Blast from the Past: King Kong

Before Freelancer, before Wing Commander and even before Times of Lore there was… King Kong! Chris Roberts sold this, his first game, when he was just thirteen years old! King Kong was what was known as a “type-in program,” meaning that the BASIC code for the game was printed in a magazine for home users to type in and run themselves.

Chris sold the game to BBC Micro User magazine, which printed the code in its April, 1983 issue complete with a man posing in a gorilla suit with a Barbie doll on the cover! Gameplay involves flying a helicopter to rescue women from a skyscraper, a la Defender, and then once they are safe gunning down the giant ape.

King Kong may seem simple compared to today’s powerful, complex games… but it’s also early proof of Chris’ interest in combining games and movies! Thanks to Pix’s Origin Adventures for re-discovering this game. You can read more and even download a copy to play yourself here.

Vor Freelancer, vor Wing Commander und noch vor Times of Lore gab es.... King Kong! Chris Roberts verkaufte dieses, sein erstes Spiel, als er gerade dreizehn Jahre alt war! King Kong war ein so genanntes "Typ-In-Programm", was bedeutet, dass der BASIC-Code für das Spiel in einem Magazin gedruckt wurde, in dem Privatanwender selbstständig tippen und ausführen konnten.

Chris verkaufte das Spiel an das BBC Micro User Magazin, das den Code in seiner Aprilausgabe 1983 komplett mit einem Mann in einem Gorilla-Anzug mit einer Barbie-Puppe auf dem Cover druckte! Gameplay beinhaltet das Fliegen eines Hubschraubers, um Frauen vor einem Wolkenkratzer zu retten, a la Defender, und dann, wenn sie sicher sind, den riesigen Affen herunterzuspritzen.

King Kong mag im Vergleich zu den heutigen mächtigen, komplexen Spielen einfach erscheinen.... aber es ist auch ein früher Beweis für Chris' Interesse, Spiele und Filme zu kombinieren! Vielen Dank an Pix's Origin Adventures für die Wiederentdeckung dieses Spiels. Sie können hier mehr lesen und sogar ein Exemplar herunterladen, um sich selbst zu spielen.

Before Freelancer, before Wing Commander and even before Times of Lore there was… King Kong! Chris Roberts sold this, his first game, when he was just thirteen years old! King Kong was what was known as a “type-in program,” meaning that the BASIC code for the game was printed in a magazine for home users to type in and run themselves.

Chris sold the game to BBC Micro User magazine, which printed the code in its April, 1983 issue complete with a man posing in a gorilla suit with a Barbie doll on the cover! Gameplay involves flying a helicopter to rescue women from a skyscraper, a la Defender, and then once they are safe gunning down the giant ape.

King Kong may seem simple compared to today’s powerful, complex games… but it’s also early proof of Chris’ interest in combining games and movies! Thanks to Pix’s Origin Adventures for re-discovering this game. You can read more and even download a copy to play yourself here.