlier in the product cycle, maybe 1981 or 1982.

Two fond memories: 1.) My aunt asked me to show my cousin's boy scout troop basic BASIC programming, but then the whole thing turned into a two-hour video game party. 2.) My dad and I soldering together an adapter that would allow us to use our Atari 2600 joysticks with the TI (same 9-pin connector, different schematics). In retrospect, we sure got a lot of mileage out of those Atari joysticks, since they also worked on the C64 that I graduated to in 1983.

Unrelated thought: I never knew Imagic made games for the TI, let alone Microsurgeon. That game creeped me right the hell out on Intellivision.