Ah a chance for my fellow grey-heads to show their age... wait a minute, how am I expected to remember something from so long ago? I barely recall what I had for breakfast... wait, what is it I'm doing again? 👴
In all seriousness though, I DO remember that the first game I played was on a Spectrum 48k (the rubber keyed wonder) in the 80s.
Trashman
Released in 1984 literally, a bin man simulator where you walk up a road collecting bins from people's gardens and emptying them into the bin lorry (US: trash truck?) before it pulled too far up the road. Once you emptied the bin and returned it you could go into the house and have a humorous little conversation with the homeowner and earning the bonus of a bit more time.
I was at a friends house when I first played and my parents subsequently bought our own machine that next Christmas which well and truly set me on my path. This game was a staple for a long time. I was not any good at it, but I do remember enjoying it and trying to beat my best score over and over. It was actually quite a fast-paced game for the time, I remember being hugely infuriated because you could easily step too far and walk off the path which would mean the household dog would come and chase after you. Looking back now, whilst it was a fun game at the time, it's amazing to realise Paperboy was released the same year which was leagues ahead in terms of graphics and gameplay action. I'm not sure any of these games hold up today, expectations are way different from what was possible on the hardware then, but it's always fun to check out videos to get a feel for what early games were like...
We've come a long way, eh?
