Did anyone have the best of both?

[stupidget]

Ahoy there. I was just looking at Indie Retro News and there are some great looking C64 games (I'll get me coat). This got me wondering if there was anyone back in the day that lived in a golden castle, drank from hollowed out giant crystals and was lucky enough to have both a Speccy and a C64?

[Daveysloan]

I picked up a C64 Light Fantastic pack, so that would've been Christmas '89. It was fun to play some of the C64 exclusives & mess around making a few games with the Shoot em up construction kit.

Ultimately though, I have zero nostalgia for it, whereas I've thought about the Speccy practically every day since I first loaded up Horizons.

[Mousey]

Yeah I had both. 48K Spectrum first circa July 1984 and then a C64 for Christmas 1985. Both coexisted happily I got an Atari ST a few years later.

Not from a rich family (to say the least), but computers were my sole hobby and with a disabled mum I never got to go to a lot of the places fully abled families would spend money at, so I guess I was fortunate in that my parents would use some of those funds to keep me happy as I was at home most of the time. Not that this ran to games - thank goodness for budget games, compilations and (later) magazine covertapes, or I wouldn’t have had much to play with!

Still love both machines. I’ve never been interested in “playground wars” - a good game is a good game regardless of platform. Each machine has its strengths, and there are some fantastic games on both.

[worcestersource]

We stuck with the 8 bits well into the 90s when they were considered old hat but became stupidly cheap as kids either moved onto something else or sold up as they approached adulthood. My dad used to randomly come home with anything anyone was getting rid of that was cheap. I guess bagging another 128k and a box of games was cheaper than buying some new games and kept us three boys quiet and even quieter as we got a Speccy each (Dad also bought up some old tvs, the portable sort you got in hotels, which lasted a surprisingly long time before going pop). I had the same kind of acquisition mentality, but without cash to spend, free was even better!

We ended up with 5 Speccies (a new 48k+ from Boots and a rubbery 48k and three +2s of varying types, all second hand), an Acorn Electron that was more a curiosity but practically given away, an Apple IIe, monitor and disk drive (fished out of a skip and given to me by the business owner when I piped up it seemed a tragic waste to trash computers), a Sega Master System and even a Megadrive a year or so before snazzier consoles like the N64 was launched.

So, always behind the curve but plenty of cheap computer and console entertainment.

Mates had other formats. Ataris look an age to load, the Amstrad had a green screen and I don’t remember being taken with the C64. The kids with Beebs didn’t seem to have the sorts of parents that liked other kids in their houses. Anyone with an Amiga or ST or were allowed to play on their parent’s PC were rather popular.

[clebin]

I had the best of both. A Spectrum 48k and a Spectrum +2.

Spoiler

Come on, someone had to do it!

[ANDREWRYALS]

I did once briefly have a C64 in my house, I used it twice and then returned it. I must say that this was in the mid 2010's.

[spider]

Sadly (?) no. Speccy only for me. At least until in about the mid 90's when the plus3 died I ended up with an A500 from the "ad mag" (remember that?) for a few months.

I did get a C64 a few years later, well I was given it. I used it for a while with its half dozen or so games, Dynamite Dan being the only decent one and then gave it away.

I don't recall anyone at school then having both, it seemed to be a 50/50 or so mix I would guess. I do remember someone who had a rubbery keyed Speccy and also a CPC464 later on, but as for both Speccy and C64 (or V20 or C16 etc) no.

Only knew one person who had a Beeb then too at home, that was initially tape based (loading music on a few games) then they upgraded to disk based. Was an awful lot of pennies for this platform brought new though.

I cannot remember anyone having a Dragon or Oric or "anything else" at that time, aside from someone much later who traded in their Speccy (possibly a toastyrack) for a Sam Coupe.


I don't think it always came down to parental purse strings (even though I suspect in 99% of cases it did) as in it may of been where funding did permit "you already have one, you don't need another bloody computer etc etc" ? or cases where those who were able to purchase their own did not see a "need"

Oh , I did pay for my own initial 48K machine too, as I'd been left a few quid by a relative and it made sense to get a machine I wanted. If you count that as "own" , was just enough.

[Matt_B]

I had the best of many worlds getting a ZX81 in 1981, a Spectrum in 1982, an Amstrad CPC6128 in 1985 and Atari 1040STE in 1989.

I've got a C64 now as well, but that's only from a few years back.

[zx64]

I've got 48K Spectrum first.

Later got C64 as well. But the only thing which impressed me was the keyboard

[stupidget]

I had the best of many worlds getting a ZX81 in 1981, a Spectrum in 1982, an Amstrad CPC6128 in 1985 and Atari 1040STE in 1989.

I've got a C64 now as well, but that's only from a few years back.

I was thinking of getting a genuine C64 a few years back as there does seem to be some incredibly impressive new games being released. Lemon64 is probably the way to go I think if I’m wanting to dip my toe in the murky brown waters of 64dom.

I suppose the other fact was that I didn’t know a single person with a 64 and the thought of having a computer where you’d be expected to actually BUY each and every game, seemed like utter madness.

[1024MAK]

Kinda, a friend lent me a Memotech MTX500.

Really nice keyboard and case. But the number of games available was not a patch on the Speccy, so that continued to be my game’s machine. I explored the different BASIC and the graphics on the MTX. But eventually he came round to collect it

I did use BBC Bs at school. And one friend had one. Spend far more time programming on the Beeb than playing games though. Having a disk drive was bliss. Instant loading compared to using a tape.

Mark

[XTM]

I suppose the other fact was that I didn’t know a single person with a 64 and the thought of having a computer where you’d be expected to actually BUY each and every game, seemed like utter madness.

This resonates with me, only with the platforms reversed for Germany