As a child of the 1980s I was in the first generation that grew up with personal computers - it was certainly good training for the present day and my current job.
Of course we didn’t know about the internet yet but who needed that when you could spend hours in the local Spaceworld (an arcade chain) feeding 20 cent pieces (nice and cheap then) into the Moon Hopper and of course Pac Man machines.
But I’m getting off topic slightly. The fist PC I ever encountered was at a local computer centre - it was the Commodore 64. Basic? Yes. Terrible graphics and sound? Well, the PC WAS still in its infancy. But when it came to programming simple games, it was all good. Little did I know that programming would come in handy when I took computer classes at high school. DOS didn’t seem so hard after all!
The computer training centre soon got in the Amiga 500, and even better the 2000 model.
Then a couple of years later a friend of mine got an Amiga 2000. Needless to say, this upped him in the cool stakes. Gosh, the hours we spent (or wasted depending on your view) playing two player classics like Golden Axe and later Street Fighter II were shared fun. I’d like to add that we engaged in many outdoor activities too - the computer was simply one of many diversions, not the main one.
Perhaps it’s the 80s revival getting to me but I’m proud to say I still own a 1989 Nintendo Gameboy (still going strong despite being dropped and having green build up in the back from old batteries). Why? For that answer you have to read this… http://www.inthe80s.com/feelold.shtml
But in case you think I'm a total antique collector I do own a Playstation Portable. Ironically my favourite game is Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.... set in 1984!
