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Welcome , dear listener , to whatever

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this is currently untitled and

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, going by the code name , you never get those

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minutes back . 5 video

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game foundations that have crumbled

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away . As video games and

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the technology associated with them has

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evolved beyond any expectations

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. To harbour as a wide eyed video

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game loving kid , we have witnessed the demise

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of numerous aspects from our beloved hobby

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. Elements and hardware that seemed irreplaceable

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, now thrown to the wind to never be

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seen again . The constant push for new leaps

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in graphical prowess , scope of world

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building and an ever more intuitive online

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universe has sent some of gaming's seemingly

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immovable objects off to an early retirement

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. What follows is a little joint

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down memory lane as we remember those

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fallen warriors of video game lore

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and legend , the seeming rock

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solid foundations of a growing global

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phenomenon that crumbled to dust beneath the

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weight of advancing technology . Anyone

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for joysticks ? The Land Party

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. If there is one aspect from

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gaming culture that I will always lament

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the loss of , it's the fabled land

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party . Long nights of gathered

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friends , consoles , old

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, fat , big back TV sets , wires

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strung across alcohol soap

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carpets or fizzy pop soap

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carpets , depending on the age greasy

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snacks , made controllers and the loud

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and bloody , hilarious embracing

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of pure gaming indulgence . It

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was magic . At a time when the online

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beasts of Xbox Live and

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the Playstation Network had yet to hatch , the

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only real way a group of friends could play

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together was to drag all their shit

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to a willing victims previously pristine

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living room and turn it into a scene

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resembling apocalypse . Now the

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typical land setup consisted of two or

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more consoles in our case , this

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was the old and remarkably heavy

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original Xbox . Add

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in a couple of those fat old TV sets

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, one of which was usually perched precariously

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on a plastic lawn chair a handful of

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controllers , including some of those dodgy

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cheapo ones from the local discount store

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that had less control than a vegan trying

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not to tell you they're a vegan cheap alcohol

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, crispy snacks and wires

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oh my god , so many

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wires . The setup itself

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was an OCD sufferer's nightmare , but

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for anyone with a love of social gaming , it

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was pure heaven and the only

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real option . The game of choice back in the day

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was generally Halo 2 , occasionally

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Tiger Woods . The intense battles that played

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out in standard definition as friend

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fought friend across a wonderfully brutal

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battlefield will live long in my memory . The

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arguments fun accusations

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about watching each other's screens , about

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having the shitty controller and about

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the game just basically being bullshit

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were wonderful and hilarious

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in equal measure . Evening became night

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and night rolled sleepily into the light

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of a new day , whilst under the glow of

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burning light bulbs and jaggy graphics , and

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merry band fought on blady eyed

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and a little drunk . Then the sands

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of time quickly shifted and this

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vision was buried beneath the dust

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. The Land Party has all but gone

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with the online gaming revolution . In fact

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, for myself , has reached

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extinction . Yet , despite the new shape

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of multiplayer gaming , I will always

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believe the video game world is

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a little bit grayer and a little less friendly

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for the demise of the Land Party . I'm

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always happy to embrace new technological leaps

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, but there are also things I will forever

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miss . On the plus side , my

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carpets have never been cleaner . The

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joystick Not just the joystick

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, the Kempston joystick . I have

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no idea why this is stuck so vividly

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in my mind when I barely remember

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the make of any other electronic or technological

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device I've encountered over the years , but there was

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something about . The old Kempston Joysticks

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, of course , are still knocking about and great

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euphemism still but where once they

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were the key to unlocking other worlds , now

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, at least in my own world , they have gone

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the way of the dinosaur . However

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, I do still miss them . And dinosaurs

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For a kid . These controllers were

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magical . They were a sign that the arcades were

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entering the home , and this was immensely

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exciting . The joy from four

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little suction cups on the base to hold

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them in place when they actually got frantic , this

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really sounds dodgy . A couple of beautiful

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, bright red buttons that simply screamed press

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me A trigger right for the pulling

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on the stick itself and , in some cases , another

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red beauty of a button sat on top . The thing

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was incredible . The joystick was about the most

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apt Bully named device I ever knew

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. It felt as though we were in the cockpit with a joystick

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. Oh god , here we go again . It was real

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and it was perfect for the escapist mind

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. It was a bit shit , though , for Daily Tom's as

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the calf one , but that's not worth worrying about now . Instead

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, let's remember the good days when frantic

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wiggling didn't detach the finger from its suction

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and grip and send you flying from your seat in

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a blur of intense motion and shock . I

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can't put this out on a podcast . I no longer

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miss the joystick , however . The modern day equivalent

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is a thing of beauty and offers more control over

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these games than the old faithful could ever muster

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, but there was a moment in time where these

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things were the pinnacle of gaming power

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. I grew up playing games on a joystick and

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it seemed like the most natural thing in the world , but

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, like so many other elements of gaming history , the idea

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now seems almost alien

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to me , although there will always be that

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time when this coolest of gaming controllers had the aliens

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running for their lives . Physical

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copies of games . Now

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, I know this is a long way from being a thing of the past currently

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, but the ground is definitely shifting

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. I personally bought a PS5 Digital

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and Xbox Series S , neither of which

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can take a disc . I originally approached

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the idea to deliver games straight

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to the hard drive of the console with deep skepticism

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. I loved my games collection

