Retro Game Timewarp

In another installment of this posting (perhaps this will become a regular series), we go back in time to the late 1980s, when the Commodore 64 was one of the kings of the home computer market. I was offered my uncle's machine to borrow, and we had it for several years until my folks decided to buy our own setup. I taught myself to program in BASIC on that computer (in addition to the playing around I did on the Apple IIs we had at school). But, more than that, it became my first video gaming machine. At 10 years old, the C64 was a neverending source of amazement and wonder.

There were many notable games that I played on the C64 during the 6 years we owned it (and upgraded to our first PC), and I hope to touch on some of them as this series progresses. One of the most important of these titles, and perhaps the one that strongly ignited my interest in the U.S. Navy, was Electronic Arts' Strike Fleet. This was a game that thrusted you directly into a World War III with the Soviet Navy - and you were in command of the fleet that was to stop them! You began in one ship, learning how to control the various aspects of the game's functionality. Later, the size of your fleet grew and with it, your capabilities (and strength of your adversaries). Though the game was an exercise in micromanagement, I learned the basics of our modern fleet through exposure to this game.

I strongly believe that this game helped me, in some small way, through my Plebe Year at the Naval Academy - I showed up already knowing the answers to many of the factoids that young freshmen are constantly quizzed on.

Lots of great memories here! Sail safe.