The £10,000 computer game which took Sunderland by storm 50 years ago

These days, there are millions of great games to play on laptops, tablets or even mobile phones.

But back in 1974, students were playing a game on a £10,000 computer which was the envy of all programme lovers.

Crash landings with no survivors

The game involved moon trippers landing their own spacecraft. Trouble was, there tended to be a lot of crash landings and no survivors.

But it was all good fun. The moon landings were part of a game on a Ł10,000 computer at the Polytechnic’s department of computer studies.

And if you crash land you get a message from mission control saying “You’ve blown it. There are no survivors.”

A moon burger in the local hotel

If you don’t, a little man gets out of the model and plants a flag. Then he pops into a lunar hotel for a “moon-burger” sandwich. Staff at the Polytechnic were already keen exponents of the American-imported game and students were next to get the chance to play it, using all the controls which were flashed on a television-type screen.

Clive Morris, a lecturer in the department and a veteran moonlander, said in 1974 that there was a serious purpose behind the game.

Easing people’s fears about computers

“It’s really a great way of getting rid of many people’s fears about computers and a way of getting them interested in the capabilities of computers, ” he said.

“It’s fun to use and anybody can play the game, although it takes skill to land safely.”

Who remembers the moon landing game at the poly and did you get to land your spacecraft safely?

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