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. The box is stacked high and wide on the shelves

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, emphasising just how serious I was

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about playing video games . I enjoyed

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the tactile nature of physical games , the artwork

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, the shine on the disc and the

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new game smell . There was , and still

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is , something cool about having games in

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a physical state rather than the digital one . However

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, my viewpoint has altered considerably

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and I can only base my changing views

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on my own goddamn laziness . As

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great as a physical game collection is , it is

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nothing when compared to being melted deep

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into the sofa , scrolling through

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a digital collection , making

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decisions about what to play without so much as

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moving the air in front of us . It is

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bloody lovely . I've reached a

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point where I will sometimes not even bother playing

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a game because it would mean going to the shelf to grab

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the disc . And who wants to deal with

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that ? Digital downloaded games

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are superb . The fact that we now have

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to install games from discs to play them anyway means

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arguments regarding hard drive space have

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become redundant and the reason

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to pick up physical copies of games is dwindling

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further still to the point . I personally

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cannot remember when I last bought a physical game , but

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despite that , I will

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still always browse these games without

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walking to a game shop or wander by , and

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I will always remember with fondness the mass

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ranks of my Xbox 360 and PS3

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collection towering over everyone

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who entered our home . I will also endeavour

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to seek out a candle that comes with new games

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sent . That is my holy

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grail . Multi console wars

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. The battlefield of the console wars

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is ridiculous and littered with

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the carcasses of numerous pretenders to the throne

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. All marched in on a fanfare of expectation

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and hope before succumbing , usually

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, to the fact they had forgotten to populate their all

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conquering aspirations with anything resembling

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an army of games . For a kid growing up when

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video games were becoming ever more powerful

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media platform in the home , it was an exciting time

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. The console wars , or the computer

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wars as they began , were not the two horse

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race we know today , where now we

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have Microsoft and Sony

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fighting like gladiators

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in the arena . Nintendo

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sat back like some Roman emperor eating grapes

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, happy with their lot in life . Once upon a time

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we were thrown outlandish new tribes

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marching into the console wars in the

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misguided belief they could topple the giants

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. Spectrum , amstrad

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, commodore and Dragon marched

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against one another at one point , although , as

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I remember , dragon realised they had

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left the gas on and beat a hasty retreat . The

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kids took sides and pledged allegiance

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to the flag of whichever computer their parents

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had bought . And then

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came the consoles Atari , nintendo

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, sega , even Philips challenged

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for the top spot . And again , as

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a kid , it was amazing . There was

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nothing quite like the excitement of pouring through the

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latest gaming magazines gaming magazines

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, remember them and finding images and specs

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of a newly touted entrance in the console struggle

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the Atari Jaguar facing off against

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the Super Nintendo and the Mega Drive

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, the Sega Dreamcast , looking like a real contender

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, like Sam and Frodo on the

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way to destroy the powers of darkness , only

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to have been crushed under the ever increasing

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power wielded by Sony , sauron

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and their PlayStation . And then the arrival

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of the super power financial army

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that was Microsoft , to prove a

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genuine threat to Sony's newfound dominance

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, under the death of Sega and the retreat of

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Nintendo to that place up in

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the gods . Watching the action , the whole

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thing has become something of a blur

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for me . Now I only know that I did want

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a Philips 3DO and I wanted an Atari

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Jaguar and the Sega Mega CD

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and all the other bits that went on top of a Mega

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Drive to make it look like it had been created in Scooby-Doo's

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kitchen , and the fact that everyone was pushing everyone

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else to go further with their tech was

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joyful for the bystander . Now we

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don't really have a console war anymore . Sony and

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Microsoft have their own spaces to play and fight

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and by and large they are near identical

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. Nintendo are off doing

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their own thing . The chances of anyone being brave

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or foolish enough to enter the fray

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with a new console that can be taken seriously

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at least seems beyond the realms of possibility

9:45

, but for a while it was

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the greatest war that ever raged

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, pointless of course , but

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pretty damn great all the same . Memory

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cards are the memory

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card . Here we have a little slice of tech

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that will confuse young gamers in a way

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that a cassette confuses young music

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fans . Yet not long ago , these

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little square , unassuming bits

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of plastic were absolutely crucial

10:09

in getting anything out of your games

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, or at least in not having to go and do the same

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goddamn section of a game every time

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you booted up the console and using the memory

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card . Wow , this was as strategic

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as any of the games that populated the era

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. What to keep , what to remove , how

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best to utilise the limited number of memory

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blocks was a constant conundrum . Throw

10:28

two or three cards into the mix . It was time to form

10:30

Mensa . I will always remember the joy

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I felt when hearing the original Xbox

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would ship with a built in hard drive . I

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believe it was mere 80 gig , but

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at the time that felt as big as

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the universe . Suddenly , the walls

10:43

of small memory card storage lost

10:46

memory cards , corrupted data on

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memory cards was disappearing into

10:50

the distance . The portable storage solution

10:52

, and only solution if you plan to actually finish

10:54

any of your games was breathing its last

10:57

, and I for one was

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happy to usher it into the junkyard

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in the sky . It seems a lifetime

11:03

away now that we were so reliant on such storage

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options , but because of the unrelated pace

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of technology , it was really only a

11:09

few console generations ago . The kids

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today don't know the bone , do they ? Walkie

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sobs .