Speccy four eyes

I felt a blast of pure grade-A nostalgia the other day at seeing a couple of familiar names in the honours list. David and Richard Darling, the superbrains behind a truckload of classic games, have been awarded the CBE for services to the computer games industry. And rightly so.

For much of the 1980s, the Darling brothers and their Codemasters label were responsible for me and a lot of other people frittering away thousands of hours hunched over their ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64, attempting to master Professional BMX Simulator or one of their other games, all of which seemed to be called Professional or Advanced Something Simulator.

It reached the point that Your Sinclair magazine once printed a spoof review of a game called Advanced Lawnmower Simulator.

I never got into their other big hit, Dizzy, but it the brilliant thing about Codemasters was that there was always something new. Before they came along, games cost around five or six quid, or even a tenner, but they helped to pioneer computer games for £1.99 and £2.99. The gaming equivalent of the seven-inch single.

The Darling brothers were in the grand British tradition of teenagers messing around in their bedroom and being creative. Back in the ’60s, everyone picked up a guitar and tried to form the next Beatles, but in the ’80s everyone wanted to come up with the next hit game and become a zillionaire overnight. You could look at the ever-so-slightly geeky Darlings and think, I could do that. All you needed was a home computer and a couple of decent ideas. It wasn’t that easy, of course, but at least you could have a go.

In computer terms, this was the Neolithic period: 8-bit machines with limited graphic power and extremely dodgy sound. My mobile phone probably has more processing power than my old 48K Speccy. But the Darlings and their contemporaries pushed them to their limits, creating games that made up for their lack of slickness with a lot of charm.

From a business they set up at home in 1985, the Darlings built Codemasters into a powerhouse that employed 400 people and produced hits like Colin McRae Rally and TOCA Touring Cars. Last year, they sold their remaining stake in Codemasters, and I guess they probably ended up as zillionaires. They certainly deserved it, and they deserve those CBEs, too. It’d be good if more creative pioneers of their era were recognised in the same way.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to Professional Ski Simulator, as I’m on the brink of beating my all-time best time…