Just who was Matt Jackson?

[StanVanman]

Give or take four days, it's exactly four years since the incredible Astro Blaster appeared from nowhere:



There'd been no warning, no previews, there wasn't even an announcement or a web page to download it from. It just sprang fully-formed from someone nobody had heard of before or since and showed up on a couple of Speccy sites, and instantly leapt into the pantheon of the machine's all-time greats.

As far as I know nobody's ever spoken to "Matt Jackson" (well, I'm sure they have but not publicly), and after such a triumph of coding he seems to have vanished back into total obscurity without ever trying his hand at something else. Isn't anyone curious?

[TMD2003]

Matt Jackson? Last I heard he was a defender for Everton in the mid-1990s - part of the team that won the FA Cup in 1995, which (other than the Charity Shield the following season which nobody cares about) was the last time Everton put a trophy in the cabinet.

[Inky]

If I ever complete my current "todo" list of emulator-related stuff, I'd love to do a .pok patch to add Fuller Orator speech to this fab conversion.

[Sokurah]

Give or take four days, it's exactly four years since the incredible Astro Blaster appeared from nowhere:

Well, it can't be both "Give or take four days" and "exactly four years" at the same time

[R-Tape]

Isn't anyone curious?

I certainly was and am. He's not anonymous, as he gave permission via @Stefan for us to host the game via FB at the time. He may be very active on there for all I know.

Assuming it is a first Speccy game, it's a masterclass in every aspect. Bloody sickening!

[p13z]

It's a retro scene, populated mainly by blokes in their forties and fifties, who lived most of their lives before it became normal for people to give a running commentary about everything they do on the internet.
There are plenty of things on the scene that appear like this, just that this is a particularly good/notable one - IMO. I have a couple of creative hobbies without any related activity in internet forums / social media.
Agree though, it would be interesting to know a bit of background.

[StanVanman]

If I ever complete my current "todo" list of emulator-related stuff, I'd love to do a .pok patch to add Fuller Orator speech to this fab conversion.

Yeah, aren't you meant to be finishing Timeblasters before Christmas?

[Inky]

Yeah, aren't you meant to be finishing Timeblasters before Christmas?

Oh *that*? Christmas which year? Yeah, I'll be back on it as soon as the next Inkspector release and docs are done.

[StanVanman]

Oh *that*? Christmas which year? Yeah, I'll be back on it as soon as the next Inkspector release and docs are done.

That's what you ALWAYS say

[Inky]

That's what you ALWAYS say

Nah, "docs" is a new innovation for delaying stuff

[Lee Bee]

Love Astro Blaster. Amazing game.

[highrise]

No great mystery - He's active on Facebook, working on a Defender clone, he replied to me about a month ago but haven't had any updates since then.

https://www.facebook.com/Cruithne3753