Learning about video games and computer history is one of my favorite hobbies. One of my favorite periods of video game history is the United Kingdom (UK) computer industry in the 1980s. There are so many compelling stories from this era.
Europe was a fascinating market for video games. Console manufacturers largely ignored it until the 1990s, which allowed home computers to thrive. Tom details other reasons in this book, one of the many reasons I like it.
I also love how he details the efforts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to popularize computers. It reminds me of the book Gaming the Iron Curtain by Jaroslav Svelch. Both books cover computers in Europe but show the differences in how the opposing ideas of government approach computers and computer literacy.
A Brief History of Computers and Micro Computers
Tom moves through the early years of computers. WWII is pointed to as one reason for the quick advancement of computer technology. Several early mainframe computers from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are discussed.
From that point, we get a period of rapid miniaturization in the electronics industry. This took the large mainframe computers and made them smaller. Eventually, technology allowed for computers to become personal computers. We weren’t yet at the point where you could have a laptop computer.
There is one interesting story about microprocessors here. It involves controlling the amount of flavoring on crisps/potato chips. It is one of the ways that microprocessors and computers were changing how work was being done. He also brings up some of the moral panics that went on concerning computers and robotics.
The British government, to their credit, tried to increase computer literacy. This led to some innovation in the computer industry. You also had several brilliant people creating companies to make microcomputers.
I find this part of the history of computers and video games fascinating. Several companies created cheaper computers that helped teach people how to use them. There are a lot of very cool stories in here.
I’ve heard many of them before, but they are so cool to read. Tom does a great job recounting what happened and the changes made to each new computer. What I really like is what the BBC did to popularize computers.
A Cottage Industry
This was my favorite part of the book! I love this part of video game history, and Tom recounts some stories I hadn’t read before. This was such a fascinating time for video games.
This is a brief history of how the cottage industry of computer games started in the UK. The early microcomputers were all about learning to code, which was promoted by the BBC, hobbyist magazines, and trade magazines promoted it. Tom does an excellent job of explaining all of this.
The 1980s was an interesting time. Tom explains how there was an economic downturn at the time, and the tech industry was emerging in some parts of the country. This part of the book tells the story of a few companies and developers. It isn’t as in-depth as it could’ve been, but it gives the reader an overview of what was going on.
While I did like reading the stories about Maniac Miner and Jet Set Wille, I found the story of Imagine way more interesting. Their marketing strategy and sales were fantastic to read about. It is a story I might want to look into at some other time.
The relationship between publishers and gaming magazines is mentioned. It has been strange since the industry started. Magazines want access to games early to review them, but they also want the publishers to advertise with them. It gives the magazines a monetary incentive to give the games a positive review.
It is interesting to see that this issue has always been around and will probably never go away. It feels like every company wants positive reviews, but the publishers don’t want to wait to release a game. It all has to do with money, which makes it hard for the developers to make the game that they want to make.
Then, he transitions into piracy. Tom makes a great point about the impact of piracy on the video game industry. No one knows how much money was lost due to piracy, but it was rampant in the 1980s and 1990s. If you knew the right people, you could get free copies of computer games.
The last thing I want to bring up is how the industry changed. Tom explains that things became more professional in the mid to late 80s. As more money came in, there was an expectation of professionalism and treating the industry differently.
The cost of making a game was increasing, and the number of people needed was also going up. Things were rapidly changing as the industry took shape, not just in Europe but worldwide. On the business side, barriers were created for small developers and publishers regarding distribution and advertisement. Things haven’t changed much.
This chapter contains a lot of information. I like the way Tom explains things and tells the stories. I find this part of the video game industry fascinating. He also does a great job of explaining how you had some people bemoaning computers being used for games as a waste of potential. He then points out how the people making games on the computers were learning to code and learning a new skill.
Consolidation
I’ll talk about this briefly because it wasn’t as interesting to me. Tom explains how the microcomputer industry took a downturn, and the companies started to get bought up or closed down. It parallels what happened in the video game industry.
You see this happen a lot in the tech industry. There is an explosion of companies trying to establish themselves; some succeed, and others don’t. Something happens in the market, and the companies start to merge, close down, or continue on.
It is fun to read about this and see how similar events occur. The common thing that people say about this is that “history repeats itself.” This is an oversimplification of what happens and is kind of ridiculous. History can’t repeat because none of the people are the same, and the situation that brought the event is different.
Final Thoughts
It is always nice to learn something from a book. It makes me happy to discover something new or add to what I already know. I learned a lot from this book! It was great!
I enjoyed learning about the origins of the computer industry in the UK. I didn’t know about kit computers and other hobbyist computers, which was cool to learn about. The stories about the video game side of things were also fascinating.
There is a lot more to this book than I’ve written about here. This is a great history of the UK computer industry. Tom does an excellent job of compiling all of this and putting it in a way that is easy to understand.