The 'Thunderbird' One Show.

Nice to a see a short piece on yesterdays 'One Show' regarding the issue of a range of stamps commemorating the works of the great 'Gerry Anderson'. Anybody of my age were priveliged to watch his productions in the 60s and 70s on TV, and in later years on Video and DVD. It is only the last 20 odd years that he has got the full praise he deserves, mainly due to repeats of the shows on 'BBC2'. I remember a poster magazine in the mid 70s called 'TV Sci Fi'. It mainly consisted of 'Star Trek' and the then current 'Anderson' show 'Space 1999'. They insisted on spelling his name incorrectly as 'Jerry Anderson', which I found both irritating and astonishing. At least a few years later. 'Fanzines' were cropping up everywhere covering 'Cult TV' and 'Andersons' now correctly spelt name and prominence were at last back again. It is nice to see him and his shows now get the praise they thoroughly deserve.

A 'hop' too far.

One of the hobbies I have had to give up because of my ill health, is 'groundhopping'. Basically you try to visit a different football ground each time, and I had got to no 296. Most of them were Non League and as I was'nt a 'Die Hard' got to go every week type, it took about 20 years overall. I did attend The 'Easter; Hops in 'Cornwall' a couple of times. Here they staggered kick off times so you could visit a match in the morning, One in the afternoon, and One in the evening. The 'Hellenic' league went One better by having Four games on 'August Bank Holiday' in 2000 and again in 2001. The record however, is held by the 'Central Midlands League'. I did'nt attend this event, but on 'Easter' Saturday 2005, they fitted in Five games in One day. It was helped by having Three of the grounds being only a few Hundred yards apart in the same road, and the others were only about Two miles away.
My mate always wanted to take me to 'Scotland' for my 300th ground, probobly 'Wick Acedemy' right in the far 'North East' near 'John O Groats'. As my health started to deteriorate, I stopped watching football over Two years ago, so I will probobly never reach the milestone. We nearly did do a 'Scottish' Non league ground though, and it would have made us legends if we had have gone. Here is the story............................
The 'Scottish FA Cup' Third round in November 2008 was in turmoil because of poor weather. An all Non League clash between 'Dalbeattie Star' and 'Forres Mechanics' had been postponed, and because they had no floodlights, the replay would have to be the following Saturday. Most 'English' Non League teams have floodlights, but a lot in 'Scotland' do not. It was postponed a further Twice, when the 'Scottish' FA said they must play it on a weekday when the weather allowed. So the match was to go ahead on Monday 15th December 2008 kick off 1.15. Now what has this got to do with me and my mate? you may ask. Well at the time. My mate was a Courier, who did a Monday package delivery from the Midlands to 'Glasgow'. 'Dalbeattie; is in the South West of 'Scotland, and would have only added about 30 miles to his normal journey if he made a detour. I decided that I would'nt be well enough to travel that far, and in the end, he did'nt have a delivery that week anyway.. If things had been different. It would have given us bragging rights in the'groundhopping' fraternity. 'Dalbeattie Star' on a Monday afternoon would have put us in the realms of 'hopping' folklore forever.

3 or 360?

With the 'PS3' being launched. I started the 'when shall I go next gen'? cycle again. As with other consoles. The 'PS3' was far too expensive at launch, and again the first games seemed nothing special. I was tempted to stray and go for the cheaper 'X Box 360', which was established, had a large catalogue of games, and even had some budget titles too. In the end I bided my time, and got a '40G PS3' and 3 games in early 2008. 'The games bundle consisted of the crap 'Kane and Lynch', The overated 'Assassins Creed', and the great 'Uncharted Drakes Fortune'. I then got 'FIFA 09' and the dissapointing 'Tomb Raider Underworld' at the end of that year. My gaming was becoming less and less enjoyable, and I thought the enthusiastic bubble had finaly burst. Then in late 2009 came a new gaming buzz all over again. My 'PS3' was now connected to a 'HD' TV,was my 'DVD' and 'Blu Ray' player, and I found some games that I enjoyed. I borrowed the brilliant 'Batman Arkham Asylum', and bought the amazing 'Uncharted 2 Among Thieves'. I also played 'Silent Hill Homecoming' 'Resident Evil 5', and 'Everybodys Golf World Tour', but they were only average. I also borrowed 'Heavy Rain' which was thought was great, and even found a 'First Person' game that I enjoyed, after borrowing 'COD Modern Warfare'. My current 'Arsenal' of games are 'Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11', COD Black Ops', and 'Gran Tourismo 5'. I have to restrict my gaming now, due to the pain incurred from my increasing health problems, but at the end of the day and although restricted, I am still gaming to a degree. Having mentioned before. I have had to give up vertually every hobby I once had due to my deteriorating health. If I ever become completely unable to play games at all, then they might as well give me something to put me out of my misery.

Hey mate!!!!. I want a Playstation too.

