a
while. My original PhD idea was to research the meanings and uses of
nostalgia for middle-aged gamers. It wasn't what I ended up doing, but by coincidence, I was interviewed in 2012 by Graeme Mason for an article in
Retro Gamer [the interviews are here jdanddiet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05 /crl-feature-extras-interview-with-je ff.html and here jdanddiet.blogspot.c o.uk/2012/06/crl-feature-extras-inter view-with-jeff.html]. This inspired
me to write the historical novel, The Hype Game. The book was based on
life at CRL, along with stories that I'd picked up from freelances, and
ideas from the materials I'd already amassed for potential academic
research. There's so much useful source material that's been scanned and
put online by enthusiasts. I also gleaned titbits from 1980s developers on social media.

The novel was originally put out under the pseudonym 'Marwood Packard' [see
the CF review in issue #69] before eventually revealing the author's true identity.

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Q. Yes, I read The Hype Game when it was around. You mentioned the demos
from freelance writers and home users that were sent into software
companies quite regularly. Was it like that? If so, what was the quality
of these games and ideas like, and were any released without modifications?

Good question. It was exactly as described in the book. Most of the demos were spirited but unpublishable. Clem was good at nurturing borderline
things that had potential though. And something would occasionally blow us away. Later in the eighties, SEUCK left us inundated with games that were hardly distinguishable from each other.

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Q. Another question related to your book: how much code was (should we
say) 'recycled' from demos that were sent in to the company?

Ah yes, you're talking about the fish-tank thing. A few visitors to the
Zen Room spotted the uncanny similarity between a CRL product and a demo
posted on Compunet. The product shall remain nameless! Reverse
engineering wasn't common practice as far as we knew; however from about
late 1987, freelances sometimes told us about bits they knew or suspected
had been 'borrowed' from Compunet demos for games.

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Q. Do you feel The Hype Game failed to live up to your sales expectations? Also, did you learn anything from the process? I was a big fan of the
book, as it painted a more realistic picture of the programmers and the problems they faced rather than a rose-tinted history.

Discovering the retro scene over 25 years later was puzzling. Today's orthodoxy to 8-bit gaming in the UK is that plucky Brits built an industry
from the ground up by transcending the limits to technology. It's all
heroics and flag waving. Very neat and tidy. I don't remember working
with anyone who held such views at the time. Nor have I heard this story
from anyone I've met since who was involved. Additionally, prominent
figures in the early games industry have become something of a fixation. Perhaps this is the rise and rise of celebrity culture? Perhaps it's all
about stories that grow in the telling? That's why I like Dan Whitehead's Speccy Nation. His book articulates obscured yet interesting games. He
also sets many of them in their historical context.

So this is all why my book had chapters that interrupted the drama. They encouraged readers to ask themselves what interests are served by a story,
what nostalgia is for, and so on. This amount of deviation from orthodoxy meant that I expected niche sales. That said, they weren't as catastrophic
as Rocky Horror! The surprise though was that it didn't seem to be gamers
who bought it. True, a couple of people asked me if the scenes about
building the trade stand related to Microprose. And I have been asked
about the team meeting scenes. Apart from that though, the feedback / questions were mostly about the chapters that interrupted the narrative.
These readers seemed to know little about retro gaming, so my attempt to introduce a different history was difficult for them to understand because
they didn't know the more standard version. Perhaps it should have been written for a non-gamer audience? Non-gamers seem interested. Maybe all retro-gaming needs to cross over into mainstream culture is a bit of explanation about the basics?

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. You volunteered to work on Commodore Free as a sub editor. What in the heck possessed you to do such a mad thing? Do you feel you still have the "retro love"?

I was more impressed by the community service aspect to Commodore Free and other resources that make the retro scene happen. I also wanted to help CF because you ran a feature on my novel (a couple of promises of reviews from bloggers never materialised). It's been nice to tidy some issues of CF up without my presence having been stated. I've tried to keep each
contributor's voice intact. It was nice to write a couple of articles too.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Would you ever consider moving back to work in the games industry in
some form?

I'd probably do the equivalent of what I did before.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Do you have fond memories of CRL, and do you feel that the company and
its software isn't remembered or promoted by retro fans enough?

1987 was one of the best years of my life. Well, mostly! The experience
as a whole was a mixed affair. Yet I've never since worked in an
environment that was so much fun. The business writer, Charles Handy,
wrote in The Hungry Spirit about the importance of organisations nurturing
a strong sense of belonging. There was this sense of belonging at CRL.
Some of this was down to being in an industry where the rules hadn't been established yet. And some of it was down to people like Clem and Mike
steering a bunch of kids so that they came up with something saleable in
the process of mucking about with their mates. Or as Francis Jago put it
in Your Computer in December 1986:

'What becomes very apparent from any visit to CRL is the feeling of a community, something many bigger software houses lack. CRL maintains that
the feeling is because of the ability of [Clem] Chambers to make everyone
feel as if the company is their responsibility.'

As for what retro fans should remember or promote - it's not for me to say.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Do you wish you had written a factual book about CRL?

Maybe. Your first response to The Hype Game was that you were concerned
about writing a feature about a piece of fiction. You'd suggested that
gamers would relate more to something factual. With hindsight, I might
have had a good chance at getting funding to research retro gaming in some
way. I just couldn't see at the time how something factual about the
culture of the 1980s games industry could have much mileage either inside
or outside of academia. It's hard to tell what will be picked up on.

Publishing a novel turned out to be a bad idea. If you're going to publish something online, unless it's crime or another popular fiction genre, it's
a good idea to write something that promotes what you do for a living
offline. Most books are in the long tail economy so they don't make any
money. And if you write for the love of it, there's little discussion or feedback to be had. And then you discover your book on pirate sites. I
had more retro game books planned, but who's going to pay for something
when it ends up free? 100K words is a lot of work to give away.

In recent years I've still managed to do some research, interviewing, and writing, though it's things like funder's reports and best practice
guidance for social services organisations. At least it's possible to see
the difference this writing makes. And it pays for my time.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. What will most people remember you for? What was your best release?

I've always been a background person. And practically all cultural form

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