Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Midnight

The Lords of Midnight was a game that had me hooked as a youngster. So much so that in my final year of school in 1984 I'd stay up till almost the next day playing it on my Sinclair ZX Spectrum. It was an amazing strategy role playing game that will always stay with me as one of the most influential games I've ever played. Today a friend emailed me to say the creator of that game series had died, his name was Mike Singleton. This report in the Guardian describes the game better than I ever could. I do feel a tinge of sadness at his passing, of course I never knew him or anything about him personally but it was his game that had me hooked on a game genre that I cannot give up to this day, on reflection it really was a ground breaking game.


I fondly remember nights sat peering into a colour portable tv having loaded the game in via a clunky cassette recorder. I'd immerse myself in the game, plan strategies, make notes and replace the game cassette with something like Duran Duran. I still recall listening to The Chauffeur by them whilst playing the game, oddly it seemed to fit the pace and mystery of the game. Happy nostalgic memories, and to Mike Singleton, a true visionary - thank you for those memories and rest in peace.


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