As with the original console. The 'PS2' was too expensive on launch, and the early games were nothing special either. I eventualy got One at a reasonable price complete with the games 'Devil May Cry', and 'Pro Evolution Soccer'. The leap from 'CD ROM' to 'DVD ROM' was not as great as 'Megadrive' to 'Playstation', but the graphics were noticably better none the less.
This was turning out to be a smashing machine, and I soon added a few more games to the collection, and also borrowed 'Silent Hill 2' which was excellent.  Other games of note were 'Resident Evil Code Veronica X', and 'GT3'. There were also dissapointments in the shape of 'Tomb Raider. The Angel of Darkness', and a boring 'Scrabble' derivative. The former suffered from poor controls, why the latter was cheap and cheerful with the emphasis leaning more towards cheap. I played a few other odds and sods, but great games were getting thin on the ground. Just as the console was looking a little tired. A shining light was to befall this great machine One more time. This turned out to be 'Resident Evil 4'. A slightly different take on the old series of games, but better for it. Good gameplay,controls, and graphics all made this an instant classic.

It 'Sony' a game.

As the new generation of consoles drew ever nearer. I was reluctant to get One as the prices were too high. Late in 1996. The prices of the 'Sega Saturn' and 'Sony Playstation' had dropped enough for me to consider joining the 'next generation' gaming fraternity. On advice from a bloke in a local game shop, and after watching a convincing demo, I decided that I would go for the 'Playstation' over the 'Saturn'. I waited another week until I made a trip to the huge 'Merry Hill' shopping complex, where I compared deals at various shops. In the end I got a 'Playstation' and 6 games for £299 from the now long gone 'Beatties' model shop. The 6 games were 'Ridge Racer','Worms','Thunderhawk','Tekken','Destruction Derby', and 'Rayman'. Add to this 'FIFA 97', and demo discs, and I was in gaming heaven for a very long time.
Then something occured that to this date takes some beating. I borrowed what I thought was just another game from a chap I knew, and the rest is history. The game in question was 'Tomb Raider, which set the benchmark for most games after. I think most modern 'adventure' games owe there popularity because of this title, and I still wonder if it actually pushed the 'Playstation' to its technical limits. Over the next 4 years. I added the First 3 'Resident Evil' games, FIFA World Cup 98, 'Tomb Raider 2 and 3,Alien Trilogy,Everybodys Golf, and Micro Machines V4 to my collection and also borrowed 'Tomb Raider 4 and 'Silent Hill'.

The gaming 'Sega' continues.

So in early 1993. I purchased a £149 'Sega Megadrive', with the games 'Sonic the Hedgehog' and a 3 game cartridge containing 'Road Rash,Columns, and World Cup Italia 90'. What a leap from the 'ZX Spectrum', both graphically and of course loading time. The games were very expensive, so I did'nt buy any more that year. I did borrow 'European Club Soccer', which was a much better football game than 'WCI90', and 'Revenge of Shinobi'. The following year. I obtained 'PGA Tour Golf', and 'Kick Off', a pretty dire football game. Just around the corner however, I was unknowingly going to purchase the greatest game ever to grace the 'Megadrive' format. I payed about £35 for it, but Pound for Pound it turned out to be excellent value for money. The game in question was 'Micro Machines Turbo Tournament', which still ranks as One of the greatest racing games of all time. I got the sequel 'Turbo Tournament 96' the following year, but it did'nt have the same impact as the original as it was almost much of the same.

Life is just a game Part 1.

I thought I would look back at my gaming memories over the years. I am of an age when I remember 'Space Invaders' arriving in pubs and arcades, but Two of my favourites were 'Missile Command', and 'Crazy Climber'.
I had a home 'Pong' console in 1977, but it was 6 years later, in 1983 and the arrival of a 'ZX Spectrum', that changed my gaming experience forever. Around this time. There were a lot of 'Computers' around, all with games sold in shops. One of my mates borrowed a 'Dragon 32' which I thought was the 'Bees Knees'. Then another mate said you either need a 'BBC model B' or a 'ZX spectrum' to be ahead of the pack. He also said that he already had a 'ZX Spectrum', and could copy some of his games for me. With this thought in toe, and the fact that the 'Spectrum' was about half the price of the 'BBC model B', my mind was made up. The next hurdle was actually being able to get One. There were both 16K and 48K versions, for which I needed the latter to play all available games. On a trip to 'Walsall'. Most places had 16K versions but not 48K. Then after all seemed lost. I arrived in 'Dixons' who had just had a batch of the 48K version and the rest is history. It was £110 I think, and I also had to purchase an £11 'Cassette Recorder' to load the games. The first games I bought were 'Super Spy' and 'Flight Simulator'. My mate then did me copies of 'Jetpack',ZZoom','Chuckie Egg', 'Lunar Jetman', 'Ah Diddums', 'Scrabble', 'The Hobbit', 'Inca Curse', and 'Penetrator'. This gave me a good game selection to start me off, and more importantly hours of fun.
I must have had over 150 games eventually, but 2 really stood out. The football game 'Match Day', and a golf came 'The Open'. Both were so playable, and stood the test of time. Even when I upgraded to a 128K 'Spectrum' now with proper keys and a built in 'Cassette Player'. I always went back to play those 2 games more than any others.