Forums > Game Forums > Shamus > Way Back When, This was Something!
John Dougherty on 8/26/2008 12:07 AM · Permalink · Report
Dear Friends in 8-Bit Land,
I bought an original cassette of Shamus in a computer shop in the DC suburbs on the MD side. It had to be up-loaded via the Atari 400 cassette player/recorder with the old HUGE connector plug to the Atari. The game would begin as soon as it was uploaded. You didn't have the kind of control you have now, Grasshopper. For it's time, the game was cutting edge. And as described, it predated and inspired games of the genre.
Support consisted of a call to the creators. I was enjoying playing, but there was no apparent PAUSE command. When I spoke to the programmers, they were appreciative of my enjoyment of the game, but no real help. Now, I can smile at their answer: "It's a helluva game for 16K, isn't it.?" I agreed, but no other answer was coming. The concept of "pause" hadn't been solidified. Now, I just look back as a part of history.
Just for the sake of giving you a "time fix", I am 54 now. So you may know I speak from first-hand experience with this wonderful game.
Cheers, John
Indra was here (20756) on 9/2/2008 6:39 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start DJP Mom wrote--] I have that pending on my to-do-list...but I need to play the game again...emulators don't seem to function properly last time I tried. I still have nightmares trying to finish this game... [/Q --end DJP Mom wrote--]
And I totally mis-quoted. :p
St. Martyne (3648) on 8/26/2008 11:30 AM · Permalink · Report
Great story! Thanks for sharing.