110044
RETRO
111000444 OOCCTTOOBBEERR^2202200 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|IISSSUUEE^39922
“Iwas 14 yearsoldandIdidn’thave
muchmoneyormanyconnectionstothe
outsideworld,”hetellsus.
“I’dalsorelyonoldgamingmagazines
tohelpestablishkeyinformationand
discoverwhothedeveloperswere,along
withanyotherclues.”
Butashisinterestinthesubjectgrew,
hebegantodiligentlydocumenthisfindings
inafanzinecalledCommodoreZone,and
themorehekepthiseyespeeledfor
unreleasedgames,themorenuggets
begantoberevealed.
“Iwasnoticingthattitlesadvertisedand
previewedinothermagazineswerenever
surfacingandIstartedtogetareasonably
sizedlisttogetherthatIwantedtotryand
track down,”hesays.
The task became more straightforward
once Gasking was able
to get online.Soon he
was bookmarking
personal web pages
created by developers
and seeking contacts
via different online
discussion groups.
“Getting responses
would sometimes lead
to adeveloper digging
outtheirolddisksorcreatingotherleadsand
possibilitiestofollowup,”Gaskingsays.
Thegrowthofsocialmedia,notably
Facebook,TwitterandLinkedIn,alsomadeit
easiertotrackpeopledown.
OVERCOMINGDEADLOCK
Someofthedetectiveworkhasinvolved
makingeducatedguesses.
“Ifagamehaslookedfamiliartoanother
releasedtitleorsharedsomecommon
ground,thenImighttakeabetthatacertain
developerwasbehindit,”Gaskingexplains.
Othergamesreleasedaroundthesame
timecanalsoholdclues.
“Iwouldquestion,forinstance,whatother
gamesthepublisherreleasedduringthatera.
It’spossiblethecreatorscouldhaveworked
onanothertitleforthatpublisherinthepast.
Duringthelate1 98 0sandearly1990s,US
Goldgames,forinstance,werebeing
developedbythelikesofTiertex,Probeand
Creative Materials –sothere are three areas
to focusinonalready,” he continues.
One of the biggest
problems, however,is
the growing risk that
assets are being thrown
awayorbecoming lost.
The media on which the
files are stored are also
deteriorating in the main,
and it is becoming more
of arace against time as
the years go by to save
titles, particularly those
on disk or tape.
“One of the most
exciting times over the
years was being sent
System3’sDeadlockfortheCommodore 64
bythedeveloper.Itwasahugethrillbuta
nervoustime,too–tryingtobackupa
30-year-olddiskwithpotentiallythelastever
copy,prayingthatitstillreads,”hesays.
Suchdifficultieshelptoexplainwhy
archivesitesareprovingtobesuchan
importantresource:websitesjam-packed
withmagazinescans,boxartandinformation
arenowcrucialtoanyvideogameraider
huntingforcluesandfreshleads.Butthere’s
alsoadangerthatknowledgeisdisappearing
asdeveloperspassaway.Somearesimply
provinghardertofind.
“Evenifyoumanagetodiscoveraname
ortwo,youthenmustactuallyfindthem,and
therearesomepeoplewhoarecompletelyoff
thegrid,”Gaskingexplains.
“Inthosecases,Iwillcontact thosewho
mayhaveworked with that person or were at
the company at the time.Theymay give
some whereabouts information, which town
theylived in and so on. When things get
desperate, Imight trypotential family
members on social media, sending apolite
enquiry.Alast resort might even be looking
through voting registration records to try
and find apostaladdresstosend aletter in
the hope of getting areply.”
THE HOLYGRAIL
Forthe most part, Gasking has concentrated
on unreleased games forthe Commodore 64
since it was the machine he grew up with
and supported. He wanted to cover other
platforms in the same wayand, indeed, he’s
made some effort to discover lost
➡TheGamesThatWeren’t
covers 40 years of
unreleased games, as well as
computers and consoles
⬆Deadlock had C64 owners salivating over
screenshots showing ambitious graphics and great
attention todetail. Due tobereleased in 1990, it
finallybecame available toplay13years later
⬆Agame based on the 1990 filmDaysofThunder
was recently found in apile offloppydisks
