Little Computer People

February 4, 2002 10:17 AM

Little Computer People was a game produced in the '80s and at a time when the gaming landscape was very different from today's market. The point? Life.
posted by moz (11 comments total)

Yes! I had this on my C64 and loved it. When I finally got bored with it, I tried to kill the little bugger off by not feeding him, but he just got ill and never croaked.
posted by muckster at 10:38 AM on February 4, 2002

When I first saw The Sims I was brought back to 1986 or so, when I was playing LCP on my Apple //e. First game I ever bought, if I recall. I loved it when the Little Computer Person would get bored, and tap on the monitor glass to get my attention.
posted by Fofer at 10:48 AM on February 4, 2002

LCP is also the title track of what is, perhaps, one of my favorite songs of the neo-electro movement. (although "Space Invaders are Smoking Grass" probably surpasses it.)

er. I also had a C64. I did not, unfortunately, have the awesome EPYX joystick , though I did have the incredible California Games.

One of the fondest memories of my childhood is coming into Computer Camp (yes, from the Kids on Kampus program) and witnessing the playing of California Games with the Epyx joystick *and* a pair of fingerless gloves.

Now that was bitchin'.
posted by fishfucker at 10:50 AM on February 4, 2002

i can totally hit the bird with my hackey sack. also, BMX rox yer nutz.
posted by moz at 10:53 AM on February 4, 2002

God yes. I never managed to finish the roller skating section, for some reason. It was like the Activision game "Ghostbusters"that took me nearly 10 years to beat. (true story: I could never get past marshmellow man -- no matter how hard I tried. Then, one day, ten or so years later, I dusted off the C64 and immediately ran straight through. It was probably the result of my newfound nintendo reflexes. I can also catch flies with chopsticks.)

In other news, I only finished the BMX section once or twice, but I could whip out the backflips like nobody's business -- this is, of course, all circa my "RAD" era.
posted by fishfucker at 11:02 AM on February 4, 2002

Dammit, that "Ghostbusters" mention did it: full-blown nostalgia attack. I'll be wasting the rest of the day with C64 emulators and old games: M.U.L.E, Elite, California Games, Paradroid -- not to mention Samantha Fox Strip Poker.
posted by muckster at 11:36 AM on February 4, 2002

Ah, Samantha Fox Strip Poker! :-)

Anyone remember Soft Porn, the text adventure that ultimately led to Leisure Suit Larry?
posted by Fofer at 11:49 AM on February 4, 2002

Computer games back in the day...

I remember playing a lot of games that I didn't even know the controls for. Like Spy vs Spy - I played at a friend's house, but I never had any clue how to control my character, nor did I know what I was trying to accomplish. This just led to a great deal of pointless death... and yet I played again and again.

Now, Paratrooper was braindead enough that I figured it out pretty fast. That was actually the first computer game I ever played, on the display computer in the store where we got our first computer (8086).

Or how about Janitor Joe? I think I could consistently beat the first level. Maybe the second if I was lucky. I'm pretty sure there were more than three levels, but I never found out. :-)

Then there was Sopwith (aka Red Baron). For some reason being able to drop a bomb then hit it in midair with my plane gave me great joy.

And I could go on and on...

So what's the deal with these games? I understand it's not about the graphics, of course, but some of the things I played had pathetic gameplay, too. Were our standards really that low? Is this akin to how kids used to have fun by hitting hoops with sticks?
posted by whatnotever at 1:02 PM on February 4, 2002

Man, my recollection of that time was that all the games r0x0red. Of course, this is pure fantasy: for every incredible Kangeroo Punchout (which, wonderfully, you can still purchase here for three bucks! hoo-ray!) or Goonies I owned, there were also the requisite dogs: for example, Super Sunday and E.T.

Of course, however poorly any of these games might have been done, I remember most of them having unique gameplay. Some of which were so unique as to actually impede play (this, specifically, is what made E.T. suck). My assertion is that there would be no reason for such truly confusing gameplay, unless game mechanics were the only way to really sell games, BID ("back in the day", of course) and all game designers were driven to develop a singular experience. Yet, as I've alluded to above, just like BIDWRWND ("back in the day, when rap would never die") videogames had both their KRS-Ones, and rappin' Barney Rubbles.

I.E. Some -- most, even -- of the gameplay was just pure poop.

Apparently all these crap games led to the horrific BIG VIDEOGAME MARKET KABLOOEY -- which I'm guessing we'll see again in about three weeks when the FPS market reaches critical mass.
posted by fishfucker at 2:31 PM on February 4, 2002

"Stay awhile..... stayyyy FOREVER!!!!"
posted by Dirjy at 8:33 PM on February 4, 2002

Wow -- I had a 5 1/4 floppy of Soft Porn back in the day. I must have been eight years old or so, and had never played any computer games before. It confused the hell out of me. I just kept walking back and forth between the bar and the hotel.
posted by zerolucid at 11:12 PM on February 6, 2002