My First Games Console

My First Games Console was a Sinclair ZX81

My first games console was a hand-me-down from my cousins, which was given to me in 1986, just after my 12th birthday. It was a Sinclair ZX81. I do have a recollection prior to 1986 of having owned a device that you plugged in to the TV that only played PONG, but I can't remember what it was called, other than it was made by Atari.

My favourite game was Daley Thompson's Decathlon, I was always playing it, and I remember that the joystick interface broke because the lead on the joystick wasn't very long and I had to move the joystick so violently to make Daley run faster that it used to shake the interface out of the port! So for my 13th birthday I begged for a new console and was lucky enough to be presented with the new version of this console which was made by Amstrad, the ZX Spectrum +2. Amstrad bought Sinclair and the Spectrum range in 1986 and this was to be their first Spectrum console. It featured dual joystick ports and a built in cassette recorder.

I remember using keywords to load games such as LOAD and RUN. I also recall that the tapes would either wind too tightly or too loosely, so every so often I had to get a pencil and manually wind the tape to the end and then back to the beginning so that it was evenly wound. I believe I went through several joysticks as well!

What was your first Games Console?

Article written by Sharon Hibble, Video Games and Tech Recruiter at Arthur Games Talent.

Arthur Games Talent